Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• GJM Revives Separate Gorkhaland Demand—Darjeeling Burns Again

  24 June 2017, by Barun Das Gupta

  The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) has suddenly revived the demand for a separate Gorkhaland and the Darjeeling hills are witnessing widespread violence. GJM supporters have repeatedly clashed with the police, burnt police and government vehicles and set fire to police posts and government offices. Several police personnel have been grievously injured and two GJM workers died of bullet injury, though it is not clear who fired the shots. The police denied having opened fire.
  But following the (…)

• Open Letter by Retired Officials on the Growing Climate of Religious Intolerance

  24 June 2017

  The following is an open letter of sixtyfive retired officials released on June 12, 2017.
  We are a group of retired officers of All India and Central services of different batches, who have worked with the Central and State governments in the course of our careers. We should make it clear that as a group, we have no affiliation with any political party but believe in the credo of impartiality, neutrality and commitment to the Indian constitution. A sense of deep disquiet at what has been (…)

• Criterion for Presidents

  24 June 2017, by Kuldip Nayar

  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cannot hide its anti-Muslim fangs. Instead of building con-sensus behind the candidature of Hamid Ansari for presidentship, the party has appointed its top three leaders to find a candidate who commands the consent of most political parties.
  I cannot understand what is wrong with Vice-President Ansari. He has handled the Rajya Sabha extremely well and before that he made the Aligarh Muslim University a really thriving academic institution during his tenure (…)

• Yechury’s Letter to PM on Farmers’ Plight

  24 June 2017, by Sitaram Yechury

  Dear Pradhan Mantri Ji,
  I am writing this letter to draw your attention to the plight of farmers across India, which has resulted in a high level of rural distress, including thousands of suicides by farmers in the past three years. There have been increasing protests by farmers in one State after another, which have been met by your silence and apathy while the State governments of your party have let the police loose on the poor farmers. Six farmers have lost their lives in police firing (…)

• Sudhakar’s Letter to Modi on Agrarian Crisis

  24 June 2017, by Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy

  Dear Shri Narendra Modiji,
  Sub: Unprecedented Agrarian Crisis—Request for urgent special session of Parliament
  This is to bring to your attention that the country is facing an unprecedented agrarian crisis. There was famine and drought in some States like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rayalaseema area of Andhra Pradesh and parts of Odisha, while there is bumper crop in some other areas which is a contrast.
  The bumper crop and good yield have become a curse to the peasants. The prices of Onion, (…)

• Resentment Growing over False Charges against Nikhil Dey and Other RTI Activists

  24 June 2017, by Bharat Dogra

  Resentment is growing in Rajasthan and at the national level against some of the most senior, distinguished, selfless social activists being given a prison sentence in a 20-year-old case. The case relates to one of those struggles of Right to Information (RTI) activists in rural Rajasthan which were praised all over the world as pioneering efforts to bring trans-parency and ensure accountability in rural development.
  This was a particularly difficult case for RTI activists as a sarpanch, (…)

• Tibet Question: A Dragon-hold and a Stifling US Agenda

  24 June 2017

  by Pradeep Nair and Sandeep Sharma
  The United States’ ‘Tibetan Policy Act of 2002’, clearly states that ‘the US would support the aspirations of Tibetan people in order to safeguard their distinct identity’. Other provisions which follow speak about the possible monetary assistance to be provided in lieu of attaining the aforesaid objective. This Act, a major piece of Tibet Legislation, was enacted as law by President George W. Bush on September 30, 2002, as part of the US Foreign (…)

• Emergency: What it meant / Tagore for Today/ An Eye-witness Account

  24 June 2017

  Lest We Forget
  Fortytwo years ago on June 26, 1975, the Emergency was proclaimed throughout the country as the ruling leadership bared its fangs nakedly displaying its dictatorial proclivities. We present here write-ups and poems that bring back the nightmare of those dark days when our freedom was sought to be snatched away and our voice throttled. —Editor
  Emergency: What it meant
  Amiya Rao, B.G. Rao
  Not a leaf stirs in my kingdom without my leave. See how quiet my people sit. (…)

• V.P. Singh was meant to be a Dreamer, a Poet, an Artist; bad luck he ended up as PM

  24 June 2017, by T J S George

  IMPRESSIONS
  In the political universe of India V.P. Singh rose as high as a citizen could—MLA, Chief Minister, Union Finance Minister, Defence Minister, Prime Minister, father of coalition politics. For all that, he was seen as a “failure” because he was a lone crusader against corruption and for social justice; those who disapproved of crusaders were more powerful. The footprints V.P. Singh left on the sands of time were rapidly washed away.
  To make it in politics in India, one needs a (…)

• Role of Government Officials?

  24 June 2017, by Sandeep Pandey

  In the May 4, 2017 judgement of the Bombay High Court related to the Bilkis Bano gang rape and rape and murder of 14 other family members, including her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Saleha, in her presence during the infamous 2002 Gujarat communal violence, 19 accused were convicted. These included five police officers and two doctors who were acquitted by the Sessions Court in 2008. The role of these officials was to attempt to cover up the crime. This is the first time that in a case (…)