On 10th September, 2000 the PPP held a workers convention at Lahore. The last such convention was held 28 years ago. The PPP chairperson Ms. Benazir Bhutto, who has been declared a "proclaimed offender" on corruption charges by the present military regime, is presently based in London and hence could not be present. The convention was held to reinvigorate the PPP's dwindling support. The party's social base and active support have been severely eroded due to its dismal performance during its last two tenures in power. The right wing policies of these PPP regimes resulted in a sharp decline in the living standards of the masses. This resulted in disillusionment and demoralisation

Why an education project for Indonesian socialists?

Over the last 2 years the youth (students, workers and urban poor) in Indonesia have waged a relentless struggle against the Suharto dictatorhsip and his clone Jusuf Habibie. They have manifested time and time again their willingness to free themselves from oppression and capitalist exploitation This has expressed itself in mass demonstrations, strikes, pitched street battles, and land occupations in open defiance of state military power and the Jakarta central oligarchy.

As the war in Afghanistan is far from over, Pakistan's eastern border with India is in the grip of new war hysteria. The massive deployment of troops, the cross border exchange of fire and the fleeing of the inhabitants of border villages are posing the threat of yet another war between the two countries. If this conflict erupts into a full-scale war it would be the fourth major military clash between India and Pakistan in a short span of 54 years of their postcolonial existence.

("A city of life" is the slogan of the HK Tourist Authority, but "a city of struggle" has become a regular by-line in the South China Morning Post). This article we have received from a group of Marxists in Hong Kong describes the political, economical and social situation in the city. There have been a number of strikes and demonstrations by different groups of workers in the last period, particularly the immigrant workers. The article also explains the strategy of the Marxists in their intervention.

It was quite amusing to hear the reports on the radio that a column of American tanks was advancing on Kandahar. Since this glorious advance only took place after Kandahar had surrendered, this must have been the most painless "triumphal advance" in the history of warfare! This little incident is a good example of the kind of surrealism that has characterised this campaign from the beginning. Predictably, the Americans are shouting victory as loud as they can. Despite all the triumphalism, the real situation becomes clear if we ask ourselves concretely what has been achieved?