Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Remembering R.S. Rao and His Critical Marxist Tradition

  19 October 2011, by Gilbert Sebastian

  TRIBUTE
  Prof R.S. Rao (74), a retired Professor from Sambhalpur University and a long time intellectual of radical politics in India, passed away on June 17, 2011 in New Delhi. He had suffered a stroke and was in the ventilator for around twenty days. The inevitability of death takes away from us his lively and jovial company and the sharp intellect combined with unswerving commitment to the cause of the common people.
  Remembering the critical Marxist tradition of R.S. Rao, we would (…)

• The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism

  19 October 2011, by Martha Rosenberg

  by JOHN PILGER
  Thank you all for coming to the 12th annual award of the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Some would say there are too many awards for journalism that merely celebrate the status quo. The Martha Gellhorn Prize is very different. We believe it’s the most prestigious and sought-after award for journalism in Britain because it recognises that the best journalists are subversives—because the truth is so often subversive.
  Let me quote in full why we give it: “This prize (…)

• Pakistan: Internal Chaos and International Isolation

  19 October 2011

  by M.M. KHAJOORIA
  Ali Sarwar Naqvi, a former Pakistan diplomat, in his perceptive piece titled “International Isolation” (Dawn, August 17, 2011), wrote: “As has happened several times in the past, Pakistan is facing international isolation once again. Somehow we land ourselves in a situation ever so often where we are on one side and the rest of the world is on the other.” Interestingly, he quotes four instances from history to illustrate his point. Two of these directly concern India. (…)

• Chinese Factor in Indo-Bangladesh Relations

  19 October 2011, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  Amitava Mukherjee’s write-up captioned “Prime Minister’s Tour of Bangladesh” (Mainstream, September 24, 2011) correctly raises the implications of the ominous Chinese factor which might destabilise our longstanding friendly relations with Bangladesh. Somehow we get the impression that our Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is bent upon having a mollycoddling relationship with Bangladesh ignoring the real and legitimate concerns of the constituent States of the Indian Union surrounding (…)

• PM Should Sack Montek

  19 October 2011, by S G Vombatkere

  COMMUNICATION
  Mr Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s attempt to explain away the strong public reaction to “sort of misread[ing]” of his affidavit to the Supreme Court, by shifting the blame to the Tendulkar Committee’s findings is dreadfully insensitive and inadequate, and directly in violation of the letter and spirit of Article 43 of the Constitution.
  How does the Depuy Chairman of the Planning Commission, paid a hefty salary from public funds (reportedly tax-free), reconcile the living wage of (…)

• Forbidden Territory, where Life is Death, and Women are Sold on Thursdays

  19 October 2011, by T J S George

  Everyone has heard of the ruggedness of the “Northwest Frontier Province”, the “forbidden area” where the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran meet, of the merciless codes of honour that govern the lives of the Pushtuns and the Baluchis, of the primitive pride of the tribes that must battle with nature—and with one another—merely to survive.
  But exactly how rugged? How merciless? A new book, The Wandering Falcon, provides a rather frightening introduction to what consti-tutes (…)

• Positive Implications of the Karzai Visit

  8 October 2011, by SC

  The two-day visit to New Delhi of Afghan President Hamid Karzai (October 4-5, 2011) has been most productive—his discussions with PM Manmohan Singh were mutually beneficial punctuated as these were with wide convergence of interests and comprehension of the contemporary reality in the region; and the outcome was highly noteworthy with the two leaders concluding the first-ever Afghanistan-India strategic partnership agreement under which India has pledged to “assist, as mutually determined, (…)

• Truth of Gujarat vis-a-vis Modi’s Fast

  8 October 2011, by Rajindar Sachar

  The fast by Narendra Modi has got an excessive coverage, which defies logic. The critics have rightly projected it as self-image building by Modi to project himself as the Prime Ministerial candidate and under the cover of the slogan of sadbhavana as an attempt to wash off his sinful conduct in the post-Godhra period. I am clear in my mind that in the matter of the government’s complicity in the gory happenings like the 1984 genocide in Delhi and the 2002 Godhra genocide in Gujarat, there (…)

• And Quiet Flows the Teesta!

  8 October 2011, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  Muchkund Deubey’s essay entitled “Indo-Bangladesh Relations—Failure of Leadership on the Indian Side” (Mainstream, September 17, 2009) is a seminal contribution to the literature on this subject. It is erudite. It is factual. It gives a comprehensive coverage to the twists and turns of our relationship with our friendly neighbour. And most significantly, it exudes deep empathy for Bangladesh, its people and its culture. Such a learned and cultured piece of diplomatic writing couldn’t have (…)

• Forum Against War Crimes and Genocide Flays Rajapaksa Government’s Sri Lankan Model of State Terrorism

  8 October 2011

  DOCUMENT
  The following is a recent statement issued by the Forum Against War Crimes and Genocide.
  About the Forum
  The Forum against War Crimes and Genocide is a platform for human rights activists/organisations and other concerned civil society organisations to share their concerns, debate and campaign against “war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide” in Sri Lanka. Prof G. Hargopal is its chairperson, This Forum was initiated with a view to holding discussions the “UN Expert (…)