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Kishore Theckedath: an exceptional Marxist intellectual and mass organiser
Kishore Thekedath who passed away at 89 in Mumbai hailed from Kerala and was among the founder members of the Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU) in 1966, remaining on the Executive Committee of the body for fifty years until 2016; he was also the Vice President of the Kerala People's Education Society (KPES), which has been running the large Adarsh Vidyalaya in Mumbai very well for several decades. This tribute, by Ashok Dhawale, senior CPI-M leader brings alive Thekedath’s contribution to the collective struggles of teachers and students
Jagdeep Chhokar: A relentless pursuer of electoral and democratic reforms passes away
Since his retirement from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, he was co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR); besides, he had also been associated with ‘Aajeevika’ Bureau for over a decade, working on internal migration related issues
PUCL slams recently passed Rajasthan anti-conversion bill as “draconian and unconstitutional”
Civil liberties body says bill criminalises faith, dialogue, and choice; demands Governor/President intervention
Memories of ‘Nine Eleven’ today
On a day remembered and vilified, the author recalls moments of despair, brute violence and historical significance. All on the ninth of September….
From news to real estate: P Sainath on how corporate power is undermining media freedom
The other day, P. Sainath was in Ahmedabad to...
Labour rights, health of workers hit in the name of “reform”: PUCL Maharashtra
A detailed statement by the Maharashtra unit of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) has, with reasoned arguments, critiqued the recent decision of the MahaYuti government in Maharashtra to curtail labour rights in the name of “reform”; Maharashtra government’s decision is in line with other states like Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh and Tripura (two of these are Congress ruled states) which have also enacted similar legislations.
Protests across Maharashtra denounce the Public Security Act as unconstitutional and anti-democratic
Opposition, rights groups, and people’s movements unite to call it an “anti-people, anti-democratic law”
Election Commission seriously risks losing all credibility: senior advocate Sanjay Hegde
Senior advocate, Supreme Court Sanjay Hegde on Saturday, September 6, raised concerns over the credibility of the Election Commission of India, cautioning that the institution is increasingly being viewed as partisan, speaking at the annual public lecture on the occasion of Gauri Lankesh’s brutal assassination
Love, caste, politics: Pannalal Patel’s timeless novel challenges Italia’s claims
Following my blog "AAP’s rising star in Gujarat or guardian of...
New Immigration Order 2025: Streamlined rules, old exclusions
MHA’s latest notification streamlines exemptions for select groups, formalises detention centres, and echoes religion-based exclusions first introduced in 2015, raising constitutional and human rights concerns
The Nation needs an Ethanol Republic – A Satire
The author, under the pseudonym of Cyrus Behramji Puranafurniturewala, urges the Minister to consider expanding the list of ethanol blended goodies. These may have significant economic and ecological benefits and could also contribute to making India’s Happiness Index rise up sharply!
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ALL STORIES
Media
Free Speech in India 2025: What the Free Speech Collective report reveals about a year of silencing
Based on data documenting 14,875 violations, the Free Speech Collective’s latest report traces how killings, arrests, mass censorship, corporate pressure and regulatory overreach combined to shrink India’s public sphere in 2025
Communal Organisations
Demand that Modi provides Rs 1 crore compensation for migrant worker, Ram Narayan Baghel killed by right wing goons in Kerala: AIKS
Apart from condemning the shocking killing, by lynching of migrant worker, Ram Narayan Baghel killed by right wing goons belonging to the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) and BJP in Palakkad, Kerala, the AIKS has demanded that the Modi Government to provide Rs. 1 crore as ex- gratia compensation to the family of the deceased
India
Kishore Theckedath: an exceptional Marxist intellectual and mass organiser
Kishore Thekedath who passed away at 89 in Mumbai hailed from Kerala and was among the founder members of the Bombay University and College Teachers Union (BUCTU) in 1966, remaining on the Executive Committee of the body for fifty years until 2016; he was also the Vice President of the Kerala People's Education Society (KPES), which has been running the large Adarsh Vidyalaya in Mumbai very well for several decades. This tribute, by Ashok Dhawale, senior CPI-M leader brings alive Thekedath’s contribution to the collective struggles of teachers and students
Communal Organisations
Kerala: Protests erupt after RSS-BJP man’s alleged attack on children’s Christmas carol group in Palakkad
Clearly emboldened by some recent poll gains by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in local elections in the state, a RSS-BJP worker Aswin Raj allegedly assaulted the children and damaged their musical instrument, the police have arrested him
Gender and Sexuality
Delhi HC grants bail pending appeal to Unnao rape convict Kuldeep Singh Sengar
The bail order accompanies a temporary suspension of sentence for Sengar will walk free; it has returned public attention to the survivor and her mother's pursuit of justice since 2017; Sengar will, however, remain in jail as he is also serving a 10-year sentence in the custodial death case of the rape victim’s father
Communal Organisations
‘Brutal intimidation of Christians’ all India condemned: Bombay Catholic Sabha
In a statement, accompanied by open letters to senior political leaders, the Bombay Catholic Sabha (BCS) has strongly condemned the “brutal intimidation of Christians in some parts of the country and increase of such act of terror during the Christmas season”
Communal Organisations
The ‘Shastra Poojan’ Project: How the ritual of weapon worship is being recast as a tool of power and hate propaganda
An investigation into how a nationwide network of right-wing organisations, with political and state patronage, is transforming a religious ritual into a campaign of hate, through public weapon worship in universities, police stations, and community spaces, it seeks to legitimise violence, indoctrinate children, and dismantle India’s constitutional secular order
Communal Organisations
MP, Odisha, Delhi, Rajasthan: Right-wing outfits barge into 2 churches ahead of Christmas, attack vendors selling X’mas goodies, tensions run high
‘This is Hindu Rashtra’ say mobsters in Odisha as vendors selling Santa hats are attacked; In MP churches observing Christmas celebrations are stormed by far right politicians belong to the ruling BJP, Delhi sees intimidation by the Bajrang Dal on women sporting Santa hats and similar attacks are seen in Rajasthan. All such incidents have invited widespread condemnation on social media. Delhi, the national capital also sees the free run of right wing bullies attacking those in Christmas attire; meanwhile, widespread protests have erupted over the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to deny Christmas Holidays to students. Clearly it is the BJP run states that have seen this lawlessness ahead of a much loved Indian festival.
