Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Two Poems

  19 November 2017, by Sumit Chakravartty

  The following are two poems composed by the author in October 1985, one year after Indira Gandhi’s assassination. The first was translated by the author from the original Bengali. The second was published in Mainstream (November 16, 1985).
  We shall Overcome
  A year has passed.
  In memory’s portico your painting on canvas Is still as bright as on that day.
  The void of your absence In the hearts of the toiling people—
  The guffaw of (he foul-mouthed and The exhilaration of the (…)

• India’s Indira

  19 November 2017

  by Sardar Amjad Ali
  We are celebrating the birth centenary of Smt Indira Gandhi. This is also the 33rd anniversary of her martyrdom. Notwithstanding the bitterest criticisms from various quarters for her so-called misdeeds, specially during the Emergency, no one, unless he or she is rabidly anti-Indira for no reason whatsoever, would deny that the task which her late father left to be accomplished was successfully carried out by Indiraji; and that resulted in India being recognised as a (…)

• Humane Face

  19 November 2017

  You say good and evil both reside in man, the good corralling the evil within. But do you see the evil breaking loose, dancing in ecstasy all over the globe?
  Innocent victims: men, women, children, uprooted, slaughtered, buried alive, their helpless cries haunting memory, crimes being committed with brutality by hate-driven terror everywhere— such graphic contents of barbarism are flashed by the media as breaking news.
  As if it’s not enough, the virtual world is deluged with ghastly (…)

• On Indira Gandhi

  19 November 2017, by Eduardo Faleiro

  We commemorate this year the birth centenary of Smt Indira Gandhi. She is often acknowledged as the most popular Prime Minister especially among the poor and weaker sections of our society. Under her leadership the word Socialism was added to Secularism and Democracy in the Preamble of the Constitution and in 1975, her government formulated the 20-Point Programme. The basic objective of the 20-Point Programme was the removal of rural poverty, health, education and housing for all as well as (…)

• Russian Revolution and India - III: Training Up Indian Revolutionaries

  19 November 2017

  by Shaukat Usmani
  Indusky Kurs, the military academy for Indian revolutionaries set up at Tashkent, was a symbol of fraternal assistance that the new land of socialism extended to the fighters for Indian freedom against British imperialism.
  But when one read anything about the Indusky Kurs from the pen of M.N. Roy, one cannot help feeling that he did a great disserice not only to the Muhajireens but also to the Russian efforts at helping Indians winning their country’s freedom.
  Many (…)

• 

  Demonetisation after One Year

  11 November 2017, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  The first anniversary of demonetisation has been observed across the country.
  Almost a month after demonetisation it was written in these columns on December 1, 2016:
  “...the words of two leading Indian economists in the US—Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Prof Pranab Bardhan—assume extraordinary significance. Prof Sen categorically states that demonetisation was a “despotic action” as “it undermines notes,... bank accounts, the entire economy of trust”, adding: “Only an (…)

• Targeting Chidambaram a Political Ploy

  11 November 2017, by Badri Raina

  So what has Shri Chidambaram said that is so new or offensive? In saying that most Kashmiris who speak of Azaadi are, in his estimation, seeking greater autonomy for the State, Chidambaramji has only voiced a common enough perception—one that has been expressed by sundry commentators scores of times during the recent past. And, further, in expressing his support for exploring such autnomy as was promised to the State during the Constitution-making years, he has only lent support to what (…)

• Hindutva’s attempt to Polarise ‘God’s Own Country’

  11 November 2017

  by Ram Puniyani
  Earlier in the year (2017) BJP President Amit Shah had launched a ‘Jan Suraksha Yatra’, a two-week programme to highlight the death of RSS workers in Kerala. Many BJP dignitaries (twelve Union Ministers and five Chief Ministers) participated in this. The one who made big news was Yogi Adityanath. The slogan of Amit Shah was that the CPM has been indulging in political violence, which has led to the death of RSS workers in Kannur-Kerala. He wanted to draw the attention of (…)

• Border Confrontation Once Again

  11 November 2017, by Kuldip Nayar

  China does it again. It helps a well-known terrorist to escape the punishment. Azar Masood, a first rank terrorist, was sought to be banned by the UN. Beijing used its veto so that he stays free. This time it was not a casual move but a deliberate act on the part of Beijing.
  The 1962 attack by China on India when Beijing pulverised the Indian troops in Aksai Chin looked only a probe to register its presence. But it turned out to be a full-fledged attack. In the same way, Chinese troops (…)

• Nehru’s Words for Today

  11 November 2017

  On the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s 128th birth anniversary on November 14 this year, we are once again remembering our first PM who played such a crucial role in shaping post-independence India. We are reproducing his following words that are quite relevant in the present context.
  I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the world’s problem and of India’s problems lies in socialism, and when I use this word I do so not in a vague humanitarian way but in the scienfitic, (…)