2010

The Indian nation and parliamentary democracy are today passing through huge crises of an unprecedented nature never seen before. The issue behind the whole crises today is sadly the issue of woman who for ages has been a force of unity and not division in the family, society and/or state. The woman, who has been projected in Indian scriptures as the Adi-Shakti, Aad-Nareswar or for that matter Shiv-Shakti, has become a huge contention of debate in the name of women’s liberation among the (…)

The birth centenary of Dr Rammanohar Lohia, the stormy petrel of the Indian socialist movement, one of the most talented and versatile personalities in the freedom struggle, and a profound, innovative and original socialist thinker, falls on March 23. Dr Lohia was born at Akbarpur, Faizabad district, UP on March 23, 1910. Since his birthday coincided with the day of martyrdom of three of the country’s finest revolutionary freedom fighters—Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru (who were executed (…)

An encounter with the socialist leader would be rather extraordinary without some rough weather but we were not prepared for the squall we ran into the moment we sat down with him in his well-appointed drawing room. He said he would talk only in Hindi. When we remonstrated that one of us had been in the North for only three years, he said he had learnt German in Berlin in three months: “One learns a language only under compulsion.” Finally, he agreed to let us discuss half the questions in (…)

Between March 2009 and March 2010 Rammanohar Lohia’s (March 23, 1910-October 12, 1967) birth centenary has been celebrated across the country. Many meetings and seminars, yatras and padyatras have been organised and quite a few writings on him published. Without being noticed by the ‘national’ media, many of these celebrations and publications were outside Delhi and not in English. One such, the Sapta Kranti Vichar Yatra consisting of 25 youths, was started from Maharashtra in August 2009, (…)

Empowerment is a continuous process. It realises the ideals of equality, human liberation and freedom for all. Women’s empowerment implies equality of opportunity and equity between genders, ethnic groups, social classes and age-groups, strengthening the life chances of collective participation in different spheres of life. Power is not a commodity to be transacted nor can it be given away as alms. Power has to be acquired and it needs to be exercised.1 Activists want the government to (…)

Finally Amar Singh is out. He has been expelled from the Samajwadi Party on February 2 along with the Member of Parliament, Jayaprada. Yet the parting of ways by Mulayam Singh and Amar Singh is not merely personal, but has organisational and ideological dimensions too. The Samajwadi Party has been losing the elections since 2007 when it had to bow out of power in UP giving way to the BSP. In the 15th Lok Sabha elections in 2009 the party had to be satisfied with half the seats compared to (…)

McCarthyism in India
In a charge sheet against Kobad Gandhi produced by the Delhi Police in the Tees Hazari Courts, New Delhi, on February 18, 2010, besides naming some other individuals, some organisations —like the People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) and People’s Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)—are named. Much like McCarthyism in the USA several decades ago, in the present circumstances in India, governments may treat members of the PUCL and PUDR as members, collaborators or (…)

[From N.C.’s Writings
Two months have passed since Jyoti Basu breathed his last in Kolkata on January 17, 2010. We once again remember the CPM patriarch by reproducing N.C.’s following article which appeared in Mainstream (January 18, 1997) bringing out the issues that were thrown up by Jyoti Basu’s press interview that was published on Janaury 1, 1997 and came as a bombshell within the CPM due to his open criticism of the party leadership for rejecting the idea of Basu becoming the (…)

The recent developments in the region give enough indications that Pakistan is desperate over the growing influence of India in Afghani-stan. After failing to garner international support on opening dialogue with the Taliban the country is now resorting to attack Indians working across the war-ravaged country through its ISI and Islamic fundamentalists—the Taliban and Al- Qaeda.
There have been more than three attacks on Indians and Indian installations in Afghanistan during the last (…)

BOOK REVIEW
Making India Work by William Nanda Bissel; Penguin,Viking, New Delhi; 2009.
William Nanda Bissell’s illustrious work, Making India Work, is the work of a diligent intellectual, a corporate head, a social thinker and, above all, a visionary.
William Bissell is talking about the present socio-political situation, the poverty and environmental hazards that are threatening India. He invokes every Indian to wake up and work for an immediate change in the current (…)