A DELEGATION of the Left Front led by Biman Basu (chairman, West Bengal Left Front committee), Sitaram Yechury (MP, leader of the CPI(M) group in Rajya Sabha), Abani Roy (ex-MP, Revolutionary Socialist Party) Surjya Kanta Mishra (leader of the opposition, West Bengal legislative assembly), Pallab Sengupta (Communist Party of India) and Ali Imran Ramz (member, legislative assembly of West Bengal, Forward Bloc) met the prime minister on December 22, on the issue of financial irregularities and fraud committed by financial companies in West Bengal.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) now in session in New Delhi has issued the following statement on December 21.

THE BJP and the RSS are indulging in doublespeak by talking about religious conversions. The RSS organisations are conducting a reconversion campaign targeting the minorities. The RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat has justified this reconversion as bringing back people to their original faith. The episode of reconversion in Agra has exposed how false assurances and inducements were used for reconversion.

THE Delhi units of six Left parties – CPI(M), CPI, RSP, AIFB, CPI (M-L) Liberation and SUCI (C) conducted a joint campaign on nine demands concerning the livelihood of the people, opposition to the attempts of the RSS-BJP to create communal polarisation and riots and aggressive implementation of neo-liberal policies. The campaign consisted of a four-day tempo campaign in different parts East, North-East, North and North West districts. During the course of this campaign, leaders and activists of the participating parties addressed a total of 70 meetings.

THE national executive of the Adivasi Adhikar Rashtriya Manch (AARM) has decided to launch a nationwide protest campaign against Modi government’s anti-people policies from January 10-15, 2015. This was announced by AARM chairman Bajuban Reyang, vice president Brinda Karat and MP Jitendra Choudhary at a press conference in Hyderabad on 15th December. They were briefing media persons about the deliberations of the two-day executive meetings held at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram.

GERMANY marked the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall on November 9 with a great deal of pomp and pageantry. The streets of Berlin were jam packed as crowds gathered to mark the day that led to German reunification. 8000 lighted balloons were released into the night sky with the music of Beethoven playing in the background. In attendance were stalwarts of movements that led to the collapse of the Socialist Bloc, like the Solidarity leader, Lech Walesa. The fall of the wall has been characterised as a triumph of good over evil, of democracy over dictatorship.