THE Independence Day speech of Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a piece of propaganda remarkable for its disconnect with reality and reeked of hypocrisy in certain matters.This stood out most with regard to Kashmir. His exhortation that the problem will not be solved by “gaali” and “goli” but by embracing Kashmiris was the most hypocritical of them all. The Kashmir valley has been in turmoil and the use of force is the only distinctive approach of the centre to deal with the unrest among the people.

IN a statement issued on August 4, Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of CPI(M) has said that an extraordinary circumstance has arisen due to the inhuman decision of the Madhya Pradesh government to implement the Narmada Valley authorities’ decision to close the gates of the Sardar Sarovar dam which will lead to submergence of 192 villages and eviction of 40,000 families in Madhya Pradesh.  There was an agreement that before closing the gate, rehabilitation work should be completed.  The Supreme Court upheld this decision.

INDEPENDENT India is a young country, which is 70 years old. Demographically too, ours is a young country, boasting of an average age of just 28 years. The youth of our country have many dreams about their future. Today, the generation that had fought for our independence is slowly disappearing. As a result, many among the youth do not have the direct experience of interacting with those who had fought against the British colonial rulers. With BJP government’s efforts to distort history, there is every chance that they might be forced to be ignorant of facts.

IN a concerted attempt against Kerala, senior BJP leader and finance minister Arun Jaitley visited the state capital Thiruvananthapuram on August 6, and spread out falsehoods against the Kerala government and the CPI(M). In order to malign Kerala and its achievements for many decades, the BJP rallied RSS affiliated journalists from national media to Kerala to cover the minister’s programme. He visited the relatives of an RSS activist who was killed in a gang attack at Srikaryam in Thiruvananthapuram. BJP politicised this killing and tried to attack the CPI(M) workers during the last week.

AUGUST 9 this year marks 75 years of the Quit India movement and August 15 marks 70 years of Indian Independence. Recently a nostalgic and inspiring function that revived the glorious memories of the Satara parallel government during the freedom struggle was held at Shenoli village in Satara district and at Kundal village in Sangli district of Maharashtra.  In a programme that was full of symbolism and emotion, the few remaining valiant freedom fighters of the Satara parallel government were warmly felicitated by Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi.