June 2009

By the time these lines appear, the general election results are expected to be out and the contours of a new government should be available. No matter who forms the new government some very urgent tasks would be facing it. Bereft of all the tub-thumping of electioneering, the leaders of all political parties would be confronted with some problems of immediate concern and these cannot be wished away. One of these is the direction of the economic reforms in the coming period.
In the (…)

Akin to George Bush in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attack who, while declaring his war on terror, proclaimed that if one is not on the side of US Government then one is with the terrorists, the Chhattisgarh Government thinks that if one is not with the Salwa Judum, the state sponsored tribal militant group meant to counter the Naxalites, then one would be considered a sympathiser of the Maoists. Binayak Sen paid the price for criticising the Salwa Judum. Now, it the turn of (…)

After two needless years in the slammer,
you came out smiling, with a steady eye.
You seemed not resentful, but calmer—
frail in body, but in spirit high.
The deadly inert of your calling
so unshakeable in its cool,
so wholly a stranger to self and fear,
that governments may tear their regimented hair,
they seem evermore the fool.
Around so perfect faith as yours,
systems can only be falling.
You are no sprinter over the short span,
but the horse for the long (…)

DOCUMENT
An all-India fact-finding team visited Chhattisgarh from May 29 to June 1, 2009 in the wake of certain disturbing developments in the State plagued by Maoist violence, state terror, the Salwa Judum campaign and attacks on voluntary organisations (even Gandhian bodies) by the powers that be. The team visited the site of the demolished Vanvasi Chetna Ashram (VCA) at Kanwalnar near Dantewada and run by Himanshu Kumar, a noted Gandhian social activist working among the tribals in (…)

The recent violence in Punjab has taken place as a repercussion of the shootings in a Ravidass temple in Vienna in which the Dera Sachkhand head, Saint Niranjan Dass, was injured and his second- in-command, Saint Ramanand, was killed. This hurt the feelings of the followers of the Dera all over world. The Doaba region in particular was in flames for almost two days before the situation came under control following the appeal by the sants of the Dera.
The present article is divided (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Towards Legal Literacy: An Introduction to Law in India edited by Kamala Sankaran and Ujjwal Kumar Singh; Oxford University Press, New Delhi; 2008; pp. 211.
A student of political science or law would know that the society is regulated by certain laws and one should have the knowledge of such laws. However, people in general are hardly aware of laws and this has often led to disconcerting events and happenings. This book has been written to make not only students but (…)

With Cyclone Aila having caused widespread devastation in south Bengal in particular, the Union Government deemed it necessary to assure the West Bengal Government that it would provide a Rs 1000-crore cyclone relief package directly to the State and not through the panchayats controlled by the Trinamul Congress in the region. This is being interpreted in CPM circles as a rebuff to the TMC chief and Railway Minister, Mamata Banerjee, who is justifiably irked by this development given the (…)

Sometimes it takes a foreign eye to see India in perspective. Known statistics, for example, have been humanised by The Economist to paint a telling picture of the Indian reality in its post-election glow. The juxtaposition of facts goes thus:
“About 27 million Indians will be born this year. Unless things improve, almost two million of them will die before the next general election. Of the children who survive, more than 40 per cent will be physically stunted by malnutrition. Most will (…)

The formation of the Union Council of Ministers is an exercise in astute political gymnastics. The Congress President, the Prime Minister and their close confidants have demonstrated their shrewd political skills in being able to stitch together a Union Council of Ministers which is a ‘please-all‘ Ministry. Allies have been accommodated, interests within the party have been appeased, regional needs have been acknowledged and youth has been accorded its due place. There are murmurs of some (…)

The heavy defeat of the Left, particularly the Communist Parties, in the general election to Parliament has posed a serious problem of renewal of socialism and rebuilding the Communist Parties. Ordinarily this defeat should lead to thorough and sharp inner-party discussion but it is difficult to say if that would be possible due to the democratic centralism of party functioning which restricts inner-party democracy.
Any big change is possible only when it comes from the top leadership. (…)