Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Broken Myths and Future Trajectory of the Naga Women in Nagaland

  5 May 2018, by J.J. Roy Burman

  The term Naga is shrouded in mysteries. On the one hand you have Naga—naked sadhus, Hindu mendicants who prefer moving virtually naked, except for the loin that covers the ultimatum. On the other hand we have got the Naga peoples inhabiting mainly the hill areas of Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh. Some of them are even on the western province of erstwhile Burma, now known as Myanmar. Interestingly a few ethnic tribes in Kampuchea call themselves Nagas.
  The Nagas trace their (…)

• Ashok Mitra

  5 May 2018, by SC

  TRIBUTE
  It was more than fifty years ago in the summer of 1967. Some of us, journalists, were sitting at the old Banga Bhavan in New Delhi, conversing with the Food Minister of the newly-installed United Front Government of West Bengal, Sudhin Kumar, belonging to the RCPI. Suddenly, Kumar was summoned by the UF Government’s Deputy CM Jyoti Basu who was in the adjacent room. They had to go out to meet some Union Minister. As one watched Kumar depart, the reporter’s eye did not miss another (…)

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  Rationality Wins Over Left Sectarianism

  28 April 2018

  POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
  Rationality has emerged victorious over irrational (and infantile) dogmatism and Left sectarianism at the just-concluded 22nd Congress of the CPI-M. The preposterous idea that an all-in unity of secular and democratic forces to take on the BJP and the Sangh Parivar in the next general elections can be consummated by keeping the Congress out of it, has been decisively rejected. Prakash Karat and his charmed circle within the party fought a last-ditch battle by fielding (…)

• The Queen rules the Commonwealth!

  28 April 2018

  by L.K. Sharma
  It was a grand family reunion. The head of the family opened her magnificent home for the members coming from all over the world. She won them over by a charming smile and the display of her wealth. Her wish became her command.
  The Queen and her government, suspicious of revolutionary fervour, easily convinced the diverse family members that continuity and stability were more desirable. With great foresight, the Queen intervened politically to suggest her successor since (…)

• Justice Rajindar Sachar (1923-2018): Our Finest Has Gone

  28 April 2018

  TRIBUTE
  by Qurban Ali
  Veteran Socialist leader, noted jurist and champion of human rights Justice (retired) Rajindar Sachar passed away in Delhi on April 20, 2018. He was 94. A distinguished advocate for the protection of human rights, and poor, Justice Sachar was a former Chief Justice of Delhi and Sikkim High Courts. He vociferously promoted the cause of human rights and was also head of the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL). He authored many reports on Kashmir.
  Paying (…)

• Surendra Nihal Singh (1929-2018)

  28 April 2018, by Sumit Chakravartty

  TRIBUTE
  Surendra Nihal Singh, who would have turned 89 on April 30, passed away in a New Delhi hospital on Monday, April 16, 2018 due to kidney-related ailments.
  Nihal Sigh was, apart from editing two major daily publications, The Statesman and The Indian Express, one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents India has produced. He was the most sought-after foreign affairs expert, having lived and worked as a journalist in Islamabad, Moscow, Singapore and Paris besides New York. (…)

• Indian Communists in Summit

  28 April 2018, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  The talk of polarisation has become very fashionable nowadays. Even Sri S.K. Patil has been talking about it—and many others have been toying with it or dreading its consequences. For a party as amorphous as the Congress, polarisation of political forces can only mean split in the organisation, for the polarised forces inside the Congress will seek to link themselves up with the like-minded forces outside.
  Naturally such a prospect can hardly enthuse a Congressman (…)

• Brazen demons: your time is up

  28 April 2018, by Suhas Borker

  What kind of land has this become
  where little girls can no longer walk and play
  safe and free from rapists?
  In the mind’s eye of the people
  the spokes of the Blue Chakra have come asunder
  replaced by the little girl Asifa’s
  bloody mutilated vagina.
  Just wait and watch
  how from it will sprout
  waves of fiery blooded lava
  drowning in molten moulds
  the brazen demons of our times.
  Brazen demons: your time is up!
  Your time is up!
  April 22, 2018 Suhas Borker (…)

• Asifa’s Just Killers!

  28 April 2018

  by Prem Singh
  The cry seeking justice for Asifa is becoming stronger and deeper. From Delhi to the United Nations, from social and civil rights organisations to civil society citizens, more and more people are out on the streets shouting slogans and demanding justice for Asifa. The social media is parading her pictures, right from happier times to the horrifying end; protesters unfurl their respective banners and flags, and suggest varying degrees of punishment. From Kathua to Delhi, and (…)

• A Shot in the Dark

  28 April 2018, by Kuldip Nayar

  The Pakistan Supreme Court’s verdict to debar former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding any public office for life is too harsh punishment and mired in controversy. The court can hold him guilty, but it is up to Pakistan’s Parliament, including the Senate, to punish him. That is the reason why there has been a protest from Members of Parliament, most notably from his Muslim League party.
  Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in July after a probe ordered by the Supreme Court on the Panama (…)