The Union Home Ministry’s amendments to the Census Rules are not as innocuous as they might seem at first glance. The newly notified amendments open up enumerator roles to private school teachers, members of “institutions, societies and trusts,” and any person deemed “suitable” by the concerned State Government or Union territory administration. This is a means of ensuring backdoor entry to the Sangh Parivar to access the private data of Indian citizens. On 24 August, I had submitted a memo on behalf of CPI(M) to the Registrar General and Census Commissioner demanding that personal details sought in the notified questionnaire for the second phase, such as Aadhaar, voter ID, passport, mobile number, details of bank accounts, and religion and birth place of parents, not be collected. The memo also called for strict safeguards against linking Census data with other databases. Deploying Sangh Parivar agents to collect individual details that do not serve the Census purpose will weaponise the Census exercise for citizenship determination and electoral exclusion. The fact that the Modi government is going ahead with this in the midst of a nationwide upheaval against the SIR process shows its blatant disregard for public sentiment and constitutional norms. This cannot be allowed. The notified amendments must be withdrawn, and an all-party consultation on Census methodology must be held immediately. The Census must not become the next SIR in the hands of Modi - Amit Shah - Mohan Bhagwat.

The people of West Bengal cherish the festivities during Pujo and all the associated cultural activities, including the progressive bookstalls run by Left parties and organisations. The BJP and RSS are attempting to undermine this rich tradition through political interference, intimidation and rank thuggery. By sending in bulldozers and armed police personnel along with goons and hoodlums to attack our bookstalls, the BJP-RSS are repeating what their Nazi forefathers made infamous in German cities in the 1930s. The books we read, the ideas we hold dear, and the unity of our people will prevail over the fascistic Sangh brigade and the attempt to impose their narratives. We will not be silenced.

The arrest of Abhijit Dipke is a brazen assault on the fundamental right to protest and freedom of expression. Delhi Police has not followed due process while picking him up outside his residence, and after. His arrest is unlawful and part of an attempt to create an atmosphere of terror in the national capital to crush protests before they happen. Criminalising dissent and suppressing peaceful protests are attacks on democracy itself. I unequivocally condemn this repressive action and demand his immediate and unconditional release.

Under Amit Shah, the police in the national capital are inflicting physical and mental trauma at an alarming level on brave student and youth protesters who are risking their safety to defend our democracy. On 12 October, the CPI(M) had held a press conference at which many victims of police brutality shared first-hand accounts of police actions during the protest demonstrations in Delhi. Fidal Royas was one of them. The doctors are now saying that he may require ear surgery. Many others have also reported that the police are targeting people, even bystanders, who document police violence. Father Biju Xavier, the vicar of Sacred Heart Cathedral Church, was detained by the police for recording such an incident. Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas was addressing the media on police action when he was dragged and shoved into a police bus, and later assaulted inside it. The actions of the Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces are unlawful. There is a chain of command that has resulted in the impunity shown by police personnel. The rule of law requires that this be investigated and that all those responsible for these actions be held accountable and punished. But does the rule of law operate in Delhi today?

Jammu & Kashmir Waqf Board’s push to introduce uniform Friday sermons in mosques which are to be pre-approved by its core committee, strikes at the very root of freedom of religion, a fundamental right guaranteed under the Indian Constitution! In our country, freedom of religion also provides for the freedom of free profession and practice of religion as well as the freedom to manage religious affairs, as per Articles 25 and 26 of our Constitution. The government has no right to meddle in such affairs, unless other fundamental rights are violated. It is nothing but fascistic for a government to decide who should to listen to what religious instruction and when. Such authoritarian tendencies can never be allowed.

This does not merely point to a conflict of interest. It reeks of institutional corruption! @rajnathsingh, why is the MoD under you allowing defence procurement to be compromised for private gain? Just recently, ISRO staff had come out against the proposed privatisation of India's space agency. PM Modi and his government should come clean. Are you going to sacrifice our PSUs — even those of strategic importance like defence and space — for private gain and put India's national security in peril? If not, will you dare to order an immediate independent probe, and take strict action against this blatant cronyism!

Cheruvayal Raman dedicated his life to preserving Wayanad’s traditional paddy seeds, safeguarding a treasure trove of agricultural biodiversity that might otherwise have been lost. By conserving indigenous varieties and sharing seeds freely with farmers, he protected generations of knowledge and kept alive the possibility of a more diverse and resilient agriculture. His passing is an irreparable loss. The responsibility of preserving the legacy he leaves behind now rests with us.

In 1932, on the first anniversary of Bhagat Singh’s martyrdom, a 16 year-old boy hoisted the tricolour at Hoshiarpur District Court in Punjab. For this crime, he was shot and jailed by the British. That young boy went on to become the General Secretary of CPI(M). His name was Harkishan Singh Surjeet. Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka are in jail for gathering peacefully at Jantar Mantar and hoisting the tricolour. Student and youth protesters, along with Rajya Sabha MPs AA Rahim and V Sivadasan, were manhandled and are being detained by the Delhi Police for marching peacefully to Jantar Mantar. Many students, including women, are yet to recover from the shocking assault and torture they have been subjected to over the past few days. They are still hitting the streets to defend the right to vote and the right to protest. Persecuting peaceful protesters did not end well for the British. Modi and Amit Shah will be no different.

By denotifying Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site, if the Modi-Shah-Bhagawat trio think that they can diffuse protests and make them invisible, they are wrong. Such moves further expose the BJP led union government's intolerance of dissent and its contempt for the constitutional right to peaceful protests. Their undemocratic and authoritarian measures will only fan public anger against their anti-people policies. They want to render public dissent invisible and politically ineffective. The CPI(M) asserts that Jantar Mantar will continue to remain as the place of protests for the public. We will resist all efforts to stop this, at any cost!

Visited Comrade John Brittas at RML Hospital in Delhi, where he was admitted after being brutally attacked by the Delhi Police. The police have turned Delhi into a war zone. Scores of student and youth activists, including SFI President Adarsh M Saji and DYFI CEC member Jaick C Thomas, were assaulted inside police vehicles that have been turned into torture camps. Women are being cruelly attacked and detained for hours inside mobile jails. Modi, Amit Shah and Mohan Bhagwat must not be under the impression that unleashing state repression will kill the movement to oust Gyanesh Kumar. The students and youth are fighting to save our democracy. They will not be deterred by these cowardly attempts to break their bodies. Their spirit will not be broken, and their resolve will only grow stronger.

In the repression unleashed on protesters in Delhi today, the Delhi Police arrested hundreds of leaders of political parties, civil society organisations, students and youth. Almost the entire leadership of the CPI(M) was taken into police custody in Delhi today. Many of those arrested were roughed up and manhandled by the police, leading to injuries to some, including Polit Bureau member Tapan Sen and MP Sivadasan. It is reprehensible that CPI(M) Polit Bureau Member and Kerala Leader of the Opposition Com. Pinarayi Vijayan and several others were confined to police vehicles for hours. They were denied food and water and were not even allowed to take essential medications. Several women, including Polit Bureau member Mariam Dhawale, who were taken to the Maurya Enclave Police Station, were not even allowed to use the washroom. The mobile phones of a batch of comrades, including MP A.A. Rahim, were taken by the police. I appeal to people to join the countrywide protests being organised by the CPI(M) against this repression, demanding that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar be held accountable and removed, that the SIR process be stopped, and that the names of all eligible voters who have been deleted be restored to the electoral rolls.

Denying opposition MPs the right to raise their voices at Jantar Mantar, a historic centre of people’s struggles, shows the Modi government’s naked authoritarianism and contempt for democratic rights. The attempt to crush dissent by unleashing a reign of terror in the national capital will not succeed. The government may use police and central forces to suppress peaceful protests and protect Gyanesh Kumar, but it cannot shield him forever. If this repression continues, the people will consign Modi and Amit Shah, along with Gyanesh Kumar, to the dustbin of history. All democratic forces must unite and intensify the struggle.

Dastak (SFI's cultural wing) and Janam answered that there will be singing in dark times. Delhi Police, egged on by the RSS, tried to suppress their singing in Connaught Place this evening. Beaten, bruised and detained, they didn't stop singing. Kudos to them. We stand with you and sing with you. Gyanesh Kumar, it's done. You need to go! Delhi Police, remember that India is a democracy and we have the right to protest.

The impunity with which the Delhi Police has unleashed violence against protesters over the last couple of days, with police personnel without name tags using brutal force and citizens being taken away in unmarked cars, shows the callous disregard of the ruling dispensation and Home Minister Amit Shah for the rule of law in the nation’s capital. The refusal to file a FIR against a police official accused of sexually assaulting a woman journalist reveals that sexual assault is being used as a tool to target and intimidate women protesters and journalists covering their protests. All this is being done to protect Gyanesh Kumar, who as Chief Election Commissioner has turned the Election Commission into a slaughterhouse of democracy. Amit Shah and Delhi Police should read the writing on the wall — the people have spoken, Gyanesh Kumar must go. Violence and thuggery will not deter the protesters who are fighting to save our democracy.

It was a privilege to inaugurate the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Bhavan in Daryaganj, Delhi, the new Central Committee office of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI). At a time when a powerful youth movement is emerging across India, DYFI, together with SFI and other student and youth organisations, is playing an important role in mobilising young people. The new office, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Bhavan will, I hope, become an important centre for this continuing struggle and for building a stronger, united and progressive youth movement across the country.

Congratulations to the students and youth who gathered in huge numbers at Jantar Mantar and elsewhere today to demand the ouster of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and defend democracy and the right to vote. On Gandhi Jayanti, it is pertinent to recall that Mahatma Gandhi’s first political struggle was to defend the voting rights of Indian migrants in South Africa. Today, our students and youth have shown us that they will ensure that our republic will continue to uphold the principles of Gandhi, and not of Godse. The message is loud and clear — Gyanesh Kumar, It's Time To Go!

Captain Smit Machchhar’s remarkable act of valour mid-air aboard flight FZ1073 saved hundreds of lives and prevented a great tragedy. Salute his bravery and presence of mind, even while being seriously injured. Wishing him a speedy recovery and lasting good health.

India has a choice. It can be one more country jostling for favour in Washington, or it can reclaim the role it once played — the moral voice of nations that were told their place in the world and refused to accept it. My piece in today’s Indian Express on the BRICS Summit and the way forward for India.

The Election Commission's statement is part of a face-saving exercise that does not address the serious questions raised by disclosures about its functioning. In fact, some of the decisions taken by the ECI, including the decision that the agenda will be circulated in advance and minutes will be issued for all its meetings, only further expose the farcical manner in which its operations were being carried out. The revelation made by former Keralam Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson that the current Chief Election Commissioner had offered him a BJP ticket for the 2019 General Election, and attempted to persuade him to accept the offer by alluding to the possibility of being made a Cabinet Minister, points to where Gyanesh Kumar’s loyalties lie. If he was then operating as a recruiting agent for the BJP while working as a civil servant, he is now a willing footsoldier for the BJP-RSS while holding a constitutional post. Gyanesh Kumar must go, and he should be impeached if he does not resign. The SIR process must be halted immediately. Voting rights should be restored to all those who have been wrongfully excluded. Nothing less can restore faith in the credibility of the ECI and in our democracy.