The April-May state elections were an historic turning point in Indian politics. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP conquered West Bengal, while the Left Democratic Front (LDF) lost control of Kerala. For the first time since 1977, not a single Indian state will be led by a communist party.

After two months, Ehsan Ali remains in prison, alongside other leaders of the Awami Action Committee. Three more were seized after a peaceful protest in Hunza last week. We must mobilise against this injustice with all our forces. On 4 June, the Free Ehsan Ali campaign will hold an international day of protest at Pakistan's diplomatic missions all over the world!

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has provoked an energy crisis in India. This sudden, huge increase in the cost of living has sparked a wave of strikes across the National Capital Region (NCR) – a massive metropolitan area comprising Delhi and its surrounding districts – encompassing nearly a hundred thousand workers. This inspiring, spontaneous movement of the Indian workers is just a foretaste of what is being prepared.

On 8 April, 50,000 people protested in over 100 towns and cities against Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s planned revision of the Japanese Constitution, which would end Japan’s status as a ‘pacifist’ country and begin a period of open remilitarisation. This is the biggest fightback in years, and for the first time, it is overwhelmingly young people taking to the streets.

The Pakistani state’s ruthless persecution of RCI comrade Ehsan Ali and the leaders of the Awami Action Committee (AAC) in Gilgit Baltistan continues unabated. The time has come to escalate and broaden our campaign for justice!

America’s imperialist aggression against Iran has sent shockwaves throughout the global economy. With the Strait of Hormuz closed – leading to the “worst energy crisis ever” – far away Bangladesh, which is heavily dependent on the Gulf States for its energy demands, stands to be among the worst affected.

4-5 April marked the first Congress of the Inqalabi Communist Party, the Pakistani section of the Revolutionary Communist International. The Congress met under intense objective difficulties: inflation and skyrocketing fuel prices are shaking the country, and organising a central event of this size is therefore incredibly difficult. On top of this, police repression has sharply increased against the masses who are suffering under these conditions.

Yesterday, on 2 April, hundreds of revolutionary communists assembled outside Pakistan’s diplomatic missions all over the world to demand the immediate release of Ehsan Ali and all other arrested members of the Awami Action Committee in Gilgit-Baltistan. We will not rest until we have justice! 

Ehsan Ali and other leading members of the Awami Action Committee in the Pakistan-administered region of Gilgit Baltistan have been arrested once again. The Revolutionary Communist International is running a solidarity campaign to secure the comrades’ release. Free Ehsan Ali! Hands off the AAC!

The war in the Middle East, ignited by the US and Israel’s full-scale attack on Iran, has dealt a hammer blow to the world economy. Asia, though bearing no responsibility for Trump and Netanyahu’s reckless adventure, is among the heaviest casualties of the economic fallout. As the war rages with no end in sight, Asian workers must be ready to resist any attempt by the ruling class to make them foot the bill.

On 23 February, 40,000 workers at IOCL (Indian Oil Corporation Limited) at the Panipat refinery expansion project in Haryana went on a strike, which spread across the entire premises. The sudden, radical action was met with a vicious police crackdown and an internet blackout.

Comrade Ehsan Ali, chairman of the Awami Action Committee of Gilgit Baltistan and central leader of RCP in Pakistan, was arrested on the night of 10 March from his home in Gilgit, when police raided his home. After that, the homes of several other leaders of the AAC have been raided and four more have been arrested so far, including: Nusrat Hussain, Mehboob Wali, Nafees Advocate and Mehar Ali. They have been charged with organising a meeting of the leadership of the AAC over an iftar dinner, to discuss the working of the AAC and plan the next protests against the loot and plunder of the resources of Gilgit-Baltistan. Comrade Asghar Shah and Waheed Hassan of the RCP are also indicted in

Six months ago, Nepal was in the midst of a revolutionary uprising, led primarily by the youth. The hated government, which murdered 77 protesters, was ousted, and the parliament set on fire. The potential was there for Nepali workers and youth to take power into their own hands, but the absence of a genuinely revolutionary leadership meant that the movement was directionless. Power passed into the hands of an interim government, and the people were told to sit tight until elections in March.

On 12 February, India’s main trade union confederations, including AITUC, CITU, INTUC and HMS, in addition to sectoral federations (such as the All-India Bank Employees Association) and farmer organisations, jointly held a national general strike. The labour leaders claim that 300 million participated. But what is the balance sheet of the strike? And where do we go from here?

The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), which has dominated postwar Japanese politics, won the largest majority in Japanese history at the recent Lower House elections. In reality, this was not a vote for the LDP but for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who skillfully tapped into an anti-establishment mood that found no expression in Japan’s moribund opposition.