THE persecution and eventual death of 84 year old Father Stan Swamy while in judicial custody has brought out many aspects of the perversion of the criminal justice system under the Modi regime.The use of the draconian Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against political and social activists; the use of the NIA and central agencies to carry out the political agenda of the ruling party; the role of sections of the judiciary, acting as an “executive judiciary”, conniving in the denial of fundamental rights of citizens and an inhumane jail system which violates basic human rights of pri

THE blight of the pandemic which has caused mass suffering and deaths during the second wave is now compounded by the manifold miseries inflicted on the people by the Modi government.  The people are experiencing unemployment, falling incomes and hunger.  On top of this comes the rising inflation and price rise of essential commodities – a creation of the policies of the government. In the months of April and May, 2.2 crore (22 million) people lost their jobs.

NOT a day passes without some attack on the federal structure and infringement on states’ rights taking place. If one day, the centre unilaterally announced a vaccine policy whereby states are asked to procure vaccines and pay for them, then another day, the chief secretary of West Bengal is summoned to Delhi to report for duty on the day of his retirement.  The next time, the centre is stepping in to prevent the Delhi government from implementing its door-step delivery of rations.  On another occasion, the Punjab government finds that the centre has stopped the payment under the Rural Deve

THE union territory of Lakshadweep is a group of islands which are home to around 65,000 people.  These quiet, peace-loving people are being subjected to a ruthless regime which seeks to deprive them of their way of life, livelihoods, food and cultural rights. The plague on the island did not come in the form of the Covid-19 virus first, but when a new administrator took charge in December 2020.  Till then, all previous administrators had been IAS officers.  For the first time, a politician from Gujarat was appointed.  Praful Khoda Patel was an MLA in Gujarat previously who had also been a

WEEKS have gone by since the disastrous second Covid-19 wave unfolded, but the Modi government refuses to realise the folly of its ways and rectify its policies.The supreme court hearing the Covid pandemic issue had raised valid questions and expressed reservations about the vaccine policy of the centre.