Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
EDITORIAL: URBAN SOUTH ASIA IS LIKELY THE WORLD’S REGION MOST AFFECTED BY AIR POLLUTION THAT NOT ONLY IMPACTS PULMONARY AND RESPIRATORY SYSTEMS, IT AFFECTS THE BRAIN ALSO
Vinod Mubayi
India’s capital New Delhi has long “enjoyed” a dubious top-ranking; it is the world’s most polluted capital city in terms of air quality. Air pollution is usually measured in terms of the ambient air concentration of small particulate matter known as PM2.5, i.e., particulate matter with a mean aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 microns (micrometers) or less that is readily inhaled and enters the bloodstream along with many other organs of the body that poses serious consequences for cardiovascular, pulmonary and respiratory health. Recent medical studies indicate that PM2.5 particles have deleterious impacts on the brain too.
Read more…AMERICA THE ROGUE STATE: THE EVISCERATION OF THE RULE OF LAW AT HOME AND ABROAD SOLIDIFIES AMERICA AS A ROGUE STATE
Chris Hedges
The ruling class of the United States, severed from a fact-based universe and blinded by idiocy, greed and hubris, has immolated the internal mechanisms that prevent dictatorship, and the external mechanisms designed to protect against a lawless world of colonialism and gunboat diplomacy.
Read more…JAMMU AND KASHMIR: SIX YEARS AFTER ANNEXATION, NORMALCY REMAINS ELUSIVE
Rohinee Singh / Sapan News
New Delhi: More than six years after the abrogation of Article 370 that led to the downgrading of Jammu and Kashmir from a full-fledged state to a Union Territory, the promise of peace, prosperity, and political normalcy remains largely unfulfilled, according to a report released in December 2025 by the Concerned Citizens Group, a voluntary, self financed civil society collective in India.
Read more…WHY IS CULTURAL CONGRESS NECESSARY?
Pinarayi Vijayan (CM of Kerala)
CPIM Polit Bureau member and Kerala Chief Ministe Pinarayi Vijayan inaugurated the first ever Indian Cultural Conference organised by Department of Culture, Government of Kerala in Ernakulam.
Read more…THE SENGAR CASE AND THE ARCHITECTURE OF SELECTIVE JUSTICE
Anand Teltumbde
The suspension of Kuldeep Singh Sengar’s life sentence reflects how technical legal interpretations are used to dilute accountability for politically aligned individuals, ignoring the gravity of crimes involving rape, custodial death, witness intimidation, and documented state complicity.
Read more…SPECIAL INTENSIVE REVIEW – VIOLATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE
Arundhati Dhuru and Sandeep Pandey
When India gained independence, thanks to the extraordinary leaders of the freedom movement, Indian citizens gained universal suffrage as a fundamental right. During foreign rule, only the elite could vote. After independence, this was expanded to include the entire adult population.
Read more…JOINT POLITICAL STATEMENT: SOLIDARITY AGAINST COMMUNAL VIOLENCE, FUNDAMENTALISM, AND STATE COMPLICITY
Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist) and Radical Socialist (India)
We, the Communist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist–Leninist) and Radical Socialist (India), condemn in the strongest terms the current wave of communal violence, religious fundamentalism, and attacks on democratic and secular spaces in South Asia, particularly in Bangladesh, and the dangerous political repercussions these developments are producing in India.
Read more…KERALA HAS ABOLISHED EXTREME POVERTY
Vijay Prashad
The Indian state of Kerala has eradicated extreme poverty through clear public policy, decentralised planning, and the leadership of its cooperative movement.
Read more…A WORKER LYNCHED: WHAT THE MURDER OF DIPU CHANDRA DAS REVEALS
Fahreen Alamgir
Dipu Chandra Das, a twenty-seven-year-old garment worker in Bangladesh, was killed on 18 December after being accused of blasphemy. Das, a Hindu, worked at the Pioneer Knits BD Limited in Bhaluka. He was allegedly beaten to death by a mob, and after the killing, his body was tied to a tree branch and set on fire.
Read more…LONG READ: UNVEILING THE RSS: EXPOSING THE LARGEST FAR-RIGHT NETWORK IN HISTORY
Felix Pal
“THE SANGH DOES NOT CONTROL, neither directly nor remotely,” Mohan Bhagwat, the chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, insisted during a conclave in August. The organisational fountainhead of the Hindu Right is celebrating its centenary this year. In a series of public events to mark the milestone, Bhagwat took on the air of an aloof parent, as if eager to distance himself from his children.
Read more… Top