Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Are Universities Under Ideological Attack?

  10 April 2016, by Ambrose Pinto

  Is there a concerted effort by the Sangh Parivar to infiltrate into the realm of higher education in the name of nationalism, culture and indigenous knowledge? In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, higher education was used by the powerful forces of nationalism in the USSR, Germany, Italy and even in Europe and the USA to shape national identities and serve narrow national interests. As a result higher education produced ideologues for Nazi Germany, fascist Italy, Communist Russia and (…)

• RSS Experimenting with the Philosophy of Creation of Hindu Rashtra

  10 April 2016

  by Arun Srivastava
  A saffron conspiracy has been hatched to divide the country into two segments: the nationals and the anti-nationals. The RSS has been forcibly thrusting its design in the garb of nationalism primarily aimed at silencing the dissenting voices and alternate views. What is worse is that the RSS and BJP have been trying to rewrite the Indian Constitution. Else there was no reason for the BJP to move a resolution at its National Executive meet emphasising that refusing to (…)

• Myanmar on Move....: Love-hate Relationship and a Marriage of Convenience!

  10 April 2016

  by Sonu Trivedi
  Having undergone transition from authoritarianism to democracy in 2010, Myanmar’s ‘disciplined’ democracy is on move since the first free and fair democratic elections in 2015 held after a gap of six decades. However, in its current phase of transition, on the one hand it is facing the daunting task of re-building its institutions, while on the other, the forces of the past remain powerful demanding a delicate balancing and thoughtful compromises both from the wielders of (…)

• Political Economy of Farmers’ Suicide A Case of Western Odisha

  10 April 2016

  by Pradip Kumar Nath and Hemprabha Chauhan
  “Kadaleepali farmer’s suicide still shrouded in mystery”—drew attention of many and revealed the nexus of agrarian crisis, poor governance, assurance of job and, above all, the media’s apathy kowtowing to the crony capitalists’ dictates. This is the story of Harihar Budhia. Age-45 years, Village-Kadaleepali, Block- Barpalli, Dist-Bargarh, Odisha. Known as Budhia, he was the adopted son of Bal Mukund Budhia, his father’s elder brother. On the (…)

• Goodbye, Sushil Koirala

  10 April 2016, by Dipak Malik

  TRIBUTE
  The is a tribute to the late Prime Minister of Nepal, Sushil Koirala (August 12, 1939-February 9, 2016), by someone who was a close friend and knew him intimately since his days of exile in Varanasi.
  Sushil Koirala’s was an extraordinary story where a very transparent, simple, honest to the core and plain person could reach to the position of the Prime Minister as well as an able organiser of the long and tortuous battle against dictatorship and monarchy in Nepal. He learned his (…)

• Honouring Ambedkar

  10 April 2016, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  April 14 this year marks the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar. On this occasion we are reproducing the following piece by N.C. to offer our sincere homage to that towering personality.
  The award of the Bharat Ratna posthumously on B.R. Ambedkar raises mixed feelings. No doubt Ambedkar was one of the stalwarts of modern India; the high water-mark of his career was that he contributed most to the drafting of the Indian Constitution and (…)

• f Donald Trump is America’s Most Dangerous Man, History is poised for some Dangerous Turns

  10 April 2016, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  Imagine Praveen Togadia becoming the Prime Minister of India. Or Vijay Mallya. That is the kind of scenario that is developing in the US with Donald Trump’s apparently unstoppable race to the White House. He is full of ideological hatreds which he publicly proclaims. And he beats Mallya hollow in exhibitionist flamboyance.
  Additionally, he has his own special characte-ristics as well that would be an embarrassment for a US President. He seems to cherish looking buffoonish and (…)

• Sri Lanka: Does Rajapakse smell an Opportunity?

  10 April 2016, by Mohan K. Tikku

  ‘Yahapalana’ is a term that has been much in use in Sri Lanka’s political discourse ever since the present government came to power early last year. ‘Yahapalana’ is a Sinhala word, and means ‘good governance’. The Sirisena Government was voted into office in the January 2015 election on a promise of ‘good governance’. But one year down the road, the term has acquired other shades of meaning that are not always complimentary, and sometimes sarcastic.
  Like recently, when Sri Lanka had an (…)

• Gandhi and the Rising Tide of Fascism

  10 April 2016

  COMMUNICATION
  Sumanta Banerjee’s piece, “Recalling Gandhi in Narendra Modi’s India”(Mainstream, March 25, 2016), underlines the fact that the dead old man has not, after all, outlived his utility. Even Left-of-the-Left intellectuals find what Gandhi said about violence useful in combating the rising tide of Hindu communal fascism.
  Gandhi had repeatedly said that his non-violence was the non-violence of the brave and not of the coward. He made his position clear that he preferred violence (…)

• Why Land Reforms Remain Important

  10 April 2016

  COMMUNICATION
  At a time when the government is increa-singly marginalising the most important develop-ment issue of land reforms, people’s movements and all pro-poor forces and scholars should come together to reassert the continuing importance of land reforms. At one time the importance of land reforms and in particular the importance of providing at least some land for cultivation to the landless rural poor was widely recognised even at the government level. This need has not changed, (…)