In this first article Jamil Iqbal outlines Marx’s analysis of how British imperialism, by introducing capitalist methods, broke down the old Asiatic mode of production and with it the old type of social structures. The British capitalists did this simply to facilitate the exploitation of Indian resources and labour, but by so doing also prepared the ground for the modern struggle against British imperialism.

On March 14 up to 100 peasants in Nandigram, West Bengal, were brutally massacred by the police as they protested against land-grabbing operations. The leaders of the CPI-M in the local government have justified this action as part of their so-called “development model”. The contradictions between the leaders of the Indian communist movement and the millions of workers who support them are posed here sharply.

Aakar Books in New Delhi, India, have just published an Indian edition of Alan Woods’ book The Venezuelan Revolution – A Marxist Perspective. Here we provide the new introduction to the book by Lal Khan in Pakistan and details of the publishers for anyone who wishes to get a copy.

There is a lot of hype in the media about India’s booming economy. The truth is that this affects a small minority of the 1.2 billion population. Some 300 million Indians survive on less than $1 a day. In this situation there is revolutionary ferment taking place that will shake India to its foundation.

Four hundred thousand slum dwellers were rendered homeless within a period of two months just before the heavy rain season of this year in the city of Bombay alone. This is happening all over India, making millions homeless to open up land for speculative investment. We publish a contribution from someone who is active in fighting the demolitions.

A new Indian edition of Trotsky’s Revolution Betrayed has just come out, published by Aakar Books and will be available at the Delhi (January 27) and Kolkata (January 25) book fairs.