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Prabir Purkayastha is in Jail

On 3 October 2023, Prabir Purkayastha, the editor of Newsclick, was arrested by the Delhi Police. He has been in prison ever since then. Imprisonment is familiar to Prabir. In August 1975, three months into the Emergency, Prabir was detained on the campus of Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he was a student. As he recounts in Keeping Up With the Good Fight, he was picked up accidentally; the police was looking for someone else. He was nonetheless held under the Maintenance of Internal Security[...]

Call for Red Books Day 2024

The International Union of Left Publishers calls on left writers, publishers, bookshops, and readers to join us to rescue the collective life on 21 February 2024, Red Books Day. As on the previous days, we encourage you to hold public readings of your favourite Red Books in your own language (it is also International Mother Language Day). In 2023, a million people participated in Red Books Day; for 2024, we would like to at least double the number! Red Books Day takes place on the date [...]

Who are We? with Sohail Hashmi

Right-wing ideologies and movements are on the rise globally. We are surrounded by fake news, distorted narratives, and spurious theories. Rationality and scientific thinking are under attack. In this context, it is critical that we arm ourselves with critical thinking, rationality, a scientific outlook, and logic. The Battle of Ideas courses are aimed at precisely this. Enroll today. SIGN UP HERE!   Who are we? History is vulnerable to distortion influenced by biases, cul[...]

Publishers for Palestine: Statement of Solidarity

A statement from Publishers for Palestine calling for a ceasefire and denouncing repression of Palestinian solidarity. November 3, 2023 We invite publishers, editors, and writers around the world who stand for justice, freedom of expression, and the power of the written word, to sign this letter and join our global solidarity collective, Publishers for Palestine. We honour the courage, creativity, and resistance of Palestinians, their profound love of their historic lands, and their refusal[...]

Berlin 1916: A letter from Chatto by Suchetana Chattopadhyay

On 29 July 1916, while the First World War was raging, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya (1880-1937), aka, 'Chatto' wrote this letter to a high-ranking official, probably in the German Foreign Office. As members of the Indian revolutionary circle in Berlin and Europe, he and his companions were hoping to overthrow British Empire in India with the help of imperial Germany. Agnes Smedley and the turn to communism were still some years away. The address of the Berlin Committee given in this typed le[...]