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Unfolding Colours Of TMC Rule In Bengal
As Mamata Banerjee completes her first six months in office, the people of West Bengal now have a fairly good idea of the shape of things to come. In a systematic reversal of her poll promises, Mamata Banerjee has now launched a full-scale repressive campaign in Jangalmahal. The joint operation which she claims had been effectively ‘suspended’ to ‘give peace a chance’ has been resumed in full swing. And this is accompanied by Mamata’s own version of ‘Salwa Judum’ complete with recruitment of ‘special police officers’ and a TMC-backed vigilante force in the name of ‘Bhairav Vahini’, a veritable TMC-style replica of the erstwhile CPI(M)-sponsored band of armed storm-troopers known notoriously as ‘harmad vahini’ in West Bengal....Full text
Koodankulam Resistance And Kalam’s Propaganda
Kavita Krishnan
The Koodankulam struggle, which has gained tremendous momentum and support in the past few months, reflects the new awareness and questioning among people – in India and globally – regarding nuclear energy, following the Fukushima disaster. The struggle, if successful, will not just prevent the installation of the Koodankulam Nuclear Plant. The UPA Government well knows that the movement’s success will challenge the entire nuclear expansion programme planned by the UPA Government in the wake of the Indo-US Nuke Deal....Full text
History, Politics and Hindutva
Amit Kumar
What role does our present play in shaping our understanding of past? How is history writing affected by contemporary politics? Why should anyone but a history student bother with these questions? In recent times, we have seen history playing an important role in shaping our politics and vice versa....Full text
Uttarakhand: 11 Years of Statehood
Raja Bahuguna
On November 9, 2000, when the state of Uttarakhand was formed, common people aspired that now, at last, development policies would be tailored to their needs. The plunder of jal-jangal-zameen would end, and new avenues of employment would be created. 11 years later, corruption and plunder are at their height. Till today, those guilty for the massacres at Khatima, Muzaffarnagar and Masuri are yet to be punished....Full text
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What Future for Nuclear Power in India?
C. E. Karunakaran
For very many years I have been a supporter of nuclear power plants, on the premise “Bomb No, but Power Yes”. When I got involved with the Climate Change issue, I studied different energy forms in depth. I then started to have unresolved questions on nuclear energy, but initially took the view that it still fell in the category of ‘Necessary Evil’ since Climate Change is a bigger evil and emergency steps are needed to switch to a low carbon path. But, over a period of time, as I assessed the feasibility of different energy paths for our country, I have veered to the point of view that while (climate change criminal) coal is a Necessary Evil for us in the middle term, (low carbon) nuclear qualifies as a Needless Evil. Let me explain why....Full text
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8th National Conference of AICCTU Held At Bhilai
The 8th National Conference of AICCTU was held at Bhilai from 11-13 November, 2011. Bhilai, rechristened Shankar Guha Niyogi Nagar on the occasion of the Conference, wore a festive look with streets and major centres festooned with red flags and banners. The Conference venue was named after Daras Ram Sahu, another martyr of the workers’ and peasants’ movement of the state. Worker delegates from all over the country – from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry, W Bengal, Odisha, Delhi, Assam, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Chhattisgarh , Bihar, Jharkhand and other states - gathered at Bhilai to attend the Conference....Full text
Strike the Iron
While It Is Red Hot
(excerpts from Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya’s speech at the inaugural session of the AICCTU’s 8th National Conference)
Strike the iron while it is hot. Workers all over the world have always applied this wisdom in their work and struggle. There can be no two opinions that worldwide the iron today is palpably hot. The point is how hard and how best we can strike and shape this hot iron. The 8th National Conference of AICCTU has its tasks cut out and I wish all of you present in this conference every success in fulfilling your historic mission....Full text
Face the Challenges, Grasp the Opportunities
(Text of AICCTU President S Kumarasamy’s Address in the Inaugural Session)
Comrades,
As we assemble here on 11.11.11, finance capital and corporate greed are put in the dock by the people in New York and other global citadels of capital. The oligarchs who pronounced the end of history are now facing the slogans, “bankers are bailed out, we are sold out”, “there is only one solution, that is revolution”. The Occupy Wall Street movement has taken place, when the American people seem to be thinking that capitalism is losing its ability to restructure and reconstitute itself. The agitation in its own way is taking an anti-capitalist turn, as capitalism’s economic legitimacy is losing its sheen. From our 8th National Conference, we welcome this fresh whiff of air and we dedicate ourselves to challenge corporate greed and control in India. We hail it and express solidarity with it in India by demanding “people’s right over people’s resources”....Full text
Comrade Osiris Oviedo de la Torre
(Secretariat member of World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and WFTU Permanent Representative in Geneva, who hails from Cuba.)
It is 58 years since the Cuban revolution. We’d like to know more about the conditions and role of the working class in today’s Cuba.
The Confederation of Cuban workers has about 3 million members. When Castro held out the possibility of a new society in 1953, Cuba’s working class responded enthusiastically and Trade Unions held strikes to support the Revolution....Full text
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Occupy Wall Street:
“You Can’t Evict An Idea Whose Time Has Come”
Arindam Sen
The encampments of the “99%” at New York and numerous other locations savagely demolished, the confrontation between the progressive power of people on the move and the reactionary sway of the combined economic, political and propaganda apparatuses of the financial oligarchy in America has entered upon a grand new stage with a great new slogan we are using as a caption for this write-up. When a government known for frequently issuing hypocritical statements about violations of democratic rights in other countries launches a nationwide violent crackdown on peaceful protesters at home – whose concerns even the President acknowledged as justified – naturally it finds itself more isolated and beleaguered than ever. The empire confronts a siege within....Full text
Student Movement in Chile:
For An End to Privatised Education
Since May this year, Chile has been witnessing a remarkable and highly successful student movement, targeting the privatised system of schooling and university education that has prevailed since the US-backed Pinochet dictatorship (1973-1990)....Full text
Europe on the Boil
With the Eurozone sovereign debt crisis intensifying, and people’s anger on the rise against austerity measures imposed by the IMF-World Bank, Europe’ ruling classes are struggling to cope. The survival of the Eurozone (the economic and monetary union of 17 EU countries that have Euro as a common currency) has fallen in crisis, with multiple countries needing bailouts. Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel described the ongoing Eurozone crisis as Europe’s “toughest hour since World War II.” Some countries like Greece and Italy, are trying the recipe of a change of guard, ushering in Governments headed by technocrats, in a desperate bid to stem the crisis. But these measures are doing little to contain or placate people’s anger, which has got a boost in the arm from the global Occupy climate....Full text
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Updates |
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Comrade Ramnaresh Ram’s 1st Memorial Day
CPI(ML) commemorated the first Memorial Day of Comrade Ramnaresh Ram, veteran of the communist movement in the country and one of the founder leaders of revolutionary peasant movement of Bhojpur, on 26 October 2011. A pledge taking meeting was organised in Arrah on this occasion, while his memorial was inaugurated in Sahar. A booklet on Comrade Ram Naresh’s life and works was released at the Pledge Meeting. A minute’s silence was observed in the memory of Comrade Ramnaresh Ram. The meeting at Ara was addressed by CPI(ML) Politburo member Swadesh Bhattacharya. Sudhir Suman introduced the booklet which was released on the occasion. Comrades Rameshwar Prasad, President AIALA, Dhirendra Jha, Gen. Sec. AIALA, Party CCM Amar, Ex-MLA Arun Singh, Party Bihar State Committee member Sudama Prasad, and many other leaders were present on this occasion. Agrenand Chaudhary of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Vichar Manch, Prof. Parasnath Singh, Prof. Ramtavkya Singh, Prof. Tungnath Chaudhary, Dr. BK Prasad, Dr. Ashutosh Prasad, Dr. Suniti Prasad and many other prominent citizens of the region were also present....Full text
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11 Years of Irom Sharmila’s Fast :
AFSPA Must Go!
On November 2, 11 years back, a young woman in Manipur, disturbed by the terrible Malom massacre in which the Assam Rifles killed 14 civilians, went on a hunger-fast in mourning and protest. Some days later, on November 5, she decided to begin an indefinite fast – to be broken only when the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958 - instrument of the humiliation and repression imposed on Manipur and the North East - was scrapped....Full text
Bhupen Hazarika
1926-2011
Bhupenda,
Your voice will flow on,
Throbbing with the pulse of people’s pain and people’s resistance...
Your political foray with the right-wing struck a discordant note with all who loved you.
But it’s your music that will outlive that slip, and find a permanent place in people’s struggles and people’s hearts.
Liberation salutes the immortal bard of Brahmaputra – Bhupen Hazarika! ...Full text
Obituary
J Sri Raman
Liberation condoles the untimely passing away of J Sri Raman, journalist and leading campaigner against nuclear weapons and communal violence
J Sri Raman was a lifelong peace activist in the sub-continent, and bold voice against all war-mongering and jingoism. He led many popular grassroots campaigns against communalism. He helped to found several organisations against nuclear weapons, including the Chennai-based Journalists Against Nuclear Weapons (JANW) in the wake of the May 1998 Pokhran-II bomb and resulting chauvinist frenzy in the media; the Movement Against Nuclear Weapons (MANW); and Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP). He is the author of Flashpoint: How the U.S., India, and Pakistan Brought us to the Brink of Nuclear War, published in 2003.
Sri Raman, while staunchly demanding an end to nuclear weapons, had not argued for a rejection of nuclear energy. Now that the debate on nuclear energy in India and the world has emerged with a new urgency post-Fukushima, we will miss Sri Raman’s insight in approaching the question anew.
Liberation expresses heartfelt condolences to Sri Raman’s family and friends.
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