Below we publish the excerpts of the speech delivered by Sitaram Yechury, general secretary of CPI(M)  at the valedictory function of the 83rd Sivagiri Pilgrimage Celebrations on January 1, 2016 at Kerala.I BELONG to a generation that grew up on the values propagated by Srinarayana Guru - `the oneness of humanity', with no social barriers on the grounds of caste, religion, region etc.  The slogan of `one caste, one religion, one god' is an elevated expression of humanism which recognises the value of a human being as being supreme; a value that recognises all human beings as being equal, ir

THE Left and progressive forces in the Latin American continent are passing through turbulent times. Marta Harnecker, in her recently published book, A World to Build, Monthly Review Press, (Indian edition by Aakar) 2015, discusses very briefly the background in which the present Left, progressive governments had come to power, their character, differences between these governments and the challenges they are facing.

 We expected them to speak about us, the dalits, the untouchables. Because, for us, speaking about Babasaheb without speaking about us, is meaningless. We thought they will speak about the attacks on us. We wanted them to speak about people who still shamelessly call us dogs. We hoped that they will talk about things that will help in the education of our children, jobs for us and an improvement in our overall life. For us, Ambedkar is a struggle and we thought that there will be a talk of our struggles in the parliament. Glued to the TV, we watched and watched and watched.

THE BJP and the Sangh Parivar in Karnataka once again are in the game of disturbing communal harmony in the state. This time around it was on the pretext of opposing the birth anniversary celebrations of 18th century ruler of Mysore, Tipu Sultan. The Congress government in Karnataka has decided to celebrate the Tipu birthday officially from this year onwards and it prepared to conduct official functions throughout the state on November 10.

THIS year, 2015, marks the end of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The end of MDGs should not mean that all the targets set in them are reached. Instead, their place is taken by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).