China: tragic death of a young leftist worker leads to outpouring of grief and anger Around 21 January 2021, a young worker who operated a small channel on the popular Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili died in destitution amidst family discord, disease, and conflict with his employer. He starved to death in his rental apartment, and his body was only discovered days later by the landlord.
Myanmar: a movement of revolutionary proportions The coup in Myanmar has unleashed a movement of revolutionary proportions. The determination of the masses to stop the military from taking over can be seen in the widespread and growing strike and protest movement that has been unleashed. The military junta clearly underestimated the level of opposition they would face.
What is happening in Myanmar and why? 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.
Farmer struggle in India spreads amid brutal attacks by Modi regime: new interview with farmer leader 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.
Myanmar coup: another nail in the coffin of liberalism 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.
Pakistan: countrywide student protest against on-campus exams 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.
China: Jack Ma cowed, but instability still looms 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?
Philippines: Duterte escalates repression, mass fightback needed! 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.
India: farmers and workers for an indefinite general strike! We have covered recent India's farmers' movement in previous articles ( [1] [2] [3] [4] ) alongside ...
A word of warning to our Chinese language readers 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.
Pakistan: Amar Fayaz released! 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.
Pakistan: message from Amar Fayaz 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.
Interview with a leading farmer in India 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.
Pakistan: huge turnout for Students Day of Action 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.
Pakistan: student Day of Action to be held in 31 cities across the country 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.