‘A play can communicate with the people directly, without jargon, in an idiom that people understand, and by touching their heart. In that sense, what you might take one hour to explain in a speech, a play can convey that in twenty minutes,’ said R. Arunkumar, inaugurating a two-day cultural workshop in New Delhi on February 1, 2026. This workshop was held to create street plays and songs for the state-level jathas that will take place as a build up to the Jan Akrosh Rally in New Delhi on March 24.

It was 8 am on Sunday, the eighth of February. A group of young men and women were standing in the Drop Gate area of Agartala. Most of them were wearing white T-shirts bearing the slogan “Save the Generation” on the front and back. The scene felt somewhat different and striking. As one moved closer, prominent Left youth leaders came into view — DYFI State Secretary Nabarun Deb, State President Palash Bhowmik, TYF General Secretary Kumud Debbarma, President Kaushik Roy Debbarma, among others.

On 14 February, at a seminar organised by Jan Vichar Manch, Lucknow, the packed audience at the Kaifi Azmi Auditorium listened intently for nearly two hours to renowned journalist and writer P. Sainath. Prof. Nadeem Hasnain, the founder of Jan Vichar Manch, introduced Sainath and spoke about his books, especially ‘Everyone Loves a Good Drought’, which has a Hindi translation titled ‘Teesri Fasal’. Pratul Joshi conducted the program.

The decision of the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Administration to rusticate all four elected office-bearers of the JNU Students’ Union (JNUSU) along with its former President for two semesters, declare the campus ‘out of bounds’ for them, and impose heavy fines, is a direct attack on the democratic fabric of the University. This action is not against a few individual students, but against the democratic rights of the entire student community.

CPI(M) leader and Kulgam MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami has strongly condemned the harassment and attacks on Kashmiris in several states of the country, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Haryana, saying such incidents send a deeply disturbing message to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.