Politics

Dr Aparna Mahanta, ex-professor of Dibrugarh University, and a progressive writer in Assamese, passed away in a Dibrugarh hospital. She will be deeply missed in the fields of Assamese literature as well as progressive activism. She edited the an Assamese magazine for women – Ghor Jeuty, and wrote many books on women’s struggles in Assam. She was the founder editor of the AIPWA magazine in Assamese – Aider Jonaki Baat, and was one of the members of the National council of the Indian People’s Front.Red Salute to Dr Aparna Mahanta!

Comrade Pawan Sharma, senior leader of CPIML passed away 30 January at 4 pm. He suffered a cardiac stroke a day before in the evening after which was admitted in a hospital in Patna where angioplasty was performed though his condition remained critical. But we hoped he would recover soon. Comrade Pawan Sharma led many struggles of rural poor and peasants in Magadh region of Bihar. His role was crucial in building the party organisation during the decades of 1980s and 90s. Pawan ji, as he was known to everybody, served on the Central Committee and the Polit Bureau of the party as well as serving as Bihar State Secretary of the party and vice president of All India Agricultural & Rural Labour Association. His body was kept in Patna in party's Legislative office for paying t...

The CPIML released its election manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election on 1 February 2022. The manifesto focuses on the issue of employment for youth. It also calls on the voters to defeat the BJP to protect law and order and democracy against the politics of hate. The manifesto was released simultaneously on 1 February from Varanasi and Lucknow. At Varanasi it was released from a press conference by former State Secretary Ramji Rai and current State Secretary Sudhakar Yadav. The manifesto says that development has happened only on paper under the Yogi government. In reality the State has gone backwards. Jobs have decreased instead of increasing in the last 5 years. Lakhs of posts lie vacant but young people got lathis when they asked for jobs. A humongous reservation...

January 30 marks the martyrdom day of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. Nathuram Godse, who fired the bullets assassinating the unarmed Gandhiji, is India’s first terrorist. Today, we see BJP MP Pragya Thakur and BJP leader Sakshi Maharaj and hate-mongers at so-called “dharm sansads” honour the terrorist Godse. We also see RSS ideologues suggest that it is Nehru not Savarkar and Godse, who are responsible for Gandhi’s assassination. PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah pay lip service to Gandhiji – but why are they silent on terrorist Godse and his present-day supporters? Why do they support Savarkar who was the mastermind of the terrorist conspiracy to assassinate Gandhiji? On Gandhi’s martyrdom day, RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha tweeted to suggest that Nehru deliberately neglected Gandhi j...