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By Zuhaib Butt
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Friday, 21 November 2008 |
 Preparations are under way for the
JKNSF convention on November 29, where close to 10,000 youth are
expected to take part, to hear the main speaker, Lal Khan.
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By Alan Woods
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Wednesday, 19 November 2008 |
 A new book by Lal Khan is being published to celebrate the 40th
anniversary of the 1968 Pakistan revolution. Here we publish Alan Woods' Introduction
in which he highlights the main processes of the tumultuous 1968 events and
explains how a new 1968 is being prepared in Pakistan in the coming period.
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By PTUDC
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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 |
 This year November 7, "Bolshevik
Day", was celebrated the length and breadth of Pakistan with
protests, demonstrations, rallies and seminars promoted by the
Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign, PTUDC, together with other
political and trade union bodies. The rallies also centred on a
campaign against the privatisation of the Qadirpur Gas field and also
against steep price increases and growing unemployment.
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By Lal Khan
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Tuesday, 11 November 2008 |
 Pakistan is facing an acute crisis. In this situation the PPP leadership is under pressure to carry out the brutal dictates of imperialism, pushing millions deeper into misery. A radical mood is developing in this situation and the Marxists can emerge as a strong tendency on the basis of this situation.
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By Zuhaib Butt
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Wednesday, 29 October 2008 |
 Pakistan is in danger of defaulting on its payments on foreign debt. It is one of the weak links in the world chain of capitalism. The PPP in government is buckling under the pressure of the capitalists and landlords and is failing to solve any of the fundamental problems facing the masses. In these conditions the role of the Marxists in providing an alternative becomes key.
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By Jannat Hussain
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Wednesday, 24 September 2008 |
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Last Sunday close to 250 Marxists gathered in
Karachi for a regional assembly to discuss the present world crisis.
Many workers delegations were present reporting on the militant mood
that is developing among the working class.
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By Zahid Iqbal in Pakistan
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Tuesday, 23 September 2008 |
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Around 100 JKNSF delegates met recently in Rawalpindi to discuss preparations for what promises to be the biggest ever youth convention in the history of Pakistan in November.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Wednesday, 17 September 2008 |
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By The Struggle - Pakistan
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Monday, 15 September 2008 |
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Protests against US imperialist attempt
for military coup against Hugo Chavez were held in 23 cities of
Pakistan on Sunday called by the Hands Off Venezuela Campaign and
IMT. Protestors raised slogans in support of Hugo Chavez and Evo
Morales and against US Imperialism.
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By Zohaib Butt
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Tuesday, 09 September 2008 |
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A marvellous Marxist
Summer Youth School in Pakistan was held at Fort Minro (near D.G. Khan) on
29-31 August. Even under the difficult objective conditions when an economic
onslaught against the working class is taking place in Pakistan, about fifty
comrades participated from all over the country.
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By Lal Khan in Lahore
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Tuesday, 02 September 2008 |
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In the last five months of the new PPP-led coalition
government the workers and the already impoverished masses have gone through
social and economic suffering yet unforeseen in the chequered history of
Pakistan. Under the rule of a rotten, corrupt and degenerate
bourgeoisie, Pakistan is now sliding towards the abyss of barbarism. The
victory of socialism is now the only solution for this crisis-stricken nation.
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By Abid Hussain
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Saturday, 26 July 2008 |
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The Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation (JKNSF)
is a growing youth organization, based in Kashmir, with thousands of members.
It openly defends the ideas of the International Marxist Tendency and is
holding its 17th Convention in November.
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By Lal Khan in Lahore
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Tuesday, 22 July 2008 |
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To look at the Pakistan Army solely as the instrument of the
ruling class would mean ignoring the real contradictions that have developed
within it. On the one hand an important wing of the top military brass are now
involved directly in the economy, both the legal and the "black economy",
including drug running. There is another contradiction, which is that between
the top brass and the lower ranks who are more in touch with the mood of the
masses.
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By Zafar Imam in Sindh
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Friday, 18 July 2008 |
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Over the
weekend of July 11-12 a hundred comrades from the Sindh gathered on the edge of
the beautiful Lake Keenjhar to attend a
weekend Marxist School
to discuss various aspects of Marxist Theory, as part of the task of forming
cadres to intervene in the tumultuous events that lie ahead in Pakistan.
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By Yasir Irshad - Secretary “The Struggle” Kashmir region
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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On Sunday, July 6, a
very successful Kashmir regional congress of "The Struggle" ‑ the International
Marxist Tendency in Pakistan
‑ was held at Rawalakot, in the Poonch district of "Azad Kashmir". Over a
thousand delegates, members and close contacts attended the congress.
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By The Struggle - Pakistan
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Wednesday, 02 July 2008 |
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Since the new government came to power in
Pakistan there has been a lot of talk about "solutions" to the pressing
problems of the masses, but all we have is talk and no real answers. Here we
publish the editorial of the latest edition, 16-30 June 2008, of
"The Struggle" commenting on this situation.
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By Kabir Khan
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Thursday, 29 May 2008 |
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The strike of the NCPG
workers at Pakistan Telecommunications Ltd., which started on May 5, is
continuing amid serious threats by the company administration and is now in its
fourth week.
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By Zafar Imam
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Wednesday, 28 May 2008 |
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The workers at the Shahdadkot
Textile Mills have been struggling against the privatisation and subsequent
closure of the plant. During the elections the PPP candidates promised action
once elected but none has been forthcoming. The only solution is
nationalisation.
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By Kabir Khan
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Monday, 19 May 2008 |
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Another example of the growing militancy of
Pakistani workers is the strike at PTCL where the "daily wage" workers have
been on strike for two weeks, demanding they be taken on as permanent workers.
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By Lal Khan in Lahore
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Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
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The greatly acclaimed
democratic coalition government of Pakistan has fallen, just a mere 41
days since it came into office. Sharif has pulled out his ministers officially
over the question of the judiciary. The real reason lies deep in the bowels of
society, where millions of Pakistani workers and peasants are facing
intolerable conditions.
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By PTUDC - www.ptudc.org
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Wednesday, 07 May 2008 |
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May Day in Pakistan saw rallies, meetings and seminars the length and
breadth of the country, where the PTUDC, the BNT, YFIS-Pakistan, the comrades
of The Struggle and many other youth and trade union organisations
participating with a militant and determined mood.
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By Lal Khan in Pakistan
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Thursday, 01 May 2008 |
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The capitalist system, which has been lowering the living conditions of the working class during the last 15 to 20 years of boom has now entered a slump, which will make the situation of the toiling masses even worse. The struggle against this system can only be waged with a programme, ideology, and strategy of completely changing the system. This is the message of May Day 2008.
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By PTUDC - www.ptudc.org
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Tuesday, 29 April 2008 |
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We received this appeal from the temporary,
"daily wage", workers in the Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority. They have been
working there for years but can be sacked at a moment's notice.
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By The Struggle - Pakistan
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Tuesday, 22 April 2008 |
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This is the editorial statement of The
Struggle issue 1-15 April 2008. It points out that the coming to an end of
the Musharraf dictatorship and the installation of a coalition government is
not the end of the struggle, only its beginning.
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By Harris Azhar, Aslam Ansari, PTUDC Multan
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Wednesday, 16 April 2008 |
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Pakistan's infrastructure is in a state of collapse.
Instead of things getting better, they are getting worse. Power cuts are
severely affecting the livelihood of many workers. In Multan this has erupted in militant action
which has been met by police opening fire on unarmed workers.
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By our correspondent in Lahore
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Thursday, 03 April 2008 |
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The second day of the congress saw more
than 2000 delegates, members and visitors registered. The enthusiasm of the first day was nothing
compared to the second. The discussions revealed a high level of understanding
of the tasks that lie ahead. The workers and youth who intervened showed that
the Marxist Tendency in Pakistan
has come a very long way since its early days in the 1980s.
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By our correspondent in Lahore
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Wednesday, 02 April 2008 |
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Yesterday, the annual congress of The
Struggle, the Marxist Tendency in Pakistan, held
the first sessions of its two-day congress. Almost 2000 comrades were present
from all over Pakistan
to meet at this crucial moment in Pakistani history.
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By Adam Pal
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
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On February 29 the Karachi regional
conference of the Pakistani Marxists was held with 350 present, their biggest
ever gathering. At the meeting there was a balance sheet of the recent election
campaign and we reproduce here the speeches of the comrades who stood for
parliament, Lund,
Wazi and Manzoor.
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By Zafar Imam
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Monday, 10 March 2008 |
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We received this report with some delay, but we believe it
is important as it shows how the PTUDC is sinking roots inside the labour
movement in this important part of the Sindh region, gaining the support of 19
trade unions.
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By PTUDC - www.ptudc.org
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
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On Saturday February 23rd over 10 supporters of the
PTUDC in Montreal attended a workshop about the recent elections in
Pakistan. The workshop was hosted by the International Marxist
Tendency.
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By Martin Hall
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Monday, 25 February 2008 |
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A motion of affiliation to the PTUDC was successfully passed
at the meeting of the University
of East Anglia Union Council
on 21st February. The Union is now officially affiliated and an
emergency motion on Pakistan
was also passed to be sent to the NUS Executive in time for the National
Conference.
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By PTUDC Canada
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Friday, 22 February 2008 |
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Over a dozen people attended a meeting on the recent fraudulent
elections in Pakistan on a cold blustery Toronto evening. The meeting
was hosted by Canadian supporters of the Pakistani Trade Union Defence
Campaign (PTUDC), the first such meeting to date in Canada.
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By Lal Khan
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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
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Now that they have
blatantly manipulated the results, the main parties in Pakistan are
working towards the formation of a coalition government. This is what the
imperialist wanted all along. It is also what the right wing of the PPP wanted
as well. But the masses are waiting for concrete results, an end to their
misery. On this path we will see class polarisation within the PPP itself,
which will prepare the ground for the intervention of the Marxists.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
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We received this synopsis of major complaints received about
serious irregularities during Monday's election. It clearly shows that these
elections were neither fair nor democratic. The result was decided beforehand
and was designed to get the political scenario that imperialism requires to
govern Pakistan.
They can rig the result, but they cannot falsify the real misery that people in
Pakistan
have to suffer!
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Wednesday, 20 February 2008 |
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Erik de Bruyn has been monitoring the elections in Karachi and has exposed
blatant vote-rigging on a grand scale. He was interviewed by several mainstream
Belgian newspapers, among them "Het Volk", "Het Nieuwsblad" and "De
Standaard". Here we provide a copy of the interview in De Standaard where Erik
explains the same points he raised in the articles published on this site
over the last few days.
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By Erik De Bruyn in Karachi
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
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Comrade Erik de Bruyn, a well-known leader of the left wing of the
Belgian Socialist Party, is in Karachi, Pakistan, as an official
election observer. In this post on his blog, he gives
us an eye-witness report on how reactionary parties like the MQM, with the consent of
the state apparatus, rigged the elections in order to reduce
the scope of the expected PPP victory. The candidates of the PPP Left
have been particularly damaged by the rigging.
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By Alan Woods
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Tuesday, 19 February 2008 |
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Before the results had come in, President
Musharraf appeared on the state-run Pakistan Television, calling the vote "the
voice of the nation" and the "mother of elections" must be accepted. But in
fact this was the Mother of all Frauds.
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By Erik De Bruyn in Karachi
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Monday, 18 February 2008 |
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Erik de Bruyn, leader of the left wing of the Flemish
Socialist Party in Belgium
has been invited by the PPP to monitor the elections in Pakistan. In particular he is monitoring
the elections in the industrial belt of Karachi
where the socialist PPP candidate Riaz Lund is challenging the ruling extreme
right wing party, the MQM. You will find here a first personal report published
yesterday Sunday, February 17th on his blog.
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By Adam Pal
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Friday, 15 February 2008 |
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We are in the final stages of the election campaign in Pakistan. The
masses are clearly backing the PPP in large numbers. Reaction is also preparing.
Blatant rigging cannot be ruled out, but this would only serve to enrage the
masses. In this context the Marxists are standing in several constituencies,
where they are running a revolutionary election campaign that is having a big
impact among the workers and poor.
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By Lorenzo Fiorito in Montreal
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Thursday, 14 February 2008 |
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At a recent meeting of Bloquez l'Empire/Block the
Empire-Montreal (BLEM) in Montreal
a resolution of support for the PTUDC was passed (in French and English).
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By Adam Pal
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Friday, 08 February 2008 |
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The successful election campaign of the Marxists in the PPP
in the constituency of NA-257 Karachi threatens to upset the plans of the
reactionary MQM party that has dominated the area. It is however clear that
they are preparing to use all means possible to rig the result, including armed
gangs, death threats.
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By PTUDC - www.ptudc.org
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Monday, 28 January 2008 |
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If they go forward as planned, the February 18
elections will mark a decisive turning point in the history of the class
struggle in Pakistan.
In the district of Kasur, the might of the Pakistani ruling class is being
confronted by the ideas of revolutionary Marxism and the enthusiasm and
aspirations of the masses. To combat the wealth and slanders of one of Pakistan's
richest industrialists, Manzoor Ahmed has again vowed to wage irreconcilable
struggle till socialist revolution.
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By marxy.com
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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Lal Khan is the editor
of Asian Marxist Review and the author of numerous books on the Indian
subcontinent. He is also a leading figure of the Marxist organisation The
Struggle in the Pakistan People's Party. He is currently preparing a book on
the 1968-69 socialist revolution in Pakistan. The Arab Marxist website marxy.com interviewed him on the stormy events in Pakistan. There is also a short video message to the Arab Marxists inside.
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By In Defence of Marxism
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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We republish here the back page of the December 30th, 2007 edition of The Post - Lahore. The first extracts were from the Pakistan People's Party 1970 manifesto, the second ones from the 2008 pro-Capitalist manifesto and the third section of the page was Alan Woods' article Pakistan: The assassination of Benazir Bhutto, providing a Marxist analysis of the situation in Pakistan after Benazir Bhutto's assassination.
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By Paras Jan
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
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South Waziristan is a
Tribal area in Pakistan, on the notorious Durand Line drawn by the British in
1893. The presence of a primitive tribal system in this area and the absence of
any social infrastructure clearly reveal the impotence of the Pakistani
bourgeoisie. What is new is the fact that a Marxist is standing for parliament
in the area, offering a socialist alternative to the barbarism that threatens
the whole region.
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By Adam Pal
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Wednesday, 16 January 2008 |
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On Monday, January 14, a bomb attack took
place in Karachi. The bomb was clearly part of an attempt to intimidate the
people in the area with the aim of stopping them from voting on February 18.
The area where the bomb went off lies within the constituency where comrade Riaz
Hussain Lund Baloch, a revolutionary Marxist, is standing. All indications are
that this overwhelmingly working class area is going to vote massively for him.
It is evident that the bomb is aimed at him and his election campaign.
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By Adam Pal
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Wednesday, 09 January 2008 |
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We have just received this extremely important report from
the comrades in Pakistan. It indicates that the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
has had the effect of a catalyst that is impelling the masses onto the
revolutionary road. The situation is now beginning to resemble that of tsarist
Russia after Bloody Sunday in 1905. The Pakistan Marxists of The Struggle
are playing a leading role in the mass movement, as this report clearly shows.
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By Alan Woods
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Monday, 31 December 2007 |
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The murder of Benazir Bhutto has led to an
explosion of popular anger. Pakistan is convulsed by rioting and mass protests.
Society has been stirred up to the depths. Raw human emotion has spilled over
onto the streets of every city, town and village. The army and police are
powerless to halt the tide of indignation. The government is shaken to the
core.
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By The Struggle (Pakistan)
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Monday, 31 December 2007 |
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The following leaflet of the Pakistani comrades of The Struggle was distributed on a grand scale in which they demand an end of the cruel capitalist system, its cruel institutions, imperialist hegemony, and religious terrorism.
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By Communist Action League, Rank and File Tendency
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Monday, 31 December 2007 |
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In this letter the activists of Communist Action League / Rank and File Tendency of Morocco condemn the recent attacks against Pakistani Marxist activists during the election
campaign by members of the fascist MQM movement.
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By Alan Woods
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Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
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Benazir Bhutto has been killed in a suicide bomb attack. The leader of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) had just addressed a rally of PPP
supporters in the town of Rawalpindi
when the attack took place. First reports talked of at least 100 killed in the attack, but more recent news put the figure at 20. This murderous onslaught on the PPP came in the
middle of an election campaign where, after years of military dictatorship, the
masses were striving for a change.
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By Erik De Bruyn
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Thursday, 27 December 2007 |
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Erik De Bruyn recently stood for the
position of Chairman of the Flemish Socialist Party, receiving 34%. He stood as
leader of the SP.a Rood, the left wing of the party. He has issued this
statement condemning the MQM threats against PPP activists in NA-257 &
PS-127 Karachi.
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