Chronicling the role and views of communists in the struggle for the annihilation of caste
Preethy Sekhar, Joint Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) writes: In a gruesome incident of hate crime, a Dalit youth has been murdered in Mumbai. On Saturday, 7 May 2022, a horrifying incident took place in Bhayander in the northern suburbs of Mumbai. Thirty year old sanitation worker Krishna Palaram Tusamad […]
CPI(M) leader Sanoop U was hacked to death on Sunday night (4 October) reportedly by a gang of RSS, Bajrang Dal and BJP workers. Sanoop belonged to a Dalit community, and was the Joint Secretary of the Democratic Youth Federation of India’s (DYFI) Chovvanur Area Committee. Sanoop is the fourth left activist killed in Kerala by right-wing forces in the past seven weeks. The right forces are emboldened by their faith that the mainstream media would come to their aid as usual by playing down the murders of communists, as if communists are lesser human beings. Even sections who are otherwise vocal about atrocities against Dalits largely tend to ignore the murders of Dalits who are communists, as evidenced by reactions to the murder of DYFI activist Asok in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu in June 2019. [Read more]
The CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government of Kerala has inaugurated 12,250 study rooms constructed using government funds at the houses of Scheduled Caste students who did not have adequate facilities to study at home. Along with these, another 250 community study rooms for Scheduled Tribe students were also opened on Saturday, 20 September 2020 at an online ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by AK Balan, Minister for SC/ST Development, and the study rooms were inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. [Read more]
An activist of the left-wing Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) was murdered by casteist fanatics on Wednesday night in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu. 23 year-old Ashok, the Tirunelveli district treasurer of the DYFI, was returning from work when he was hacked to death at Karaiyiruppu village near Thachanallur. DYFI activists say that the murder of Ashok is in response to the role that he played in the resistance against the abuse of Dalit workers and women by reactionary elements of the dominant community, as he mobilised youth to fight caste oppression and discrimination in his village. [Read more]
Reactionary sections are incensed not just at his political positions, but also the fact that somebody from the thiyya / ezhava caste, a community of former untouchables with traditional occupations such as coconut plucking and toddy tapping, has risen to the position of the Chief Minister of the State. [Read more]
The decision to end Made Snana and Ede Snana at Udupi has come as a result of protracted struggles, sustained campaigns and continuous pressure on government authorities and religious heads to bring down the curtains on the degrading practices. [Read more]
A wire fence which blocked a concrete road used by Dalits in Pongalur block of Tamil Nadu’s Tirupur district has been removed following the intervention of the TNUEF and the CPI(M). [Read more]
Thousands of people participated in the protest organised by the Dalit Shoshan Mukti Manch (DSMM) on 21 March 2018. [Read more]
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) has intensified the agitation seeking justice for the Dalits of Devarapalli in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh who have been displaced from their land. The Dalits of Devarapalli have been waging a struggle for the restoration of the land they have been cultivating for 50 years. They were evicted from the land for constructing a tank for the agriculture needs of the farmers belonging to upper castes in the village under the “Neeru Chettu scheme”. On Saturday, 29 July, the CPI(M) Polit Bureau member BV Raghavulu visited the area and joined the agitation by leading the cultivation of the land. [Read more]
Left-wing student and youth organisations held protests throughout Kerala to protest the central government’s order banning the sale of cattle for slaughter in markets. The beef festivals organised by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) witnessed large participation of students, youth, prominent personalities from various fields and the general public. [Read more]