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The Photos of John Burtovich in Police Custody by Suchetana Chattopadhyay

In 1919, a British merchant vessel SS Boveric reached Calcutta. The ship carried a mixed crew ‘of all nations’. On board were Frank Bilboa and John Burtovich, two workers in their twenties. They had previously participated in strikes led by the Industrial Workers of the World at Broken Hill, New South Wales in 1917. Having been sentenced to and served six months in jail, they were detained until November 1918 by the Australian authorities who considered the best ways to get rid of them. Af[...]

The Legacy of the October Revolution (1917) in the Colonies of the World by Vijay Prashad

For more on this subject see Red Star Over the Third World, by Vijay Prashad Liberate the Colonies!: Communism and Colonial Freedom 1917-1924, edited by Vijay Prashad, John Riddell, Nazeef Mollah On December 24, 1917, just months after the October Revolution conducted by the Bolsheviks in the former Tsarist empire, the Bombay Chronicle wrote an editorial about that event.‘Our ideas of the Bolshevik organisation are very vague, . . . .’ wrote the anti-colonial nationalist editors.[...]

Nothing Human is Alien to Me: Not a Book Review by Gayatri Balu

Certain books glide into you. It stays there, refusing to leave, and reorients you at least in bits. This is about one such reading experience. Books speak to the location of the reader. I read Nothing Human is Alien to Me at a stage in an academic’s life quite often termed as an ‘early career researcher’, called so purely from a careerist gaze. Decent employment is scarce. One is observing an intimidating chase for citations, indexes, and grants. And quite often thinks ‘is it late alrea[...]

Nehal Ahmed's 'Nothing Will Be Forgotten' receives Muzaffar Ahmad Memorial Award, 2022

We are delighted to announce that Nothing Will Be Forgotten: From Jamia to Shaheen Bagh by Nehal Ahmed, is the winner of the Muzaffar Ahmad Memorial Award, 2022.   "Nehal Ahmed’s Nothing Will Be Forgotten: From Jamia to Shaheen Bagh is an eyewitness account of the students’ protest, the ensuing state violence against them, and the citizens’ movement against the discriminatory laws." – Githa Hariharan Read an excerpt from the book: "I felt helpless. I felt that the Jamia[...]

Stop the Persecution of LeftWord Books author Teesta Setalvad: International Union of Left Publishers.

In 2017, LeftWord Books published the memoir of Teesta Setalvad, Foot Soldiers of the Constitution. The book details the work of Teesta Setalvad’s quest to create a just world, a world that remembers the atrocities of the past to not repeat such violence in the future. At the heart of the book is Teesta’s work to unravel the facts of the anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat in 2002 and the persecution of her for this work by sections of the Indian establishment. There is no debate about the natur[...]