Cover-up and Coercion in the Name of the “Holy Cow”

IN his much publicised annual Vijay Dashmi address to the RSS cadres, Mohan Bhagwat announced that the “Gau Rakshaks have nothing to worry” and they were only doing their patriotic duty. This announcement became necessary because the observations of the Supreme Court took a stern view of cow vigilantism and the union government was subsequently forced to warn vigilante groups to curb their activities. However, Bhagwat said that “patriotic gau rakshaks” should not worry about government pronouncements.

Salient Features of BPMO March in Bengal

TO carry out people’s struggle on the broadest possible scale, the mass organisations of different sections of people of West Bengal have come together to form BPMO – Bengal Platform of Mass Organisations. The main objective of BPMO is to reach the polling booth areas of the state with people’s issues. Last year, the BPMO initiative achieved significant success. The popular response had been striking. This year from October 22 to November 3, the state-wide mass march of BPMO gave a new dimension to the mass movement.

AILU Condemns Rajasthan Ordinance Protecting Corrupt Officials

THE recent ordinance passed by the Rajasthan Government amending Criminal Procedure Code to protect corrupt officials/ public servants, serving and former magistrates and judges from being investigated for their misdemeanor and corruption on duty without Government sanction and barring the media from reporting on accusations of such wrong doings, till Government sanctions such a probe, is highly undemocratic, oppressive and an attack on freedom of the press.

MAHARASHTRA: AIKS State Workshop Plans to Mobilise in Strength for the Delhi Kisan Sansad

THE Maharashtra state workshop of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) was held at Comrade BTR Bhavan, Belapur, New Mumbai on November 3-4, 2017. It was attended by 122 leading activists from 21 districts. The workshop was made up of two parts.One was a series of lectures on major topics. The second was a serious district-wise group discussion on planning of both the movement and the organisation for the coming one year on the basis of a 15-point questionnaire given by the state centre.

AIKS Condemns another Murder of Farmer In Alwar by Cow Vigilantes

THE All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), in a statement issued on November 14, has expressed deep shock and strongly condemned the killing of yet another farmer, Ummar Khan, by cow vigilantes in Alwar, Rajasthan. He and two other farmers, Tahir Khan and Javed Khan had purchased cows in a village near Jaipur. When they were returning after buying the cattle, after passing Ramgad, they were attacked in a village called Gahankar. Six or seven vigilante goons who came in a white Tata Sumo car, attacked them and started firing at them.

The “Quadrilateral” Trap for India

THE quadrilateral alliance between the United States, Japan, Australia and India is once again taking shape. During the recent ASEAN Summit in Manila, on the sidelines, a meeting of officials of the four countries was held. Later, during the course of the Summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held meetings separately with the leaders of the four countries. The official-level meeting of the four participant countries did not issue a joint statement. Each country issued a statement explaining the outcome of the meeting. But the common theme in all the four statements was the agreed decisio

October Revolution Centenary in Moscow

TEN years ago, at the International Meeting of the Communist and Workers Parties (IMCWP), we had suggested in the Working Group in Minsk, capital of Belarus, that a meeting in the year of the centenary of the October Revolution must be held in Moscow hosted by the Communist Party of Russian Federation (CPRF).While this was almost unanimously accepted, the CPRF was initially hesitant whether they would be in a position to organise this event given the fact that almost all the Communist and Workers Parties in the world would inevitably converge in Moscow for this centenary.

Assam: Ensure Fair Process of Updating NRC

THE draft National Register of Citizens (NRC) for Assam is to be published by December 31, 2017 as per the direction of the Supreme Court of India. The updating of the NRC of 1951 constitutes a key part of the implementation of the Assam Accord of 1985 which had fixed March 24, 1971 as the cut-off date for determining illegal migrants who came after that date.The updating of the NRC is thus a vital step in settling the “foreigners” issue in Assam. It would allay the fears about illegal migration harboured by the Asomiya and indigenous communities.

CPI(M) Greets PCdoB on its 14th National Congress

Below we publish the greetings of the CPI(M) to the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Brazil – PCdoB. G Ramakrishnan, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) has attended this Congress which was held from November 17-19, 2017 at Brasilia. DEAR Comrades,Communist Party of India (Marxist) greets the 14th National Congress of the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB). It is a great honour for us to participate in your Party Congress.

Farmers Lost Over Rs 2 Lakh Crore Due to Low Prices of Crops this Year

FOLLOWING the massive workers’ Mahapadav on November 9-11 at Delhi, it is now the farmers’ turn to occupy the capital. Thousands of farmers from all over India will congregate at Delhi to demand better prices for their produce and complete freedom from debt. Many families of farmers who committed suicide in the recent past due to debt will also participate in what is being called the Kisan Mukti Sansad (Farmers’ Liberation Parliament).During the election campaign for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Narendra Modi had promised that farmers would get good prices for their crops.

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