Jamhoor Radio

Hadia Akhtar interviews award-winning writer, journalist and activist P. Sainath. Currently based in Mumbai, Sainath serves as the founder and editor of People's Archive of Rural India (PARI), which is an independent, multimedia, digital platform which showcases the stories of rural people and their impact on Indian politics and more. 

Khairun Akhtar, a rank-and-file tea worker, speaks on the conditions that led to the unprecedented wildcat strike in August 2022 across tea plantations in Bangladesh.

You’re listening to a special podcast to launch Jamhoor’s summer 2022 issue on Imperialism in South Asia. Visit our website jamhoor.org to learn more.In the past year, we witnessed the catastrophic ending of the US occupation of Afghanistan, the discovery of unmarked mass graves of indigenous children in Canada, the uneven distribution of COVID vaccines and a deepening of the conflict between the US and China. Imperialism has returned to centre stage. We are speaking today with a fierce critic of imperialism: Priyamvada Gopal. Priya is Professor of Postcolonial Studies at Cambridge University. Her teaching and research interests include colonial and postcolonial studies, the novel, South Asian literature and critical race studies. She is the author of several books, including most recently, Insurgent Empire: Anticolonial Resistance and British Dissent (published by Verso in 2020). Priya is also a well-known public intellectual, who was named one of the world's top 50 thinkers by Prospect magazine.Support the show

Fawad Hasan interviews labour organizer Yaseen Jhullan on the issues and demands of garment workers in KarachiSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)

In the second part of our interview with Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, we discuss the Left's response to religious extremism and the climate crisis, as well as the role of national and social movements. In doing so, Aasim speaks to the role of class consciousness, the importance of both movements as well as organizations, and the longer-term project of building a political society.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)

In our third episode, we interview Dr. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, a Leftist politician, academic and columnist based in Pakistan, who has served as the president of the Awami Workers Party's Punjab Executive Committee. In the first part of our interview, Aasim speaks about how Pakistani Left's approach has evolved over the years, especially in breaking away from a political imagination rooted in the Cold War. He also discusses the role of the military and imperialism.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided.Support the show

In this episode we interview Syed Azeem, a member of the Mazdoor Akath and an assistant professor at the Lahore University of Management Sciences in the School of Law. Azeem has been a part of the Pakistani Left for a few decades now and was previously associated with Mazdoor Kisan Party (MKP) and the Progressive Writers Association.In this interview, Azeem shares his views on the current state of the Left in Pakistan, and highlights the loss of a Left tradition of revolution in Pakistan, even as Left consciousness has grown in the shape of various popular movements.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided below.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/jamhoor)

In Part 2 of our interview with Ismat Shahjahan, we dig deeper with questions about leftist movements and politics in Pakistan. In this episode, Ismat talks about terrorism, climate change, "rainbow movements", and the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement.This episode is part of Jamhoor Radio's first season on progressive and revolutionary politics in Pakistan. This episode is in Urdu, with a translation in English provided below.Support the show