Artists Need to Unite against Communal Fascism

THE Janvadi Lekhak Sangh (JLS) held its eighth national conference at Allahabad, on February 14 and 15, with the message that it would do all it can to unite the writers, artists and other cultural workers with the broad democratic movement in order to meet the growing threat of communal fascism in the country. On the first day of the conference, a Meet on Composite Culture was held in an effort to bring on to one platform various groups of democratic minded writers and cultural workers as well as independent writers and other intellectuals against the communal threat.

Why We are Facing Violence and Rape in West Bengal?

WEST Bengal now stands out among the states in terms of atrocities against women. National Commission for Women had to intervene more than once and was forced to visit the state. There is a strong association between increased violence against women in the state and the rule of Trinamul Congress after 2011. Immediately after the party came to power in May 2011, atrocities against women began to rise. This association cannot be seen as accidental, there is a politics behind this association. During the 34 years of Left Front rule, the state was never in this kind of miserable situation.

Prakash karat Writes to President on Ordinances

Below is the text of the letter written by Prakash Karat, CPI(M) general secretary to Pranab Mukherjee, president of India, on March 2, 2014, opposing the government's move to promulgate ordinances.I AM writing to bring to your urgent attention the proposed ordinances which the union cabinet is planning to adopt today and send them to you for promulgation.The union cabinet is considering a clutch of Bills which were not taken up in parliament during the recently concluded session.

JUSTICE FOR YUMA SHERPA: No to Commodification of Women’s Body Parts

ON January 29, 2014, 26 year old Yuma Sherpa, died in the aftermath of a surgical procedure to harvest eggs from her body, as part of the egg donation programme of a private clinic based in Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi.

Yuma was persuaded by agents to donate her eggs for a surrogacy, and started undergoing the procedure early this year. Subsequently, she wanted to stop the procedure and back out altogether as she was suffering from discomfort caused by the injections, but was told by the doctor at the clinic that it was too late to go back.

Moily, Kejriwal and the Scam in Gas Pricing

RELIANCE and the near doubling of the gas price led to Kejriwal's short-lived government filing an FIR against Moily, the petroleum minister and Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Limited. The scam in gas pricing is of course not a Kejriwal or AAP discovery; Left MP's – Tapan Sen and Gurudas Dasgupta and earlier, late Dipankar Mukherjee – have exposed the successive scams in gas pricing that have helped Reliance to loot the people.

Who is Robbing the Banks?

ON the eve of the declaration of the schedule for general elections in 2014, P Chidambaram, finance minister in the outgoing UPA government, chose to meet the chief executives of India’s public sector banks. The cynical would argue that this must be a last attempt to get the banks to dole out some more sops before the election date. If that were to impress a section of the electorate at all, it is a clever strategy.

TRIPURA DYFI, TYF Organise Protest on Railway Issue

DEMOCRATIC youth of Tripura gave vent to their anger against the deprivation of Tripura of a railway division. Recently the chairman of the Railway Board announced that three new railway divisions will be opened at Jammu (J&K), Gulbarga (Karnataka) and Silchar (Assam). Of these, while Karnataka and Assam are ruled by the Congress party, the Congress is a partner in the ruling coalition in Jammu & Kashmir. This step of the Congress led UPA government is no doubt aimed at reaping political benefit in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections.

Trinamul Govt Releasing Huge Advts to Manipulate Public Perception

IT was an advanced ‘April Fool’ for the readers of newspapers in Bengal on 01st March. The two principal newspapers of ABP group Anandabazar Patrika and The Telegraph published 22 advertisements of West Bengal government on that very day!

PUNJAB: CPI(M) Organises Satyagraha, Jail Bharo Agitation

ON February 28, the Ludhiana district committee of the CPI(M) organised a Satyagraha and Jail Bharo agitation in Ludhiana city on its 15 point charter of demands. The action took place in response to the call of the CPI(M) Central Committee. Before the agitators courted arrest, they organised a big rally at Chattar Singh Park. More than 1,000 satyagrahis then marched towards the deputy commissioner’s office. They offered themselves for arrest but it was the police that retreated.

KERALA: Seminar on 12 Years of Gujarat Massacre

WHILE Ashok Mochi handed over a water bottle to Kutbuddin Ansari, the latter smilingly accepted it and gave a red rose to Mochi. And then the audience gave them a standing ovation the moment when these two persons, belonging to a state which was ripped apart by genocide 12 years back, shared the same stage in Thalipparamba on March 3, 2014, to express their mutual trust and love. This was a noble occasion, characterised by a meeting of Kutbuddin Ansari and Ashok Mochi, two faces of the communal pogrom in Gujarat in the year 2002.

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