Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• The State of the Empire— Some Reflections on the Geopolitical Situation

  24 May 2011, by Ninan Koshy

  If anybody had hopes that the replacement of a Republican President by a Democratic President would reform, if not begin to dismantle the Empire, their hopes have been totally belied. The continuation of the Bush era policies, military doctrines and strategies by President Obama is deeply disquieting, but not surprising. In the wake of the Bush Administration’s disastrous neoconservative ideologies, the Obama Administration initially appeared to be seeking to realise the liberal (…)

• On the Killing of Osama and Beyond

  24 May 2011

  by ADFAR RASHID SHAH
  Operation Geronimo by the US forces to kill Osama bin Laden speaks much beyond a mere encounter to eliminate a wanted man. On one hand, it seems a timely vote-bank politics for the coming presidential elections in America, proving the coloured relevance of the war on terror, a clever dramaturgy of exit from Afghanistan, Pakistan etc. as the US and its allies are paying a huge price for keeping their forces inside these turbulent regions. On the other hand, American (…)

• Letter to Dr Manmohan Singh

  24 May 2011, by S G Vombatkere

  Dear Dr Manmohan Singh,
  I am writing concerning the decision of the Union Minister of State for Environment and Forest, Shri Jairam Ramesh, giving final forest and environmental clearance to the Pohang Steel Company (POSCO) for its project in Odisha.
  Shri Jairam Ramesh and the Odisha Government have disregarded the resolutions of Palli Sabhas (Village Councils) that opposed handover of land for the proposed POSCO project. As per Section 6 of the Forest Rights Act 2006, villagers of (…)

• Anna Hazare’s Feat: A Sceptic’s Treatise

  24 May 2011, by Diptendra Raychaudhuri

  I have no hesitation in acknowledging that I was inspired by Anna Hazare’s fast and the response of the younger generation to it. I was never optimistic that it would be a big step towards some radical change in our rotting system. I knew the hype created by Hazare himself, the media, and the middle- and upper middle-class boys and girls was blowing things out of proportion by creating a myth of the Lokpal as a panacea to weed out corruption. But I thought even a small step towards the right (…)

• WEST BENGAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 2011: A Perspective beyond Conventional Frame

  24 May 2011, by A K Biswas

  Every election, Assembly or Parliament, in India exposes the interiors of social panorama in original colours. The manifestation of social realities attain fullness, be it in the cow-belt or in the so-called progressive States. In the case of States like West Bengal, discussion of caste via-a-vis election or for that matter on any occasion is abhorred and considered blas-phemous. A social anthropological analysis of the ground realities nonetheless is worth, though such an attempt might be (…)

• The Left Really Matters

  24 May 2011

  by K.N. RAMACHANDRAN
  We have no hesitation to agree with Prabhat Patnaik that significant transition has taken place in India from those days when it was reduced to a colony of British imperialism, especially during the 20th century, under the long democratic revolution starting from the time of the First War of Independence of 1857, and which is still continuing. We also agree with him when he says that the Indian democratic revolution today is faced with the prospects of being (…)

• West Bengal At Crossroads

  24 May 2011

  COMMUNICATION
  Against the background of the coming Assembly elections in West Bengal and keeping the CPM in view, Prof Patnaik has provided us a few positive attributes of the Left (“Why the Left Matters”, Mainstream, March 25, 2011, p. 31). Whatever may be the position elsewhere in India, in WB the Left does not deserve these attributes.
  The CPM (WB) at the grassroot level is highly sectarian in every sphere, follows a policy of “we” and “they”, and actively pursues an agenda of (…)

• L(D)F’s Irrevocable Tragedy in the Assembly Elections!

  24 May 2011, by Sharad Patil

  Unilinear Marxism is in world crisis. Jyoti Basu, the CPI-M’s longest serving Chief Minister of West Bengal, said before his death that ‘socialism is not practicable’. The Left (Democratic) Fronts of Kerala and West Bengal can no longer lay claim to the titles of Socialist or Communist. That is why irrevocable tragedies wait for both these Fronts in the coming Assembly elections. Disillusionment will seize their sincere cadres in the post-election period and they will strive to seek the (…)

• CPM in West Bengal: A Moment of Truth

  24 May 2011, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  It’s time to pause and ponder for the CPI-M in West Bengal. I would not use the hackneyed cliché of “self-criticism”—much abused in Communist circles. It has been shown up as a means to force a sort of confession in Catholic terms. What’s wanted is self-introspection. Let the leaders of the Left, particularly the wise and the perceptive, think over what’s happening and how to get back to the road to a purposeful future.
  I happened to be in Calcutta on the day of the Congress-I called (…)

• Others take care of their People, India takes care of Lobbies

  24 May 2011, by T J S George

  The endosulfan controversy is typical of India, of Indian politics, of Indian corruption, of Indian morality. There were 173 countries in the Stockholm Convention that debated whether or not there should be a global ban on this notorious pesticide. Of these 125 had banned it outright. All 47 of the remaining 48 sat on the fence and generally kept quiet. Only one argued vehemently on behalf of endosulfan. That one-in-the-world nation was India.
  India was further isolated by the silliness (…)