Unshakable Conviction in the Victory of Socialism

EVERY call for the observance of the birth centenary of pioneers and veterans of the Indian communist movement by our party's Central Committee has never been intended to be either a formality or a ritualistic remembrance. Such observations are meant to arm the party as a whole to carry forward the struggles to achieve the strategic objective in a more resolute manner. It is with such spirit that the central committee has called upon the entire party to observe the birth centenary of Comrade Makineni Basavapunnaiah, or MB as he was fondly and universally referred to.

CPI(M) to Observe MB Birth Centenary

WHILE meeting held in Agartala on December 13-15, 2013, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) decided to observe M Basavapunnaiah birth centenary year from December 14, 2013, which was his birthday.

Since Comrade MB’s main contribution to the party and the communist movement was in the ideological sphere, the Central Committee decided that the focus of the centenary celebrations should be on an ideological campaign.

Gas Price Hike: Intolerable Burden

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) issued the following statement on January 2, 2014.

THE price hike of Rs 220 on an unsubsidised gas cylinder by the oil companies is totally unjustified and will be an intolerable burden on people already suffering from price rise. Since there is a ceiling on subsidised cylinders at nine, people have to now buy gas cylinders at exorbitant prices.

2014: Forge an Alternative Trajectory

People’s Democracy wishes its readers a very happy new year as we move into 2014.Such greetings are usually accompanied by the hopes that the new year will turn out to be better than what we all had to go through in 2013. We have often in these columns invoked Lord Tennyson’s famous line “Ringing out the old, ringing in the new.” Such hopes continue to remain and “the new,” we expect, will be for the better. Experience, however, teaches us that life is, more often than not, a continuum.

On Orders, Police Practically Played Goons: CPI(M)

IT was a murder most foul.It was a protest most heart rending.Kolkata erupted in protest on the first day of the New Year after a girl,twice gangraped and then burnt to death, breathed her last in a city hospital.The episode, as if taken from a horror film, exposed the cruelty of a regime that is ruling West Bengal now.

How will the AAP Shape up?

THE Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which was founded a year ago in Delhi has formed the government after winning 28 out of the 70 seats in Delhi assembly. This rapid rise of a new party in the capital city has sparked off a lot of discussion and has been generally welcomed by the democratic and secular circles in the country.

adivasis as rural and Urban Workers: Census Evidence from Four States

THE states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which are home to a majority of the adivasis outside the northeast, have been categorised as ‘least developed states’ by an official report of the central government. At least three of these four states (excluding Jharkhand) have been governed for the last one decade by non-Congress regimes that have been marketing them as promoting an inclusive model of development. These regimes are also well known for promoting export led agriculture as well as corporate capital in natural resource based industries, especially mining.

Extensive Campaign against Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill

INSURANCE employees under the banner of South Zone Insurance Employees’ Federation (SZIEF) met five lakh people in the state of Tamilnadu on one single day on 11th December. This was as part of the struggle against attempts to raise foreign direct investment cap in insurance sector from existing 26 per cent to 49 per cent, and to destabilise the public sector General Insurance companies through disinvestment. All these have been proposed in the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill that is before parliament now.

US Treatment Outrageous

Prakash Karat, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on December 18:

THE arrest and the treatment meted out to the Indian Deputy Consul General in New York, Devyani Khobragade, by the American authorities was outrageous. It indicates how the US administration views India and its diplomats.

The Ugly American

IT’S a long time since one heard the Indian government raise its voice against the US. Surprising, for a change! Of course, what is not surprising is the conduct of the US. Way back, in 1958, was published a novel, The Ugly American, which dealt with the arrogance of the US diplomats and State department officials. Though the novel deals about their arrogance in the countries in which they were posted, particularly the Third World countries of Asia and Africa, what is true is their arrogance even while dealing with the people of these countries posted in the US.

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