2021

’ham ke Thehre ajnabi’ Urdu Nazm / Poem written by Faiz Ahmad Faiz upon his return from Dhaka in 1974
ham ke Thehre ajnabi itni mulaaqaaton ke baad phir baneiN ge aashna kitni madaaraaton ke baad
kab nazar mein aaye gi be daagh sabze ki bahaar khoon ke dhabe dhuleiN ge kitni barsaaton ke baad
the bahut bedard lamhe khat’m-e-dard-e-ishq ke thein bahut bemeh’r subheiN meh’rbaan raaton ke baad
dil to chaaha par shikast-e-dil ne moh’lat hi na di kuchh gile shikwe bhi kar lete manaajaatoN (…)

John Bellamy Foster The Return of Nature: Socialism and Ecology
Monthly Review Press, New York, 2020. 687 pp., £30 hb ISBN 9781583678367
Reviewed by Corinna Lotz
[Corinna Lotz’ book Finding Evald Ilyenkov – How a Soviet Philosopher who stood up for dialectics continues to inspire, was published by Real Democracy Movement in April 2019. She co-ordinates International Friends of Ilyenkov. Info@realdemocracymovement.org]
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For too long it has been a cliché that a class-based (…)

* The Afghanistan Imbroglio | Jamal Kidwai
* What is behind the Jan 2021 Deaths of Migrants in Surat, Gujarat?
* Red, Green, and Saffron - Changing Colours in the Political Landscape of West Bengal
* 2021 West Bengal Assembly Elections: BJP losing ground | Arun Srivastava
* 2021 West Bengal Elections: Fiftynine questions to Modi-raj by Anindya Ray

Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, March 20, 2021
In September 2018, a judgement by Constitution bench of the Supreme Court ruled that all Hindu pilgrims regardless of gender can enter the Sabarimala hill shrine; and that any exception placed on women because of biological differences violates the Constitution - that the ban violates the right to equality under Article 14, and freedom of religion under Article 25. The ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) in Kerala which has been vocal for (…)

by Jamal kidwai*
In the backdrop of the May 1 deadline for the withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, two documents being referred to as ‘moonshot’(unrealistic) have been ‘leaked’ by Afghanistan’s Tolo news channel.
What has added to the complexity created by these developments is US President Biden’s interview, aired by ABC news on 17 March . In the interview Biden says it will be ‘tough’ to meet the 1 May deadline, but the complete drawdown will not take much longer.
Getting back (…)

by Fact Finding Committee [1]
The article is based on a Fact-Finding Report [2] of an accident killing 15 migrant workers near Surat. The Surat city is projected as an illuminating illustration of the ‘Development Paradigm’ being followed by Gujarat state. The article delineates how this model has been grossly treating and inhumanly exploiting the workers. They are not only deprived of work-related legally enshrined rights and benefits but they have to live and work in inhuman and (…)

BJP’s fond dream of “conquering” West Bengal by winning 200 seats (out of a total of 294) as confidently claimed by Amit Shah, is turning into a nightmare. In the Mahabharata we have read the Mushal Parva and the destruction of the Yadu Vansha. The BJP in West Bengal is facing a similar situation. Lacking the human material to run a government and without a chief ministerial face to present to the public, the BJP thought that the best way out is to organize large-scale defections from the (…)

[marron][In the interest of public debate we publish the two differing positions among formations of the left on the 2021 Assembly elections in Bengal]marron]
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I Full-Text of Commentary in People’s Democracy - March 14, 2021
CPI(ML): Wrong Turn in West Bengal: A Political Commentary
THE general secretary of the CPI(ML), Dipankar Bhattacharya, has been airing his views in the media for some time, about the tactics that the Left should adopt for the West Bengal assembly election. (…)

by Priyanca Mathur *
With all 291 candidates for the 2021 West Bengal State Legislative Elections announced, the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) party, headed by its firebrand incumbent Chief Minister, Mamata Banerjee aka ‘Didi’, is seeking to retain the 294 seat Assembly for the third term. In doing so it faces a fierce challenge put up the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP). West Bengal, which was run by the Congress Party and the Left Front for decades witnessed its watershed moment in 2011 (…)

by Arun Srivastava
Just fifteen days ahead of the beginning of the 8-phase assembly elections in Bengal, the high speed juggernaut of Amit Shah which he had pushed in action a year ago with great gusto appears to be losing steam. His entire efforts to invigorate it have proved futile. Shah’s BJP which till a week back was ordained to make Mamata Banerjee bite dust has suddenly appears to be losing relevance and turning a pariah.
Media commentators and political analysts are busy burning (…)