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Demonetisation – Hindutva's obscurantism In the Economic Sphere

THE traditional obscurantism of Hindutva, in the glorification of mythology as science, has had serious consequences for education in this country.  Hindutva's majoritarian communalism relies in a fundamental way on obscurantism, particularly in the realm of history, and has been the source of immense suffering to the nation's minorities ever since it emerged on the political scene in its current form. But with demonetisation, a new dimension of Hindutva obscurantism has opened up before us.

Face-off between Judiciary and Executive on Appointment of Judges

CHIEF Justice of India T S Thakur in an open court accused the government of trying to “decimate the judiciary and lock justice out”. Citing the case of the Karnataka High Court, the CJI said that one entire floor of courtrooms was locked up because there were no judges. In the Allahabad High Court, half of the sanctioned strength of 160 judges are lying vacant.

The Making of Personality Cult

THE Narendra Modi government decided to decisively respond to the terrorist attack on the army camp at Uri on September 18, in which 19 soldiers were killed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led from the front and his first statement on September 24, while participating at the BJP national council meeting in Kozhikode, was that there is nationwide “aakrosh (anger)”.

Open Letter to My Son on Sexual Harassment

DEAR Son,I know you are only twelve years old and wondering why I am writing to you on such a subject as sexual harassment. But son, as you might have read in Hindustan Times, a newspaper you distribute to all the subscribers in your class, nine eminent Indians have written open letters on rape to their children, friends and colleagues. Moreover, I noticed that in your Civics textbook, you are learning about discrimination between men and women. Also, you told us about a workshop in your school for girls and boys.

Uniformity is not Equality

THE CPI(M) extends its full support to the movement of Muslim women for abolition of what women have described as the un-Islamic practice of instant and arbitrary triple talaq.  The demand has received substantial support from both men and women within the community. In the last decade, several organisations representing Muslim women have run campaigns including signature campaigns where lakhs have signed up against this grossly unfair practice.

And They Want To Teach...Democracy!

EARLY voting for the presidential elections in the US is already on, though officially the election is scheduled for November 8. We are witnessing in the US a bitter and ugly campaign, often with personal insinuations crossing the limits of political decency. Wild accusations, with little concern for facts and truths are hurled at each other by both the Democratic and Republican parties and between the chosen candidates of the two parties – Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump.

Indian Diplomacy Missed the BRICS Plot in Goa

THIS year has been controversial for India’s ‘multilateral diplomacy’. The SAARC summit, which was originally scheduled for November in Islamabad, got scuttled, thanks to India’s boycott.Bangladesh and Sri Lanka have since clarified that they too sought postponement of the summit in Islamabad, but for reasons other than ‘terrorism’. So has Afghanistan. Nepal regrets the postponement of the summit and wants an early re-scheduling. Maldives keeps silent.

KHAIRLANJI MASSACRE: CPI(M) Demands Time-Bound CBI Probe

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Khairlanji massacre on September 29, we are reprinting an article about the intervention of our Party in this incident. This article originally appeared in the People’s Democracy, dated November 19, 2006, Vol. XXX, No. 47.A TEAM comprising of CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and Rajya Sabha MP, Brinda Karat, CPI(M) Maharashtra state committee member, Manohar Mulay, and AIDWA vice president, Kalindi Deshpande visited Khairlanji (Bhandara district) in Maharashtra on November 9.

RIL’s Gas Thieving & How It Escaped Punishment

SOON after Modi government came to power at the centre in 2014, the union ministry of petroleum and natural gas under Dharmendra Pradhan submitted a petition before Delhi High Court pleading for rejection of the complaint petition of the government’s own Navratna company ONGC against Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) for illegitimately drawing thousands of crores of rupees worth of natural gas from the ONGC’s block in KG basin.The ministry’s pleading said that the ONGC’s complaint was ‘frivolous’ and ‘belated’.

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