Contents

The Sleight of the Congres Hand

and the BJP's Deafening Silence

Congress ka haath, aam aadmi ke saath, thus went the catch-line of the Congress campaign in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections. Everybody however knows that the hand of the Congress has been busy doing anything but giving some succour to the common man, now mockingly rechristened as ‘mango people’ by the country’s most well-connected son-in-law. For the common man, all that Manmohan Singh has is the warning “money does not grow on trees”. Yet, Manmohan Singh knows very well that it just takes a casual sleight of the Congress hand to conjure money out of virtually anything. The scams from 2G and CWG to Coalgate have been a testimony to the great magical qualities of the Congress hand. And if we needed to learn more about the diverse magical qualities of the hand, we now have enough revelations on the Vadra-DLF-Congress triangle....Full text

The Battle of Koodankulam is a Battle for Democracy, Truth, and Reason

Dipankar Bhattacharya

(On October 1, CPI(ML) General Secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya made a solidarity visit to the Koodankulam struggle site, along with a team of CPI(ML) leaders including Politburo member S Kumaraswamy, Tamil Nadu State Secretary Balasundaram, G Ramesh (State Committee member and Tirunelveli advocate working in support of the Koodankulam struggle) and Chandran from Coimbatore....Full text

Towards Unity and Resurgence of
Left-Democratic Forces Through People’s Resistance  

ALL INDIA LEFT COORDINATION (AILC) CONVENTION ON

NATIONAL CRISIS AND LEFT-DEMOCRATIC AGENDA

The All India Left Coordination held a day-long Convention on the National Crisis and Left and Democratic Agenda on 30th September at Mavalankar Hall in the national capital. The Convention was addressed by leaders of a range of Left parties and democratic movements, as well concerned citizens. ...Full text

Resolution Adopted by the AILC At the Convention

1.        This convention strongly feels that the UPA Government has presided over a regime of huge scams and corporate plunder of our resources, with top Ministers and the Prime Minister himself implicated in the spectrum and coal scams. While the people are fighting against corruption and corporate plunder, and demanding that this Government must quit forthwith, the UPA Government is instead clinging to power and intensifying its offensive on common people, with repeated hikes in prices of essential commodities, and measures like FDI in retail that will snatch away livelihood of millions of Indians, and put farmers as well as consumers at the mercy of corporate retailers. ...Full text

Successful Bihar Bandh: Assertion of People’s Protest

Against Police Firing and Nitish Govt.’s High-Handedness

Bihar observed a daylong bandh on October 15 for the second time in five months to protest against the growing spate of police atrocities. The bandh on May 10 called by CPI(ML) and supported by several other opposition parties was called in the wake of the May 2 police barbarity in Aurangabad. The October 15 bandh,...Full text

Article

Crisis of Neoliberalism and Challenges before Popular Movements

This is the text of a soon-to-be published booklet authored by Arindam Sen, which will appear in instalments in Liberation.

Introduction

When the catastrophic financial crisis hit the capitalist world order a few years back and quickly metamorphosed into a great recession, we brought out a slim pamphlet titled “Capital in Crisis: Causes, Implications and Proletarian Response”....Full text

Updates

AIPWA’s 6th UP State Conference  

IPWA organised a State-level rally to mark the beginning of 6th Uttar Pradesh State Conference against the rising violence against women and to protest the anti-women policies of the Central and State governments. The rallyists led by AIPWA General Secretary Comrade Meena Tiwari marched from the Varanasi Cantonment Railway Station to the Conference venue - Nagar Nigam Hall at Sigra. More than 500 women from 16 districts took part in the rally....Full text

Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting of WFTU

The Asia-Pacific Regional Meeting of WFTU (World Federation of Trade Unions) was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 6th and 7th October 2012. The meeting was attended by representatives of 16 affiliates of WFTU from 7 countries, namely India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka....Full text

Tribute

On Eric Hobsbawm's Passing

Luis Suarez-villa

Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012), regarded by many as the top 20th century British historian, passed away October 1st, at the age of 95. Hobsbawm joined the British Communist Party in 1936, the year he entered Cambridge University, and remained a life-long member. In a life dedicated to historical scholarship and to draw attention to injustice and oppression, he became the best-known British Marxist scholar, inspiring generations of students to apply a dialectical perspective to history....Full text

International

Flagship of Latin American Resistance Sails Ahead

Arindam Sen

“I have never failed you, I’ve never lied to you.” Probably there is only one head of state in the world today who can make a statement like this after holding office for fourteen years at a stretch and sound profoundly convincing. He is Hugo Rafael Chavez Frías of Venezuela....Full text

American Bellicosity and the NAM Summit in Teheran
Arindam Sen

The 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has brought the group back into international spotlight because it was held successfully in Teheran in face of bitter bullying by the US-Israel combine. The US State Department condemned the choice of Teheran as “strange” and “inappropriate” even as Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu said in a blatant disregard of diplomatic decency that the presence of such a large number of leaders in Teheran “was a stain on humanity”. By contrast, the representative of China, which has an observer status in NAM, highlighted its relevance in his speech to the assembly while Russian President Putin sent in his warm greetings....Full text

Cover

India’s Shameful Global Showing on Hunger 

The Global Hunger Index 2012 has once again highlighted the shameful and glaring contrast between India’s high growth and steep levels of hunger and malnutrition, especially of women and children. India’s performance is even worse than that of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. And when it comes to underweight children, India is worst among 129 countries, second only to the war-torn Timor-Leste....Full text