Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Letter to the Readers - Mainstream, October 31, 2020 | Lockdown Edition no. 32

  31 October 2020

  The past week saw Bihar, one of India’s biggest States going to polls. So far only the first round of polling has taken place and two more rounds are left before the poll ends. There was a huge surge of young people seen at the rallies organised by the Opposition alliance. It is very difficult to say if the mass numbers observed at these rallies will translate into votes. The big subject of discussion at the poll rallies was the question of jobs. The unemployment rate in Bihar remains higher (…)

• Bihar Assembly Elections 2020: “Missing” Women in the Party Manifestos | Anamika Priyadarshini and Sonmani Choudhary

  31 October 2020

  by Anamika Priyadarshini and Sonmani Choudhary *
  The Bihar Assembly Elections is the first poll being conducted in India since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. This three-phased assembly election for 253 seats will be over on November 7th and the results are likely to be announced on November 10th. One of the commonly referred point about Bihar elections has been women voters’ constantly rising turnout in the past four assembly elections. Women voters’ proportion has been on rise since (…)

• Fault Lines and Contours of Alliance in Bihar assembly elections 2020 | Nisha Mishra

  31 October 2020

  Free and fair elections are considered to be an essential component of healthy democracy. It is through this process the interests of the common are served by the government. The Bihar assembly election of 2020 is the recent buzz around every corner of India. Taking place in the backdrop of the pandemic, the tussle between the contesting parties is growing with massive processions and rallies and hoodwinking the public.
  Issues such as unemployment, poverty, inadequate health infrastructure (…)

• Uncultured way of promoting culture | T J S George

  31 October 2020, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  Plans to change Lutyen’s Delhi into Modian Delhi struck most Indians as ludicrously boastful. The plans have not been given up. Leaders who want to be seen as historically important figures never give up plans to project themselves.
  Which explains why the Government of India is promoting “a holistic study of the origin and evolution of Indian culture over the past 12,000 years.”
  A Committee was set up in 2016 by a minister called Mahesh Sharma, notorious for dim-witted (…)

• As India drifts into autocracy, nonviolent protest is the most powerful resistance | Amartya Sen

  31 October 2020

  by Amartya Sen
  The Hindu nationalist regime has cultivated religious animosity – undermining the nation’s secular traditions
  Nothing is as important, the philosopher Immanuel Kant claimed, as the “freedom to make public use of one’s reason on all matters”. Unfortunately, as Kant also noted, the opportunity to argue is often restrained by society – sometimes very severely. A disturbing fact about the world today is that authoritarian tendencies have been strikingly on the increase in many (…)

• 

  Tribute to President K R Narayanan on His Birth Centenary | S N Sahu

  31 October 2020, by S N Sahu

  On 27th October 2020 President of India late Shri K R Narayanan would have been hundred years old. Born in a small village in Kerala he hailed from a very humble background and had to walk several miles to attend school for education. His father was a Ayurvedic medical practitioner and his meager earning was not enough to support his family and children’s education. So, quite often Shri Narayanan could not pay school fees and had to face the wrath of the authorities who used ask him (…)

• 

  P S Krishnan, a Scholar Administrator, Humanist and Messiah of the Dalits | L. Mishra

  31 October 2020

  by Dr L. Mishra
  In bureaucracy postings are purely matters of political and administrative expediency; a member of All India Service (IAS, IPS and IFS) has very limited option and discretion in the exercise of any choice of the same. Sometimes such coincidence, though un‐planned and un‐intended turns out to be beneficial for the common man‐ the poor, deprived, displaced, dis‐advantaged and marginalised.
  So was it in case of Sri P S Krishnan (IAS 1956 RR Andhra Pradesh cadre).
  Born in (…)

• 

  Book Review: A Penetrating Insight into RSS | M.R. Narayan Swamy

  31 October 2020, by M R Narayan Swamy

  by M.R. Narayan Swamy
  Title: I Could Not Be Hindu: The Story of a Dalit in RSS; Author: Bhanwar Meghwanshi; Publisher: Navayana; Pages: 236; Price: Rs 399
  This book has come out at a time when the RSS has become the de facto ruler in the country courtesy the BJP. In this gripping work, a Dalit who was with the Sangh rips apart the RSS for what he says is its duplicity and for talking about unifying Hindu society while actively ensuring that no member of the depressed classes climbs its (…)

• Caste in Heaven: Can Shudras find Moksha in Bhahmanism? | Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd

  31 October 2020, by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd

  I kept watching the funerals of people killed by the brutal coronavirus in the global pandemic of Covid-19 on TV channels and read about them in newspapers. Those dead bodies who are described as Hindu are being quickly burnt without anybody around. The usual presence of the Brahmin priest to recite slokas are nowhere to be seen. Only the rich upper castes seem to have the wherewithal to have Brahmin priests, but that was also not seen in the times of pandemic.
  The Christians and Muslims (…)

• Japan: Suga’s choice of pro-Taiwan Kishi as Defence Minister could impact ties with China | Rajaram Panda

  31 October 2020

  by Rajaram Panda
  After Yoshihide Suga succeeded Abe Shinzo as Japan’s Prime Minister and formed his Cabinet, he chose Nobuo Kishi as his defence minister. Suga’s choice of Kishi has sparked diplomatic curiosity and discussion about his likely Taiwan policy. Known for his Taiwan-friendly stance, his policy could have significant implications on Japan’s relations with China and a clear departure from Abe’s accommodative position, notwithstanding the perceived threat that its giant neighbour (…)