Azizul Haque, a prominent figure in India's Naxalite movement, has died at the age of 83. His passing marks the end of an era in Bengal's radical Left history.
After recent high-intensity operations in the Bastar region and the neutralisation of several senior Maoist leaders, officials say the insurgency has lost its ability to mount large-scale coordinated attacks.
Naxalbari has some really good and unexpected twists and turns, observes Moumita Bhattacharjee.
'Handling or mitigating a rebellion is not a corporate plan with quarterly, half-yearly and annual goals and results but an aggregation of the effort of several years.'
If the threat from the 'Maovadis' (Maoists) is fading, the danger now lies with the 'MoUvadis' -- those who might exploit the resource-rich Abujhmad region through corporate or State-backed projects.
During Operation Kagar, 350 Naxalites have been killed so far, including some of the movement's top leaders.
The BJP chief had lunch at the house of a tribal family before interacting with party workers.
'You have to separate the concept of India as a nation State which is very young and the Upanishadic wisdom which is timeless.'
Rao's history includes arrests in 2000 by Sahadha police of Nandurbar district and subsequent releases, as well as an underground stint in 2002, leading to his arrest by Malkanoor PS police of Karnataka in 2005.
He was reviled by critics in his party as a neo-liberal in disguise but till the end, he retained his belief in secularism and the humanity of Communism.
'The youth associated with this movement were extremely talented.' 'But I personally believe violence cannot change anything in the world.'
The Congress 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra', led by Rahul Gandhi, is scheduled to enter West Bengal from Assam on Thursday, amid political ripples within the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the state.
'I asked him why were he and other writers being targeted.' 'I saw his point of view, that he and others being writers, their work was popular and well-appreciated by people, especially the youth.' 'This made the State fear them.'
She alleged that vehicles belonging to VIPs, with tinted glass, are being used to smuggle arms and money into West Bengal, while directing the police to increase 'naka-checking' to prevent such attempts.
Joginder Tuteja looks at the new shows on our plate.
The Madras high court has told an accused in a case pursued by the National Investigation Agency to avail bail after giving an oath to the effect that he would abide by the Constitution of India.
Amid demands for a separate state carved out of Bengal by some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asserted that she is ready to shed her own blood, if need be, to thwart attempts to divide the state.
'...it gets a survey report that they are going to lose elections.' 'The fear of losing elections will make them immediately conduct a caste census.'
The last two months of the year have plenty of entertainment to offer.
One unwanted fallout of Stan Swamy's death from the government's point of view will be the increased attention on those senior citizens who are still in jail on charges which are taking a long time to prove, believes Amulya Ganguli.
A demon-hunting spirit takes possession of a frail teenager, an up, close and portentous encounter in the cocaine trade, Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri's Neelam connection, a 21-year-old Kurdish cop understanding the mechanics of war, Gena Rowlands setting the benchmark for badassery -- Sukanya Verma brings all this and more on the OTT scene this week.
Over one crore voters are eligible to exercise their franchise to decide the political fate of 342 candidates.
A brief overview of North Bengal districts' constituencies
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday asked the people of West Bengal to end the 34-year-old 'misrule' of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and elect a government of 'aam admi' that would bring development and prosperity to the state.
Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandh on Thursday asked the people of West Bengal to end the 34-year-old 'misrule' of the Communist Party of India-Marxist and elect a government of the aam admi that would bring development and prosperity to the state.
Raju Mahali and Geeta Mahali, who had hosted Amit Shah on April 25 during his visit to the area, on Wednesday joined the TMC in the presence of senior TMC leader and tourism minister Gautam Deb.
Folk baladeer and poet Gaddar spoke about Kanu Sanyal's death. Gadar has been involved with the Naxal movement in Andhra Pradesh for twenty years. He spoke to rediff.com's Mohammed Siddique.
Kanu Sanyal was one of the founder members of the Naxal movement. Sanyal, along with fellow Communist revolutionary Charu Majumdar, started the Naxalbari movement in West Bengal on May 25, 1967. Though the movement was brutally crushed by the police within a few months, Naxalism as an ideology managed to survive and has evolved into the Maoist insurgency, considered to be the biggest threat to internal security in India today.
Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh refuses to 'retreat in the face of threats'.
'The problem with such ill-considered remarks is that they give the BJP an opportunity to push ahead with its nationalist agenda which includes depicting its opponents as seditionists,' observes Amulya Ganguli.
'With the appeal of both the Left and the Congress fading, Banerjee fears the saffron brigade's inroads into her citadel,' says Sunanda K Datta-Ray.
'If the Modi government doesn't act now, it will demoralise and hurt the people who voted in hope of a better times,' argues former BJP MP Tarun Vijay.
'The people of India have not only challenged the ruling dispensation with the constitution, they have also opened the eyes of the leadership that sits in the Opposition.'
If solutions are not found, adequately and in good time, things could simply slip out of everyone's hands, warns N Sathiya Moorthy.
Maoists took 250 villagers hostage in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh hours before Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to neighbouring Dantewada but freed all the captives late on Saturday night barring one who was beaten to death after being tried in a 'people's court'.
With two years to go before West Bengal elects its next government, the BJP's internal objective is to scale down the Trinamool Congress tally from 211 to 45 seats. This amounts to an annihilation of the TMC while enabling the BJP to win a record 250 seats in the 295-member legislature, reports Radhika Ramaseshan
The first prime minister to visit this Maoist hotbed in three decades, Narendra Modi on Saturday asked Naxals to abjure gun and allow peace so that the macabre drama of death will end to pave the way for development.
'When the story of Elections 2019 is told by an independent writer, the BJP's role in lowering electoral standards will be etched in indelible ink,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Intelligence inputs suggest that there is a meticulously-woven Maoist network in the jungle zones of Kerala
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