West Bengal’s SIR exercise flags lakhs of voters, including Amartya Sen, raising questions of legality and fairness. Experts Jawhar Sircar and Yogendra Yadav warn genuine voters may face harassment
A Kolkata maid with Aadhaar, PAN and voter ID now faces a citizenship hearing as Bengal’s voter revision puts 1.67 crore electors under scrutiny amid multiple phases and mounting uncertainty.
Migrant workers from Murshidabad were allegedly attacked in Odisha after being accused of being “Bangladeshis” despite showing valid documents. One worker, Jewel Rana, succumbed to his injuries, while two others remain hospitalised. The lynching has renewed concerns over the safety of Bengali-speaking Muslim migrant workers in BJP-ruled states.
Eight days after a mob attack during Kolkata’s Gita Path event, patty seller Sheikh Riyajul remains traumatised and jobless. His Rs 3,000 earnings were destroyed, and the five accused walked free on bail. With no help from authorities or society, fear and financial pressure may force him to return.
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.
Dozens of Bengali Muslim families in Kolkata’s Rajabazar were evicted without notice, leaving them homeless. Despite decades of residence and valid documents, police demolished their huts. With no response from local leaders or rehabilitation offered, the families have appealed to the State Minorities Commission for urgent humanitarian intervention.
Ahmed Wali Faisal Rahmani warns that the Waqf Act 2025 threatens centuries-old Muslim endowments that served all communities. While global institutions like Harvard thrive on endowments, India is dismantling its own. The Act could severely impact Dalits, the poor, and lakhs of non-Muslims relying on Waqf-supported services.
Ram Navami processions in Bengal, once unfamiliar to the region, have become politicised spectacles of dominance. The use of Israeli flags and communal slogans, especially in Barrackpore, signals a deeper agenda—where festivals are repurposed for polarisation, and silence on global injustices becomes a loud alignment with power and provocation.