Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
THE CRISIS IN THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT: INDIA IS CATCHING UP
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
The Indian communist movement is almost a century old. It began in the aftermath of the Russian revolution as an expression of militant worker struggles against capitalist exploitation during the colonial era. It maintained a critical alliance for a while with the main anti-colonial freedom movement led by the Congress Party. In 1947-48, the CPI launched the anti-feudal Telengana struggle, which managed to create, at its height, a liberated zone of over 5000 square miles, ousting landlordism in the erstwhile feudal state of the Nizam of Hyderabad. Read more…
NEPAL: LONG MARCH, BACKWARDS
Editorial, The Hindu
The churning in Nepali politics has entered a new stage with a split in the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). Read more…
VICIOUS CYCLE OF ISLAMOPHOBIA
Ram Puniyani
We are going through strange times. While the science, technology and rationalism has given us physical and intellectual tools to better the lot of humanity, we are witnessing the production of provocative material, literature and films in particular, which demonize the particular religion, Islam to be precise, and the prophet of Islam. On the other hand there is a section of community, feeling threatened and insecure coming to the streets to protest against such humiliation and insult of their religion. There are debates on freedom of expression, but how come the freedom of expression always goes to humiliate and demonize one particular religion only? Read more…
DEVELOPMENT DYNAMICS IN GUJARAT
Summary of the Findings
Is Gujarat the lucky star rising on the Indian horizon! Or Is Gujarat a story of Rousing Growth Amidst Raging Disparities? A recent study, conducted by researchers from the Jawaharlal Nehru University and supported by the Institute of Development Communication, Chandigarh suggests that there is more to worry about Gujarat then some decades ago. Today, 21st century ‘developed’ India is more concerned about ethics, justice, and sustainability of development. Evaluating the experience of development in Gujarat, particularly in the last decade or so, the study tell us that Gujarat is a story where goals like social equality, sustainable livelihoods, access to education and health, justice and peace have been missed by governance in high-speed lane. Read more…
THE LETTER TO NARENDRA MODI ON HIS STATEMENT ON MALNUTRITION
The letter demands apology from Modi for his remarks during an interview with Wall Street Journal. Modi’s statement only shows his disrespect to women and girls of Gujarat the state, but also reveals his rudimentary understanding of Indian society at large. Read more…
BANGLADESHI’S IN INDIA: MYTH AND REALITY
Ram Puniyani
The Assam violence between Bodos and Muslims, alleged by many to be Bangldeshi infiltrators, has a long chain of repercussions. The number of dead is nearly eighty. Killings are continuing and the people who have been displaced have been over 4 lakhs. There is no exact statistics to tell us how many of the displaced are Muslims and how many are Bodos, still roughly some investigators have put the figure of Muslims 80% and Bodos 20%. The few reports which have come out tell us that the condition of the all refugee camps is abysmal, much worse of those where Muslims are living. Meanwhile many a voices have come up to express their own opinions. Read more…
INDIA AND SECULAR DEMOCRACY
Asghar Ali Engineer
Till yesterday many were saying that communal temperature has come down in the country and some even questioned wisdom of passing the Communal Violence and Targeted Violence Bill by the Parliament. People thought perhaps Gujarat riots have given enough shock to the country and now no major riots shall take place. And now we are not only witnessing series of riots in U.P. but also very major Gujarat like riot in Assam and now suddenly people from North East are being targeted in Southern states. Read more…
POLITICAL ISLAM IN PAKISTAN
Jan Breman
Abandoned by their government, the poor of Pakistan have turned to the Taliban and other fundamentalist groups for support and solace. At the same time, a growing pressure for emancipation presses against fundamentalism. Which force will triumph? A report based on travel in rural Sindh. Read more…
PERSECUTION OF MINORITIES IN PAKISTAN
Faraz Aamer Khan
When Jinnah said that “religion and state should be kept separate”, he could not have more appropriately warned the people of present-day Pakistan where the constitutionally supported, man-made religious doctrines issued by fundamentalists continue, to ruin lives. Read more…
BHAGAT SINGH CHOWK
LAHORE, Sept 29: District Coordination Officer Noorul Amin Mengal on Saturday directed City District Government of Lahore officials to rename Shadman Chowk (roundabout) as Bhagat Singh Chowk. Read more…
PAKISTAN: STATE PATRONAGE FOR THE HIJAB? WHY COMPETE WITH FUNDAMENTALISTS?
Tazeen Javed
Barring random news items and a few opinion pieces, the hijab debate has never really been part of the national narrative of Pakistan. Those who wanted to wear hijab/niqab/burqa wore it and those who preferred the traditional shalwar kameez and dupatta chose that without any problem. Unlike Saudi Arabia, Iran or Turkey, there never was governmental coercion or pressure on women to wear a particular type clothing or to ban them from wearing a particular type of clothing in state institutions. A woman’s clothing was her own business as it should be anywhere in the world. However, things are changing. Read more…
PAKISTAN: THREE LEFT PARTIES TO UNITE
Statement by the Awami Party Pakistan, Labour Party Pakistan and the Workers Party Pakistan Read more…
DALIT WOMEN AT THE RECEIVING END
Liberation News Service (September 25, 2012)
Data and research show how Dalit women are doubly marginalised subjected to a patriarchal set up at home and caste prejudice in society “Would you like to compromise?” That’s the first question a judge asks when a caste atrocity case comes up for trial, says Manjula Pradeep, of the Gujarat-based non governmental organisation Navsarjan. A study done by Navsarjan on atrocity data obtained through RTI for Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu found that between December 2004 and November 2009, “there were convictions in only 0.79 per cent of cases (three cases) of violence by non-Dalits across the three states. In Gujarat there were no convictions at all.” Read more…
LESSONS OF THE QUÉBEC STUDENT MOVEMENT
William Ging Wee Dere
Through its seven month strike and mass action, the Québec student movement can claim a victory after the newly elected Parti Québécois (PQ) premier Pauline Marois issued an order in council to repeal the university tuition increase for this school year. However she is calling for a summit meeting of the student organizations with the government before the end of the year to try and legitimize her plan to index future increases in tuition fees to the cost of living. Marois also repealed the repressive Bill 78 (Law 12) which was passed by the previous Liberal government to limit mass protests. Read more…
THE MANIFESTO OF CLASSE: We Are Many Youth, But With One Struggle!
William Ging Wee Dere
During its congress on August 11th and 12th, 2012, CLASSE adopted the Manifesto « We are many youth, but with one struggle ». This text, already endorsed by dozens of student organizations around the world, reminds us that the student struggle in Quebec is also in solidarity with hundreds of thousands of young people and students who are struggling around the world for a quality education which is accessible and public. Read more…
TONY BLAIR SHOULD FACE TRIAL OVER IRAQ WAR, SAYS DESMOND TUTU
The Guardian
Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Tony Blair and George Bush to be hauled before the international criminal court in The Hague and delivered a damning critique of the physical and moral devastation caused by the Iraq war. Read more…
WHY THE WESTERN MEDIA ARE ANGRY AT TEHRAN NAM SUMMIT
Kourosh Ziabari
The 16th summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Tehran was unquestionably a diplomatic triumph for Iran, and the Western politicians know this very well. Perhaps it’s in this context that the frustration and annoyance of the Western state-run mainstream media at the Tehran summit can be explained. Read more…
CANADA CUTS LINKS WITH IRAN
Gideon Polya
Pro-Zionist Canadian Government war crimes exposed
Canadian Government has broken off diplomatic relations with remote, peaceful Iran and justified this with a comprehensively false litany of allegations. Read more…
OBITUARY: A.K. HANGAL, ACTOR (1924-2012)
Suhasini Mulay
Veteran actor, A K Hangal, faced the camera for the first time when he was 50. At 93, he “walked” the ramp in a wheelchair for the designer, Riyaz Ganji. He faced the cameras for the last time when he was 94, for a Television series, “Madhubala – Ek Ishq Ek Junoon”. Read more…
OBITUARY: ALEXANDER SAXTON, HISTORIAN AND NOVELIST, DIES AT 93
Paul Vitello
Alexander Saxton, who would go on to become a prominent historian of race in America, summed himself up in a blurb on the dust jacket of his first novel, “Grand Crossings,” published when he was 24. Read more…
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