This is a report from Pakistan on the conditions of women workers and the activities and programme of the PTUDC on this question.

Here we present a round-up of Alan Woods' tour in Pakistan, including a new report of his meeting with PPP leaders in Lahore on March 31 which was reported in the Pakistani media, but which we have not covered here until now.

Here we present a selection of the Pakistani press coverage of the meeting on the roof of the Hyderabad Press Club on March 29 which was attended by over 350 people.

On a blazing hot day, in Hyderabad, Sindh, 350 people attended a packed meeting on the roof of the Hyderabad Press Club. This was the third and most successful in the speaking tour of Socialist Appeal and www.marxist.com editor, Alan Woods, under the auspices of the Struggle, the Pakistani Marxist tendency. At the meeting a Sindhi language version of the Communist Manifesto, published by the Struggle, was launched. And afterwards a play was performed depicting the class struggle with actors representing the workers and the capitalists. The audience included men and women, trade unionists, activists of the Agricultural Workers' Organisation, and many students from the three

The JKNSF is a significant political force amongst youth in Kashmir. It is now led by Marxists with a clear socialist internationalist programme, and is getting an enthusiastic response from the radicalised Kashmiri youth.

We are publishing here Chapter Seven of the book 'Partition, Can it be undone?' by Lal Khan. We are publishing it because of its relevance to the present conflict between India and Pakistan. This chapter analyses the historical background and the economic and strategic interests that have led to the present situation.

Lal Khan, in Lahore, analyses the difficult situation now facing the military dictatorship of General Musharaff after his humiliating submission to the demands of US imperialism. He also looks at the dire economic situation that has been aggravated by the conflict with India

On 10th September, 2000 the PPP held a workers convention at Lahore. The last such convention was held 28 years ago. The PPP chairperson Ms. Benazir Bhutto, who has been declared a "proclaimed offender" on corruption charges by the present military regime, is presently based in London and hence could not be present. The convention was held to reinvigorate the PPP's dwindling support. The party's social base and active support have been severely eroded due to its dismal performance during its last two tenures in power. The right wing policies of these PPP regimes resulted in a sharp decline in the living standards of the masses. This resulted in disillusionment and demoralisation

As the war in Afghanistan is far from over, Pakistan's eastern border with India is in the grip of new war hysteria. The massive deployment of troops, the cross border exchange of fire and the fleeing of the inhabitants of border villages are posing the threat of yet another war between the two countries. If this conflict erupts into a full-scale war it would be the fourth major military clash between India and Pakistan in a short span of 54 years of their postcolonial existence.