THE recent controversy over the display of a Bharat Mata portrait at Kerala’s Raj Bhavan during official programmes has reignited the debate on secular values and the ever increasing attempts by the RSS-BJP combine to assert their communal agenda even in constitutional spaces.

EVERY Indian has the freedom to live according to their religious beliefs. This is the foundation of the value of secularism enshrined in our Constitution. Simultaneously, it also means that religion should not interfere in governance. Yet, those who have taken the solemn oath of upholding the Constitution, are violating both of these principles. They are slowly and gradually implementing a project to transform India into a Hindu Rashtra. It is a plan that has been in the making for decades.

ON the 50th anniversary of the Internal Emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975, the CPI(M) in Tripura organised hall meetings and discussions across various sub-divisions to reflect on the horrors of authoritarian rule.A major programme was held at Agartala Town Hall on June 26, 2025, drawing a packed audience. It was addressed by Party senior leader Manik Sarkar, state secretary and Polit Bureau member Jitendra Chaudhury, and West Tripura district secretary Ratan Das.

ISRAEL’s genocide in Gaza and the 12-day war between Israel and Iran saw Israel destroying all universities in Gaza and assassinating top scientists of Iran. Not a tear or word of condemnation from the US and European powers. But when in retaliation Iran struck the Weizmann Institute in Israel – by intent or by chance – the media of the West and other allies of Israel like India were all over the place about how research was affected and so many projects and so many dollars worth had been destroyed by the evil Iran.

THE Central Kisan Committee (CKC) meeting of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) held from June 28-30, 2025 at the E K Nayanar Academy, Kannur, Kerala, decided to hold massive protests on July 9 along with the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) at the tehsil level, and work actively to make the General Strike called by the Central Trade Unions (CTUs) a massive success.The meeting discussed the grim agrarian scenario in the country, and the anti-farmer, pro-corporate policies of the BJP-led NDA government.