Celebrated Marathi poet N.D. Mahanor, who passed away last month, lived all his life as a farmer in a small village Palaskheda, five km from the famous Ajanta caves in Aurangabad district. What created and sustained his interest in poetry in this isolation ? We forget that at least some of our rural life has a very vibrant cultural life,[Read More…]
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…]
Teachers, and very sadly so, are today in the news, for all the wrong reasons! In Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar, a school teacher made the students of her class come up and slap a Muslim child in the classroom. She was caught on camera saying. “I have declared jitne bhi Mohammedan bachhe hai…”as she called the rest of the class one[Read More…]
It is with a profound sense of gratitude and admiration to pen down this heartfelt tribute to the late Professor Tangeda Navaneetha Rao, a luminary in the field of education and an iconic figure in the annals of Osmania University’s history. Prof. Rao’s journey, from a remote Jeelugula village situated in erstwhile Karimnagar district, to becoming a torchbearer of[Read More…]
In Bundelkhand region in many meetings on issues relating to justice and development, people wait eagerly to hear songs sung by Mata Dayal. It is quite possible that Mata Dayal may sing a song written and composed by himself. He shows me a diary on which he has written several of these songs, probably 50 or so. However he is[Read More…]
When a poet passes on, the quiver, the flutter of the soul is felt across by those who have revelled in the words and expressions in the poetry, have been moved by the feelings threaded in verses or have communed with the partial or entire oeuvre of the poet. Jayanta Mahapatra’s demise is being bruited abroad with a mix of[Read More…]
12 August marks 5 years since Samir Amin passed away. As the headline says, he was not only a great researcher, but also a tirelessly active anti-imperialist. I want to remember him here by highlighting 10 points from his last article (co-written with Firoze Manji), which has been called his ‘will’. The article has been called so because it is[Read More…]
Dr.Thankam Sharma whom we used to call as Amma (mother), had been really a mother to many youngsters other than her four children. Yes, it was her children especially Santhi and Anitha who were my friends. But the day I walked in with these two into their home, I realized I had become part of that family. Sharmaji, their father[Read More…]
He was such a good scholar and more than that such a good fighter for social justice. Politicians in Maharashtra constantly invoke social reformers Mahatma Phule and Dr Ambedkar in their speeches while betraying their legacy through their corruption and opportunism. Hari Narke truly served the cause of Phule and Ambedkar. He was barely in his twenties when he confronted[Read More…]
The founder of Sulabh International Dr Bindeshwar Pathak passed away in a hospital in Delhi a few days back. Dr Pathak was 80 years of age and was known as the ‘toilet man’ of India. He brought ‘revolution’ in the toilet system in India and brought the ‘concept’ of ‘paid toilet’ system in India. Sulabh International which claimed to ‘eradicate’[Read More…]
This article was written in 1997 by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd on the work and contribution of Gaddar, who died on 6 August 2023 in Hyderabad. Gaddar was shot by the state agencies at his home on 6 April, 1997 when Chandrababu Naidu (TDP) was ruling the united Andhra Pradesh. He survived 6 bullets shot from point blank, after five of[Read More…]
by Bharat Dogra and Madhu Dogra This year (2023) is the birth anniversary of two stalwarts of Hindi cinema who made a very enduring contribution even though they died at a young age. The contribution of both of them was somewhat unique as they had a place in the film world that was entirely their own. What is more, some[Read More…]
There are very few in public life who get the love, affection and respect of huge number of people such as Gummadi Vittal Rao who was popularly known as Gaddar in the entire country but particularly in Telangana region. His poetry, lyrics and the style all became iconic as youths, women and men in the Andhra Telangana region would not[Read More…]
Achyut Yagnik breathed his last on August 4, Friday. He was one of the most versatile among that rather select number of people who are able to combine a lifetime of writing and activism. However even this introduction would fall short of a very important part of his contributions which relate to the numerous ways in which he helped other[Read More…]
To exist as a nation, to prosper as a state, to live as a people, we must have trees.” – Theodore Roosevelt In the times, when trees are being cut down in the name of development, production for firewood or just occupying land, Abdul Ahad Khan, a 38-year-old labourer from Nagri in Kupwara, for the past 15 years, has been[Read More…]
Ashok Rane, film critic and a jury member at several prominent international film festivals, was felicitated last evening by Prabhat Chitra Mandal, the film society now in its 54th year. That was on his winning the best film critic award in memory of Satyajit Ray instituted by the federation of film critics. It was most appropriate as Rane has been[Read More…]
When the news of the passing of Shri L R Balley came to me from several friends in Birmingham, I was still not prepared to believe it. The reason was my own morality issue that the things should come from the family first and second in the age of social media many time, people too have a fetish for ‘break[Read More…]
Never in my life of 22 years I had heard of Sanjoy Ghose. In 2011, while pursuing master’s degree through distance learning, I actively searched for job opportunities in the development sector. A friend directed me to a website dedicated to advertising jobs in the NGO sector, where I stumbled upon a vacancy at Charkha Development Communication Network for the[Read More…]
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi is known for his supreme sacrifice at a young age of 41 years in trying to stop communal violence in Kanpur in 1931, two days after his colleague Bhagat Singh was hanged. He was part of the struggle for freedom both as part of the Congress led movement and with the revolutionary group led by Bhagat[Read More…]
Mr Hemant Gokhale, who retired as a judge of the Supreme court in 2014, is among the more unusual members of the Indian judiciary. He has been an activist since his days as a law student during the days of the influx of refugees from the then East Pakistan. In 1971 he, along with Hussein Dalwai and some of his[Read More…]
Prof. Imtiaz Amhad (1940-2023) who was formerly Prof. at JNU (Centre for Political Studies) is no longer with us. Prof. Ahmad was 83 years old when he died at the All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) on 19 June 2023. Prof, Ahmad was born on April 28, 1940 in the middle class family in eastern Uttar Pradesh. After completing[Read More…]
Henri Barbusse was a French novelist of the 20th century. Barbusse was upheld as a model of the fight of intellectuals against war and fascism. This year on 17th May, we commemorated his 150th birth anniversary. Barbusse carved a permanent place amongst the most realistic or sensitive Marxist writers. Few better portrayed the gruesome cruelties or tragedy of war, in[Read More…]
On June 7, 1887 in the village of Kotelva (now Poltava region), Sidor Kovpak,a famous Soviet military commander, statesman and public figure of USSR was born. During the Great Patriotic War he played role of commander of the Putivl Guerrilla Squad (later – the Sumy Guerrilla Union, later – the 1st Ukrainian Guerrilla Division), He was Twice Hero of the[Read More…]
It is not easy to write about Ranajit Guha. His longevity has gifted him a vast range of experience in life. Before one reaches any conclusion about him, one must be aware that he is an overflowing stream of knowledge that has refashioned himself again and again. He has asked questions, found solutions and raised questions again. And all this[Read More…]
This year, on April 10th, we commemorated the 30th martyrdom anniversary of the assassination of Chris Hani. His life story and death was as intriguing as the greatest of revolutionaries, making a profound impact on South Africa’s political history. Without doubt one of the most dedicated impactful and creative political activists of South Africa, who shook apartheid. He was assassinated[Read More…]
Tipu Sultan, also known as the Tiger of Mysore, was a renowned ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore in Southern India from 1782 to 1799. He was known for his military prowess, his efforts to modernize the administration and economy of his kingdom, and his resistance against British colonialism. Tipu died in battle against the British forces during the Fourth[Read More…]
On 14th May we commemorated the birth centenary of film maker Mrinal Sen. Mrinal Sen was the last surviving member of the famed trio of Bengali directors, Ray-Sen-Ghatak (Ritwik Ghatak), seen as the founders of India’s ‘New Wave Cinema’. Sen, like Ghatak, may not have achieved the level of fame Ray did, but his work was equally admired the world[Read More…]
Sheetla Singh, the great Hindi editor from Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh, breathed his last on May 16. He was 93, and was on duty till the last day in his editorial office when he collapsed. Bringing out a small cooperative newspaper is not easy in the best of times, but it becomes more difficult when the editor has a tendency to[Read More…]
Monika Ertl was renowned for avenging the murder of Che Guevera. She was given the tag “the avenger of Che Guevara” for her efforts, a name that would create a sensation all around the world. Till the last drop of her blood Monika Ertl embarked on road to avenging injustice and emancipating humanity from oppression. Her relentless spirit is an[Read More…]
Mufti Saud ud Din of famous Mufti Family of Wazpora had two sons, namely, Mufti Ghulam Mohi ud Din & Mufti Rafi ud Din. Mufti Saud ud Din was a courtier of the Nizam Hyderabad. Mufti Ghulam Mohi ud Din was born at Wazpora Srinagar, Kashmir on 15 the October 1904 and was educated in Kashmir upto Intermediate. He was[Read More…]
Bertolt Brecht was one of the most original and creative dramatists, poets, and thinkers of the twentieth century. An unorthodox Marxist who pioneered forms to integrate art and politics, during his lifetime he was often considered a menace in the side of more traditional communist theorists and cultural policy-makers, but also one of the most innovative modern writers. He pioneered[Read More…]
They used to call him ‘the young knight f the Third World’, but he was not pleased as he believed that was meant to weaken the credibility of his scientific arguments, besides his disdain for the phrase third world. This is about the environmentalist Dr S Faizi, and his detractors were the western negotiators at UN environmental conferences, in the[Read More…]
The outstanding Jamaica-born artist, Civil Rights activist and internationalist, Harry Belafonte, died from congestive heart failure at age 96, a week ago, on April 25, 2023.A mascot of people’s emancipation from injustice. His life story that shaped his life are amongst the most gripping commentaries ever. Belafonte achieved gigantic fame almost 70 years ago, when he was only in his[Read More…]
Ranajit Guha breathed his last on 28th April 2023 at Vienna Woods in Austria. Indisputably, he was the greatest historian of the past century, and his passing away is an intimate loss to the field of social sciences. Guha was born on 23rd May 1922, in Siddhakati village of Bakarganj district, now in Bangladesh. He was born in a family[Read More…]
This year, on January 27th, democratic forces commemorated the 10th anniversary of late Professor Dipankar Chakraborty, the founding editor of the independent left Bangla journal Aneek and a stalwart of the Association for Protection of Democratic Rights. Without doubt one of our finest and most progressive intellectuals, who till his last breath, strived to render service to humanity. Above all a[Read More…]
Chris Matlhako left us on Thursday morning, 20 April 2023. He served as mascot to the entire liberation movement till he breathed his last, as well as the working-class across the world. His exit is major loss to the anti-imperialist movement worldwide, in which he played a most laudable role. At the time of his passing, Chris Matlhako served the South African[Read More…]
Tarek Fatah was born in Pakistan and recently passed away in Toronto, Canada. I knew him since my arrival in Canada as an immigrant in 2002. He was the mentor, guide, and philosopher of the Muslim Canadian Congress (MCC), established in Toronto not long after 9/11 in December 2001. The MCC aims at establishing a “progressive, liberal, pluralistic, democratic, and[Read More…]
All democrats should unequivocally condemn in the strongest terms the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the brutal torture and cowardly killing of CPP leaders Benito Tiamzon (and Wilma Austria-Tiamzon), together with eight other revolutionaries after they were captured in Samar province on August 21, 2022. The murder of the Tiamzons follows the pattern of the wilful killings perpetrated[Read More…]
When it comes to the regional cinemas of India, one of the most illustrious industries is located in Manipur. Releasing about one hundred films a year, the Manipuri film industry is not only productively consistent, but is also entirely self-sufficient – a result of the Manipuri films’ cultural specificities that help them with their regional popularity. Also, with the absence[Read More…]
Kshama Sawant, who was declared as Radical Desi Person of the Year 2023 for being instrumental behind the historic ordinance to outlaw caste-based discrimination in Seattle, making it the first city outside India to do so, has carried forward the legacy of two great men. April being the birthday month of the Ghadar movement – cofounded by Sohan Singh Bhakna[Read More…]
Harish Chandola breathed his last on March 26. His life of 94 years, including over six decades of active work as a journalist as author, was full of highly energetic, interesting and meaningful reporting and writing from several parts of world. He was born and brought up in a remote Himalayan village of Garhwal. At a young age he started[Read More…]
Charles Bettleheim was one of the most creative, analytical and illustrious intellectuals and economists of the last century, who made a path breaking contribution. Life Sketch Charles Bettelheim was born on November 20, 1913 in Paris into a banker’s family, but he spent his early life in Switzerland and Egypt before moving back to Paris in 1922. In 1933, affected[Read More…]
Today on April 13th we commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Balraj Sahni. Rarely has any actor let alone Indian actor as skilfully or as deeply immersed into the character of a common or oppressed man or expressed sensitivity in such depths, which could appear surreal at times. Balraj Sahni infused realism in acting to depths almost unprecedented. Balraj blended[Read More…]
The eminent Marxian socialist scholar and critic of Lenin’s Marxism, Paresh Chattopadhyay (PC) passed away on January 14, 2023, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He was emeritus professor of political economy in the department of sociology at the University of Quebec, Montreal. With a mastery of Marx in the original and an admirable presentation of Marx’s thought, PC made his readers[Read More…]
William Hinton was the most renowned American scholar on post-1949 China. With unflinching resilience he defended the positive or even path breaking achievements of China and the manner the Socialist past shaped a society where the workers and peasants established their rule. His simple, flowing style is model for progressive writers to emulate, which got down to the very roots[Read More…]
2023 commemorates the fortieth year since the passing of Joan Robinson and her one-hundred-and-twentieth birth anniversary. Without doubt she was one of the most illustrative, logical and creative Marxist economists of her time, whose role was path was breaking. Quoting David Henderson “Joan Robinson was arguably the only woman born before 1930 who can be considered a great economist. She[Read More…]
George Lukacs’s “History and Class Consciousness” is a truly landmark work, and its English translation, after almost fifty years of neglect by English and American publishers, was a major development. This year we commemorate 100 years of this work being published, in year 1923. Reification and the Consciousness of the Proletariat section of this work, published in 1923, is a[Read More…]
On March 17th we commemorated the 35th martyrdom anniversary of Jaimal Singh Padda, who laid his life down in combating Sikh religious fundamentalism, and fell to bullets of Khalistani terrorists, in 1988.Jaimal Singh Padda was a poet of revolutionary thought who was born in Lakhan Ke Padda village of Kapurthala. He was killed by terrorists on 17 March 1988. A[Read More…]
A few weeks s ago on March 5th, we commemorated the 10th death anniversary of Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Without doubt one of the most progressive or impactful leaders in shaping the destiny of a Latin American nation ,who confronted and gave a mortal blow to American imperialism at it’s strongest point, and paved the path towards liberation. Few Third[Read More…]
In August 1893, when the chair called on her to speak at a session of the Zurich Congress of the Second International, Rosa Luxemburg made her way without hesitation through the crowd of delegates and activists packed into the hall.She was one of the few women present, still in the flush of youth, slight of build, and with a hip[Read More…]
Biographical details of Bhagat Singh’s life have been the main concern of the very valuable work of many scholars and activists who want to portray him as a fearless revolutionary of the highest order. Only in a scholarly work such as that by S Irfan Habib (not the historian Prof Irfan Habib), To Make the Deaf Hear: Ideology and Programme[Read More…]
135 years ago, on March 13th 1888, world famous Soviet teacher and writer, Anton Semyonovich Makarenko (1888 – 1939) was born in the family of a painter, who studied at the Poltava Teachers’ Institute and received a pedagogical education. During the First World War, he did not recruit into the army due to poor eyesight. But his brother Vitaly[Read More…]
by Jyoti Raina and Mansi The work of Brazilian philosopher-educator Paulo Freire continues to have great relevance in the world today. Born to a middle-class family in Recife, in the state of Pernambuco in northeast Brazil, South American philosopher Paulo Reglus Neves Freire’s (1921-1997) life experience shaped his vision of education. In his younger days he faced hunger, poverty and[Read More…]
Last November we commemorated the 10th anniversary of the death of Han Suyin who left us on November 2nd, in 2012. Apart from the gratuitous obituaries in official newspapers her death was received with scant attention: passing away in obscurity, like so many revolutionary women. On her birth centenary, no noticeable commemoration meeting was staged. Han Suyin carves a permanent[Read More…]
On March 6th, we commemorated the 67 th birthday of Sandra Lima. Sandra Lima‘s life was a manifestation of the spirit or creative energy of women to emancipate themselves from the clutches of merciless exploitation. She displayed revolutionary resilience of single-mindedness and creativity at a height almost unparalleled amongst Brazilian women activists of her time. Her life story was one[Read More…]
The evergreen Marxian socialist scholar and critic of Marxism, Paresh Chattopadhyay (PC) left us on January 14, 2023, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, at age of 96.He was emeritus professor of political economy in the department of sociology at the University of Quebec, Montreal. With in depth mastery of Marxism, PC made his readers think and reflect over what he wrote,[Read More…]
I don’t want any new monuments to individuals to replace any ripped down for racism or other offenses. Individuals are deeply flawed — every single one of them, and morality changes with the times. Whistleblowers are by definition less than divinely perfect, as their service is revealing the horrors of some institution they’ve been part of. But when you look[Read More…]
The life of Dervla Murphy both inspires us and leaves us awestruck. She was a multitude of people in one. She was a travel writer, an explorer, an environmentalist and a political activist. Born in November 1931, in the historic Irish town of Lismore in County Waterford. She was the only child of her parents. Her father was the County[Read More…]
Recently when I visited several villages of Bhil tribal communities in Banswara district of Rajasthan, the greeting most often heard in villages was Jai Guru. The reference here is to Guru Govind, also known as Govindgiri, a social reformer and freedom fighter of 19th and 20th centuries who continues to live on in the songs, prayers, greetings and campaigns of[Read More…]
For the last two years, various programs are being organized to commemorate the birth centenary of socialist leader Madhu Limaye (1 May 1922-8 January 1995). January also marks the birth centenary years of two other prominent socialist leaders, Madhu Dandavate (21 January 1924–12 November 2005) and Karpoori Thakur (24 January 1924–17 February 1988). Karpoori Thakur’s birth centenary celebrations began on[Read More…]
Today we commemorate the 70th death anniversary of Stalin, who died on March 5th, 1953. Some people suspect that he was poisoned by his enemies It is hard to find words that do justice to the irreparable loss it caused for the International Communist Movement as a whole, creating a sensation of the earth shaking. The International media left no[Read More…]
Harry Haywood was for a prolonged period a member and leader of the Communist Party-USA and other communist organizations from the 1920’s until his death in 1985. On February 4th this month we commemorated his 125th birth anniversary. He championed the crystallisation of the concept that Blacks represented a separate “nation” inside the United States. Haywood’s theoretical writings probably contributed[Read More…]
The discourse over the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code has often stirred up a whirlwind of uproar by political advocates and religious objectors. India follows a system of legal pluralism that allows different religious communities to be governed by their codes of personal law. This has been seen as a way of protecting distinct communal identities and safeguarding[Read More…]
Today on February 12th, we commemorate the 25th death anniversary of student leader and youth leader Anil Ojha, of Bihar. He fell in the early morning hours on February 12th, as a result of severe head injuries. He had been admitted to hospital a week previously. He languished in hospital without receiving any proper treatment. It was diagnosed that sheer[Read More…]
This is an ode to a film script/story/dialogue writer known for his films like ‘I am Kalam’ and ‘Paan Singh Tomar’- Sanjay Chauhan. He passed away recently and this write-up is an attempt to commemorate his connect with all those who met him I recall meeting you for the first time in that wooden cubicle which served as a sitting room[Read More…]
Today’s Google Doodle features an ode to PK Rosy, a long-forgotten first Malayalam cinema Dalit actress also known as ‘Rajamma’, ‘Rosamma’ and ‘Rajammal’. This is not only a great moment to see that her participation has been honoured; rather it is a moment to feel sorrow for the state of Indian cinema and academia, which has taken decades to at[Read More…]
Barbara Anna Kistler was born in 1955 in Zurich, Switzerland. We just commemorated her 30th death anniversary, with her death in January, 1993. Barbara was a Swiss revolutionary, anti-imperialist, and guerrilla fighter. Kistler was a torch bearer in shaping the anti-fascist and anti-imperialist struggle in Switzerland. She also worked in various women’s groups, seeking to bring a Marxist-Leninist line to[Read More…]
Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was born September 12, 1924 in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, one of Portugal’s African colonies. On January 20, 1973–50 years ago Cabral was murdered by fascist Portuguese assassins just months before the national liberation movement in which he played a central role won the independence of Guinea-Bissau. Cabral was amongst the most dialectical, critical and creative Marxist[Read More…]
Tributes to respected Shanti Bhushan-ji, a tall lawyer, great teacher and humble leader ! Instrumental in dethroning Indira Gandhi, gathering of forces for the post-Emergency Janata Party and bringing AAP and Kejriwal to the political forefront. I remember his surprise appearance for me in the Operation Bluestar Report – bail matter in the district Court of Tis Hazari, when I[Read More…]
Ranajit Singh expired on 24-1-2023 at the age of 82 in Jaipur. His body is going to be handed over to SMS hospital in Jaipur.For 4 decades he selflessly served the Communist movement as a central Committee member of CPI (ML) Ranajit Singh gained his baptism in communist politics from student level in Rajasthan. In response to battles waged in[Read More…]
Mr B.V. Doshi, renowned architect who passed away in Ahmedabad on January 24 at the age of 96, was a big institution builder but towards the end of his life he had come to realise that architects should think not only of rich clients but ordinary people. Many tend to look at Mahatma Gandhi as anti-modern, anti machinery. But he[Read More…]
‘Phir Subah Hogi’ (New Morning will be born” is dream which anticipates Birth of New Future from the womb of the darkest Night which has overshadowed the Struggles of the Humanity led by Working Class. Sahir Ludhianvi, a Poet , Lyricist and Rebellious psychologist by Birth has set an illustration for innumerable Artists, Film makers, Poets and Revolutionaries. During 1944[Read More…]
Pier Paolo Pasolini (1922-1975) would have been a centenarian this year had he not fell foul of an extreme-Right conspiracy at the age of 53. Murdered on the beaches of Ostia, near Rome, ostensibly for his homosexuality, Pasolini passed into a world where there is no death, only homages to creative subversion or heated controversies born more of social prejudice[Read More…]
The freedom movement of India was known for its many-sided efforts to create a better society out of the ruins of the massive destruction caused by colonial rule. Hence many constructive activities and social reforms were pursued side by side with the struggles against colonialism. This included continuing efforts for inter-faith harmony by some of the most inspiring leaders of[Read More…]
Karpoori Thakur, popularly known as Jananayak (people’s leader), devoted his entire life for the welfare of socially backward classes. He is considered to be one of the greatest and honest leaders that Bihar has ever produced. In the words of Paul Brass, Karpoori is one among the leaders whom he “loved and admired” because they see “politics as their vocation,[Read More…]
80 years ago, on January 15, 1943, one of the most mortal blows occurred in the history of the Great Patriotic War. This event will carve a permanent place in history of brutality of oppressors unleashed on liberators. On this day in Krasnodon in the Luhansk region, Nazi forces flung bodies of members of the Young Guard youth anti-fascist organization[Read More…]
Dara Shikoh (1615-1659) was a prince of Mughal Empire who made significant contributions but was deprived of the opportunity of potentially making even greater contributions as he was executed at a young age of 44. Son of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz Mahal, he was the chosen heir to be the next successor to the great empire but was captured and[Read More…]
“For all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these—It might have been” –John Greenleaf Whittier Emperor Shah Jahan, who built the Taj Mahal, had a dream about two of his grandchildren. Even though he had emerged as one of the most powerful emperors in the world, he had suffered more than his share of distress. He was[Read More…]
Dr. King’s birthday is coming up soon- five days away- and I’m already cringing. Martin Luther King Junior was a towering figure in world history. He was one of the great leaders of the Civil Rights movement in the United States and as he aged, became increasingly radicalized. He left behind some of the greatest artifacts in American history- including[Read More…]
Shadia Abu Ghazaleh was born in Nablus on January 8, 1948, and educated in Nablus. She joined George Habash’s Arab Nationalist Movement as a young woman in 1964, in pursuit of the liberation of Palestine and the Arab homeland. We commemorated her 75th birthday 5 days ago. The tenacity and death defying courage in the life of Shadia Abu Ghazaleh[Read More…]
Commemorating the 13th martyrdom day of revolutionary working class leader Comrade Sunil Pal, a Central Convention was successfully organized jointly by IFTU (Sarwahara) and Proletarian People’s Front at Gandhi Peace Foundation in Delhi on December 29th in, from 10 am to 5 pm. The topic of this convention was “Challenges ahead in the path of the revolutionary workers’ and peasants’[Read More…]
My friend of sixty years,founder-member of Delhi Socialist Teachers Forum with Manoranjan Mohanty,brother of brave human rights crusader in Kashmir Balraj Puri, has died after a painful struggle with cancer.His friends remember him as a caring and humane person,totally unassuming and yet making a deep impression on his friends with the depth of his knowledge and firmness of his convictions.[Read More…]
A sad Christmas. I have been receiving innumerable phone calls and messages from friends, comrades, and academics, expressing disbelief over TG Jacob’s demise. I am equally shocked. His departure was like an unannounced walkout. Just the previous morning we had a long chat over phone on the political situation in Kerala and elsewhere, his ongoing writing on Kerala’s development[Read More…]
by A.K Shiburaj/Jyotibhai Desai Jyotibhai Desai is a contemporary of Mahatma Gandhi whose life is lived true to the principles of the Gandhian philosophy. Jyotibai’s life-work has evolved in a place that has seen the worst instance of communal violence in contemporary India’s history. Yet he wields with conviction the philosophy of Ahimsa (non-violence) in the midst of this violence.[Read More…]
Today, on 3rd January, 2023, the nation is celebrating 192nd birth anniversary of Savitribai Phule, who was a great social reformer, educationist, author and poet. She was born on 3rd January, 1831 at Naigaon in Satara region of British India. As per the tradition of that time Savitrabai Phule was married to the Jyotiba Phule at the age of[Read More…]
On July 30, 2013 communist revolutionary movement and revolutionary trade union movement had lost a valiant fighter and most creative activist. Paltu Sen, President of the National Committee of IFTU and a member of the Central Committee of CPI(ML)-New Democracy had breathed his last. For nearly half a century, Paltu Sen heart and soul waged a battle for New Democratic[Read More…]
Professor Joma Sison expired in the night of December 16th. Joma died peacefully after a period of confinement in a hospital in Utrecht, The Netherlands last night at around 8:40 p.m. (Philippine time). He was 83.An irreparable loss of one of the great Marxist intellectuals and leaders of our times. Sison has departed but he has planted seeds for many[Read More…]
Today we celebrate the birth centenary of late thespian Dilip Kumar. Not only was he arguably Hindi cinema’s finest actor ever but as an artist he was an epitome of Progressive values. Penetrating depth, intensity and sensitivity in realms rarely transcended he projected the theme of a character confronting the evils of social injustice. Dilip Kumar literally defined a new[Read More…]
Zoya Kosomdemyanskaya –birth centenary year On November 29th, in 1941, Soviet partisan Zoya Kosmodemyanskaya was mercilessly hanged at the age of 18 by German fascist soldiers during World War II. Next year, we commemorate her birth centenary, on September 13th. Zoya symbolised how Marxism-Leninism or a Socialist Society paved way for a ‘new woman’ to bloom, who played a vanguard[Read More…]
Eric Hobsbawm (1917-2012) was one of the world’s most famous and perceptive communist historians. He pioneered a distinctive shape to method of historical research. exploring areas untouched. Around two months ago we commemorated his 10th death anniversary. Hobsbawm contributed major concepts, from the general crisis of the 17th century to the Dual Revolution, and terms like “the invention of tradition”[Read More…]
As a consequence of my fledgling activism in my student life to my dedicated commitment towards socialism till now, I found umpteen occasions to meet and interact with many people active in this stream. I constantly learned and picked up something from verily everyone during my work and interactions with them. Of them some became the source of intellectual inspiration,[Read More…]
Aijaz Ahmad (1941-2022) who passed away on March 9 at Irvine, California earlier this year, was a truly original Marxist thinker, who applied Marxist concepts to interpret various events of the contemporary world. He underlined the importance of those concepts while rejecting all attempts to weaken or replace them through eclectic combinations formed by introducing post-modernist concepts into Marxism. He[Read More…]
She may have left us 16 years ago, but on her birth anniversary November 25, Surinder Kaur is being remembered very fondly by her countless admirers in India, Pakistan, Canada, UK, USA and several other countries as well. The contributions of the ‘Nightingale of Punjab’ to music can never be forgotten, all the more so in present times of degradation[Read More…]
Professor Jose Marie Sison ranks amongst the most accomplished Marxist leaders, and writers, to have landed their feet into the Communist movement. Few leaders have contributed so much to shape a nations’ path breaking achievements in revolutionary movement or defend citadel of Marxism –Leninism. Sison knitted the scattered seeds to sow the nucleus of the Communist Party and Philllipines and[Read More…]
My dear friend Staughton Lynd died Thursday five days before what would have been his 93rd birthday. It is no overstatement to say that Staughton inspired millions of people around the world and I will always cherish a glorious weekend I spent with him and his lovely wife Alice at their home in Ohio in 2010. In honor of a[Read More…]
If you mention the name of Macliing Dulag to a Cordilleran, you are going to arouse three possible responses. One, the person has no idea who Dulag was. Two, the person has heard of the man but can’t accurately place where Dulag stands in Cordillera history. Millions of people knew the name of Che Guevara but hardly aware of his[Read More…]
November 16 marks the 107th martyrdom day of a towering revolutionary of the Indian freedom struggle. Kartar Singh Sarabha was executed in 1915 in British India for waging a war against the Empire while he was only 18-and-a-half years old. He was a part of the Ghadar movement that was started to liberate India from foreign occupation through armed rebellion.[Read More…]
There are few writers who have displayed such consistency and continuity in their writings on justice and concerns of the unprivileged as Jeremy Seabrook. His writings on these and other issues of high social relevance are marked by deep sympathy for those who deserve and need this the most. Readers are frequently awed by the sheer brilliance of his deep[Read More…]
We live in a fast-moving, technology-dominated era. Happiness is fleeting, and everything is replaceable or disposable. It is understandable that people are drawn to a utopian vision. Many find refuge in the concept of a “return” to an idealized past—one in which humans were not so numerous, and animals abounded; when the Earth was still clean and pure, and when[Read More…]
Paying homage to stalwart and martyr of Civil Liberties Movement, Japa Lakshma Reddy, a public meeting under the supervision of Civil Rights Association Joint Karimnagar District Committee, was held on Monday, 7th November, 2022, at Sneha Sahiti Library, Godavarikhani from 4:30 pm to 8:15 pm. Civil rights society and people’s association leaders obeyed two minutes of silence to Japa Lakshma[Read More…]
November 9, 2022, was the 145th birth anniversary of Allama Muhammad Iqbal – a globally renowned South Asian Muslim poet, and philosopher. The contemporary period of renewed cultural atavisms has reduced him to an ideologically zealous proponent of Pan-Islamism, leading to a crude anti-Westernism that rejects the universal values of freedom and equality to justify internal hierarchies within the Muslim[Read More…]
On November 9th yesterday, we commemorated the 38th death anniversary of Chandra Pulla Reddy, one of the most dedicated Communist revolutionaries of India. Confronting the darkest waters he combated revisionism with the tenacity of a boulder and shimmered light of Mao thought. No doubt he made serious errors of left and right variety but strived to practice mass line to[Read More…]
Shyam Benegal ranks amongst the most defining architects of the art movement in Hindi cinema. Few directors transcended such layers in manifesting feudal or social oppression or displayed mastery at such a scale in exploring characters. Even when projecting social reality his plots were ever buoyant. Social reality was concurrent theme in movies of Benegal,who was a creature of the[Read More…]
Today on November 3rd, we commemorate the 40th death anniversary of E.H.Carr who made an outstanding contribution as a liberal historian and gave a new dimension to method of historical research. Carr was an epitome of historical accuracy, being more illustrative than any historian on Soviet Russia. Even though a liberal democrat he applied the Marxist historical materialist method. Carr[Read More…]
Herman Daly passed away on 28th October. He was an ecological economist who championed steady state economics. In 1996, he was awarded the Right Livelihood Award for “defining a path of ecological economics that integrates the key elements of ethics, quality of life, environment and community.” Daly’s death is a great loss to humanity and ecological economics. Countercurrents.org has published a[Read More…]
On October 30th we commemorate the 17th death anniversary of late Shamsher Singh Sheri. Shamser Singh Sheri is arguably the most defining figure of the Communist Revolutionary of Naxalite movement in Punjab, torch-bearer of the Communist Revolutionary camp or mascot against revisionism. His name is still inscribed in letters of gold by revolutionary ranks. I hold Sheri in great esteem[Read More…]
Late Hrishikesh Mukherjee more popularly known as ‘Hrishi Da’ just celebrated his birth centenary last month. Hrishi Da ranks amongst India’s most progressive and innovative film makers, exhibiting mastery in craft of making socially relevant themes. Mukherjee knitted plots together with great visualisation, and sensitivity, be it in comedy, pathos, anger or romance, weaving every ingredient in proper proportion. Melodrama[Read More…]
History is small fry to seasoned craftsmen like the RSS who can come up with dummies that look more authentic than the real. There is no better testimony to this statement than the mangled legacy of the greatest of all Mughals, Emperor Akbar, who is deservedly called Akbar the Great. A malicious campaign against the peerless monarch has been going[Read More…]
21st October marked the 38th death anniversary of Satyanarayan Singh (SNS). He was one of the pioneering leaders of the revolutionary party CPI (M-L), which was formed demarcating from the neo-revisionist CPI (M) after the historic Naxalbari uprising. SNS was Central Committee and Politbureau member of that party. Faced with grave losses and damages in CPI (ML) under the leadership[Read More…]
Jean Luc Goddard who left us at age of 91 on 13th September, ranks amongst the greatest film makers ever .Godard, was a filmmaker, critic, essayist, polemicist, philosopher, scientist, a preacher, educator, journalist, and artist rolled into one. The motion-picture medium was elevated to a new dimension by him, penetrating barriers untranscended in terms of creativity. Its hard to think[Read More…]
On the morning of October 12, 2022 veteran communist revolutionary leader from Punjab, Tara Singh Chalaki passed away at his home in Mohali. For a considerable period he was ailing, suffering from bad health. His death is a grave loss to the communist revolutionary camp of India to which he from his early days he played a monumental role in[Read More…]
Nikolai Alexandrovich Semashko was an outstanding scientist and was major architect in Soviet health care, the first People’s Commissar of Health of the RSFSR, Academician of the USSR Academy of Medical Sciences and the RSFSR Academy of Sciences, Honoured Scientist of the RSFSR, Professor. Semashko’s entire life was a concrete example of selfless service to the service of humanity, with[Read More…]
Socialist thinker Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, whose death anniversary is today, often used to say that the life force of true democracy lies in the reversal of governments. He did not make any effort till his last breath for this reversal, which was considered ‘impossible’ in those days of Congress domination. His uneasiness towards these efforts was such that even[Read More…]
Kumar Shiralkar, activist, served the adivasis and other oppressed people for decades with great devotion and selflessness.. He in turn was so much loved by the adivasis that after his passing way on October 2 they buried his body. Kumar was born in a Brahmin family but he had completely given up his caste and class affiliation, totally identified with[Read More…]
We commemorate the 13th death anniversary of K. Balagopal (1952-2009). Earlier this year we celebrated his 70th birthday. A mathematician, civil rights activist rolled into one and one of post-independent India’s most creative thinkers, who gave revolutionary humanism a new perspective. One of the great stalwarts of the civil Rights Movement, and till his death, one of the best sons[Read More…]
Annabhau Sathe, was an immensely admired dalit communist writer, performer who galvanised people’s struggles in Mumbai in the 1940s and 1950s. Seeing a revival of his play on Mumbai’s working people’s struggles against capitalist domination, written in the 1950s, makes one realise that he in way preceded eminent urban radical thinkers like David Harvey and Henri Lefebvre who have emphasised[Read More…]
Jahanara–The First Lady of a Great Empire Who Devoted Herself to Reducing Suffering and Distress In times when royalty was characterized by the craze for luxury and constant intrigues for power, Princess Jahanara (1614-81) is almost a unique character in the Mughal Dynasty who devoted most of her time, efforts and wealth to reducing the distress and suffering of others.[Read More…]
An unsung hero Hassan Nasir is known to none in this present generation! A heroic people’s leader was sent to oblivion. Though Hassan Nasir is our Hyderabadi (Deccan), a great working class organizer, sacrificed his life in Pakistan, for the Communist Party . He was born on August 2nd, 1928 in Bank Street near Koti, Hyderabad and hacked down on[Read More…]
Maharashtra’s progressive record has taken a beating in the last few years. But occasionally there are signs of hope. One of the best reprsentatives of the progressive tradition was Narhar Kurundkar. He was a real public intellectual, atheist, rationalist, outspoken critic whoquestioned almost ridiculed false,established notions. The orthodox told him he would go to hell but they could do not[Read More…]
Darshan Singh Canadian was martyred today 26 years ago on September 25th, at the hands of the Khalistani terrorists. His entire life was manifestation of relentless spirit to serve the downtrodden. Darshan Singh was a very warm personality, extremely well read, a versatile conservationist and resonating with wit and humour. In Canada In 1937, at the age of 19, Darshan[Read More…]
The departure of Ross Longhurst (aka Harry Powell), on 28th September 2020.was an inconsolable loss to the Communist Movement. Ross till his last breath unfurled the flag of Communism and proletarian internationalism when many others rejected it it in favour of tailing nationalism of all kinds. One of the finest students of Marxism-Leninism in Imperialist countries, who in many junctures resisted[Read More…]
Barbara Ehrenreich died at the age of 81 on September 1. The American author had reached a worldwide readership with her over 20 books which are best known for their strong voice of justice and dignity for the weakest sections as well as for opposing hypocrisy and social deceit at several levels. Her brilliant reportage, social commentary and book reviews[Read More…]
Communal propagandists who want to disrupt inter-faith harmony often distort and misrepresent history to peddle their lies. While this can be shown in the context of many instances, the times of Dara Shikoh are particularly relevant in this context. As is well known , Dara Shikoh (1615-59) was the favorite son of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan, the buider of[Read More…]
Today the world commemorates the 25th death anniversary of Mother Teresa. Whatever her gross flaws, she rendered service to humanity in regions almost untranscended, resembling the relentless spirit of the waves of an Ocean. Irrespective of community or religion. she offered her service. Even those not drawn by sainthood revere the role of Mother Teresa. For 68 years, she had[Read More…]
This is the birth centenary year of renowned playwright, director, actor Habib Tanvir. He was born on 1 September 1923 in Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Habib Tanvir’s father Hafiz Ahmed Khan was a resident of Peshawar (Pakistan). Habib Tanveer completed his schooling in Raipur. After this he graduated from Nagpur University in 1944 and MA from Aligarh Muslim University. After that he[Read More…]
Gorbachev set out to reform the Soviet Union and make the entire world a less dangerous place to live in. If he had succeeded, the mad race for weapons of mass destruction would have not only slowed down but, assuming the best possible outcome, there was a real chance of their elimination or the elimination process at least starting. Much[Read More…]
Gorbachev’s was a betrayer’s life. He has physically left this earth, hours back; but has kept kilometer posts of betrayal on a land years ago identified as the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). He’s the person who led a band of betrayers to dismantle the USSR – Soviet Union. The biggest country in the world stretching from the Pacific[Read More…]
Last Saturday on 27 August we commemorated 21 years since the martyrdom of Abu Ali Mustafa, the General Secretary of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, targeted for an Israeli assassination raid with a U.S-made and -provided missile in occupied Al-Bireh, Palestine, in 2001.Till this day his memories shimmer like an inextinguishable light. Abu Ali Mustafa’s was[Read More…]
Economist Abhijit Sen passed away on the night of 29 August, 2022. He was 72. For a long time he has been regarded as one of India’s leading agricultural economists who made a very important contribution to government policy, particularly in the context of public distribution system. India’s structure of food security has been created to a considerable extent on[Read More…]
A statue of Alluri Srirama Raju, ( July 4, 2022 – May 7th 1924) with bow and arrows; this model is the standard depiction seen in most places, across the Telugu states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana State. He is mostly presented in saffron robes of a Sanyasi. A centenary of the popular armed struggle, Rampa Adivasi Revolt, led by[Read More…]
Dr. Iravati Karve [15 December 1905 —-11 August 1970 ] is India’s first pioneer, leading anthropological researcher and world-renowned researcher in sociology. Anthropologist, social scientist, atheist, rationalist and literati, the great writer and orator known to Maharashtra in various capacities. A progressive thinker who has become an example of women’s freedom is Dr. Iravati Karve. A very highly educated, cultured[Read More…]
Vimal Bhai breathed his last on 15 August at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. He was 60. He will be remembered for a long time for his contributions to many ecological and social movements, but perhaps most prominently for the movements against the excess of several ill-planned hydro-electricity projects in Uttarakhand. He was involved in this[Read More…]
Souren Bose left us on the early morning of 17 August, exactly 25 years ago. One of the most dedicated torch bearers of the Indian Communist movement. His sudden death was an irreparable loss to the Indian Communist movement. His interview with Premier Zhou En lai in China in 1970 is an invaluable lesson for all Marxist cadre in grasping[Read More…]
Debiprosad Ghosh, the distinguished but undeservedly neglected Calcutta film scholar and historian, has painstakingly researched the life, times and achievements of an important but forgotten Bengali actress. The beautiful and gifted Begum Anwara Nahar had to take on the name of ‘Bonani Chaudhuri’ for the same reason that one Yousuf Khan of Peshawar had to transform himself into ‘Dilip Kumar’,[Read More…]
Today, on 10th of August, we are celebrating the 59th Birth anniversary of Phoolan Devi, who was a former member of parliament and fearless leader of marginalized. She was born on 10th August 1963 at Ghura ka Purwa village of Jalaun district of Uttar Pradesh in a mallah caste which is considered as extremely backward caste and scheduled caste in[Read More…]
It has been Forty years since Revolutionary poet Cherabanda Raju left us. Thinking of him is reminiscent of a lotus blooming in full. Chera was an epitome of creativity of revolutionary poetry, transcending realms few revolutionary poets did in his era. The VIRASAM staged a meeting in his memory on July 3rd, this year in Hyderabad in Sundaraya Vigyan hall,[Read More…]
In various streams of the freedom movement, we meet Yogendra Shukla ( 1896-1960) in different roles: what is common to all these roles is that he always worked with the highest commitment. If at an early stage of his life we find him living as an inmate of Sabarmati Ashram attracting the admiration of none other than Mahatma Gandhi, at[Read More…]
Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastri (Raavi Sastri) (30 July 1922 – 10 November 1993), India’s Gorky, was a great Telugu writer whose birth centenary celebrations are presently going on in Telugu states. Reviewing the works of Ravishasri is like doing a social audit, said one judge. “Raa Vi Sastry gave a powerful narrative on India’s bureaucracy, police, legislature, parliament, apart from[Read More…]
“The Earth does not rest on the forehead of Sheshanaga. It is safe in the hands of the Dalits, the farmers and the workers.” (Annabhau Sathe) As we celebrate the birth centenary of Tukaram (Annabhau Sathe) we not only see the relevance of his writings at that time but even today. Here is a man who belonging to Maanag (Matang)[Read More…]
One of my closest comrades Steve Otto, expired 4 days ago, while sitting on the porch of his house. Some months ago, he lost his wife Cammy.He ran blogs ‘Ottos War Room’ and ‘Idiot Factor.’ I may not have personally met him but I don’t have words to express my sense of loss at his demise and my gratitude for[Read More…]
Vijay Singh Pathik (1882-1954) was an eminent freedom fighter, peasant leader, journalist, poet, author, educationist and historian who worked tirelessly all his life to fight both imperialism and feudalism at several levels. At one level he was active in the Indian National Congress, fulfilling important responsibilities in Rajasthan in particular but also in other areas. However he had started life[Read More…]
All of us who yearn to see a mass movement of workers united across national, racial and gender lines against capitalism and imperialism should remember and learn from the life of Walter Rodney. A Guyanese historian and activist who was murdered by his own ruling class in 1980 at the age of 38, Rodney understood the pitfalls of pseudo-socialism and[Read More…]
An avoidable controversy has arisen recently due to the unfortunate comments of a politician of Punjab who called Shahid Bhagat Singh a terrorist. That this politician is linked closely to the Khalistani ideology explains his narrow worldview, and his comments regarding Bhagat Singh were quickly dismissed by most people. However to counter false propaganda based on such comments, it will[Read More…]
by Sahba Husain & Meera Velayudhan Dakshayani Velayudhan was born on this day in 1912 at Bolghatty, a small island off the coast of the then princely state of Cochin, in an agrestic slave caste, Pulaya. She was the child of social change, for the early 1900s saw some of the earliest struggles for equality and recognition across Kerala. At[Read More…]
by Sahba Husain & Meera Velayudhan Dakshayani Velayudhan was born on this day in 1912 at Bolghatty, a small island off the coast of the then princely state of Cochin, in an agrestic slave caste, Pulaya. She was the child of social change, for the early 1900s saw some of the earliest struggles for equality and recognition across Kerala. At[Read More…]
On Sanjoy Ghose’s 25th death anniversary, Ashutosh Tosaria tells us through a microstory how collectives are transforming lives of young girls and women across the country – an idea in which Sanjoy believed strongly. Two hours from Kolkata, a group of thirty young girls and women, all in the age group 16-22, had gathered in a village in Baruipur. They[Read More…]
In 1972 a British doctor stumbled to refugee camps in Bangladesh, making sincere but rather clumsy efforts to make a contribution amidst an ocean of unmet medical needs. Five decades later, this uncertain initial effort has grown enough to reach out to over 500,000 of the poorest patients, many of them with serious conditions who would not have been able[Read More…]
Kartik Pannalal was simply an ornament in his own right to the democratic Rights, Student and Communist revolutionary movement whose memories will shimmer forever.Kartik may be gone but his souls still sparkles in the hearts of many a well-wisher like an inextinguishable star. Today night on June 4th we commemorate his 25th death anniversary when he perished in a road[Read More…]
Few men can give us a better understanding of the saffronisation of archaeology and the temple mosque controversy than Ashish Avikunthak. He has spent 20 years researching Indian archaeology, he is a sensitive film maker, social activist, a multi faceted figure.He has a Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Stanford university, he teaches archaeology and film studies in Rhodes Island university[Read More…]
May 28 is the 92nd death anniversary of Bhagwati Charan Vohra who sacrificed his life in 1930 at the age of only 25 while making preparations for rescuing Bhagat Singh from jail. As he was preparing for his own martyrdom in jail, Bhagat Singh paid very rich tributes to the great sacrifices of Bhagwati Charan Vohra in the course[Read More…]
South Asian activists came together to mark the 100th birthday of a towering human rights defender of Punjab, at Strawberry Hill Library in Surrey on Sunday, May 22. The late Ajit Singh Bains passed away on February 11, leaving a rich legacy of tireless work for social justice. He would have turned 100 on May 14. Bains, a retired judge,[Read More…]
On his 150th birth anniversary on May 18th we must salute late Bertrand Russell .He ranked amongst the greatest intellectuals of the last millennium who gave philosophy a new dimension. Even Although a committed atheist he exuded spiritual overtones. Russell challenged dogma and tradition in the very thick of it’s skin and opened up the mind of his generation to[Read More…]
Inge Deutschkron, Holocaust survivor, author, and lecturer, was a force of nature. She died at the age of 99 on March 9, 2022, and was buried on April 8 in her hometown of Berlin, where she fought for justice against right-wing extremists. She was honored by officials and political leaders from Berlin, few of whom knew her personally, at the[Read More…]
This year’s Mother’s Day must have been the hardest for 92-year-old Anusaya Teltumbde. She has not recovered from the recent loss of her insurgent son, while the other one is locked up in jail for the past two years. Milind Teltumbde, a Maoist leader, was gunned down by the police in November 2021, while Anand, his elder brother, a well[Read More…]
Freedom fighters often face immense difficulties, all the more so if they are challenging the biggest imperial power in the world. This is precisely what Sufi Amba Prasad (1858-1917) did ever since his young days. In fact he took up this challenge not in one but in two countries—India and Iran—and finally died fighting for this cause in Shiraj ([Read More…]
Exactly 40 years ago on May 3rd Rajni Patel left us. Whatever his flaws his human touch to offer selfless service and ability to galvanise or influence human beings from all walks of life, was remarkable. Few people would ever go out of the way to help someone or serve as selflessly without aim of personal gain.Rajni championed Nehruvian secular[Read More…]
A freedom fighter who was killed at the age of 45 in prison in the most cruel way, Sagarmal Gopa was one of those who dared to challenge the might of the cruel royal kingdoms which often operated in even more arbitrary ways than the main colonial government and provided hardly any avenues for dissent. Gopa stood up against such[Read More…]
(This tribute to Justice Rajinder Sachar had been written on his second death anniversary, 20 April 2020, and was published in several magazines/portals. The same has been reissued on the occasion of his fourth death anniversary, 20 April 2022.) The second death anniversary of Justice Rajinder Sachar falls on 20 April 2020. On this solemn occasion as we remember him[Read More…]
On 14th April we commemorate the 50th death anniversary of Student martyr, George Reddy who was slain by ABVP goondas.George virtually carved out a new epoch in the student movement. Today we need a George Reddy to be reborn to challenge our slavish educational system when Hindu Communal fascism, Brahmanical casteism consumerism and imperialism. We need to introspect the spiritual[Read More…]
For more terrestrially grounded people, writing about cricket can be seen as an exercise in distant planetary speculation. The Nobel laureate Harold Pinter did not think so, calling this old English game “the greatest thing that God ever created on earth.” Others might disagree with mild disgust, finding it archaic, jargon heavy and slow. In the early 1990s, one figure[Read More…]
On March 25 is observed the death anniversary of Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, a great editor, a highly dedicated freedom fighter and a lifelong crusader for justice and freedom who sacrificed his life at a young age of 41 in 1931 while trying to stop communal violence and rescue trapped people. His death in Kanpur, the central place of his work[Read More…]
Mallu Swarajyam, a fighter of Telangana pesant armed struggle (1946-51 ) lived up to 91 years and breathed her last in Hyderabad on March 19, 2022. *** Her father wanted to name her Samrajyam in praise of British empire. Her mother Chokkamma thought in her own away, and gave an independent name, ‘Swarajyam,‘ (the self-rule). Those were the days[Read More…]
I have just completed 50 years as an independent writer. This is no news for a world busy with big things, but democracy needs truly independent, unbiased journalists and in this context my experiences of five decades have some relevance. At the more obvious level, I could contribute about ten thousand articles/reports, and four hundred books and booklets in Hindi[Read More…]
“Everyone’s entitled to live their life as they want to”, there can be no truer words. These are the words of Margaret Gallagher, a woman who has lived all her life without the basic amenities of modern daily living, out of choice not necessity. Born on 26th January, 1942, Margaret is eighty years old, never married and lives in[Read More…]
There were many women who sacrificed their lives in the freedom struggle. One of them is ‘Matangini Hazra’. She was born on 19th October 1870 in the village of Hogla in Midnapore district of East Bengal to a peasant family. Due to extreme poverty at home, she married Trilochan Hajra, Aged 62, when she was barely 12 years old. From[Read More…]
The demise of two outstanding , organic intellectuals who served the cause of annihilation of caste and the destruction of capitalist system and highlighted a number of burning social problems in Tamil Nadu and the rest of the world passed largely unnoticed or ignored by the mainstream media , while activists in Dalit , Periyarist and Communist movements could pay[Read More…]
Yesterday, 22 February, was Kasturba Gandhi’s 78th death anniversary. Kasturba died in 1944 and at the time she was in prison, arrested on 9 August 1942, the first day of the “Quit India Movement”. Gandhiji had already been arrested the previous evening, and both of them along with some of their closest colleagues were imprisoned at the Agha Khan Palace[Read More…]
Well irrigated paddy fields and rich economy, as shown in Telugu cinemas come to one’s mind whenever there is any reference to East and West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh (AP) in India which are part of central coastal region of the state where canal irrigation and capitalism arrived earliest, thanks to a record 3.5 km long Dowlaiswaram[Read More…]
Veer Narayan Singh (1795-1857) is remembered today as a great freedom fighter of Chattisgarh and India who sacrificed his life fighting colonial rulers. A huge cricket stadium has been named after him in Chattisgarh, and this provides a convenient identity point with him to the youth. However there is more to his valiant life that we need to know and[Read More…]
Prof Randhir Singh was a Marxist scholar, political theorist and teacher from India. He was one of the founders of the student movement in India in the 1930s and a freedom fighter who remained in jail during India’s freedom struggles in the 1940s. He was put in the same barrack in Lahore Central Jail where India’s foremost revolutionary Bhagat Singh[Read More…]
On January 11th we celebrated the birth centenary of the Marxist intellectual Randhir Singh. who perished on January 31st in2016.For 4 decades he served as a Lecturer of political science in Delhi University. Randhir Singh was an embodiment of Marxist scholasticism .With utmost consistency he exposed the autocratic nature of the Indian parliamentary democracy, the fatal consequences of globalisation from[Read More…]
On 22 January, 2022 a 106 years old Bandru Narsimhulu died in Hyderabad with a heart attack. Otherwise he was still active. When he was much active he entered into an agreement with Mahabub Nagar district Government hospital, to give his body for research use. On the very day of his death after his friends, political supporters and relatives saw[Read More…]
Co-authors: D Hanumanta Rao & MA Krishna Prof M. Radhakrishna, aged 80, passed away around 8.30 pm, January 21, 2022, at Hyderabad, in his residence. He had lung infections towards the end. The Eminent Computer Scientist-Teacher was fondly known as ‘RK Sir ’ by his students and colleagues. The above photo was taken when he was around 75. He was[Read More…]
In the death of Mr N.D. Patil on January 17 we have lost a dedicated, honest leader of the Peasants and Workers Party. His wife Saroj is the sister of Mr Sharad Pawar and the two leaders represent two contrasting approaches to politics. Mr Pawar, the leader of the Congress and then the National Congress party, in fact comes from[Read More…]
Hrishikesh Mukherjee (1922-2006) is very widely, and fondly, remembered as one of the greatest directors, editors and story-tellers of Hindi cinema who also contributed in a smaller way to cinema of other languages. Leaving his career of teaching Maths to train under an editor of Bangla films predictably called Kenchi Da, he shifted to Hindi to learn from great masters[Read More…]
As we celebrate the birth anniversary (12th January) of the saffron robed monk who projected spirituality of Hinduism, the diversity and syncretic nature of India, it is very reassuring. His teachings are in total contrast to the present scenario, where many saffron robed are promoting hate and inciting violence in the name of same religion. Swami Vivekananda, the legend who[Read More…]
Golden names like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, and Desmond Tutu invariably surface on the mental canopy of world public when topics as human rights, liberation struggle, human freedom and the like, especially when those of the oppressed, suppressed, persecuted and downtrodden among coloured and black peoples go afloat. The last of the above noble souls left the[Read More…]
This may sound either arrogant or forgetful, but I could not possibly remember the number of times I was in the same room or at the same protest as Desmond Tutu. And the main reason I know he was there is because I was there listening to him speak, often from a distance of not more than two meters or[Read More…]
Comrade Raj Kishore left us at 2 in the morning on December 22nd in his village Champaran., battling illness since 2014.At time of death he was 89 years.He devoted his entire energy when alive into the liberation of the masses. Even a non Maoist or non Marxist liberal may admire his contribution towards serving the people. Tears literally flow in[Read More…]
The caste system in India has long been considered as “the most resilient and adaptive system of inequality and oppression ever invented, the most inhuman too, even excluding sections of people from the very domain of the human, of the moral and the spiritual, of sociality, fraternity, etc.” Joseph Tharamangalam, Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Mount St. Vincent University[Read More…]
Hasan Azizul Huq (1939-2021), one of the leading Bangladeshi writers, passed away on 15 November 2021, leaving behind him an exceptional body of works. He was mainly a short story writer, but he also wrote three novels and many essays. His first book, Samudrer Swapna, Shiter Aranya, a collection of short stories, was published in 1964. Each volume he published[Read More…]
The 97th death anniversary of Abadi Banu Begum passed subduedly and unobtrusively, much like every other year in the past. Bi-Amma, which was the popular sobriquet bestowed upon her by comrades, was a stand out marvel of astonishing courage and patriotism in India’s independence saga. She broke the religious taboo for feminist activism to inspire thousands of Muslim women to take to[Read More…]
Mannu Bhandari, the eminent and popular Hindi writer is no more. She passed away on Monday November 15 at Gurugram, near Delhi, at the age of 90. Apart from her countless readers, she will be missed by many teachers and students, particularly those at Miranda House, Delhi University where she taught Hindi literature for a long time. She won early[Read More…]
Rarely is the pragmatist admired. Be it in policy or politics, such a figure induces suspicion, a concern that principles will have to be subordinated to broader goals. True dreamers and visionaries, for all their glaring faults, can take the accolades; the pragmatists can be given lower pegging. These differences have proven stark with the late FW de Klerk, South[Read More…]
When Surya Sen sacrificed his life at the age of only 40 for the freedom of India in 1934, he had already succeeded in inspiring a very large number of youth to devote their life to the freedom movement. Although he had been subjected to extremely painful torture before being hanged on 12 January, he was completely unwavering in his[Read More…]
Born 1949 June 1 – Died on 2021 Sep 29 Com.P.Suryanarayana, President, Organisation for Protection of Democratic Rights-OPDR, Andhra Pradesh (AP). Nearly 25 leaders of Girijan, rural poor, teachers, and other organisations paid rich and revolutionary tributes to Com.PSN in an inspiring meeting to pay homage to him held on 10th October 2021 in Srikakulam and that indicates[Read More…]
S N Subbarao is no more, born in Karnataka, he breathed his last in Jaipur (Rajasthan), Jaura (Madhya Pradesh) became the spectator of his last rites and then his ashes were flown into the river at Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh). The passing away of this soldier of peace and goodwill, popularly known as Bhaiji, at the age of 92, was like[Read More…]
Eminent Gandhian S.N.Subba Rao is no more. He breathed his last at the age of 92 in Jaipur on October 27. He will be remembered by countless people for spreading the message of justice, peace and non-violence for over seven decades, but above all he will be remembered by those who had the cherished the experience of attending his youth[Read More…]
On 27th September we commemorated the 10th death anniversary of the late playwright Gursharan Singh.Punjab has never witnessed a revolutionary theatre activist who has penetrated the soul of the Punjabi masses in such depth Be it in the era of the Naxalbari uprising, the Emergency, the Khalistani movement or period of Globalization, he kept the flag of revolutionary resistance afloat[Read More…]
On September 26th, we commemorated the 35th martyrdom anniversary of Comrade Baldev Singh Mann, who succumbed after waging a valiant battle against the Khalistani terrorism. On the night of 26th September he fell to the bullets of the Khalistani Commando force. He was the Amritsar district secretary of the C.P.I. (M.L) Chandra Pulla Reddy group. and editor of party magazine[Read More…]
Kamla Bhasin passed away in the early hours today ( September 25 2021) at the age of 75. She will be remembered by many people and several organizations in South Asia (and elsewhere) to whom she reached out at several levels with many-sided contributions. She made valuable and original contributions to feminist thinking and theory, particularly in the context of[Read More…]
On September 9th the world commemorated the 45th death anniversary of Chairman Mao Tse Tung. His spirit virtually engulfed the entire globe penetrating the hearts of the opressed masses in depth unparalleled by any political leader. His path breaking experiments defined a new epoch in mankind. The era is still that of Lenin’s or that of Imperialism but is Mao[Read More…]
Comrade Gananath Patro contributed more to sowing the seeds of the mass revolutionary movement in Orissa, than any comrade. He sacrificed many a lucrative career to serve the people. Few comrades were ever as down to earth or simple, or as astute in how to tackle specific situations. Till his last breath he strived to sharpen the sword of mass[Read More…]
On July 6th this year, we commemorated the 45th death anniversary of Marshall Chu Teh.,Few Comrades ever so creatively applied the military line of chairman Mao or illustrated the spiritual metamorphosis within a revolutionary as Chu.. His name will be permanently enshrined amongst the heroes of the Chinese Revolution. and great military or Communists in world history. Today his spirit[Read More…]
On 13th September we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Lin Biao,due to a plane crash in 1971 , when allegedly attempting to flee to the Soviet Union. Lin is one of the most controversial or complex and impactful characters of the Communist Movement. Few leaders more befitted the role of a Dr Jekyll and a Mr Hyde.[Read More…]
The death of dreams was considered the most dangerous. Avtar Singh Sandhu ‘Pash’ was a supporter of expressed socio-political freedom. Pash is known as the poet who composed his revolutionary poems and questioned the system. Pash started writing poetry at an early age. By the time the Khalistani movement in Punjab reached its peak, he was opposed to the movement[Read More…]
Keshav Desiraju, India’s former health secretary who made a lasting contribution to public health in India, breathed his last on September 5. He died from ‘acute coronary syndrome’. He inherited the scholarly legacy of his grandfather, India’s much-admired second President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and contributed at least two very important books which reflected the diversity of his interests. He will be[Read More…]
Gail Omvedt was a towering figure in the social sciences in India for decades. Author of over 25 books and a series of well-received columns for the Hindu of yesteryears, she was also an incisive and insightful analyst of Indian society, and a grounded grassroots activist as well. Despite being born and educated in the US, she made India her[Read More…]
Around a month on August 5th, ago we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Saroj Dutta,which was landmark or black day in the history of the Indian Communist movement. Whatever his gross errors as a Marxist revolutionary, his spirit will shimmer for ever like a lotus in full bloom, in the annals of the Indian Communist Movement. Without[Read More…]
Com. Ramnath left us a few days ago at the age of 83. He suffered a heart attack and passed away in his sleep early in the morning of August 31st. He was unwell for the last several years but his health had deteriorated severely recently. Without doubt he played an integral role in the history of the Indian Communist[Read More…]
Kerala has given birth to many women achievers in the last century. This is a quick analysis based on case studies of three women achievers, from the areas of science, politics, and law. Though these three achievers are selected purposively and there could be some possibility of a selection bias, this analysis offers some key insights. ANNA MANI (23 August[Read More…]
On December 6th, 1988, Comrade Purushottam Pali left us. Without doubt he was one of the most defining and inspiring comrades in the work of the Indian Communist movement in the tribal regions. Few comrades in the forests India illuminated the spark of liberation or shimmered the spark of Marxism-Leninism Mao thought, at the scale of Comrade Pali. Throughout his[Read More…]
Earlier this year on 10th February the civil liberties movement or democratic rights movement commemorated the birth centenary of Comrade KVSN Prasad Rao,,who at the time of his death was the president of the Organization for Protection for Democratic Rights(OPDR).He perished due to accidental injuries on 10th October ,1986.His contribution will shimmer forever in the annals of the civil liberties[Read More…]
It was in 2009 I got a chance to meet this veteran artist and visionary who spend his life to fulfilment till the end, Dr.Vayala Vasudevan Pillai. One evening Jean was asked to do a video shoot of Thayambaka of Mattannur Sankarankutty at the Vighneswara temple in Vazhuthacaud and since he wanted assistance, he asked me to join him. We[Read More…]
On 23rd August, we commemorated the 34th death anniversary of Samar Sen, one of the most creative and dynamic persons in Indian history. His writings and poems had the subtle touch which geniuses possess traversing almost surreal regions. What was most pertinent is how he formulated the path he wished to take and how in each juncture, he confronted the[Read More…]
Gail Omvedt is no more. She passed away today i.e. 25th August, 2021 in Kasegaon. On August 18th, I went to see her along with my dear friend Rahul Nirmal. Her condition was deteriorating and her partner Mr Bharat Patankar was doing everything to serve her at their ancestral house in Kasegaon, Maharasthra where Gail and Bharat decided to live[Read More…]
The great Afghan woman martyr, Meena (1956-1987) founded the REVOLUTIONARY ASSOCIATION OF THE WOMEN OF AFGHANISTAN (RAWA) in 1977. She was assassinated by the hired goons of KHAD (Afghanistan branch of KGB) and their fundamentalist accomplices in Quetta, Pakistan, on February 4, 1987. RAWA resolutely fought for the rights of the Afghan women against the Islamists and the Russians occupation[Read More…]
A sustained or protracted campaign has to be launched to save the life or Dr.Abimael Guzman or Chairman Gonzalo.He is on the verge of dying with continuous deterioration of health. The reactionary State cites untreated skin cancer which has now metastasized as the cause for Gonzalo’s admission to the hospital. Chairman Gonzalo’s condition is easily diagnosed and treatable at an[Read More…]
It was a Marathi Book- (Einsteinche Manovishv) – by Dr. Mo. Ra. Gunye, Research Scientist from Bhaba Atomic Research Centre in his Book (513 pages, studded with 18 Chapters a masterpiece of Literature as well), appropriately summarizes Value of Albert Einstein’s contributions in his Book, (Psychological Universe of Einstein- 1997) which prompted me to write Einstein’s Life Journey, though I[Read More…]
Trepan Singh Chauhan, a great activist-author of Uttarakhand, left us last year (2020) on August 13, leaving behind a rich legacy of activism and writings that will serve as a source of inspiration for a long time. He died when he was only 48, and during his potentially most productive years he suffered from serious health problems and from the[Read More…]
The Statesman, May 2 1908: “The Railway station was crowded to see the boy. A mere boy of 18 or 19 years old, who looked quite determined. He came out of a first class compartment and walked all the way to phaeton, kept for him outside, like a cheerful boy who knows no anxiety… on taking his seat the boy[Read More…]
Art- loving people of Bangladesh, and many other parts of the world, will recall the memory of the famous artist Sheikh Mohammad Sultan, popularly known at SM Sultan marking his 97th anniversary of birth. Narail district administration and SM Sultan Foundation have jointly taken programmes to mark the day. The programmes include Quaran Khani, placing floral wreaths at the grave[Read More…]
Padma Sachdev, a great writer and upholder of human values, breathed her last at Mumbai on August 4 at the age of 81. She leaves behind her husband, Surinder Singh, a great singer of the famous Singh Bandhu duo, and daughter Meeta Sachdev. Several eminent persons including Karan Singh and Lata Mangeshkar, with whom she shared a very afffectionate and[Read More…]
Poems for Lenin. That was the title of a collection of poems written by Satish Kalsekar, noted Marathi poet, in 1977. His passing way on July 24 is a great loss for the Left movement and literature at the national level because he built bridges with writers from other languages. His death was widely mourned with tributes flowing in from[Read More…]
Premier Zhou En Lai was one of the greatest revolutionary leaders and Marxists of all time. A month ago we commemorated his 45th death anniversary. It is hard to envisage how a person so embedded in mandarin background could pull out of its clutches to tread the life of a proletarian revolutionary. No Comrade so firmly stood by Chairman Mao[Read More…]
The passing away of Comrade Vilas Sonawane today is a huge loss to Dalit- OBC-Pasmanda movement all over the country. He was one of the very few who were extremely articulate and well read on the issue. Apart from that, his own experience of working with Communist Party of India (Marxist) gave him enough understanding of what ails our socio-political[Read More…]
Vasantada Ramalingachari,was one of the major leaders of the Srikakulam Girijan Movement. and a central Commitee member of the Communist Party Re-Organization Centre of India(Marxist-Leninist) Although martyred 16 years ago in 2003 on November 24th his memories are still embedded in many a comrade’s mind ,like a red light shimmering within it. .In-spite of belonging to such a humble background[Read More…]
August 1, 2021, was the 13th death anniversary of comrade Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Born into a Bassi Jat family in the Punjabi village of Bundala on March 23, 1916, Surjeet began his revolutionary career influenced by the socialist revolutionary Bhagat Singh. In 1930 – at the age of 15 – he joined Bhagat’s Naujawan Bharat Sabha. On the first anniversary[Read More…]
On July 24th, 2008 Comrade Arvind left us, after a sudden illness. Today we commemorate Arvind’s 13th death anniversary. It is a travesty that the movement was robbed of one of it’s most creative exponents. His life was reminiscent of Lotus blooming in full, radiating the spirit of revolution. .Although he left us so early the revered comrade crystallised the[Read More…]
Today is the 42nd martyrdom day of Student leader Prithipal Singh Randhawa .No Student leader in the history of India ever galvanized forces or crystallised or set guidelines of the mass line practice in student movement, in the magnitude of Prithipal.Exactly 42 years ago he was murdered by goons of the Akali Dal party. Few mass leaders ever better grasped[Read More…]
Social Movements are long lasting and more effective way to bring changes in society : K Veeramani Mr K. Veeramani, is perhaps the senior most of the leaders of revolutionary Periyar E.V.Ramasamy’s Dravidian movement. He was groomed by Periyar since childhood. Born on December 2nd, 1933, he was inducted in the Dravidian movement under the leadership of EVR Periyar since[Read More…]
S. N. Nagarajan passed away in Chennai on 24 May morning. He was ninety-five years old, but intellectually active right to the end. Popularly known as SN (Sathyamangalam Nagarajan) his circle of friends was vast and varied. His role in popularising Marxist philosophy and political ideology among the people is widely recognised in Thamizhakam. He was a prolific writer in[Read More…]
Many accounts of the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 have concentrated more on the later glorious phase when victory of the Bangladesh liberation fighters and the Indian forces fighting in close cooperation with each other was achieved, or was close to being achieved. This glorious and well-deserved victory should not , however, lead us to neglecting the fact that victory[Read More…]
July 6, 2021, was the 114th birth anniversary of Frida Kahlo – a revolutionary painter and socialist. Today, she has been fetishized, commodified and sanitized: her self-portraits and photographs stare out from T-shirts, calendars, fashion magazines and jewelry; her unique personality is used to sell everything – from Barbie dolls to cosmetics box sets. Kahlo’s present-day status as a global[Read More…]
Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark- Rabindranath Tagore Whenever the thought of Kabiguru crosses my mind, a shade of white illuminates my thoughts, a white which is as pure as the pearl lying in its shell waiting to be uncovered in an unknown sea. It is a well-known fact that white is[Read More…]
Today we commemorate the 25th death anniversary of Comrade Nimmala Krishna Murthy who till his last breath was a crusader for the massline and liberation of the Adivasis..Inspite of baring all the adversities or twists and turns with the courage of a soldier and skill of an architect he carved out his course of struggle. At the time of his[Read More…]
Meena Kumari was without doubt one of the most sensitive, creative and impactful actresses ever to have flashed on the Hindi silver screen. Sadly she left the world too early, not even living half of a complete life. The story or theme of her life was all about tragedy. I place her amongst the greatest Hindi film actresses ever, in[Read More…]
Veteran Hindi author and editor Ramesh Upadhyaya passed away recently at the age of 79 in Delhi. His contributions to Hindi literature and journalism as well as education spread over more than five decades were invaluable. He received several awards including the prestigious Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Award. His perspective was that of a left-oriented thinker with deep commitments to social[Read More…]
By Ch SN Murthy and Dr S. Jatin Kumar We are grieved to learn and inform the sad news that Com. PS Hochimin ( 51) died June 17 morning in Thrissur, Kerala. He fell sick some weeks ago, his friend reported, subsequently tested Covid positive, developed complications, hospitalized, and died. His last rites were conducted as per Covid protocol. We[Read More…]
Ajmer Singh Aulakh was one of the most creative and impactful writers and playwrights in the history of the revolutionary movement on Punjab or India, whose mark will live forever. Sadly 4 years ago .on June 15th he left us, after suffering from a prolonged period with Cancer. His name will permanently illuminate in the annals of revolutionary artists, like[Read More…]
Today is the 12th death anniversary of legendary Comrade Harbhajan Singh Sohi.Comrade Harbhajan Sohi or HBS was one of the greatest comrades to have ever dipped his feet in the history of the Indian Communist Movement. No comrade was a greater protagonist of the mass line in the last 4 decades after the death of T.Nagi Reddy.He had mastery over[Read More…]
Very sadly our beloved comrade Vira Sathidar left us recently at the age of 61 on April 13th due to covid illness.Ironically he expired on the very date of the historic Jallianawalla Bagh massacre. I can’t express how bereaved it made so many around feel or my personal affection for him. One of the liveliest and most positive comrades within[Read More…]
Comrade Satnam or Gurmeet Singh was one of the most original thinkers in the ranks of the democratic revolutionary movement. Rarely in recent times could we meet a human being with such a degree of intelligence or sensitivity. I met him first in December in 2015 in Patiala, staying a night at his place. He was inactive politically being compelled[Read More…]
Legendary freedom fighter and Civil Rights activist Harohalli Srinivasaiah Doreswamy popularly known as HS Doreswamy breathed his last yesterday. The 103 year-old Gandhian, who kept the ‘conscience of Karnataka till his very last breath, and was the tallest public intellectual, who appeased none and spared none‘ would be remembered for his enthusiasm for public causes till he remained alive Born[Read More…]
Sunderlal Bahuguna , the famous environmentalist of India who passed away on May 21 recently at the age of 94, is being widely remembered for his great contributions to protecting forests and rivers as well contributions to human welfare at several levels. However it is well to also remember at this juncture that for close to seven decades Vimla, his[Read More…]
To the credit of the Government of India and the State Government of Uttarakhand, they have been prompt and generous in their homage to the great environmentalist Sunderlal Bahuguna who passed away recently. However, will they also honor his vision for the Himalayan region for which he devoted his life? His vision was based on his interactions with thousands of[Read More…]
With singer-songwriter Bob Dylan turning 80 on May 24, it seemed like an appropriate time to reflect on the artist’s enduring relevance. Writing furiously at his typewriter, cigarette in his mouth and the legendary Joan Baez by his side or in the background, a prolific young Dylan tapped into the spirit of a burgeoning counter-culture with his folk-inspired work. Performed[Read More…]
On May 21 India , and humanity, lost three distinguished persons who had made great contributions in their own chosen fields. Dinesh Mohan contributed greatly to biomedical engineering and transport planning.Rajkumar Keswani was a famous journalist. And we hardly need to introduce Bahuguna as one of the most distinguished environmentalists of our times. Very different areas of work, you may[Read More…]
A white head-scarf, a white flowing beard, a faint smile and an impish twinkle in the eyes – Sunderlal Bahuguna’s was one of the more recognizable public faces in the country and certainly the most amidst the ecologists and environmentalist across the world. He breathed his last today (21 May 2021) at 1205 hrs at the All India Institute of[Read More…]
Sunderlal Bahuguna is no more. The veteran environmentalist and chipko movement leader passed away today ( May 21) around noon at a hospital in Rishikesh, where he had been admitted about 2 weeks ago following Covid-type symptoms. Born in a village along the bank of the Ganges river in Tehri Garhwal ( presently a district of Uttarakhand) , as a[Read More…]
I was very sad to hear of the death this morning of Dinesh Mohan, noted expert on road safety, in St Stephen’s hospital in Delhi. It is a big loss to the international campaign for road safety, he was a consultant to many countries and currently the U.N. is observing a road safety week. He did pioneering research on road[Read More…]
The death of the distinguished poet, writer, and teacher, Sankha Ghosh removes a huge, near-silent presence from the literary, intellectual, and moral landscape of Bengal. Sankha babu leaves behind a legacy of truth-telling to the very faces of wayward powers-that-be, which at least some of his students and admirers are likely to look up to with pride and joy for[Read More…]
Debjeet Sarangi, a leading development and environment activist based in Odisha, breathed his last on May 15 at a Bhubaneswar hospital. He was only 53 at the time of his untimely death. In a relatively short time, Debjeet had made very important contributions relating to justice, environment protection and evolving a new development paradigm. His contribution to looking at tribal[Read More…]
The blaming of young people as ‘lazy, deviants, drug abusers, materialists, selfish, directionless, apolitical and other stereotypes continue to dominate public narratives. The objectives of these borderless narratives are designed to weaken young people’s ability to challenge and transform the society in which they live. The blame culture and negative portrayals are control mechanisms of old and established social, political,[Read More…]
Just a few days ago legendary Naxalite leader and C.P.I.(M.L) New Democracy Punjab state secretary Comrade Darshan Singh Khatkar turned 75.I don’t have an adjective to do justice to both his personal qualities and contribution towards the Communist Movement. Without a doubt one of the greatest ever comrades to have joined the contingent of the Communist revolutionary camp. Few comrades[Read More…]
Nutan simply took grace to regions of divinity like no other actress who virtually traversed sublime realms when acting. She exuded the fragrance of a lotus blossoming or radiance of a full moon looking like a manifestation of the energy of the divine or a spiritual force transcending through her. No female star transcended spirituality in her[Read More…]
Today I write to celebrate the full life of a Roman Catholic Dalit priest, Rev. Dr. P. Antonyraj SJ who passed away on 10th May. I was nineteen years old studying in St. Joseph’s College, Tiruchirappalli and staying in the hostel in Room No. 101, when I had several common mentors who moulded me in my college days like Fr. P.[Read More…]
Vidarbha has been a fertile soil for many social reformers and intellectuals. It has played an active role in the nation’s destiny and its social, cultural and political rivulets have flown into and enriched the great sea of national civilization. One such luminary who emerged from Yavatmal was Kazi Syed Karimuddin. He rose to be a great criminal lawyer of[Read More…]
We live in the most tumultuous times when exit from the world and life we have taken for granted is determined by a small being. As a woman living in Kerala ridden with patriarchal norms sugar coated as liberal progressive novel thought, it is but inevitable that one feels concerned about what one leaves behind, what will be the reference[Read More…]
Balraj Sahni took art of acting simply to another dimension in his time, reminiscent of a Michelangelo. It is hard to find an adjective to do justice to his sheer sensitivity which reached spiritual depths or realism in his characters. He did not make the impact of Dev Anand,Raj Kapoor or Dilip Kumar but in championing or portraying the common[Read More…]
Alam ha kari yaad Azad Azad (Abdul Ahad) kuni saate wuchte yaad pawayi madano. The world will frantically search for Azad. The time will come when you will recollect, my love! What prompted the tall turbaned school teacher to brag about his personality ? When one meanderers through the life history, achievements and the literary work he accomplished ,one[Read More…]
Nargis ranks amongst the most complete or consummate Indian actresses of all time. Sadly she left for her heavenly abode, 40 years ago. She was as natural as moonlight glimmering, in anger, sadness or laughter. Nargis posessed the intensity of coal fire and the sweetness of arose blooming. Nargis could in one moment look as calm as the water flowing[Read More…]
Today we celebrate the birth centenary on arguably India’s best film maker ever, Satyajit Ray. For sheer art of film making or portraying film making or weaving a plot to create a realistic film no artist surpassed Satyajit Ray. He simply took the art of film making to a new dimension. With the simplicity of stream water he could convey[Read More…]
The democratic revolutionary movement lost a comrade who till her last breadth ignited its spark. On April 22nd, ironically on Lenin’s birthday Comrade Meenakshi perished unable to counter the covid infection. Whatever differences she was part of the contingent of Marxsim-Leninism-Mao thought .Comrade Meenakshi is the fourth major martyr of the organization after the departure of Arvind Shalini and Nitin.[Read More…]
Smita Patil was a legend who portrayed role of crusader for liberation of women at an unprecedented scale in Hindi films. No actress was better in championing role of an oppressed woman. No Indian actress has immersed so much into the thick and skin of an opressed woman or done as much justice to the role of woman’s rebellion against[Read More…]
Comrade Madhu may be gone but his spirit is not dead and buried and should be resurrected like a lotus blooming to extinguish the poison of Neo-fascism. A crusader for liberation till his last breath. It is matter of great regret that member of the Central Commitee of the C.P.I.(M.L),Comrade Madhu ,has left us. I or members of streams of[Read More…]
Lenin, the proletarian revolutionary, was born on this day – April 22, 1870. Lenin, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, led the Great October Revolution in 1917 in Russia that has changed the world forever. The epoch-making revolution by the exploited stood as unparallel among all revolutions as the revolution overthrew all the exploiting classes while all the past revolutions replaced one exploiting[Read More…]
The pandemic in which the world is embroiled today, has gripped common people with confusion due to poor information causing fear and panic. In India, this week started with 113 deaths being recorded in just one district- Nagpur, making it the district with the highest mortality. Nagpur witnessed an increase of 28 deaths in 24 hours. The district recorded 6,364[Read More…]
During this time in which many of us are still mourning the recent passing of former US Attorney General Ramsey Clark it seems appropriate to reflect on Ramsey’s many warnings to humanity like, ‘The government of Americans will lie, deceive, kill, do whatever it must to dominate – investors in war who control it insanely insensitive to the beauty of[Read More…]
On the 9th of April 2021, Ramsey Clark passed away in the States. He was ninety four. The former US Attorney-General had spent decades in the struggle for human rights both when he was in government and after he ceased to be Attorney-General. He had been in the forefront of so many human rights causes that it will not be[Read More…]
The passing away of Mr I A Rehman who was also fondly referred as Rehman Saheb, founder of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, a truly people’s Commission on Human Rights is a big loss for the human rights movement in South Asia in general and Pakistan in particular. His was a voice that stood with its head high and with[Read More…]
Today on April 12th we celebrate the 13th death anniversary of Comrade Anuradha Gandhy. Without doubt one of the greatest comrades in the annals of revolutionary history ever who till her last breath exuded spirit of revolution and was a crusader for liberation. None could illustrate better that to be a revolutionary one had to undergo inner or spiritual transformation.[Read More…]
There has been a proliferation of literature on women, including women’s history across the world. Yet, women remain mostly invisible or misrepresented in mainstream history. They are either not present at all, or they are portrayed as innately ‘inferior’ and ‘subordinate,’ as perpetual victims of male oppression. This has been a pattern across nations and continents for long. Consequently, the[Read More…]
Over five centuries after he confronted the most powerful pillars of establishment with truth and courage, Sant Kabir reigns in the hearts of millions as an compromising social reformer and people’s poet with perhaps the widest reach in India. He is still arguably the most commonly quoted poet in the vast Hindi belt, with a following that extends much beyond[Read More…]
Red salutes to immortal Contribution of Sunder Navalkar to emancipation of the working class who passed away on April 9th Veteran comrade Sunder Navalkar is no more, perishing at 10.30 in the morning on April 9th.Without doubt she was one of the greatest persons ever to have treaded the path of Communist Revolution blazing the spirit of Liberation or Mao[Read More…]
Devika Rani is the name of that legendary figure who not only ruled Hindi cinema in the decades of 1930s and 1940s, but also gained fame as the first actress of Hindi cinema. She was not only a star or actress but the one who later became a filmmaker, gave legendary actors like Madhubala and Dalip Kumar to Hindi cinema.[Read More…]
Mhaswad village is a mere blip on India’s vast geographic radar but it shines brightly on the country’s development landscape. Women here are seeding a digital revolution that is enabling financial security and well-being for low-income women in remote villages Located in the rain shadow region of Satara district, Maharashtra’s sugar bowl, Mhaswad faces perennial drought and agrarian distress. However,[Read More…]
Even a cursory glance at the realities which grip India today, will make one realise how grim the situation is. On every global parameter, from the happiness index to the freedom one; from democracy to economic indicators, the country has plummeted miserably and as never before. Untruth and injustice, divisiveness and discrimination, exploitation and exclusion have become the ‘new normal’![Read More…]
Twenty third March is the birth anniversary of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia. In the events organized to mark this occasion demands are often made to the government for posthumous conferment of India’s highest civilian honour i.e. Bharat Ratna on Dr. Lohia. I anticipate that this year would be no different. In a brief commentary I authored in May 2018 a[Read More…]
For those who have read my previous work you know how I feel about landlords, especially absentee ones… and most especially corporate ones! In the mid 1990s my new wife and I ( each with one kid ) moved from Long Island, N.Y. to Indianapolis IN. Quite candidly, we were tired of renting apartments and could not afford the high[Read More…]
Debraj Mookerjee explores how syncretism permeates between the West and the East — how the two lores do meet Cultural influences travel at the speed of human imagination. In the modern world it is easy to plot the journey of cultural influences across the planet, thanks to the seamlessness created by communication technologies. The Internet links us all. But we also[Read More…]
Two young women Sabita Mahato and Shruti Rawat are on an exciting Trans-Himalayan adventure to make the world aware of the everyday violence faced by women and girls as well as violent exploitation of Mother Earth resulting from capitalist patriarchy. They are being supported by One Billion Rising, South Asia and Young Sangat on their venture through the Campaign #RidetoRise.[Read More…]
March 25 is the 90th death anniversary of a great freedom fighter, editor, worker and peasant leader, also deeply committed social reformer who sacrificed his life at the age of 40 while trying to stop communal violence and rescue persons from both communities trapped in it. The reference here is of course to Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, the famous editor of[Read More…]
Vivek Gour Broome looks the personification of that nursery rhyme, “Old McDonald had a farm…” His farm west of Pune, beyond Hinjewadi in the village of Marunji, is an island of biodiversity – the crows were flying in to the shade of the trees the morning this writer visited. The farm has several different varieties of bamboo, including the thorny[Read More…]
Marking 150th anniversary of Rosa Luxemburg’s birth, this article about a great woman revolutionary thinker, writer, journalist and activist of the 20th century is being republished. Rosa was born on March 5, 1871 in Poland but grew to be the leader of the German Social Democratic Party, at that time one of the largest Marxist parties of the world. Rosa[Read More…]
The influence of Hindi film song in the life of people of India, often cutting across barriers of language and region, should never be underestimated. People keep humming Hindi film tunes all the time and remember and observe their moments of joy and sorrow, romance and rejection in terms of soulful tunes and lyrics from films. Many famous composers and[Read More…]
“Whatever I am, wherever I am, this is me, this is my life and if there’s a funny old person in years to come, who’s a ghost walking up and down here, it’ll be me.” These are the words of an incredible woman with an indomitable spirit, who has been an inspiration to many worldwide – Hannah Hauxwell, an English[Read More…]
A few nights ago, I had watched the NTV video on Probash Jibon featuring a self-made Bangladeshi born multi-billionaire Kali Pradip Chaudhuri (KPC) in Los Angeles (LA), California. His lifestyle consists of such opulence and excesses that it will be categorically approved by Mukesh Ambani, the Reliance Industries Chairman and Jay Gatsby, Scott Fitzgerald’s flamboyant central character in The Great[Read More…]
Today on March 6th we commemorate a landmark day in the history of India being the 50th anniversary of legendary Sunil Gavaskar making his debut in test cricket. For the first time ever the immortal Sunil Gavaskar stepped on a cricket pitch to set sail for one of the most illustrious careers ever of any sportsman. What set him apart[Read More…]
Few actors ever took versatility or acting craft to such a crescendo as actor Sanjeev Kumar. He may have left us early at the young age of 47 but the stamp he left marks it’s print today and will possibly remain forever in the annals of Bollywood history.Sanjeev was simply Bollywood’s ultimate chamelion.Sanjeev Kumar traversed regions in acting almost nonone[Read More…]
Afrin Kale is a farmer with a degree in civil engineering. A resident of Pune city, her five-acre farm is in Pimpalgaon Ghode village of Ambegaon Tehsil of Pune district, about 80 km from the city. She travels once or twice each week to the farm, and she has hired Ravi and Roshni, a young couple, to live in the[Read More…]
Written by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh Chandra Shekhar Azad has been one of the most enduring and inspiring symbols of courage and resistance in India. He symbolizes for millions of people in the country indomitable spirit of great courage in standing up for justice and freedom. As we remember him on his martyrdom day on February 27 we will[Read More…]
Colonial rule is generally a relentless long story of exploitation and injustice, and this is certain true of the nearly two centuries of British rule in India. Despite this reality, however, it is fascinating to know that there were several British citizens who went out of their way to help the struggles of India against colonial rule. Some of them[Read More…]
Sardar Ajit Singh, uncle of more famous Indian hero Bhagat Singh was born on 23rd February 1881 at Khatkar Kalan village in then Jalandhar district of pre-partition Punjab, the month and year in which The Tribune also came into existence in Lahore. The ancestors of Ajit Singh had come over to village Garh Kalan, as it was named earlier, from[Read More…]
An online conversation with Avik Chanda, the best-selling author of Dara Shukoh: The Man Who Would Be King While we grapple in the throes of not just the pandemic but worldwide disruptions of democratic traditions, protests gone awry and a questioning of divisions that deepen rifts among humans, perhaps it is time to explore more syncretic lore in history and to[Read More…]
Many benefits and schemes available for persons with various disabilities cannot reach them, particularly in more remote villages, as much effort is needed for linking persons with disabilities (PwDs) with the various schemes meant for providing relief and benefits to them . Due to past neglect the number of PwDs can be not only surprisingly high in several remote[Read More…]
In many big debates on agriculture in India the name of Dr. R.H.Richharia inevitably comes up, even though top establishment persons and powerful interests want to avoid this. One reason why this name of Dr. Richharia comes up time and again is that he was an extremely learned and distinguished scientist, certainly the top rice scientist from India. Many[Read More…]
People know him mainly as an activist of the famous Chipko movement, but the reality of the life of Kunwar Prasun was that his yearnings for creating a better world were constantly taking him from one struggle and constructive engagement to another. A deeply committed Gandhian all his life, Prasun was guided only by his understanding of what is truth[Read More…]
India currently is in the grip of ‘constructed Hate’. This in turn has led to violence against vulnerable sections of society, particularly religious minorities and dalits. As such one understands that love is a natural phenomenon and Hatred is generally a phenomenon constructed around misconceptions about the targeted sections of society. These targeted sections of society have to bear the[Read More…]
It was a tense day in Peshawar in 1930.The freedom movement under the guidance of Badshah Khan and the overall national leadership of Mahatma Gandhi was progressing from strength to strength. The Khudai Khidmatgars ( literally those who have committed themselves to serving God through service to humanity ) organized by the Badshah ( literally king, so called as he[Read More…]
Today on February 11th the Indian Communist movement celebrates the 104th birth anniversary of legendary Comrade Tarimela Nagi Reddy.Without doubt he was one of the most outstanding personalities ever in the history of the Communist movement and arguably contributed more as an architect of the massline than any Indian revolutionary. Imbibing his teachings are important even today when the Indian[Read More…]
Comrade Amritpal Passi or Jagseer left us exactly 13 years ago on February 9th, tragically succumbing to Cancer. He was a state Commitee member of the Communist Party Re-Organisation Centre of India (Marxist Leninist) We also commemorated his 70th birthday on January 22nd this year. Without doubt he was one of the most defining or impactful comrades in Punjab his[Read More…]
Several events were narrated to me about ‘the left political spectrum’ before I became a member, and worked with a couple of political organisations within this spectrum in Kolkata. Before Kolkata, in Pune, I was a part of college protest events at BMCC and ILS both, after the tragic murder of the rationalist, Dr. Narendra Dabholkar in 2013, and had[Read More…]
February 6 is the 131st birth anniversary of Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan also popularly known as Frontier Gandhi and Badshah Khan. He was a prominent Indian freedom fighter, a die-hard opponent of the two-nation theory and the idea of Pakistan. He was totally committed to Gandhi’s idea of non-violence, enjoyed the same stature in the NWFP also known as Frontier[Read More…]
When a European graduate student emailed to ask if I would participate in an assignment to “do an interview with one of my favourite authors,” I said yes. My books have not exactly been best-sellers, and so I was an easy target for anyone describing me as a “favourite author.” But beyond my gratitude for someone noticing my writing, I[Read More…]
Approximately 4% of the population is born with brain anomalies that cause them to be narcissists. In dysfunctional societies, the number of people with this orientation can rise to be as high as around 20%. Partly this increase is due to certain desirable values and norms eroding for some individuals as they advance in age. Then they increasingly become comfortable[Read More…]
Sex lies at the root of life, and we can never learn to reverence life until we know how to understand sex. ~ Henry Havelock Ellis (2nd February 1859–8th July 1939) Human Sexuality is a subject that is tightly wound up with hushed whispers and deadly silence, often resorting to hunting us back with physical or verbal violence. India is still[Read More…]
The Indian socio political environment at this moment is witnessing a never before revolutionary churning since the days of British colonialism. History is being etched by the ongoing farmers protest against agricultural laws brought in by an inconsiderate dispensation that is hand in gloves with crony capitalists. Farmers breaking all the barriers of gender, religion, caste and geography are uniting[Read More…]
Rosa Parks learned to stand her ground for which she was hauled off to jail. This incident wasn’t the first time, nor the last time, that an Afro-American would be incarcerated for an act of civil disobedience. Her arrest was due to this event: A bus driver in Montgomery, Alabama ordered her to give up her seat in the “colored”[Read More…]
The U.S. celebrates February as Black History Month and one of the prominent prospects of African-American history is Jazz Poetry; poetry that mirrors jazz-like rhythm or feels of improvisation, i.e. the jazz milieu. Jazz poetry was initially conceived in the 1920s as a voice of acceptance, racial pride and expression of individualism. The 1950s oversaw the focus shift towards spontaneity,[Read More…]
“Nothing ever seems to last promises made promises lost and pride is kept at any cost and flowers die and children cry and lonely people carry on.” She was tired, but not too tired to go to work. Matter of fact, she was lucky to be able to have a job. So many of her friends were still at home,[Read More…]
While skirmishes continue to line the borders of India, Sameer Arshad Khatlani, author of The Other Side of the Divide, explores the deeply embedded syncretic elements in the heritage left behind by the founder of Sikhism. Part of his legacy still lives on in Pakistan. ‘Beating of Retreat’ Ceremony at International Border at Wagha. Photo Courtesy: Wiki Poet-philosopher Muhammad Iqbal’s ‘tremendous work’, wrote German writer Hermann[Read More…]
Unsung hero of freedom struggle who was brave enough to defy Hitler in his own land This story is the story of that unsung hero of the Indian freedom struggle who stood at the forefront to fight for Indian Independence, even before Gandhiji, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose (NSC Bose), and many other dignitaries who got their place in the recorded[Read More…]
While in a US rehabilitation center, one has to be able to basically accept and get along with an assortment of people from many different cultures, ethnic groups and countries. Indeed, lots of staff members in a rehab place originated from various lands around the world rather than just the U.S. All the while, most of the residents were born[Read More…]
The 125th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose falls on on January 23, 2021. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a senior RSS cadre who identifies himself as Hindu Nationalist will be in Kolkata to inaugurate the celebrations given the nomenclature, ‘Parakram Diwas’ [Valour Day]. According to the RSS-BJP government January 23rd will continue to be commemorated as ‘Parakram Diwas’ in future[Read More…]
On January 25th we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the historic show trial of Chiang Ching,Wang Hognwen,Chang Chun Chiao and Yoa Wen Yuan or the’ gang of four ‘ in China. There could have been no better illustration of how after 1978 under Deng Xiaoping China turned into a Social fascist state .The verdict of the trial was the[Read More…]
6th February 2021 marks the 16th anniversary of Comrade Saketh Rajan’s Martyrdom. The name Saketh Rajan needs no introduction in the revolutionary communist circles of India. It is important to remember Comrade Saketh Rajan and the path he took in order to liberate the people of this country from the clutches of Imperialism, Comprador Big Bourgeoisie and Big Landlords. Comrade[Read More…]
It was in 2007 that I first came across the name of Sunil Kumar while reading an undergraduate course on medieval India at Delhi University. His newly published book on The Emergence of the Delhi Sultanate, 1192-1286 (Permanent Black, 2007) had already become talk of the town by that time. In fact, he was among very few active scholars working[Read More…]
Dr. K.S.Chalam, Ex-In charge Chairman, U.P.S.C a Constitutional position (equivalent to Supreme Court Judge) during 2005-2011, is a well-known Political Economist, Educationist and a Scholar of Dravidian Studies. Prof K.S.Chalam is known throughout the country as the facilitator of Academic Staff College concept and was likewise recognised for his Studies on Higher Education, Political Economy of Development. At UPSC, he[Read More…]
On January 1, 2021 Frenchman David Weiller found a unique way to greet people a happy new year – on his YouTube channel, he posted a six-and-a-half minute video of monarch butterflies fluttering by the thousands and landing on a tree. All the ambient sounds were captured too – the birds, crickets. There was no music on the video, no[Read More…]
When President General Ayub Khan started allotting the lands of Golarchi tehsil in Sindh province to the retired employees of Punjab province as governmental gifts, he revolted against such a bigoted act of the then government. Shaheed Fazil Rahu’s deep affection and sympathy for Sindhi peasants against the invincible forces of their times have made him an immortal vision that[Read More…]
Following is a photo-essay on Dr. Kotnis about whom a detailed article by me was published on January9, 2021, and may be read as Part-2 or as a companion-piece. Great Chinese paintings depicting his life and work are published here for the readers of CC. They show how he is venerated by China to this day though he died in[Read More…]
As people entered the new year with hopes of peace, and relief from disease (covid-19), we recall an event of December 30, 1942. Given here is a copy of an elegy hung in a memorial meeting hall in China on that day. It was held to pay tributes to Dr. Kotnis who had died on 9th December 1942.The banner[Read More…]
Written by Arun Kumar & Jonita Colaco ‘Will there be singing in the times of darkness Yes there will be singing about the darkness’ — Bertolt Brecht Par kabhi socha hai Jo Govandi mein rehete hain Unka kya hota hai Vote dene wala Har ghareeb rota hai, kyun? This is an excerpt from 15-year-old Sania Mistree’s rap[Read More…]
“If a larger country oppresses a smaller country, I’ll stand with the smaller country. If the smaller country has majoritarian religion that oppresses minority religions, I’ll stand with minority religions. If the minority religion has caste and one caste oppresses another caste, I’ll stand with the caste being oppressed. In the oppressed caste, if an employer oppresses his employee, I’ll[Read More…]
You always hear that ‘ Everyone has a little good in them’. Well, take Hitler. It is known that he really enjoyed little children and dogs. The truth is that they had to be German Shepherd dogs and the children couldn’t be Jewish. So much for that. The point is that yes, perhaps everyone does have a bit of good[Read More…]
Greetings to all on revolutionary Savitri Mai Phule Jayanti. Her life is a reminder to all of us to rededicate ourselves the cause of the people on the margin through radical changes particularly through education. That social taboos, gender prejudices are still prevalent even among those who are victims of the brahmanical hierarchical system. It is therefore essential for us[Read More…]
The British colonization didn’t only produce the feudal class but also provided them with immense political power in the subcontinent. In 1793, according to Permanent Resettlement Act the lands were declared as the personal property of feudal lords. The British authorities distributed lands among their obedient and loyal ones as gifts. In Sindh, whoever took their side rather than revolting[Read More…]
The spiritual sage Jiddu Krishnamurti who wished to transform mankind at the very root-Tribute on 125th birth anniversary year This year in May we celebrated the 125th birthday of Jiddu Krishnamurti who was arguably the greatest spiritual philosopher of the last few centuries. No spiritual philosopher arguably was less dogmatic, penetrated or delved more deeply in the spiritual realm..To some[Read More…]
Hail Immortal Comrade Lenin and the inextinguishable flame of Leninism on 150th birth centenary year On April 22nd we rejoiced the birth centenary of the figure who shaped the fate of history of man in the 20th century more than anyone,Vladmir Lenin. Lenin defined a new epoch in the history of mankind through discovering Imperialism, and pioneering the 1st ever[Read More…]
Tribute to legendary Comrades Baba Bhuja Singh on 50th martyrdom anniversary year and Nidhan Singh Gudhani Kalan on birth centenary year. Comrades who were crusaders for liberation against proto-fascsim and Sikh fundamentalism On July 28th earlier this year, the Communist revolutionary world dipped its blood in memory of one of it’s greatest martyrs,Baba Bhuja Singh on his 50th martyrdom anniversary.[Read More…]
A landmark of one of the most remarkable activists of our land who at even at 100 illuminates spark of Liberation Comrade Sunder Navalkar turning 100 on September 16th this year. was truly a landmark in the Indian Communist revolutionary Movement. It was symbolic of a spirit burning like an inextinguishable light, traversing the most turbulent of Oceans or steepest[Read More…]
There are some human presences in life that you are unable to trace the beginning. It is like they have been with you always- like a tree whose silent, yet significant presence you notice with shock and remorse only when it is gone. For me, Sugathakumari teacher is one such presence in life. A small attempt I made to scan[Read More…]
My life is not in vain, my friend, when I sing for you. My song is not in vain, my friend, when you hum along with it. Writing on ecopoetry two decades back, the English writer and scholar Andrew Jonathan Bate said: What are poets for? They are not exactly philosophers, though they often try to explain the world[Read More…]
Scientist Seetaramayya Kolachala, Father of Tribology (Chemmotology) (Born 1899 July 15 – Died 1977 September 29) India’s Ambassador Inder Gujral, later Prime minister, spoke at his funeral in Moscow 1977: “We are bidding goodbye to a great scientist, a great son of India and son of mankind.” Seetaramayya was a scientist who influenced the motor vehicles and machines[Read More…]
My interview with the celebrated filmmaker centers on his recently released film “Rupsa Nodir Banke” (Quiet flows the River Rupsa). 2017 Ekushey Padak (the second highest civilian award given to a citizen of Bangladesh) winner Tanvir Mokammel needs no glowing introduction. He is a well-known filmmaker, director and published author of our time. He won Bangladesh National Film Awards a total ten[Read More…]
Two weeks before Christmas and the darn stove broke. She had the ham butt in the fridge and was really looking forward for her first big dinner in the new place. Having just, six months earlier, relocated to Florida from Flat Broke Mississippi, she wanted to at least spend the holiday somewhat contented. A nice, down home roasted ham with[Read More…]
A woman who weaves stories from the past, from history, from what has been and makes them so real that they become a part of ones’ own existence – this has been my experience of Dr Aruna Chakravarti and her writing. A winner of the Sahitya Akademi award for her translation of Sarat Chandra’s Srikanta, Vaitalik award and Sarat Puraskar, Chakravarti was[Read More…]
In less than a few weeks since the celebrated Argentine filmmaker Fernando Ezequiel Solanas—a legendary figure in Latin American cinema—died of coronavirus in Paris, another internationally admired filmmaker, Kim Ki-Duk, fell prey to the rage of the pandemic in Latvia. The South Korean ‘new wave’ fame Kim was reported to have arrived in the Baltic state a few weeks ago[Read More…]
Wish to thank you all for your condolence messages on the passing away of our maai : Mrs Ramrati Devi whose inspiring journey to protect her land is inspiring. It has been an honor to work with her and share some of the most interesting moments with her. She was my mother though not biological. My biological mother passed away[Read More…]
A Poet and Editor Who Was the Voice of the Marginalized Poet and editor Manglesh Dabral passed away at the age of 72 at AIIMS Delhi due to Covid related complications. In Hindi literature Manglesh Dabral is widely known as a poet of great sensitivity who gave voice to the main marginalized sections of society. He is also known for[Read More…]
Something remarkable even by the usually dismal standards of the stenographic media blue-tick brigade has been happening in the past few days. Leading journalists in the corporate media have suddenly felt the urgent need not only to criticise the late, much-respected foreign correspondent Robert Fisk, but to pile in against him, using the most outrageous smears imaginable. He is suddenly[Read More…]
Co-Written by Sandeep Pandey, Venkatesh Narayanan and Kushagra Kumar Dr. Lubna Sarwath is a fighter. In a survey conducted by the leading South Indian daily Deccan Chronicle the residents of Hyderabad have highlighted conservation of environment as a priority issue on which they would like their Mayor to focus on and Lubna has dedicated her life to the cause of[Read More…]
Our deeply troubled world today badly needs the essential message of peace, simplicity, equality and inter-faith harmony which Guru Nanak, the great spiritual leader and social reformer, spread with so much skill and even greater courage during the greater part of his eventful life. It may be unconventional to speak of human right activism in those times but giving specific[Read More…]
He was born and raised in a little town just outside of Licata, Sicily. By the time he was 18, the young man was accepted into university in Tunisia, a far more scholastically advanced place than the Sicily of the early 1900s. Upon graduating, he decided to do what many young Italians chose to do, and he emigrated to the[Read More…]
When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece — John Ruskin We’ve all heard of endangered species and forests —now imagine crafts are at risk of going extinct. A rising number of indigenous crafts are now in danger of becoming endangered on account of their time-consuming nature and fewer craftspeople possessing these specialized skills. Times are changing and not[Read More…]
A portrait size painting of Diego Maradona was on display at certain ruins in war torn Syria where people were mourning the death of the legend. In the entire Latin American world, people are pouring their respect to Maradona who died in Buenos Aires, the Argentine Capital where his dead body is kept at the presidential palace as people continue[Read More…]
I have never tried to write something solely based on my own feelings till now. Neither did I ever felt like writing one; nor am I a public figure with huge number of followers. But, last evening when I heard of the demise of Mr. Tarun Gogoi I[Read More…]
The lifelong struggle of ‘CreA’ Ramakrishnan, who passed away in Chennai mid-November, to create an authentic Tamil dictionary was a truly remarkable one. And just before he tragically died due to complications related to Covid-19, he did manage to do bring out the revised third edition of his landmark Tamil dictionary, working on it even while undergoing treatment. Ramakrishnan founded[Read More…]
Aysha Baqir, an expat in Singapore, grew up in Pakistan. Her time in college sparked a passion for economic development. In 1998 she founded a pioneering not for profit economic development organization, Kaarvan Crafts Foundation, with a mission to alleviate poverty by providing business and marketing training to girls and women in low-income communities. Her novel Beyond the Fields was published in[Read More…]
Nagpur has been a traditional and fertile hub for voluntary organizations, reformist individuals and social workers. It has been home to a number of dedicated activists whose social chromosomes have inspired them to undertake humanitarian work for their fellow brethren of society at large. The result is a confluence of so many rivulets of social activism which have merged into[Read More…]
How can one let go of a person who has lived just five and a half decades? The only reason why Sheena’s family-her mother Gracy, her sister Neena, her niece Bhoomi and nephew Kannan, her brothers , her partner Santosh along with scores of friends across Kerala did so was the intensity and cruelty of the terminal illness that devoured[Read More…]
Education is the most powerful weapon that can be used to make fruitful changes in our society. India is a democratic country bearing enriched legitimacy in educational traditions. The people of this country have always been blessed with the educational ideals and thoughts of its great sons like Chanakya, Swami Vivekananda, Rabindra Nath Tagore, Aurobindo Ghosh, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Maulana[Read More…]
In the afternoon of October 28, poet, theatre artist and Dalit rights champion Jayesh Solanki died by suicide at his home in Bhuvaldi, about 50 km from Gujarat capital Ahmedabad. During the Asmita Yatra after the flogging of the four youth at Una in 2016, Jayesh had emerged as a charismatic leader of Dalits on protest in Gujarat, vowing to[Read More…]
Finance is one field where we have witnessed significant innovations in recent decades, and this has transformed our society in many ways. Earlier, we could hardly visualise social change in rural India as it was mired in caste conflicts and was impervious to the winds of change. Before the 1980s, outsiders rarely visited villages. Those who did were the occasional[Read More…]
Without doubt Jan Myrdal was one of the great revolutionary intellectuals of our time and his writings and works will make a permanent stamp on the democratic and Communist movement worldwide. Myrdal was a master at interacting and relating with the common people, thus giving a very accurate reflection. His style of writing was lucid Above all it could make[Read More…]
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”- ― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment. Tukaram, alias, Annabhau Sathe is known to us as a Dalit Literati, mass awakener and Working class activist from Mumbai. It was he, who discovered Folk poetry as the[Read More…]
Ritwik Ghatak was born in 1925 in Dhaka and died in 1976 in Calcutta. Almost his entire adult life was spent working for the stage or the screen in some capacity or the other. It is perhaps inevitable that success – as most of us understand it – should have refused to come to him, considering the kind of man[Read More…]
Comrade Haider Anwar Khan Juno’s life is full of struggles. Now, he lives in his work and memories of his comrades and friends. Haider Anwar Khan Juno (b. December 29, 1944) breathed to his last on October 29, 2020 in a Dhaka hospital. He was 76. Comrade Juno was suffering from pneumonia and following complications. He left behind wife, daughter,[Read More…]
Suresh (Name changed) from West Bengal working as cleaner in a Hotel in Srinagar told me an ordeal of his life. “Cleaning is my job as I have opted for it and neither I regret doing it nor I feel disenchanted, but what hurts me when these so called elite knuckleheads (referring to room occupants) humiliate me on one pretext[Read More…]
October 15, 2020, was Thomas Sankara’s 33rd death anniversary. On this day, he was murdered by imperialist forces at the tender age of 37. A Pan-Africanist, internationalist and Marxist, he was committed to the total liberation of the oppressed masses from the clutches of imperialism. Instead of bourgeoisie nationalism, Sankara believed in radical nationalism: a combination of anti-imperialist courage and unabashed[Read More…]
Teresa Rehman is a journalist with a difference. She is woman who feels and conquers with her pen. She does not hanker for anything more than being the spokesperson for voices in the remote areas of North-eastern India. In that spirit, she started her own magazine: The Thumb Print, and also wrote a couple of books which have found their way[Read More…]
When once for my fellowmen I shed a drop of tear, The hale of a thousand suns Arises in my soul When once for my fellowmen I expend a hearty smile, A full –blown moon of purest ray Forever floods my heart But all these days I knew it not, This ineffable Joy; And brooding over that heavy loss I[Read More…]
The Indian Prime Minister recently paid tribute to a Sikh martyr who laid down his life in defence of his faith. On the 300th birth anniversary of Bhai Taru Singh, Narendra Modi took to twitter to recall the sacrifice he made in 1745. Singh was arrested and tortured at the behest of a tyrant Mughal governor, Zakaria Khan. He was[Read More…]
People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) salutes the life and activism of Professor S. Seshaiah who succumbed to Covid 19 on October 10, 2020 at Anantapur, Telangana. Professor Seshaiah began his active participation in politics from his student days in the 1970s and he was the State Joint Secretary of the Radical Students Union of Prakasam district of the then[Read More…]
Amidst the names of politicians crowded the columns of power corridors in history but in contemporary political and cultural firmaments of India, nobody can match Sheikh Matlub Ali of Odisha. He was born on 16th of December 1942 in a village called Dharoshyam Sundarpur, Sukleswar (Mahanga) in Cuttack district and studied in the famous Ravenshaw College, Odisha. His life was a[Read More…]
T Peter, General Secretary of the National Fishworkers Forum (NFF), passed away on 8 October 2020 from COVID-19 related complications in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. He was 62 years old. Peter fought for more than three decades, as a full time activist and union organizer, to empower India’s fishing communities. He played a critical role in advancing their struggles from the margins[Read More…]
Ramvilas Paswan, a senior minister in the Modi cabinet passed away due to a heart illness on Thursday. Members across the political spectrum bid a farewell to this leader who hails from Bihar. However, what was striking to me as a journalist was the manner in which various media outlets ran the story of Paswan’s passing away. Not to my[Read More…]
On 9 October, 1967, Che Guevara – one of the greatest revolutionaries ever known – was murdered in Bolivia under the orders of Washington. This death was foreseeable. In 1966, Che Guevara had left Cuba to wage an anti-imperialist struggle in the South American nation of Bolivia. The plan was to establish a mother column led by Che in Bolivia,[Read More…]
Years ago there used to be a pleasant face on Doordarshan by the name of Appan Menon. He very ably and effectively anchored a popular programme called The World This Week. It was a visual diary that kept track of events and individuals at home and abroad. Menon did not have the flamboyance of his colleague, Pranoy Roy, but his[Read More…]
Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan’s sudden demise last night has definitely created a big vacuum particularly if we speak Bihar politics. Paswan was a very seasoned leader, a powerful orator and a leader with the masses who broke many records while entering in Parliament. His record win from Hazipur and other constituencies in Bihar showed his grip over the masses.[Read More…]
Covid 19 has taken another toll and this time a very important Ambedkarite activist in Telangana. It is extremely shocking to hear the sudden demise of dear friend Charles Wesley Meesa yesterday due to Covid 19. One of the very few Ambedkarite who could speak for hours on Economic policies and land reforms, Chalrse was based in Hyderabad and was[Read More…]
This is an article on Andhra’s Great Reformers and Writers, who were remembered recently on their birth anniversaries, Part-1 focusing on Chilakamarti. Lakshmi Narasimham,Chilakamarti (26 September 1867- 17 June 1946) was a great writer and social reformer who defied and lampooned brahminical orthodoxy in his writings, set up in 1909 a school for dalits, hosted them, his wife cooked and[Read More…]
By Dr Chandrima Chatterjee and Dr Parul Malik The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had wide ranging consequences for everyone in the world. Not only has the health infrastructure come under close scrutiny and COVID has claimed the lives of many people, but the effect has stretched into the lives of people, who were not even infected by this virus.[Read More…]
Human civilisation has always believed that there is something primal about the need for privacy, for secrecy, for personal space. This has, in the world of some judicial authorities, taken to mean “the right to be let alone”— that is, the right to privacy. They believe “privacy is the beginning of all freedom”. Every one of us seems to ensure[Read More…]
Scene One: Seated on the cool, polished steps leading to the main entrance of Kairali Theatre in Trivandrum, a small man with a melodious voice was singing with his eyes closed – to the visible appreciation of a group of young men and women come from different parts of Kerala for the ongoing international film festival. The singer was dressed[Read More…]
“No one should be alone in their old age,” Santiago, the protagonist in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea reflects in despair. Fisherman Santiago’s sorrows speak volumes about how loneliness is terrible, yet Hemingway sends the message that there are umpteen ways of coping with the sorrows of loneliness. The lesson in the novel is that no one[Read More…]
It is high time to move beyond mere tokenism when we commemorate Mahatma Gandhi, and begin truly embodying Gandhian values in all aspects of our lives. This rallying call was given by Medha Patkar, who is among the most respected development justice activists today. She was among the keynote speakers of the ongoing Valedictory Week to mark 150 years of[Read More…]
Nidhi Mishra takes us on a nostalgic journey through the syncretic elements of Lucknawi culture “I know you are from Lucknow, but must our daughter lose marks in your mother tongue for some whimsical assertion of your Lucknawi roots?!” my (Kannadiga) husband asked incredulously. He was even more stunned to see the hesitation I had in giving the obvious answer categorically. I had[Read More…]
A Theater of Dark Fantasy Hearing a hushed commotion outside my room, 203 of the first-line Covid Care Centre at Makkiyad, I opened the door. A young woman with her husband and two small children, looking deeply hurt, confused and restless, was looking around the corridor. I asked if I could be of help. She was about to burst into[Read More…]
The mind is a winding river, its churning waters both cluttering and cleansing many shores and various ports of call. The broad outlines of the 1958 strike by the steel workers of Jamshedpur are still there in my memory; I was all of ten years of age at the time. The strike was a spontaneous uprising under the banner of[Read More…]
by Badre Alam Khan and Wasim Ahasan While paying homage to Bhagat Singh on his 113th birth anniversary, Prime Minister Nrendera Modi in his Mann ki Baat (telecasted on 27th September 2020) has said that we should not forget the revolutionary legacy of Bhagat Singh and his comrades who gave their precious lives for achieving Freedom from mighty British Empire.[Read More…]
I will imagine you Venus tonight and pray, pray, pray to your star like a Heathen. – John Keats Venus, visible in the night sky above Salgotarjan, Hungary, in March, is typically the brightest object in the night sky other than the moon. Credit…Peter Komka/EPA, via Shutterstock The brightest star on a night sky that is visible from Earth[Read More…]
Recently Rajya Sabha passed two of the three contentious Farm Reform Bills 2020 that led to various debates on farmer’s rights. Hundreds of farmers came to the streets to protest against those bills which are believed to be a huge disadvantage for the farmers. With the removal of taxes and Minimum Support Price (MSP), mandis under Agricultural Produce Market Committee[Read More…]
He was very much one of those cricketers who made the pulse race, a figure for the advocates of a faster variant of the game. Nothing of the solid blocker in the man, though he could, if needed, linger at the crease. Australia’s Dean Jones sported equipment perfect for the shorter format of the game: lightning quick between the wickets,[Read More…]
Who cares about comrade’s life and death in rural areas? Who cares to document their lives, sacrifices, struggles and contributions in shaping society in the age of decadent capitalism? The mainstream media ignores and ensures that their names become invisible in public memory. As their memories guide people to love and collectively fight for each other’s rights and liberties. Memories[Read More…]
Some of the greatest things, as I understand, they have come about by serendipity, the greatest discoveries. – Alan Alda Has living in America been a “serendipitous outcome” for me? Here, I am not thinking out loud but trying to find an answer to this pertinent question asked by my former Higher Secondary School English teacher Ms. Moitri Roy. One[Read More…]
Writing an essay on Mahatma Gandhi, Indian Philosopher Akeel Bilgrami noted that “Its generally foolhardy to write about Gandhi, not only because you are never certain you’ve got him right, but because you are almost sure to have him wrong”. This is a pessimistic proposition in the light of the huge corpus of literature that is been brought out by[Read More…]
It is an undeniable fact that today’s corporate India is intoxicated with the idea the digital. It is constantly on the fast-track to transform all into the digital, and as quickly as possible. In such an environment, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, popularly called as Raghuvansh Babu in friendly circles, sent his hand-written resignation addressed to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu[Read More…]
On 13th September the Communist revolutionary contingent dips it’s blood in memory of late Comrade Zora Singh Jalajan,a member of the Communist Party Re-Organization Centre of India.(Marxist-Leninist ) on his 20th martyrdom anniversary. He lived for only 33 years, succumbing as a victim of cancer in the year 2000.However in his lifetime he lit the flame of Mao thought at[Read More…]
Each time, Saadat Hasan Manto changes position in his 65-year-old grave in Lahore, “wondering whether he is a better short story writer than God”, the subcontinent, more than any other part of the world that recognized his genius belatedly, goes into raptures. Some recent films, books, and stage adaptations to do with the great writer and liberal humanist provide[Read More…]
Losing your father is definitely heart wrecking when he has been the emotional support system all through the life. Besides unconditional love, Dad also provided stability, acceptance, and encouragement when it mattered most. It becomes more painful when one had been in direct daily conversation of a couple of hours with Dad for last 20 years. It is an Irish[Read More…]
In my personal calendar of gains and losses, September is a craven, cowardly month. It robbed me, born the same month, of my two closest relatives. I don’t expect everybody to be interested in this humble story of comings and goings, but, who knows, someone out there might read a useful metaphor here. Come late August/early September each year, and[Read More…]
I run a small bank for rural women in a drought-prone area of Maharashtra. It’s called the Mann Deshi Mahila Sahakari Bank. It’s the first bank set up in the country by and for rural women. Most of our customers are micro business owners – women who work at weekly markets or run their enterprises from home. They are vegetable[Read More…]
Chakravarty Gautam is one of the founders of Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organizations in the United Kingdom (FABO UK). He was born in Gujarat and migrated to the UK in 1969. He established himself as a business person and also linked to various Ambedkarite groups working in the UK. He became one of the leading figures of the Ambedkarite[Read More…]
The photo was taken when he was around 75. He was very active and agile until he was down with cancer late in 2017. A few months before that, he was walking and talking with some students for 8 hours, on a hot summer in a forest on a project. After retirement and surgery also he was available to his[Read More…]
The Tatas have all along been opposed to the idea of having a university in Jamshedpur. In fact, Tisco did not want even a college in the city. Which brings us to the saga of Medioma Dhanjishah Madan (1913 – 1962). Dissidents give a character to a place, as much as devotees do. But since, as a rule, dissidents are[Read More…]
Professor Ali Akhtar Khan (78) of (AMU) passed away on (08/29/2020) after a brief illness. He was born to parents Ali Qadar Khan and Najmun Nisa, on January 01, 1942, in a landlord family of Naseerpur village, Azamgarh. He studied in Shibli school and then graduated from Shibli National College, Azamgarh. Later on, he completed his M.Ed. from Aligarh Muslim[Read More…]
Former President Mr Pranab Mukherjee death is the passing away of a leader who adhered to Parliamentary procedures and constitutional norms. Perhaps, Mr Mukherjee was among the last of that generation that believed consensus the only way to run the country though sometimes such consensus could help the status-quoists only. After his death, lots of tribute have poured in including[Read More…]
It was the first of September, 1940, when the policemen working under Tahsildar Abdul Sattar of the Nizam of Hyderabad, opened fire in Jodeghat on the warriors being led by Komaram Bheem in a rebellion to gain self-determination over the land and resources of the Gondi people. While the fire killed many warriors and left many with fatal injuries, it[Read More…]
A recent study done by a market research firm Rakuten Intelligence found that since the pandemic started there has been a sudden rise in online shopping. Ecommerce spending in the U.S. is up more than 30 percent since the beginning of March. Ecommerce is booming, and Silicon Valley’s’ richest such as Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are getting even[Read More…]