2021

by Vijay Kumar
The storming of US Congress in Capitol Hill on 6th January by the mob incited by the outgoing President may be shocking, but not surprising. This attack in the very citadel of American Democracy is a culmination of toxic combination of neoliberalism and demagoguery anchored in racism. It would, however, be a grave mistake to term this unprecedented violence as a unique to US. The symptom of this kind, which is prelude to fascism, is present in many countries, including in (…)

by Jyoti Dalal *
Events of Capitol Hill are indicative of the larger darkness that is ready to engulf modern democracies. Located within democracy, this darkness cannot just be expunged.
The takeover of the Capitol Hill, regardless of what is it called — coup, carnage, riot, protests — provides an opportune moment to reflect on deep seated anxieties of contemporary times. The specificity of this event reflects the inert and dead nature that plagues most of the existing modern, liberal (…)

India is witnessing a unique farmers’ movement with thousands of farmers camping on the highways outside Delhi borders for weeks and spending cold nights for claiming their rights. The farmers are sustaining themselves with community/family support.
The ongoing farmers’ movement has witnessed gross human rights violations in different forms. Given the fact that the ‘biased media’ did not cover the “real picture of farmers’ affliction, distress and agony”, the students of Centre for Human (…)

by Soumyadip Chattopadhyay *
The Backdrop
While the possibility of flattening out of the covid-19 curve remains a purely speculative exercise, India has actually experienced flattening out of its economic curve. The micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), providing 110 million jobs in India, are battling for survival as prolonged shutdown and various restrictions on economic activities have put their solvency at jeopardy leading into unavoidable layoffs and significant job losses. (…)

by Manoj Kumar Mishra *
Following the 9/11 terror attacks on the US mainland, Washington’s response was initially framed according to Article 51 of the UN Charter, which stipulates that retaliation must be in self-defense. However, to legitimize its long-term presence, the US resorted to the language of humanitarian intervention and provided humanitarian justifications, so the removal of the repressive Taliban regime was provided as the rationale of the war and provision of a stable and (…)

by Siby K. Joseph
It is an irony of history that a person who invented dynamite in 1867 and other terribly dangerous explosives later became a champion for promoting peace. It is the story of the Swedish scientist, Alfred Nobel, a scientist turned arms dealer who owned more than 90 factories manufacturing explosives and ammunition, when he passed away in 1896 in San Remo, Italy. If he had not instituted in his will the idea of Nobel Prize and decided to use his dynamite fortune for the (…)

[Jan 12, 2021]
Press Release of the Janta Parliament’s Special Kisan Session with Political Representatives
The resolutions passed and questions raised in the earlier six sessions of the Special Kisan
Session of the Janta Parliament were posed today to the political parties which were represented by senior leaders from the Congress, TMC, CPI-ML, CPI, RJD, VCK, AIFB, SP and CPI(M).
What followed was a dialogue between the members of the presidium, who were P. Sainath, Aruna (…)

by Arun Srivastava
Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is not merely a political party instead is a community, a caste conglomerate founded on the vestiges of feudalism and Hindutva of RSS, rather than classical concept of Hinduism. An insight into their approach and attitude towards others— political parties, social outfits, classes— would exemplify that they behaves like upper caste feudal lords. Let me cite only three examples at the moment; their attitude towards Muslims, the (…)

Having but recently left Russia, we feel that our first and most urgent words must be spoken in behalf of our political prisoners in Russia.
It is a sad, heartbreaking commentary upon the situation in Russia to speak of political prisoners in the land of the Social Revolution! Yet such is the fact, unfortunately. Nor do we refer to counter-revolutionists who might be, conceivably, prisoners of the Revolution. Incredible as it may seem, the jails and prisons of Russia are today densely (…)