A WAVE of protests swept Iraq in 2019. The sit-downs and marches took place for reasons familiar to people who were protesting at that time in far-off Colombia and Indonesia. The people were frustrated by what appeared to be a permanent economic catastrophe for their budgets, the absolute failure of the administration to meet their needs, and the political sectarianism that blocked any progress out of the gridlock set in place due to the US invasion and occupation of 2003. The government used terrible force against the protestors, including the assassination of several movement leaders.

ONCE considered a lifeline, the Musi River in Telangana has now turned into a stream of toxic liquids and effluents. Starting in the Anantagiri hills in Vikarabad district, the Musi joins the Krishna River in Vadavalli in Nalgonda district. It fulfils the drinking water and irrigation needs of the people of Hyderabad, Rangareddy, and the united Nalgonda districts. Historically linked with the lives of the people of these districts, the river’s water was pristine clear even 40 years ago. But now, the water is toxic. Who is responsible for this? What is the responsibility of those in power?

CPI(M)  Polit Bureau has issued the following statement on September 13The decision of the district court in Varanasi in the Gyanvapi Mosque case is in clear violation of the aim behind the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The court has said that suits seeking the right to worship inside the mosque are maintainable and are not barred by the said law.Wrong interpretations of the law by sections of the judiciary will lead to serious consequences of the kind that the law was meant to prevent.

THE little soul only wanted water. And for that crime, a 9-year-old child of Rajasthan, Indra Kumar Meghwal, was the victim of the anger of the upper castes. In a school  run by the RSS, the Saraswati Vidyamandir. Dalit children getting murdered in RSS-run schools, that is the objective reality of education and social and economic justice in India, at the eve of 75 years of independence.

THE freebie debate has raised a hornet’s nest regarding its definition, implications for the poor, impact on fiscal consolidation, propriety of judicial system usurping the domain of the legislature and political process and so on. But a dimension that has not received adequate attention has been the consequences for the federal structure.The states are alleged to be steeped in “revadi culture” and distributing too many freebies risking their financial stability.