Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Kashmir: The Anger and the Mess

  22 August 2010, by Humra Quraishi

  What are we doing in Kashmir? What are we doing to Kashmir? What are we doing to the Kashmiris? How many more civilians will be killed in Kashmir? How long will the boot control emotions and the rising anger? How long can this ongoing curfew be continued? How long can the Kashmiris sit in this besieged state when the month of fasting—Ramazan—starts next week onwards? How long will the hospitals be able to contain the long list of those lying injured? How many more fresh graves will have to (…)

• Tribute: Man with a Difference

  22 August 2010, by Ranbir Singh

  Although he had retired as an Assistant Director, Development, Haryana, the people of Kurukshetra knew him as the BDO, since he had served on this post there. He would never hesitate to take up cudgels with senior bureaucrats. This earned him adverse ACRs leading to his retirement at the age of fiftyfive instead of fiftyeight. He took pride in defying powerful political leaders but he had to pay for it by his ten transfers in five years. He was large hearted enough to withdraw his claim over (…)

• West Bengal Loses Confidence in CPI-M

  22 August 2010

  COMMUNICATION
  The inevitable has happened. The CPI-M has been roundly trounced in the recently held municipal elections in West Bengal. Whether the defeat is indicative of the results of the forthcoming Assembly elections may be debated, the ground reality is that the party has lost the confidence of the people of West Bengal. The rural population has moved away from the party because of the forcible acquisition of fertile lands in Nandigram an Singur. The urbanities are tired of the (…)

• The International Puzzle

  22 August 2010, by Surendra Mohan

  The ten thousand pages of the records of the secret documents of the USA which have been published in the media the world over have exposed the brutality of the 46 nations’ war upon a small, hapless country in their campaign named Security for Afghanistan. The large number of innocent lives lost owing to the attacks by the troops of the USA and Britain in ruthless bombings and the utter failure of these aggressors in breaking the Taliban’s will to fight have been effectively brought out by (…)

• Many Forks of The Devil’s Tongue: Whitewashing Crimes a la the Pracharak Way

  22 August 2010, by Subhash Gatade

  “(Bajrang Dal) uses violence whereever necessary to protect the Hindu..if the snake bites, won’t we strike it down?” —Subhash Chouhan, National Convenor of Bajrang Dal (Indian Express, July 22, 2010)
  “I have known these organisations for a long time and they do not have criminal elements.” —Union Home Minister, while giving a clean chit to Bajrang Dal in the Graham Steins murder case (January 1999)
  I
  Does sorrow come with any date? Perhaps no. Perhaps yes. For Kamal Khan (name changed) (…)

• Changes in the Profile of the Marginalised in Rural India

  22 August 2010, by Namrata Pathak

  BOOK REVIEW
  Dalits in Villages and Poverty Alleviation Policies: 1963-2008 by Gilbert Etienne; Publisher: Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India; 2010.
  At the outset, the name of the publication is a little misleading. While the author begins with the study of Dalits during his early visits, he later diversifies to tribal groups in tribal dominated areas such as Jharkhand and Orissa. Besides, his study is more about the impact of economic growth, the Green Revolution and (…)

• Tribute: The Importance of being Mathew

  22 August 2010, by T J S George

  Being famous is different from being important. The trimurtis of English journalism in India— Pothan Joseph, Frank Moraes, M. Chalapathi Rao —are still unequalled in their star value and brilliance of writing. But historically they mattered little because they introduced no movement that transformed their profession.
  Devdas Gandhi of Hindustan Times and Kasturi Srinivasan of The Hindu were not celebrities, but they were historically important personages because they helped convert (…)

• Census of Political Murders in West Bengal during CPI-M Rule—1977-2009

  22 August 2010, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  One could ask a question whether a heinous crime like murder be classified as “political”. A crime is generally distinguished by the motive behind it. The Oxford Dictionary of Law defines “political offence” in the following manner: “An offence committed for a political purpose or inspired by a political motive. The act could be a combination of a politically motivated but criminally implemented act, or it may be more narrowly political or it may be criminal activity that resulted from an (…)

• Commonwealth Games

  22 August 2010, by Sudhir Vombatkere

  If the articles and TV exposé that are dominating the news channels and dailies are true even to some extent then the very essence of holding the CWG to showcase that “India has Arrived” is an absolute nautanki. Just look around—scandals in training camps, inflated budgets and tenders all involving government agencies and the Organising Committee, sub-standard materials and construction (on visuals) and allegations-cum-counter-allegations (not staged by the Opposition this time) by people (…)

• Caste Census—Let Us Face The Facts!

  22 August 2010, by D.K. Giri

  The plan of caste enumeration has created confusions in many areas of our public life—political, social, ideal, practical, and so on. It has become so contentious that individuals, groups, industries and political parties are all divided. Once again there are vociferous voices on both sides. Even the Union Cabinet could not reach a consensus and has constituted a GoM under the leadership of Congress veteran Pranab Mukherjee. Thinking people are worried that the caste census will plunge the (…)