Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Letter to the Readers, Mainstream, May 18, 2024

  17 May 2024

  Rulings this week by the Supreme Court of India gave hope to victims of a criminal justice system that has seen an erosion on its checks and balances. On Monday, May 13th, the top court lifted its stay on the Bombay High Court order granting bail to Gautam Navlakha, the well-known independent researcher and human rights activist Prabir Purkayastha had been detained since October 3, 2023 and later charged under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) the full court order providing him (…)

• Red alert: How cinema helps the Modi myth | Sayandeb Chowdhury

  17 May 2024

  May 13, 2024
  Cinematic fiction has become the convenient way of ‘correcting’ historical frictions, especially where facts are inconvenient
  Like several instances in the last century, the political leashing of cinema is a concern again in India.
  "I filmed the truth as it was then. Nothing more."
  This assertion by 1930s German film director Leni Reifenstahl, best known for her documentary films supporting Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist Party, would likely find favour with a section (…)

• Naveen Patnaik’s Attempts to Saffronise Odisha | Radhakanta Barik

  17 May 2024, by Radhakanta Barik

  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s crude comment against the Chief Minister of Odisha, about Naveen Patnaik not knowing the names of thirty districts in the State, has created furor in Odisha just before people vote in the General Elections. Patnaik has been ruling this State for more than five terms now, with a bigger majority as years go by but he does not exhibit his arrogance as Modi does. His political style is a sophisticated one. The best example of this was in the 2009 elections when the (…)

• The Grant of Interim Bail To Arvind Kejriwal by The Supreme Court Furthers The Basic Structure Of The Constitution: A Response To Amit Shah’s Comment | Vijay Kumar

  17 May 2024, by Vijay Kumar

  Well-strategised, craftily-calculated and assiduously- wrought comment of Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, that people believe that the Supreme Court had favoured Kejriwal by granting the relief of interim bail fills me with a sense of dread and urgency. The Home Minister is extremely selective, as he has conveniently ignored many comments, including editorials of almost all English dailies praising the Supreme Court order. In fact, ‘The Hindu’, while generally endorsing the order, faulted (…)

• How big money finances Indian politics | Swagato Sarkar

  17 May 2024

  May 13, 2024
  The business elite funds political parties and elections in return for economic favours or for securing favourable policies for their industry
  Many years ago in West Bengal, I encountered school-age boys playing Carrom or cricket all day. Curious as to why they weren’t at school or out working, they responded: “We are all employed. We do party-r-byabsa (‘business of the party,’ or work for the Communist Party of India-Marxist).”
  “We participate in rallies, attend (…)

• The Promise and the Peril of LGBTQIA+ Rights | Disha

  17 May 2024, by Disha

  Abstract: The discourse surrounding LGBTQIA+ rights in Indian politics is undergoing a significant transformation, indicating a shift towards inclusivity and equality. Political parties such as the Indian National Congress (INC) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) have articulated their positions, promising legislative measures to recognize and protect the rights of LGBTQIA+ individuals. However, while the decriminalization of Section 377 in 2018 marked a milestone, the (…)

• Social Unrest and Political Fallouts in West Bengal : After the Court Verdict on the Teacher Recruitment Scam | Sujit Kumar Paul, K. Gireesan

  17 May 2024

  Origin
  A notification for recruitment of teachers through a state-level selection test was issued in 2014 and its further process started after two years in 2016. After the declaration of results for the recruitment of school teachers and also for the recruitment of Group C and Group D for government-run and aided schools by School Service Commission (SSC), petitions flooded the Calcutta High Court claiming that there were irregularities in the process of recruitment. It was claimed by the (…)

• Kejriwal’s ten guarantees are purely of populist character and are part of one-upmanship game | Arun Srivastava

  17 May 2024

  May 15, 2025
  Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s comment “Modi will retire in accordance with the rules made by him on attaining 75 years of age in September 2025, is not only bizarre, instead it is in contravention to the politico-electoral line of INDIA bloc. While the INDIA bloc constituents have only one mission, to defeat Narendra Modi at 2024 Lok Sabha polls and ensure his ouster from political arena, Kejriwal has been quite considerate in allowing Modi to rule till 2025.
  One (…)

• Afghanistan’s Economy Will be in Tatters in the Foreseeable Future | Manoj Kumar Mishra

  17 May 2024

  Accruing to the inheritance of a rickety civilian infrastructural pedestal- a byproduct of collateral damage done by decades of wars and insurgencies between the Afghan government and different insurgent groups especially the Taliban, the de facto regime’s confrontation with several other structures of weak economy are getting further weakened under the de facto Taliban regime. The de facto regime wrested power to rule a country whose economy was excessively externally financed as well as (…)

• India’s Water Woes: Governance to Sustainability — With Reference to Maharashtra | S N Tripathy

  17 May 2024, by S N Tripathy

  Global freshwater reserves are dwindling at an alarming rate, posing imminent threats to densely populated regions worldwide. Both low- to middle-income developing nations and highly developed countries are exalted to confront water stress unless proactive measures are taken to manage existing reserves effectively. Developing countries, although exhibiting low per capita water consumption, face water scarcity due to rapid population growth and inefficient water usage across sectors. (…)