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A View of Wayanad

THE little girl has a smile that would light up the darkest space. Stretching out her little hands, she greets us, three strangers, P K Sreemathi, C S Sujatha and myself as though she knows us. We are here in Meppady to meet affected families of the Wayanad tragedy. Even two months later, so deep is the trauma that none of the survivors we meet speak about the horror of that night on July 30th, or how they survived.

One Nation One Election: Recipe for Sabotaging the Constitution

AMIDST the backdrop of the ruling dispensation's diminishing fortunes in recent and current electoral contexts, the shrill noise over one nation, one election (ONOE) in its first appearance gives the impression that it is an exercise in sloganeering, yet another ‘jumla’. This echoes similar slogans by the BJP-led dispensation, such as one nation, one tax, one nation, one national language, and so on.

R G Kar case: TMC Expanding Rape Supportive Cultures

THE victim in the RG Kar case has a new name born in the womb of protests against the barbarities she had to face. She is called Tilottama – one who combines in herself the best of all. The solidarity struggles for justice for Tillottama — have shaken not just Bengal but the country. Thousands of self-mobilised citizens, their conscience awakened  have come out in street protests in solidarity . The West Bengal Junior Doctors organisation and the Joint Platform of Doctors are in the forefront.

A Tribute to Comrade Sitaram

TO write about Comrade Sitaram Yechury in the past tense is exceedingly difficult and painful for me. For five decades our political lives have been closely and intricately intertwined while we have together gone through various phases and ups and downs of the Party and the Left movement. Our comradeship began 50 years ago, beginning at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1974, continuing in the Students’ Federation of India and later in the Party.

Stop Ambanis’ Capture of Indian Olympics!

Instead of promoting a mass culture of sports, which has proven to produce the best results in Olympics, the Narendra Modi-led government is promoting the corporatisation of sports which is only serving to restrict the masses’ access to sports while handing over our elite athletes to be used by Ambani to promote corporate interests.FELICITATING our Olympic medalists and making India's bid to host the Olympics in 2036 was neither an elected representative of the people nor a veteran of any sport, but Nita Ambani, wife of India's and Asia's richest person, Mukesh Ambani, whose closen

Protect Damodar Valley Corporation

THE newly appointed union power minister in the NDA government has swiftly pushed forward with privatisation initiatives since taking office. A key move is the directive to unbundle the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) into three separate entities for corporatisation—one for generation, one for transmission, and one for distribution.

Malayalam Film Industry: Implement Hema Committee Report

THE release of the report of the Justice Hema Committee set up by the government of Kerala ‘to study and report on various issues faced by women in cinema and to suggest solutions to such issues’ on August 19, 2024 has seen a number of women connected with the Malayalam film industry, mostly actors, coming forward, and making serious allegations of sexual assault, abuse, misconduct etc against well-known men in the industry who are actors, directors, and important office-bearers in associations connected with the film world and also public institutions.  This is a very welcome development i

On the Debate on Sub-Classification and Creamy Layer

THE recent Supreme Court judgment has once again stirred up debate on the issue of sub-classification of Scheduled Castes. By a majority decision, the Supreme Court held that the classification of Scheduled Castes is constitutional and that states have the authority to make decisions on the issue based on clear guidelines. Only one judge dissented from this majority opinion. The court has left the decision of undertaking classification to the discretion of the states.

Lal Salam Buddha da

AS soon as I emerged from the operating theatre, having had my cataract attended to, I was informed of the shattering news that Buddha da had left us. I spoke with Boudhi, who, upon hearing that I was in the operation theatre, forbade me from traveling. In any case, I could not have joined Buddha da’s last journey. This is a regret that will remain with me always.A large number of obituaries evaluating his work and contributions to Bengal have naturally emerged. Most, however, focus mainly on his role as chief minister of Bengal. This is natural.

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