Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Army Chief’s Impermissible Public Statement

  11 February 2009, by Rajindar Sachar

  COMMUNICATION
  In modern democratic state, the sovereignty of the people is delegated to three wings of the state, namely, Executive, Legislature, Judiciary. The other agencies, Bureaucracy, Military, though extremely important, do not publically comment on matters of policy, security. Though their experience, perception are extremely important to policy-makers, they do not speak in public about these matters.
  It is in that context that I feel it was not correct for Army Chief General (…)

• Strong Support for Demand for Freedom Fighters’ Memorial near India Gate

  11 February 2009, by Bharat Dogra

  This is a demand that should get the support of all self-respecting citizens of India who take pride in their glorious freedom movement and accord the highest respect to the martyrs of this movement. This is the demand for creating a magnificent memorial to honour the martyrs of the freedom movement and freedom fighters near India Gate in New Delhi.
  Every year in the ceremonies relating to the Republic Day and Independence Day, it is this site which occupies a very important role and (…)

• Need for Deeper Engagement in South Asia to Fight Terrorist Machinations

  11 February 2009

  DOCUMENT
  STATEMENT OF PAKISTAN PEACE ACTIVISTS VISITING INDIA
  The following is a statement issued at the conclusion of a “Peace Mission” from Pakistan to New Delhi on January 23, 2009. The Peace Mission was organised by the South Asians for Human Rights (SAHR), a network of human rights defenders in the region, and actively backed by the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA). The Pakistani activists in the Peace Mission were: Haji Muhammad Adeel, Senator (ANP); Ms Farzana Adeel; Ali (…)

• Pakistani Military Sizes Up ‘Smart Power’

  11 February 2009, by M K Bhadrakumar

  The latest American contribution to international diplomacy is the concept of “smart power”. Joseph Nye, the Harvard professor and author, and ideologue of “soft power”, wrote recently: “Smart power is the combination of hard and soft power. Soft power is the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments.”
  The Barack Obama Administration lent its imprimatur to the doctrine when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton elaborated, during her confirmation (…)

• India At Crossroads: Instrumentality of the Military

  11 February 2009, by S G Vombatkere

  India Today
  It is a common observation that the levels of discontent and disaffection among most sections of society all over the country are on the increase. There is a feeling of injustice among the people not only at the social level but also at the economic level. This is evidenced by the rising groundswell of social unrest and anger that shows as verbal and physical militancy among unempowered people, rural and tribal people, and people working in the unorganised sector like hawkers (…)

• War is not the Best and Most Effective Option

  11 February 2009, by Balraj Puri

  India’s anger over the Mumbai terror attack is understandable and legitimate. That it originated from the soil of Pakistan has been confirmed by intelligence agencies of some world powers.The initial reaction of the Pakistan Government was very positive. Its President, Zardari, not only shared India’s shock over the terrorist attack but also offered to send the ISI chief to Delhi for joint investigation into the tragic event. But he soon retracted his offer. In fact, he changed his (…)

• Sena on Rampage, Kavita Karkare and ‘Surgical’ Strikes

  11 February 2009, by Humra Quraishi

  The very havoc these private run brigades are unleashing! These so-called ‘senas’ nurtured, kept alive and kicking by political outfits. To terrorise the ordinary. After all, the very hounding of girls in the Mangalore pub by members of the Sri Ram sena was nothing short of terror tactics and yet it’s not declared a terror outfit. Its members go berserk, doing what they want to—molesting, fracturing skulls, tearing off shirts and more. And after much hue and cry some of these attackers are (…)

• A Historic New Era Begins in US: Great Expectations

  11 February 2009, by N V K Murthy

  As I watched Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America, my mind went back to the fall of 1956. I was then in Bloomington Indiana; as a graduate student there, I had taken up lodging in an approved house just across the road from the campus. My landlady was a White American widow. One day a classmate of mine, who happened to be a Black American, came home with me after class and spent some time with me in my room before we went out again. When I came (…)

• Challenges to Governance within the Problematique of Urbanisation

  11 February 2009, by Amna Mirza

  BOOK REVIEW
  Urban Governance in India: Issues and Challenges edited by Rajvir Sharma; Research India Press, E-634, 1st floor, Sangam Vihar, New Delhi-110062.
  With rapid urbanisation, proliferation of cities, increasing population, there arise new challenges as new vistas open up. Here comes a timely compilation of the issues, in the form of a compilation of scholarly articles, within the book titled as Urban Governance in India: Issues and Challenges, associated within the (…)

• Terrorism: Some Questions

  11 February 2009, by Bharati Jaganathan

  After all the newsprint devoted to the terror attack in Mumbai, it seems that there could be little left to say about the event and its aftermath. And yet, there remain unasked questions and unformulated concerns.
  My starting point is the centrality of the event in popular discourse even two months after its occurrence. Public anger and popular outpouring of anxiety and grief over the terrorist attack continues unabated. It is no doubt true that some of this centrality springs from its (…)