Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Dr B.R. Ambedkar, Dalits and Decentralised Rural Governance in India: Ideas, Application and Reality

  13 April 2019

  by Mahi Pal
  Introduction
  Dr B.R. Ambedkar was one the greatest sons of India who was not only a parliamentarian, scholar of repute and constitutionalist expert but also a crusader for the Dalits in India.1 He struggled throughout his life for establishing such a social order which is based on liberty, equality and universal brotherhood. This requires not only liberty and deliverance of the oppressed, depressed and suppressed, but also establishment of such institutions which are not only (…)

• Ambedkar and Constitutionalism

  13 April 2019

  by Vivek Kumar Srivastava
  Constitutionalism is structured on the ideals of limited government, rule of law, regulations and democratic values. The idea of constitu-tionalism was a major theme during the freedom movement which matured in the thoughts of Nehru, Ambedkar and so many greats of the age but these two giants were in a position to implement the pillars of constitutionalism as both worked in different capacities in the Constituent Assembly and in governance.
  Ambedkar was unique (…)

• Mother Land

  13 April 2019

  Mother India! We are all your children, adoring you, chanting ‘victory to thee’. But, as in a family, we grow unequally: some privileged, many neglected.
  Your boundless affection cascading from the perennial fountain percolates through boulders of poverty, hunger, trickling down to those: marginalised.
  Yet the inspiring slogan in your praise, raised from both ends of the spectrum, reverberates on the grand orchestra, ringing the symphony of our pride and glory.
  A.K. Das

• First Dalit Collector who Changed a Feudal District in the 1970s

  13 April 2019

  by Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd
  Next to Hyderabad, Warangal is the second biggest city of the Telangana State. Most of the present Telangana State’s heritage symbols, Kakatiya Gate, and its tank-based irrigation system go back to the history of Warangal, which, in the medieval and pre-medieval Telugu, was known as Orugallu. After this town became the capital of the famous Kakatiya dynasty in the thirteenth century, that area seems to have undergone a big change.
  The Kakatiyas built several (…)

• Congress takes the High Road

  13 April 2019, by M K Bhadrakumar

  The Congress’ manifesto for the upcoming elections has come like the rhapsody of raindrops on a parched land—a reformist mani-festo that promises growth and welfare expansions alike and the pledge of a minimum guaranteed income for the poor that has stolen the BJP’s thunder. Equally, the portions relating to foreign policy are notable for several bold constructive ideas.
  As curtain comes down on the Modi Government, the remains of the day in the foreign policy arena convey an overpowering (…)

• Congress Poll Manifesto Analysed

  13 April 2019, by Barun Das Gupta

  The Congress’ election manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, that was released on April 3, is a document that reaffirms the party’s core commitments, core concerns and core convictions. It seeks to correct the grave distortions that have taken place in our polity under the authoritarian regime of Narendra Modi during the past five years which were “disastrous for the people”.
  What were the disasters? Youth lost jobs. Farmers lost hopes. Traders lost business. The MSMEs lost (…)

• Mirabai — A Feminist Par Excellence

  13 April 2019

  by Ashok Celly
  The popular image of Mira is that of a saint-poet who composed highly melodious devotional poems known as bhajans. She is seen primarily as a mystic, the dominant note of whose life and work was ecstatic longing for Lord Krishna and the world around was of little consequence to her.
  That Mira’s life and conduct has tremendous social significance, that it constitutes a powerful assault on patriarchy and Brahmanical social order is largely ignored or greatly underplayed. The (…)

• Redefining National Safety: Who is the Enemy?

  13 April 2019, by Badri Raina

  Were you to ask an ordinary citizen what constitutes a greater threat to her safety, the prospect of a maverick border skirmish by a neighbouring country or the destitute routine of her life unsupported by any guaranteed livelihood or health care, she is most likely to say the latter, unless of course tutored to say otherwise.
  And, however sensible, this would be an old-fashioned answer. And one deeply suspect from a nationalist point of view.
  What we have learnt over the last five years (…)

• Fascism

  13 April 2019, by Badri Raina

  I am not a fascist only when I pull the trigger and kill; I am a fascist when first I think My work is God’s own will.
  I am not a fascist only when I break the common law; I am a fascist when first I think I make the common law.
  I am not a fascist only when I set up to harangue; I am a fascist when first I think What need has the other of tongue.
  I am not a fascist only when I tear up like the vulture; I am a fascist when first I think My culture alone is Culture.
  I am not a (…)

• Open Letter to Chowkidar Narendra Modi

  13 April 2019

  by BINOY VISWAM
  Respected Chowkidar Shri Narendra Modi,
  When you yourself took up the title of chowkidar, you told the people that you are the watchman of the country. There will be many who believed that you are taking up the responsibility of protecting Parliament and the Constitution. But the gap between what you said and what you have done has led to the astonishment of many. The Indian Constitution has taught us that the basic pillars of Democracy are Parliament, the Executive and (…)