IN a letter written on July 13 CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury has requested home minister, Rajanth Singh to urgently convene a tripartite meeting to discuss the situation in Darjeeling. He said a very grave situation has arisen in the hill areas of Darjeeling and Kalimpong districts in the state of West Bengal. Since July 8, eight people have died so far and many injured in police firing on protesters agitating against the state government’s announcement of making Bengali a mandatory language.

THE Students’ Federation of India, in a statement issued on July 10, has demanded an immediate withdrawal of the added taxation on sanitary napkins and ensure the maximum reach of the menstrual protection tools at lowest prices. In the recent GST effected by the Modi government, sanitary pads are considered as luxury items and taxed accordingly, when the reality is that these are a basic necessity for a woman’s healthy life.

THE brutal events of May 5, 2017 will probably change the course of politics in Madhya Pradesh.  Five, mostly young, agitating farmers died on the spot of bullet wounds in Pipilyamandi town of Mandsaur district. One more succumbed to his injuries later on.  This act of unparalleled brutality – all those who died had been shot above their waists, a 17 year old was shot in the head in the police station – created shock waves across the state.Mandsaur and the neighbouring district of Neemuch are traditional strongholds of the RSS-BJP.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on June 30.THERE are a number of problems arising from the Goods and Services Tax which is being hastily implemented from July 1, 2017.There is an imminent threat of inflation and an all-round increase in the prices of consumer goods.  This, despite the fact that for a number of commodities the GST rates now fixed are lower than the combined existing rate of centre and state taxes.

The Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has issued the following statement on July 6, 2017.THE visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Israel marks a rupture in the long-held position of India which has viewed Israel as an occupying power of Palestinian territories.The announcement of a “strategic partnership” with Israel in the joint statement, which is a strategic alliance, amounts to a virtual abandonment of the Palestinian cause. This was reinforced by Modi not visiting Ramallah and the Palestinian Authority.