Yellow Vests and Red Unions Strike Together On February 5, as the Macron government pushed harsh repressive laws against demonstrators through the National Assembly, the Yellow Vests joined with France’s unions for the first time in a day-long, nation-wide “General Strike.” At the very moment when in Paris the lower house was voting to
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What We Sow Is What We Eat
What We Sow Is What We Eat I am lying in a meadow high in the Rocky Mountains. The sun is warm and comforting. I watch the clouds, puffy white in the blue sky, but soon pull a cap over my eyes and enter that state where thoughts swirl through your head and you don’t
Venezuela Defines the Future of the Region
Venezuela Defines the Future of the Region Guaidó’s self-proclamation as Venezuelan president is the most ridiculous and dangerous coup attempt in recent years. With the shameless backing of Washington, the Venezuelan rightwing intends to place a complete stranger at the helm of the state. This time around, the starting signal was neither a terrorist
Imran Khan and Minorities in Pakistan and India
Imran Khan and Minorities in Pakistan and India Imran Khan, the Prime Minster of Pakistan, seems to be unaware of the trajectory of state of minorities in Pakistan. While addressing a ceremony, Khan stated that his government would ensure that minorities in Pakistan get equal status and rights. Good intentions! At the same time he
Remembering Kaifi Azmi
Remembering Kaifi Azmi This is the centenary year of the indefatigable poet-activist, Kaifi Azmi (1919-2002). ‘I was born in a slave India,grew up in an Independent India and would like to die in a Socialist India’ was his dream. Unfortunately, when he died, the socialist / left movement in the country was on a downswing,
Terrifying Assessment of a Himalayan Melting
Terrifying Assessment of a Himalayan Melting While the global media’s attention is on the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and eastern Antarctica, a landmark report released this week shows that the Himalaya will face catastrophic meltdown during this century if there is no immediate effort to reduce the world’s carbon emissions. The voluminous 627-page
A New Temple, a New Mosque
A New Temple, a New Mosque Even as a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court seems ready to hear the case about the Ayodhya site where the Babri mosque (said to have been built in the 1520s) stood until its demolition in December 1992, the central government has asked the Court to release from its
Modi’s Startling Pre-Election Budget, Massaged by Creative Accounting
Modi’s Startling Pre-Election Budget, Massaged by Creative Accounting Let’s get one thing clear. This is not an interim Budget, whatever the government finally agreed to call it. The sweeping promises made on both expenditure and taxation fronts are well beyond the limited minor changes that are supposed to be allowed in a vote-on-account or interim
Budget 2019: Neither Interim, nor Substantial
Budget 2019: Neither Interim, nor Substantial In a pre-election budget speech filled with propaganda about the supposed developmental achievements of the Narendra Modi government, acting finance minister Piyush Goyal read out a text that both window-dressed the revised estimates and violated all norms that should apply to an interim Budget. Even while engaged in
Some ‘Reservations’ on the Modi Government’s Reservation for EWS
Some ‘Reservations’ on the Modi Government’s Reservation for EWS I Since independence and even earlier, India has been characterised by an enduring duality in which the reality of an inegalitarian and oppression-ridden society has co-existed with a widespread and even growing urge for equality and justice. The inequalities prevailing in Indian society are multi-dimensional