2019

The CPI-ML (Liberation) recently observed the 50th anniversary of its foundation and the birth centenary of the party’s founder, Charu Mazumdar, in Kolkata. A mass convention was held at the Netaji Indoor Stadium on July 30 while a two-day workshop of party cadres was held in the Moulali Yuva Kendra on July 31 and August 1.
The message that emanated from the Convention was to “forge a rock-solid unity’’ to resist the fascist onslaught on the democratic freedoms of the people and in defence (…)

by D.K. Giri
The ruling BJP won a massive victory, beyond expectation of the Opposition as well as the BJP. The latter did not expect such a bumper number of seats. A good many people, mainly in the non-NDA tent, are still pondering over the verdict. How could it go so wrong? With so many voices against Narendra Modi how could the BJP increase its own tally from 282 to 303? How did the fixed electoral arithmetic fail in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh? Did the EVM do the trick for the BJP?
Some (…)

Dear mentor, these days I think
No end of your time in Athens.
We have the same little men today
Whose little brief authority spins
Self-evident truths into “treacherous” acts,
Letting loose the minions of state
On those whose angst on behalf of justice
Is met with the terrified shrapnel of hate.
I see you smile at the futile task
Of quelling the laser of the mind,
Since across centuries and the Aegean Sea
You notice how inevitably questions their answers find.
When (…)

TRIBUTE
“There is only one portfolio I am certain I have the right person for,” I.K. Gujral had remarked to a friend, hours before he took over as the Prime Minister in mid-1997. “It is the Information and Broadcasting Ministry for Jaipal Reddy.” He made this remark minutes after word came—“ho raha hai”—that Congress leader Sitaram Kesri had firmed up the requisite support for him. This was just after the departure of H.D. Deve Gowda as the Prime Minister.
Jaipal Reddy became India’s I (…)

by Ram Puniyani
We are living in times where the social norms, the values of the Constitution have been violated times and over again. The increasing atrocities on Dalits, the lynchings of minorities in the name of cow-beef have changed the social equations in a drastic way during the last few years. This in a way is part of the ascendance of a politics of communalism which believes in a narrow, sectarian religious identity as its defining point. This may get further worsened with the big (…)

MUSINGS
Though the situation in Kashmir seems deteriorating but till date there is no clear indication of this Right-wing government’s policy towards Kashmir. Yes, no signs of discussions and dialogues with the Kashmiris. Also, the point is: who all will be representing the Kashmiris if the dialoguing process does take off. Not to be overlooked is the vital fact—the political rulers in New Delhi do not seem to trust any of the Hurriyat men, nor the Kashmiri intellectuals and academics who (…)

by Madan Mohan Khajooia
During his recent visit to the USA Prime Minister Imran Khan was accompanied by the most powerful man in Pakistan, Chief of Pak Army General Staff Gen. Bajwa. This is of great significance and signals that whatever position Imran Khan took in his negotiations with President Trump had the approval of the Pakistan Army. On return from the USA Khan’s morale was soaring high. His optimism seemed to have no bound. Trump had obliged him by supporting a demand on which (…)

by Fasihur Rahman
With the ongoing debat in Parliament and the media on the “Triple Talaaq”, the Shah Bano case has resurfaced. Recently, while giving an interview on the The Wire (July 27, 2019), a former Union Minister maintained that the Shah Bano case was related to Triple Talaaq. Although the Triple Talaaq issue did surface during the parliamentary debate on the Shah Bano case, it was not the issue. The core issue, in the Shah Bano case, was related to the provision of ‘maintenance’ (…)

by Ayan Guha
With the rise of the BJP the politics of West Bengal is experiencing a paradigm shift. The BJP has made spectacular inroads into West Bengal by winning 18 seats and doubling its vote-share from 17 per cent in 2014 to over 40 per cent in the recently concluded general elections. The ruling Trinamul Congress (TMC) could manage to win only 22 seats. The TMC managed to retain its dominance in and around Kolkata and most parts of South Bengal. But in three regions of the (…)

by Prakash B.Salavi
Introduction
The question of ‘crisis’ is fundamental in modern capitalist societies. While some would claim that the crisis is fundamentally economic in nature, and while others would claim that the crisis is political, there is also another angle to this question, and that is the human crisis itself. This is because the modern world has largely devalued philosophy. It was thinkers from Aristotle and Kant, Plato to Hegel, Marx and Gandhi who had talked of the (…)