May 2009

Looking at the ongoing worldwide economic crisis and serious attempts at exploring ways and means to overcome it now and prevent it from recurring in the future, the return of the Nehruvian approach seems to be a strong probability. Jawaharlal Nehru’s return from exile after more than a quarter of a century has been forecast by none other than the greatest living historian, Eric J. Hobsbawm, in an article ‘Socialism has failed. Now capitalism is bankrupt. So what comes next?’ (The Guardian, (…)

The election to the fifteenth Lok Sabha is a landmark in the politics of India in more than one sense. Each of its aspects is being discussed or will be discussed by political analysts. In particular, the contribution of Dr Manmohan Singh’s personality and the policies of his government, Rahul Gandhi’s role, specially in UP, weaknesses of the main Opposition, the BJP, and confusion in the Third and Fourth Fronts are being held responsible for the spectacular victory of the Congress. (…)

In a country where three-quarters of the population are poor by any criterion, and at least one-quarter live below the level of subsistence, the Left cannot but be acutely relevant. What is perhaps of equal relevance is an adequate parliamentary presence on their behalf; otherwise the victims of persistent deprivation may seek advice and counsel from such armed bands as are roaming the forests of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. The extremely poor performance of the Left in the Lok Sabha (…)

Although women had made a significant contribution in the development of Haryana during the period 1966-1977 through their role in the Green and the White Revolutions, they failed to enter the Lok Sabha from the State in the 1967 and 1971 parliamentary elections. This was primarily due to the failure of the major political parties—the Congress and Jan Sangh in 1967 and the Congress, Congress-O, Vishal Haryana Party and Jan Sangh in 1971—to field any woman candidate. It was only in 1977 that (…)

The decade of the 1999s witnessed a major transformation in the political and social realm of the Indian society. The Indian state changed its strategy. It took steps towards a more liberal state. Now India is a market-oriented society. The market system is more open in comparison with the earlier period. New social groups are making their present felt. This is a harbinger of future political and social base in Indian society. It is an index which shows that future trajectories will be (…)

As we sit to ponder about the verdict of the Lok Sabha Election 2009, a tough battlefield lies ahead for the churnings in the Indian political domain. For the Congress, there seems to be no room for complacency that it has performed in a splendid way. With Rahul Gandhi as the star campaigner, the road is not going to be smooth in the coming days. He has given tickets to the scions of dynasty in the name of unleashing youth power, the party is yet to regain its strength in Bihar, Jharkhand, (…)

Aung San Suu Kyi is a living symbol of democracy and hope in Myanmar. In the last two decades the military junta has kept her under house arrest for more than thirteen long years. At a time when she was about to be released after completing her house arrest term on May 27, 2009, a new allegation of breach of detention has provided the excuse for the junta to charge her and to extend house arrest thereby crushing any hopes for democracy.
Suu Kyi is barred from meeting any visitor (…)

A blind turtle
– from the depths
– of the ocean floor
– finds its way
– to the surface;
– its mouth aquiver
– searching for the
– golden lasso—
– the shadow of
– the crescent moon.
– So hard, they say,
– to get human life.
– But in this
– short span,
– you diffused the
– golden lasso
– into a thousand
– iridescent beams,
– rainbow coloured prisms.
– Bridging a myriad schisms;

I’ve seen many men of lesser quality rise upwards and have immense influence on the people around and many others of best quality fall down under the excuse of recession when job is badly appraised and responsibility blindly assessed and salary adversely reduced. A nude man barely in skin shies from people tries to hide everything so many secrets fears to share with others the poor chap letting no chance to disclose what he has, what not but poor in the effort he wears all that he has the (…)

Five years ago, on May 13, 2004, it was written in these columns under the same heading “The People For Ever” following the results of the 14th Lok Sabha polls:
One of the famous poems of poet Bishnu Dey translated into English from the original Bengali by Harindranath Chattopadhyay is entitled “The People For Ever”. As the results of Election 2004 came in one was reminded of that poem as it had brilliantly projected the remarkable resilience of our immortal people in the face of heavy (…)