Brutal Attacks and Brave Resistance

A WIDE swathe of rocky hills and forests stretches from Mirzapur to Sonbhadra in Uttar Pradesh, home to various tribal groups – Gonds, Kols and Bhils. The area is rich in minerals and water-resources and has seen the establishment of cement factories, Hindalco, large power plants, the Rihand and Kemur dams at the cost of the poor and their land. Promises of compensation and jobs never materialised.The attacks are unrelenting. Powerful politicians, bureaucrats, babas and strongmen regularly occupy their land forcibly. Every year sees the death and maiming of a few poor people.

Amit Shah’s Economics

IN justification of the move to end Kashmir’s special status, Amit Shah in his speech in the Rajya Sabha brought in the question of Kashmir’s “development”, arguing that closer integration with the rest of India will bring in much investment into the region. He especially appealed to the youth of Kashmir, promising that they would have larger employment opportunities.When unemployment in India has never been as bad as now in the last 45 years, to claim that closer integration with India will improve Kashmir’s employment prospects, is ironical.

Dismantling of J&K: Authoritarian Assault on Democracy and Federalism

THE Modi government has conducted a lightning strike against the Constitution and federalism.

All-Round Assault on States’ Rights

WHAT was notable about the spate of legislations presented in the first session of parliament was the hurried manner in which they were passed without any legislative scrutiny. There was no reference to the standing committees or select committees to get the bills vetted and considered.

J&K: Murder of Democracy & Federalism

CPI(M) Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on August 5THE Modi government has struck a big blow at democracy and the constitution by scrapping Article 370 of the constitution and dismantling the state of Jammu & Kashmir.The people of Kashmir had acceded to India in the face of invaders from Pakistan and a solemn commitment had been made to them by the Indian State to provide them with special status and autonomy which was embodied in Article 370.

Hacking Elections: Tales from Far and Near

THE Netflix film, The Great Hack, relates Cambridge Analytica’s role in Trump’s 2016 elections to a much larger issue – the threat to our democracy from global tech giants. It is not the Facebook data that Cambridge “hacked”, but the election itself. And what is at stake is not just an election, but the very future of democracy. If elections can be hacked, so can our democracy.

The Week in Parliament

THE CPI(M) opposed the Right to Information (Amendment) Bill in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha and requested the government to withdraw it so as not to dilute the powers and autonomy of the transparency panel. In Lok Sabha, P R Natarajan said the power of the legislature should not be allowed to be taken over by the executive. He asked the government not to dilute the original Act. In Rajya Sabha, K K Ragesh said the amendment would make the Information Commission just another government department. The proposed amendment would kill the very underlying principle of the RTI Act.

Shri S Jaipal Reddy

Sitaram Yechury, CPI(M) general secretary, expressed his profound grief at the passing away of Shri S Jaipal Reddy. He issued a condolence message on July 28.Yechury said, “During his long political life, he consistently and steadfastly worked to uphold and strengthen the secular democratic foundations of India as enshrined in the constitution. An honest and upright politician, he will be known for his erudition and scholarship.“I had a close association with him for nearly four decades.

Polit Bureau Communique

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) met at New Delhi on July 31, 2019. It has issued the following statement:Devastating Economic SlowdownThe overall economic slowdown and the menacingly rising unemployment accompanied by deepening agrarian distress are having a devastating impact on the livelihood conditions of the vast majority of our people. India’s industrial core sector growth has dropped to a 44 month low of 0.2 per cent in June 2019, compared to a 7.8 per cent growth in June 2018. The automobile industry that employs nearly f

Virtual Games as a Site of Resistance

DURING President Obama’s tenure, his administration created an Agency with its major goal as the creation of educational software ‘as compelling as the best video game’. This might have been inspired by a statement made by Professor Edward O. Wilson, of Harvard, who declared that “Games are the future of learning”. Military, corporates and businesses have already started using games as a means of ‘learning’ and ‘influencing’.

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