Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Story of a ’Chandal’

  31 July 2012

  BOOK REVIEW
  by Tapan Bandyopadhyay
  Etibritte Chandal Jiban (Pratham Khanda)—History of a Dalit Life (Vol. 1) by Manoranjan Byaparee; Priyashilpa Prakashan, Kolkata; Price: Rs 250.
  He was a mean man. he is a great man. He is known as Manoranjan Byaparee. In reality, he is Madan Chandal. It is difficult to dissociate this mean and great man of the fifties of the last century still going strong at 2012 with his cooking job at the deaf school in south Bengal from his illiterate and (…)

• Targeting Women, Theatre of the Absurd

  27 July 2012, by SC

  The country has been witness to several harrowing incidents of crime against women in the last few days, the one in Guwahati (vividly described in the article in the following page) having acquired national prominence. That incident, it is alleged, was instigated by a TV reporter so as to get pictures of the rape scene for his own (and/or his organisation’s) benefit. This definitely puts a question-mark on how far freedom of the press can be accepted as an unfettered right in rare cases of (…)

• A Major Power with No Place for Women?

  27 July 2012, by Bharti Chhibber

  Where is India going? Are we moving towards becoming a major player in world politics, an economic superpower or a regressive country where women have no place to live, no freedom, no dignity, no voice, no rights, not even basic human rights? Violence against women has become the order of the day, and these are not sporadic, occasional incidents, these have become an everyday affair. We open the news-papers in the morning, and they are full of reports of atrocities against women. Not all the (…)

• Fact-finding Report on Massacre in Bastar

  27 July 2012

  DOCUMENT
  A three-member team, consisting of J.P. Rao, Kopa Kunjam and Prof Nandini Sundar of Delhi University, visited Kottaguda, Sarkeguda and Lingagiri villages of Bastar on July 3 and 4, 2012. The following are excerpts from their findings as well as a statement by villagers.
  The three villages merge into each other and have been carved up in an arbitrary fashion between different panchayats (Korsaguda and Chipurbhatti panchayats). The field where the firing took place is an open (…)

• Behind Pranab’s Nomination as the
 UPA Candidate for Presidentship

  27 July 2012

  Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee had threatened to resign from the Union Council of Ministers if he was not made the UPA nominee for the presidential elections after his candidature was rejected by TMC chief Mamata Banerjee. In an article in The Sunday Guardian (June 27, 2012). entitled “One dagger, and many cloaks” M.J. Akbar wrote: “It is common knowledge that Pranab Mukherjee was never Sonia Gandhi’s choice for President. If he had been, his name would have been announced a month ago, (…)

• Ascendance of Neo-Liberalism on Raisina Hill

  27 July 2012, by Prem Singh

  Like the last presidential election, the current election too has been the talk of the town and country. It is good that discussions are on with respect to the election of the highest constitu-tional head of the nation. The debates raised during Constitution-making regarding Presi-dentship can also be looked into for better understanding of the Constitution and Presi-dentship as well. There can be many other points for this discussion, like elections of previous Presidents, their special (…)

• History and Politics of Indian Presidents

  27 July 2012

  by Vivek Kumar Srivastava
  On January 24, 1950 when India was on the eve of becoming a Republic, Dr Rajendra Prasad was elected as the President of the Republic of India. H.V.R. lyengar, Returning Officer and Secretary, Constitutent Assembly, announced that only one nomination paper was received for the office of the President of India. His nomination was proposed by Pandit Nehru and seconded by Sardar Patel. Second May is a very important day in the constitutional history of India as on (…)

• New Beginning for Manmohan Singh

  27 July 2012, by Kuldip Nayar

  I am probably among the very few who still have faith in the capability of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to take India out of the economic morass in which it is stuck. I do not like his World Bank-guided model. Yet he has given the country a growth rate of eight to nine per cent in a decade and more than doubled the Hindu growth rate of 3.5 per cent, our cumulative performance since independence in August 1947.
  True, the Prime Minister has come a long way from his report on South-South (…)

• Coming Battles

  27 July 2012, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings The following lines were written on June 24, 1987 and published in the Mainstream, issue of June 27, 1987 bringing out the bizarre scenario prevailing twentyfive years ago just before the presidential poll. It also magnifies the contrast with the situation that obtains in the Left today thereby revealing the fact that the current Left leaders, especially those running the CPM, are indeed poor substitutes of those who led the Left parties then precisely because the (…)

• On Nelson Mandela’s Birthday — July 18

  27 July 2012, by Suhas Borker

  Spotlight
  Nelson Mandela turns 94 on July 18. In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared July 18 as the ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom and his dedication to service of humanity. Through this resolution, the world community recognised Nelson Mandela’s exemplary contribution in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, promotion and protection of human rights, (…)