The 18^th BRICS Summit, held in New Delhi on September 12–13, occurred amid an exceptional intensification of international contradictions. Wars in West Asia, unilateral sanctions, tariff barriers, and the weaponisation of finance and technology have exposed the fundamentally unequal character of the imperialist-dominated international order.

FOLLOWING the vigorous and victorious July student struggle at Jantar Mantar in Delhi, the movement by Adivasi students in Maharashtra in August 2026 once again brought issues of education and employment, especially of the socially oppressed, to the forefront. Given the intensity of the 17-day long agitation, the state government was forced to bow down.

The crisis faced by left-wing movements in India during the neoliberal era has already been reflected at several levels. Communal forces were able to divert the difficulties people faced under this economic framework into a politics of anger against others and reap rich dividends in this regard. The collapse experienced in West Bengal and Tripura after long periods of continuous rule also happened under such circumstances. Continuing this trend, the CPI(M) suffered a major setback in the recent assembly elections in Kerala.

THE passage of the West Bengal Universities and Colleges (Administration and Regulation) (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the state Assembly on September 10, marks a critical turning point in the governance of higher education in West Bengal.

The ‘Gerua Samman Yatra’ from Golpark to Jadavpur’s 8B bus stand on September 9, brought the politics of communal mobilisation directly to the perimeter of Jadavpur University. Led by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, the procession featured large contingents of BJP cadres, saffron-clad sadhus and Naga sanyasis. While nominally organised under the banner of defending the “dignity” of saffron, the rally marched with saffron banners, provocative posturing and slogans of ‘Jai Shri Ram’.