Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Reclaiming Nehru’s Legacy

  16 November 2014

  by Sucheta Mahajan
  On the eve of the 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, it is time to pause and recall some aspects of his contribution to the freedom struggle and the transition to a modern, independent India. He was the quintessential democrat, the upholder of civil liberties, the doughty fighter against communalism, the builder of the republic, the world statesman.
  In recent months we have seen in the press a questioning of Nehru’s contribution and legacy. In the past he has (…)

• Nehru and Planning in India

  16 November 2014, by Girish Mishra

  In 1937, the Congress formed Ministries in seven provinces under the Government of India Act of 1935. The massive vote received by the Indian National Congress even under a restricted franchise system aroused new expectations and imparted it with a great moral authority. It created an impression that the day was not far away when the Congress would come to power at the Centre.
  In 1938, Subhas Chandra Bose succeeded Nehru as the President of the Indian National Congress and presided over (…)

• Letter to Nehru, Fifty Years After

  16 November 2014, by Badri Raina

  I don’t quite know how to address you, so I shall simply say hello, Chacha, happy birthday. Do always be well. I imagine there is no dearth of roses where you are, or of laughing children in the park, or of books that you always still wanted to read, or of pen and paper for the next one you wish to write.
  I also imagine Bapu, the Sardar, and Maulana will soon come calling for a heart-to-heart on this your 125th janam din, even as down here the powers-that-be are purposefully busy cutting (…)

• Nehru’s Vision Must Guide us in these Troubled Times

  16 November 2014

  by Mushirul Hasan
  My vision is the same as that of Nehru, even though the old certitudes of Indian politics have crumbled. Fifty years later, Nehru’s idea of India and his conception of tolerant, inclusive, and common Indianness have given way to exclusivist ideas of India and its political community. From the 1990s, in particular, the definition of Indianess has been assailed by the Hindu Rightwing. “Keep your windows and doors of your mind always open,” Nehru had told a group of students (…)

• Onset of an Anniversary

  16 November 2014, by Dipak Malik

  The 125th birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru would roll on from November 14, 2014. Had there been a Congress Government, the occasion would have been marked by pomp and show though it would not have been in all likelihood more than a poor caricature. The 125th anniversary comes at a time when a BJP Government is in power at the Centre with a Prime Minister who does not conceal his preferences that do not at all lie with Nehru or Nehruvian India.
  Still the birth anniversary of the first (…)

• Nehru and his Views on Secularism

  16 November 2014

  by Vivek Kumar Srivastava
  When the country celebrates the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Nehru, an occasion arrives to explore his most important contribution to all of us. That is to be found in his unflinching efforts to establish and practice secularism within the country’s democratic framework in the best possible manner. The credit goes to him that he succeeded in defeating the communal forces in an effective way though his successors many a time failed on this count. In South (…)

• Nehru’s Striking Relevance for Our Times

  16 November 2014

  We live in a time of the continued dismantling of the Nehruvian model that began in 1991.

• Revisiting and Contextualising Nehruvian Economic Philosophy

  16 November 2014

  by Ranjit Singh Ghuman
  Prior to its independence on August 15, 1947 India had a bigger industrial sector than any other country which became a European colony. It was unique in being an industrial exporter in pre-colonial times. In 1700 AD India’s share in the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) was 24 per cent. That, however, declined to 16 per cent in 1820 and to 12.2 per cent in 1870. It declined further to 7.6 per cent in 1913 and dwindled to 4.2 per cent in 1950.
  During the first (…)

• Ominous Signals

  9 November 2014, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  Striking a note of departure from what PM Narendra Modi had promised the electorate during his whirlwind Lok Sabha election campaign earlier this year, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said rectifying the economy would take a “lot of time” since the “pit was reasonably deep” and a “large number of steps are needed”.
  At the same time he told the India Economic Summit (organised by the World Economic Forum and Confederation of Indian Industry) in New Delhi yesterday that some (…)

• Why Is Left Unity So Vital Today?

  9 November 2014, by Bharat Dogra

  COMMUNICATION
  At a time when the Left forces are in obvious decline, why is it so important to emphasise the need for unity of the Left forces and strengthening of the Left forces? The reason for this goes much beyond electoral gains or other narrow considerations.
  The real reason why it is of the greatest significance to strengthen the Leftist forces is that to resolve the most pressing problems of the world in time the solutions need to have an important socialist content. The problems (…)