Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Imperatives of Secular-Democratic Unity

  9 November 2014, by Barun Das Gupta

  The Congress suffered its worst ever electoral defeat in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. What has been happening since then is that the two fundamental tenets of our polity, namely, secularism and democracy, are being challenged by the ruling party which came to power after solemnly taking the oath to uphold the Constitution. Secularism is being frontally attacked. Secularists are called pseudo-secularists and appeasers of minority communalism. Democracy has not been formally opposed yet (…)

• As Things Stand

  9 November 2014, by Badri Raina

  The first principle of dialectic: things never remain the same. Thus, contrary to what you may think, there are important stirrings within the Indian Left.
  History knows no greater motivator than a recognition that a termination may be in the offing. It has taken a while but an Aristotelian anagnorisis seems now dawning that India’s new Rightwing Government may not after all be just Rightwing in a classical economic sense but rightwing plus in relation to theories of state as well. India (…)

• Ukraine Poll gives Fractured Verdict

  9 November 2014, by M K Bhadrakumar

  The quotient of happiness in politics can be very strange. All three external protagonists in the Ukraine crisis—Russia, European Union [EU] and the United States—have reasons to be both happy and unhappy with the results of the October 26 parliamentary election in that country.
  Russia draws satisfaction that President Petro Poroshenko’s faction did well, but feels uneasy that Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk (who is reputed to be virulently “anti-Russia”) did slightly better and came out (…)

• Love Jihad and targeting of Religious Minorities

  9 November 2014, by John Dayal

  The recent outpouring of support for the “development” agenda of the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, by several leaders of the Catholic and Protestant churches may possibly stave off the immediate attention of the dreaded Intelligence Bureau and the Ministry of Home Affairs, but it is not likely to reduce the deep and seemingly abiding distrust the Indian political and social system has of what is popularly called the “Missionaries”. Nor will it mitigate the hate that is now erupting in India (…)

• Action More Important than Disclosure of Names

  9 November 2014, by Kuldip Nayar

  In the midst of the debate on the illegal foreign account holders, the names of those who were given amnesty a few days before the debate, have been forgotten. Apparently, they are from both the main political parties, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Otherwise, the shouting would not have stopped in such a short time. One other noticeable point is that there has not been even a cursory mention of how the account holders came to accumulate so much money and what steps have been (…)

• Letter from Kolkata: Saradha and Mamata Banerjee

  9 November 2014, by Amitava Mukherjee

  Finally, by winding up the Justice Shyamal Sen Commission, Mamata Banerjee did what she should have done long before. There is really no point in doling out money from the State’s exchequer to refund those who have exhibited avarice by depositing their money with the Saradha while several safe avenues of investment like banks and post offices were around. Moreover taking out money from the State’s coffer and then distributing it among the Saradha depositors is both morally and legally open (…)

• After Indira Gandhi

  9 November 2014, by Nikhil Chakravartty

• Minority Group’s Second-Class Positioning

  9 November 2014, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  There has been no recent history of any major communal violence in and around Delhi. Yes, with just about one exception—during the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition, several Muslim dominated areas such as Seelampuri and adjoining areas were affected with a large number of Muslim youth rounded up by the police. I was there that particular afternoon in Seelampuri to write/report on the situation and saw for myself dozens of Muslims arrested. Why? Because they were protesting (…)

• Trilokpuri Riots: Police have Targeted Muslims | INTERVIEW WITH SHABNAM HASHMI

  9 November 2014

  The following is an interview with social activist Shabnam Hashmi. Shabnam Hashmi is one of the most known social and political activists fighting against communalism in the country. Her major contribution lies in the efforts she has undertaken for the relief and rehabilitation for the victims and survivors of communal violence, particularly those of the 2002 anti-Muslim Gujarat carnage. In the wake of large scale bloodshed in Gujarat, she felt an urgent need to fight the ideology of (…)

• Princess Fragrant: Will it Bridge the Gap?

  9 November 2014

  by Teshu Singh
  In a recent endeavour to restore the cultural difference between the Uyghurs and Han Chinese, the Chinese Government has come up with an innovative ides of a cartoon television serial by the end of 2015 on one of the fabled Princesses from Kashgar. The lead character Iparhan is portrayed as a Disney character “Princess Fragrant” (Uyghur Princess- Abakh Kohja in Uyghur, Xiangfei in Mandrin). The story was popular during the Qing dynasty.
  The lead character, Iparhan, was (…)