In September 2014, I had occasion to write an article entitled Unity or Separation? – Did the Scots Decide Sensibly?1 In that year, the provincial government of Scotland, the Scottish National Party (SNP), and a large part of the Scottish people, who wanted to secede from the United Kingdom, held a referendum on the question. A majority voted No. The secessionists were[Read More…]
Tens of thousands of people protested yesterday in Catalonia against the detention of Catalan nationalists as political prisoners by the Spanish central government after the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. The protest—called as a strike by the small, Catalan-separatist Intersindical-CSC union—pointed to wider opposition to the suspension of Catalonia’s elected government by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, and Rajoy’s moves[Read More…]
Co-Written by Paul Mitchell and Alex Lantier After imposing Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to suspend Catalonia’s elected government last week, Spain, backed by the European Union (EU), is rapidly moving towards a military regime. As High Court judge Carmen Lamela remanded into custody eight ministers of the Catalan regional government, Spanish armed forces chief General Fernando Alejandre threatened[Read More…]
From Brussels, where he fled to escape prosecution by Spanish authorities, deposed Catalan regional premier Carles Puigdemont appealed yesterday for the European Union to intervene in the secession crisis. Last week, Madrid invoked Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to impose an unelected regime in Catalonia in response to the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. Now Puigdemont is asking the[Read More…]
News reports about communities and regions asserting their identity are capturing media headlines everywhere. While the media gives a lot of coverage to an event or action connected with the phenomenon — a referendum in Iraqi Kurdistan or a vote in the Catalonian parliament — the reasons that explain the assertion of identity are seldom analysed in depth. The[Read More…]
Over the weekend, the Spanish government moved to assert direct rule over Catalonia. This followed Madrid’s announcement on Friday that it would apply Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to seize Catalonia, dissolve its parliament and hold new elections. With Catalan nationalist officials in Barcelona announcing plans to defy Madrid after declaring independence on Friday, a crackdown by the Spanish[Read More…]
The narrative about Catalan independence is that two major cities, Madrid and Barcelona, are competing for power, and one has decided that the best path forward is to declare independence from Spain and free itself of Madrid’s dominance. There is certainly something to this narrative. As CNN reports: Catalonia accounts for nearly a fifth of Spain’s economy, and leads all regions[Read More…]
Co-Written By Alex Lantier and Alejandro López The Spanish Senate formally voted 214-47 on Friday to authorize the implementation of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, suspending parliamentary rule in Catalonia. It handed Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy full powers to suspend the Catalan regional government, proceed with punitive measures outlined in Rajoy’s October 21 speech, and impose an unelected[Read More…]
As Trump’s dangerous move on Iran’s nuclear deal and his provocative reaction to North Korea undercut diplomacy, tension is rising for World War III. Discord in the international community has been amplified in conflicts of identity politics across America. Greed and power-seeking leaders’ ambition for profits never end. With ever-increased military budgets, combined with tax cuts for the rich and slashes[Read More…]
Before the two-day debate opening today in the Spanish Senate on implementing Article 155 of the Spanish constitution to strip the Catalan regional government of its powers, Catalan officials signalled yesterday that they plan to declare independence from Spain. The invocation of Article 155 had been decided by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s cabinet on Saturday. It would install an unelected[Read More…]
On Saturday, three weeks after the savage police crackdown on the October 1 Catalan independence referendum, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy formally announced the invocation of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to strip Catalonia’s regional government of its powers. In its place, Madrid is to install an unelected government in Barcelona backed by the Spanish army, Guardia Civil paramilitary police and[Read More…]
In a menacing speech to the Spanish Congress on Wednesday, Popular Party (PP) Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy stated that, in response to Catalan regional Premier Carles Puigdemont’s speech affirming the October 1 independence referendum, he was preparing to invoke Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution. This provision allows Madrid to suspend the authority of the Catalan regional government and seize[Read More…]
Speaking Tuesday evening before the Catalan parliament in Barcelona, regional premier Carles Puigdemont announced that Catalonia would secede from Spain, in line with the result of the October 1 Catalan independence referendum. However, he put off a formal declaration of independence for now and requested negotiations with the central government in Madrid. The Popular Party (PP) government of Prime Minister[Read More…]
Statement by Izquierda Revolucionaria The rebellion of the Catalan people on 1 October forced the Spanish capitalist regime and the right wing Partido Popular (People’s Party/PP) government onto the ropes, opening a revolutionary crisis in Catalonia. The reactionary forces wasted no time in their response: using all methods at their disposal, and with the absolute monopoly in the media and[Read More…]
There are numerous unconfirmed reports of troops being sent to Catalonia and nearby regions ahead of a possible unilateral declaration on independence early next week. Spain’s political establishment is openly talking of invoking Article 116 of the Spanish constitution, laying the basis for the imposition of martial law. According to military sources cited in the right-wing newspaper OkDiario, troops are being[Read More…]
With Spanish military and police units already being deployed, Madrid has signaled that it is preparing a brutal crackdown in Catalonia. Spain’s Constitutional Court yesterday said that Monday’s planned session of the Catalan regional parliament, at which it was expected that the separatist parties would make a unilateral declaration of independence, must not take place. Coming after failing in a[Read More…]
Thousands of police and civil guards carried out savage repression in Catalonia to try to prevent the right to vote in the referendum on 1 October. The state forces smashed glass doors of schools used as polling stations and stole ballot boxes. The riot police were sent by the Partido Popular (PP) government and the State against tens of thousands[Read More…]
In Search of a Redeemer 
Ensure Freedom of The Press: An Appeal to Chief Justice of India 
Pellet Song 
NewsClick Office Sealed, Founder Arrested 
Will the Pentagon’s Techno-Fantasies Pave the Way for War with China? 
Okinawa: A Bastion for Peace? 
Modi’s Cricket Ploy: Hindutva as Twelfth Man 
Protecting Highly Creative and Sustainable Livelihoods of Handloom and Khadi 
The Passing of the Father of India’s Green Revolution – But What Did the GR Really Do for India? 
I Have Written Only Facts: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta 
PUCL Condemns NIA Raids on Human Rights Defenders and Rights Organisation in AP and Telangana 
European Union foreign ministers meet in Ukraine to escalate war with Russia 
The emergence of Bangladesh: Dynamics of people’s cultural and political struggles – Part III 
The Muslims in A Pathetic Condition in India and The Way Forward Them 
Bernie: Are you really in support of another endless war? 
Some Basic Remarks on the National Identities of the People Living in Ukraine with Short Historical Background 
Call It Only Clean India Mission—Nothing Beyond Investment and Capital Gains 
Of The Silent Shames of a Privileged Indian! 
Stupidity and Depravity Can Be Mutually Exclusive The emergence of Bangladesh: Dynamics of people’s cultural and political struggles _ Part II 
Addressing Malnutrition in Jharkhand: Progress, Challenges, and the Path Forward 
For modernization and mechanization of sanitation work, Sanitary Workers must exert pressure 
Satyagraha, Sarvodaya & Swachhagraha for Sustainable Living 
Why Our Popular Mass Movements Fail 
The Slow-Motion Equivalent of a Nuclear War? 
Australian National Anti-Corruption Commission Rejects Submissions Re Huge Australian War Crimes and Carbon Debt 
Modi regime’s double standards 
Let’s Stop Slapping! OR If India were a Classroom! The emergence of Bangladesh: Dynamics of people’s cultural and political struggles – Part I 
Flagging Support: Zelenskyy Loses Favour in Washington 
Scandal of A Ukrainian Nazi Waffen SS Soldier Honored in Canada’s Parliament: Part Two 
The Kenya Resistance Archives Adds the Missing Links to the History of Kenya 
Review of Immanuel Ness’s Migration as Economic Imperialism 
Artsakh Almanac: Ancestral History, Memory and Place in Subjugated Artsakh 
Ignorance and Egoistic Leaders Destroying Mankind and the Living Earth 
Rights of Older Persons must be fulfilled! 
Lies about the Green Revolution Having Saved India from Hunger Can be Very Harmful for Policy 
Manipur needs healing touch and Trust building – Not AFSPA 
Mass migration from Nagorno-Karabakh continues as breakaway republic dissolves 
Commemoration of Swaminathan Calls for a Revisit of Green Revolution 
My Amma (Malayalam word for Mother) passed away on August 22, 2023 at 3.10 AM. It is always difficult to deal with the passing of a parent, that too one’s mother. I thought the grief would go away. No it didn’t. All those bitter sweet memories won’t go away. At night I lie awake for hours. My friend, guide and[Read More…]
