The Impact of the Lockdown on Adivasi Communities

AS the greatest man made humanitarian crisis since independence plays out across India, prevailing inequalities get intensified due to government policies and approaches during the arbitrarily declared, unplanned lockdown. The curtain of invisibility that hitherto concealed the existence of 10 crore workers, termed migrant workers, has been torn asunder through myriad images of horrendous suffering. This huge section of India’s labour force or rather India’s life force are being stripped of their rights as equal citizens of India.

Cyclone Amphan – A National Calamity

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on May 21.

CYCLONE Amphan has caused devastating damage in West Bengal and Odisha. The Polit Bureau of the CPI(M) conveys its deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their lives.
Relief and rehabilitation are the priority at the moment. The country and the people are already in the midst of a grim struggle for survival combating the Covid pandemic. People in both states urgently
need support and solidarity of the governments and people of the country.

Comrade K Varadharajan

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on May 16

THE Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) expresses its profound grief and shock at the death of Comrade K Varadharajan, former member of the Polit Bureau and currently a special invitee to the Central Committee of the CPI(M). He died this afternoon at Karur, Tamil Nadu, following a respiratory problem. He had gone to visit his son in Karur where he was caught in the lockdown. He was 73 years old.

Second Tranche of Financial Package: A Cruel Hoax

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on May 15

THE much-awaited second tranche of the Rs 20-lakh crore financial package regarding the migrant workers, farmers and the poor has turned out to be a cruel hoax. The finance minister’s speech made false claims of what the central government had done to help people.

The Real Agenda of the Financial Package

THE financial package announced in five instalments by the finance minister details PM Modi’s grandiose announcement of a Rs 20 lakh crore stimulus package. This announced package, once again, reconfirms that Modi and the BJP central government are using the Covid-19 pandemic and the national lockdown to further its Hindutva agenda coupled with an aggressive pursuit of neoliberal economic reforms.

The Second Congress – 1948

THE Second Congress of the Communist Party was held in Calcutta, February 28-March 6, 1948, five years after the first Congress. These five years were years of great trials and struggles for the Communist Party, years through which despite slander and opposition, despite brutal repression, it had grown in stature as a leading revolutionary force in India.

Kisan Samman Divas Observed across Country

THE enthusiastic and single-minded participation of lakhs of peasants, agricultural workers and rural poor to observe Kisan Samman Divas on May 16, 2020, as per the call given by the All India Kisan Sangharsh Samanway Samiti (AIKSCC), the largest platform of peasant and agricultural worker organisations of the country, is a clear cut warning to the authoritarian Narendra Modi-led government.

US Declares Vaccine War on the World

DONALD Trump launched a new vaccine war this week, but not against the virus. It was against the world. The US and UK were only two hold-outs in the World Health Assembly on the declaration that vaccines and medicines for Covid-19 should be available as public good, and not under exclusive patent rights. Having badly botched his Covid-19 response, he is trying to redeem his electoral fortunes in the November elections this year by promising an early vaccine.

Enough of Flowers, Give Us Safety Gear: Frontline Workers Demand

AT the call of the CITU, more than four lakh workers across 400 districts in the country took part in protest activities on May 14, the Demands Day. They raised the crucial question of safety of the frontline workers and those working in industries risking infection during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health is No Priority Still

THE Covid-19 pandemic has brought out the stark inadequacy and abysmal neglect of the public health system in India. Even after 50 days of the lockdown, the Modi government seems to have not learnt from the experience of tackling the deadly virus. In state after state, government hospitals are overwhelmed by the number of patients and the lack of treatment facilities. The state of government hospitals in the hotspot of Mumbai provides a grim illustration.

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