International Viewpoint - online socialist magazine

The crisis in Nepal: climate crisis capitalism and the political economy of the Himalayas

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2026-08-30T19:26:09Z

On 26th August part of a glacier and the stone layers beneath it on the northern slope of Langtang Lirung in the Nepal-Tibet border [Tibet is today an “autonomous region” of China] collapsed. The ice and rock avalanche falling down from this nearly 7200 metre mountain was so powerful that its impact created a seismic signal equivalent to a 5.2 Richter scale earthquake. The debris flow then traversed nearly 100 kilometres via Lende Khola river to the Bhote Koshi- Trishuli river system. Villages have been destroyed, the principal road connecting Nepal with China has been isolated, and at least 6 hydel power centres have been damaged according to the news received till now over 500 deaths have been reported from Nepal and Tibet and nearly 2000 people are still untraced.

- IVP619 - August 2026 / China, Nepal, Climate

West Bengal Assembly Elections 2026 and the Footfalls of Fascism - A Balance Sheet

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2026-06-09T12:36:41Z

The 2026 West Bengal Assembly election was possibly the most important, not just for the province of West Bengal, but with an all-India significance. The Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies had found in the 2024 Parliamentary elections that they had gone over the peak and were in a decline. With the bulk of India's TV channels and much of the print media owned by a small number of houses all aligned with dominant capitalist groups that support the Modi government, the predictions had been for a massive BJP and NDA sweep. Some Exit Polls even gave them close to 400 seats in the 543 member parliament. In reality the BJP won 240 seats, less than a majority, and even with all its allies it had just 293 seats. It was evident that the fascist chariot was slowing down.

- Features / India

2021 West Bengal Elections: Populist Right wins, Fascists Gain and the Left Disappears

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2021-09-02T10:39:03Z

With quite some time having elapsed since the election results to the West Bengal Assembly were announced on 2 May, we need to start by providing a bird's eye view of the results before probing into details. And this can be summed up by saying that this is the most right-wing Bengal Assembly elected not only in independent India, but even going back to the Government of India Act 1935 and the elections of 1937.

- Features / India

The Struggle Against Dalit Oppression in India

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2020-08-08T06:43:24Z

Review of Anand Teltumbde, Republic of Caste: Thinking Equality in the Time of Neoliberal Hindutva (Navayana, 2018)

- Reviews section / India, Reviews

The Corona Virus Pandemic and Past Pandemics

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2020-04-04T08:29:27Z

The Corona virus threat has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation. How not to respond to it from the left is easily seen, by apparently leftist posts circulating in social media (Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter), which suddenly wake up to how many people die because of hunger, how many die due to dengue, or due to various other ailments. These are not serious responses, and usually by individuals who on other days seldom care about the collapse of public healthcare, or the causes of world hunger.

- IV543 - April 2020 / India, Covid-19 Pandemic

Understanding the Catastrophic Victory of the Fascists and the Long Term Consequences

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2019-06-13T09:03:20Z

The Indian parliamentary elections of 2019 ended with a huge victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). What was significant was not just the huge increase in votes and seats of the BJP and the NDA, but the total shift of votes and discourse to the right. Any attempt to minimise this by mechanically referring to classical Marxist texts and quotations would be suicidal.

- IV533 - June 2019 / India

India on Strike

Kunal Chattopadhyay, Soma Marik — 2016-10-10T11:55:22Z

In the midst of a right-wing onslaught, Indian workers carried out one of the largest strikes in world history.

- IV501 - October 2016 / India

Trupti Shah (1962-2016): Communist, Feminist, Human Rights Activist, Fighter for Environmental Justice

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2016-05-30T07:53:15Z

The movements for socialism, women's liberation, secularism, environmental rights, all suffered profoundly with the demise of Trupti Shah on 26th May evening. [1]

- In Memoriam - Obituaries and appreciations / Obituary, Fourth International, Women

Communal fascism and its dangers

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2014-11-04T09:03:04Z

This is an edited version of a speech given at the Calcutta Press Club by the author in April 2014 as part of a national seminar on Communal fascism. It is reprinted here as part of our discussion on the question of imperialism.

- Imperialisms today / Marxism, India, Religion, Far Right

Early Soviet Commitment to Environment Protection and its Decline

Kunal Chattopadhyay — 2014-10-08T08:10:52Z

This paper argues that while the environmentalist movements have often charged that Marxism has been productivist and has ignored the ecological concerns, the reality is more complex. The focus has actually been on Stalinist industrialisation and similar processes. It will be necessary to look at the early Soviet period, when a wide ranging attempt was made at conservationism.

- Features / Ecology and the Environment, Historical events and figures, Features