The Fall of Assad

THE rapid advance of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham and other armed factions led to the fall of Bashar al- Assad’s government in Syria. With this, the US has succeeded in toppling the last of the secular regimes in West Asia. US military interventions resulted not only in the fall of secular regimes in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now Syria in the West Asia-North African region, but also created deep sectarian fissures in the region.

India & Bangladesh: Shun Divisive Communalism

THE continuous attacks on Hindus and other minorities like Buddhists in Bangladesh are causing widespread concern. Consequent to the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in the first week of August after a mass movement, it was expected that the end of her authoritarian rule would usher in a more democratic system in Bangladesh. However, in the chaos of the first few days, reports of attacks on some Hindu temples and houses of the minority community emerged across the country.

Sambhal: Stop This Judicial Excess

THE recent events in Sambhal and the deaths of five young Muslim men underline the importance of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, l991 enacted by Parliament in that year. This legislation prohibits “conversion of any place of worship” (Section 3) and provides for “the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August, 1947” (Section 4).

Sri Lanka: Extraordinary Victory for NPP

THE National People’s Power (NPP) has won a historic victory in the Sri Lankan Parliament elections. For the first time, a political party has won a two-thirds majority through the proportional representation system. The NPP has won 159 of the 225 seats polling a record high of 61.6 per cent of the vote.

Hindutva And the Higher Judiciary

A LARGE number of critical appraisals and commentaries have been written on the occasion of the retirement of Chief Justice of India (CJI), D Y Chandrachud. This is but natural as Justice Chandrachud is considered to be one of the most consequential chief justices of the Supreme Court in recent years.

Trump Triumphant

BELYING predictions of pollsters that the US Presidential race is ending in a dead heat, Donald Trump has won a decisive victory, getting 312 of the 538 Electoral College votes and outstripping Kamala Harris in the popular vote by polling 51 per cent. Despite the liberal media’s favourable projection of the Kamala Harris campaign, it was clear to independent observers that Trump was gaining ground, particularly in the last one month, and his inflammatory rhetoric on immigration and rising crime and populist rants against the “elites” were evoking a g

Price Rise Unchecked as Modi Government Sleeps

IN September this year, average price rise hit a nine-month high of 5.5 per cent. More significantly, prices of food items crossed 9.2 per cent. A majority of Indians spend nearly half of their income on food. So, food inflation hurts the most. Among food items, vegetables in particular saw a staggering price rise with year-on-year price increases of 42.4 per cent for tomatoes, 66.2 per cent for onions, and 65.3 per cent for potatoes. These three are the most consumed vegetables, across the country.

An Important Step to Normalise India-China Relations

THE Indian government announced on October 21 that an agreement was reached between India and China on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This is a welcome development that hopefully would lead to the normalisation of relations between the two neighbouring countries.The bilateral relations between India and China had deteriorated after the border clashes in Galwan valley in 2020. Both countries acted to ensure that these clashes do not lead to a full blown war. Since 2020, 31 rounds of talks were held at the military and diplomatic levels.

Stop Violence on Women and Children

MAKING a mockery of the BJP slogan of ‘Beti Bachao’ (save our daughters), the last few months have seen an exponential and very disturbing increase in incidents of horrific violence against women and children. Many of the cases include rape and murder of the victims. India is now witnessing more than 86 cases of rape in a day and at least 49 cases of crimes against women every hour.

Two Elections, Two Verdicts

THE results of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections are of great significance. The victory of the National Conference-led alliance, winning 49 of the 90 seats, is a strong verdict against the Modi government and the BJP’s authoritarian steps to dismantle the state of J&K and deprive it of its special status. The people of the Valley have also foiled the BJP’s campaign to field proxies and encourage separatist elements to contest to divide the vote. The fact that the BJP could poll only 2.2 per cent of the votes cast in the Valley shows the total rejection of the Hindutva forces’

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Peoples Democracy

Editorial