Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Decline of the Communist Mass Base in Bihar

  19 October 2018

  by Jagannath Sarkar
  Jagannath Sarkar, who passed away in April 2010, was among those who led the spectacular rise of the CPI in Bihar in the 1960s and 1970s. He was among a handful of Bihar CPI leaders who envisioned the crisis in the CPI in the mid-1970s. On his first birthday after he passed away—he was born on September 25, 1919—the following article by him came out in English on September 25, 2011. It gives a glimpse of the debate on new caste assertions in the CPI. It was written by (…)

• Akbar’s Heart of Darkness

  19 October 2018

  by Mustafa Khan
  Those who study literature, as M.J. Akbar did, must have had a nobler mind and shunned from descent into darkness of their own heart. His case is of the rarest type. It turned out to be topsy-turvy. How could he fall so precipitously! Why did the almighty hurl him headlong into the bottomless pit of hell! The aspiring young journalists (mostly women so far) whom he abused over decades were more concerned to make journalism a means of making a decent living. How traumatised (…)

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  Silver Lining in the Murky Scenario

  15 October 2018, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  While the Election Commission has laid out the schedule for the Assembly elections in five States (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram), the poll campaign has yet to begin in right earnest even if leaders of all political parties, notably BJP chief Amit Shah, PM Naredra Modi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi, have started addressing public rallies in the concerned States in preparation for the polls (whose results would be known on December 11). It is (…)

• Swami Sanand’s Death a National Tragedy

  15 October 2018, by Bharat Dogra

  TRIBUTE
  Swami Sanand breathed his last at a hospital in Rishikesh on October 11, the 111th day of his fast for the protection of the Ganga river. Known earlier as Prof G.D. Aggarwal, he was widely regarded as one of the most respected authorities on protection of the Ganga river.
  After a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley, he taught at the IIT and served as the Member-Secretary, Central Pollution Board. Then he took up sanyas and devoted himself to protection of the (…)

• Turning Once Again to the Traditional Friend

  15 October 2018, by Barun Das Gupta

  The Indo-Russian defence deal, signed last week during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to New Delhi, is a significant development. To make this deal possible, hectic behind-the-scene activities took place. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had to work overtime to persuade Washington to exempt India from the purview of the draconian “Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act”, CAATSA for short, which stipulates imposing sanctions on any country doing certain types of (…)

• India - Russia Joint Statement

  15 October 2018

  DOCUMENT
  The following is the Joint Statement issued after the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to India and the fruitful talks held by the Russian delegation headed by him and the Indian delegation led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on October 4-5, 2018.
  Prime Minister of the Republic of India H.E. Mr. Narendra Modi and President of the Russian Federation H.E. Mr. Vladimir V. Putin met for the 19th edition of the Annual Bilateral Summit in New Delhi on October (…)

• Parakram Parv — at What Cost?

  15 October 2018

  by M.M. Khajooria
  It is established that there have been surgical strikes across the LoC in the past. So what was special about the last surgical strike meriting so much of publicity and controversy culminating in observance of the Parakram Parv anniversary? The Vice Chief of Army Staff has finally placed the episode in perspective. In answer to a question of the anchor on a national TV channel, the Vice Chief cited three distinguishing features of this particular controversial surgical (…)

• Destroying Education, Attacking Students

  15 October 2018, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  Ruckus on the campus of the universities in Uttar Pradesh seems ongoing. The latest news reports of violence on the campus of the Allahabad University and before that ruckus in the Benaras Hindu University and Lucknow University speak volumes of the political rot intruding into these once-upon-a-time great educational institutions. Alas no longer! Political mafia holding sway in the university depart-ments, intruding right into the classrooms and hostels. Writ large the fact that (…)

• They Come in New Attire!

  15 October 2018

  by Binoy Viswam
  These lines are being written on October 2 when Gandhiji and his teachings reverberate in the heart and soul of India. This year Gandhiji is ‘privileged’ to be showered with praises from certain unusual quarters. They are none other than the forces of the Sangh Parivar. Mohan Bhagwat, the RSS Sarsanghchalak, Narendra Modi, the Swayamsevak Prime Minister—all seem to be excited with their newly found adoration for Mahatma Gandhi. To set the ground prepared for the new (…)

• Why the Arrest of Dalit Activists, ‘Urban Naxals’

  15 October 2018

  by Ram Puniyani
  The violence in Bheema Koregaon is still reverberating. We recall that on January 1, 2018, thousands of Dalits returning from Bheema Koregaon were beaten up. In that context the names of Milind Ekbote and Sambhaji Bhide cropped up as the instigators of violence. The probe is on. In the same context five activists— Mahesh Raut, Rona Wilson, Surendra Gadling, Shoma Sen and Sudhir Dhawale, working on issues related to Adivasis and Dalits—were arrested. Now in the month of (…)