Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• On Punjab elections and farmers participation | Chaman Lal

  14 January 2022, by Chaman Lal

  I have not been very active on Facebook or other social media since few weeks, except sharing links of some good articles/news or sharing some old memories or wishing some friends on their birthday. As I am tied up in submitting a manuscript, whose schedule time has long crossed, so trying to discipline myself. But with all the constraints of time, I do wish to share my views with large number of friends and likeminded people on an issue, which is very crucial in coming days and times. This (…)

• Remembering the Rupaspur-Chandwa Massacre | Anand Chakravarti

  14 January 2022, by Anand Chakravarti

  On this day (November 22, 1971), 50 years ago, a mob led by the dominant Rajput landowners (henceforth referred to as ’maliks’) massacred 14 Santhals (Adivasis) in the village Rupaspur-Chandwa, in Purnea district (in north Bihar). The massacre was a ghastly response of the maliks to the assertion by their Santhal bataidars (sharecroppers) of their long-standing tenancy rights. The outrage was a bloody climax to several decades of struggle by Santhal bataidars in Dhamdaha revenue circle (in (…)

• Modi Against Kashi | Radhakanta Barik

  14 January 2022, by Radhakanta Barik

  by Prof Radhakanta Barik*
  The temple in Kashi drew many political leaders from Gandhi to Modi. Gandhi went there and branded it as the dirtiest place which did shock his Hindu conscience. He spoke out honestly and sent a message that God lives in a clean place. Gandhi went with young Jagjivan Ram in a car which got attacked by the priests of the temple but Gandhi retorted back: you are a scared lot, as you are so many but could not kill me. This message was clear as Gandhi took the Dalits (…)

• Listen To Electron & His Brothers | T J S George

  14 January 2022, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  The lawyer’s name is Electron. That is right, a practising lawyer whose name is Electron. If any confirmation is required, please meet his brothers, Proton and Neutron. These are real names of real people. Of course they are in Kerala, a place where impossible things turn possible.
  It was not an eccentric desire to be different that made K. Arjunachari name his sons in unconventional style. He had two reasons, both noble in nature. He knew the way atoms bonded (…)

• Dealing with the “Uberization” of the Workforce: Emerging Complexity in Employment Relation | Kingshuk Sarkar

  14 January 2022

  by Kingshuk Sarkar *
  Introduction
  The emergence of the gig or platform economy is one of the most important changes in the world of work. An important outcome of this is the introduction of digital labour platforms which includes both web-based platforms, where work is outsourced to a geographically dispersed population (‘crowd work’) and location-based applications (apps) which allocate work to individuals in a specific geographical area, mostly to do local, service-oriented tasks such (…)

• Small Scale Traditional Fishermen Clash with Ring Seine Boats off Visakhapatnam Coast : A Deep Based Contradiction Erupts | Pradip Chatterjee

  14 January 2022, by Pradip Chatterjee

  On January 5 the Visakhapatnam coast witnessed bloody clashes between traditional small fishing communities and some fishers fishing with ring seines made of smaller mesh size nets and equipped with sonar fish finders. The clashes left 5 fishing boats fully burnt and another 6 to 7 boats partially damaged. About 30 fishers were wounded. Some of them had to be rescued from the sea by the Coast Guard. The police arrested 60 to 70 people and lookout notices were issued against nearly 400 (…)

• Odisha Millets Mission - a step towards combating climate vulnerability and promoting sustainable food systems | Geeta Sinha

  14 January 2022, by Geeta Sinha

  The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation conducted a pan-India assessment of climate change vulnerability based on fourteen parameters encompassing socio-economic aspects, livelihood, institution and infrastructure and biophysical features. “Out of 100 most vulnerable districts in the country, 70% of them are in five states of Eastern India– Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh and Odisha,” said Dr Akhilesh (…)

• Letter Number 2 To Kanhaiya Kumar - Reformism or How To Delegitimize The Legacy Of Marxism | Murzban Jal

  14 January 2022

  by Murzban Jal
  Philosophy comes into the world amid the loud cries of its enemies, who betray their inner infection by wild shouts for help against the fiery ardour of ideas. —Karl Marx, The Leading Article in No. 179 of the Kölnische Zeitung.
  Dear Ex-comrade Kanhaiya Kumar,
  Extreme urgency has compelled me to write again to you, especially in view that you are to assist the battle against the BJP and the Dharam Sansad (Religious Parliament) recently held in Haridwar where calls were (…)

• Negotiating questions of communal harmony, non-violence and justice: Mahatma Gandhi and the Malabar Rebellion of 1921 | Teresa Joseph and A.M.Thomas

  14 January 2022, by A. M. Thomas, Teresa Joseph

  Abstract
  The Malabar Rebellion (also known as the Mappilla/Moplah Rebellion) took place in the Malabar region of Madras Presidency, which is today a part of the state of Kerala in August 1921. The upsurge by a section of the Muslim community (Mappilas/Moplahs) of the region was the outcome of a long history of diverse factors and continues to be a contested issue. It caused a major turmoil at the time, both at the regional as well as national levels, particularly in the context of the (…)

• Rethinking the Paris Commune of 1871 | Arup Kumar Sen

  14 January 2022, by Arup Kumar Sen

  On the occasion of the 150th Anniversary of the Paris Commune of 1871, historian Laura C. Forster has raised fundamental questions about commemorating the great insurgency and what happened in its wake (See Laura C. Forster, ‘Radical Commemoration, the Politics of the Street, and the 150th Anniversary of the Paris Commune of 1871’, History Workshop Journal, Vol. 92, Autumn 2021). The questions raised and observations made by Forster illuminate our historical imagination. Forster (…)