Modi Red Fort Speech: Toxic Politics on Display

PRIME Minister Narendra Modi’s Red Fort speech on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day had all the hallmarks which have become typical of his independence day speeches of the past years. There were the boastful claims of how, since 2014, India has made tremendous progress in all fields. The only new addition was Modi’s claim that we can look forward to a thousand years of `Amrit Kaal’ as compared to the thousand years of slavery which began with Muslim rule and ended with British rule.

Two Dangerous Bills Passed by Parliament

CONTINUING with its avowed policy of throwing open the country’s natural resources for exploitation by private capital without regard to either the people or the environment, the Modi government has rushed through parliament two laws that will have dire consequences. One is to amend the Forest (Conservation) Act (FCA) and the other to amend the Mines and Mineral (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act. Passed in 1980, the FCA had strict provisions for preventing arbitrary de-reservation of lands designated as forests. The intention was to conserve the forests from reckless depredation.

Next Target is Gyanvapi Mosque

THE Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, has virtually declared that a new front is being opened up in the temple-mosque issue. This time, it is the Gyanvapi mosque and the Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

An Unaccountable Prime Minister

THE events in Manipur, which dominated the national political situation over the past nearly three months, have brought out a startling feature of governance under Narendra Modi.

NATO Summit: Plans for Global Domination

THE NATO summit meeting in Vilnius, Lithuania, registered a new level of aggressiveness of the western military alliance led by the United States.

West Bengal: Farcical Panchayat Elections

THE three-tier panchayat elections in West Bengal have seen a repetition of an escalating scale of violence and intimidation unleashed by the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on their political opponents and against people who were perceived to be voting against it. At every stage of the polling process – from filing of nominations, campaigning, the polling day on July 8 and the counting day on July 11 – there were attacks on candidates, supporters of opposition parties, intimidation and prevention of voters going to polling booths, capturing of ballot boxes and polling booths and large-scale manip

Disappearing Space Between Fringe and Centre

ALL the claims made by Prime minister Narendra Modi on the absence of discrimination based on caste, creed, religion, age or geographic location in India, during his rare interaction with the media in the US were immediately proven wrong.

Modi Visit to US: Glorifying Subaltern Status

THE outcome of the Modi visit to the United States has made one thing clear – India has become more cemented to the United States in a strategic and military relationship.Whatever the rhetoric “of the partnership between two democracies” and shared values, the compulsions for a deeper and comprehensive relationship is motivated by the need of the United States to enlist India as a firm partner in its ongoing endeavours to economically and militarily contain China.This US approach to India was spelt out in 2002 in a study commissioned by the Pentagon, which viewed India as a countervailing f

Modi Abandons Manipur

MANIPUR burning has become emblematic of the divisive politics of the BJP in the North East. Only four months ago, in February, Narendra Modi had crowed about the success of the BJP in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland elections in the North East. He claimed Christians in the North East are accepting the BJP. It is seven weeks now since violence erupted in Manipur on May 3. Armed clashes, killings and arson attacks have ravaged the state. Hundreds of houses, around 200 churches and 17 temples have been burnt.

Denying Farmers to Profit Corporates

THE BJP-led union government announced the minimum support prices (MSP) for the Kharif Season 2023-24 on June 7, 2023 claiming that “the move is to ensure remunerative prices to growers for their produce and to encourage crop diversification”. The MSP announced is neither fair nor remunerative; it belies the hopes of the farmers and inflicts huge losses in their incomes. Let alone encouraging crop diversification, it discourages farmers from investing in agriculture.

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Peoples Democracy

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