The PYA is continuing its campaign of protests against the gruesome murder of Mashal Khan, a left wing student activist falsely accused of “blasphemy”. The IMT and In Defence of Marxism support our Pakistani comrades in this. They need financial assistance to intensify their campaigning. Please donate generously to support their efforts.

The brutal lynching of Mashal Khan, a 23 year old student of journalism in Abdul Wali Khan University, by a fundamentalist mob is a new and shocking example of the reign of terror that is being waged against left-wing and progressive forces in Pakistan. Even by the barbaric standards of fundamentalist violence, this murder was characterised by its extreme savagery. Dragged from his hostel room, Mashal Khan was battered with wooden planks before being shot dead. Not satisfied by this butchery, those cowardly murderers then proceeded to desecrate and humiliate his dead body.

On April 13, Mashal Khan, a 23 year old student of journalism in Abdul Wali Khan University, Mardan was lynched by a mob. He was dragged out of his hostel room and shot at with bullets while the mob lynched him. Even after being killed, his body was desecrated and humiliated.

The China Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, has become the cornerstone of the state policy of Pakistan in recent years and all the politics and economics of the ruling class revolve around this project. The rulers are claiming that this corridor will bring prosperity and advancement in the country and that soon rivers of milk and honey will start flowing.

On 18 and 19 February a Marxist School was held in Multan. This school was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Russian Revolution. Young comrades from all over the country started arriving in Multan on the evening of 16 February. From Kashmir to Karachi comrades had to travel long distances amid difficult economic conditions, but they arrived with revolutionary enthusiasm. On 17 February a convention of Multan city was organized by the Progressive Youth Alliance in which all comrades participated with Bolshevik spirit. Afterwards they stayed to attend this two day national school. More than 70 comrades participated in the school. The hosts of this school made it a success despite the

On 17 February the Progressive Youth Alliance organised its city convention of Multan at the Multan Tea House hall. More than 200 students from various colleges and universities of Multan participated in this meeting.

Yesterday, two workers - Usman and Arshad - were killed and 23 others severely injured after a fire broke out at the Al Badar factory located on Sheikhupura Road near Lahore. The fire was caused by a boiler which exploded in the factory. Twelve of the injured workers are in a critical state, with more than ninety percent burns. They have, according to hospital reports, little chance of surviving.

On 2 February last year two PIA workers were killed and many injured at Karachi airport by para-military forces as they protested against privatization together with hundreds of other workers. After those killings a total stoppage of PIA operations was imposed by the workers and all domestic and international flights were cancelled for eight days.

On 2 February, 2016, two workers of PIA were killed while dozens of other protestors were injured when paramilitary forces of the Pakistan Rangers and Sindh Police indiscriminately opened fire on a rally of hundreds of PIA workers.  These workers were protesting against the privatization of PIA being carried out under the dictates of IMF.

Gaddani is one of the largest Ship Breaking Yards in the World. Located near the industrial city of Hub in Balochistan, bordering Karachi, it supplies twenty five percent of the steel demand of the country.

On Monday night once again blood flowed in Quetta. At least 61 were killed and 117 wounded, many of them in a critical condition, when terrorists attacked a police training college in Quetta. Around 9:30 in the evening three terrorists entered the college where 700 trainees were present. They entered one of the hostels rounded up and then killed trainee cadets in the building.

Indian-occupied Kashmir has been in revolt since the killing of Burhani Wani, a commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen group, by Indian troops on 8 July. The killing sparked a massive protest movement across the whole of the Kashmir Valley. The Indian state has responded brutally, imposing a draconian curfew, killing over 80 people and injuring thousands. We publish here a comment on the present situation by Yasir Irshad, a Marxist of the IMT in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"As in the entire third world, women, especially poor women workers of Pakistan, are suffering. Sometimes I feel that they need a socialist revolution more than anyone. It is the only way to freedom! "(Anam Patafi)

The Progressive Youth Alliance (PYA) organized a three-day Marxist School on 5, 6, and 7 August, 2016, in Rawalakot, Kashmir. 104 youth and workers from all over Pakistan came to participate, reaching Rawalakot on 4 August.

More and more sections of the working class are coming out to protest for their demands as the economic crisis deepens in Pakistan. Last week saw huge protests of school teachers in Lahore against the privatization of schools. This week more protestors gathered in Lahore from various sections of society despite scorching heat and high temperatures of around forty-eight degrees celsius.