Editorial

Misusing Armed Forces for Hindutva Ends

USUALLY, Vijayadashami day has seen two addresses by the Hindutva forces – one by the RSS chief in Nagpur and the other by the Shiv Sena chief in Mumbai.  This year there was a third pole – the speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a Ramleela gathering in Lucknow.  This is what has made the politics associated with Dussehra distinctive this year. Both the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and the Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lauded Modi for the “surgical strikes” across the Line of Control.  This was an acknowledgement of the elevated stature that Modi has acquired in the Hindutva camp. T

No Respite in Syria

YET another ceasefire attempt has fallen through in Syria. After protracted negotiations the US secretary of state John Kerry and the Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov had announced a ceasefire agreement to come into force from September 12. It was also announced that both sides had decided that if the ceasefire is successful, the US and Russia would launch joint military operations against the Islamic State and the Al Nasra.Within three days of the ceasefire taking effect, reports of violations by the opposition forces were reported.

After Uri, What?

THE attack on the army camp in Uri by four heavily armed militants has resulted in the death of 18 soldiers of the Indian army. This vicious assault has raised the question of how India should respond. Earlier, the attack on the IAF base at Pathankot in January this year had posed a similar problem for the Modi government.The RSS and its cohorts have demanded a strong response. In Ram Madhav’s words a “whole jaw for a tooth”. The television channels are full of retired military officers and self-proclaimed strategic experts demanding that Pakistan be taught a lesson.

Kerala: Stop These BJP-RSS Attacks

THE BJP is trying to spin a false narrative in Kerala about the increasing attacks on BJP and RSS workers. The BJP president Amit Shah has announced a five member team headed by one of its general secretaries Bhupendra Yadav to visit Kerala to enquire about the growing “incidents of attacks on BJP workers”.This move comes in the background of the national council meeting of the BJP scheduled to be held in Kozhikode in Kerala from September 23 to 25.

Halt Disastrous Path in Kashmir

The all-party parliamentary delegation visited Jammu and Kashmir on September 4 and 5.  The central government agreed to this visit after much delay.  This was the first political step taken in the background of the mass protests which began in the valley nearly two months before.  Though there were no meetings scheduled with the leaders of the Hurriyat, some members of the delegation made an effort to meet some of the Hurriyat leaders.  Sitaram Yechury, Sharad Yadav, D Raja and Jayaprakash Yadav belonging to the CPI(M), JD(U), CPI and RJD respectively met Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Yasin Malik,

A Dangerous Precedent

The opening day of the monsoon session of Haryana legislative assembly saw a Jain muni addressing the legislators. This was an unprecedented violation of constitutional and parliamentary norms.By inviting the Jain muni, Ratan Sagarji, to address the legislature, the BJP chief minister M L Khattar has struck at the root of the secular character of the State which ordains separation of religion from politics.The Jain priest had a chair above the podium where the governor and the chief minister sat.

Forward to September 2 Strike

The working class of the country is poised to go on a general strike on September 2.  This will be the seventeenth general strike since liberalisation began in 1991.  In the 25 years of liberalisation, these 17 strikes are a manifestation of the big resistance put up by the workers against the neo-liberal offensive.The strike is being called for a 12-point charter of demands which consist of all the major issues which concern the working people.  They include the demand to curb price rise and strengthen the public distribution system; no dilution of labour laws; halting the privatisation an

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