Revolutionaries

Socialists in Syria warn that the regime of leader Bashar al-Assad is trying to crush the last centers of revolutionary resistance.

The statement from the Revolutionary Left Current in Syria statement says: “The criminal regime is working to turn Daraa, the cradle of the revolution, into a cemetery. “

In March 2011, the secret police arrested a group of 15 students who had spray painted “The people want to bring down the regime” on a wall. It was the slogan of the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions that the Syrians had seen on their television screens.

Al-Assad and his forces were terrified they would also be overthrown.

The students were tortured and their fingernails pulled out. The shock and anger over such barbarism helped spark a national uprising.

Destroy

Ten years after the start of the revolution, the government ruthlessly destroyed almost all the committees created by ordinary people to take over the management of their regions.

But, the statement said, “Despite the decline of the popular movement and its defeat in general, parts of the Daraa and Houran regions remained resistant to the forces of the regime and its allies as well as to other counterrevolutionary forces.”

It is a reference to how people had to fight the regime and its allies. In particular the Russian and Iranian forces, but also in certain places Isis and al-Qaeda.

The statement says, “The spirit of popular resistance and the goals of the popular revolution have remained alive and enduring.

“But the junta regime, built on the idea of ​​humiliating and crushing the people, could not tolerate the survival of this resistance.

“He believes that crushing it will crush the last hope of the Syrian people for their liberation, and thus complete their victory over the rebel masses.”

The regime took military control of the Daraa governorate province in 2018, but in some areas its hold is contested.

The latest challenge to the regime concerned those who refused to participate in the mock presidential elections in May this year.

Some 50,000 people in the Daraa al-Balad area were subjected to fierce bombardment. And defeating the resistance is not just about ending the hope of overthrowing al-Assad.

The statement said, “The end of popular resistance in Daraa is an economic need for the regime, Jordan and other countries. It is a necessity for the Zionist state [Israel], who prefers the regime to control its southern regions rather than control by a popular movement that is hostile to it.

“The regime has for decades been the best security guard of the Zionist state. “

At one point there were negotiations between the regime and the local committees of Daraa. But, “for months, the junta regime has violated all the agreements it has made with the resistance masses in Daraa, under Russian supervision.

“These days it’s tightening the noose around our people. It demands that they surrender completely or leave the Turkish occupation zones and the terrorist Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham in Idlib.

“The forces of the left and of freedom in our country and in the world must stand in solidarity with our people in Daraa, who defend their land, their freedom and their dignity. “

There is now talk of an agreement between the regime and some of the committees of Daraa. This would allow the government to disarm people and search homes at will.

But the declaration of the Socialists ends without compromise.

“Greetings to our comrades of the steadfast revolutionary left movement in Daraa. A salute to the masses of our heroic resistance

“No to the displacement of our people from Daraa. No to the transformation of Daraa into a concentration camp. Freedom for the popular masses in Daraa and in all regions of our country. Long live international solidarity!

New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually unveiled the renovated Jallianwala Bagh memorial complex in Amritsar on Saturday, saying it will inspire generations to learn more about the history of the “holy place.”

Addressing the nation, the Prime Minister, referring to the massacre at Jallianwala Bagh, reiterated that “it is not fair for a country to ignore such horrors from its past”, and, therefore, a- he said, India has decided to observe August 14 each year as the horrors of partition. Remembrance Day.

The Jallianwala Bagh massacre took place on April 13, 1919, when colonial troops opened fire on a crowd of thousands of unarmed Indians who had gathered there to mark the occasion of Baisakhi.

“Jallianwala Bagh is the place that inspired countless revolutionaries and fighters like Sardar Udham Singh, Sardar Bhagat Singh to die for the freedom of India. These 10 minutes of April 13, 1919 have become the immortal story of our struggle for freedom, thanks to which today we can celebrate the Amrit Mahotsav of freedom. On such an occasion, the dedication of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial in its modern version on the occasion of the 75th year of independence is an opportunity of great inspiration for all of us ”, declared the Prime Minister.

Calling this the ‘responsibility’ of each nation to preserve its history, Modi, who is also the chairman of the Jallianwala Bagh Memorial Trust, said, “Therefore, India has decided to observe August 14 each year as” Day of remembrance of the horrors of the score ”. India witnessed horrors like Jallianwala Bagh during the partition of the country. The people of the Punjab were the biggest victims of the partition. We still feel the pain of what happened at the time of the partition in all corners of India and especially in the families of Punjab, ”he said.

During his 20-minute address, the Prime Minister also referred to India’s efforts to evacuate its citizens from crisis-stricken Afghanistan and said current global conditions underscore the importance of ” Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat ”and reinforce the need for“ Atma-Nirbharta and Aatmvishwas ”.

“If Indians are in trouble anywhere in the world, then India is standing up to help them with all her might. Whether it is the corona period or the Afghan crisis, the world has lived it all the time … Hundreds of Afghan friends are brought to India as part of Operation Devi Shakti. Because of ‘Guru Kripa’ the government could bring holy guru Granth Sahib’s ‘swaroop’ with people to India (from Afghanistan), ”Modi said.

The Prime Minister also referred to the celebrations underway across the country under the banner of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsava” to mark the 75 years of its independence. The government is organizing a series of events and activities dedicated to freedom fighters, especially “unsung heroes,” events and historic places, across the country as part of this celebration.

“Efforts are being made to preserve and highlight places associated with milestones in the freedom struggle and national heroes. Like Jallianwala Bagh, national monuments are being renovated across the country such as the interactive gallery at the Allahabad museum, the Biplobi Bharat gallery in Kolkata, etc. The contributions of Azad Hind Fauz (INA) were highlighted by giving a new identity to the place. in Andaman where Netaji first unfurled the national flag. The names of the Andaman Islands were dedicated to the struggle for freedom, ”said the Prime Minister.

Modi expressed disappointment that freedom fighters from tribal communities did not have their rightful place in the history books. “Our tribal community has contributed greatly and made great sacrifices for freedom. Their contribution didn’t have as much of a place in the history books as it should have. Work is currently underway on museums showing tribal freedom fighters and their struggle in nine states across the country, ”Modi said.

He also said that efforts were being made to “preserve” the rich heritage of the Punjab. Happily auspicious occasions like the 550th Prakashotsava of Guru Nanak Dev ji, the 350th Prakashotsava of Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the 400th Prakashotsava of Guru Teg Bahadur Ji have taken place over the past seven years and the central government has tried to disseminate the teachings of the gurus through these holy occasions, ”the Prime Minister said.

The event also brought together several ministers and dignitaries, including the Chief Minister of the Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh, who urged the Prime Minister to ask the UK to return the personal effects of freedom fighter Udham Singh, including including his pistol and his newspaper.

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Following Donald Trump’s 2020 misogynistic sales deal with the equally misogynistic Taliban, the great powers have helped restore fundamentalist rule in Afghanistan. This agreement included a Taliban guarantee to ensure that no group or individual violates the security of the United States or its allies in Afghanistan. However, the bombing of Kabul airport by IS-Khorasan (IS-K), which tragically left at least 169 dead and many more injured, ended this provision. It was the last humiliation for the retreating United States and its allies.

But the revolutionary Afghan women went out to fight. And they call for international solidarity and resistance against the Taliban and the IS-K. And their Kurdish sisters, with their vast experience in the fight against Daesh (ISIS / ISIL) and its Turkish backers, made a similar appeal.

Challenge

In a statement released on August 20, the Revolutionary Association of Women of Afghanistan (RAWA) – first founded in 1977 – said that:

Women will no longer be chained! Just the next morning after the Taliban entered the capital, a group of our brave young women painted graffiti on the walls of Kabul with the slogan: Down with the Taliban! Our women are now politically conscious and no longer want to live under the burqa, which they easily did 20 years ago. We will continue our struggles while finding smart ways to stay safe.

Two days earlier, the general command of the YPJ (Kurdish Women’s Protection Units) also issued a statement saying:

Just as we, the YPJ, have resisted ISIS and the Turkish occupiers and their gangs with the organized force of women, strengthened and increased our army, Afghan women can also become a force for freedom with their strength and strength. organization.

Kurdish women call for solidarity

On August 16, Komalên Jinên Kurdistan (KJK) – a confederation of women’s organizations – issued a statement of solidarity with Afghan women. Referring to Turkey’s war on the Kurds, the KJK commented that the United States and its allies simply cannot be trusted:

Read on …

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Those who delivered Afghanistan to the Taliban today and those who yesterday occupied Afrin, Serêkaniyê, Girê Spî to the Turkish Republic are the same powers. Those who gave the green light to the Turkish invasion of Rojava and northeastern Syria yesterday, are repeating the same scenario today in Afghanistan.

This was proven once again when American forces Pull civilians killed as a result of a bomb explosion at Kabul airport.

KJK’s statement also referred to the Turkish invasion of Afrin, largely populated by Kurds:

Much like in Afrin, where the YPJs, which inspire women around the world, were founded, and where today women are enslaved and murdered due to the policies of global hegemonic powers, Afghan women also face the same threatens. now.

He concluded:

We call on all women, especially women in the Middle East, to stand in solidarity with our sisters in Afghanistan, to make their voices heard and to stand up for their lives, their achievements and their dreams.

Leading the resistance

In October 2001, RAWA declared that:

The continued US attacks and the rising toll of innocent civilian casualties not only provides an excuse for the Taliban, but will also empower fundamentalist forces in the region and even around the world.

Tragically, twenty years later, this prediction has proven to be correct.

Additionally, in March of this year, RAWA made it clear what exactly would happen as a result of the 2020 Trump-Taliban deal. He said:

Today, it is up to our people, especially our women, to stand up against the betrayal of the United States through a nationwide uprising to combat Pakistani, Taliban and ISIS mercenaries.

RAWA also spoke of how their Kurdish sisters from Kobane (Rojava) “rubbed ISIS’s muzzle on the ground”. Referring to the funding and arming of Pakistan’s Taliban, RAWA added:

If we stand up fearlessly, with determination and resilience, we can push the ISI-created Taliban into the folds of their Pakistani godfathers.

RAWA further stated that it is women who must now “lead the resistance against the Taliban and co.”

Armed resistance

Earlier in August, a commentator tweeted how Afghanistan needs armed resistance via the equivalent of the YPG (Kurdish People’s Protection Units) and YPJs and the largely Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces:

#Afghanistan needs a YPG & YPJ and the equivalent of the Syrian Democratic Forces to fight the Taliban.#SanctionPakistan pic.twitter.com/WrbnCsqj2L

– Endi Zentarmi (@EndiZentarmi) August 11, 2021

The YPJs are feminists who practice democratic confederalism. It is a form of direct democracy based on the ideas of the American anarchist Murray Bookchin. According to Kongreya Star, democratic confederalism is:

a system based on a network of small municipalities and local assemblies in which people come together to self-organize their neighborhoods and towns and to decide their collective needs and concerns. This system is not based on the nation-state paradigm with its centralized, state-organized democracy, but rather is a form of direct, bottom-up democracy.

It was the YPG / YPJ and their allies that defeated Daesh in its de facto Syrian capital, Raqqa. But Joe Biden, then US vice president, warned the Kurdish militias to back down on their advances. Biden said they “shouldn’t expand west of the Euphrates … if they do, they’ll never get US support again.”

Biden’s threat was to support NATO-member Turkey, which seized Kurdish-populated territory in northern Syria. Turkey is now bombing raid hospitals in Rojava and Sinjar province, mainly populated by Yazidis. As for the authoritarian Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, he affirms that the recent statements of the Taliban are “moderate”.

Kurdish women-RAWA links

Meanwhile, the link between Kurdish women and Afghan women’s struggles for freedom was further emphasized:

When the women rise, no force can withstand the storm. Solidarity with the struggles of women in #Afghanistan and that their struggles be fruitful against all forms of fascist, patriarchal and conservative elements. #Afghanistan crisis pic.twitter.com/l1W4rjLXwt

– Hawzhin Azeez (@hawzhin_azeez) August 15, 2021

In a September 2019 interview, activist Samia Walid also spoke of the link between the Kurdish struggle against Daesh and that of Afghan women:

The struggle and the sacrifices of the lionesses of Kurdistan were for us an inspiration and a source of strength. Their struggle against ISIS and other medieval criminals has taught us enormous lessons.

Walid added:

RAWA considers that international solidarity with independentist, freedom-fighting, democratic and progressive organizations and parties is an essential element of our internal struggle. Our struggle converges with the struggle of the Kurdish people because most of our enemies are of a similar nature.

reality of the taliban

Walid also explained how RAWA’s political activities include:

publish our magazines and articles, and mobilize women to become aware and join our struggle. We collect and document the killings, rapes, looting, extortion and other crimes of these warlords in remote areas of Afghanistan. Our social activities provide education for women (not just literacy classes but social and political awareness of their rights and how to realize them), emergency aid, orphanage establishment and related activities. to health.

Most recently, RAWA issued 29 bans the Taliban could impose on women in Afghanistan. These range from banning women from working outside the home to banning women from studying at school or university or other educational institutions.

In addition, the Taliban have organized an “Orwellian Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice,” which is:

responsible for controlling the small details of people’s daily life like beard length, dress code and having a Mahram (male companion, only father, brother or husband) for a woman.

Rise up!

RAWA is now calling for a “democratic front” to rise up and resist the Taliban:

Today, as we call for the constitution of a democratic front against the Taliban, we call on all democratic, secular, anti-fundamentalist and anti-occupation forces, all our tormented women, girls and men, to say that nothing will not come out of mourning. Let us stand up and resist the Taliban and their partners, in any way and at any level, and give them a taste of defeat and sorrow.

The United States and its allies have abandoned Afghan civilians to the mercy of the Taliban. Therefore, resistance inside the country will necessarily be strictly clandestine.

And the revolutionary women of Afghanistan will need all the support they can get.

Featured image via Flickr / Kurdishstruggle

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WAlthough the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement has raised the profile of holidays like Juneteenth and Black History Month, there is a significant black celebration that remains on the fringes of American popular consciousness. Black August is a month-long commemoration dedicated to freedom fighters lost in the struggle for the liberation of black people, especially those who were killed by American authorities or who perished behind bars.

Black August celebrants regard the crimes committed by some of these revolutionaries as acts of war against a system already at war with them. With the release of films like Shaka King’s biopic of murdered Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton and data showing that large numbers of Americans now view individual acts of police violence as part of a more racist system broad, the politics and culture behind Black August are becoming more and more mainstream. If the new generations of Americans can understand the war that has been waged against black radicals, and against black Americans as a whole, they should honor Black August by demanding the release of radicals still imprisoned in a racist system.

Black radicals within the California prison system created Black August in 1979. Although it partially commemorates events like Nat Turner’s 1831 rebellion against slavery and the start of the Haitian Revolution, it primarily honors the legacy of black freedom fighters who were imprisoned or killed in the 20th century while working for the revolution in the United States.

On August 1, 1978, Jeffrey Khatari Gaulden, a black radical imprisoned since 1967 for assault with a deadly weapon, was seriously injured during a football match at San Quentin State Prison. Prison staff did not provide emergency care quickly enough and Gaulden died in what witnesses considered preventable death. His death was the immediate impetus for the creation of Black August, but the tradition was also created to celebrate other black radicals of the 1970s such as the Jackson brothers.

Jackson’s older brother, George Jackson, was a Marxist-Leninist theorist and organizer who was killed by guards while leading a prison uprising. Young Jackson, Jonathan Jackson, was shot dead while attempting to kidnap a judge and prosecutor from a California courthouse. Other revolutionaries that Black August sought to honor included WL Nolen, a comrade of George Jackson who was killed by guards after being caught in a prison brawl between black leftists and neo-Nazis. Two other black men were also shot dead in the same incident.

Mama Ayanna Mashama, founding member of the Black August organizing committee, explained how participants observed the first Black August:

… The brothers did not listen to the radio or watch television, moreover, they did not eat or drink anything from sunrise to sunset; and boisterous and boisterous behavior was not allowed …

Today, the tradition – propagated by one of Mashama’s other organizations, the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement – is celebrated inside and outside prisons. Observers engage in reflection, political education, physical exercise, and other ways to sharpen their bodies and minds to honor the work of those who came before them. But Black August is also an opportunity to intensify the struggle for the release of detainees whom many activists and organizers consider to be political prisoners.

Mumia Abu Jamal, often referred to simply as Mumia, is one of America’s best-known black political prisoners, but far from the last still behind bars. Mumia is a journalist and former Black Panther convicted of the 1981 murder of a Philadelphia policeman. The evidence and testimony against him has long been disputed, and an international movement has grown in his defense. The movement has challenged his original death sentence and continues to fight for the end of his current life sentence. Many organizations, such as the Coalition for the Abolition of Death by Incarceration, regard the life sentences of Mumia and other imprisoned radicals as long, prolonged and deliberately cruel de facto death sentences.

Russell “Maroon” Shoatz, another former Black Panther, was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1972 after being convicted of murdering a police officer. He spent 22 years of his imprisonment in solitary confinement, sitting in a small cell for 23 hours a day, with lights shining above him at all times.

A third former Panther, Albert Woodfox, was released in 2016 from a Louisiana prison after spending 43 years in solitary confinement. While these sentences may seem fair for the alleged crimes, trying them without thinking about the context in which the prisoners were held would do reality itself a disservice.

It is easy for Americans to understand and support black revolutionaries in other contexts, whether foreign or cinematic. Nelson Mandela, for example, is revered by many Americans. Yet Mandela was hardly different from his American counterparts. He co-founded uMkhonto we Sizwe (Spear of the Nation), an armed group that engaged in bombing campaigns and targeted attacks across South Africa, killing dozens of police, soldiers and civilians in the process. Despite the efforts of the U.S. government, which has attempted to support South Africa’s apartheid government for much of its history, most Americans now understand that the regime was indefensibly based on segregation and violence. racial.

How difficult is it to understand the same thing for the United States for most if not all of the 20th century? George Jackson witnessed the murder of his friend by prison guards for the crime of fighting white supremacists. Mumia had long been the target of the Philadelphia Police Department for her reporting on Move, a left-wing black organization with a complex in the city. A few years after Mumia’s arrest, Philadelphia police dropped explosives on the move, killing 11 people, including five children. The Black Panther Party was harassed, infiltrated and attacked, and law enforcement officers murdered one of the Panthers’ early leaders, 19-year-old Fred Hampton, as he slept in his bed.

These imprisoned rulers were striving to build a better society for their people at a time when their friends and compatriots were being murdered in their homes. And it is inhuman to let former radicals who are now elderly and sick die behind bars so many decades after being initially convicted.

Yet this is not a problem only for black seniors; a new generation of black political prisoners, like Joshua Williams, are languishing in prison cells for the crime of engaging in resistance against the modern state of mass incarceration and police violence, a system that has enabled police to evade responsibility for the murder of 12 years. old Tamir Rice in a park and Aiyana Stanley-Jones, seven, as she slept in bed. Williams, arrested at 18, received eight years in prison for setting fire in and around a convenience store as he protested the death of Antonio Martin, an 18-year-old black gunman killed by a Missouri police officer a few months after Williams protested the murder of Mike Brown by another Missouri police officer.

In the same way that mainstream America tended to embrace black art while rejecting black people, mainstream American culture belatedly adopted the iconography and achievements of black radicals while letting them die. As Levi’s celebrates Black Power with a line of denim jackets, Democrats emulate a style popularized by black radicals, and Beyoncé’s Black Panthers-themed Super Bowl lingers in the public imagination, we have to face it. the truth.

Black radicals have helped clarify the reality of the systemic and direct violence of the American state, and for that clarity the nation owes such figures as Soundiata Acoli, Joseph Brown, Veronza Bowers, Mutulu Shakur, Imam Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin , Ed Poindexter, Fred Burton and many others their freedom.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath remembered the freedom fighters who selflessly sacrificed their lives for the country’s independence and their worth on the occasion of the 75th Independence Day Sunday.

On this occasion, the Prime Minister called on the people to take an oath of dedication to the nation. He said Independence Day was a festival to cherish the memories of all the freedom fighters who gave their lives for the country’s freedom.

Wearing a saffron robe, Yogi Adityanath hoisted the national flag at Vidhan Bhawan in the state capital before his address to the people of the state.

Yogi said that ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ was a great festival to cherish the memory of countless anonymous Indians who sacrificed their lives for the independence of the country. “On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Independence Day, let us all pledge to observe the dedication of anonymous sacrifices to the nation,” he said.

“Today we can live in an independent India thanks to the sacrifices of millions of sons and daughters of Mother India. It is the occasion to pay homage to these courageous souls, to their spirit and to their dedication to free Mother India and to live for the country for which they sacrificed themselves ”, he declared.

He went on to say that the whole country marked “Amrit Mahotsav” with a sense of gratitude to those who worked hard for freedom and with a commitment to building a strong and prosperous India. He said that the memorials of martyrs associated with the freedom movement built in different parts of the country were a living testament to the cost of independence and that they would invoke a sense of patriotism and dedication among compatriots for the nation.

“Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav will help us realize the vision of” Naya Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat “and help us gain new energy (amrit) for the development of our future under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said. he adds.

From the leadership of Rani Laxmibai in Jhansi to the leadership of Mangal Pandey in Ballia, the result of the collective struggle for independence in different parts of the country has been that the British had to leave India, he said. .

The chief minister said that in 1916 in Lucknow itself, Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak announced that “Swaraj is my birthright, I will have it” and this proclamation has become the mantra of the country’s independence movement. He said that heroes of the struggle for freedom like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Veer Savarkar, Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee have given a new high to this country’s fight and Uttar Pradesh has become the focal point. of this decisive battle.

The Chief Minister also congratulated the nine police officers and state personnel for receiving the Presidential Police Medal for Bravery on the occasion of Independence Day. Four State Heroes were honored with the Police President’s Medal and 73 police officers for their unwavering courage were selected for the Police Medal.

The chief minister said that in addition to entering the year of Amrit Mahotsav’s independence, this year was also the centenary year of the historic Chauri-Chaura incident.

Concluding his speech, Yogi said that we can all sincerely work to realize the dreams of the great revolutionaries who sacrificed their lives for the freedom of the country. He said it is a solemn duty of the people to remember and celebrate the extraordinary spirit of the freedom fighters, their supreme sacrifices and their lofty ideals.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday paid tribute to freedom fighters and revolutionaries such as Jawaharlal Nehru, BR Ambedkar, Queen Chennamma, Bhagat Singh and others from across the country for their efforts for the independence and nation building.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of Fort Rouge on Independence Day 75, Modi said the country bowed to its freedom fighters.
“… whether it was Mahatma Gandhi who turned the struggle for freedom into a mass movement, or Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose who sacrificed everything for the freedom of the country, or the great courageous revolutionaries such as Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Ashfaqulla Khan and Bismil (Ram Prasad Bismil), the country remembers all, ”Prime Minister Modi said.

During his 90-minute speech, the Prime Minister said: “Whether it was Nehru ji, the first Indian Prime Minister, Sardar Patel, who united the nation, or Babasaheb Ambedkar, who showed India the way. of the future, the country remembers each such a personality. The country is indebted to them. ”
Modi also highlighted the role of revolutionary women from all over the country and specifically mentioned Jhansi’s Queen Rani Lakshmibai, Queen of Chittoor (in Andhra Pradesh) Chennamma, Queen Gaidinliu (of Nagaland) and the brave heart of Assam Matangini Hazra and expressed the gratitude of the country for their contribution.
He said the country remembers every person and personality who contributed to the struggle for freedom, and will forever be indebted to all.
Pointing out that for centuries India has fought to preserve its culture, land and freedom, Modi said that many names may not have been recorded in the pages of history, but the nation bow down to all who fought for it.

Lucknow: Today India celebrates the 75th Independence Day. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today raised the flag in the capital Lucknow. It is at this time that he remembers the revolutionaries. He said: “This year is the year of the Amrit Mahotsav of the country’s independence. He conveyed his best wishes to the people of the State and paid tribute to the freedom fighters on this occasion. The minister also tweeted on Twitter.

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? Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath)

There he writes: “The ‘Amrit Mahotsav of freedom’ is a great celebration to cherish the sacred memory of countless anonymous sacrifices who sacrificed their lives for the independence of the country. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of Independence Day, let us all pledge to observe the dedication of our anonymous sacrifices to the nation. ”At the same time, he called on the nation to take an oath to have a sense of In fact, CM Yogi also declared on the occasion that it is a festival to cherish the memory of all the sacrifices that gave their lives for the independence of the country.

????? ?????????????,

‘???? ?? ???? ??????? ‘ ?? ?????? ???????????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ??? – ??????? ?? ???? ???? ??? ?? ??? ????????? ????????? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ??????? ???? ?? ??????? ? ?? ???????? ?? ??? ‘?????????? ???? ‘ ?? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ???? ??????? ????

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? Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath)

You can see CM Yogi tweeting: “Following the Prime Minister’s suggested panch sutras on the Amrit Mahotsav of independence, inspired by the immortal sacrifice of the freedom fighters, he began to realize the dream of an autonomous India. . At the same time, the Chief Minister said: “The British have suffered reprisals all over the village, town for the freedom of Mother Bharati. Give meaning to the Amrit Mahotsav of freedom by bowing to the revolutionaries who amazed everyone with their valor. ”

Wwho betrayed the revolution? This is a question that worries Cubans after the regime’s harsh crackdown last week on street protesters marching for freedom. It is also an enigma for other former liberation movements now wielding power in places as far apart as South Africa, Nicaragua and Palestine. Too often, it seems, the new bosses behave little better than the old bosses they toppled.

Those on the progressive left face an obvious dilemma when the revolution causes a backfire. True to a simplistic American tradition, US President Joe Biden is busy dividing the world into good and bad, Democrats and autocrats. Much of the attention has been focused on authoritarian right-wing rulers, as in Brazil, Belarus, Russia and Myanmar.

But what about leftist dictatorships? China does not easily fit this definition, as it has long since swapped communist theory for capitalist practice – although the CCP does not admit it. In contrast, Cuba’s top executives, self-proclaimed heirs to Fidel Castro, remain loyal to old-school Marxist ideology and rhetoric. Like a textbook, the Cuban president called the protests a Yanqui plot.

Miguel Díaz-Canel has abandoned the hackneyed story of a Bay of Pigs putsch concocted by mercenaries and subversives in Miami. “They will have to go through our bodies if they want to face the revolution,” said the 61-year-old party bureaucrat, ignoring his lack of Che Guevara expertise. The protesters were “confused revolutionaries,” he said – a term more apt to himself.

It would have been far more honest to recognize that any “confusion” among Cubans stems from the hardships caused by a declining economy, poor governance, Covid-19, U.S. sanctions, and shortages of subsidized Venezuelan oil – and by the failure of an illegitimate and corrupt democratic regime to remedy it. Locking up protesters and journalists is not a solution.

So is it fair to say that the Communists in Cuba betrayed their own revolution? Not entirely. Castro’s Cuba after 1959 suffered decades of US-led manipulation and interference. Efforts to build a more just society have been sabotaged from the outside.

Biden is less overtly hostile. But a fundamental shift in U.S. politics seems unlikely, given the importance of Florida’s Republican-leaning Latin American vote in next year’s midterm elections. Knowing this, the Cuban leadership will not change willingly either. So the siege – and the struggle – continues.

Nicaraguan Daniel Ortega, a veteran of the 1981-90 war with right-wing US-funded Contra rebels, similarly argues that the 1979 revolution in the country is relentlessly betrayed and subverted from abroad – even if, at its peak, its Sandinista front benefited from support abroad, especially in Brittany.

What a disappointment, then, that Ortega has become a modern version of Anastasio Somoza, the dictator he toppled. Like another socialist hero, Venezuelan Hugo Chavez and his sinister successor, Nicolas Maduro, he eviscerated opposition parties, abolished mandates, surrounded the judiciary and the media and detained opponents. It was like the good old days when Washington imposed sanctions last week.

In a very real sense, the Nicaraguan revolution never stood a chance. Global geopolitical, financial and trade systems opposed it. More than 40 years later, the country remains among the poorest in the Western Hemisphere.

Yet that’s not how Ortega puts it. He and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, cling, with a strange incongruity, to the mantle of successful revolutionaries and revolutionaries. In the mutual betrayal debate, who is laughing at whom?

Entrenched poverty, a history of colonial exploitation and the legacy of war were also challenges that African freedom fighters of the 20th century also faced. But once in charge, they have too often failed because the power has eaten away at the principle.

In energy-rich Angola and Mozambique, where money trumps the collective, the so-called left liberators are the new elites while the people remain poor. Robert Mugabe’s post-independence Zimbabwe was a disaster in a league of its own.

But how can one explain the turmoil that is currently shaking South Africa, which, when the African National Congress took the reins in 1994, was the richest economy on the continent? These latest riots and looting do not ultimately concern the imprisonment of former President Jacob Zuma but the imprisoned dream of a post-apartheid era of shared prosperity and equal opportunity.

Circumstances unquestionably conspired against South Africa. The economic ravages of Covid, now in a third wave, have been particularly severe. Unemployment in the first three months of 2021 was over 32%. Youth unemployment is the highest in the world. Yet all of this does not fully explain the collapse.

The bottom line is that the ANC, weakened by endless power struggles and corruption scandals, has clearly failed to fulfill the hopes invested in Nelson Mandela’s rainbow nation – and the people of it. pays the price. A once inspiring movement has clearly gone astray. Its deployment of troops against desperate civilians bears disturbing echoes of the past.

For those worried about the rise of authoritarianism on the left, the dictatorial behavior of Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, is particularly disturbing. The unpopular 85-year-old Fatah leader has not faced a general election since 2006. His administration is seen as self-serving, confrontational and ineffective. The recent death in custody of a critic, Nizar Banat, sparked howls of protest across the West Bank which have been harshly suppressed.

The Palestinian state is an extremely symbolic leftist cause. But under the dead hand of the ruler of Ramallah, the vision fades as foreign interests diminish and Israel shamelessly usurps its land. Palestinians are in dire need of fresh, unifying, democratically elected leaders who can curb the violence of hardline Hamas supporters, avoid Israeli, Saudi and Iranian political traps, and rekindle active international support for a solution. viable to two states.

To win, the conditions under which this and other battles are fought must change. The old lessons of freedom must be learned anew, the slide to authoritarianism has resisted. It is time for a revolution on the left.

Prepared for en.granma.cu by Juan Diego Nusa Peñalver, Yudy Castro Morales and Milagros Pichardo Perez, published July 13.

“We are here because the streets belong to Fidel, because the streets of Cuba belong to revolutionaries.” This is the sentence we heard the loudest as we walked along several avenues of Havana on Sunday afternoon, July 11, when a whole people came out to defend their Revolution.

We heard it, for example, in front of the Capitol, seat of the National Assembly of People’s Power, and along the Prado to the Malecon seafront. We heard it all the way to Belascoaín, and along Carlos III, where neighbors gathered, waving flags and, above all, ideas.

A woman shouted from her balcony: “Viva la Revolución! and “Viva Cuba Libre!” His voice joined those of many young inhabitants who, in the street below, waved the flag of the July 26 Movement and repeated, louder and louder, more and more clearly: “Fidel, Raúl and Díaz-Canel are here” , “Patria o Muerte, Venceremos” (The homeland or death, we will win).

We heard it with Infanta, from women and men, Cubans of few and many years, all with the same conviction: a country like ours, with so many dreams and more than a few pains. , defends himself tooth and nail, knowing that, like the poet [Fayad Jamís] says: “For this freedom / beautiful as life / we must give everything / if necessary / even the shade / and it will never be enough.”

We heard it from Julio Alejandro Gómez, a blogger who joined the honest claims of those who love and create and took to the streets, “because I’m a revolutionary, and I know it’s manipulation. They want to take advantage of our needs and our problems to apply the same formula of “social unrest” that they have used in other countries, but with Cuba, there are no formulas that work. The Revolution belongs to the people and is defended by the people.

We heard Alberto Bermudez, who lives on Infanta, and in the midst of the din, hummed “I die as I lived” with a group of friends, and, shortly after, it was the notes of the national anthem that ‘they offered.

“Unity and continuity”, others shouted, while Alberto interrupted his song to affirm: “Fidel, they are your people, and the streets belong to the people. The order has been given and we are here. We are going to win, despite COVID-19, despite everything. “

The same sentences, shouted along the way, led our group of journalists to Alfredo Vázquez, provincial secretary of the Federation of Cuban Workers in Havana, who was injured in one of the clashes with the “destabilizers”.

“They hit me hard on the head and I ended up with a seven point gash. But here I am, my flag stained with blood, ready to continue defending the Revolution, because to die for the Fatherland is to live ”, he insisted without slowing down, like Cuba, the land revolutionaries who never let themselves be intimidated.

And there next to the Via Blanca, Faustino Leonard, a resident of the municipality of Cerro, also told us about the day, while the remains of thrown stones were still in the street.

“The quarrel was tough here, but there were more revolutionaries. The saboteurs fled to hide, probably in a cave, as rats usually do. Let no one doubt it, this country belongs to the people and will continue to belong to us.