2010

Karnataka was witness to hectic electoral activity in the last few weeks on account of the two by-elections to the State Assembly. These by-elections were held in two different corners of the State. One was held in northern Karnataka and the other in south Karnataka. The results would require all the major political forces in the State to do some serious soul-searching. The incumbent party has lost in both the seats. Does it signifiy anti-incumbency? Not necessarily. The incumbency factor (…)

It is necessary in today’s world of intimately linked national economies to strengthen and deepen economic and cultural ties between all nations in the interest of peace. This would also be a positive move to effectively combat the scourge of terrorism synergistically. But if economic ties are predicated on “fighting terror” by the use of police and military force and trade in military hardware and software, it would imply that the military-industrial complex (MIC) has an increasing role in (…)

Now, in the wake of the serious development in Bihar, the time has come for everybody to shed all kinds of factionalism and put all heads together to find a genuine solution to the raging controversy over the Maoist problem that has engulfed a large part of India and is exhibiting the potentialities of vivisection of the country. Sadly, schism and incompetence in dealing with the most raging issue of the time has now reached the topmost level of administration with a deep gorge of difference (…)

There can be little dispute that the socio-cultural norms, practices, and rituals in the mainstream Hindu tradition subsume a deep ideological repugnance towards gender equality. But this contrasts with the country’s overall tribal culture and society. Indeed, the latter, which has for long been exterior to the patently patriarchal and caste-hierarchical Hindu socio-cultural orbit, is traditionally characterised by a high degree of gender equity with its many admirable demographic (…)

Introduction
The educational development in India is neither homogenous in regional spread nor neutral to social formations. It has a strong bias in favour of economically developed areas with strong infrastructural support and against the backward regions of the country. In spite of planned efforts spread over four decades, regional disparities continue to be glaring. (Moonis Raza and et al. 1990) In this background, the ongoing Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) mission considers (…)

Bangladesh depicts a story of two brothers who were sharing a passage and front area of the two houses; a dispute arose between the two families, and overnight a wall measuring 10 feet with gates emerged on the scene. But unlike the neighbourly wall, this wall is manned by security forces and a number of formalities follow before entering into the other’s territory.
With financial grant constraints, instead of taking airways, I had to undertake a bus route to reach Dhaka. The bus started (…)

The cordially generated during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Kashmir has far-reaching significance for Indian politics.
It is one of the futile by-products of low-level politicking—so widespread in the national scene today—that has led to the deplorable rift between Sheikh Abdullah’s National Conference and the Congress-I. This estrangement, avoidable as well as unnecessary, has not only polluted the political atmosphere in Kashmir but has threatened to touch off a vicious chain (…)

This Eid morning I took out that dried chinar leaf which lay tucked in one of the two volumes on Kashmir—‘Kashir’—by Kashmiri historian G.M.D. Sufi. I clasped it gently, with nostalgia overpowering, as I sat visualising the extent of sorrow and anger that seems spreading all over the Valley. Killings of innocents, of young school-going teenagers. Even this week as the Valley is going through the worst possible crisis, we in New Delhi seem so far away from the realities, and third-class (…)

IMPRESSIONS
Another war with India is unlikely to be on China’s agenda. But menacing military build-up and other needling tactics to divert India’s energies and attention is central to its agenda. It’s an old ploy. But the level of aggressiveness is new.
India’s politicians, the TV channels in particular, have a way of reacting to such unfriendly actions in an emotional, high-decibel style. Which is reminiscent of the Nehru-era cries like “we won’t let them get one inch of Indian (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Power to the People, Vols. I and II by R.M. Pal and Meera Verma (eds.); Gyan Publishing House, New Delhi; 2007; Rs 1800.
It is a paradox of history that democracy (literally the rule of the people) has so often ended up becoming a camouflaged rule of the power elite at the expense of ‘demos’. Liberal democracy, that flourished in the 19th century, failed to meet the demands of an impoverished working class and it came to be seen as a facade for class rule. This democracy (…)