Monthly Archives: October 2023

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[...]

LeftWord stands with our author Prabir Purkayastha and with Amit Chakraborty

On October 3, 2023, the Delhi Police arrested Prabir Purkayastha and Amit Chakraborty under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, a draconian law that gives the police nearly untrammelled powers to act with impunity, against the principles of natural justice. Both of them work at Newsclick, which is a media project that has been wonderful in its coverage of people’s movements. It was the coverage done by Newsclick of the struggles of workers and farmers, women and Dalits, Adivasis and ot[...]