Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• A burning torch in the darkness has gone out

  2 September 2018

  The following is a statement issued by the President, Socialist Party (India), Dr Prem Singh, after Kuldip Nayar’s demise on August 23, 2018.
  Kuldip Nayar was one of the strongest symbols of trust in the Indian civil society. He was among the few persons who could not compromise on basic constitutional and human values even in front of biggest troubles or temptations. With his demise a burning torch in today’s dark phase for the Indian society and polity has been extinguished.
  At the (…)

• The Death of a Statesman: Vajpayee’s belief in insaaniyat set him apart and lent him a national appeal

  2 September 2018

  by H.K. Dua
  In the passing away of Atal Behari Vajpayee, the country has lost not only the BJP’s first Prime Minister, but also a national leader who, over the decades, had emerged as a statesman with a national appeal.
  Whatever his political affiliation, Vajpayee came to believe that a national consensus had to be evolved, surpassing the traditional faultlines of India’s diverse society such as caste, religion, region and language. He believed in democracy, freedom of the press, right (…)

• The Prime Minister as Gentleman

  2 September 2018, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  My Lord, Never let me climb so high that I’m unable to embrace a stranger.
  The humanism in Atal Behari Vajpayee made him taller than a Prime Minister. In the vastness of his mind the ephemerality of political glory counted for what it was. He once said: You might become an ex-Prime Minister one day, but you will never become an ex-poet. He was a universalist, his literate self dwelling above his political persona.
  Vajpayee was reared in the RSS school, attending officers’ (…)

• Vajpayee and Karunanidhi: India loses its great

  2 September 2018

  TRIBUTE
  by Mahendra Ved
  In a span of 10 days, on August 7 and 16, India lost two of its titans, Muthuvel Karunanidhi and Atal Behari Vajpayee, whose contributions reflected its unity and diversity.
  Their exit, albeit after age and ailment had long rendered them ineffective, marks the end of the post-independence era. If their respective legacies will endure remains to be seen.
  Some obvious comparisons and contrasts: Three-time Premier Vajpayee was from India’s North and five-time (…)

• Remembering Kuldip Nayar: From Between to Beyond the Lines

  2 September 2018

  by Sanjay Parikh
  On June 26, 2018, human rights organisations had assembled at the Gandhi Peace Foundation, Delhi to remember the dark days of Emergency. This was an annual affair and Shri Kuldip Nayar was a regular speaker in these meetings. This time, too, he came and spoke. But his speech was different; it came from his heart and was quite moving. He ended by saying that the fight has not ended—there are issues much more serious than the Emergency and they have to be fought fearlessly (…)

• Freedom Day at Amritsar

  2 September 2018, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  The following piece was written by N.C. 22 years ago. It is being reproduced now while also remembering Kuldip Nayar, the just deceased human rights crusader and eminent journalist who began the tradition of Indo-Pak amity at the Wagah border since that time to mark the two neighbouring states’ Independence Days on August 14 and 15.
  Three landmarks to cover in a single day—that was how some of us spent our fiftieth Independence Day.
  The first of the pilgrimage was (…)

• Ahead of 2019, BJP is Out to Rearrange the Electorate

  2 September 2018, by Badri Raina

  Call it gumption or desperation, the ruling political force is now out to rearrange the electorate ahead of the 2019 general elections. Indeed, it is out to do so by hook or crook, and never mind the pertinent questions that may be asked of it.
  We are told Assam is overloaded with illegitimate residents, but the government simultan-eously seeks to pass a legislation that would allow the Indian state to grant citizenship to any and all non-Muslim aspirants from you know where—Afghanistan, (…)

• Hate Ideology And Rising Intolerance - Swami Agnivesh: Social Reformer Under Attack

  2 September 2018

  by Ram Puniyani
  On August 17 (2018), during the funeral procession of the former Prime Minster of India, Atal Behari Vajpayee, Swami Agnivesh was assaulted outside the BJP head office, when the Swami was trying to participate in the procession. The assaulters, some members of the crowd, began to heckle him and then they physically attacked him. They were raising the slogans, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and ‘Deshdrohi Wapas Jao (Go Back Anti-National)’.
  A month ago, in Pakur, Jharkhand, Agnivesh (…)

• Forward Bloc’s Homage to Somnath Chatterjee

  2 September 2018

  The following is a statement by Debabrata Biswas, General Secretary of the All India Forward Bloc, on the demise of Somnath Chatterjee.
  The All India Forward Bloc place on record its deep sorrow and heartfelt condolences on the sad demise of Somnath Chatterjee, the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha and a veteran as well as outstanding parliamentarian.
  He was a known face for Left politics in Parliament for years together. The void created due to his absence in Parliament cannot be filled. (…)

• National Register of Citizens (NRC): A Dissenting Note

  2 September 2018, by Arup Kumar Sen

  Over 40 lakh people in Assam, mostly belonging to the Muslim community, found their names excluded from the “complete draft” of the NRC, released in Guwahati on July 30, 2018. The BJP Government has already passed the burden of this document on to the Supreme Court. In the context of criticisms of this document, the Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, stated: “I want to make it clear that the government has no role to play. Whatever is happening is being done under the supervision of the (…)