1) Bologna and Modena
The campaign of public meetings held for the support of the PTUDC with the presence of Lal Khan was a great success.
In Modena the meeting was sponsored by Fiom CGIL (the metal section of the biggest trade union in Italy) and Rifondazione Comunista (Party of Communist Refoundation). 45 people attended and a marvellous €681 was collected.
On Saturday in Bologna, Lal Khan, after an interview with a local radio station, intervened in a meeting of more than a hundred shop stewards called for promoting a general strike against the vicious attacks of the right wing Berlusconi government. A standing ovation saluted the end of his contribution! Lal Khan's argument that what the working class needed was a class war against the imperialist aggression, was taken up by several of the following contributions.
In the afternoon more than 80 workers and youth gathered in the Bologna Council Hall and issued a strong protest to the Pakistan government over the arrest of Shahida Jabeen and the other four comrades. €196 was raised for the campaign, despite the fact that at the same time 4,000 Italians and immigrant workers were marching against a new racist law proposed by Berlusconi.
2) Udine
The meeting on Thursday, November 29, succeeded in filling the Labour Hall (Trades Council) in Udine, with the participation of nearly 100 people, including many students and youth, worker activists and trade union leaders, members of Rifondazione Comunista, and of the Udine Social Forum (USF).
The Secretary General of the Trades Council of Udine, Natalino Giacomini, gave his personal greetings and those of the CGIL, in support of the initiative for international solidarity with the PTDUC, underlining the need for a strong political response to the war.
Likewise, the Secretary of the Udine federation of Rifondazione Comunista, Stefano Verzegnassi, connected the imperialist intervention in Afghanistan with the necessity of creating a strong movement to oppose the military aggression against the Afghan people.
The PTUDC was also thanked and greeted by a representative of the USF.
The passionate and convincing lead-off by comrade Lal Khan was followed with enthusiasm and great attention by all those present. At the end he was received with a prolonged and warm applause. In particular the youth showed by their participation in the discussion that they were enthusiastic. Afterwards they bought material to the value of more than 250,000 lire for the PTDUC. They stayed behind to give their congratulations to the campaign.
Only proletarian internationalism can defeat the imperialist and capitalist oppression in Asia, in Italy and in the rest of the world. This meeting showed concretely how solidarity between the workers and youth living in countries separated by thousands of kilometres can be built in the struggle against this system that offers us only wars and despair.