THE eleven central trade unions and the national federations of industrial workers and employees that have been spearheading the joint trade union campaign since 2009 have decided to continue the struggle on the common demands of the workers in the country.
THE multi-crore Saradha chit fund scam that has looted crores of rupees from over 17 lakh poor people in West Bengal has now reached such proportions that it is becoming clearer by the day that the ruling Trinamool Congress party in the state and many of its prominent leaders are involved neck deep in this conspiracy.
The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on September 4.
THE reports of the CBI Director Ranjit Sinha meeting a number of persons who were being investigated by the agency at his residence, raises disturbing questions. Some persons were charge-sheeted by the agency and some have dubious antecedents. It is highly improper and irregular for the head of the premier investigating agency to be meeting such persons and that too at his residence.
THE CPI(M) on September 8, has called upon all its units to immediately collect money to provide relief to the people of Jammu & Kashmir affected by the massive floods in the state.
The floods have caused widespread havoc in the entire state. As per reports available, till now, around 150 people have been killed in the floods. Thousands have been marooned as entire villages in many places stand submerged. Even the capital of Srinagar has been affected with around 30 percent of its area being flooded. An estimated ten lakh people have been affected in Jammu division.
KOLKATA witnessed another historic rally of tens of thousands of people that roared against imperialist aggression. People mostly from Kolkata and its adjoining districts participated in the rally to mark their protest against the US aggression and to commemorate the Anti Imperialism Day on September 1. Braving heavy downpour, thousands of people marched almost seven kilometres from Ramlila Maidan near Maulali in central Kolkata to Deshbandhu Park near Shyambazar in the north.
AS part of worldwide protest against imperialist war and for sustained world peace, the people of Tripura in their thousands joined in protest marches in various parts of the state, including the capital city of Agartala, on September 1, the day commemorating the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939. In every sub-divisional headquarters, all sections of people joined in colourful march depicting the destruction and devastations of the war and with the appeal to make the world more conducive for living of every human being.
THE Indonesian Election Commission officially announced on July 22 that the victor of the final round of Presidential elections held on July 9 was Joko Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi. The elections were hard fought with the opposition engaging in dirty tricks in a belated effort to pip him at the polls. The opposition’s propaganda blitz did succeed in whittling down the 20 per cent lead that Jokowi had initially enjoyed before the campaign had begun in earnest.
KARL Marx and Friedrich Engels, the immortal heroes for the working and toiling masses of the world, not only showed the path of liberation to the working class, but together also encompassed one of the most historic friendships that world has ever seen. This friendship of two of these greatest intellectuals of the working class led to brilliant exchange of ideas.
AT around 2.30 pm on September 2, a gang of around 15-20 hoodlums attacked the CPI(M) and CITU office at Narayan Peth in Pune city. They damaged the furniture, tore up papers related to the ongoing struggle of unorganised workers and threatened the handful of Party activists who were in the office at the time. They said that this attack was in retaliation to the murder of an RSS activist in Kannur in Kerala the previous day.
FROM love jihad to the appropriation of the revolutionary freedom fighter Rajguru as a ‘dharma yoddha’, it is abundantly evident that the Modi government is more about aggressive reassertion of the Hindutva agenda and less about development, efficiency and accountability. The growing spate of communal riots and the recent campaigns of the Sangh Parivar show that the BJP and its government has created the legitimacy and space for dangerous political polarisation and discourse.