Asia

On February 22, the Chinese government shut down the China Workers' Website and Discussion Lists, a website that allowed Chinese workers and farmers to discuss their struggles and the problems they face. The developments and changes in China are of extreme significance for workers and youth of the whole world and in this regard, this interview, conducted by Stephen Philion for the Monthly Review Magazine, is extremely interesting and important, and provides an insight into the conditions of the Chinese workers, youth and peasants.

We provide this report by Alan Woods from Kashmir, which details the beauty of the region, the pride and strength of its people, as well as the terrible destruction caused by the earthquake.

Over 200 people attended a recent meeting in Rawalpindi for the launching of the book Kashmir's Ordeal,by Lal Khan. Among the speakers were Alan Woods, editor of Marxist.com, trade union leaders from the Rawalpindi-Islamabad region, leading figures of the revolutionary youth movement in Kashmir, and Member of the National Assembly, Zulfiqar Gondal, who all came to discuss the way forward for the workers, peasants, and youth of Kashmir.

We are publishing an exchange of letters between a Chinese Communist, RY, and Fred Weston of the Marxist.com Editorial Board. They give an insight to the problems that many genuine Chinese Communists are facing, as China moves further and further down the road of capitalism.

We are proud to announce the launching of a new website by the Pakistani Marxists of The Struggle: www.struggle.com.pk. The site will be in Urdu and will publish both articles on the general situation in Pakistan and translations from Marxist.com.

In his preface to the recently published Indonesian edition of Reason in Revolt, Alan Woods points out that the intense anti-Islamic propaganda in the West is merely a “crude ideological cover for the pretensions and arrogance of imperialism and especially US imperialism, which seeks to dominate the entire world and subject it to its pitiless exploitation”. In answer to all this what is needed is that the rational, scientific outlook of Marxism should become the viewpoint of the labour movement in all countries.

We are proud to announce the recent publication of the Indonesian edition of Reason in Revolt. The book was launched publicly on February 20th at the Gadja Mada University. Here we provide some background information and details of how to order the book in Indonesia.

In solidarity with the protests being organised by students and youth organisations in the United States and many other countries around the world against imperialist aggression in Iraq, YFIS in Pakistan organised protest rallies and demonstrations in several cities around the country. Reports of these activities are pouring in from various cities and remote areas of country through different channels due to the unevenness of technological development here.

On Saturday President Arroyo of the Philippines declared a State of Emergency in response to an alleged coup against her. Just prior to this there had been several workers’ mobilisations demanding her resignation. Bonapartist measures will not save her in the long run. They will not remove the underlying social and economic problems which are at the root of the political instability.

Over the past week, February 11-18, the Jammu Kashmir National Students’ Federation (Marxist) participated in a massive mobilization of youth and students. Over the course of the week hundreds of students and youth poured into the streets under the banner of Marxist internationalism across all eight districts of Kashmir.

After the devastating earthquake of October 8, which turned three districts of Kashmir into rubble, and despite the failure of the state in the rescue and rehabilitation work and the bitter hardships of the freezing winter, life in the Himalayan valley is beginning to return to normal. The real struggle for freedom and emancipation, the class struggle, is once again on the order of the day. In light of this the Marxists in Kashmir have launched a week of activities for February 11 to 18.

On February 11 and 12, a two-day Marxist Youth School was held in Jamshoro in Sindh. 35 young comrades from cities all across Sindh, including Karachi, Hyderabad, Tando Mohd Khan, Thata, Dado and Khairpur Nathan Shah, and Jamshoro, participated in the school.

In January the Belgian solidarity choir, Hei Pasoep held a concert in Antwerp and donated the income to the PTUDC sponsored Revolutionary Solidarity Caravans presently involved in relief work in the areas devastated by last year’s earthquake. The concert was a huge success and the people in the camps back in Kashmir have shown their appreciation.

Four hundred thousand slum dwellers were rendered homeless within a period of two months just before the heavy rain season of this year in the city of Bombay alone. This is happening all over India, making millions homeless to open up land for speculative investment. We publish a contribution from someone who is active in fighting the demolitions.