Pakistan

The Indian subcontinent is bracing itself with the threat of a fourth full fledged war .The trumpets of war are being sounded on both sides of the border and a frantical war hysteria is being build up. The situation is tense with rapid troop deployment and movements especially along the line of control, the temporary border dividing the Himalayan state of Kashmir. Lal Khan, editor of the Pakistani Marxist fortnightly paper Jeddo Judh (Class Struggle) provides a socialist analysis.

This is a translation of a column by Munno Bhai published in the daily Pakistani paper Jang on May 25th, 1999, with a circulation of 750,000. Munno Bhai writes regularly for the Marxist fortnightly paper Jeddo Judh (Class Struggle)

Marx explained that in the long run capitalist society would either be replaced by Socialism or it would degenerate into Barbarism. The situation in Afghanistan is a living example of what Barbarism means. In this interview, held on March 22, 1998, Afghan socialists explain the situation in their country after the victory of the Taliban.

The coup in Pakistan on November 1996 underlines the nature of the Pakistan regime as a regime of crisis. It is a graphic expression of the impasse of all the regimes of the ex colonial countries. Economic crisis, mass unemployment and underemployment, inflation, financial bankruptcy, and complete subjugation to world imperialism--these are the hallmarks of the situation.