ON December 24, Agartala, the capital city of Tripura, witnessed a web of red flags elevated high by thousands of kisans to celebrate victory of the year-long kisan struggle in the country and to press for the urgent issues that the peasantry of the state has been striving hard to settle. There is no alternative to a sustained united struggle to overthrow the anti-peasant, anti-worker RSS-BJP government that has been foisted on the people of Tripura through hoax promises.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on December 24:THE extreme hate speeches and incitement to violence against Muslims at the so-called dharam sansad in Haridwar is a flagrant violation of the Constitution, the legal framework. The speeches are akin to supporting terrorist acts including against former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh.It could continue without hindrance for three days because of the impunity such people enjoy under the BJP-led governments.

IN the current context, we see the state mutating itself into a form that exerts greater control on the civilian population through surveillance infrastructure & mechanisms, which by the day is becoming a necessary condition to suit itself to serve the interests and needs of the big capital, paving the way for maximisation of profits for the market forces. The Aadhaar project is the lynchpin to crackdown on welfare measures and a necessary condition to carry forward the devastating reforms in the neo-liberal phase.

INDIAN Worker’s Association(IWA) has stated that the proposed Nationality and Borders Bill is oppressive, racist, discriminatory and above all, immoral. The new draconian Bill passed its second reading in the House of Commons by 366 votes to 265. The Bill, according to the government, is proposed to increase fairness in the asylum system and to deter illegal entry into the UK and easily remove people that the home secretary, at her discretion, deems to be a threat to the nation.

THE year gone by 2021, was a year full of travails but ended with a triumph for the people.The second Covid wave fueled by the Delta variant ravaged the people between March and May. The country was unprepared for this onslaught since Modi and his government had proclaimed victory over the virus in January itself. As a result of this false optimism, tens of thousands died, many of them unrecorded. The terrible sight of patients gasping for lack of oxygen and bodies floating down the Ganga were beamed all over the world.