Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Political Bias of the Media in Bengal: A Sociological Perspective

  20 March 2013

  MEDIA
  by Arani Basu
  Bengal, the epicentre of many political upheavals affecting the nation’s democratic trajectory, has always had a very strong media1 capturing the voice of dissent and public opinion on issues affecting the citizens of Bengal in particular and India in general. However, the relationship between the media and politics in Bengal per se, has undergone huge transformation over the years; in which the role of the media ranges from being a platform for people’s causes to one (…)

• Leninism and Class Consciousness

  20 March 2013, by Prabhat Patnaik

  [Prabhat Patnaik’s contention in this article (published in People’s Democracy) has been sought to be contested in the following piece. We are carrying both for the benefit of our readers; we are reproducing Patnaik’s article with due acknowledgement.]
  A basic proposition of Leninism is that theoretical understanding that leads to the formation of class consciousness comes to the proletariat from “outside”; the proletariat does not spontaneously achieve revolutionary class consciousness. (…)

• A Leninist Reading of Marx (and Engels): A Note

  20 March 2013

  by Paresh Chattopadhyay
  The prolific pen of the famous communist-economist, Prabhat Patnaik (hereafter PP), has recently produced in his party organ People’s Democracy (January 13 2013) a defence of Lenin from which there is much to learn, as is generally the case with his writings. For us of particular interest in his paper is his reading of Marx and Engels as a weapon in his defence of Lenin (which he uses interchangeably with the ideologically surcharged term ‘Leninism’) against Lenin’s (…)

• Now China Is Taking On Japan Too; Is The Army’s Influence Growing?

  20 March 2013, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  Will the confrontation developing in the waters off China engulf us all? There is an explosive situation between China and Japan, an adversarial situation between China and Vietnam, an unfriendly situation between China and the Philippines and a prickly situation between China and Indonesia. The unhappy situation between China and India of course remains live.
  From the Chinese point of view, the Philippines and Indonesia are ignorable because they pose no military challenge. (…)

• The South China Sea — Dynamics of A Multinational Conflict

  20 March 2013, by Latika Nath

  The South China Sea is a topic of discussion at many international fora. In recent times, it is an area of intense disputes and rival claims which have contributed in making it a flashpoint of South-East Asia.
  The Sea covers over 1,400,000 sq.m and is dotted with hundreds (about 250) minute islands cays, atolls, sand bars etc. It also includes the Spratley and Paracel Islands together with the Macclesfield Bank and Scarborough Shoal. It is abundant in oil and gas together with fisheries. (…)

• Tribute: Hugo Chavez and New Socialism

  20 March 2013

  by Vivek Kumar Srivastava
  The philosophy of New Socialism of Hugo Chavez was primarily fashioned by his own childhood days where he had experienced the poverty-stricken dark side of life, and his mother Rosa who taught him how to integrate with the poor and to relate to the historical roots of Venezuela.
  His formative years were highly complex but he learnt to cope with the complexities of life which helped him in later years to deal firmly with the onslaught of the neoliberal challenges (…)

• Disquieting Developments

  10 March 2013, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  The two-day meeting of the BJP National Council in New Delhi had been called to endorse and ratify the appointment of Rajnath Singh as the party’s President. However, the meeting turned into something quite different: Gujarat CM Narendra Modi became the cynosure of all eyes with party leaders from President Rajnath Singh downwards singing paeans of praise for the organisation’s ‘Vikas Purush’ (Development Man) for having unveiled a development agenda in his State that was quite (…)

• Syrian Crisis: Way Out of the Blind Alley

  10 March 2013, by Benjamin Todd

  Western diplomatic circles are becoming increasingly pessimistic about what they term as the “Syrian revolution”. They are now contemplating changes in their policy of handling the Syrian crisis. Syria has turned out to be a headache for the US and its European allies of late with the project ‘Topple Bashir al-Assad’ having failed to succeed despite all efforts to ensure its success. The Syrian opposition (that is, those who are desperately seeking to destabilise the Syrian Government) has (…)

• Hugo Chavez, A Consistent Life

  10 March 2013

  TRIBUTE
  While mourning the untimely demise of Hugo Chavez we offer our sincere tribute to that indomitable personality. We are reproducing here the following profile of the Venezuelan leader issued and distributed by the Venezuelan Embassy in New Delhi, and publishing a poem composed in his memory.
  A tireless fighter. A unique social vision. An idea, universal and perennial: Socialism of the 21st century.
  Hugo Chávez Frias was born in Sabaneta de Barinas, on July 28, 1954. He passed (…)

• Viva Chavez

  10 March 2013, by Badri Raina

  You looked the bully in the eye,
  And called his bluff,
  Till millions rose around you
  To say enough is enough.
  You spoke to them of the things
  That were all their own;
  Till they said, lead us, brother Chavez,
  And we will not relent till we are done.
  You sat in the middle of the hoi polloi
  And made your best decisions there;
  You recounted the truth of oppressions,
  Till every labouring one was clear
  How the eagle had to be stopped
  From marauding at will,
  And how a (…)