Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

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  Towards Appropriate Knowledge

  10 September 2008, by Ashok Celly

  The following is the introductory chapter of the book, Towards a New Paradigm in Higher Education (Kalpaz Publications, Delhi, 2008), edited by the author. The book was reviewed by Dr R.M. Pal in the form of a Review Article in Mainstream (May 10, 2008).
  “There is so much I don’t want to know. Wisdom puts a limit even to knowledge.” Nietzsche
  In the year 1592, Francies Bacon, the well-known British thinker and essayist, declared: “I confess that I have taken all knowledge to be my (…)

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  The Kashmir Imbroglio

  10 September 2008, by Shree Shankar Sharan

  The Kashmir situation has once again demonstrated that though there may be long periods of quiet and a temporary appearance of peace and normalcy, there is a boiling cauldron of discontent which will boil over from time to time and make everybody on both sides of the divide sit up and wonder how to go about it. It should be clear that more of the same things will not work. More of democracy or of more of development or more of repression by the security forces can no longer be solutions. I (…)

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  Singur—Sowing Problems

  10 September 2008, by Subrata Sinha

  Singur is once again in the news. In this context we reproduce, with due acknowledgment, the following article published in Hindu Business Line (January 29, 2007) that gave a different dimension of the Singur problem barely highlighted, if at all, in the media.
  Cultivated food is the most vital human survival necessity. Yet, the global scenario is indeed bleak. Food production has failed to keep pace with the burgeoning population! Even the ‘Save The Earth’ report for the Rio Summit (…)

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  The Chief Minister is Lying

  10 September 2008, by Medha Patkar

  It is now clear that the Left Front Government of West Bengal has come forward in support of the Tata project in Singur by sacrificing the interests of the peasants, bargardars (sharecroppers) and agricultural labourers. As a consequence of forcibly taking away their land the life and livelihood of these peasants, bargadars (sharecroppers) and agricultural labourers have been endangered. Cutting across all views people are saying this about the ‘transport policy’ of the government: in West (…)

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  Democracy At A Discount

  10 September 2008, by Sumit Chakravartty

  It was January 10, 2007. Alongwith a band of activists and concerned citizens this writer travelled to Kamarkundu in West Bengal’s Hooghly district from the Howrah Station. The objective: to visit Singur and peacefully express solidarity with the people there engaged in a unique resistance to the State Government’s attempts to forcibly acquire their land and hand over to the Tatas for construction of a small car factory in order to produce automobiles worth Rs 1 lakh each.
  One had been (…)

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  Fury of Floods in Bihar

  10 September 2008, by Subodh Kumar

  The census 2001 and the growth indicators portray Bihar as one of the poorest States in India, with a highly underdeveloped economic structure and the lowest per capita income. What makes its situation unique is that Bihar is the only State in India where poverty has been uniformly at the highest level. This is primarily because the third most populous State in the country with approximately 83 million people suffer from natural calamity. With the onset of the monsoon, rivers come down from (…)

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  Letter to the PM on Flood Catastrophe in North Bihar

  10 September 2008

  Respected Pradhan Mantriji,
  We, the undersigned citizens of India, write this letter to you with deep anguish over the catastrophic floods in North Bihar, and the resulting human tragedy, and dehumanising consequences. It is a matter of deep sorrow that despite our growing economic wealth, traditional culture of hospitality and huge army, “rising India” stands virtually a mute spectator while the lives of about three million people hang in balance. Despite all the rescue (…)

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  Vigilance is the Price of Liberty

  10 September 2008, by Shyam Chand

  Human memory is short lived; hence connecting past and present events becomes incomprehensible. Before the last Lok Sabha elections Smt Sonia Gandhi’s whirlwind road-show traversing India impacted people’s opinion. She was sure to be the Prime Minister after the elections in May 2004.
  The RSS manipulated astrologers who forecast the demise of her government before June 27, 2004. When Dr Manmohan Singh was appointed the Prime Minister, the RSS’ hopes dashed to the ground. If somebody takes (…)

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  The South Ossetian War: Lessons for the Future

  10 September 2008, by Sandeep Bhardwaj

  “Never engage the same enemy for too long, or he will adapt to your tactics.” —Carl Von Clausewitz
  After seeing the US forces stuck for the long-term in Afghanistan and Iraq, and Russian forces in Chechnya twice, finally it seems the curse of world military superpowers is broken. The South Ossetian war that broke out between Russia and Georgia on August 8, 2008 has been brought to a swift conclusion, at least militarily.
  The war has been quite contrary to the Russian military (…)

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  Some Reflections on Naga Ceasefire

  10 September 2008, by U A Shimray

  The Indo-Naga peace talks between the National Socialist Council of Nagalim [IM] and the Government of India have sojourned many places like Paris,1 Bangkok,2 Zurich, Geneva, Amsterdam, Hague and New Delhi. An indefinite ceasefire or “sine die” was declared at a lesser known place called Dimapur [Nagaland] on July 31, 2007. Naga grassroot civil society organisations including the Naga Hoho demanded “No Solution, No Extension of Ceasefire”. Interestingly, a press statement issued by the (…)