Zohran Mamdani’s victory is a testament to the success of Palestinian resistance and consciousness-raising efforts by New York City’s Pro-Palestine activists who have proven that one can oppose Zionism and still win elections.

Mahmoud Khalil’s freedom is intertwined with Palestinian liberation. It is not merely a test case for First Amendment or immigration privileges.

Universities in the US of America used to be institutions for not just free speech, but revolutionary political speech. From the student movement that ended Vietnam War to the radical uprising (“Intifada” to use the translated term that is frightening militarist warmongers who are “grilling” university presidents today while their funded military is grilling children in Gaza) of civil rights movement across the country, to Black Panthers and freeing political prisoners movements to anti-nuclear war peacenik movements - American students have always been at the front of the struggle calling for end to militarist occupation and interventions into any and every country that the US imperialism has tried to harm. And the situation with Palestine will be no different.

Zionists have reportedly killed Dr. Refaat Alareer. But stunningly, he remains very much alive to inspire the revolution for a Free Palestine!

Sahir’s dream coincided with that of a revolutionary who is capable of imagining not just a world without borders, but also a world without prison cells – a song that is so relevant today in light of sedition charges routinely applied to silence independent thinkers of the society Sahir once had sought to liberate.

Kanhaiya Kumar’s arrest was unfortunate and so his release on bail is a great relief. But beyond that, to seek revolutionary potential in the hoopla surrounding it, is to miss the point entirely. Competing for authentic nationalism to legitimize an oppressive power structure is not what the Communists do. Quite the opposite.

Rohith Vemula did not just commit suicide – he was murdered. And this murder was not committed by the right-wing ABVP – it was conducted by the left-liberals. The “Dalit problem” citing which Rohith gave up his life, is not the creation of any fringe elements among communal Hindus – it is sustained by the liberal Hindus who tremendously profit from the status quo it provides.

Contrary to what Žižek claims, egalitarianism and personal freedoms do not comprise Western legacy—their suppression in the name of colonialism does. One cannot rule over and plunder another country for decades, if not centuries, and then blame the “backwardness” on the ruled subjects.

Our social conditioning has manifested in our misplaced patriotic duties to refuse authority to a woman not on grounds of political differences, but solely because she is a ‘foreigner’, despite having been more of an Indian than the countless NRIs whose funds we have voluntarily solicited to fuel hatred in the subcontinent.