Polly Smythe

The collapse of the national currency and the economy, hyperinflation and wage stagnation are the ingredients of the massive mobilisation that started on Sunday 28 December in the Tehran bazaar and spread to many towns and universities.

This Joint Political Statement by the Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist) and Radical Socialist (India) was issued on 25 December 2025.

“Although he is outraged and indignant at his arbitrary imprisonment, he has not lost his legendary smile despite the deep sense of injustice [hogra in Arabic].”

“We face a deadly spiral of combined crises (the ’polycrisis’), to which the established political and economic powers are offering no response. Poverty and widespread insecurity continue to spread. However, in recent months, in the face of humanitarian disasters, protest movements have taken on a new dimension, with impressive demonstrations and uprisings. Asia is at the heart of these developments, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and the Philippines, where our partners are based.”

Lyes Touati, a member of the Parti Socialiste des Travailleurs (PST), was arrested yesterday in Aokas (Algeria) and remanded in custody. We do not know the reasons for his arrest or the charges against him.