This Atrocious Crime Against Humanity Has to be Stopped

THE sensational developments over the last week brought the question of crimes against women to the forefront with a dramatic effect. The exceptional case of the Unnao rape victim, a mere 15-year-old who was lured by Kuldeep Singh Sengar, the local MLA of Unnao, has burst into public discourse. The air was thick with disbelief over the Delhi High Court's decision to suspend the life sentence of the convicted Sengar in the 2017 rape case and grant him bail. Naturally, this obnoxious development set off waves of outrage nationally.

2025 - The Year That Was, 2026 - The Year That Will Be

THIS being the year end issue, People’s Democracy greets all our readers for the coming year. For us, reviewing the year gone by is important, as the past gives us the wherewithal to understand the present and step into the future with all our energy and purpose.

This Astronomical Level of Inequality is Unsustainable

SOME time back, when Thomas Piketty, renowned for his work on inequality, had observed that inequality in India had surpassed the levels prevailing under the British Raj, all hell had broken loose. Now that the World Inequality Report, 2026 is out in the public domain, issues underlining Piketty’s observation are coming out with sharper relief.

A Republic of Fear

IN the rich tapestry of world literature, carols, hymns, and lullabies occupy a place of pride. Lewis Carroll evolved his nonsense rhymes as a distinct tradition to add sarcasm to the repertoire of this genre. In our own country, Sukumar Ray, an exceptionally talented cultural personality and father of the film maestro, Satyajit Ray, made a distinctive contribution to this tradition through his own nonsense rhymes. One of his rhymes spoke out to power with biting sarcasm. The sharp piece brought out the poser, why are the rulers afraid of laughter?

Back to Ayodhya

RAM and the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya has been the most rewarding campaign for BJP, catapulting it to political hegemony in India’s contemporary political history. Ram, revered by many and attributed with divine quality, was part of the mythology which has been engrained among Hindu households over hundreds of years through the Ramcharitmanas of Tulsidas.

Class Jihad: A Blueprint for Enslavement of Workers

FOUR Labour Codes have been notified by the Government of India immediately after NDA’s major electoral victory in the Bihar Assembly elections, and the accompanying euphoria. The Codes on wages, industrial relations, occupational safety and social security override in the name of ‘simplification of 29 Labour Laws’.The truth is, the Labour Codes dilute and remove vestiges of labour protection which were enshrined in those laws. On the question of job security, all possible roles of the Labour Department will be dispensed with.

Bihar: Results, Implications and Aftermath

THE Bihar assembly election is a watershed in the electoral history of our country. Conducted against the backdrop of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) announced on June 25, it laid out a new set of ground rules for adult franchise.The debates in the Constituent Assembly, which framed the Constitution, had envisaged a democracy which was to be ‘by the people, for the people and of the people’. Electoral democracy was its cornerstone. It was premised on the legacy of the freedom struggle which underpinned the role of the citizen as its bedrock.

RSS Continues with Evasion and Deceit

A CONTROVERSY and a debate is raging in the country over the bonafides of the RSS. The context is the focus brought to the fore by reference to the unregistered status of the organisation. For the ministers of the BJP led governments at different levels, this was nothing short of blasphemy. The self-proclaimed righteousness that marks the contention of the ruling party cannot tolerate such questions.

Hate Filled ‘Othering’ of RSS-BJP Will Have Diminishing Returns

Lord Curzon must be chuckling in his grave. Recently, in Karimganj district rechristened as Sribhumi in Barak valley, a local Congress leader sang Rabindranath Tagore’s iconic song “Amar Sonar Bangla, Ami tomay bhalobasi”. It immediately drew a sharp reaction from the Himanta Biswa Sarma government. The Chief Minister himself pounced on this seeing ‘an opportunity’ to demonise the opposition and question their loyalty. This song has been adopted as the national anthem of Bangladesh after the triumph of the national liberation movement and formation of the new republic in 1971.

The Danger of Putting All Eggs in the Same Basket

IN the shifting sands of contemporary global economy, India is apparently in trouble. The trouble is most palpable in the sphere of foreign policy and diplomacy. It is worthwhile to understand that in the present times diplomacy and foreign policy are more intractably linked to questions of economy.

Search form

Peoples Democracy

Editorial