IT is now exactly five months since the mass protests in Sudan (started on December 19, 2018) had started that led to the deposition of the dictator Omar Al-Bashir. For all these five months, the people of Sudan have continued with their protests with lot of determination. They did not rest after Al-Bashir had stepped down as the ruler of the country and the military took over. They demanded the immediate transfer of power to a civilian administration representing all sections of the Sudanese society.

A PEACEFUL demonstration against the Rowlatt Act at Jallianwala Bagh on April 13, 1919, turned into a site of massacre by the British government, killing more than thousands of protestors including women and children. A hundred years from then, the British government still fails to render an apology for one of the most heinous crimes it had ever committed.

ON Saturday January 19, ordinary French people in their tens of thousands were again out on the streets of France, sporting the yellow safety vests that have become a global symbol of revolt. Since materialising as if from nowhere on November 17, 2018, and despite full-on brutal State efforts to contain it, the movement of the Yellow Jackets (Gilets jaunes) continues to confront French President Emmanuel Macron with his gravest crisis yet.

SHEIKH Hasina-led Awami League and Mahajote (Grand Alliance) registered an unprecedented victory in the history of Bangladesh in the 11th Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament) elections, by securing 288 out of 298 seats. However, the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led Jatiya Oikya Front (National Unity Front) and Left Democratic Front led by Communist Party of Bangladesh have rejected the results alleging widespread violence, rigging and manipulations. The Jatiya Oikya Front demanded fresh elections under a neutral caretaker government.

ON December 8, continuing the tradition of the Indo Canadian Workers Association (ICWA), annual calendar was released at Surrey, Canada in Strawberry Hill Library. The calendar was dedicated to the Gadar movement heroes who laid down their lives for the freedom movement of India and to the Jallianwala Bagh massacre which took place 100 years ago. Observing the centenary of the massacre, in which nearly 1,000 innocent people were killed, the ICWA held a large meeting in which people from all walks of life participated.