On 16 September, the day before the 72nd birth anniversary of Narendra Modi, his closest capitalist friend Gautam Adani had briefly become the world’s second richest person according to Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires List before being pushed back to the third position.

Har Ghar Tiranga. A tricolour on every roof. This 13-15 August call of the Modi government was supposed to be the high point of the official celebration of the 75th anniversary of India's independence, the much publicised 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. While the dominant media was immersed in amplifying this campaign and PM Modi's 9th successive Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Lal Qila, two news items from Rajasthan and Gujarat came as the starkest statements about the shape of things in today's India.

India’s anti-colonial struggle or, freedom movement, is a prolonged and diverse chapter in the history of India. It is a rich tapestry woven by myriad struggles that deepened and enriched the quest for a modern India. Immediate issues and contexts varied in different periods and different regions – struggles against landlordism and usury, against local kings, against caste and gender oppression and injustice, and for linguistic rights and cultural diversity, all added to the momentum and canvas of the freedom movement.

Roll It Back!!

Agnipath literally means trail of fire. When Harivansh Rai Bachchan wrote his short poem with this name in 1973 little did he know that fifty years later this will really unleash a trail of fire and singe the country. The poem can be called an ode to the power of human determination or dedication undeterred by any adversity. The title of the poem inspired a film with the same name in 1990 which was all about a boy growing up to avenge his father's killing.

India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka is reeling under a terrible economic crisis. The crushing debt burden of this island nation has landed it into an unprecedented chaos marked by skyrocketing prices and massive shortages of basic necessities. The people of Sri Lanka are up in arms and are seeking an end to the reign of the Rajapaksa brothers who have been running the show in Sri Lanka as President and Prime Minister for more than a decade.

In a disturbing pattern, Hindu religious festivals in the past week have been used across India as pretexts to organise menacing armed marches through Muslim localities, raising slogans declaring that only those who acknowledge Hindu supremacy can be allowed to stay in India. First on Ram Navami, and then again on Hanuman Jayanti, RSS-affiliated outfits held processions intended only to humiliate, intimidate and attack Muslims, and vandalise mosques.

Of the five states that went to the polls in February and March, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab grabbed the maximum attention because the elections were being held in the wake of the repeal of the farm laws, and Punjab, Haryana and Western UP constituted the heartland of the historic farmers’ movement that forced Narendra Modi to repeal these laws.

With Assembly elections underway in Uttar Pradesh and four other states, the BJP is desperately looking for ways to sharpen communal polarisation. We saw a hate assembly in Haridwar, camouflaged as Dharm Sansad, issue open calls for genocide. Similar calls were soon echoed in several other public gatherings. Meanwhile, Karnataka, the Southern laboratory of the Sangh-BJP brigade, has discovered a potent weapon in the hijab worn by many Muslim women.

2022 is the 75th anniversary of India's independence and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose. Desperate to appropriate the icons of India's freedom struggle, the Modi government has designated January 23, the birth anniversary of Subhas Chandra Bose as the official beginning of India's Republic Day celebrations and announced the decision to install a giant statue of this iconic freedom fighter at India Gate.

Consolidate the Historic Victory of the Farmers’ Movement!

Strengthen the CPI(ML) to Intensify the Battle against Fascism!

Major questions of history are resolved through people’s struggles on the streets. These words of Comrade Vinod Mishra have once again been proved right in our experience.