Aijaz Ahmad: A Warrior for Marxism

PROFESSOR Aijaz Ahmad, who passed away last week in Irvine, California, was one of the foremost Marxist intellectuals of our times. His significance as a Marxist theoretician came to prominence in the period after the retreat of socialism in the late 1980s and which led to the dismantling of the Soviet Union in 1991.His erudition and talents were wide-ranging. He began his work as an Urdu writer and literary critic.

Scheme Workers March to Parliament

Condemns the draconian ESMA, retrenchment and repression on anganwadi, ASHA and MDM workers in Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh Resolves to make the general strike on March 28-29, 2022 a grand success ON March 15, around 1,500 anganwadi, ASHA and mid-day meal workers from Delhi, Haryana and Punjab under the leadership of All India Federation of Anganwadi Workers and Helpers (AIFAWH), Mid Day Meal Workers Federation of India (MDMWFI) and All India Coordination Committee of ASHA Workers (AICCAW) assembled at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi, in protest during the

Devadasi Sangha Holds a Successful Dharna

THE state level protest dharna organised on March 14 at Freedom Park Bangalore by Devadasi Sangha ended in a success. More than 1,500 devadasi women and their children from different parts of the state participated in the dharna.The president of the Karnataka State Devadasi Vimochana Sangha (KSDVS) and state CPI(M) secretary, U Basavaraju, inaugurated and explained the background of the dharna.

Supreme Court Must Stay Karnataka HC Verdict

THE Karnataka High Court in its order on March 15, has held that wearing of hijab is not essential to the practice of Islam; that college development committees (CDCs) have a right to prescribe a uniform; and that Muslim girls must comply with whatever uniform is prescribed by their college. Women’s organisations and activists, in a joint statement issued on March 15, have appealed to the Supreme Court to issue an immediate stay on the Karnataka HC order as it will have a far-reaching negative impact on the safety, dignity, and right to education of Muslim girls and women.

Soaring Oil Price and Imminent Stagflation

ECONOMIC indicators once again are flashing worrying signals. The unemployment rate in India at the moment is above 8 per cent, the consumer price index (combined) taken as a measure of headline inflation is above 6 per cent and the wholesale price index showing year-on-year growth is close to 13 per cent as of January 2022.

Misfired Missile

AN alarming, strange and implausible incident took place on Wednesday, March 9 this year when a missile, stated to be undergoing routine maintenance in Sirsa, Haryana, was unexpectedly and unintentionally fired, and landed in Mian Channu village, district Khanewal, Punjab, in Pakistan, thankfully without casualty or serious damage. The episode was, however, acknowledged only a day later by Pakistan and by India a further day afterwards on Friday, March 11, both sides especially Pakistan appearing not to want to escalate the incident even though it afforded plenty of opportunity.

Globalisation and the Relocation of Capital and Labour

THE relocation of capital from the advanced capitalist countries of the north to low- wage countries of the south in the current era of globalisation has received much attention; but there is another kind of relocation that has not received as much attention, and that is of labour from comparatively lower-wage countries of Eastern Europe to the advanced capitalist countries. In fact since within the European Union there is generally free mobility of labour, this has become a powerful inducement for these Eastern European countries to join the European Union.

Pointers from the Assembly Elections

THERE are three major takeaways from the recent assembly elections in the five states of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa. First, the decisive victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh for the second successive term and its success in Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa to retain its governments.Though the BJP and its allies got a lesser majority, their vote share has increased by 3.65 per cent to 45 per cent.

Polit Bureau Communique

CPI(M) Polit Bureau met in New Delhi on March 12-13. It has issued the following statement on March 13 RECENT ASSEMBLYELECTIONSThe BJP was elected to form governments once again in all its incumbent states – Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. With intensified communal polarisation, control over large sections of the media and immense money power, BJP could retain its Uttar Pradesh government with a reduced majority. The people of Punjab voted for the Aam Aadmi Party rejecting the traditional two parties – Congress and Akali Dal.

An Unfortunate Judgement

THE Karnataka High Court judgement is a blow against the universal right to education without discrimination, guaranteed by the law and the constitution of India. There are many questionable aspects of the judgement.

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