Communalism

Peaceful & Joyous Eid in Shri Ram Colony

TENSION mounted in the Muslim-majority Shri Ram Colony in North Delhi as RSS karyakartas stumped away with their clubs after a daily shakha. Fear filled the air as they raised communal slogans like “Ab Hamara Hindustan, Mulla Bhago Pakistan (Hindustan is now ours, Muslims flee to Pakistan)”. Provocations were there too as the RSS cadres issued opened threats and crowed about their invincibility under a BJP-led government at the Centre, and attempts were made to disrupt the annual Eid celebrations.

Narendra Modi: The Chief of Misgovernance

ON May 26, 2014, Narendra Modi had shouted from the rooftops that he believed in “minimum government and maximum governance”. He had also boasted that unlike the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government which had been involved in deep acts of corruption in public life, he would provide a clean government because “he would himself be above corruption and he would not tolerate any act of corruption by his government functionaries.” Arun Jaitley, not to be left behind, spoke in his master’s voice that the BJP would ensure “probity in public life”.

Two Agendas: One Modi

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi during his one year of undisputed and unchallenged leadership of the Indian State had to single-handedly carry on his shoulders an extremely contradictory complex agenda of rising to the expectations of the Hindu Sangh Parivar on one hand and on the other the capitalist class. The public celebrations have been focused on the so-called achievements of the one year of the Narendra Modi government with a view to communicate with the various sections of the public about government’s achievements. However, the one- year celebrations are focused on peripheral basis.

Modi on Minority Issues

IT is for the first time in the history of post-Independent India that the prime minister has been compelled to defend himself publicly that he is fully committed to the constitutional values of secularism. This affirmation by media, unfortunately for the whole country, has been made in American magazine Time, to which he gave an interview published on May 7 to 8, 2015. What is the reason for a prime minister of a sovereign democratic republic to defend his domestic policy before a foreign audience?

CPI(M) Leaders Visiting Atali Victims

THE attack on the minority community in Atali village of Haryana’s Faridabad district on May 25 was the result of a well-planned conspiracy by hardcore Hindutva forces. Preparations for the attack had been going on for many days in the area and people were mobilised from adjoining villages through spreading rumour. From the chain of events, it is clear that the attack was carried out with political and administrative patronage.

Hindutva, Corporate Capitalism & Police State in Gujarat

THE Gujarat assembly passed the Gujarat Control of Terrorism and Organised Crime Bill, 2015 (hereafter GUJCTOCA) on March 31, 2015. This is the state government’s third attempt at getting a Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002 (hereafter POTA) like law passed in the state. It is significant that the same Bill has been rejected by the president on two previous instances when the ruling party had got the consent of the legislature in 2003 and 2009.

Politics RSS Plays

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi, under pressure at home and from abroad, felt compelled to state that “my government will not allow any religious group, belonging to the majority or the minority, to incite hatred against others, overtly or covertly”. Addressing Christians in Delhi on February 17, Modi said, “My government will ensure that there is complete freedom of faith and that everyone has the undeterred right to retain or adopt the religion of his or her choice without coercion or under interference.”

Dabholkar to Pansare: Journey of Rabid Communal Terrorism

THE dastardly assassination of Comrade Govind Pansare, the veteran 81-year old former CPI state secretary, national council member, trade union leader, eminent lawyer and prominent Marxist intellectual and writer – exactly a year and a half after the similar assassination of renowned rationalist and socialist Dr Narendra Dabholkar - has been another black mark in the recent history of Maharashtra. It may be recalled that Dabholkar was martyred in Pune on August 20, 2013; Pansare and his wife Uma were shot in Kolhapur on February 16, 2015 and he was martyred on February 20.

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