Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• The Chakra and After: A Study of Sri Lanka

  3 October 2016, by Apratim Mukarji

  BOOK REVIEW
  After the Fall: Sri Lanka in Victory and War by Mohan K. Tikku; Oxford University Press, New Delhi; 2016; pages 308; Price: Rs 650.
  Considering the relative geopolitical insigni-ficance of Sri Lanka in the comity of nations, this beautiful island nation’s continuing ability to attract sustained international attention is quite remarkable. As many as seven years have passed since the end of the 26-year-old brutal civil war. But scholarly studies and journalistic writings on (…)

• After Fiftyone Years

  24 September 2016, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  Fiftyone years ago, in September 1965, Pakistan had gone to war with India with the purpose of annexing the Kashmir Valley by force. This happened barely sixteen months after the demise of our first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who not only defended the unity and integrity of this nation, including Kashmir, with rare foresight but also worked indefatigably to reinforce the democratic principles which constituted the bedrock of our independence and Constitution. In the Annual (…)

• Murder of Democracy in Arunachal Pradesh

  24 September 2016

  by V. Bijukumar
  Politics in Arunachal Pradesh assumed a new turn in the context of the mass migration of Congress MLAs, including its Chief Minister Prema Khandu, to the People’s Party of Arunachal (PPA), a regional outfit set up with the support of the BJP. When 43 Congress MLAs joined the regional party, the Congress strength in the Assembly was reduced to one as the former Chief Minister, Nabam Tuki, remained the lone Congress MLA. In the 60-member State Assembly, whose current strength (…)

• A Flashpoint in South Asia?

  24 September 2016

  by L.K. Sharma
  Pakistan and India are engaged in a war of words at the highest level. Unusually provo-cative statements have been made by the two Prime Ministers. The area of contest and conflict has been widened. The TV channels in the two countries beat the war drums every night.
  Pakistan queered the pitch when it saw India failing to deal with the Kashmiris protesting against the killing of a terrorist. Pakistan’s Prime Minister dedicated his nation’s Independence Day to Kashmir’s (…)

• Standstill In The Valley: Both Separatists and the Centre have a Lot to Answer For

  24 September 2016, by Badri Raina

  The way to you-know-where, they say, is paved with good intentions. After the results of the last Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir were in hand, it seemed a logical assumption to the late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed that joining with the BJP would yield a secular bond between the two major parts of the State and that aligning with the Narendra Modi-led Central Government could produce bold initiatives vis-a-vis the contention with Pakistan. Modi, it could be argued, is more an RSS Prime (…)

• Intifada in Kashmir

  24 September 2016

  by Mustafa Khan
  The Kashmir problem cannot be addressed unless you address Pakistan, says Dr Madhav Godbole.1 The Kashmir problem is a quandary but new grounds seem to be broken. Sitaram Yechury, who called on Geelani but could not meet him, said that Pakistan should be included in any dialogue on Kashmir. It went unnoticed by the BJP and even the Congress. Geelani called Pakistan a friend and well-wisher. Either the public opinion is not educated enough to know the delicate situation or (…)

• Kashmir and Conscience

  24 September 2016, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  In the brochures and posters of Indian tourism, Kashmir still figures with its enchanting attractions. In reality, however, the picturesque Valley of Kashmir is becoming out of bounds for the peace-loving citizens of this country.
  In a sense, Kashmir today represents the gravest challenge to Indian democracy—perhaps much more than what happened at Ayodhya on December 6 and all that followed. If the bomb blast in Bombay on March 12 and the blow-up of the bomb storage (…)

• Scene of Linguistic Chauvinism

  24 September 2016, by Kuldip Nayar

  The horrors of partition came to my mind when I saw television beaming pictures of rioting and killing in Bengaluru. It was the same way I felt when partition took place and we, the people living in the newly-constituted state of Pakistan, had to leave our home and hearth to migrate to India.
  I never imagined that a cosmopolitan city like Bengaluru could be the scene of linguistic chauvinism, which would go to the extent of killing Tamils by Kannadas. Leading IT firms preferred to open (…)

• Share Water, but also Share Responsibility for Protecting River

  24 September 2016, by Bharat Dogra

  COMMUNICATION
  Whether in the context of the Cauvery river or the Narmada river or other rivers, so much time and effort has been spent on the sharing of the river waters. Isn’t it time now to devote more time and effort to the sharing of responsibility for protecting the rivers?
  Look at how many details were worked out for sharing the waters of the Narmada river. The only concern missing in the entire elaborate exercise appears to be the protection of the river. The tragic consequences (…)

• Id in Kashmir, Problem of Survival in Mewat

  24 September 2016, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  Perhaps, for the first time in the recent history of Kashmir, curfew was imposed in the Kashmir Valley on Id. To compound the situation, connectivity snapped, if it was not hugely disrupted. The masses in the Valley cannot get over the latest round of trauma. Openly voicing their disgust, ‘Never before this sort of clampdown. Sitting caged on Id morning. No namaaz at the Jami Masjid nor at the Hazratbal or any of the big mosques of the city...you can’t imagine how upsetting it gets (…)