South Asia Citizens Web

The cycle of struggle 1973 to 1979 in India -
Relevance for the discussion on the relation between crisis, class struggle, ‘popular movements’ and state form today
India, 1974
The crisis blow of the 1973 ‘oil-crisis’ fuelled inflation and pushed up the unemployment rate in India. A year later students in Gujarat protested against the rise in canteen prices. The police attacked them, sparking violent protests throughout the state. Main target of the anger was the ‘corrupted government’ (…)

Guneeta Singh Bhalla’s grandfather refused to believe Partition was going to be a reality. He stayed put in Lahore till he was caught in the communal frenzy that left him with no option but to leave. The father of three had several narrow escapes en route to Amritsar. His car was fired at as he drove down roads strewn with the bodies of riot victims.

Narendra Modi has many admirers. They see him as the upholder of development, dignity, Hindutva, so many different things. And they are unwilling to hear any criticism of Modi. Anyone criticising Modi is berated as a pseudo-secular, a supporter of the corruption of the Congress, a leftist who is perceived as a defender of the worst tyrannies of the Stalin era. Above all they are opponents of democracy and defenders of dynasty raj, according to the binary vision that is attempted to be imposed.

The Nation is going to celebrate the Birth Anniversary of Sardar Patel on October 31st. The man who belonged to the whole country has now been abducted by Narendra Modi, a pracharak of RSS, the communal organization who the Sardar fought against throughout his life. Sardar was of firm opinion that RSS was the greatest divisive force in the country.

The recent ‘deweaponisation’ advertisements by the Sindh government provide a classic case study of how one can ‘appear’ to be executing a task, without actually wanting or intending to do it. Spread over 12 days, these quarter-page ads, which cost some 20-25 million rupees, resulted in the surrender of merely 20 illegal weapons. Most first-year business students would not indulge in this ridiculous ‘Return on Investment’ exercise – a million rupees for every weapon surrendered.