PRAGOTI

Academics and activists appeal to the CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat to release the report of the internal enquiry within the CPI(M) on TP Chandrasekharan's murder. 

 Readers are requested to sign this petition to the Chief Minister of West Bengal on steps to be taken on Sudipta Gupta's unfortunate death in custody of the Kolkata Police. The petition is hosted at ipetitions.com and is reproduced here. It can be signed at this link: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/justice-for-sudipto-gupta/ 

The script could have been from any Martin Scorsese "gangster" film or something that Mario Puzo must have approved of. To say that the Italians' refusal to release their two naval guards, Salvatore Girone and Massimiliano Latorre- who are facing the Indian justice system for (alleged) crimes in the seas murdering two innocent Indian fishermen - is outrageous would be a terrible understatement. It is a case of the Italian diplomatic setup wittingly staying true to the popular culture reputation of Italian justice and its public system - one characterised by mob culture, rule of the "mafia" and thoroughly criminalised. 

A thorough obituary is in order to salute the legacy of one of the most celebrated socialist revolutionaries of our contemporary times, as President Hugo Chavez succumbs to an untimely death at the relatively young age of 58. For now, though, we shall quickly place some links (with abstracts) that discuss his legacy in some detail apart from reactions from world leaders to Chavez's death. 

Posted below is a message from the Forum against Manual Scavenging, many of whom were involved in a signature campaign against the practice sometime ago in Pragoti. 

A new student organization – Democratic Students’ Federation – has been formed in the first unit conference of SFI-JNU held on 24-25 January, 2013. The Conference adopted an Interim Programme for the new organization. The name of the new organization was decided through a referendum. 54 out of the 131 students participating in the Conference voted for the name Democratic Students’ Federation (DSF), which were the maximum votes received for any of the proposed names. The Interim Programme was also adopted unanimously by the Conference after deliberations. Along with students from JNU, the Conference was also attended by students from Delhi University, Ambedkar University - Delhi, Jamia Milia Islamia and South Asian University.

Pragoti has been tracking the political developments in Jawaharlal Nehru University over the past year. SFI-JNU, a rebel student organisation that was formed following the dissolution of the erstwhile SFI unit in the campus has over the year, won the president's post in the JNUSU elections and has, also since, involved in the formation of a new initiative for a joint struggle platform of Progressive, Democratic and Left forces. SFI-JNU has now resolved to form a new student organisationon the basis of a set of principles.This blogpost carries that message (also hosted at their website). 

An appeal has been issued by leftist and progressive organisations from across the country in the run up to a joint public meeting to be held at the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus on the 13th of January 2013. The statement is attached along with this post. 

The student organisation SFI-JNU is hosting a public meeting that has featured representatives of various left parties and organisations at the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The invitation and its details are posted below. Those in New Delhi are kindly requested to attend. 

 In the backdrop of today's protests in delhi against the gang rape and government's repression against protesters, a joint protest has been called by a number of organisations, to be held on 23.12.12, at India Gate. Details are below.