Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Nobel Prize

  20 June 2015, by Badri Raina

  However mighty the quake may be,
  I survive smartly in a Delhi high-rise,
  But such is the bias of the Committee,
  I do not get the Nobel Prize.
  I drive in a mid-day blistering sun
  Through desert sands where everything dies,
  But the Committee takes little note,
  And refuses me the Nobel Prize.
  I eat Maggi loaded with Lead,
  And counter anti- Corporate lies,
  But the Word Bank will not recommend
  Me for that coveted Nobel Prize.
  One reason for such unfairness—
  I belong to a poor (…)

• Army’s hit against Rebels was masterly. But some things a Government must keep to itself

  20 June 2015, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  The wise keep their own counsel, the foolish boast. Did we forget this timeless principle in our very moment of triumph? India’s commando operation against insurgent groups in Myanmar was skilful in planning and brilliant in execution. It was also unambiguous in the messages it conveyed—that attacks on our soldiers would not go unpunished, that insurgents who thought they were in safe havens because they were outside the border would have to think again. To the extent that (…)

• Manipur-Myanmar Attacks: Why the Violence is Unlikely to Stop

  20 June 2015

  by Bharat Bhushan
  Contrary to popular expectation, the attacks on Indian security forces in Manipur and Nagaland are unlikely to come down.
  The cross-border Indian military action in Myanmar may indeed have been a strong message to the North-Eastern insurgent groups sheltering there. However, there is every likelihood that their attacks on the security forces will become more frequent in the coming days and expand into new areas.
  ’Revenge’ for attacks on their camps in Myanmar may only (…)

• Bandung Spirit and the New Indian Regime

  20 June 2015, by Manoranjan Mohanty

  That India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, decided not to attend the sixtieth anniversary celebrations of the Bandung Conference of Asian and African countries on April 21-24 and instead sent Ms Sushma Swaraj, the Minister for External Affairs, is indicative of the evolving approach of the new regime in India that came to power a year ago in May 2014. Questions are being raised in India today if the Modi Government has opted for a foreign policy line that distances itself from the (…)

• Citizens Speak Out Against Jingoism

  20 June 2015

  Statement on Indo-Pak Relations
  We are profoundly disturbed by the thought-less articulation of jingoist sentiments by high level representatives of the Government, prominent spokespersons of the ruling party and strategic thinkers and experts associated with the think-tanks close to policy-makers, following the Indian Army’s seemingly successful operation against the militants in the North-East along the Indo-Myanmar border. We are deeply concerned about its dangerous implications for (…)

• Reaching out to our Neighbour / India-Pakistan: Imperative of Amity

  20 June 2015, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  Reaching out to our Neighbour
  Indo-Pak relations have again come under a cloud. The tension over Kashmir and the recent border skirmishes have touched off speculations about an imminent military confrontation. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao has of course under-lined his government’s eagerness to strengthen mutual understanding between the two countries, while reiterating its resolve not to relax vigilance in safeguarding the country’s security.
  To buttress the case (…)

• Theoretical Perspective of Decentralisation,...

  20 June 2015

  by John S. Moolakkattu and Jos Chathukulam
  Introduction
  Decentralisation has a long history. Political thinkers from Montesquieu to Madison suggest that decentralised governance can contribute to democratic participation, better representation, accountability and policy and governmental effectiveness. It is also seen as a means to moderate potential conflict from people who are ethnically and culturally different from the majority groups. Several philosophic traditions have enunciated (…)

• Warmongers in India, Pakistan Denounced

  20 June 2015

  The following is a statement issued on June 16 by the Indian and Pakistani Chapters of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy.
  We, the peace loving people of Pakistan and India, are strongly condemning the recent war of words between the leaders of both countries and are deeply concerned about the diminishing sanity of the leaders who are passing on intimidating remarks time and again which will risk the lives of many innocent people and risk the possibility of a (…)

• Extreme Distress of Maruti Workers and their Family Members

  20 June 2015, by Bharat Dogra

  Following certain tragic incidents at the Manesar (Haryana) plant of Maruti Suzuki on July 18, 2012—which led to the death of a human resources manager—as many as 147 workers of this plant were arrested in a highly arbitrary way, in most cases with hardly any evidence of their involvement in the tragic incident.
  Since then several reports have drawn attention to the extreme anti-worker bias of the Haryana Government, then ruled by the Congress, in the cruel victimisation of workers. (…)

• Is This Not Corruption?

  20 June 2015, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  If Cabinet Ministers and Chief Ministers helping fugitives is not corruption then what is it? Nah, in this day and age there is nothing called humanitarian help! External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj helping out tainted Lalit Modi because of ‘family ties’ drags along the vital fact that he is a client of Swaraj’s lawyer daughter, Bansuri. Wouldn’t you call this a nexus of a definite kind? And before layers to this nexus could be peeled off, there comes another name with another (…)