Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Kandhamal Violence: Secularism and Democracy under Siege

  26 April 2009, by Sunny Jacob

  In the light of the recent violence in Kandhamal every right thinking person of this country must be concerned of the dangers to democracy and the secularist ideals of our nation. The violence that started in December 2007 had already destroyed the backbone of the minority Christian community of Kandhamal. The killing of the Swami, which from day one the Christian leaders and churches condemned in the strongest terms, and unequivocally stated that they had no role in it at all, was used as a (…)

• Peace in Kandhamal

  26 April 2009, by Ananta Kumar Giri

  I
  It was two o clock in the morning. I had just woken up in the quiet village of Lakebadi in Kandhamal, still asleep in the lap of Nature and the Divine, and was looking at the beautiful mountains bathed in light with the rays of a blooming moon and the stars. I was remembering the prayer for peace offered by Gokul Diggal two days ago when we first met: “God, please forgive us all so that all of us can realise our own weaknesses and mistakes. The Hindu brothers who are doing all these (…)

• Remembering Lenin

  26 April 2009, by Jawaharlal Nehru, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

  April 22 this year marked the 139th birth anniversary of that immortal revolutionary Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. On this occasion we carry the following tributes to Lenin from two of our most distinguished national leaders.
  Bolshevism...aims at the abolition of the institution of private property. This is only an application of the ethical ideal of non-possession in the realm of economy and if the people adopted this ideal of their own accord or could be made to accept it by means of peaceful (…)

• Ominous Neighbourhood Scene

  18 April 2009, by SC

  With the pre-poll campaign bereft of any real issue, one is witness to unprecedented verbal slugfests—Gujarat CM Narendra Modi slamming the Congress as a budiya compared to the youthful BJP and then calling it gudiya in response to Priyanka Gandhi’s prompt repartee; PM Manmohan Singh paying back L.K. Advani in the same coin recalling how the former Union Home Minister’s self-proclaimed “iron man” image had melted in the heat of the Kandahar hijack drama—thus bringing out the complete lack of (…)

• Whither General Elections 2009?

  18 April 2009, by P R Dubhashi

  The expectations about the outcome of the forth-coming general elections are shrouded in a penumbra of uncertainty. No single political party or group of parties or political combinations is expected to win an absolute majority, leaving the doors open to post-election negotiations and messy compro-mises resulting in an unstable government of the sort the country experienced during 1996-98.
  This uncertainty is the result of political fragmentation which has manifested itself in the (…)

• Whom to Vote?

  18 April 2009, by Raj Kishore

  Voting is not a simple business. It is a false impression that the voter is the king. The king-maker certainly he is. But his choices are always limited. The boundaries are fixed by the contesting parties and individuals. The voter has no role in deciding who would contest from his constituency. Candidates field themselves without consulting even a small number of voters. In a sense, they are imposed from above. Everyone is entitled to contest. Naturally, victory goes to the person who (…)

• Towards a New International Monetary and Financial Architecture

  18 April 2009, by Muchkund Dubey

  For the last year-and-a-half, the world economy is in the throes of a global recession. It started with the collapse and bankruptcy of some of the most important multinational financial corporations of the United States and soon engulfed the financial sector of the countries of the European Union. Thereafter, it spread to the real economies of major developed countries. With the passage of time, the crisis has deepened and is now affecting the lives of people in every country of the world. (…)

• Honouring Ambedkar

  18 April 2009, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  The award of the Bharat Ratna posthumously on B. R. Ambedkar raises mixed feelings. No doubt Ambedkar was one of the stalwarts of modern India; the high-water mark of his career was that he contributed most to the drafting of the Indian Constitution and piloting it through the Constituent Assembly. There is, therefore, a touch of irony in Ambedkar being awarded the Bharat Ratna 30 years after he eminently deserved it when the Constitution came into force in 1950.
  Not only that. All (…)

• Doormats Cast(e) Aside

  18 April 2009, by S G Vombatkere

  Every “respectable” person has a doormat at his/her doorstep. Doormats serve a useful purpose, namely, that of cleaning the soles of footwear before entering the home. Visitors are expected to use the doormat to leave the dust and grime of the street at the doorstep, so that the home remains clean. Family and friends appreciate doormats and, being from the same social class, they too have doormats. Doormats may be used in any manner whatever, even kicking it when the user is in a foul mood (…)

• We Admire Taliban

  18 April 2009, by Sharad Rajimwale

  We belong to the Ram Sene of Karnataka, and Shiva Sena of Maharashtra, and Bajrang Dal that rules the roost among Hindus in the north. Whatever the names, we have a vision of the Hindu Rashtra that is not far different from the image of the Islamic nation treasured by the Taliban and various other outfits of similar descriptions, hell-bent to bring the world to its knees in order to transform it into a world of their dreams. It may appear a little odd to many and incredibly foolish to some (…)