While spiraling electricity prices proved the trigger for ongoing protests, the other key demand is to restore the subsidy on wheat prices. Erosion of the subsidy over time has resulted in the doubling of the price of bread since the COVID-19 pandemic.
South Asia
Pakistan: Destructive floods in a murderous system
Widespread flooding driven by devastating monsoons has affected 33 million in Pakistan—some 15 percent of the population. It includes some 650,000 pregnant women who are in dire need of care in flood-hit areas.
More debt won’t solve Sri Lanka’s debt crisis
The causes of the crisis are clear. Sri Lanka’s economy is unstable and prone to global shocks, with its high dependence upon international loans, and focus on foreign currency-generating export industries.
Mass struggle in Sri Lanka forces president’s resignation
Hundreds of people streamed into the palace and quickly made themselves at home—diving into his pool, drinking his whisky, working out in his gym and cooking in his kitchen, marveling at the luxuries enjoyed by the man who oversaw the collapse of the country’s finances.
The Imran Khan’s ouster: From ‘New Pakistan’ to the old one!
It is no exaggeration to say that the almost four years of PTI’s stint in power was one of the darkest periods of this country, which only drove society backwards—and in the absence of a mass revolutionary upsurge, its reactionary political, social, and cultural ramifications will continue to haunt Pakistan.
The rise and fall of Imran Khan
By constantly repeating the claim of an alleged American conspiracy to oust him, Khan has successfully retained his base to some extent. It is possible that the no confidence motion was not orchestrated by the Americans, but it served their interests.
The empire has no clothes
The U.S.’ longest war in history—spanning four presidential terms, two Republican and two Democratic—finally ended on August 30th, having accomplished none of its goals and leaving Afghanistan’s population of nearly 40 million people, if anything, worse off than when it began.
Debacle in Afghanistan
The fact is that over twenty years, the US has failed to build anything that might redeem its mission. The brilliantly lit Green Zone was always surrounded by a darkness that the Zoners could not fathom.
Petulance as foreign policy: Bomber Biden sends in B-52 bombers in a tantrum over Taliban advance
If Biden were correct in saying the US war objective in Afghanistan had been met, there would be no justification (nor is there) for bombing the Taliban as they retake power in the country.
Burma/Myanmar: From civil disobedience to armed resistance – what new Burma can emerge from today’s challenges?
The civil disobedience movement has gone underground and forms of self-defense are spreading throughout the country, not just in peripheral areas populated by ethnic minorities.
Pakistan’s private vaccine sales highlight rich-poor divide
An inoculation push, plagued with limited supplies and red tape, makes doses available to those who can pay for them. In a country with a struggling economy, most can’t.
India’s Covid disaster: The masses are paying for the callousness of the Modi regime
Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, the right-wing BJP government, instead of fighting the virus with emergency health measures, has been manipulating the pandemic as a divisive tool for its communal politics.
Revolution and counter-revolution in Myanmar
Counter-revolutionary violence has reached new heights in Myanmar, as the Tatmadaw (the country’s military) attempts to terrorise a nationwide uprising into submission.
Myanmar’s anti-coup movement
“We have learned from past generations that the working class is the key to victory in this struggle. And from them we have learned that you must never give up and never give in.”
Myanmar’s spring revolution
On 22 February, more than one million people joined the call for a general strike and marched in the largest nationwide mobilisation since resistance to the coup began.