Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• New Stature, New Tasks

  3 January 2013, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  It is like the end of a long night for men, women, and children of this country as Bangladesh proclaims her independence from Pakistan’s military junta. The rejoicing is not merely in the feat of arms—though the military defeat of the much-vaunted war machine of Pakistan has brought no little credit to this country’s armed forces, officers and men alike.
  What is of abiding value is that this confrontation has demonstrated that democracy in this country has not only come to stay but has (…)

• Indo-Pakistan Relations: New Perspective

  3 January 2013

  Military aid has suddenly become the main topic of political discussion in New Delhi, almost downgrading Sheikh Abdullah’s olive-branch mission to Pakistan and Sri Nehru’s repeat offer to Peking to open negotiations.
  This is somewhat natural in view of Sri Chavan’s mission to Washington. But even a few weeks back, the Defence Minister’s US trip was regarded in the Capital as of secondary importance to Sri T.T. Krishnamachari’s multi-purpose approaches to America. It was also made clear (…)

• Baptism of Fire

  3 January 2013

  Dear Reader,
  Our country and our people have been through a baptism of fire on the northern border in the past month. The Chinese aggressor by his unprincipled and unscrupulous rape of our soil has brought home to us many disturbing truths. What should cause us much more concern than even our unpreparedness for defence is the strikingly common aim of the aggressor and the Swatantra and other reactionary forces within this country; both want Jawaharlal Nehru removed from leadership and the (…)

• Meeting the Challenge

  3 January 2013

  Dear Reader,
  Freedom is in peril; let us defend it with all our might.
  The threat to our freedom and national integrity has in the last few days assumed menacing proportions. The new wave of Chinese aggression all along the northern frontier, particularly in the NEFA region and in Ladakh, has brought about a national emergency of unprecedented magnitude.
  The manner and intensity of the attack appear to have come as a surprise to some high-ups in the Capital. To readers of Mainstream (…)

• Tagore for Today

  3 January 2013, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  The following appeared under Editor’s Notebook in the first Mainstream issue to come out after the proclamation of Emergency (June 25, 1975).
  Somewhere in the excitement of National Emergency, the editor has lost his notebook. However, Rabindranath Tagore has, in the abundance of his generosity, lent him his own notebook:
  Freedom from fear is the freedom I claim for you, my Motherland!—fear, the phantom demon, shaped by your own distorted dreams;
  Freedom from the burden of ages, (…)

• Demolishing the Wall

  3 January 2013

  The following is the editiorial that appeared in the first issue of Mainstream (September 1, 1962)
  Dear Reader,
  The other day a letter arrived at our desk from a senior leader of the Indian National Trade Union Congress. Referring to our request for a contribution to our columns, he put a blunt question: “Is your journal affiliated to any political party directly or indirectly?” We had no reason for a hesitant answer: Mainstream owes allegiance to no political party or group. Its loyalty (…)

• New Tasks in Agriculture

  3 January 2013, by Bhowani Sen

  Agriculture continues to be the weakest link in the chain of India’s Plan-progress. In a certain sense this is true for every country, whether advanced or backward, or whether under the capitalist or socialist system; because, as yet, there is an inherent difference between industry and agriculture. The main distinctive feature of the latter consists in its dependence on weather, as the science of astronomy and weather-control is yet very undeveloped. The application of science in (…)

• Taxation and Disparities

  3 January 2013, by V K R V RAO

  The question is often asked: Is taxation in this country equitable? On the one hand national income has gone up, on the other economic disparities have widened. In this article, which is based on an exclusive interview to Mainstream, one of India’s foremost economists gives expression to trenchant views on this vexed subject.
  The fiscal policy of the Government of India in the last ten years has not been specifically oriented towards reduction in inequalities of income.
  If we look at the (…)

• Money-Power in Elections: A Plea For Public Funding

  3 January 2013

  by L.K. Advani
  Shortly after assuming office as the Prime Minister in January, 1985, Rajiv Gandhi invited various party spokesmen in Parliament, one by one, for a series of informal talks on problems facing the country. My meeting with him lasted for about 45 minutes. He discussed mainly Punjab, Assam and Centre-State relations. On my part, I emphasised the urgent and imperative need of electoral reform. I was impressed by his very positive response. I felt even more gratified, when a few (…)

• The Great Suicide

  3 January 2013

  by Congressman
  The dust of the Lok Sabha election is settling down… Well, not quite, because the Assembly elections in several States to be held shortly will be the final act after which the country will hopefully settle down to the performance of a term—full or less than full, as the case may be.
  It is, therefore, a bit premature to embark on a comprehensive forecast of the political situation—as to which way the camel will sit, as they say. But surely a recapitulation of what (…)