Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Farmers’ Suicides, Rural Distress and a Dying Nation

  5 September 2015, by Kobad Ghandy

  The following is the latest article written by Kobad Ghandy, the noted Marxist-Maoist thinker, now lodged in Tihar Jail 3, last month and sent to us for publication in Mainstream.
  The lives of the superstars, which preoccupy our media, is not the real India. It is the Black (market) India used to seduce the middle classes into a make-believe world, living the fantasy of an unreal hope. Crumbs and discards from the super-rich table, lapped up by a gullible section, plus the mythical glory (…)

• Uttarakhand: A People-friendly and Environmentally Responsible Step sacrificed at the Altar of Development

  5 September 2015

  by Rakesh Agrawal
  More than 700 existing, proposed and under construction dams and hydro-electricity projects (HEPs) in Uttarakhand had not only put its highly sensitive Himalayan eco-zone into danger by submerging thousands of hectares of forests and agricultural land, devastating its fragile mountains, creating landslides and inducing earthquakes as massive amount of water is stored in their reservoirs, these have also uprooted thousands of people from their homes as they have to leave (…)

• India Census 2011: Where are the Atheists?

  5 September 2015, by Subhash Gatade

  “A good world needs knowledge, kindness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men’—Bertrand Russell
  The consternation witnessed around the release of religious figures in Census 2011 has rather overshadowed an interesting fact which has emerged through this mammoth exercise. It tells us that India has 2.87 million people who have no faith in any religion, which is around 0.24 per (…)

• A NEW COLD WAR?

  5 September 2015

  by R.G. GIDADHUBLI
  In the first half of August 2015, the Russian Government declared its policy of embargo on imports of food products such as fruits, vegetables, cheese, poultry items etc from the Western countries. In early summer Russia initiated a campaign against foreign foods and subsequently enforced a ban on imports. This was a reaction to the policy of economic sanctions imposed by the West on Russia for its alleged involvement in the east Ukrainian conflict and for its annexation (…)

• Worsening Situation

  31 August 2015, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  The India-Pakistan talks at the level of the two countries’ National Security Advisors—that were scheduled to take place in New Delhi on August 23—were called off late on August 22 night. The decision was taken by the Pakistan side in Islamabad no doubt, but it was in response to what External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had said in New Delhi a few hours before. At her press conference that day, Swaraj had publicly stated that the NSA-level talks, as agreed upon at the Nawaz (…)

• Don’t play One-move Chess with Pakistan, have a Game Plan

  31 August 2015, by M K Bhadrakumar

  The following article was written just before the NSA-level Indo-Pak talks were put off. However, its contents are highly illuminating; hence it is being published here for the benefit of our readers.
  The whole story of the two-hour detention of the Hurriyat leaders in Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday (August 20) may never be known, but what seems plausible is that New Delhi and Srinagar were probably not on the same page.
  Very sad, indeed, if South Block didn’t anticipate the inevitability (…)

• Sri Lankan Parliamentary Poll Results Implications For The Peace Process

  31 August 2015

  by Sanjal Shastri
  The results of the recently concluded general elections in Sri Lanka are likely to have a significant impact on the post-conflict peace- building process. Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, has indicated on several occasions that he will go ahead and devolve power to the Northern Province and implement the 13th Amendment. The 13th Amendment aims at devolving powers to the Provinces.
  Meaningful devolution of power to the Northern Province has the potential to have a (…)

• Sri Lanka Stays on the Right Course

  31 August 2015, by Apratim Mukarji

  On August 17, Sri Lanka’s former dictatorial President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s gamble failed decisively and the country wisely stayed on its course to correct the misdeeds of the past by electing a government committed to democracy and the rule of law. The mood of the moment was memorably described by the outgoing Prime Minister Ranil Wickremasinghe (also tipped to be the new Prime Minister) in these words: “Let us build a decent society. Let us work with consensus.” Elaborating, he said on (…)

• On the Hanging of Yaqub Memon

  31 August 2015, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  The following lines were written just before Yaqub Memon’s execution. It is being published now as its contents have not lost their validity.
  Why am I writing for the second consecutive week on Yaqub Memon? Perhaps, because the more I’m hearing television debates and those fiercely charged discussions out there in the open on his proposed hanging, I feel its relevant to focus on those thoughts hitting ever so persistently.
  Foremost, why is it that in the midst of our supposed (…)

• The Naga Peace Accord 2015: A Step in the Right Direction

  31 August 2015

  by M.R. Biju
  The word “Naga” denotes a conglomeration of ethnic tribes living on the Himalayan range in North-East India. Angami, Ao, Chakesang, Konyak, Tangshang (formerly known as Heimi, Pangmi, Tangsa, Wancho, Nocte), Lotha, Pochury, Rengma, Sumi, Maram Mao, Tangkhul Thangal, Sangtam, Poumai, Zeliangrong, Phom, Nocte, Maring, etc. are some important sub-tribes of Naga. They are not to be confused with the Hindu Nagas (Sadhus). It is the British who brought the several tribes on these (…)