Editorial

People’s Alliance: Rising to the Challenge in J&K

THE People’s Alliance for Gupkar Declaration (PAGD) that has taken shape in Jammu & Kashmir augurs well for democratic politics and the future fight for safeguarding the constitutional and democratic rights of the people of J&K.The first Gupkar declaration was on August 4, 2019 when six parties met at the house of Farooq Abdullah in Gupkar Road after which the declaration was named.  The statement  talked of safeguarding the special status of J&K, Article 370 and Article 35A.  The very next day, on August 5, the Modi government moved to scuttle Articles 370 and 35A in parliament

Militarising the Quad at US behest

THE forthcoming Malabar exercises in the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal in November will feature all the four countries of the quadrilateral grouping (Quad) – the United States, India, Japan and Australia. The Malabar exercises had begun as joint exercises of the Indian and US navies in the early 1990s. In recent years, it has become trilateral with Japanese participation.Only once in 2007, did Australia and Singapore join the Malabar exercises in the Bay of Bengal.

A Century of Struggle and Sacrifice

OCTOBER 17, 2020 is a historic day as it marks the hundred years of the formation of the first unit of the Communist Party of India in Tashkent in the then Soviet Union. A century of the Communist movement has passed spanning eight decades of the 20th century and two of the 21st century. The birth and development of the Communist Party is intertwined with the freedom struggle in India. The best and most militant fighters belonging to various streams of the independence movement joined the Communist Party because of its staunch anti-imperialist role.

UP: Descent into Barbarism

THE death of a 19-year old  dalit girl due to brutal gang-rape and torture in Hathras and the way the Uttar Pradesh police and administration have handled it,  is a horrifying yet instructive tutorial on the nature of the Adityanath regime in UP.The family of the girl faced indifference and hostility in filing an FIR.

Enslaving Labour

THE three labour laws passed in Parliament at the fag end of the truncated monsoon session constitute a grave assault on the working class of the country.  The Industrial Relations Code, the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code and the Social Security Code, along with the Code on Wages adopted last year, were ostensibly meant to simplify and modernise the host of laws related to labour.  However, the entire exercise was aimed at fulfilling a vital element of the neoliberal reforms, which is to usher in a regime of hire and fire, labour flexibility and removal of all prote

Throttling Democracy

THE truncated monsoon session of parliament has been, in every sense, the worst session of parliament ever held, except probably the one during the emergency in 1976 that adopted the 42nd constitutional amendment meant to facilitate an authoritarian regime.What happened in the Rajya Sabha, when two of the bills related to agriculture were being considered, was a mockery of parliamentary democracy.  After a curtailed discussion, the deputy chairman railroaded through the two bills violating all parliamentary procedures and rules. The demand to put the statutory resolutions disapproving the o

Delhi: Subverting the Criminal Justice System

THE way in which the Delhi Police has gone about the investigation into the communal violence in North East Delhi constitutes a brazen exercise in perverting the course of justice.From March onwards, the two special investigation teams entrusted to investigate the widespread violence which led to the deaths of 55 people, have worked in a biased manner with a pre-conceived narrative.The onus for the violence is being put on the anti-CAA protesters and those who played an active role in the peaceful protests which developed spontaneously in many places starting with Shaheen Bagh.

In the Face of Twin Disasters

IN the space of a few days, there have been two developments concerning the pandemic and the economy which are alarming.  India became the country with the second largest number of Covid-19 cases in the world, overtaking Brazil.  Preceding this came the news that in the first quarter (April-June) GDP had contracted by 24 per cent.  This is the worst fall among 25 major economies of the world.The pandemic is surging and it has spread to small towns and villages.  India has outstripped all countries in the daily increase in number of infections.

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