More grim news.

A train derailment between Mumbai and Kolkotta, killing over 70, believed to be sabotage by Maoists. I’ve seen evidence of communists in the villages around Hyderabad, and many more in Kerala. There are red painted concrete monuments, some with the hammer and sickle emblem. Red flags fly from buildings, and strings of flags are draped from the temples. On one occasion fifty or more motorcycles with the riders and passengers holding flags and pennants on poles, five or six abreast in the road, swept through one of the villages like a troupe of knights. The workforce in India has rights, but they are not always implemented. Longer hours, fewer holidays – all the usual abuses, has led to a communist grip in certain areas where the communist party claims to defend the rights of poor workers. From what I can glean there was a split in the party in the 60s, and the communist party are respectable, and the Marxist/Maoist versions indisputably violent.