MAHARASHTRA: Adivasi Struggle in Wada Wrests Major Burning Demands

THE 50,000-strong statewide adivasi struggle at Wada in Palghar district on October 3-4, 2016 was a mass struggle to remember and cherish. The earlier one lakh-strong two-day statewide peasant siege under AIKS leadership at Nashik on March 29-30, 2016, on the four burning issues of peasants – loan-waiver, remunerative prices, drought relief and land rights (see report in People’s Democracy/Loklahar, April 4-10, 2016) had brought the chief minister of Maharashtra to the negotiating table and he had then conceded some important demands.

Thinking Together

Q. The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill is pending in the Rajya Sabha since 2014. What is the CPI(M)’s stand?Rajasekharan, Chennai A. The Bill was introduced in February 2014 when the UPA II government was on its way out.

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

WFTU 17th Congress Begins In Durban, South Africa

THE 17th Congress of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) began in Durban, South Africa on October 5, 2015. It started with George Mavrikos, general secretary of WFTU announcing the names of the 45 member presidium. The presidium includes Comrades K Hemalata (CITU) and Amarjeet Kaur (AITUC) from India.The president of COSATU welcomed the delegates. Jacob Zuma, president of South Africa gave the opening remarks. Covering a gamut of issues, political and economical all over the world, he explained the challenges faced by the working class of South Africa.

University of Hyderabad Student Union Polls: Unity of the Oppressed is the Need of the Hour!

THE Students’ Union elections of the University of Hyderabad were held last week. Unlike the years before, this election held a significant importance in the national scenario. Universities and institutes across the country faced an onslaught of attacks on their autonomy through a set of policies and ineligible appointments under the present BJP-led government.

CPI(M) Greets Tudeh Party, Iran on its 75th Anniversary

The following is the text of the message of greetings sent by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to the Central Committee of the Tudeh Party, Iran on the occasion of its 75th anniversary.DEAR Comrades,The Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the Tudeh Party of Iran on its 75th anniversary.

When a Woman Says ‘No’, It Means Just That

IN every country, in any language ‘No’ is ‘No’. Be it in English or in Hindi or in Bengali or in Russian or French.The girl said ‘No’ but the greedy, clammy hands tried to roam over her body, entangling her like a snake.In self- defence the girl shouted: “No”.“So the girl is not the culprit. The boys are guilty,” declares lawyer Deepak Sehgal unequivocally in the courtroom. He emphasized that the girl had said ‘No’.What Deepak Sehgal (Amitabh Bachchan) said isn’t true only for the courtroom or for the auditorium in the multiplex.

SFI Denounces Anarchy in HPU

THE central executive committee of the Students’ Federation of India, in a statement issued on October 5, has denounced the efforts of ABVP to create anarchy and a reign of terror in the Himachal Pradesh University campus. In the last one-week, ABVP goons have attacked research scholars, girl students and tribal students in the campus. All this is happening in the presence and protection of police and the administration.ABVP is trying to terrorise the students in the campus and disturb the academic environment.

Sahmat Condemns Undemocratic Moves In Central University of Haryana

SAFDAR Hashmi Memorial Trust (SAHMAT) in a statement issued on October 3, has said that the staging of a play written by the renowned writer and activist, Mahasweta Devi, would lead to questions, inquiry and ‘trouble’ for two teachers of the English department of the Central University of Haryana, Snehsata and Manoj Kumar is very hard to digest and must be condemned in the strongest of terms.The University has “apologised” to activists of the Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) but its activists continue to hound the administration and students/teachers involved with the staging of Dra

PUNJAB: Janwadi Istri Sabha Holds State Conference

THE two day conference of Janwadi Istri Sabha, Punjab was held on September 29-30, 2016 at the historical town of Nurmahal in Jalandhar district of Punjab. Sudha Sundararaman, all India vice president of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) said that the atrocities against women are on the rise as is evident from the news of rapes, eve teasing, dowry, burning of women appearing in each and every newspaper of the country day in and day out. She said that commoditisation of women’s bodies is rising as can be seen in advertisements on television and the programmes shown on TV.

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