Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Beginning of the Present Phase of Alienation in Kashmir

  12 December 2010, by Balraj Puri

  Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram observed, in a an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, that there was a need to look into the promises made in the Delhi Agreement in 1952, Indira-Sheikh Accord in 1972 and in the understanding of 1986 (between Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah).
  In the present context, the understanding of 1986 is most relevant. Commenting on it then, I had written in an article: “The net effect of the accord would be that Kashmir will go the Punjab way (when it was (…)

• India United on Corruption?

  12 December 2010

  by Vidhu Verma
  As India emerges as an important player in the restructuring of the world economic order, it is faced with challenges related to corruption, transparency and accountability in its methods of governance. Indian democracy seems terminally ill, weakened by internal corruption and unsus-tainable spending even as it enjoys technological progress, economic prosperity and political stability.
  The recent reports on corruption linked to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Adarsh housing (…)

• PM’s Integrity Under Attack

  12 December 2010, by Surendra Mohan

  The affidavit filed by Dr Manmohan Singh’s office has sought to divert attention from him to the Union Law Minister, Veerappa Moily. It has said that the latter took eight months to move forward the files relating to the telecom scam. This was in reply to the Supreme Court’s probe into the reasons for delay in taking appropriate action on the queries of Dr Subramanian Swamy. However, it comes out fully that the Prime Minister knew of the charges of corruption against the Telecom Minister, A. (…)

• Criminals for Hindutva? — The Hidden Hand!

  12 December 2010, by Subhash Gatade

  I
  Anyone ever heard about Sudhakarrao Maratha alias Sudhakar Rao Prabhune? A hardcore Rightwing criminal who was nabbed a few months back in Jhansi by the MP Police which seized a car, a revolver and five cartridges from him. In fact one of Sudhakar’s colleagues, Shivam Dhakad, was already under the custody of the Ujjain Police when Sudhakar was apprehended. According to senior police officers, Sudhakar Rao was in touch with the RSS Pracharak, terrorist Sunil Joshi, who was shot dead in (…)

• In the Name of Ram

  12 December 2010, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
  [The following piece, which appeared within a fortnight of the demolition of the Babri Masjid (December 6, 1992), is being reproduced on the eighteenth anniversary of that infamous event.]
  To build a temple to mark the brithplace of Ram, a mosque was destroyed by deceit.
  Those who swiftly and competently did the demolition job on Sunday (December 6, 1992), did so before the very eyes of those leaders who had been assuring Parliament and the public that the (…)

• An Enduring Loss to the Sharqi Tradition

  12 December 2010, by Sankar Ray

  The Babri Masjid was one of the last masterpieces of what is known as the Sharqi school of architecture—different from the star-shaped temple Nagara style characterising the architectonics of Hindu temples. A former Director of the Archaeological Survey of India categorised the mosque as a specimen of Sharqi architecture which flourished decades before Babar arrived in India.
  Constructed from the end of the 14th century, when Jaunpur was the capital of the Sharqi kingdom, architectural (…)

• ’Fear of Accusation Cannot Justify Silence’

  12 December 2010

  by Anand Swaroop Verma
  If telling the truth is a crime then Arundhati Roy should be definitely penalised for what she said on Kashmir. I would like to quote a few paragraphs from the veteran journalist Ajit Bhattacharjea’s article ‘Reaping A Whirlwind In Kashmir’ which was published on August 22, 1990 in The Tribune (Chandigarh):
  When Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan was in New Delhi for the second round of Indo-Pakistan talks, he based his case on excesses committed by our (…)

• Right to Education: Challenging Tasks Ahead

  12 December 2010

  Dr Kishore Singh (Ph.D in international law, Sorbonne, 1977) has been responsible for the Right to Education at UNESCO (1998-2009). He has been the Secretary of the Joint Expert Group, UNESCO (CR)/ECOSOC (CESCR) on the Monitoring of the Right to Education since its establishment in 2001, and has collaborated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva, and participated in the work of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. He has also cooperated with (…)

• Principle versus Piecemeal Approach

  12 December 2010

  by Gautam Navlakha
  In order to understand the significance of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and our response we must understand the role of the armed forces of the Union in wars of suppression. Because, we tend to overlook the magnitude of experience of the war. And yet, whether we choose to ignore the war or to pay hypocritical obeisance to the victims of the war, it does not obviate the reality of the war.
  It is my contention that our opposition to the AFSPA is not only because (…)

• Right to Education: Challenging Tasks Ahead

  12 December 2010

  Dr Kishore Singh (Ph.D in international law, Sorbonne, 1977) has been responsible for the Right to Education at UNESCO (1998-2009). He has been the Secretary of the Joint Expert Group, UNESCO (CR)/ECOSOC (CESCR) on the Monitoring of the Right to Education since its establishment in 2001, and has collaborated with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Geneva, and participated in the work of the United Nations human rights treaty bodies. He has also cooperated with (…)