Year-long stir planned against Adani-Ambani 'company raj' exploiting farmers, workers

By A Representative
India's civil rights network, the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) will hold a year-long nation-wide campaign called Jan Azadi 75: Pathways to Freedom, starting August 9 and ending August 15, 2022. Announcing this, Sanjay MG, one of the NAPM convenors, said that the campaign will be simultaneous held at regular intervals and will consist of "on-ground actions at more than 150 places across the country."
To be held in Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Jharkhand, Bihar, West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Delhi and Rajasthan, "Veteran freedom fighters will inaugurate or be part of the actions", he said, adding, the idea is to "reach out to diverse sections -- farmers, workers, women, youth, students, marginalized sections -- to propagate the values and dreams of our freedom struggle."
Aimed at "strengthening democracy and resisting attempts to divide and destroy the plural ethos of India", Dr Sunilam, a socialist activist, told an online media meet, held to announce the campaign, that the launching date, August 9, has "historical significance", as on this date in 1942, "Our ancestors in British India gave the call of Quit India."
He added, "Today, while the constitutional framework is being dislodged brick by brick, we are faced with yet another Company Raj of Adanis and Ambanis that is exploiting the farming and working class. It is, therefore, about time the people of this nation gave a united call, challenging the political-business nexus that is looting the country."
Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar called the farmers movement as the "freedom movement of today’s times." She said, "Lakhs of farmers have been protesting since eight months, demanding repeal of farm laws, seeking legal guarantee for all crops. Trade unions have been agitating against the anti-worker labour codes."
Claiming that 93% of the unorganized sector workforce has faced "the worst health and livelihood crisis during the pandemic", Patkar said, "The past seven years of BJP have destroyed the economy and ecology in numerous ways, while dissenters are being jailed, even killed, like Fr Stan Swamy."
Pointing out that August 9 is also International Indigenous People’s Day, Prafulla Samantara, top tribal rights leader from Odisha, said that the Schedule-V Adivasi areas of the country are facing "non-stop corporate attacks and increased militarization." He stressed on the need to "intensify the efforts to assert the rights of adivasis, fisher people, forest dwellers and workers."
Faisal Khan of the Khudai Khidmatgar stated that the campaign aims at opposing economic inequality, even as demanding education, health, employment and social security for all. "Our collective resolve will defeat the hate politics of the ruling party and challenge them on the ground", he said.
Gender rights leader Meera Sanghamitra said, "Alongside intense repression, use of draconian laws like Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) and jailing of activists, the last seven years have also been testimony to powerful democratic assertions, newer consciousness and mass movements of women, farmers, Muslims, workers, dalits, Adivasis, students, transgender persons, public sector employees and other sections."
"Popular mandate for BJP, whose failures and callousness have been fully exposed during the pandemic, has waned as witnessed in multiple state elections", she added. Representatives from state units of NAPM including Kusumam Joseph (Kerala), Richa Singh (Uttar Pradesh), Parasaul Alam (West Bengal), Suniti SR (Maharashtra), Trilochan Punji (Odisha) shared details of upcoming actions in their states.

Comments

The golden crop: How turmeric is transforming women's lives in tribal India

By Vikas Meshram* When the lush green fields of turmeric sway in the tribal belt of southern Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Gujarat, it is not merely a spice crop — it is the golden glow of self-reliance. In villages where even basic spices once had to be bought from the market, the very soil today is yielding a prosperity that has transformed the lives of thousands of families. At the heart of this transformation is the initiative of Vaagdhara, which has linked turmeric with livelihoods, nutrition, and village self-governance — gram swaraj.

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

Authoritarian destruction of the public sphere in Ecuador: Trumpism in action?

By Pilar Troya Fernández The situation in Ecuador under Daniel Noboa's government is one of authoritarianism advancing on several fronts simultaneously to consolidate neoliberalism and total submission to the US international agenda. These are not isolated measures, but rather a coordinated strategy that combines job insecurity, the dismantling of the welfare state, unrestricted access to mining, the continuation of oil exploitation without environmental considerations, the centralization of power through the financial suffocation of local governments, and the systematic criminalization of all forms of opposition and popular organization.

Echoes of Vietnam and Chile: The devastating cost of the I-A Axis in Iran

By Ram Puniyani The recent joint military actions by Israel and the United States against Iran have been devastating. Like all wars, this conflict is brutal to its core, leaving a trail of human suffering in its wake. The stated pretext for this aggression—the brutality of the Ayatollah Khamenei regime and its nuclear ambitions—clashes sharply with the reality of the diplomatic landscape. Iran had expressed a willingness to remain at the negotiating table, signaling a readiness to concede points emerging from dialogue.

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Rajiv Shah Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

False claim? What Venezuela is witnessing is not surrender but a tactical retreat

By Manolo De Los Santos The early morning hours of January 3, 2026, marked an inflection point in Venezuela and Latin America’s centuries-long struggle for self-determination and independence. Operation Absolute Resolve, ordered by the Trump administration, constituted the most brutal and direct military assault on a sovereign state in the region in recent memory. In a shocking operation that left hundreds dead, President Nicolás Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores were illegally kidnapped from Venezuelan soil and transported to the United States, where they now face fabricated charges in a New York federal detention facility. In the two months since this act of war, a torrent of speculation has emerged from so-called experts and pundits across the political spectrum. This has followed three main lines: One . The operation’s success indicated treason at the highest levels of the Bolivarian Revolution. Two . Acting President Delcy Rodríguez and the remaining leadership have abandone...

The selective memory of a violent city: Uttam Nagar and the invisible victims of Delhi

By Sunil Kumar* Hundreds of murders take place in Delhi every year, yet only a few incidents become topics of nationwide discussion. The question is: why does this happen? Today, the incident in Uttam Nagar has become the centre of national debate. A 26-year-old man, Tarun Kumar, was killed following a dispute that reportedly began after a balloon hit a small child. In several colonies of Delhi, slogans such as “Jai Shri Ram” and “Vande Mataram” are being raised while demanding the death penalty for Tarun’s killers. As a result, nearly 50,000 residents of Hastsal JJ Colony are now living in what resembles a state of confinement.

The price of silence: Why Modi won’t follow Shastri, appeal for sacrifice

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey* In 1965, as India grappled with war and a crippling food crisis, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri faced a United States that used wheat shipments under the PL-480 agreement as a lever to dictate Indian foreign policy. Shastri’s response remains legendary: he appealed to the nation to skip one meal a day. Millions of middle-class households complied, choosing temporary hunger over the sacrifice of national dignity. Today, India faces a modern equivalent in the energy sector, yet the leadership’s response stands in stark contrast to that era of self-reliance.

Love letters in a lifelong war: Babusha Kohli’s resistance in verse

By Ravi Ranjan* “War does not determine who is right—only who is left.” Bertrand Russell’s words echo hauntingly in our times, and few contemporary Hindi poets embody this truth as profoundly as Babusha Kohli. Emerging from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Kohli has carved a unique space in literature by weaving together tenderness, protest, and philosophy across poetry, prose, and cinema. Her work is not merely artistic expression—it is resistance, refuge, and a call for peace.

Search This Blog