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Editorial |
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Occupy Wall Street: Revolt of the Ninety Nine Per Cent
After the Arab Spring and (South) European Summer, now it is the turn of American Autumn to unfurl the banner of resistance. The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) or the “99 per cent” movement (a reference to the deprived Americans who find the going increasingly tough even as the top 1 per cent control 40 percent of US wealth) is fighting, in the words of its website, “against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations....Full text
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Commentary |
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Dethrone UPA Scamsters, Unmask NDA Pretenders – Intensify the Battle against Corruption
With Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee formally distancing himself from the March 25, 2011 note sent by his ministry holding former FM P Chidambaram responsible for not stopping the 2G scam, Chidambaram has described the whole thing as a closed chapter....Full text
Prashant Bhushan’s Attackers Are Heirs of Godse, Not Bhagat Singh
Kavita Krishnan
“He break (sic) my nation, I break his head” – this was the proud claim (on facebook) of one of the men who attacked Prashant Bhushan.
One is irresistibly reminded of another man many decades ago, who felt he had the right to take the life of another man whom he accused of having ‘broken his nation.’ Nathuram Godse justified the assassination of Gandhi saying he held Gandhi responsible for Partition....Full text
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Feature |
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Kaun Banega BPL :Planning Commission’s Poverty of Sensitivity
Following national outrage against the Planning Commission’s Rs 26/Rs32 poverty line, the UPA Government went for some damage control. It was announced that the Planning Commission poverty lines would not be used to fix PDS allocation caps....Full text
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Cover Feature |
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The Age of Robber Barons
The plutocracy in the US and in the rest of the world is facing unprecedented tremors. The epicenter of these tremors lies in New York City where over 100,000 people have come together for ‘Occupy Wall Street’ (OWS) protest....Full text
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Report |
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All India Convention of AILC at Jalandhar
The All India Left Co-ordination (AILC) held at all India Left Convention on 10-11 October, 2011 at the historic Desh Bhakt Yadgar memorial for the martyrs of the Gadar movement at Jalandhar.Delegates from the four constituent parties of AILC - CPI(ML) Liberation, Lal Nishan Party (Leninist), Left Coordination Committee Kerala and CPM Punjab - had gathered from all over the country to attend the Convention.....Full text
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Working Class |
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Maruti Workers’ Strike
The prolonged lockout at the Maruti’s Manesar plant had ended on October 1 with a setback for the workers. In the agreement with the management, the workers agreed to sign the thoroughly illegal ‘Good Conduct bond’ that the management imposed as condition for entering the factory. The agreement obligated the management to take back the workers who were suspended or terminated.....Full text
BSNL: GRAVE YARD FOR WORKERS
BHUVANA
Minister for Communications and Information Technology, Kapil Sibal, a staunch proponent of no-loss theory vis-à-vis the 2G scam, has unveiled the New Telecom Policy (NTP) 2011. This has come out in the midst of charges against the erstwhile FM P Chidambaram for his complicity in 2G scam, differences within the UPA cabinet on the issue and CBI raids in the former IT minister Dayanidhi Maran’s houses and offices....Full text
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Policy Watch |
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Towards An Effective Lokpal
It is by now widely accepted that the sarkari Lokpal Bill is extremely weak and inadequate. There has been heated debate over the scope, functions and powers of the Lokpal Bill. In the public domain, apart from the government Bill, there are the Jan Lokpal Bill and the recommendations of the NCPRI led by Aruna Roy....Full text
Communal Violence Bill
The Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Reparation) Bill 2011 prepared by the NAC has been sharply attacked by the BJP, on the grounds that it is biased against the majority community. Nitish Kumar of the NDA and Mamata Banerjee have also attacked it on the pretext that it violates the federal rights of states. Are these accusations justified?...Full text
New Mining (MMDR) Bill : Promoting ‘Profit-Sharing’ or Land Grab?
Radhika Krishnan
India’s mining sector is notorious as the source of some of the country’s biggest corruption scandals. Illegal mining activity and blatant violation of existing legislations is rampant in the mineral-rich areas of several states. Moreover, mining companies wishing to acquire land for new projects are facing strong opposition from local communities. It is in this context that the UPA government’s Union Cabinet has approved the new Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Bill (MMDR Bill) 2011....Full text
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Obituary |
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Gursharan Singh
Liberation salutes Comrade Gursharan Singh, revolutionary playwright and theatre-person, who passed away on 27 September at the age of 82 after a long illness.
Gursharan Singh joined the communist party at the age of 16 and remained committed to communist values the rest of his life. ...Full text
Tribute
Dr. Ram Dayal Munda
Liberation pays tribute to scholar and crusader for tribals’ cultural and political rights, Dr. Ram Dayal Munda, who passed away on 30 September 2011 at the age of 72.
Born in a small adivasi village in Jharkhand, Dr. Munda became a leading anthropologist, educationist, musician, linguist, and legislator. His memory will always be associated with the movement for a separate state of Jharkhand.
Long Live Dr. Ram Dayal Munda!
Kuber Dutt
Liberation pays tribute to well-known poet, filmmaker, painter and former Chief Producer of Doordarshan, Kuber Dutt, who passed away untimely on 2 October this year.
Kuber Dutt had a deep commitment to Marxism, and was a life-long friend of the Left movement. In him, the entire progressive movement has lost a friend and comrade.
Long Live Comrade Kuber Dutt!
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Updates |
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150 years of Phulaguri Dhawa
First Peasant Movement of Assam
(Police firing this October in Mangaldoi, Assam, on jute farmers demonstrating for remunerative prices, claimed four lives – of farmers Moinul Haque, Syed Ali, Billal Hussain and Akbar Ali. Earlier this year, in June, police firing on a rally protesting eviction in the state capital Guwahati, claimed four lives. In the backdrop of these instances of repression on peasants’ movements, Bidyum Medhi recalls the legacy of Assam’s first peasant movement on its 150th anniversary.)
18th October 1961 is a day of inspiration for the peasant class of Assam, marking the beginning of the first organised peasants’ movement in Assam. This movement seems all the more relevant even 150 years later, in the present scenario of deprivation and repression of the peasantry by ruling sections....Full text
Organising Construction Workers in Patna
Kunal
After agricultural workers, construction workers constitute the biggest segment of the working class in India, numbering around 4 crore. They are literally building the nation – yet they themselves exist and work in hellish conditions, falling victim to on-site accidents due to lack of safety regulations, and deprived even of timely and adequate wage payment....Full text
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Cover |
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“No True Democracy Is Attainable When The Process Is Determined By Economic Power”
(From Declaration of New York City General Assembly, September 29, 2011)
“As we gather together in solidarity to express a feeling of mass injustice, we must not lose sight of what brought us together. We write so that all people who feel wronged by the corporate forces of the world can know that we are your allies....Full text
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