May 2009

Mahatma Gandhi believed in the unique approach of inclusiveness, away from divisiveness of any kind. He wanted men and women to admire humanity in general, irrespective of race, religion, caste, creed, and tribe. The inclusiveness included feelings of goodwill and cooperation, beyond the boundaries of nations. Mahatma Gandhi was a true insignia of Indian culture, which has always believed in promoting peace, cooperation among its people and among people of different nations of the world. If (…)

The following are excerpts from the author’s inaugural address to the Conference on ‘Emerging Trends of Violence in North-West India’ at Punjabi University, Patiala, on November 5, 2007.
Gandhi remains central to any discussion of violence, and therefore non-violence in the world today. Presently his ‘non-violence’ is a matter of celebrations the world over. If his birth and death anniversaries are occasions for elaborate official and non-official functions in India and the UGC has gone (…)

Next week, as millions of India’s electorate go to poll, this nation will be turning a page in its history, whatever may be the verdict of the ballot box.
If Indira Gandhi manages to bag the majority of seats—as the Congress has been desperately trying to do in the last lap of the campaign with massive mobilisation of resources—even then, the Lok Sabha will never be the same again. Already the spectre of defection on the morrow of the poll results, haunts the Congress leadership. The (…)

Among Ex-Servicemen of the Army, Navy and Air Force (collectively called military veterans), the Congress-led UPA Government is widely seen as having given them as also serving personnel, a raw deal especially following the recommendations of the controversial Sixth Central Pay Commission (6 CPC). Veterans have been unprecedentedly demonstrating since mid-December 2008 in demand of one-rank-one-pension (OROP) and other key issues at Jantar Mantar, Delhi, with delegates from all over India. (…)

In the ongoing Lok Sabha polls many of those who had the chance to exercise their franchise did not do so. For every voter who decides to exercise his/her franchise there is another voter who is either unable to vote or decides against making the journey to the voting machine. What are its implications for the health of Indian democracy? How do we explain this phenomenon of ‘low‘ voter turnout? How ‘low‘ is low?
In the recent past, a trend has been increasingly visible across the (…)

As the multi-phase electoral exercise for the 15th Lok Sabha enters a crucial stage, the ‘Q’ factor has returned to haunt the Congress: more than 19 years after the Bofors kickbacks case brought down the Rajiv Gandhi Government, the issue has resurfaced in the midst of the poll process—just three weeks before the UPA Government’s term ends, it has come to light that Ottavio Quattrocchi, the lone surviving suspect in the case responsible for a veritable political earthquake in the 1989 (…)

The following is an SOS message sent to all friends of Dr Binayak Sen by Ilina Sen, his wife. She has alleged that the Chhattisgarh authorities are trying to liquidate him by any means, fair or foul. This is a serious matter and human rights groups and civil society organisations have a bounden duty to come forward and foil this nefarious attempt as well as ensure that Dr Sen gets proper treatment at the CMC, Vellore as suggested by Dr Ashish Malhotra, who medically examined him. —Editor (…)

Arrested for being a Naxal supporter, Chhattisgarh doctor Binayak Sen has been in Central Jail, Raipur for the last two years. His trial is currently going on in the Raipur Sessions Court. In the 47 degrees Celsius heat and under the watchful eyes of the Central Jail authorities, he spoke to Vinay Sitapati of The Indian Express. It is being reproduced from the daily, with due acknowledgement, for the benefit of our readers.
INTERVIEW
The recent Chhattisgarh elections were particularly (…)

The following views of Nayantara Sahgal, a distinguished writer and herself a niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, on Varun Gandhi’s hate-speech were conveyed to Sheela Reddy who put them in the form of a piece that appeared in Outlook (March 30, 2009) from where it is being reproduced, with due acknowledgement, for the benefit of our readers. —Editor
There’s only one word for the speech that Varun Gandhi gave in Pilibhit last fortnight—disgraceful. It’s horrifying that anybody could speak like (…)

Agriculture is again in the world news with the food crisis in 2007-08. In Asia, agriculture has been neglected during the past twenty years. In Africa the situation is much worse since more decades. Now, from China to South-East and South Asia, governments are rediscovering their farmers. In Beijing, as in New Delhi, one hears the same worries: growing income disparities between towns and villages, rising imports of agricultural commodities, social malaises leading in China to violent (…)