ON August 7, 2024 a delegation of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) and the Kerala Karshaka Sangham (KKS – Kerala unit of AIKS) visited Chooralmala, the site of the devastating landslide in Wayanad, Kerala, which took place on the night of July 29/30.A KKS relief team had, of course, visited the spot immediately after the landslide on July 30, and volunteers of the KKS and also various other mass fronts have been helping in the rescue and relief work round the clock. We met a number of DYFI and AIKS volunteers who have been constantly engaged in this work in the landslide-affected area.

“For some political forces Shivaji, Phule, Shahu, Dr B R Ambedkar are mere names to repeat ad nauseum for political gains while they are in fact an anathema to them. The real enemies of these great figures and their teachings are currently in office in the state. The ruling alliance led by the BJP in Maharashtra is itself disturbing peace and social tranquillity in the state,” said Subhashini Ali, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), while addressing a well attended public meeting at Kolhapur on August 6, 2024.

THE International Day of Solidarity with Palestine was observed by the Left parties on August 3, at Jantar Mantar.

GANDACHHARA, a small sub-divisional township in the Dhalai District of Tripura, known for its unique ethnic harmony and peaceful coexistence between tribal and Bengali communities, has recently experienced an unprecedented and destructive backlash. This violence, targeting a specific ethnic group residing in Gandachhara town and nearby villages, was perpetrated by a faction of tribal youths.Gandachhara is a sub-division with a small Bengali community, primarily refugees resettled from what is now Bangladesh in the 1950s, alongside the indigenous tribal population.

A DEVASTATING landslide occurred in Wayanad, a high-range district in North Kerala, in the early hours on July 30th, leaving 108 people dead and hundreds injured. So far, 52 bodies have been taken to the primary health centre in Meppadi, and 41 have been identified. The death toll is likely to rise given the number of missing people. Several bodies and body parts have been found floating in the Chaliyar River, which flows into the adjacent district of Malappuram. Many bodies and body parts have been kept at the government hospital in Nilambur.