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Suspension of Opposition MPs in Rajya Sabha: Assault on Parliamentary Democracy

THE ruling BJP and its allies are trying to undermine the very democratic system of our nation by taking away the rights of parliamentarians. The last monsoon session saw some of the most humiliating days for our democracy. The ongoing winter session is witnessing an even worse phase. Listening to the opposition is unavoidable in democracy. But the BJP is trying how not to answer the questions posed by the opposition, and how to silence the MPs asking questions.

Sangh Parivar Tries to Create “Food Communalism”

THE Kerala state committee of the Democratic Youth Federation of India has conducted a campaign named “Food Street” from November 24 exposing the Sangh Parivar’s hate propaganda against Halal hotels. The Halal hate campaign is intended to create anti-Muslim feelings in society. RSS has started the hate campaign in social media with leaders like K Surendran, president of Kerala Bharatiya Janata Party, in the lead.

Politics of Mass Struggle

THE historic victory of the kisan struggle in forcing the government to roll back the anti-farmer, pro-corporate three farm laws underlines the importance of the politics of mass struggle. The strength of the farmers' united movements under the leadership of the Samyukta Kisan Morcha put the government on the defensive with the struggle organically transforming into a mass struggle against the BJP and its governments at the centre and states.

The Ominous Design: Journey towards a Security State

MODI government has promulgated two ordinances allowing the central government to extend tenures of the directors of CBI and ED from two to five years. That both these central agencies have been functioning as the political tool of the ruling party to advance the government’s agenda is a cliché in India today. Leaders of opposition parties and dissenting voices, intellectuals who dare to call the government to account are being regularly targeted.

A Tax Burden that Attacks The Federal Rights of States

THE Narendra Modi government reduced excise duty on petrol and diesel on the eve of Deepavali. While the reduction for petrol was Rs 5, duty on diesel came down by Rs 10. The finance ministry ‘dedicated’ the reduction to farmers for keeping “the economic growth momentum going even during the (Covid-19) lockdown phase” and said the reduction “will come as a boost to the farmers during the upcoming Rabi season”.

A Tale of Two COP26 Meetings

GLASGOW (Scotland, UK) was once the second most important city in the British Empire. The old docks along the river Clyde brought ships that came from Bengal carrying jute for the mills of Dundee and brought the wealth of the Americas that was earned by the trade in human beings. The city’s old buildings carry the evidence of that wealth, while the stories of its working-class rebellion in 1919 (Red Clydeside) are buried under the flagstones of St. George’s Square along with the memories of the Indian jute workers and the African sugarcane workers.

Inescapable: Remembering November in the Midst of a Pandemic

SINCE the collapse of the Soviet Union three decades back, efforts to rubbish the November revolution and its underlying principles continue. It is another matter that the questions raised and the answers provided to some of the profound issues confronting the human society cannot be ostracised for good. They stand up with the full range of its ideological posers. In fact, with the passage of time they raise new vision in engaging with the current and evolving reality under contemporary neo-liberal capitalism.

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