On the chilly morning of 30^th November 1967 a relatively small gathering of around three hundred people was taking place in the sprawling lawns of Dr. Mubashir Hassan’s house in Gulberg, Lahore. This was the founding convention of a new political party that was espousing revolutionary change in Pakistan.

After overtaking Japan, this year China became the second largest economy in the world. Some experts have even predicted that by the end of this decade China may become the largest economy bypassing the United States. However, that is based on a mechanical, empirical approach that sees China maintaining its present levels of growth uninterruptedly for years to come. In the past Japan was also supposed to keep on growing, but then its apparent meteoric rise was cut across by a long period of stagnation.

It is often said that history repeats itself, but the truth is that it never does so in exactly the same way; it repeats itself but on on a higher plane. The general consciousness of the masses in any society is neither static nor eternal. It is in a state of constant change, flux and motion. Betrayals and defeats push it back but with the new resurgence of the class struggle it rises to new heights.

The bourgeoisie has never, anywhere, been able to find the key to unlock the mysteries of their own economic system. The only way to understand capitalism is to accept and to explain its contradictory, crisis-ridden nature. It cannot be perfected; its riddle will never be solved from within its confines. Precisely because the apologists of capitalism can never accept this fact, they are forever shifting from one side of the problem to the other.

The Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign organized camps in Multan and Bahawalpur in solidarity with the #Occupy Wall Street movement. The camps continued throughout the day and were attended by large number of youth, workers, students, political and trade union leaders and women who registered themselves and discussed the crisis of capitalism.

The working class is suffering the most in this epoch of economic and political crisis. The courageous workers who raise their voices in defence for their rights are victimized particularly by the goons of the capitalists and sacked from their job most of the times. The same is the case with the workers who were fired by the PARCO (Pak Arab Oil Refinery) administration without any notice as a punishment for forming a union to demand their basic rights.

Events of the Arab Revolution and the movements across Europe and USA have once again vindicated the Marxist positions about the role of youth. It was the youth who initiated these revolutions and movements. Subcontinent and Pakistan have a rich history of the revolutionary role played by the youth. As the “best barometer of society”, the revolutionary youth of Pakistan have realized the need to join hands in their common struggle against oppression, unemployment, fundamentalism, discrimination, costly education and capitalism.

The 18^th “Permanent Revolution” convention of Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation was held in Rawalpindi on 28^th October in which a big number of students from Pakistani Occupied Kashmir and various cities of Pakistan participated.

The national leadership of the PTUDC including Chairman Riaz Hussain Baloch, Vice Chairman Qamar Uz Zaman Khan, General Secretary Nazar Mengal and Information Secretary Paras Jan embarked on a visit across the country for the unity of the working class. Many activities including labour conferences, seminars on workers’s issues, protest rallies, meetings with delegations of workers and others were held in different cities.

After the revolutionary storms of the Arab Spring and the European Summer we are witnessing a wave of militant protests of the American Fall that began with the Occupy Wall street movement in the United States. The global support with demonstrations in about nine hundred cities across the planet on all the continents shows the discontent and the seething revolt against the rotting capitalist system on a world scale.

The 18^th “Permanent Revolution Convention” of the Jammu Kashmir National Students Federation is being held on 28^th October in Rawalpindi. A rally will be held on Murree Road in Rawalpindi at 2 p.m. against unemployment, price hikes and privatizations. Later an education session for young students will be held at 4 p.m. After that new cabinet of the JKNSF will be elected.

The duplicity, turmoil and empty facade which characterise present-day politics in Pakistan reflect the malaise that afflicts society and the mayhem within the state. But above all it is the wildly unravelling downward spiral of the economy that is devastating the whole system and society. Its ramifications are glaringly evident in the decline of art, culture, literature, social behaviour, human relations and the psychological distress that has made life miserable for the vast majority of the population.

The management of Coca Cola is using anti-labour measures and forces of repression to attack the rights of the workers in its Gujranwala plant. The Employees Workers Union which is representing the workers is under attack because it is fighting for the rights of workers.

The struggle of the Power Loom workers in Ludhiana, Punjab has escalated with the workers taking the step of starting an indefinite Gherao (encirclement) of the local Labour Offices in order to get the State government to force the employers to cede to their demands. This marks a stepping up of the struggle and shows a firm willingness on the part of the workers to fight until their demands are met.

Nestle Management in Kabirwala, near Khanewal, have attacked the workers for raising their voice against tyranny. The official of the Police, Judiciary and Local Administration are slavishly following the orders of their capitalist masters.