Many lessons can be drawn from the recent history of Nepalese revolutionary movements, and many dangers for the Tunisian and Egyptian masses can also be highlighted if we carefully study the situation in Nepal. [Note: as this article was being written the Maoists decided to return to government.]

The general rottenness of world capitalism and the brutal economic measures adopted by the PPP government has led to widespread misery and anger among the Pakistani masses. The Pakistani working class has been made to bear the brunt of this catastrophe. Just like other parts of the world there is a new awakening within the Pakistani proletariat, which could be felt in the struggle and victory of the KECS workers and now in the strike by the PIA workers.

The spectacular victory of the workers of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation with the reinstatement of the dismissed workers is a rare triumph in the recent period. The firing of 4300 workers by this privatized enterprise brought a lightening response from the workforce.

The manoeuvres of the Islamic fundamentalists in Pakistan around the issue of “blasphemy” have made worldwide headlines. What gets less publicity is the militant class struggle of Pakistani workers. One such struggle is that of the workers at the Karachi Electric Supply Company, who have fought and defeated the bosses plans to forcibly retire 4500 workers.

We are passing through a painful epoch. A deep malaise has set in. There is a generalized decline of economy, politics, ethics, morality, art, literature and culture. In a political spectrum littered with stale and deceitful leaders, Salman Taseer was a vivid and pleasant rarity. One could disagree with his economic and other policies but at least he was bold and frank. His ghastly assassination was an insult upon injury for the already suffering and agonized masses of Pakistan.

The episode of the signing of the instrument of surrender on 16 December 1971, at Paltan Maidan, Dacca and the subsequent breakup of Pakistan has been the subjection of controversial historical interpretations for the last thirty-nine years. A vast majority of this analysis reflects the interests of the different wings of the ruling classes of the south Asian subcontinent. Hence the official historians have grossly distorted the events and the real aspirations of the oppressed masses during the social blizzard that swept across the region between 1968 and 1972.

On the call for anti-privatisation protests by the Postal Action Committee huge protests and demonstrations were held in many cities of Pakistan on 4^th January.

A seminar on the topic of “Price hikes, privatization, unemployment, Reasons and Solution” was held at the PMA House, Garden Road, Karachi on December 30th. The program started at 3PM and was chaired by the Central General Secretary of the PTUDC, comrade Nazar Mengal, while comrade Lal Khan was invited as chief guest.

The right-wing government of Punjab has taken the decision to privatize 26 leading colleges. This has sparked anger in the people and the students. The privatization is being carried out under the cover of so called "autonomy". The government claims that it is only giving internal autonomy to the colleges and has created boards of governors in the colleges. But the teachers and students know the government's intentions very well.

As Pakistan plunges into even greater economic decline, the custodians of this system in its terminal decay call for measures that instead of retrieving will further exasperate the already adverse conditions society is afflicted with. Almost all the political parties and the domineering intelligentsia and experts are crying hoarse for the implementation of an austerity regime and the recipes of trickle-down or supply side economics.

For more than two decades society has been under a kind of Orwellian spell where almost everything written or said in the mainstream media and intellectual circles in fact means its opposite. Clichés like “end of history”, “socialism has failed”, “capitalism has lifted millions out of poverty”, etc., reek of a moral and ethical decline of the system and society as a whole.

The Pakistan Trade Union Defence Campaign PTUDC along with the Labour Action Committee, the MRDW Unilever (Movement for the Restoration of Dismissed Workers), the Unilever Workers’ Action Committee and the Unilever Revolutionary Workers’ Union organised a rally from Railway Square to the gate of the Unilever factory in Rahim Yar Khan on November 27.

Two Student leaders from the Agriculture University Faisalabad, Umer Rasheed and Asad Rehman were arrested and sent to jail yesterday, 21 November 2010. They were involved in the movement against load-shedding in the university and against proposal for fee hikes.

Students, workers and political activists held a protest in Kot Addu to condemn the arrest of comrades Umer Rasheed and Asad Rehman. On 20 November at 11am they gathered at the Press Club in Kot Addu to protest against this brutal action of university administration and Punjab government.

More than ten years after the revolutionary “reformasi” movement in Indonesia, the thirst for Marxist ideas remains unquenchable. Those ideas continue to inspire left-wing student and workers activists and induce fear among the ruling classes. The fear of communism, instilled by the terror of the Suharto dictatorship, has not completely been removed but it has been eroded.