Editorial

French Elections – Left Success in Halting the Far Right

PEOPLE of France have voted against the far-right in the parliamentary elections. Contrary to many opinion polls, the National Rally of Le Pen could win only 143 seats and stood third. The newly formed Left coalition, New Popular Front achieved a victory by emerging as the largest bloc with182 seats, while President Macron’s group Ensemble won 163 seats. As a result of this fractured mandate, no single party or Front secured an outright majority. For a majority, one needs to win 289 in the 577-seat National Assembly. The New Popular Front fell short of majority by over 100 seats.

Hold These Criminal Laws in Abeyance

THE BJP has ensured that the three new laws passed by the government at the tail end of the last Lok Sabha in a most cavalier and undemocratic fashion have now been enforced all over the country on July 1.  These laws, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam have replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.It is nothing short of mind-boggling that the entire system of criminal justice has been subjected to major changes without preparation, discussion and deb

Modi Regime: More of the Same

THE formation of a Modi-led NDA coalition government has led to expectations in some circles that this will be a government which will face serious constraints in going ahead with the BJP/RSS’s authoritarian-communal-corporate agenda.  Some of these expectations are exaggerated.  The fact that the BJP has lost its majority and confined to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha may check or slow down certain aspects of the agenda which Modi and the RSS/BJP were aiming to implement in the third term of Modi’s rule. Constitutional changes, which could further attenuate the democratic system, undermine the

EU Parliament Elections – Ominous Signs

ELECTIONS to the European Parliament held on June 9, saw the emergence of far-right parties as a significant force. Many of these parties are pro-capital, against immigration and also climate skeptics. In a globalised world these results are ominous.The centre-right Conservative group, European People’s Party was barely able to maintain its vote share and seats in these elections. The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (centre-left) saw a marginal drop in their vote share (1 per cent) and seats (minus 4 seats).

Election Verdict: One Step Forward but Fight to Go On

THE verdict of the 2024 Lok Sabha election is remarkable for the assertion by the people that they value democracy and the constitution.  The people have deprived the BJP of an absolute majority, something which it had achieved both in 2014 and 2019.  The BJP’s tally has come down from 303 seats to 240 seats – a 21 per cent reduction.  NDA has won 292 seats while the INDIA bloc has got 234 seats. The elections were held in the background of the ten years of Modi rule whose hallmark was the institution of an authoritarian regime which promoted the Hindutva-communal agenda.

It is All About the Constitution

AS the last phase of polling is about to be completed, there is no doubt that the Constitution of India and its protection has been one of the main issues in the Lok Sabha election. Right from the beginning, the leaders of the INDIA bloc of parties had pitched the defence of the constitution as a central theme in their election platform.This had a major impact on a large number of people who had experienced the various facets of authoritarian rule in the country in the past one decade.

Make Israeli Rulers Accountable for War Crimes

Enable GingerCannot connect to Ginger Check your internet connectionor reload the browserDisable GingerRephraseRephrase with Ginger (Ctrl+Alt+E)THE chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, has sought arrest warrants to be issued against Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and defence minister Yoav Gallant along with three Hamas leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh.  The prosecutor has stated that there is enough evidence that the Israeli prime minister and defence minister have committed crimes against humanity and war crimes during the seven mont

Sambhal Outrage: Targeting Muslims

NARENDRA Modi cannot speak nowadays anything which even approximates the truth. His latest false utterance is in an interview after having filed his nomination in Varanasi. Modi said that when he talked of “those who have more children”, he had not meant Muslims. He further went on make the astounding claim that “The day I do ‘Hindu-Muslim’, I will not be eligible to stay in public life”.Anyone who has heard or seen Modi’s speech at Banswara on April 9 can make out that he targeted Muslims when he referred to “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.

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