Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Hashtags for War between India and Pakistan

  3 March 2019

  by Fatima Bhutto
  Pakistan and India, two nuclear armed states, have fought many wars since our partition in 1947. Our militaries have faced off in 1947, 1965, 1971 and 1999. Between those wars, there have been numerous skirmishes, cross-border strikes and accusations of covert support for terrorism.
  I have never seen my country at peace with its neighbour. But never before have I seen a war played out between two nuclear-armed states with Twitter accounts. On February 14, a suicide (…)

• Joint Statement by the National Committees of PIPFPD of India and Pakistan

  3 March 2019

  The following is the Joint Statement by the National Committees of the Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy of India and Pakistan issued on February 26, 2019 from Lahore and New Delhi (also Mumbai, Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Jammu, Bhubaneshwar and Srinagar).
  We, the members of Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), from India and Pakistan, note with seriousness and strongly condemn the claims of the Indian Government of air (…)

• BJP Misreads Arunachali Sentiments

  3 March 2019, by Barun Das Gupta

  Widespread violence has broken out in the quiet North-Eastern State of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China in the last few days. The objection of the Arunachalis is the Centre’s step to grant Permanent Resident Certificates (PRC) to six communities in Arunachal which are recognised as Scheduled Tribes in neighbouring Assam. These tribes are Deoris, Sonowal Kacharis, Morans, Adivasis, Mishing and Gorkhas.. Already, two persons have died in police firing. The Deputy Chief Minister’s residence (…)

• Pulwama: A Wake-up Call for Peace in the Region

  3 March 2019

  by Ram Puniyani
  The suicidal terrorist, Adil Ahmad Dar, rammed his explosive laden car into two trucks of a CRPF convoy on February 14, 2019. The blast led to the brutal murder of 44 jawans, a big national tragedy, most heinous and condemnable. In terms of scale and casualties, it exceeds even the Uri attack of September 18, 2016, in which four heavily armed terrorists targeted an Army brigade headquarters, killing 19 soldiers. The Pulwama attack is even more serious than the car-bombing (…)

• Threat to Constitutional Structure

  3 March 2019, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  A situation of unprecedented confusion synchronising with the onset of serious crisis for the entire constitutional structure of the Indian state presents before the nation today.
  On the one side is the outright challenge of the BJP, the most aggressive of political parties, threatening to defy the entire administration in a manner never seen before; and on the other, the ruling party at the Centre presents a picture of utter disunity with factions not only (…)

• Kashmiris Hounded and Attacked

  3 March 2019, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  This entire week I have been sitting and recollecting those words and phrases from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s lengthy speeches where he had spoken of kashmiriyat,insaniyat, jamhooriyat, in the context of the Kashmir crisis. Not to forget his assurances; that he and his government would reach out to the Kashmiris.
  I wonder what happened to those promises and assurances, when last week hundreds of the young and even the not-so-young Muslim Kashmiris were targeted in (…)

• Comprehending Farmers’ Distress

  3 March 2019

  by Suranjita Ray
  The political narrative of the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP) that promised to double the farmers’ income by 2022-23 has raised serious qualms not only because the real income of the farmers has remained stagnant during the last few years but also due to the farmers’ increasing distress across the country. The democratic upsurge of farmers’ movements has not only exposed the flaws in the agrarian policies of ineffective procurement, obstinate trade, restrictive marketing, and (…)

• A Tale of Two Events and Two Cultures

  3 March 2019

  by L.K. Sharma
  The Science Congress and Jaipur Literature Festival (JLF), held in India every January, attract Nobel Laureates and inspire youngsters to dream. The Science Congress is inaugurated by the Prime Minister, a tradition started by Jawaharlal Nehru, who ensured that India’s Constitution included a reference to “scientific temper”. Tje JLF invariably invites the State Governor or the Chief Minister which guarantees official support.
  The two prestigious events are divided by the (…)

• ‘Bare Life’ of Kashmiris

  3 March 2019, by Arup Kumar Sen

  There are diverse ways of remembering a tragic event. The aftermath of recent deaths of more than 40 CRPF men in terrorist attack in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir on February 14, 2019 bears testimony to it. In the wake of the tragedy, peaceful candle light processions were organised in different parts of the country to pay tribute to the soldiers. This marks the sane way of mourning the tragic deaths. But, violent ways of responding to the event, targeting Kashmiris, are also (…)

• India Under Narendra Modi

  3 March 2019

  by Sandeep Pandey and Rahul Pandey
  Narendra Modi’s ascension to power was accompanied with jubilation and expectation. His supporters were expecting an end to era of corruption and initiation of good governance which was described as Achche Din. His party’s adherence to idea of nationalism was believed to make India a vibrant country and guide it to be a world leader. He gave the slogan of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ conveying that his government was for all.
  Corruption
  The government (…)