Lal Khan

For decades, the question of democracy verses dictatorship has been debated relentlessly in the political arena of our elites and their toadies. For capitalism and imperialism, military dictatorships and bourgeois democracy are interchangeable as long as they guarantee the continuation of their exploitative system of plunder. Since the Second World War, there has been a […]

With the impending US partial withdrawal from Afghanistan looming closer, some sections of the liberal intelligentsia and the ex-left civil society in Pakistan tacitly try to portray US imperialism as a lesser evil in comparison with the Taliban and the fundamentalist terror groups who have wreaked havoc in the region. However draconian and brutal these […]

As with numerous other political decisions of the present regime, the local bodies polls have ended up in a quagmire and, once again, judicial activism has jumped into the fray exposing the utter indecisiveness and failure of the political elite to resolve anything at all. In the last few years, the nation has witnessed the […]

For the PPP, with all its factions and groups, the birth and death anniversaries of its leaders have become the mainstay of its political activity and perhaps the only. With the passage of time, as the PPP leadership drifted more and more away from its founding socialist ideology and compromised with the capitalist system, the […]

Inflation and the prices of basic commodities under the incumbent PML-N government have excruciatingly escalated the havoc wreaked on the lives of ordinary people. Their purchasing power is declining rapidly with depreciating values, incomes and salaries. The high rate of inflation over a long period of time has had some serious economic, social and political […]

The resounding victory of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (USPV) in last Sunday’s local elections yet again demonstrated the astonishing resilience of the workers and youth of Venezuela and their support for the ongoing revolutionary process. It also shows the pent up revolutionary zeal of the masses that are still fighting against all the […]

In a country that is endlessly gripped with uncertainty and speculations, cynicism becomes part of the social realm. With almost half of its history under direct military rule and with the single exception of civilian rule in the early 1970s, the army has wielded immense influence. It is no wonder that the change of command […]

On December 1, 1967, exactly 46 years ago, the founding conference of the newly formed Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) concluded with elation and optimism amongst the few hundred delegates who had gathered from all across the country. They defied all odds to reach a political assembly in their quest for a socialist revolution in Pakistan. […]

The sudden announcement by the Sharif regime to try General Pervez Musharraf for treason under article six of the constitution for imposing emergency and abrogating the constitution is another frantic episode that shows how the ruling classes are using him as bait to divert mass attention from the serious crises and conflicts erupting in this […]

The statement of Munawar Hasan, chief of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on martyrdom and the fierce reaction by the Pakistan army reveals nothing but the rottenness of the Pakistani ruling class, its state and politics. The army quickly demanded an apology and the JI’s subsequent response of “intervention in politics” by the army is quite sardonic. […]