The military coup that was carried out in Myanmar by Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of the army, on 31 January has unleashed a movement that the military were clearly not expecting. Their coup took many by surprise. No one in Myanmar was expecting it, and it also does not seem to fit with the needs of the moment. So why did it take place? In this article, we attempt to outline some of the factors that led to this sudden and sharp change in the situation.

Farmers in India have been protesting for many months now against three new agricultural bills passed in parliament. We publish the following update on this movement, which reached an important turning point with the dramatic events of Republic Day (26 January), along with an interview with a leading activist of the farmers’ movement.

In organising a swift coup against Aung San Suu Kyi (ASSK), Myanmar’s generals have killed the illusion, already in its death throes, of the liberalisation of Myanmar under US domination.

A wave of student protests against on-campus exams has been sweeping across the country since last week. Social media for the last few weeks has been abuzz with the students’ demand “#StudentsRejectOnCampusExams”, which has also been a top trend on Twitter for the last two weeks.

In the past few months, many have been speculating on the sudden disappearance of Chinese tycoon Jack Ma from the limelight from early October 2020 to late January 2021. The flamboyant multi-billionaire, CEO of Alibaba, and member of the Chinese Communist Party suddenly found his ambitions dashed and businesses investigated. What does this all mean?

The reactionary regime of Rodrigo Duterte in the Philippines is attempting to harden its crackdown on dissent and consolidate power. Socialists, youth, and workers’ organisations must get ready for a fight.

We have covered recent India's farmers' movement in previous articles ( [1] [2] [3] [4] ) alongside ...

Recently, it was brought to the attention of the In Defence of Marxism Editorial Board that some individuals have been interacting with others on the Chinese internet in the name of the International Marxist Tendency (IMT), even soliciting translations and articles in the name of our organisation and promising fees in return. We wish to make it absolutely clear here to all our readers that our organisation has never accepted any contributions from such individuals, nor do we pay for articles or translations. 

We were delighted to report on Monday that our comrade in Pakistan, Amar Fayaz, was returned safely after spending almost two months in captivity following his forced disappearance by the state. In this report, we initially neglected to include the efforts of our comrades in Argentina and Chile, who gathered a huge amount of support from leading members of the labour movement in those countries. We have now updated the article to reflect this: click here to skip to the new section.

Amar Fayaz, the Pakistani comrade of the IMT who was recently returned by the state authorities following his abduction on 8 November 2020, has recorded this message of thanks for the solidarity he received from comrades and supporters all over the world, which was instrumental in ensuring his release.

The recent farmers protests in India have paralysed the capital city of Delhi. About 32 farmers’ organisations and unions are participating in the protests, demanding the withdrawal of the reactionary farms' bills passed by the Modi government on September 20.

On 19 December 2020, the Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), a revolutionary organisation struggling for the rights of students and youth in Pakistan, organised a nationwide protest, entitled “Students Day of Action” (covered by Pakistan's oldest English-language newspaper): for free education and the restoration of student unions; and against sexual harassment of women, state abductions and unemployment. Participants in all cities also raised slogans for the release of comrade Amar Fayaz, who was abducted by the state authorities last month. Still, his whereabouts are unknown.

The Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA), a revolutionary organisation struggling for the rights of students and youth in Pakistan, is organising a nationwide protest, entitled “Day of Action”: for free education and the restoration of student unions; and against sexual harassment of women, state abductions and unemployment on 19 December.

Farmers in India observed a national lockdown on 8 December – also called a Bharat Bandh – a day ahead of the scheduled sixth round of talks with the government, with five million taking part across 20,000 locations. Farmers blocked major roads from 11am to 3pm, predominantly in the agricultural states of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. All commercial centres were closed. Protestors blocked railway tracks in West Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Many shops and commercial areas were also closed in Delhi in solidarity with the striking farmers. Despite a massive blockade of Delhi’s main highways, farmers are still receiving solidarity from the people living there.

Comrade Amar Fayaz was abducted on 8 November 2020 by state authorities in Jamshoro, Pakistan, a month ago, and his whereabouts are still unknown. Comrades all around the world are showing solidarity and putting pressure on the Pakistani state, demanding Amar’s release. An online petition has gathered more than 6,000 signatures from comrades and supporters globally.