TWO places separated by over 2000 kms became sites for resistance to the RSS attacks on democracy and secularism last week. The first was Delhi University in the national capital and the second was Mangaluru city in Karnataka.In Delhi University, students belonging to the ABVP (the student wing of the RSS) attacked a seminar being held at Ramjas College on the pretext that anti-national persons were invited to speak at the seminar.
FOLLOWING the death of Jayalalithaa, who was the general secretary of AIADMK and the chief minister of Tamil Nadu, AIADMK split into two factions, one under the leadership of Sasikala and the other of O Panneerselvam. These groups entered into a competition to capture power in both the party and the government. With Sasikala having gone to prison following the Supreme Court judgement in the Disproportionate Assets case, a ministry has been formed under the leadership of Edappadi Palanisamy belonging to the Sasikala faction.
AS a result of the anti-people policies being followed by the BJP government at the centre, with wealth of the country getting concentrated in the hands of a few, the poor in the country have been struggling amidst economic disparities in the country, Prakash Karat, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M), said. The BJP rulers have been implementing the agenda of the RSS and are continuing their rule at the beckon of business people and the capitalists. As a result of the failure of the government to allocate the mandated funds for the development of the downtrodden, their all-round development
COMRADE Raghbir Singh Hooda, former state secretary of CPI(M) Haryana state committee and a veteran advocate, passed away in Rohtak on February 21.Haryana state secretariat of the Party expressed deep grief at the passing away of the octogenarian Left leader who led an arduous life in the struggle for the toiling masses. Com Hooda had to face police repression several times including detentions under MISA during emergency.CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury while condoling his passing away said Com Hooda was fully committed to the democratic and progressive values.
The Rajasthan state committee of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) has said that the rollback of electricity tariff hikes and other announcements by the government is a victory of the organised and united peasant movement in Rajasthan. The broadest unity of peasants and their participation in resilient activism across all districts of the state, under the four month old movement led by the Kisan Sabha has made the anti-farmer Vasundhara Raje government lose its sleep.
STATE ASSEMBLY ELECTIONSTHE CPI(M) along with other Left parties are contesting the assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Uttarakhand and Manipur. In Uttar Pradesh, the CPI(M) has fielded candidates in 26 constituencies; in Uttarakhand, it has fielded candidates in six constituencies; in Punjab, it has fielded in 12 constituencies; and in Manipur, it is contesting two seats. The CPI(M) along with Left parties are contesting elections with the primary objective of projecting the Left policy alternative before the people.
IN the last week of December, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) adopted resolution 2334 reaffirming that Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and Jerusalem are illegal. The United States this time did not veto the resolution. A similar resolution was vetoed by the Obama administration in 2011, despite the US characterising itself as “an honest peace broker” in the Israel-Palestine dispute and terming the settlements as “illegal”. The US has in fact been indirectly subsidising much of the illegal settlement activity.
INDIA last week once again breathlessly celebrated another record-breaking feat by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in launching 104 satellites on a single flight of its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) C-37 on February 16, 2017. Print and electronic media in India went ga-ga with stories about how India had pulled off another “first,” beating by several times the earlier Russian record launch of 37 satellites in a single flight in 2014.
HISTORIES of the Communist movement in Kerala have been written by several scholars, as well as by the leading comrades of movement, such as EMS Namboodiripad and NE Balaram. Histories of various class and mass movements in Kerala, such as trade union movement, kisan movement, students movement, teachers movement and the NGOs are also available. Autobiographies and biographies of several leading comrades, throwing light on various aspects of the history of the Party have also been published.
Professor Amartya Sen in his new book Collective Choice and Social Welfare which is a considerably expanded and updated version of his 1970 book with the same title, emphasizes that democracy must be understood as “government by discussion”. The idea of democracy being “government by discussion” really belongs to John Stuart Mill, though this particular phrase was coined by Walter Bagehot.