AS part of a two-day session of the CPI(M) Odisha state committee, a seminar on ‘Challenges Before India Today’ was organised on May 3 at the Institute of Engineers hall in Bhubaneswar.CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, addressing the gathering of a cross-section of people, called upon them to be vigilant and fight back the danger posed today by communal forces led by the RSS-BJP. “Whether India, as we see it today, will remain the same? A combination of many religions, communities, castes – will it remain unaffected by the onslaught unleashed by Hindutva forces?” he asked.

THE CPI(M) has been struggling against forcible land acquisition by the BJP government in Jharkhand for a power plant to be set up by the Adani group in Godda district.The 1,600 MW power plant is proposed to be set up in Godda district in Santhal Pargana region by the Adani group, a favourite of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The district administration is trying to acquire five thousand acres of land for the plant in Poraiyahaat and Godda blocks by hook or by crook on the direction of the BJP-led government. of the district.

IN the evening of May 2nd, BJP goons attacked the residence of Party's Dukli sub-division committee secretary Narayan Deb.  They threw bombs and ransacked the house. They also attacked Deb's son and SFI state committee secretary Nabarun Deb physically. He was injured. In the same night, BJP workers orchestrated a planned attack on the CPI(M) workers in Kamalpur sub-division of Dhalai district.  In this attack, 10 CPI(M) workers were seriously injured. However the BJP goons had to flee as people came out to resist.

THOUSANDS of people marched towards Raj Bhavan in Kolkata in solidarity with the struggling people of Bhangar on May 8. The rally had to face police obstacles as huge contingent of forces were stationed. Police even picked up some of the protestors from the rally but were forced to release them later under pressure from the people.The movement against the high voltage power grid in Bhangar has eventually turned against large scale land loot in the area. Land mafia, under the leadership of TMC has practically snatched hundreds of acres of land for realty and other purposes.

TODAY, Munnar is not merely the name of a region in the state of Kerala. It has evolved into a political-social-media matter. This shift has a devious political objective. This objective has not appeared all of a sudden. It had begun much earlier and displayed its potential on an earlier occasion as well.The publishers of the Oxford Dictionary have selected ‘post-truth’ as the word of the year 2016. The word depicts a situation where truths are campaigned as non-truths or vice versa. The socio-political campaign on Munnar will certainly fall in that category.