Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• A Total Commitment

  1 June 2010, by Bipan Chandra

  We, who have lived through one part or the other of the Nehru era, look back on that period with nostalgia as a sort of Golden Age; we tend to regard those times as the “good old days”. In fact, those years were, more than at present, filled with poverty and misery. Yet, the existence of a Jawaharlal Nehru made all the difference.
  Nehru’s place in history would be assured by the leader’s role he played in the anti-imperialist struggle. As a national liberator, he was second only to (…)

• The Ethos of Jawaharlal

  1 June 2010, by Mulk Raj Anand

  Destination Man was the ideal of advance for our people, which Jawaharlal Nehru put forward in one of his earliest speeches in Parliament after our freedom.
  Growing from within the two worlds of Asia and the West, aware of the heritage of ruin of feudal wars, imperial hegemonies and two big bloodbaths of the world, he wanted, specially the freed peoples of the ex-colonies, to emerge into a world without war, in a hundred years of peace—by which he meant peace forever.
  And (…)

• Meaning of Agni

  1 June 2010, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  The week that marked the twentyfifth anniversary of the passing away of Jawaharlal Nehru—on May 22, 1989, India projected a political image of its strength and determination before the world which no amount of borrowed arsenal could have achieved. The firing of the intermediate range missile, Agni, hitting a target of a thousand kilometres away was not just an engineering feat, its importance lies in the fact that it was designed and manufactured in India by our scientists—no mean (…)

• Some Questions around Kasab’s Case

  1 June 2010, by Anand Teltumbde

  There was expected jubilation on May 6 when Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, that little devil who felled 72 innocent people including 14 policemen jointly with his deceased partner, Abu Ismail, on 26/11, was awarded death sentence by the Special Judge, M.L. Tahaliyani. Three days earlier when he was held guilty of all the 86 charges, Mumbai had heaved a sigh of relief as though it had apprehended his acquittal. All the news channels were full of Ajmal Kasab and Ujjwal Nikam, the new public hero in our (…)

• Impasse in Myanmar

  1 June 2010, by Sonu Trivedi

  Multi-party elections, as announced by the junta, to be held later this year raises hopes for ending the impasse in Myanmar. The pro-democracy activists and ethnic nationalities leaders are now awaiting the elections due this year. The elections, though, might just be a farce as it would adopt the new Constitution as drafted by the National Convention. With the results of the referendum held in May 2008 and 92.4 per cent votes in favour of the Constitution, the military is set to switch (…)

• Power to the People and its Enemies

  1 June 2010, by George Mathew

  The Open Society and its Enemies by Karl Popper saw way back in the 1940s how the open society was being wrecked from within, something the enemies of the Panchayati Raj are doing at present. All efforts to give power to the people through democratic decentralisation and empowerment of the disempowered are being undermined by the vested interests. We have created a structure but it is like an edifice without base.
  The Standing Committee of Parliament on Rural Development (2009-10) in (…)

• A Feasible Solution to the Kashmir Imbroglio

  1 June 2010, by Syed Shahabuddin

  The heart of the Kashmir Dispute is the triple claim on the sovereignty over the state by India, Pakistan and the people of Kashmir. This continuing conflict has cast its shadow not only on the main protagonists or even the sub-continent as a whole but the global balance of power due to its non-emergence as a pole of the multipolar world under construction. The multipolar world cannot be limited to the USA, Russia, Europe and China; it has to take into account the Indian subcontinent and the (…)

• Contribution to Reduction of GHG Emissions by Grassroots Struggles

  1 June 2010, by Bharat Dogra

  In India (and elsewhere) we have several people’s struggles which are protesting against displacement and trying to protect their sustainable life-styles and livelihoods based on farmlands, pastures and forests, rivers and coastal areas. These struggles involve farmers, forest-produce gatherers (tribals particularly), pastoral people, fisherfolk and others with related livelihoods. These traditional livelihoods have been passed on from generation to generation, but are now increasingly (…)

• Rascal or Rogue? The Choice is Yours

  1 June 2010, by T J S George

  Jharkhand is a classic example of the damage the political class does to India. One of the richest parts of the country, it has been reduced to a cesspool of iniquity, graft, deception and crime. One statistic sums it up: in the nine years of its existence, there have been seven governments. Shibu Soren has been the Chief Minister three times—the first time for ten days in 2005, the second time for five months in 2008; the third-time drama is unfolding right before our eyes.
  Shibu (…)

• Cheonan Sinking: Implications for Peace in Northeast Asia

  1 June 2010, by Rajaram Panda

  On March 26, 2010, the Republic of Korea’s Navy corvette—1200-tonne Cheonan—sank in the Yellow Sea south of the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL) near Baengnyeong Island. An explosion in the ship’s stern broke it into two parts.1 There were 104 sailors on board, of which 46 were killed and the rest 58 were rescued. Initially, South Korea suspected the North Korean hand in the mishap but without convincing proof, it did not charge North Korea of this act. In order to establish conclusive (…)