Tribute to Karl Marx on his 204th birth anniversary.
“Constructing the future and settling everything for all times are not our affair... (what) we have to accomplish at present (is) ruthless criticism of all that exists, ruthless both in the sense of not being afraid of the results it arrives at and in the sense of being just as little afraid of conflict with the powers that be.”
As India observes the 250th birth anniversary of Rammohan Roy, one of the earliest and greatest campaigners for modern India, on May 22, 2022, we are faced with one of history’s cruel ironies. The incumbent regime is pushing 21st century India into revenge fuelled mass violence by distorting history and using the perceived wrongs committed by the Mughal dynasty that ruled India some three centuries ago.
This important article first appeared in The Leaflet, April 4, 2022. The authors are Arvind Narrain, author and legal scholar; and Clifton D’Rozario, who practices law to protect the rights of workers and oppressed peoples, and is Karnataka Secretary of the CPIML Liberation.
(Excerpted from an article by Nishita Trisal, Academy Scholar, Harvard Academy for International and Area Studies, published in Washington Post, August 22, 2019, soon after the abrogation of Article 370.)
The Karnataka High Court in its order today has held that wearing of hijab is not an essential to the practice of Islam; that College Development Committees (CDCs) have a right to prescribe a uniform; and that Muslim girls must comply with whatever uniform is prescribed by their college.
Vivek Agnihotri’s latest film ‘The Kashmir Files’ released on 11 March, the day after the Assembly election results were announced in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Goa and Manipur, has created a storm across the country especially in North India.
In Parts II and III of this article we have briefly narrated the major developments in the reform process in China, as dictated more by changes in the objective national-international situations and the contradictions generated by the process itself, than by personal leanings of this or that leader.
[Our plan was to conclude the article in this number, but we have had to split the last instalment into two parts in order that we can cover some important political developments. -- Ed.]
The reforms agenda got going since 1978, but it really took off in 1980–81, when two of Deng’s close comrades came to the helm -- Zhao Ziyang became Prime Minister and Hu Yaobang replaced Hua Guofeng as the Party General Secretary .
