Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

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  SC’s Plainspeak and Mob Attack on Agnivesh

  21 July 2018, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  Once again the country’s Apex Court has risen to the occasion to unambiguously meet the challenge of mob vigilantism.
  “Horrendous acts of mobocracy can’t be permitted to inundate the law of the land. Earnest action and concrete steps have to be taken to protect citizens from the recurrent pattern of violence, which can’t be allowed to become the new normal.”
  These were the considered views of the Supreme Court aired yesterday. It adopted a series of “preventive, remedial and (…)

• Too Harsh a Judgment?

  21 July 2018, by Kuldip Nayar

  Pakistan’s Supreme Court has sentenced twice popularly elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif for 10 years in prison. The general remarks about the verdict is that it is too harsh. Nawaz Sharif, who heard about the judgment in London, has said that he would return to Pakistan. However, sources close to the rulers say that he would be arrested as soon as he lands in the country.
  Once again it seems that the confrontation between the civilian rulers and the military is building up. Perhaps, the (…)

• Was Emergency in India akin to Hitler’s Regime?

  21 July 2018

  by Ram Puniyani
  On the eve of the 43rd anniversary of the Emergency, which was imposed on the country in 1975, the BJP has come out strongly condemning the event, issued a half-page advertisement and Modi said that it was imposed to save the power of a family. There are claims that the BJP’s parent organisation, the RSS, and its political predecessors valiantly fought against the Emergency. Surprisingly many streams of Indian politics, like the CPI(M), shades of socialists, and sections of (…)

• Why ISRO ‘Spy Case’ Is Important

  21 July 2018, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  India’s biggest achievement since independence is its march to leadership ranks in space technology. In June last year the national space organisation ISRO put into space a rocket as heavy as 200 fully grown elephants, making it a major player in the satellite launch industry alongside the US, France and Russia.
  The pioneers who prepared the ground for this great leap forward were Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai, men of impeccable scientific credentials. Bhabha pioneered (…)

• Modi’s Kashmir Policy has brought Disrepute to India

  21 July 2018

  by Tapan Bose
  The cynical break-up of the PDP-BJP coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir by the BJP without any prior notice is a clear evidence of its plans to continue with the policy of “no dialogue” and harsh suppression of all forms of protest. The policy that the Modi Government has been following is a combination of (a) harsh crackdowns on the agitating youth; (b) undermining the initiatives of all mainstream parties; and (c) taking Kashmir out of the India-Pakistan equation. It (…)

• The Crisis in Jammu and Kashmir: Who reset the clock to 1993?

  21 July 2018

  by Mustafa Khan
  What blunder has brought such a crisis in J&K that many perceive that India is killing its own people rather than the terrorists or the armed militants fighting the Army? The long promised plebiscite has simply become an illusion. Instead there is the shackle of abolition of the kind of limited autonomy that was promised decades ago. The Kashmiris of this new generation have not lost the relevance of history. They do not need to read the Irish history and the plight of (…)

• Hindi Journalism Loses Two Stalwarts

  21 July 2018, by Bharat Dogra

  COMMUNICATION
  In June Hindi journalism lost two stalwarts who were committed to justice, equality and communal harmony.
  Rajkishore was widely known as one of the senior most columnists in Hindi who wrote very regularly for several leading newspapers and journals for several decades. He also edited several magazines from time to time. His commitment to equality and justice was steadfast. He was very firmly opposed to casteism. He tried to integrate the views of Ambedkar, Gandhi and Lohia (…)

• Is the Modi Raj of Today any Better or Worse than Mrs Gandhi’s 1975-77 Emergency?

  21 July 2018, by Ashok Parthasarathi

  Today, June 25, 2018 is the 43rd anniversary of the Internal Emergency which PM Indira Gandhi declared in 1975. That declaration of Emergency by her was fully in accordance with the provisions of our Constitution Moreover, it was precipitated/triggered by a series of speeches and actions of the Opposition leaders denigrating her personally and her rule in general. The most extreme of them was the call by the self-styled leader of the nationwide “Indira Hatao” “Andolan” —the former socialist (…)

• Neither Anarchy nor Absolutism — Let Us Have Democracy

  21 July 2018, by Badri Raina

  Two recent Supreme Court pronouncements restore with sentient purpose the principles of lawful, representative, democratic governance.
  Two recent life-giving judgements of the truly honourable Supreme Court of India—one pertaining to deaths by lynchings, and the other to the imbroglio about governance structures in the Capital—deserve special attention.
  First, the anarchy: A reference to anarchy was made by the Court in relation to the Delhi stalemate, and I will seek the honourable (…)

• Spy Talks between Chiefs of RAW and ISI leave Room for Speculation

  21 July 2018

  BOOK REVIEW
  by K.S. Subramanian
  Spy Chronicles: RAW, ISI and the Illusion of Peace by A.S. Dulat, Asad Durrani and Aditya Sinha; Harper Collins Publications India; 2018; Price: Rs 799; pp. 319.
  This book relates to a unique series of candid conversations between A.S. Dulat and Asad Durrani, retired spy chiefs of India and Pakistan respectively. They explore the problems and possibilities of their bilateral security concerns. Senior journalist Aditya Sinha choreographs the conversations (…)