Aspirations for a New Kerala on EMS Ministry’s 60th Anniversary

KERALA’S first ministry was a milestone in the history of the world, especially with regard to the communist movements. It was set apart by the fact that it was the first ministry to assume office in the bourgeois parliamentary structure. A communist rule in the small corner of a country, governed by a constitution, built on the principles of bourgeoisie democracy.

AILU Holds Demonstration at Banga Bhavan

THE All India Lawyers Union, Delhi unit condemned the heinous attack on its president, a well known senior lawyer and former mayor of Kolkata, Bikas Ranjan Bhattacharya by the Trinamool Congress cadre in West Bengal on April 1.The targeted attack, AILU leaders said, was because of his stellar role in exposing the Saradha Scam and Narada Scam. Ironically he was attacked while he was on his way to the village where the victims of the unjust land acquisition were protesting and he was to render legal aid and legal advice to them.

Thinking Together

Why is the CPI(M) so biased towards Muslims and Islamic fundamentalism, ignoring and criticising the sentiments of Hindus and their thousands year-old culture? Sagarneel Sinha, Kailashahar, Tripura The question itself reveals a biased opinion of how the CPI(M) views Hindus and Muslims and their respective religions.Let us take the issue step by step. Firstly, the CPI(M) is a party which is based on a philosophy which has no religious bearings. Marxism is a philosophy based on the materialist outlook.

End of a Nuclear Pipe Dream

THE outcome of the Indo-US nuclear deal is now in total disarray. The nuclear deal was used to cement the strategic alliance between the United States and India. At the heart of the deal was the promise of full civilian nuclear cooperation extended to India and the quid pro quo was the military alliance coveted by the US which included the purchase of US arms.

Education, literacy, and the Russian Revolution

All Russia was learning to read, and reading – politics, economics, history – because the people wanted to know. . . . In every city, in most towns, along the Front, each political faction had its newspaper – sometimes several. Hundreds of thousands of pamphlets were distributed by thousands of organisations, and poured into the armies, the villages, the factories, the streets. The thirst for education, so long thwarted, burst with the Revolution into a frenzy of expression.

BJP Govt Drags India towards Contract Farming

THIS article is an attempt mainly to assess the direction of the Union Budget for 2017-18, whether it will help the peasantry to come out of the present systemic crisis and end rising peasant suicides. This is important especially in the context of substantial increase in the rate of peasant suicides in the over two years of the NDA government.

The Nefarious Money Bills

TRUE to form, the BJP government is all set to change the texture of the Indian State into a snooping and terrorising institution whose bonding with corporate capital will now get even closer and beyond any public scrutiny. And the content of the change it is unleashing is as damaging to democracy as the manner in which it is doing so.The manner of its doing so consists in introducing important legislation in the guise of “money bills”.

THE WEEK IN PARLIAMENT

THE Rajya Sabha took up short duration discussion on electoral reforms. Speaking on this, Sitaram Yechury said there is a need to fine-tune the electoral process. Because of money power and other such things, democracy is at stake. These infirmities need to be corrected. The government, in the Union Budget for 2017-18, has made two proposals -- the cash donations to political parties would now be restricted to Rs 2,000 each person and the introduction of electoral bonds. These are a mere eyewash. It is a mockery.

The Korean Peninsula in the Spotlight

NORTH and South Korea have been in the news a lot lately and mostly for the wrong reasons. Till recently, it was South Korea which was hogging most of the headlines due to the impeachment proceedings against the country’s president, Park Gyeun-hee on charges of corruption. The arrest of Jay Y Lee, the head of Samsung conglomerate, South Korea's biggest by far, on charges of bribing the country's top officials, including the president, is already having an impact on the country's booming economy. If the fortunes of Samsung are hit, the South Korean economy is sure to suffer.

TELANGANA: Left Protests TRS Government’s Repression

THE TRS government in Telangana has been continuing its autocratic measures and repression on democratic protests against its failures of commission and omission. The police arrested hundreds of leaders and workers of the Left parties, including the CPI(M), and mass organisations at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram and foiled their attempts to conduct two kilometre run protesting against the KCR government’s undemocratic decision to shift the dharna chowk from Indira park to the outskirts of Hyderabad.

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