Asia

Despite the claims of the Russian and Georgian governments, there is no progressive content on either side of the war in South Ossetia and Georgia. The present nightmare of war and chauvinist poison is the result of imperialist meddling. The conflict between a strengthened Russian regional imperialist power and US imperialism, entangled in Iraq and Afghanistan, is the backdrop of these events. The peoples of the Caucasus are just small change in the pockets of the imperialists, but it is they who pay the price of the power politics between Russia and the USA.

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.

Millions of workers in China are "illegal" in their own country; they are the migrant workers without a permit to leave the rural areas. But the poverty of their condition forces them into the cities where they are terribly exploited.

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.

The new edition of the Asian Marxist Review is about to come out and here we provide the Editorial statement that concentrates mainly on the situation in India.

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.

On June 13th, Taliban fighters launched a large-scale raid on Kandahar prison. Nearly 1,200 prisoners, including 400 Taliban insurgents, were freed. Taliban forces then captured 7 towns and villages in the Arghandab region of Kandahar province. Although NATO forces subsequently regained control, these events highlight the real situation in Afghanistan, one where the Taliban are getting stronger, not weaker.

As could be expected the Nepalese capitalist/landlord class have accepted the removal of the monarchy, but it comes at a heavy price. The former leaders of the Maoist guerrillas, having achieved what they perceive as the "first stage" of the revolution, the bourgeois-democratic stage, are now issuing guarantees to the capitalists and landlords that their property will not be touched.

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.

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.

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.

A translation of a leaflet and poster being circulated by the Working People's Association (Perhimpunan Rakyat Pekerja, PRP) in Indonesia as part of a campaign by radical Indonesian trade unions to highlight class issues and socialism on May Day.