Nationwide general strike: Coal mining operations hit in SCCL mines; TGSRTC bus services disrupted in Khammam district
About 85% of the total men on rolls during the first shift abstained from work impacting coal production in the SCCL's coal mines across 11 Areas spanning six districts in Telangana's coal belt, sources said.
Coal output dropped significantly during the first and second shifts even as the JAC of Singareni trade unions claimed the strike as a resounding success.
Workers owing allegiance to the JAC of Singareni trade unions, barring the BMS-affiliated Singareni Coal Mines Karmika Sangh, observed the day-long strike.
Formation of human chains, dharnas and rallies marked the protest programmes organized by the JAC of trade unions in Godavarikhani, Mandamarri, Kothagudem and elsewhere in the coal belt.
Members of the AITUC-affiliated Singareni Collieries Workers' Union, which is the SCCL's recognized union, the INTUC, the CITU-affiliated Singareni Collieries Employees' Union, Telangana Boggu Gani Karmika Sangham (TBGKS) and various other unions took part in different protest programmes.
In Khammam district, TGSRTC bus services were crippled by the day-long nationwide strike.
Members of the trade unions affiliated to Left parties took out a massive rally in Khammam during the general strike.
The demonstrators raised slogans demanding the repeal of the Centre's four labour codes terming them as most detrimental to the interests of the working class. They vowed to defend the hard-won labour rights.
CPI (M) Central Committee member Tammineni Veerabhadram, CPI State secretariat member B Hemanth Rao and others led the rally.
A tractor rally was organised by the CPI-affiliated Telangana Rythu Sangham in Khammam in support of the general strike.
The strike evoked mixed response in the erstwhile Karimnagar and Adilabad districts.
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Indian Express
3 minutes ago
- Indian Express
RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra: US Fed chair doing good job, central bank independence important
AMID THE ongoing feud between US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra on Friday appreciated the Fed chair for doing a 'good job'. 'I don't think he needs advice. I think he is doing a very good job. Maintaining the independence of the central bank is very important. I think he has done a commendable job,' Malhotra said on Friday, when asked what advice he would give Powell to deal with Trump. He was responding to a question asked by Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group, at the Financial Express Modern BFSI Summit in Mumbai. 'I may mention that we were there in the IFMC about a couple of months ago in Washington, where the finance ministers and central bankers of the top 30-40 countries were present. And every governor and finance minister gets a chance to speak on the economy and what's required to be done. There were some 40-50 speakers. Jerome Powell was also there and he spoke about what he was doing about central bank independence, and out of everyone, he was the only one who got a roaring applause. No one else,' Malhotra recalled. Since taking over as the US President in January this year, Trump has targeted Powell repeatedly. He has criticised Powell for not cutting interest rates, and called him a 'numbskull'. Last month, Trump said he was considering the possibility of replacing Powell and had three-four potential candidates. On Thursday, Trump and Powell sparred over the renovation costs of the Federal Reserve's headquarters in Washington. Earlier in the day, at a fireside chat with Shyamal Majumdar, Editor, Financial Express, the RBI Governor said the war against inflation is an ongoing process and the central bank would continue to keep an eye on it. He said the RBI was soon going to come out with a discussion paper on flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework, which is due for a review. Headline inflation, as measured by y-o-y changes in the all-India consumer price index (CPI), declined to 2.1 per cent in June 2025, the lowest since January 2019, compared to 2.8 per cent in May. Retail inflation remained below the 4 per cent target for the fifth consecutive month in June. 'It's (inflation below 4 per cent) not a permanent victory. It is a victory, it's a battle won, but the war against inflation continues. We never let our eyes off inflation. Our primary objective is to maintain price stability,' Malhotra said when asked about his major worry now that the RBI seems to have won the war against inflation. Malhotra said the RBI's other objective was growth, which is also a prerequisite for a stable economy. 'History tells us (that in) various economies, wherever there has been very high volatility and inflation, growth has suffered,' he said. To a question on what the RBI's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) philosophy would be when it is certain that inflation is going to be below 3.7 per cent in FY2026, he said the rate-setting panel would look at the data that comes in and take a final call. 'Even though 3.7 per cent is the average (inflation) for this year (FY26), the Q4 (estimate of 4.4 per cent) may be revised downwards, given the fact that the numbers that are coming in are lower than what we had projected even for Q1. We will see how it (Q4 inflation print) gets revised. So, monetary policy, being data-driven, will be guided by the revised numbers, if any,' he said. He reiterated that the change in monetary policy stance to 'neutral' in the June policy gives the MPC the flexibility to move interest rates in either direction, or even to go for a pause. His statement comes a few days ahead of the next monetary policy meeting, scheduled on August 4-6. Asked if a rate cut in the near future was not ruled out, Malhotra said it was for the monetary policy committee to decide. He, however, highlighted that a neutral stance does not mean a reversal of the easing policy, a rate cut can still be there. 'We have the flexibility to move up, down, or pause. Yes, it does mean that the bar for further easing is higher than it would have been if it was accommodative, which was a clear signal for further easing,' he said. Malhotra described the flexible inflation targeting (FIT) framework as a success, because it has resulted in a moderation in inflation to an average of 4.9 per cent since the regime's introduction in 2016. Under this framework, the RBI has been mandated by the government to maintain CPI at 4 per cent with a band of +/-2 per cent. He said the framework is due for a review, and the RBI will soon be coming out with a discussion paper on it. The government, in consultation with the RBI, revisits the inflation target under the FIT regime every five years. 'We will invite suggestions from all the stakeholders, and will give our comments to the government. The final call has to be taken by the government as to what the particular target or the benchmark should be for the flexible inflation targeting,' he said. On tepid growth in bank credit and private investments, Malhotra said the monetary transmission is happening and this will support growth in the near term. The MPC has cut the repo rate — the key policy rate — by 100 bps between February-June 2025. The repo rate was reduced by 25 bps each in February and April monetary policy meetings, and by 50 bps in the June policy. 'Within two months of our 50 basis point cut (25 bps each in February and April policy), the whole of the monetary policy transmission has happened. So all these things will actually help further in improving credit and improving growth,' he said. Like for corporates, Malhotra also expressed reservations about allowing non-banking financial companies into the banking space. He said the eligibility criteria for a company or for an NBFC is not very different. 'If a large industrial house is doing financial activities and real economy activities within the same group, there is an inherent conflict of interest, with the group actually dealing with the money of the depositors. So those concerns are valid, and they continue to remain,' he said, when asked if the RBI was open to allowing NBFCs to enter the banking space. He noted that there was no proposal at present to allow corporates, whether through NBFCs or as an individual company, to get a banking licence. Malhotra welcomed the India-United Kingdom (UK) bilateral free trade agreement (FTA), saying the deal would give a boost to the domestic manufacturing and services sectors. 'Hopefully it (India-UK free trade agreement) should help us. I think that is the way going forward now, because unfortunately multilateralism seems to have taken a back seat. So I think in that sense, it's good that we already have one FTA in place,' Malhotra said. He also emphasised the need for more such deals and said the agreement with the US is in advanced stages.
The Print
33 minutes ago
- The Print
Age did not mellow Achuthanandan's spirit. When Left veteran slammed Rahul Gandhi as ‘Amul baby'
Rising from a working class background in Alappuzha's Punnapra, Achuthanandan had to give up on school education in the seventh grade, when his father passed away. He began assisting his elder brother in a cloth shop and, by the time the Second World War broke out in 1939, a young Achuthanandan was a factory worker at Aspinwall Company. With the socio-political events of the day significantly influencing him, VS took membership of the Travancore State Congress then. Communist stalwart and former Kerala chief minister, Velikkakathu Sankaran Achuthanandan, or simply VS, passed away at the ripe old age of 101, on 21 July. A recounting of his political career would also be a brief chronicle of Kerala's political history, or at least one-half of it. Thiruvananthapuram: In the early to mid-2000s, the chant 'Kanne Karale VS-se' (VS, our beloved) was heard wherever went. People couldn't get enough of the veteran Marxist in an era when the news channels were nascent. The defining moment of Achuthanandan's eight decade-long political career was his reinvention from a dour apparatchik to a mass leader at the turn of the millennium. However, VS would soon be enchanted with the Communist ideology. At the age of 17 in 1940, he was recruited to the Communist Party of India (CPI) by taluk secretary Simon. In 1943, after attending the first state conference of the CPI, VS came under the tutelage of comrade Pillai, who convinced him to plunge full time into the Communist movement. As a rookie, VS was tasked with setting up communist party units in Kuttanad, and he returned to Alappuzha only after successfully accomplishing that. His role in the 1946 Punnapra-Vayalar uprising remains contested. Notwithstanding that, VS rose through the ranks to become the CPI's youngest district secretary in 1956. He played an instrumental role in the victory of the CPI in the first election held in Kerala in 1957. Com. V.S. Achuthanandan was a rare breed of a leader: From the ranks of manual coir workers of Alleppey he rose to become the CM of Kerala. His was a lifelong struggle for social justice, labour rights and land reforms. He is one of the key architects of egalitarian Kerala. — Thomas Isaac (@drthomasisaac) July 22, 2025 Achuthanandan was among the 32 leaders to walk out of the CPI national council in 1964 to become a founder-member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPI (M). His electoral debut from Ambalappuzha in 1965 ended in defeat. He went on to taste success in the following two elections in 1967 and 1970 from the same constituency, even if he lost in 1977. When became the CPI (M)'s pick for chief ministership in 1980, Achuthanandan succeeded him as the state secretary, holding on to it until 1992. As secretary, VS was a stickler for rules and held the party together with when rising star put forth the alternate document in 1985—leading to the Kannur strongman's expulsion. VS versus EMS Achuthanandan's ideological clarity meant that when Namboodiripad came around to Raghavan's view on doing business with parties such as Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Church-backed Kerala Congress, he steadfastly held on to it. This was even after he narrowly missed out on being the chief minister in 1991 when Nayanar called for early elections to coincide with the Lok Sabha polls. A consensus was reached to switch the roles of Nayanar and Achuthanandan beforehand. The CPI (M)'s overconfidence was driven by its sweep of the district council polls, but Rajiv Gandhi's assassination swung that election in favour of the Congress. VS always found himself at one end of the factionalism in the Kerala unit of the CPI (M) that took root in the early nineties and ebbed and flowed until 2016. It was Achuthanandan's loss to Nayanar by two votes in the 1991 CPI (M) state conference in Kozhikode that served as a trigger for factionalism to initiate in the Kerala unit of the CPI (M). While the Cold War officially ended in 1991, another sort of war was brewing between VS and Namboodiripad in Kerala. Even before he officially stood down as the CPI (M) general secretary in 1992, Namboodiripad shifted from New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram. This created a new power centre and that made VS uneasy, as recounted by Communist ideologue and senior journalist 'Berlin' Kunhanandan Nair, in his memoir 'Polichezhuthu'. In fact, the loss of Achuthanandan to Nayanar as state secretary was orchestrated by Namboodiripad himself. EMS suggested a couple of changes to the official panel put forth by VS, and that ensured that he lost the majority in the committee. A bitter Achuthanandan tried to get even by handing over a letter to which read like a charge sheet against Namboodiripad, as recounted by the then Left convener in his recently-published autobiography, 'Ormacheppu Thurakkumbol'. VS continued to stand firm against the entry of the IUML-splinter Indian National League, even as Namboodiripad was all for it. VS tried to get back at the powerful 'CITU lobby' backing Namboodiripad in the CPI (M) state conference in 1995. VS fielded 14 'rebels' against the official panel, but that operation didn't go entirely according to his script. Lawrence, who led the 'CITU lobby', managed to make the state committee by a solitary vote, and that too following a recount, as narrated in his memoir. Also Read: A Kerala bellwether is voting. Why CM Pinarayi Vijayan has staked all in Nilambur Mararikulam loss & Vetti-nirathal All these factors contributed to Achuthanandan's shock loss in Mararikulam in 1996, which thwarted his second shot at chief ministership. In the ensuing CPI (M) state committee, Namboodripad and the CITU faction backed Susheela Gopalan as chief minister. However, VS combined with the 'Kannur lobby' to orchestrate Nayanar's ascension, assisted by Pinarayi Vijayan. But that was hardly a consolation for Achuthanandan, who vowed to decimate the CITU faction. A showdown was set for the CPI (M) state conference in 1998. Vetti-nirathal (slaughter)–that's how most vernacular dailies of Kerala described the events that transpired at Palakkad. The term 'vetti-nirathal' owed its origin to the anti-reclamation stir launched by the Kerala State Karshaka Thozhilali Union—the CPI (M)'s farm workers' outfit—under Achuthanandan's leadership at Kuttanad in 1996-97. The modus operandi involved Marxist cadres going berserk destroying plantain and tapioca crops at will in farms. The CITU faction was almost entirely culled from the CPI (M) state committee in Palakkad, leading to the losses of veterans Lawrence, and among others. Namboodiripad took it up with the central leadership, although he passed away in 1998 before the 16th Party Congress that year in Calcutta. Achuthanandan took over as Left Convener when a humiliated Lawrence stepped down, and his clout within the CPI (M) was at its peak at this point. Recasting anew In 2001, the Congress made a comeback, and VS took over as Leader of Opposition (LoP) for a second time. Even before that his loyalists zeroed in on Malampuzha as a safe seat for the veteran. The chant 'Kanne Karale VS-se' (VS, our eye-liver-kidney) made its debut during this campaign. The 78-year-old underwent a complete change of image now, resonating with a fresh generation of voters. Achuthanandan was particularly vocal on gender issues, rights of the marginalised and environment. His anti-corruption crusade complemented it further. Not since earned the sobriquet 'Pavangalude Padathalavan' (leader of the poor masses) had a communist leader endeared himself to Kerala's public so much. However, this phase heralded Achuthanadan's bitter rivalry with Vijayan, who became another power centre after assuming the role of state secretary in 1998. The next episode in factionalism tumbled out in public during the Kannur state conference in 2002. This manifested as a clash of ideologies between the Marxist-Leninist ideals represented by VS and the revisionist line of Vijayan. This phase witnessed another realignment within the CPI (M) unit as VS made truce with a weakened CITU faction for outmanoeuvring Vijayan. Ahead of the Malappuram state conference in 2005, Achuthanandan was supremely confident of replacing Vijayan with his nominee as state secretary, but that was not to be. Many leaders who professed loyalty to VS switched camps overnight and it was the veteran's turn to be vanquished. He, however, still held sway over the party in districts like Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Kasaragod and Palakkad, even if Alappuzha and Idukki came under Vijayan's grasp. His humiliation at the state conference only bolstered his image in public. A section of Kerala's media, inadvertently or otherwise, played a role in elevating VS as a paragon of virtues, casting Vijayan as the villain of the piece. Vijayan's arrogant ways did not help his cause either, and this gradually built up to the showdown in 2006 when VS was denied a seat. By then Vijayan had a firm ally in CPI (M) general secretary Prakash Karat. In an impromptu expression of solidarity, Marxist cadres took to the streets demanding that VS be fielded. The huge public outcry and fear of electoral setback forced CPI (M)'s hand and the politburo met to overturn the decision. Achuthanandan was instrumental in getting the central leadership to veto Vijayan's proposal to ally with the Democratic Indira Congress ahead of that election. Notwithstanding that, the Left's victory in 2006, registering almost 50 percent vote share, was its most authoritative since 1967. Vijayan attempted to thwart Achuthanandan's chief ministership even after the historical win by putting forth the name of Left convener Paloli Muhammed Kutty instead. But, the central leadership backed VS for the post that he missed twice. That didn't prevent the state unit under Vijayan from clipping the wings of VS, first by taking the home portfolio away from him and reposing it with the former's trusted loyalist, Kodiyeri Balakrishnan. Even the Vigilance portfolio was also taken away on account of fears that he would settle scores. The party under Vijayan kept the CM on a short leash, even controlling the day-to-day functioning of the government. VS could not even nominate his loyalists as private secretary, and any government file was within Vijayan's reach. That did not prevent him from running an efficient administration, and the term was marked by significant legislations of the kind the Left hadn't undertaken since the '80s, including the Kerala Conservation of Paddy Land and Wetland Act, 2008, a logical conclusion to Achuthanandan-initiated aforementioned Vetti-nirathal. Meanwhile, factionalism was at its peak after the Kottayam state conference in 2008 when Vijayan at the concluding event shouted at the cadres 'to not behave as if Usha Uthup's music show was underway', visibly peeved at the sloganeering in favour of VS. Also Read: Now at steering wheel, MA Baby has to navigate the believers' road, Pinarayi's grip on CPI(M) Denial of mandate in 2011 At the height of factionalism in 2009, VS snubbed the Vijayan-led Nava Kerala March preceding the Lok Sabha elections, until the concluding event held in Thiruvananthapuram. Vijayan's jibe at VS by likening him to a bucket of water unlike the waves formed in the ocean, was a sharp rejoinder to the veteran. Achuthanandan hit back at Vijayan by drawing comparison with Mikhail Gorbachev and the revisionist practices leading to the Soviet Union's fall. When VS publicly disowned Vijayan on the SNC-Lavalin case–going against the state committee's decision to back Vijayan–it was deemed breach of party discipline, resulting in his removal from the CPI (M) politburo in 2009. Vijayan was spared of any action, with Karat backing the Kannur strongman all the way. Achuthanandan was never reinstated to the CPI (M)'s highest body. According to the likes of N. Venu, who floated the splinter Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) along with in 2008, VS was flirting with the idea of splitting the party during this phase. This has also been echoed by the likes of Nair and others who willed VS to chart a new course, but it was a bridge too far for the veteran who bent the rules never to break them. There were overtures also from the CPI but Achuthanandan was always careful of his legacy. VS saw how the likes of and Raghavan faded to relative insignificance after charting independent courses. In 2011, the Achuthanandan government lost the Kerala elections by a wafer-thin margin of 68-72. There have been covert and overt barbs of internal sabotage aimed at Vijayan for that outcome since then, most recently when Achuthanandan's ministerial colleague conveyed it through a poem in Kalakaumudi weekly. Achuthanandan got a third term as the LoP, lasting until 2016. His final term as Kerala LoP was no less eventful. The brutal hacking of RMP's Chandrasekharan, a VS loyalist, in 2012 further widened the rift with Vijayan. When the media sought his comment following the dastardly attack on Chandrasekharan, Vijayan doubled down by stating that 'a traitor is always a traitor'. Notwithstanding the party's embargo on visiting the slain leader's home, VS called on Chandrasekharan's widow (now, the MLA from Vadakara) and consoled her under the glare of television cameras. That day, 6 June, was a crucial one, as a by-election was underway in Neyyattinkara. VS described Chandrasekharan as a 'courageous communist', unlike Vijayan's inhuman remark. By the time the 2014 Lok Sabha election got underway, the dissipation of the VS faction in the Kerala unit was complete, and the Alappuzha state conference in 2015 saw Vijayan's domination peak. Walk-out from Alappuzha conference When a charge sheet listing Achuthananthan's transgressions was read out by Vijayan while presenting the organisational report, and a number of delegates spoke out against the Marxist veteran in a seemingly orchestrated exercise, VS left the venue in a huff. He did not return, even after Kodiyeri Balakrishnan–who took over as state secretary in 2015–tried damage control by sending former loyalists and Pillai as emissaries, to pacify him. Many saw it as symbolic of the parting of ways, but the veteran knew that he wasn't expendable for the CPI (M) until the 2016 election was won. It also helped that Sitaram Yechury, who always had a soft corner for VS, replaced Karat as the party general secretary. In 2016, VS led the Left electoral campaign. The party used the 92-year-old as its mascot and, in a way, it was his way of paying back the CPI (M). Fittingly, the Left front registered a resounding 91-seat victory in the 140-member Kerala Assembly. His aura suffered a jolt when television cameras caught him handing over a note to Yechury at the swearing-in of Vijayan demanding his rehabilitation as chairperson of the Administrative Council with Cabinet rank. The appointment of his son Kumar as assistant director of The Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD) during his term as CM was another instance of the veteran failing to walk his lofty talk. Achuthanandan faded out from the public within a year of Vijayan's first term, even if he had promised to play the role of a Kavalal, or guard, in 2016. He wasn't keeping good health and did not campaign in 2019. The stroke VS suffered in 2020 along with the onset of Covid meant that he remained completely cut off from Kerala's public sphere. Single-minded pursuit, vengeance Achuthananthan never adopted a quid pro quo approach to political rivals, and was non-compromising in that respect. The antipathy did not necessarily affect personal equations, but he took the legal route to seek convictions in corruption cases. It was his personal crusade that ensured the conviction of Kerala Congress stalwart R. Balakrishna Pillai in the Edamalayar case, which, to this date, remains the only conviction of a Kerala politician in a corruption case. Former Kerala police chief Jacob Punnoose once revealed how Achuthanandan issued a verbal order to the then Crime Branch chief Vinson to arrest IUML's in the Ice-cream parlour scandal on the eve of the 2011 election. Paul had refused to carry out the order pending a written order from the CM. Like Chanakya's vow of vengeance, VS was known to exact vengeance on his rivals. He was as much a practitioner of realpolitik in the '80s and '90s as Pinarayi Vijayan is today. Apart from the infamous culling of the CITU faction, the way he dealt with even minor acts of defiance or indiscipline as state secretary would not tally with the public image that he is bestowed with today. CPI (M) stalwarts Pillai, A.P. Kurian, and even EMS Namboodiripad found themselves at the receiving end of Achuthanandan's disciplinary sword. It may not have led to political murders, but that is probably because VS hailed from Alappuzha and not Kannur. Achuthanandan was renowned for tit-for-tat political retorts. When Rahul Gandhi raked up his advanced age in the 2011 poll campaign, VS hit back at the Gandhi scion by dubbing him an 'Amul baby'. His war of words with Vijayan ran like a political soap opera for a decade. A theatrical orator, Achuthanandan had an electrifying effect on the audience. People came from far and wide to listen to his speeches. He had developed a distinct style of modulating words and sentences, which he attributed to his legacy of interactions with farm workers in Kuttanad. At the height of factionalism, even leaders firmly aligned to the Vijayan camp sought him out for their electoral campaigns. VS was a hero of the working class—unlike EMS Namboodiripad, born landlord calling himself the 'adopted son of the working class', or Vijayan, described by 'Berlin' Kunhanandan Nair as the 'adopted son of the capitalist class'. His reinvention from a hardliner to a mass leader to become a popular chief minister will always remain his abiding memory. Some politicians live long enough to become a villain or to witness their hard-earned legacy tarnished. In Achuthanandan's case, it may not be far-fetched to surmise that he hung around long enough to have political sainthood conferred upon him. (Edited by Tony Rai) Also Read: Nilambur isn't Kerala. UDF must look beyond Muslim votes to win 2026 polls
The Hindu
3 hours ago
- The Hindu
Look at your own country: Bombay High Court raps CPI(M) over Gaza protest petition
The Bombay High Court on Friday (July 25, 2025) dismissed a petition filed by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the CPI challenging the Mumbai Police's decision to deny permission for a protest at Azad Maidan against the ongoing conflict in Gaza. The court observed that the Indian political organisations should prioritise domestic issues over international conflicts. A Division Bench comprising Justices Ravindra Ghuge and Gautam Ankhad pulled up the petitioners for focusing on matters outside the country and said, 'Our country has enough issues to deal with. We do not want anything like this. I am sorry to say that you are short-sighted. You are looking at Gaza and Palestine while neglecting what's happening here. Why don't you do something for your own country? Look at your own country. Be patriots. People say they are patriots, but this is not patriotism. Show patriotism for the citizens of our own country first,' the Bench remarked sharply during the hearing. Senior advocate Mihir Desai representing CPI(M), informed the Bench that on June 13, 2025, his clients submitted an application seeking permission from the Azad Maidan police station to hold a peaceful protest and gathering in Azad Maidan to show solidarity with the people of Gaza, who are currently in the midst of a genocide, by calling for a ceasefire. On June 17, denying permission to the All India Peace and Solidarity Foundation (AIPSF) that police informed them that the permission to protest was being denied in exercise of their powers under Section 168 of the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and Section 68 of the Maharashtra Police Act, 1951. Mr. Desai informed the Bench that the political parties have time and again taken up several causes that has concerned India and have been conducting health and education camps. The Court noted that the CPI(M), being a registered as Indian political party, should ideally be engaging with local civic concerns. 'You are a registered party in India. Your party could have taken up issues like garbage dumping, pollution, drainage, or flooding. Why are you not protesting on these issues? We are only giving examples. Instead, you want to protest over something happening thousands of miles away and showing concern for Palestine and Gaza,' the Bench observed. The petitioners stated that the Indian government's stance and support of Palestine as a State, has been an integral part of the nation's foreign policy. In 1974, India became the first Non-Arab State to recognize Palestine Liberation Organisation as the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. In 1988, India was also one of the first countries to recognize Palestine as a State. In April 2024, India voted in favour of the Human Rights Council Resolution on the Right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. Moreover, India is a State signatory to the Genocide Convention, 1948, and the protest which was held to condemn violence and genocide in Gaza, can in no way termed to be the foreign policy of the India State. Mr. Desai further argued that citizens have a fundamental right to protest at designated places and that disagreements with the government's foreign policy cannot be grounds to stifle dissent. He also contended that mere apprehensions of law-and-order issues, without concrete evidence, should not override constitutional freedoms. He also clarified that the protest has nothing to do with Operation Sindoor or India's border relations with neighbouring countries. CPI(M) issues statement Rejecting the petition, the court observed, 'You don't know the dust it could kick up. Whether to take a side for Palestine or Israel is their (Govt of India) work, why do you want to create such a situation that the country has to take sides on this? Why do you want to do this? It's obvious, going by the party you represent, that you don't understand what this could do to the foreign affairs of the country.' The CPI(M) has strongly condemned the Bombay High Court's remarks while dismissing its petition challenging the denial of permission to protest against the Gaza conflict. Calling the Court's comments unconstitutional and politically biased, the CPI(M) criticised the bench for questioning its patriotism and aligning with the Central government's foreign policy stance. 'It is regrettable to say that the Bench appears to be completely unaware of the constitutional provisions that empower political parties or the history of our country and the support and brotherly feelings of the Indian people towards the Palestinian people for their right to a homeland. The statement made by the High Court bench regarding the CPI(M) smacks of the bench aligning itself with the position of the Central Government,' the party said in a statement. The party invoked India's historical support for Palestine and urged citizens to reject what it termed a troubling judicial trend undermining democratic rights. 'We appeal to the freedom and democracy-loving people of the country to stand shoulder to shoulder with us in unequivocally rejecting this objectionable view,' the statement read.
