Indian subcontinent
WSWS interviews tortured Tamil political refugee
By Athiyan Silva, 30 July 2012
The WSWS recently interviewed a former Tamil political prisoner, beaten and tortured in so-called rehabilitation centres by the Sri Lankan army and intelligence.
Conflict between Pakistan’s Supreme Court and government intensifies
By Sampath Perera, 28 July 2012
The power struggle between the judiciary and the PPP-led government in Pakistan reflects the deep divisions within the country’s ruling elite.
Sri Lankan SEP to contest provincial council election
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 24 July 2012
The Socialist Equality Party will contest the Kegalla District of Sabaragamuwa Province in provincial council elections to be held on September 8.
Ex-army chief calls for regime change in Sri Lanka
By Nanda Wickremasinghe, 23 July 2012
Former presidential candidate, General Sarath Fonseka, has appealed for Western support for a campaign to overthrow the present government.
India: Maruti Suzuki launches witch-hunt against workers
By Arun Kumar, 23 July 2012
It is clear that the plant management deliberately provoked the altercation to intimidate workers and suppress any opposition to slave labour conditions.
Stalinist CPM backs ruling Indian Congress party’s presidential candidate
By Deepal Jayasekera, 20 July 2012
The Stalinist CPM’s decision to support Congress candidate Pranab Mukherjee in the presidential elections is a clear signal that the CPM is willing to resume its alliance with the Congress.
Former Indian finance minister Mukherjee runs for presidency
By Deepal Jayasekera, 17 July 2012
The Indian presidential elections will be held on July 19.
Bangladesh and Assam devastated by floods
By Sathish Simon, 16 July 2012
While torrential monsoonal rains produced the floods, their ruinous impact is the result of decades of official indifference and negligence.
Sri Lankan government moves to extend the police custody period
By Sanjaya Jayasekara, 13 July 2012
The doubling of the detention period is another step to entrench the police-state measures adopted during the country’s civil war.
Sri Lankan SEP meeting discusses socialist policy for fishermen
By our correspondent, 12 July 2012
The SEP and ISSE campaign dealt with the issues raised by protests by fishermen earlier this year against fuel price hikes.
Credit agency rates Sri Lanka “very high risk”
By Saman Gunadasa, 11 July 2012
S&P became the second ratings agency to warn of Sri Lanka’s exposure to the deepening financial crisis unfolding in Europe.
India: The lessons of the NLC betrayal
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 11 July 2012
The Stalinist unions deliberately blocked any political fight against the state and central governments, and a turn to other sections of workers.
US and Pakistan end standoff over Afghan supply routes
By Peter Symonds, 6 July 2012
The decision to lift the seven-month ban followed a limited apology by the Obama administration over the killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers in US air strikes last November.
Sri Lankan unions betray university workers’ strike
By Dehin Wasantha, 4 July 2012
The IUTUJC ended the campaign on the basis of an empty promise over salary anomalies.
New Pakistani prime minister appointed
By Sampath Perera, 30 June 2012
The installation of Raja Pervez Ashraf as prime minister will do nothing to alleviate Pakistan’s worsening political crisis.
Sri Lanka: Pro-government thugs kill two JVP supporters
By Sujeewa Amaranath and Wasantha Rupasinghe, 29 June 2012
The murders are part of the anti-democratic methods being used to stifle any opposition to the government’s imposition of IMF austerity measures.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold meeting on fishermen’s struggle
By Socialist Equality Party, 26 June 2012
The public meeting in the western Sri Lankan port of Chilaw will discuss a socialist program for fishermen and their families.
Sri Lanka tilts toward the US
By Sarath Kumara, 23 June 2012
Sri Lankan officials secured military assistance from the US and India at the recent Singapore security summit.
Pakistan Supreme Court ousts prime minister
By Sampath Perera, 22 June 2012
Gilani’s disqualification reflects bitter feuding in the ruling elites, including the opposition parties, the military and the courts.
Ratings agency warns of Sri Lanka’s exposure to European crisis
By Saman Gunadasa, 18 June 2012
Of the Asian countries, Sri Lanka is “most at risk” from any global financial shocks because of its high external borrowing needs and weak balance sheet.
US declares India a “lynchpin” in its Asian strategy
By Sarath Kumara, 12 June 2012
Defence Secretary Panetta called for greater US-Indian military cooperation during his visit last week to New Delhi.
Indian government prepares mass sacking of Air India pilots
By Sathish Simon and Deepal Jayasekera, 9 June 2012
The attack on the pilots sets a dangerous precedent for a similar assault on other sections of workers defending their jobs and living standards.
Sri Lanka: Plantation workers oppose tea factory closure
By M. Vasanthan, 8 June 2012
Hundreds of Park Estate tea plantation workers have begun strike action to defend jobs and oppose cost-cutting measures.
US Defense Secretary Panetta threatens ground intervention into Pakistan
By Alex Lantier, 8 June 2012
Speaking in Kabul, US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta threatened Pakistan with a ground attack if it did not crush forces in Pakistan fighting the US occupation of Afghanistan.
Non-academic university staff strike in Sri Lanka
By Panini Wijesiriwardane, 7 June 2012
The strikers are demanding an immediate 25 percent pay rise as part of their protracted campaign to rectify salary anomalies.
India: NLC contract workers oppose union sell-out
By Arun Kumar and Moses Rajkumar, 5 June 2012
Angry NLC contract workers confront local union leaders over the back-room deal signed with management to shut down long-running strike action.
Singh promotes Indian interests in Burma
By Sarath Kumara, 4 June 2012
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Burma highlighted India’s intensifying pursuit of its economic and strategic interests.
US launches new drone attacks on Pakistan
By Bill Van Auken, 4 June 2012
The Obama administration ordered new drone attacks on Pakistan over the weekend, killing at least a dozen people in the tribal area of South Waziristan.
Indian workers, youth, rural poor join bandh against fuel price hikes
By Arun Kumar, 2 June 2012
On Thursday, workers, youth and rural poor throughout India joined the nationwide shutdown and protests against fuel price hikes imposed by the UPA government.
Indian government attempts to smash pilots strike
By Sathish Simon, 31 May 2012
The attacks on Air India pilots are a warning to the entire working class.
India: Nationwide protests against fuel price hikes
By Deepal Jayasekera, 30 May 2012
Like its counterparts internationally, the Indian government is seeking to impose the burden of the worsening global crisis of capitalism onto the backs of working people.
Indian Communist Party (Marxist) continues to defend Stalin’s crimes
By Deepal Jayasekera, 29 May 2012
Far from being unimportant “archival matters”, the ideological differences between Stalinism and Trotskyism are of fundamental importance for workers today.
Sri Lankan president’s salute to militarism
By Wije Dias, 28 May 2012
This year’s “victory” parade only underscored the degree to which his government rests on the country’s huge military apparatus.
Sri Lankan president releases jailed rival
By Sampath Perera, 26 May 2012
Rajapakse announced Fonseka’s release in a bid to ease tensions with the US, just days after Sri Lanka’s foreign minister visited Washington.
Sri Lanka: SEP holds plantation workers’ congress
By W.A.Sunil, 25 May 2012
The SEP plantation workers congress in Hatton last Saturday reflected important political shifts in the Sri Lankan working class
US steps up drone war on Pakistan
By Bill Van Auken, 25 May 2012
US drone attacks in northwest Pakistan killed at least 14 people in little more than 24 hours, including 10 dying in a Thursday morning missile strike on a mosque.
India: WSWS team attacked as NLC strike enters second month
By Arun Kumar, 22 May 2012
The assault on WSWS supporters, who were distributing a leaflet exposing the role of the government and the unions, is a clear sign that a betrayal is being prepared.
Pakistan’s Hazaras targeted by campaign of ethnic-communal killings
By a Pakistani correspondent, 22 May 2012
More than twenty Hazaras were killed and some thirty others wounded in a series of ambushes last month in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
Sri Lankan SEP condemns attack on WSWS supporters in India
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 21 May 2012
The assault by AIADMK thugs is a warning to workers of the methods that governments and employers will use to suppress opposition to the deepening assault on jobs and living standards.
Sri Lankan government imposes new price rises
By Saman Gunadasa, 18 May 2012
As escalating price increases impact on Sri Lanka workers, the banks and other major corporations are amassing huge profits.
Sri Lanka: Fire destroys plantation workers’ homes
By M. Vasanthan, 16 May 2012
A recent fire that destroyed over 20 line-rooms highlights the poverty-stricken conditions facing Sri Lankan plantation workers.
Clinton pressures India to support sanctions on Iran
By Sarath Kumara, 15 May 2012
Indian corporations and banks are facing the prospect of tough US penalties from the end of June for doing business with Iranian banks.
India: Striking NLC contract workers must expand struggle—industrially and politically
By Arun Kumar and Moses Rajkumar, 15 May 2012
On strike since April 21, the 14,000 contract workers at the Indian government-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation are challenging a cheap-labour and repressive work-regime that has become the norm in both India’s public and private sectors.
Sri Lanka: Plantation workers denounce tea estate unions
By Panini Wijesiriwardane and M. Vasanthan, 10 May 2012
The SEP campaigns for plantation workers’ congress on May 20 in Hatton to defend the rights .
Indian Stalinists line up with national bourgeoisie on Sri Lanka’s Tamil issue
By V. Sivagnanan, 10 May 2012
India’s main Stalinist parliamentary parties have based themselves on defending the national interests of Indian bourgeoisie in their stand on the issue of Sri Lanka’s Tamil minority.
Sri Lanka: SEP and ISSE hold May Day meeting
By our correspondents, 9 May 2012
Over 200 workers and youth attended the SEP and ISSE May Day meeting held in Colombo last week.
Buddhist mob in Sri Lanka threatens to demolish a mosque
By K. Ratnayake, 8 May 2012
The sympathetic attitude of the security forces towards the racialist mob contrasts with their violent methods in dealing with protests and strikes by workers, youth and the rural poor.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold plantation workers’ congress
Socialist Equality Party, 7 May 2012
The plantation workers’ congress on May 20 will discuss and adopt a socialist program to defend the democratic rights, jobs and living conditions of estate workers.
India: Strike challenges NLC’s decades-long use of contract labor
By Satish Simon, 5 May 2012
A WSWS reporting team spoke with some of the 14,000 contract workers who have been on strike against the central government-owned Neyveli Lignite Corporation in Tamil Nadu since April 21.
Storm clouds gather over Indian economy
By Kranti Kumara, 3 May 2012
The head of India’s central bank has suggested that the country could face a balance of payments crisis akin to that in 1991, when it turned to the IMF for emergency loans.
Two hundred feared dead in Indian ferry disaster
By Deepal Jayasekera, 2 May 2012
The ferry disaster is the product of successive governments’ grossly inadequate funding of basic social infrastructure and the subordination of transportation services to the dictates of the profit system.
US resumes drone killings in Pakistan
By Bill Van Auken, 1 May 2012
Washington ended a month-long pause in its campaign of drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas Sunday, provoking a formal protest from the government in Islamabad.
US and Pakistan restart talks on prosecuting AfPak War
By Ali Ismail, 28 April 2012
Official negotiations between Washington and Islamabad on Pakistan’s role in the Afghan War and the perpetuation of the US-Pakistani strategic alliance resumed this week.
Sri Lanka: “Resettled” Tamils in Vanni live in poverty
By Subash Somachandran, 28 April 2012
WSWS reporters recently visited the war-ravaged Vanni to speak with Tamil refugees.
Sri Lankan ex-lefts issue phony call for a hartal
By Vilani Peiris, 27 April 2012
The United Socialist Party (USP) has issued an appeal to opposition parties for a hartal—a general strike and shutdown of businesses—to fight for wages rises.
Sri Lanka: Slowing economy sharpens government austerity drive
By Saman Gunadasa, 26 April 2012
The living conditions of the working people and the rural poor are deteriorating, and the reduced growth forecast means that the social distress will intensify.
India tests long-range missile capable of striking China’s cities
By Kranti Kumara, 24 April 2012
The Indian government did nothing to counter or dampen the media’s contention that the long-range missile it tested last Thursday is aimed first and foremost at China.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold May Day meeting
By the Socialist Equality Party, 21 April 2012
An SEP and ISSE public meeting in Colombo on May 1 will to mark international workers’ day.
Anti-Indian propaganda intensifies in Sri Lanka after UN vote
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 20 April 2012
Colombo-New Delhi relations have been strained since India voted for a US-backed resolution on human rights abuses in Sri Lanka.
Mounting tensions between India’s army and civilian government
By Kranti Kumara, 18 April 2012
So fractious are relations between India’s army and civilian government, sections of the government reportedly feared that a military coup might be underway in mid-January.
Union leader killed in Bangladesh
By Sarath Kumara, 17 April 2012
Aminul Islam went missing on April 4 and his tortured body was found two days later, dumped by the roadside.
SEP campaigns for plantation workers’ congress
By Panini Wijesiriwardane, 17 April 2012
A campaign team visited the Shannon Tea Estate near Hatton, where workers are fighting the company’s increased tea plucking targets.
India: Stalinist CPM congress dismisses socialism
By Deepal Jayasekera, 16 April 2012
At its 20th Congress, the CPM reiterated its defence of the crimes of the Soviet Stalinist bureaucracy and justified its role as a political prop of the Indian bourgeoisie.
Sri Lankan government releases abducted political activists
By K. Ratnayake, 13 April 2012
Two leaders of a recently formed opposition party were abducted amid a growing wave of disappearances, abductions and torture by police, security forces and allied paramilitary groups.
Pakistan: 250,000 displaced by army operation in Khyber Agency
By Ali Ismail, 13 April 2012
Fierce clashes between Pakistani troops and Islamist militants in the country’s northwest tribal areas have forced more than 250,000 people to flee their homes since January.
Wife of missing Sri Lankan journalist speaks to WSWS
By Panini Wijesiriwardane and Wasantha Rupasinghe, 9 April 2012
Sandhya Ekneligoda is continuing to campaign on behalf of her husband, who “disappeared” in January 2010, in all likelihood at the hands of pro-government thugs.
India: Stalinist CPM promotes alliance with regional bourgeois parties
By Deepal Jayasekera in Kozhikode, 7 April 2012
The national congress of India’s main Stalinist parliamentary party has called for renewed efforts to build an alliance with regionalist and caste-ist bourgeois parties to contain mounting working class and poor peasant opposition to the social crisis wrought by two decades of market “reforms”.
IMF releases loan after Sri Lankan government imposes austerity measures
By Saman Gunadasa, 7 April 2012
The International Monetary Fund’s press release made clear that more socially-regressive measures would be required.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 12
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 7 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
India’s Communist Party (Marxist): Defender of Stalin and capitalist restoration
By Deepal Jayaskera, 6 April 2012
For the first time since 1992, the leadership of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), India’s principal Stalinist parliamentary party, is presenting an “ideological” resolution to its national congress.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 11
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 6 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 10
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 5 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 9
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 4 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
India: Stalinist CPM holds party congress amid mounting internal crisis
By Deepal Jayaskera, 4 April 2012
India’s principal Stalinist parliamentary party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) is holding its 20th Congress this week amid a mounting and deep-rooted internal political crisis.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 8
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 3 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing its publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 7
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 2 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 6
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 31 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 5
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 30 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
Tamil separatists lobby imperialist powers against Sri Lankan government at UN
By Athiyan Silva, 30 March 2012
Tamil nationalist groups are appealing to US imperialism and its allies to investigate war crimes by the Sri Lankan government during the Sri Lankan civil war.
India’s government orients towards privatizing water
By Ajay Prakash and Kranti Kumara, 30 March 2012
Under the guise of providing a solution to the country’s acute water crisis, India’s Congress Party-led Union government has issued a policy document that advocates the wholesale privatization of water delivery and sanitation.
Indian budget raises taxes and prices
By Deepal Jayasekera, 29 March 2012
The working people and rural toilers will be hit by higher prices, particularly for fuel and fertiliser, in an effort to satisfy the financial markets by cutting the budget deficit.
Pakistan: Power cuts spark mass protests across Punjab
By Ali Ismail, 29 March 2012
Mass protests have erupted in Pakistan’s largest province in response to prolonged electricity-power cuts that have disrupted daily life and exacerbated the economic crisis ravaging the country.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 3
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 28 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
UN Human Rights Council passes resolution on Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake, 28 March 2012
The toothless US-backed resolution has nothing to do with addressing human rights abuses in Sri Lanka but is aimed at advancing US interests in South Asia.
Sri Lankan farmers demonstrate for a higher rice price
By W.A. Sunil, 27 March 2012
World Socialist Web Site correspondents visited Hingurakgoda, in North-Central Province, to speak to protesting farmers.
Sri Lankan SEP calls plantation workers’ congress
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 27 March 2012
The Plantation Workers’ Congress will be held on May 20 to discuss and adopt a socialist program to defend basic democratic and social rights.
The life and times of a Sri Lankan migrant worker
By Ajanta Silva, 27 March 2012
An interview with Chandima Gayani, a 40-year-old Sri Lankan woman, on her experiences as a migrant worker.
ICG reports detail the militarisation in Sri Lanka’s North
By Sampath Perera, 24 March 2012
Recent International Crisis Group reports expose the government’s lies that it has resettled displaced Tamils and established democratic rights.
Sri Lankan health unions abandon strike after court order
By Vilani Peiris, 23 March 2012
President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government is increasingly using the judiciary and other state institutions to break strikes, assisted by the complicity of the trade unions.
Pakistan’s president delivers annual address amid swirl of economic and political crises
By Ali Ismail, 22 March 2012
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari used his annual presidential address to hype the supposed “achievements” of the Pakistan Peoples’ Party-led government, describing a Pakistan that the country’s workers and toilers would be unable to recognize.
Sri Lankan defence ministry censors SMS news alerts
By Sampath Perera, 20 March 2012
The new media restrictions—in violation of the constitution and the legal system—are another warning of police-state preparations.
Bangladeshi government cracks down on opposition rally
By Sarath Kumara and Wimal Perera, 17 March 2012
The right-wing BNP and the Islamists are seeking to exploit the rising disaffection with the government and divert it in a reactionary nationalist direction.
Sri Lankan ex-lefts promote the right-wing UNP
By K. Ratnayake, 15 March 2012
The NSSP and USP are supporting a UNP-led “joint opposition” against the government’s price rises and anti-democratic methods.
Sri Lankan UNP’s bogus opposition to IMF austerity program
By Saman Gunadasa, 12 March 2012
Backed by ex-radical groups, the right-wing UNP is posturing as an opponent of the government’s price hikes.
Washington threatens Pakistan over proposed gas pipeline with Iran
By Ali Ismail, 9 March 2012
The Obama administration has threatened to impose economic sanctions on Pakistan if it proceeds with plans to build a natural gas pipeline to Iran, its eastern neighbor.
Sri Lanka: Colombo residents defy government bid to demolish “unauthorised” housing
By an SEP reporting team, 9 March 2012
More than 100 people from the Maligawatta housing estate protested last week to stop a government authority destroying extensions to their tiny flats.
Sri Lankan fishermen forced back to work
By our correspondents, 6 March 2012
Although fishermen have resumed working in Sri Lanka’s north, their higher fuel costs make it impossible to earn a living, and discontent is rising.
Sri Lankan unions betray university workers’ strike
By W.A. Sunil, 3 March 2012
University unions cave in to Sri Lankan government’s social austerity measures and patriotic campaign.
India: Tens of millions join one-day protest strike
By our correspondents, 2 March 2012
As many as a hundred million workers participated in a one-day, India-wide general strike Tuesday to protest against the socio-economic policies of the Congress Party-led United Progressive Alliance government.
Sri Lanka government slanders protesters opposing price hikes
By W.A. Sunil and K. Ratnayake, 2 March 2012
The government’s jingoist campaign reflects deep fears that it confronts a growing movement of workers and the rural masses against its IMF austerity agenda.
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