The Farce of Self-Reliance

PRIME Minister, Narendra Modi, has hijacked the concept of self-reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat). He claims this is the way to revive growth and make the 21st century, India’s century. Behind such bombast lies a crude contradiction and deception. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan special package announced to realise this goal has exposed the reality – the aim is to make India’s economy more dependent on international finance capital and to privatise India’s natural resources to benefit foreign and Indian big business.

Environment & Covid-19 in India

WORLD Environment Day 2020 comes at a unique time this year, right in the middle of perhaps the worst pandemic the world has seen in over a century. Due to lockdowns and other restrictions the world over, pollution of air and water has dropped, bird song has been heard in cities after ages, and wildlife has been making surprise appearances in urban areas. Global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are estimated to have declined by around 17 per cent in April 2020 compared to 2019, about half of this due to reduction in surface transport.

Protest on June 16 to Protect Livelihoods

AN online press conference was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary on June 3 briefing about the decisions taken by the Polit Bureau meeting held a day before.
He expressed solidarity with the people who are battling the Nisarga Cyclone that has hit the coast of Maharashtra and asked both the central and state governments to ensure proper relief measures are taken.

Polit Bureau Communique: All India Protest Day on June 16

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held its first meeting through video conferencing on June 2, 2020. It has issued the following statement on June 3.

In the current situation where millions have been rendered unemployed and heart rending experiences of hungry migrant workers on the roads marching back home, the PB has called for an all India protest day on June 16.

Open Source Covid Movement: Non-Capitalist Alternative to Control Pandemic

AT a recent press conference, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made an important announcement with global political dimensions. He said that the monopoly drug manufacturers are engaged in developing vaccines, medicines and other products related to the treatment of Covid-19. These would be patented and sold in the market for prices unaffordable to ordinary people. As an alternative, an Open Source Covid Movement based on the principles of cooperation and sharing is also coming up. The chief minister announced the state’s solidarity with this movement.

Raging Anti-racist Rage in the US

IN Minneapolis, US, after an unarmed and unresisting George Floyd, a 46 year old Afro-American, was killed by a white cop after being arrested for the non-violent, alleged crime of trying to pass a fake $20 note, anti-racist protests erupted. Minneapolis cops, with a reputation for violence, responded to the initial protest with tear gas, rubber bullets and use of force. Enraged by their reaction, the protests became more determined, leading to the torching of a police station, damage to stores and other businesses, and the blockading of streets and bridges.

The Myth of ‘Gujarat Model’ and its Implosion

IN this pandemic stricken world, an observation is doing the rounds. The virus did not break the world; it was broken and the pandemic has exposed this. On a day when the total deaths due to the pathogen has overtaken the Chinese numbers, notwithstanding the prime minister’s colourful fiction inspired ‘Mann ki Baat’ in his personalised letter to the population, this would equally hold good.

A World-Wide Churn

THE capitalist world has been gripped by a crisis since 2008, the basic cause of which is the unsustainable neoliberal capitalist system.

Crisis-ridden capitalism has been trying its level best to come out of this crisis. But whatever methods and steps were adopted had failed to overcome this problem, unlike in earlier such crises. This showed the hollowness and vulnerabilities of the finance driven neoliberal order.

CITU Foundation Day Observed with Fervour

The central trade unions, which met on June 3 decided to intensify the joint struggle. They called for observing July 3, 2020 as a Protest Day all over the country. They also decided to observe non-cooperation and defiance against the government’s anti-national, anti-people and anti-worker policies, the concrete form of which will be formulated soon.

WEST BENGAL: Lefts on the Street with Peoples’ Demands

Apart from providing succour to distressed, running community kitchens, providing relief to Amphan victims, the Left parties in West Bengal have organised protest movements highlighting peoples’ demands. On the one hand, the central government is sharpening its attack on peoples’ livelihood; on the other the state government has shown a paralysed reaction to both Covid-19 and recent cyclone. The Left parties have raised peoples’ issues through demonstrations and symbolic protests.

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