Narendra Modi has from his childhood been a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which had links to Italian fascism and Nazism; from the period when Modi was chief minister to this day, school textbooks in Gujarat, ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, an affiliate of the RSS), praise Hitler to the skies. The RSS has an expansive notion of Indian territory, encompassing Pakistan, Bangladesh and beyond, and it aims to set up a Hindu Rashtra – an exclusively Hindu state – in this territory.
Zimbabwe in 2019: the state we’re in and the roadmap forward
18 March 2019, byThe economic outlook of post-independence Zimbabwe resembles a fading cloth: with each wash it has lost its lustre, and as time goes on it threatens to disintegrate into a rag. After inheriting a sound economy – albeit one with deep socio-economic disparities – on gaining independence in 1980, the government of Zimbabwe has instituted decades of economic decline and ever widening inequality by prioritising political and economic capital over everything else.
On the Eve of March 1st: Imagining Peace in an Age of Violence
16 March 2019, byMarch 1 2019 marked 100 years since the March 1st Movement began in Korea, a movement that helped to coalesce the burgeoning Korean resistance to Japanese colonial rule. In this article, Boduerae Kwon places the movement in the context of national liberation struggles of the years after the First World War.
Small farmers, peasants, landless workers and agriculture in Pakistan
15 March 2019, byLand distribution in Pakistan is highly unequal as five percent large landholders possess 64 percent of total farm land and 65 percent small farmers hold 15 percent of such land.
BKF/BKS and Sub-District Council Elections in Bangladesh
14 March 2019, byThe local government election is an important factor in Bangladesh. It takes place every five years. However, it does not take place at the same time.
Chicago Charter Teachers Strike, Win
11 March 2019, byLast December 4th educators at the Acero charter chain in Chicago became the first charter teachers in the country to go on strike. This was both stunning to the charter industry, which was created in part to avoid the inconvenience of unionized educators, and revelatory to educators across the country.
No to the imperialist threat against Venezuela! No to the Trump-Guaidó coup attempt! In defence of the sovereignty of the Bolivarian national and people!
11 March 2019, byIn one more of his war-media machinations in the service of the great U.S. capital, Donald Trump is using the new political balance of forces in Latin America – where the pendulum has turned to the right – to take his most enthusiastic puppets, Duque, of Colombia, and Bolsonaro, of Brazil, to lead a political offensive, military blackmail, to topple the Venezuelan government. The goals could not be more evident: reclaiming for the big oil companies of the United States and the West control of the largest oil and gas reserves of the planet, today in the sovereign hands of the Venezuelan state, thus closing, with violence, the chavista cycle in the country from which the call for 21st century socialism came.
Turkey: Reading the Runes
10 March 2019, byHats with the inscription “Turkish” in runic letters, wolf head tattoos – a rallying sign of ultra-nationalism – pendants and bracelets in the shape of a swastika openly sold on the street. The symbols of a nationalism of ethnicist and racist inspiration are in vogue especially among urban and secular youth anxious to differentiate their patriotism from the Islamic-Turkish nationalism of the Erdogan regime.
Solidarity with the Sudanese revolution!
10 March 2019, bySince December 13, 2018, an impressive popular uprising has emerged in Sudan, and has continued to unfold ever since, with the primary slogan "Tasgut bas" (overthrow, that’s all!).
Catalonia/Spanish State: “A trial against democracy”
9 March 2019, byOn Friday, February 1, 2019, the nine leaders of Catalonia’s 2017 independence bid were transferred to Madrid, to face charges of rebellion, or rebellion and embezzlement, that can lead to prison sentences of 156 years. On the same day, mobilizations began in Catalonia. In the morning they were transferred to Madrid, support for the prisoners was shown on the roads and in the afternoon there were rallies and demonstrations in many cities.