PRAGOTI

 The people of West Bengal should ensure the defeat of the aims of incumbent union railway minister for riding a violent tiger - that had mauled to death nearly 200 innocent civilians on a serene night near Sardiha two months ago.A blog post. 

Underneath the veneer of ''Maoism'' we are witnessing a particularly vicious form of ''identity politics'', writes eminent Marxist intellectual, Prabhat Patnaik

When I wrote my first reaction to the Sardiha incident, I was tremendously angry and indignant. More than a 100 people, my fellow citizenry were killed in a tragic rail accident that was obviously a result of sabotage. I immediately attributed the act of sabotage to the PCPA - the mass organisation of the Maoists in the three districts of West Bengal, based on news reports that posters of the PCPA were found in the area. A valid criticism, I have received, has told me that I should do more due diligence before jumping the gun and putting blame over the PCPA/Maoists, for that would skew opinion against the PCPA/Maoists. That is a very fair point, but I stand by my theory. There are various reasons. This post addresses most of them. 

Students affiliated to the Students Federation of India at the Jawaharlal Nehru University write an open letter to Union Home Minister P.Chidambaram on the eve of his visit to the university to speak on the issue of addressing the Maoist challenge in the country.