Reform’s rise speaks to a deep crisis in Establishment parties – but relies on appealing to social and economic grievances the left should make its own, argues NICK WRIGHT
Is the BJP, India’s ruling party, literally fascist?
The CPI(M)’s use of terms like ‘fascistic tendencies’ and ‘neofascism’ rather than labelling the BJP outright as fascist has sparked controversy, but as VIJAY PRASHAD explains, ‘fascism’ is a term that must be used correctly and sparingly
NEPOTISM AND CORRUPTION: Members of opposition Congress party, demanding an investigation into allegations of fraud and stock manipulation by India’s Adani Group, display a placard with images of Indian businessman Gautam Adani and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a protest in New Delhi, India
This year’s Bristol Radical History Festival focused on the persistent threats of racism, xenophobia and, of course, our radical collective resistance to it across Ireland and Britain, reports LYNNE WALSH
A maverick’s self-inflicted snake bites could unlock breakthrough treatments – but they also reveal deeper tensions between noble scientific curiosity and cold corporate callousness, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
The FBU is demanding 52 weeks of full pay for women firefighters, highlighting the unique health risks they face — and the continuing need to recruit and retain more women if policies like this are still not in place, writes SEONA HART
Israel continues to operate with impunity in what seems to be a brutal and protracted experiment, while much of the world looks on, says RAMZY BAROUD
A new report by Amnesty International pulls no punches in highlighting the Labour government’s human rights violations of those on benefits, says Dr DYLAN MURPHY
With Reform UK surging and Labour determined not to offer anything different from the status quo, a clear opportunity opens for the left, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
THERE are debates that are clarifying, and then there are debates that are mystifying. This debate in India over fascism is of the latter. It is neither a new debate, nor a real debate.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) or the CPI(M), which is India’s largest communist party (with over one million members), is preparing to hold its party congress in April. In the months leading up to the congress, the CPI(M) held state conferences to debate the issues of the day and to elect delegates to the congress. During this period, the draft political declaration was circulated.
In it, the CPI(M) does not characterise the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as fascist, but as having “fascistic tendencies” and — for the first time — it referred to the category of “neofascism.” Because of this apparent non-use of the direct term “fascism,” other left forces and some left-liberal intellectuals began to attack the CPI(M), saying that the party was not clear about the role of the BJP and its three-term government in India since 2014.
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