Mainstream Weekly

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• Obama Doctrine of War for Peace in South Asia

  19 February 2011, by Arshi Khan

  BOOK REVIEW
  Obama’s Wars by Bob Woodward; New York, London, Toronto, Sydney: Simon & Schuster; 2010; pp. 441; price: US $ 30.
  There is a general perception and practice of referencing the American political system headed by the US President as the success case of democracy and federalism based on the ‘general will’ of the American citizens and elected representatives. There is also a common belief all around the world to regard the office of the President as the symbol of the (…)

• Perjury Simpliciter!

  19 February 2011, by D. Bandyopadhyay

  It was widely reported in the print media that G.D. Gautama, the Home Secretary of West Bengal, in his affidavit before the Hon’ble Calcutta High Court in the Netai killings affair, hesitantly admitted the existence of illegal armed intruders in that village while denying any knowledge of the existence of similar harmad camps elsewhere in the Jungle Mahal area. One cannot avoid applauding his gallantry in holding our national motto “Truth Shall Prevail” in utter disdain to proclaim his total (…)

• The Pre-history of the Sino-Indian Border Dispute: A Note

  19 February 2011

  The author of India’s China War (1970), Neville Maxwell is a well-known specialist of the history of Sino-Indian border conflict. He was for eight years the Times correspondent in India. We are publishing, as a point of view, this article he specially sent to Mainstream. He had earlier prepared a two-part article for The Indian Express as he was invited to write for it on the subject; however, for reasons unknown to him, the publication in the daily was withheld. Thus he has written in a (…)

• New Socialist Initiative, Delhi Demands Justice for Aasia Bibi; Speedy Trial of Salman Taseer’s Killers

  19 February 2011

  NEW SOCIALIST INITIATIVE (NSI), DELHI DEMANDS
  The following is the statement issued by the New Socialist Initiative (NSI), Delhi Chapter in the wake of the brutal assassination of the Punjab Governor, Salman Taseer, in Islamabad on January 4, 2011.
  History is said to be made when humanity has tried to break asunder the forces of unreason, irrationality, bigotry, intolerance and reaction which keep reappearing in newer forms in its onward journey. But what can one say when it tries to do (…)

• Oh, Morality’s Current Standard-bearers!!

  19 February 2011, by Sailendra Nath Ghosh

  COMMUNICATION
  A few weeks back the media reported that some kins of the recently retired Chief Justice of India, K.G. Balakrishnan, have amassed huge fortunes which their known sources of income cannot account for. To this the answer of the worthy judge was that his kins would have to explain, meaning thereby that there was no onus on him.
  This brings to mind certain standards of moral conduct set up by our national leaders.
  In the pre-independence days, Shri Pattabhi Sitaramayya, (…)

• Leaders of Arab Non-Alignment

  19 February 2011

  TRIBUTE
  Eminent political scientist, writer and foreign affairs commentator Professor Bhabani Sengupta, 89, died in the Capital on January 18, 2011 after prolonged illness. For several years he was associated with the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Besides being a prolific analyst of international events, he was a creative writer and wrote several novels in Bengali under the pen-name ‘Chanakya Sen’. Under that pseudonym he also wrote several articles in Mainstream soon after its (…)

• Time for Intervention

  31 January 2011, by SC

  January 26 has a special significance in the annals of both pre- and post-independence India. In 1930 the day was observed as Independence Day by virtue of a resolution adopted at the historic Lahore session of the Indian National Congress at the fag end of the previous year; it was at the session that the premier national organisation had for the first time proclaimed purna swaraj (full independence) as its goal. And within two-and-a-half years after the British quit this country in August (…)

• The Greatest Treasure

  31 January 2011, by Jawaharlal Nehru

  January 30 this year marks the sixtythird anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom. We offer our homage to his indelible memory by reproducing the following excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement in the Constituent Assembly on February 2, 1948, that is, within three days of the assassination of the Father of the Nation.
  I am not quite sure in my own mind if it is exactly fitting for me or for any others of this House to say much on this occasion, for I have a sense of utter shame both (…)

• Netaji’s Unforgettable Words

  31 January 2011

  On January 23 this year falls Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s one hundred and fourteenth birth anniversary. On this occasion we are carrying the following excerpts from Netaji’s writings and speeches for the benefi of our readers.
  Every great movement starts from small beginnings, and so it will be in India. Our first task will be to gather together a group of men and women who are prepared to undergo the maximum sacrifice and suffering which will be necessary if we are to attain success in (…)

• The Anguish of the Republic

  31 January 2011, by Shree Shankar Sharan

  The Republic is in deep anguish. What has been happening around us is too serious to be dismissed with anger. The Commonwealth Games has brought more shame than medals. Then came the 2G scam and the losses caused by faulty and ill-considered or reckless orders of the then Minister was estimated to be Rs 1 lakh 76 thousand crores, a mind-boggling figure by the CAG, a constitutional office. Then while the matter was sub judice and before Parliament another Minister rose to claim that no losses (…)