Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Consequence of New Delhi’s One-sided International Policy

  24 September 2016

  by Mansoor Ali
  In the course of a plenary session of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) on June 23-24, 2016, India had made a concerted effort to join it; but that bid was rejected primarily due to objections to India’s application to that effect from the Chinese Government and also because of the unexpected support Beijing was able to enlist from Washington’s allies like Norway, New Zealand, Switzerland and Turkey. It should be noted that the US had promised New Delhi to persuade its (…)

• Face of the Challenge

  18 September 2016

  POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
  As complexities mount in governance of States what with the sharing of Cauvery waters between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu causing widespread violence in the two States, the problem of tackling dengue and chikungunia in the Capital has brought out the AAP Government’s lack of preparedness to meet such a danger. At the same time the Shahabuddin episode in Bihar has exposed the Nitish-Laloo coalition government’s weakness in combating the menace of goondaism once again raising (…)

• Understanding Dalit Assertions

  18 September 2016

  by Suranjita Ray
  The recent mobilisation of Dalits to assert their rights to livelihood and dignity has once again reminded us that the state has failed them. By imposing disparaging occupations on the Dalits, such as manual scavenging and skinning of dead cows, the legacy of the upper- caste domination has been sustained. Despite the welfare policies based on affirmative action and protective discrimination, the everyday experiences of deprivation and violence of the Dalits are a (…)

• Message From Una

  18 September 2016

  by Binoy Viswam
  August 15, our Independence Day, was observed in the national Capital in a routine manner. The Prime Minister, in his customary address, added Balochistan to give it an additional punch. But hundreds of kilometres away from Delhi, in the Gujarat town of Una, the day was marked in a much different way. There, thousands of Dalits, the oppressed, rallied to declare freedom from oppression. They were asking: how can India be free, when Indians are not?
  There was anguish, (…)

• How Can there be an Indian Lincoln, Mr Udit Raj?

  18 September 2016

  by Ram Puniyani
  Dalit activist and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha Udit Raj, in his recent article in The Indian Express titled “Where is The Indian Lincoln?” highlights some pertinent questions and brings forth the issue of caste-related atrocities. But he goes on to hide things which are more crucial to the process of caste annihilation.
  He is on the dot when he says that atrocities against Dalits are due to a mindset which regards them as (…)

• All-Party Delegation in Srinagar, Hurriyat’s Position

  18 September 2016, by Humra Quraishi

  MUSINGS
  The all-party delegation to Srinagar has only ushered in complications. Instead of reaching out to the alienated masses or taking the initial steps towards a solution to the ongoing crisis, what’s taken off is sheer politics! You could call this nothing short of Right-wing politics, where instead of focusing on the crux, distractions are brought about along a certain well-crafted agenda.
  In the context of today’s bleeding-battered Kashmir, the Centre seems hell-bent on targeting (…)

• Unrest 2016: State of Politics and Philosophy in Kashmir

  18 September 2016

  by Ashfaq Maqsood Ali
  “Unless political power and philosophy meet together, there can be no rest from troubles for states nor for all mankind.” —Plato
  The early philosophical trend of human beings was revolving around the issues of being and becoming. In contrast, Socrates and Sophists appeared as a watermark on political philosophy as they were concerned about the fundamental questions proportional to the day-to-day social and political aspects of life. Socrates is known for his (…)

• Talks about talks in the Kashmir Valley

  18 September 2016, by M K Bhadrakumar

  There is a silver-lining in the dark cloud of uncertainty looming over Jammu and Kashmir. An all-party delegation that recently visited the Kashmir Valley has called for talks with all stakeholders which may include the “separatist” All Parties Hurriyet Conference as well. Will the Modi Government find such an extraordinary idea agreeable? Anyway, the federal government needs an out-of-the-box approach to resolve the Kashmir tangle.
  A high-profile visit by the Indian Army Chief, General (…)

• India’s Modi must visit Kashmir to ease tension in the Valley

  18 September 2016

  by Kadayam Subramanian
  India’s intelligence agencies have played a controversial role in reporting on the nature of the current unrest in Kashmir. By blaming Pakistan for instigating trouble in the Valley, they have failed to address the genuine problems of the people on the ground, which the younger generation of Kashmiris are agitated about including the negative role of the security forces. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should reject spurious analysis which encourages confron-tation with (…)

• It’s Kashmir again

  18 September 2016, by Kuldip Nayar

  A few years ago when I persuaded Yasin Malik, the first militant in the Valley of Kashmir, to give up his fast unto death, his demand was that the International Amnesty should visit the Valley to verify the violation of human rights. He broke the fast when I gave an undertaking that I would myself head a team to Srinagar to prepare a report on the violations of human rights.
  Today that kind of confidence has gone. The Hurriyat has refused to meet the delegation because the Hurriyat is not (…)