Bengal faces a constitutional crisis as 60 lakh voters are placed "under adjudication" in the final electoral roll. Minority-heavy districts like Murshidabad and Malda lead the list, sparking widespread outrage.
Activists in Kolkata termed SIR unconstitutional and politically driven, alleging harassment of genuine voters and uncertainty over the Supreme Court-directed supplementary electoral roll.
Mahendra Singh rose from mass protests, challenged power as a lone opposition voice, and was killed after declaring his identity, yet two decades later, people still gather to remember him
At a hearing centre, elderly residents, families and a retired Army jawan queue for SIR scrutiny, facing missing records, paperwork hurdles and fear of exclusion while officials verify electoral histories
Bengali Muslim migrant workers from West Bengal face rising hostility in BJP-ruled states like Odisha and Gujarat. They are harassed, assaulted, and often labeled as illegal Bangladeshis. Many return home in fear, jobless and traumatized, as communal profiling and police inaction fuel a growing humanitarian and economic crisis.
At a Kolkata event, Prof. Apoorvanand warned that weekends have become dangerous for civil rights activists in India. Citing the arrest of Prof. Ali Khan and police actions in Bastar, he said the state uses “process as punishment” to silence dissent, especially against Muslims and marginalized voices.
At a Jadavpur University lecture, U.S. historian Elisabeth Armstrong traced Trump-era authoritarianism to Cold War repression and corporate power. She emphasized how fear politics and economic precarity threaten American democracy, and called for renewed grassroots organizing, solidarity, and street-level resistance to confront today’s crises and reclaim democratic spaces.
MP and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Aazad, speaking in Kolkata, accused BJP and Godi Media of spreading hate and using Dalits in engineered riots. He questioned the Tiranga Yatra’s purpose, emphasized unity among oppressed communities, and announced plans to contest Bengal elections with the Azad Samaj Party.