2010

I was watching a ‘reality show’, titled Citizen Journalist, in a Malayalam TV channel. The participant, a young man, reported on a colony of adivasis. Supported by effective visuals he showed the deprivation in the area and the utter despair in the life of the people. Strangely the local MLA had no knowledge of the area. The people, though poor in every respect, knew that they were remembered only at the time of elections. They know nothing of their rights. Two of the judges of the show (…)

By way of explanation the author, one of the most successful teachers in the University of Delhi as a Professor of Political Theory (now retired), writes:
“The opening section of this note dealing with the most important issue in the current political situation—’the Maoist’ or the Naxal issue—sets the context for the argument that follows, which deals with issues involved in understanding this situation. I reproduce some key passages, marginally modified and compressed in one case, from my (…)

The Mothers of India on August 6, 2010 released the following statement on the killings in Kashmir.
There is a sound in Kashmir that resonates longer than the staccato of the gun. There is a sound in Kashmir that wants the violence to stop. There is a sound in Kashmir that doesn’t care about politics. There is a sound in Kashmir echoing: STOP, Enough! It is the sound of mothers crying as they wait for their children to return knowing that they may not. Wailing, as they wonder why their (…)

What are we doing in Kashmir? What are we doing to Kashmir? What are we doing to the Kashmiris? How many more civilians will be killed in Kashmir? How long will the boot control emotions and the rising anger? How long can this ongoing curfew be continued? How long can the Kashmiris sit in this besieged state when the month of fasting—Ramazan—starts next week onwards? How long will the hospitals be able to contain the long list of those lying injured? How many more fresh graves will have to (…)

Although he had retired as an Assistant Director, Development, Haryana, the people of Kurukshetra knew him as the BDO, since he had served on this post there. He would never hesitate to take up cudgels with senior bureaucrats. This earned him adverse ACRs leading to his retirement at the age of fiftyfive instead of fiftyeight. He took pride in defying powerful political leaders but he had to pay for it by his ten transfers in five years. He was large hearted enough to withdraw his claim over (…)

COMMUNICATION
The inevitable has happened. The CPI-M has been roundly trounced in the recently held municipal elections in West Bengal. Whether the defeat is indicative of the results of the forthcoming Assembly elections may be debated, the ground reality is that the party has lost the confidence of the people of West Bengal. The rural population has moved away from the party because of the forcible acquisition of fertile lands in Nandigram an Singur. The urbanities are tired of the (…)

The ten thousand pages of the records of the secret documents of the USA which have been published in the media the world over have exposed the brutality of the 46 nations’ war upon a small, hapless country in their campaign named Security for Afghanistan. The large number of innocent lives lost owing to the attacks by the troops of the USA and Britain in ruthless bombings and the utter failure of these aggressors in breaking the Taliban’s will to fight have been effectively brought out by (…)

“(Bajrang Dal) uses violence whereever necessary to protect the Hindu..if the snake bites, won’t we strike it down?” —Subhash Chouhan, National Convenor of Bajrang Dal (Indian Express, July 22, 2010)
“I have known these organisations for a long time and they do not have criminal elements.” —Union Home Minister, while giving a clean chit to Bajrang Dal in the Graham Steins murder case (January 1999)
I
Does sorrow come with any date? Perhaps no. Perhaps yes. For Kamal Khan (name changed) (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Dalits in Villages and Poverty Alleviation Policies: 1963-2008 by Gilbert Etienne; Publisher: Institute of Rural Management, Anand, India; 2010.
At the outset, the name of the publication is a little misleading. While the author begins with the study of Dalits during his early visits, he later diversifies to tribal groups in tribal dominated areas such as Jharkhand and Orissa. Besides, his study is more about the impact of economic growth, the Green Revolution and (…)

Being famous is different from being important. The trimurtis of English journalism in India— Pothan Joseph, Frank Moraes, M. Chalapathi Rao —are still unequalled in their star value and brilliance of writing. But historically they mattered little because they introduced no movement that transformed their profession.
Devdas Gandhi of Hindustan Times and Kasturi Srinivasan of The Hindu were not celebrities, but they were historically important personages because they helped convert (…)