Protest on June 16 to Protect Livelihoods

AN online press conference was addressed by Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary on June 3 briefing about the decisions taken by the Polit Bureau meeting held a day before.He expressed solidarity with the people who are battling the Nisarga Cyclone that has hit the coast of Maharashtra and asked both the central and state governments to ensure proper relief measures are taken.Charging the Modi government of utter failure in handling the corona pandemic, Yechury said that the basic principles of lockdown: testing, isolation, quarantine, were not adhered to.

Polit Bureau Communique: All India Protest Day on June 16

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) held its first meeting through video conferencing on June 2, 2020.

Open Source Covid Movement: Non-Capitalist Alternative to Control Pandemic

AT a recent press conference, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made an important announcement with global political dimensions. He said that the monopoly drug manufacturers are engaged in developing vaccines, medicines and other products related to the treatment of Covid-19. These would be patented and sold in the market for prices unaffordable to ordinary people. As an alternative, an Open Source Covid Movement based on the principles of cooperation and sharing is also coming up. The chief minister announced the state’s solidarity with this movement.

Raging Anti-racist Rage in the US

IN Minneapolis, US, after an unarmed and unresisting George Floyd, a 46 year old Afro-American, was killed by a white cop after being arrested for the non-violent, alleged crime of trying to pass a fake $20 note, anti-racist protests erupted. Minneapolis cops, with a reputation for violence, responded to the initial protest with tear gas, rubber bullets and use of force. Enraged by their reaction, the protests became more determined, leading to the torching of a police station, damage to stores and other businesses, and the blockading of streets and bridges.

The Myth of ‘Gujarat Model’ and its Implosion

IN this pandemic stricken world, an observation is doing the rounds. The virus did not break the world; it was broken and the pandemic has exposed this.

A World-Wide Churn

THE capitalist world has been gripped by a crisis since 2008, the basic cause of which is the unsustainable neoliberal capitalist system.Crisis-ridden capitalism has been trying its level best to come out of this crisis. But whatever methods and steps were adopted had failed to overcome this problem, unlike in earlier such crises. This showed the hollowness and vulnerabilities of the finance driven neoliberal order.In this backdrop, the sudden and unforeseen spread of the coronavirus pandemic has come like a bolt from the blue.

CITU Foundation Day Observed with Fervour

The central trade unions, which met on June 3 decided to intensify the joint struggle. They called for observing July 3, 2020 as a Protest Day all over the country. They also decided to observe non-cooperation and defiance against the government’s anti-national, anti-people and anti-worker policies, the concrete form of which will be formulated soon.MAY 30 is the foundation day of CITU.

WEST BENGAL: Lefts on the Street with Peoples’ Demands

Apart from providing succour to distressed, running community kitchens, providing relief to Amphan victims, the Left parties in West Bengal have organised protest movements highlighting peoples’ demands. On the one hand, the central government is sharpening its attack on peoples’ livelihood; on the other the state government has shown a paralysed reaction to both Covid-19 and recent cyclone. The Left parties have raised peoples’ issues through demonstrations and symbolic protests.16 Left and allied parties organised a protest movement on May 28.

AIDWA Observes Protest Day Demanding Food, Work & Stop to Violence

TWO months of untold hardships and suffering, total dislocation of life and livelihoods, hunger and starvation staring in the face and absolutely no money in hand, forced to reside with the abuser with no means of escape – all this and more led to women responding massively despite the lockdown to the call of the All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA) to hold countrywide protests against the BJP central government on June 1, 2020.

Statement of Opposition Political Parties

TWENTY-two opposition parties met on May 22, to exchange views on the extraordinary situation in the country arising out of the Covid-19 pandemic. The economy has collapsed. All sections of society face acute distress. Livelihoods have been destroyed. Lives have been lost.The parties applaud the heroic efforts of all public health personnel, particularly doctors, nurses, paramedics as also police and security forces personnel, safai karamacharis and those maintaining essential services like water, power etc. in these challenging times, across the country.

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