Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• What is Home? | Mosab Abu Toha

  25 November 2023

  What is home:
  it is the shade of trees on my way to school before they were uprooted.
  It is my grandparents’ black-and-white wedding photo before the walls crumbled.
  It is my uncle’s prayer rug, where dozens of ants slept on wintry nights before it was looted and put in a museum.
  It is the oven my mother used to bake bread and roast chicken before a bomb reduced our house to ashes.
  It is the café where I watched football matches and played—
  My child stops me: Can a four-letter (…)

• It Happened One Fine Day | Murzban Jal

  25 November 2023

  When One fine day When the Minister For Internal and External Affairs Fell down from his armchair When he was reading the story of his life Written by a famous author His head hit the floor. And when he got up from the fall He started speaking exactly The opposite Of what he was thinking. And then the masses applauded Not knowing Of This terrible fall Yes, Yes. Applauded Much more than they applauded yesterday When the Minister For Internal and External Affairs Spoke Of growing corn from (…)

• A Diary / At A Hospital In Gaza | Sagari Chhabra

  25 November 2023, by Sagari Chhabra

  A Diary
  At first, they stripped them of their clothes and jewellery, even the gold from their teeth, then they cut their hair, sending them to a lair the gas chamber at Auschwitz.
  In Birkenau, they made them toil in fields, extracting all they could, then further to Dachau, to be gassed enmasse. This was the horrific Final Solution the Jews were made to suffer, while the whole world looked away. We who watched, said, never again; but after what we have seen, why must you repeat that (…)

• Kora: in search of the origins of west Africa’s famed stringed musical instrument | Eric Charry

  25 November 2023

  November 9, 2023
  “How come we’ve never heard of this beautiful instrument until now?” This was posted by a first-year college student to my world music course discussion board recently. He voiced what many of his peers probably felt after watching the extraordinary documentary Ballaké Sissoko, Kora Tales.
  The film follows Sissoko debut solo album in 1972. The kora has won more Grammy Awards in the World/Global Music category than the sitar. An album featuring the kora with the BBC (…)

• The Authoritarian Personality | Erich Fromm

  25 November 2023

  by Erich Fromm
  What do we mean by “authoritarian personality”? We usually see a clear difference between the individual who wants to rule, control, or restrain others and the individual who tends to submit, obey, or to be humiliated. To use a somewhat friendlier term, we might talk of the leader and his followers. As natural as the difference between the ruling and the ruled might — in many ways — be, we also have to admit that these two types, or as we can also say, these two forms of (…)

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  Silkyara Tunnel collapse exposes the callous attitude of the Govt towards safety norms | Joint Statement from Unions

  25 November 2023

  Press Release
  The following statement was issued by the Joint Platform of Central Trade Unions, Sectoral Federations/Associations on 22nd November 2023.
  41 workers trapped in Silkyara Tunnel exposes the callous attitude of the Government towards Occupational Safety and Health of the workers.
  The Platform of Central Trade Unions and Sectoral Federations/Associations express their anguish at the failure of the authorities to take responsibility for the Silkyara Tunnel collapse in (…)

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  Workers Concerns on Future of Integral Coach Factory - Letter to the Railway Minister by Binoy Viswam (MP)

  25 November 2023, by Binoy Viswam

  Binoy Viswam Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha)
  To, Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Government of India Respected Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw ji, 116, North Avenue New Delhi - 110 001
  Dt. 21st November, 2023
  I write this letter to bring your attention to a matter concerning the future of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) of the Indian railways located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. ICF has proven its forte and virtuosity throughout the history of the Indian Railway through its performance (…)

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  Statement on Behalf of Israel-based Progressives and Peace Activists | Oct 16, 2023

  25 November 2023

  October 16th, 2023
  Statement on Behalf of Israel-based Progressives and Peace Activists
  Regarding Debates over Recent Events in Our Region:
  We, Israel-based academics, thought leaders and progressive activists committed to peace, equality, justice, and human rights, are deeply pained and shocked by the recent events in our region. We are also deeply concerned by the inadequate response from certain American and European progressives regarding the targeting of Israeli civilians by (…)

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  Why has communism failed to permanently change the world? | Apratim Mukarji

  25 November 2023, by Apratim Mukarji

  BOOK REVIEW
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  Yuddhakalin Sahitya Samgraha 1942 Editor: Utpal Sengupta
  Publisher Parul Prakashani Pvt. Ltd., 8/3, Chintamani Das Lane, Kolkata 700009 info[at]parulprakashani.in Price Rs. 500.00
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  Eminent economist John G. Gurley thought that India was one country where communist and Marxist tenets should take root, along with Italy, France, and Japan. “Marxism and Capitalism are now engaged in an intense, worldwide struggle. When Americans look beyond their borders, many (…)

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  Kinzley’s Review of Greene, J. Megan, Building a Nation at War

  25 November 2023

  BOOK REVIEW
  Reviewed by Judd Kinzley (University of Wisconsin–Madison)
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  Building a Nation at War: Transnational Knowledge Networks and the Development of China during and after World War II
  by J. Megan Greene
  (Harvard East Asian Monographs) Harvard University Asia Center 2022. xiv + 319 pp. ISBN 978-0-674-27831-8 https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674278318
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  During the Anti-Japanese War (1937-45), Nationalist Party planners in China drew up ambitious (…)