By Harsh Thakor*  ‘ Whither Human Rights in India, ’ edited by Anand Teltumbde, is a wide-ranging collection of essays examining India’s human rights landscape over recent decades. The volume surveys major issues including majoritarian politics, state responses to dissent, inequality among Dalits, Adivasis and Muslims, restrictions on civil liberties, judicial functioning, hate speech, and the situation of vulnerable communities. While highlighting the perspectives of public intellectuals such as Father Stan Swamy and Professor G.N. Saibaba, it compiles assessments of how democratic rights have been experienced, contested, and curtailed.

By A Representative   The Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has cautioned that India’s latest free trade agreement risks widening regional inequality, arguing that export growth remains concentrated in a small number of states despite rising national figures.

By Nandita Lal   The India-UK Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2026. India’s journey with trade deals slowed down in the 2000s after past agreements backfired. But now, in 2025, it’s rushing into new talks with the US, UK, and EU, despite the cautionary history. Alarmingly, the warnings from rights groups in both the UK and India have been largely ignored by the press.

By Harasankar Adhikari  In 2011, after three decades of uninterrupted Left Front rule, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) came to power in West Bengal under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. Many voters, weary of a long period of political stagnation and perceived cadreism, hoped the new government would offer a more responsive and accountable administration. The expectation was that the transition would bring peace, transparency and a break from entrenched structures of party control.

By Nazifa Jannat*  Recent protests organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) in Bangladesh highlight public concern about reports of possible Bangladeshi involvement in a proposed “ Gaza International Stabilization Force” (ISF). These protests reflect anxieties over the nature and purpose of the initiative at a time when Gaza continues to face extensive destruction, displacement, and humanitarian crisis. The PSC argues that participation would be inappropriate given the stated goals of the force and current conditions on the ground.

By Vijay Prashad   Iran is in turmoil. Across the country, there have been protests of different magnitudes, with violence on the increase with both protesters and police finding themselves in the morgue. What began as work stoppages and inflation protests drew together a range of discontent, with women and young people frustrated with a system unable to secure their livelihood. Iran has been under prolonged economic siege and has been attacked directly by Israel and the United States not only within its borders, but across West Asia (including in its diplomatic enclaves in Syria). This economic war waged by the United States has created the situation for this turmoil, but the turmoil itself is not directed at Washington but at the government in Tehran.

By Dae-Han Song   In a flagrant disregard for international law and national sovereignty, the Trump administration invaded and kidnapped Venezuela's President Maduro and First Lady Cilia Flores. Rather than being an isolated event, the increasing bravado of and remarks from President Donald Trump open the terrifying possibility that, if not opposed, Trump’s war machine will proliferate its aggressions, with next possible targets being Cuba, Mexico, and Colombia or Greenland . US hyperimperialism is dividing and unraveling the world at a time when we should be coming together to address our most existential crises.

By A Representative   A nationwide child-led advocacy group has called on the Union Government to ensure that the upcoming National Census captures data on children across three distinct age groups, arguing that the current system masks the realities of millions of adolescents.

By Prof. Hemantkumar Shah*  Iran today sits at a dangerous crossroads, and the question many are whispering, both inside and outside the country, is disarmingly simple: Is Allah the enemy of democracy? Yet the real target of that question is not God but the people who govern in His name. Iran’s political history since the 1979 Islamic Revolution offers haunting clues as to why this question even arises.

By Biljana Vankovska   The New Year did not begin with hope or joy, except for the arms dealers. More precisely, for the military-industrial-media-academic-NGO complex that feeds on permanent war. Orders are flowing, profits are booming, and blood has once again become a growth sector. For any normal society, pirates belong in adventure films, not in the civilian power corridor. Yet Venezuela, more precisely, its legally elected president Nicolás Maduro, became the first trophy of the New Year.

By Manuel Bertoldi   10 points for debate and political orientation of the popular forces of Our America... One . The recent military aggression by the United States and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro constitute the most serious and explicit attack that US imperialism has carried out in the entire history of the Venezuelan nation. At the same time, they represent the most profound imperial offensive against the sovereign projects of our region so far in the 21st century and a breach of international law established since 1945 after World War II.

By Carmen Navas Reyes   The relationship between Cuba and Venezuela transcends traditional diplomacy; it is a phenomenon of direct confrontation against imperialism and a model of cooperation between peoples that has transformed the geopolitics of the Caribbean and South America. This alliance is not a recent or improvised development; it has deep roots, and its destruction has become a primary strategic objective for the United States.

By Prof. Hemantkumar Shah*  India ’s ongoing pursuit of free trade agreements is being celebrated by the Union government as a marker of economic maturity and global ambition . Yet for millions of small and marginal farmers , these deals are fast becoming instruments of economic insecurity and creeping dispossession. This warning was voiced sharply at the Kisan Swaraj Sammelan held near Palanpur , where farmers and activists from a dozen states gathered to reflect on policies reshaping Indian agriculture . The core anxiety expressed was simple: free trade agreements are being negotiated quietly and aggressively, and their burden is falling disproportionately on India’s poorest cultivators.

By Palla Trinadha Rao   When the separate State of Telangana was formed in 2014, progressive sections of society believed that one of the region’s most enduring injustices—the alienation of tribal land—would finally be addressed. There was widespread expectation that a State born out of a powerful movement against historical neglect would correct the wrongs committed during the era of undivided Andhra Pradesh.

By Atanu Roy   India’s federal system has always carried within it the potential for friction between the Union government and the states, but seldom has that tension burst into public view with the theatre witnessed in Kolkata on January 8. What should have been a routine—if politically sensitive—raid by the Enforcement Directorate on a private consultancy linked to the Trinamool Congress spiralled into an extraordinary street-level confrontation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee physically entering the scene.

By A Representative   Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has sounded a pointed warning to the Union government over Sri Lanka’s fast-moving constitutional proposals, arguing that the latest reforms being pushed in Colombo pose “grave risks” to the already fragile political rights of Sri Lankan Tamils. 

By Llanisca Lugo González  In these early days of January, we have witnessed what we hoped never to see, though it comes as no surprise: the kidnapping of a legitimate sitting president through a criminal act of aggression by the United States.

By Vikas Meshram  The Supreme Court has recently taken suo motu cognizance of the definition of the Aravalli mountain range and related issues arising from it. The Court has stayed its November 20 order that accepted a new definition of the Aravallis, clarifying that the conclusions and directions in that judgment will remain in abeyance until critical questions are examined more closely.

By Sandeep Pandey, Mir Shahid Saleem   Shri Vaishno Devi Sangharsh Samiti, a conglomerate of Hindutva organisations, has succeeded in forcing the shutdown of the MBBS programme at the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence in Katra merely because 42 of the 50 admitted students, selected on the basis of their NEET scores, happened to be Muslims. Hindutva interference in academic institutions has been steadily growing since the Modi government came to power, but this is the crudest and most alarming example yet.

By A Representative   A detailed representation submitted on 5 January 2026 by power and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has urged key statutory bodies and the Union government to halt approvals for pumped storage power projects (PSPs) in river valleys, citing high ecological costs and the growing viability of battery energy storage systems (BESS) with grid-forming capability as a superior alternative.

By Raj Kumar Sinha*  Among the exceptional individuals who laid the intellectual and scientific foundations of environmental conservation in India—and challenged the dominant development discourse—Professor Madhav Dhondo Keshav Gadgil stands as a towering figure. He was not only a pioneering ecologist, but also among the first to view environmental protection through the lens of democracy, local communities and social justice.

By Vikas Meshram   The Banswara district in the southern part of Rajasthan is known for its rich tribal heritage and cultural traditions. It is here that the remarkable story of 50-year-old tribal farmer Badarsingh Phoolji Ad from Sukheda village unfolds — a story that demonstrates how firm determination, the right guidance, and access to knowledge can transform a life. Badarsingh not only reshaped his own economic situation but also emerged as a role model for farmers in the region.

By Nava Thakuria   Amidst the crisis that escalated following the COVID-19 pandemic within the Assam Tribune Group of newspapers in Guwahati , a popular Assamese weekly newspaper shut down at the end of 2025.

By Archana Kumar*  This account does not seek to expose names or tarnish identities. Its purpose is not to cast blame, but to articulate—with dignity—the silent suffering of a woman who lived her life anchored in love, trust, and duty, only to be ultimately abandoned.

By Prakash N. Shah*  ​A fortnight and a few days have slipped past that grim event. It was as if the wedding preparations were complete and the groom’s face was about to be unveiled behind the ceremonial tinsel. At 3 PM on December 18, a press conference was poised to announce the Sahitya Akademi Awards . 

By Shankar Sharma*  The recent news that NTPC is scouting 30 potential sites across India for a massive nuclear power expansion should be a wake-up call for every citizen. While the state-owned utility frames this as a bold stride toward a 100,000 MW nuclear capacity by 2047, a cold look at India’s nuclear saga over the last few decades suggests this ambition may be more illusory than achievable. More importantly, it carries implications that could fundamentally alter the safety, environment, and economic health of our communities.

By Vikas Meshram  India may be celebrated as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies, but a closer look at who benefits from that growth tells a starkly different story. The recently released World Inequality Report 2026 lays bare a country sharply divided by wealth, privilege and power. According to the report, nearly 65 percent of India’s total wealth is owned by the richest 10 percent of its population, while the bottom half of the country controls barely 6.4 percent. The top one percent—around 14 million people—holds more than 40 percent, the highest concentration since 1961. Meanwhile, the female labour force participation rate is a dismal 15.7 percent.

By Bharat Dogra  Thanks to the courageous resistance of several leading scientists who continue to speak the truth despite increasing pressures from the powerful GM crop and GM food lobby , the many-sided and in some contexts irreversible environmental and health impacts of GM foods and crops, as well as the highly disruptive effects of this technology on farmers, are widely known today. 

By Jag Jivan    The global health landscape is witnessing a decisive shift toward aggressive regulation of the food industry, a movement highlighted by two significant policy developments shared by Dr. Arun Gupta of the Nutrition Advocacy for Public Interest (NAPi). 

By A Representative   The Centre of Indian Trade Unions ( CITU ) has strongly refuted allegations that the organisation, or one of its senior Odisha leaders, supplied Bangladeshi labourers to mining sites in the Koira mining belt of Sundargarh and Keonjhar districts . The charge, directed at Jahangir Ali , State Vice President of CITU’s Odisha committee and a prominent leader of mine workers, was termed “false, conspiratorial and politically motivated.”

By Daniela Ortiz, Gisela Cernadas   Current developments in Venezuela may appear to be unfathomable—until one recalls the long history of imperialist interference in Latin America and the Caribbean. The events of the first week of January constitute an escalation of a long-standing campaign to overthrow the Bolivarian Revolution and resume control on the country with the largest known oil reserves in the world. The emerging world order and the strengthening of international organisations non-aligned with the interests of the United States (US) rush the US to increase the pressure on the Latin American region.

By Nazifa Jannat*   On January 3, 2026, the international community was stunned by the announcement that the United States, under President Donald Trump, had carried out a military operation leading to the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The intervention, which included air strikes in and around Caracas, has triggered serious concerns about the legality of the action, the motives behind it, and the implications for global sovereignty. It also raises difficult questions for smaller states, including Bangladesh, about how to safeguard their independence amid rapidly shifting geopolitical power.

By Raqif Makhdoomi*  There was a time when the United States claimed to “attack” countries to ensure democracy. Many believed it, until it became clear that democracy was never the real concern—oil was. In pursuit of oil, the United States has intervened militarily across the globe, yet no one calls it a terrorist nation.

By Harsh Thakor*  Vasily Ivanovich Chuikov, senior Soviet military commander whose career spanned the Russian Civil War, the interwar period, and the Second World War, played a significant role in the Soviet Union’s military history during the Second World War, particularly during the Battle of Stalingrad. When he assumed command of the 62nd Army in September 1942, the city was largely destroyed and the Soviet position was precarious. Under his leadership, the army maintained its defence against sustained German assaults, contributing to a turning point in the conflict on the Eastern Front.

By Rajiv Shah  A few days ago, I received an email alert from a veteran human rights leader who has fought many battles in Gujarat for the Dalit cause — both through ground-level campaigns and courtroom struggles. The alert, sent in Gujarati by Valjibhai Patel, who heads the Council for Social Justice, stated: “In 1935, Babasaheb Ambedkar burnt the Manusmriti . In 1972, we broke the idol of Krishna , whom we regarded as the creator of the varna (caste) system.”

By Ram Puniyani*  The Indian Constitution emerged from the values nurtured during the freedom struggle. Drafted by a broadly representative Constituent Assembly, it lays down the guiding principles of national life—Liberty, Equality, Fraternity and Social Justice.

By Vijay Prashad, Carlos Ron  On the early morning of January 3, the United States government launched a massive attack on Caracas, Venezuela, and three of the country’s states. Roughly 150 aircraft swarmed the skies, bombing with exceptional ferocity.

By A Representative   The National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM) has condemned the United States’ military intervention in Venezuela and called on the Indian government to take a firmer public position against what it described as a “brazen violation of sovereignty”. In a statement, the organisation accused the US administration of carrying out an illegal assault that resulted in civilian deaths and the capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores, asserting that governance of the South American nation “must lie only with its people”.

By Neha Desai*  In a development that carries implications for India’s global human rights reputation, the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) has recommended lowering the accreditation status of the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRCI) from “A” to “B.”

By Palla Trinadha Rao  The prolonged failure of revenue authorities to resolve a long-pending land dispute in the non-Scheduled Area of Anakapalli district in Andhra Pradesh has culminated in two deeply troubling outcomes: the death of a tribal resident and the criminal prosecution of a legal activist assisting Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) families in securing their land rights.

By Jag Jivan  In a groundbreaking  study  spanning 26 countries across the Global South , researchers have uncovered the widespread and concerning practice of households burning plastic waste as a fuel for cooking, heating, and other domestic needs. The research, published in Nature Communications , reveals that this hazardous method of managing both waste and energy poverty is driven by systemic failures in municipal services and the unaffordability of clean alternatives, posing severe risks to human health and the environment.

By Jag Jivan   The latest analysis by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and National Election Watch on the self-sworn affidavits of 102 re-elected Members of Parliament between the 2014 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections reveals a striking escalation in personal wealth among India’s political class. The average assets of these MPs have more than doubled in a decade, rising from ₹15.76 crore in 2014 to ₹33.13 crore in 2024, marking a 110 percent increase. This surge underscores the widening gap between political representatives and the citizens they serve, raising urgent questions about the nexus of power, privilege, and economic inequality.  

By A Representative   ​Scores of women service partners affiliated with the Gig and Platform Service Workers Union (GIPSWU) gathered outside Urban Company’s Jaipur regional office today to protest what they described as exploitative working conditions and discriminatory algorithmic practices. The demonstration, led by India’s first women-led gig workers' organization, culminated in the submission of a formal memorandum of demands addressed to the company’s senior management and CEO.

By Raqif Makhdoomi*  The political history of Jammu and Kashmir has been marked by frequent shifts, contestations, and controversies. Public memory of political leaders in the region has often been shaped less by long-term governance outcomes and more by the political conflicts and crises that defined their tenures. Electoral participation, for long periods, was driven by limited political alternatives, with voters repeatedly returning the same leadership despite unfulfilled promises, particularly those related to dignity, representation, and accountability.

By Harasankar Adhikari    Debates surrounding Hindu–Muslim relations have remained a persistent feature of India’s public life both before and after Independence. Alongside challenges such as poverty, public health, population growth, and unemployment, communal relations have often been framed as a national concern, frequently addressed through political negotiation and institutional mechanisms. Observers have noted that political responses to these issues have evolved over time, sometimes generating new complexities rather than resolving underlying social tensions.

By Ravi Ranjan*  Ashok Vajpeyi, born in 1941, occupies a singular position in contemporary Hindi poetry as a poet whose work quietly but decisively reorients modern literary consciousness toward ethical, ecological, and civilizational questions. Across more than six decades of writing, Vajpeyi has forged a poetic idiom marked by restraint, philosophical attentiveness, and moral seriousness, resisting both rhetorical excess and ideological simplification. 

By Harsh Thakor*  Brought out a year ago, “ Pledge of a Revolutionary Poet ” examines the role of poetry in articulating revolutionary politics, focusing on the life and work of Saroj Dutta . Dutta was associated with communist movements in India and was active as a political organiser and poet from the 1940s onward. He was involved with communist parties and later with the CPI(ML), where he worked in cultural and poetic initiatives following the death of Sushmita Roy Chowdhury . He supported the political line advanced by Charu Mazumdar , including its emphasis on class struggle and critique of both economic structures and cultural institutions.

By Bhabani Shankar Nayak*  In an ideologically barren landscape of opportunistic and anti-people politics, where leadership is largely reduced to protecting the interests of crony capitalism and its modes of governance in the name of fictitious individual freedom and supercilious democracy, the ideas of Chinese President Comrade Xi Jinping offer hope in a world marked by imperialist wars, religious conflicts, and deepening capitalist economic and social crises. 

By Arundhati Dhuru, Sandeep Pandey   When India became independent, its people were granted universal suffrage as a fundamental right, thanks to the visionary leadership of the freedom movement. Under colonial rule, the right to vote was restricted to a privileged few. After independence, this right was expanded to cover the entire adult population.