A VILLAGE in Faridabad, Haryana on the outskirts of Delhi has been in news. Houses here, constructed by workers with great difficulties, are being demolished by bulldozers. What is the issue?In the middle of skyscrapers, flats, hotels and marriage palaces constructed by big business people, nearly 150 acres of land can be called a village or a basti. This basti was developed in the last 30-35 years, and there are around 10,000-12,000 houses. These are all pucca houses.Recently, on June 7, Supreme Court ordered the demolition of the village and ordered the unauthorised houses to be vacated.
IT came like a bolt from the blue – the news of Mahendra Singh’s sudden demise by heart attack in Mumbai on the morning of July 4, 2021. It was unbelievable and shattering. Just the previous evening he had guided a CITU meeting at the Bhandup office. A week ago, on June 26, he led the joint demonstration at the historic August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai to mark the ‘Save Agriculture, Save Democracy’ nationwide call and led the delegation that met the governor of Maharashtra. He told the governor to his face that his BJP-RSS central government was running an undeclared emergency.
“MY grateful thanks in millions are due to the SFI team for their selfless work,” beamed Revathi Balan, dean of Thoothukudi Government Medical College, before the media.In 2019, when the Covid-19 pandemic was snatching the lives of people, braving the unknown consequences, the SFI unit of Thoothukudi district consciously took the decision to help the medical administration in their efforts to save lives.As an organisation with social consciousness, SFI was in the forefront to safeguard the people. It stood with the district administration in its relief activities.
THE onset of the Covid-19 pandemic started posing challenges, not just on the health front but also in other multi-dimensional ways, to human life. The serious attack on the livelihood of mass of citizens is beyond description and the utter indifference of the powers-that-be at the centre needs no elaboration. As has been discussed by eminent contributors in People's Democracy, this Covid situation has been exploited by the ruling classes to their advantage and the Hindutva-neoliberal regime nexus helps push ahead the process.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) and Communist Party of India have issued the following joint statement on July 13, 2021A SECTION of people of Cuba are demonstrating on problems created by the US economic blockade. The Cuban government and the Communist Party of Cuba have reached out to them.These demonstrations are backed by the US, which is trying to take advantage of severe economic problems that are caused by its own blockade and the pandemic. They are aimed to destabilise socialist Cuba.
THE sights of people on the Cuban streets demanding food, electricity and medicines have startled many. Unlike many governments across the world, the government of socialist Cuba acknowledged the genuine grievances of the people. President Miguel Diaz Canel immediately rushed to the site of protests and discussed with the demonstrators. The Communist Party of Cuba (PCC) urged its cadre to listen to the people and explain the reasons behind these hardships.
IN its meeting held at the Singhu border on July 14, 2021, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) announced detailed plans of its parliament protest marches. From July 22 onwards, on every day of the monsoon session of parliament, batches of 200 farmer volunteers and leaders shall march towards Parliament House in a peaceful manner following the guidelines of discipline laid down by the SKM.
THERE has of late been an upsurge of extreme right-wing, fascist, semi-fascist or neo-fascist parties all over the world in a manner reminiscent of the 1930s.
LAST week, Richard Lewontin, a dialectical biologist, Marxist and activist died at the age of 92, just three days after Mary Jane, his wife of more than 70 years had passed away. He was one of the founders of modern biology that brought together three different disciplines -- statistics, molecular biology and evolutionary biology -- together what today marks the discipline. In doing so, he also battled not only crude racism masquerading as science, but also what science really is.