‘Criminalisation of Tribal Livelihood is Reprehensible’

Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member, met the Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Kishore Chandra Deo on November7, 2013 and brought to his attention the illegal actions of the Andhra Pradesh government and the Forest Department which were in violation of the Forests Rights Act.

The minister expressed shock and assured that he will take immediate action.

Below is the full text of the letter:

Lavlin Verdict: Inevitable Ending Of a McCarthyian Conspiracy

THE term McCarthyism refers to the practice of making unfair allegations or using unfair investigative techniques, especially in order to restrict dissent or political criticism. The US senator Joseph McCarthy led a witch-hunt against communists during the 1950s claiming that “there were large numbers of Communists and Soviet spies and sympathisers inside the United States federal government and elsewhere”. He could not prove his claims and later the term McCarthyism applied to similar anti-communist activities.

Murderous Attack on Former MLA

FORMER MLA and CPI(M) leader Benoy Datta was kidnapped and mercilessly beaten by TMC hoodlums in Khanakul, Hooghly. He was grievously injured and rescued only with the help from local people.Datta, CPI(M) district secretariat member, was returning after addressing a meeting commemorating November Revolution in Mostafapur in Khanakul. A veteran leader, Datta was pillion riding on a motorcycle of a Party worker. TMC workers encircled the motorcycle on the road and attacked Datta first with sticks and bamboo sticks. Then he was forcibly taken away from there.

All the Perfumes of Arabia Cannot Sweeten Your Hands

IN the run-up to the 2014 general elections, we are being bombarded by a bizarre reconstruction of our history.Karl Marx had once famously said that Men make history but not under circumstances chosen by them. Given that the circumstances do not favour them, did not favour them since our independence when we adopted our Republic Constitution, the RSS all along has been attempting to create make-believe circumstances that would be favourable for the pursuit of its project of converting India into a rabidly intolerant fascistic `Hindu Rashtra’.

CPI(M) Note to GoM on Telangana

CPI(M) Andhra Pradesh state secretary B V Raghavulu and its MLA, J Ranga Reddy met with the Group of Ministers (GoM) formed for the bifurcation of the state of Andhra Pradesh and formation of new state of Telangana.
In this meeting held in North Block, New Delhi on 13th November, 2013, the CPI(M) leaders reiterated the Party’s stand that the state of Andhra Pradesh must be kept united. They also submitted a note on measures to be taken for development of backward regions and districts.

Below we give full text of the note submitted to the GoM:

CITU, AIAWY Rally Challenges Govt Policies

ON November 9, 2013, the HUDA ground in Jind, Haryana, saw the convergence of a large number of people in the Mazdoor Lalkar Rally, on the call given jointly by Haryana state committees of the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and All India Agricultural Workers Union (AIAWU). They had come here to challenge the anti-people policies of the Congress government in the state and the Congress led UPA government at the central.

Unprecedented Terror in the Panchayat Elections in Burdwan

THE scope of analysing the recent Panchayat election results of Burdwan district in West Bengal is, in many ways, somewhat limited. It is very difficult to determine people’s true preferences amidst planned disruption of the electoral process by Trinamool Congress (TMC). It is rational to compare the present Panchayat election ‘results’ with that of the last 2011 assembly elections, where, even amidst the so-called ‘paribortan’ wave, the Left front still won 9 out of 25 seats in this district and secured 44.8 per cent votes.

Protest against the US Conspiracy to Attack Syria

A DHARNA was organised in front of the Governor’s House by the CPI(M) Bhubaneswar district committee protesting against the US conspiracy to attack and subjugate Syria.

This Week in Parliament

TO this concluding week of parliament session the government came with a number of bills in both houses, keeping in view the forthcoming election. The food security bill, already passed in Lok Sabha, was taken up in Rajya Sabha on September 2.

On September 3 the prime minister made a statement in Rajya Sabha on the investigation of coal block allocations by the CBI. There was a hue and cry in the house on the issue of missing files, with Sitaram Yechury, leader of CPI(M) group in the house, suggesting that the government must procure the files from the CAG and also file an FIR.

Indian Bureaucrats Vote with Their Feet Against India’s Health System

A RECENT notification, dated September 25, 2013, by the ministry of personnel of the government of India is virtually a vote of no-confidence on India’s health system. The notification amends existing laws regarding entitlements available to senior government officials to receive treatment abroad for what are identified as ‘complex’ medical conditions. The amended rules make it easier for such treatment and the government also takes upon itself the responsibility to pay all the medical costs as well as the travel and related costs of the patient and an attendant.

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