2011

Earlier this year the Rasmussen opinion poll found, somewhat to its surprise, that as much as eleven per cent of Americans polled were saying that they would respond positively if the United States went communist.
All over the country, throughout the length and bredth of which this author travelled for three months during August-October, scores of discussions, debates, writings, and of course public demonstrations (manifested most drama-tically in the “Occupy Wall Street” ones) were (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
[The following is N.C.’s ‘New Delhi Skyline’, written precisely fortyfive years ago on November 29, 1966 and published in Mainstream (December 3, 1966). It is being reproduced now as it helps to understand the situation prevailing within the ruling Congress fortyfive years ago.]
At one time Krishna Menon was an enigma to many in Indian politics. Today Krishna Menon has become the touchstone of political awareness for different groups at the power-centre of the (…)

When the Pakistani Interior Minister announced in the Maldives early in November 2011 that the Indian Government was free to hang Muhammad Ajmal Kasab if it found him guilty,1 the trammelled big picture underscored the plight of the marginalised. There were voices that reminded the authorities that the law was meant to be an objective, discriminating, secular instrument based on universal standards rather than the assumed licence of a particular party to pick and choose who should be served (…)

Twentyfive years have passed since the signing of the mostly-forgotten Delhi Declaration on a Non-Violent and Non-Nuclear World. The Delhi Declaration on a Non-Violent and Non-Nuclear World was truly a unique document that has been consigned to history quite unwisely at a time when it is most required. Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had put their signatures on this significant document on November 27, 1986 at Delhi. This document was unprecedented in (…)

by MIKHAIL GORBACHEV
This article reached us last October but could not be used earlier. However, it is being published belatedly now as its contents are of persisting validity especially in the present context. —Editor
Twentyfive years ago this month (October), I sat across from Ronald Reagan in Reykjavik, Iceland to negotiate a deal that would have reduced, and could have ultimately eliminated by 2000, the fearsome arsenals of nuclear weapons held by the United States and the Soviet (…)

The eruption of mass protests on Egypt’s Tahrir Square calling for an end to the rule by the military junta has put the United States and Turkey on the horns of a dilemma.
Washington cannot overlook that the demand of the protestors is for democratic change and an end to the military rule. Indeed, the US wields enormous influence over the Egyptian military, which receives 5 billion dollars American military aid annually. But Washington will be averse to the military’s abdication of power. (…)

INTERVIEW
“After the fall of the Left in West Bengal and Kerala, no man is as worried as A.B. Bardhan, the General Secretary of the CPI. Today he is restless at the age of 88, despite the fact that his party did well compared to the other Left parties. But this legendary comrade needs no excuse…he is a man at work now with a new framework to retrieve the CPI as well as Left parties with the essential ground-touch, also eyeing to enter into the crucial psyche of the great Indian middle (…)

May 13, 2011 happened to be an important day in the annals of the political history of West Bengal. The outcome of the State poll, which was published that day, made way for the exit of a 34-year-long rule of the Left Front. In the 2006 poll the Left Front got 235 seats of the total 294 in the State Assembly. This time the figure plummeted to an abysmal low of 61 in favour of the Left making way to the formation of a new State Government under the Trinamul Congress (TMC). Ever since the (…)

[November 9, 2011 marked the thirtyfirst death anniversary of P.C. Joshi, that outstanding Communist who has been aptly described as the only genuine national leader of Indian communist movement far beyond the narrow confines of the Communist Parties in this country. The following poem has been composed by veteran journalist and trade unionist Narendra Sharma in his memory. In an introductory note to the Mainstream editor, Narendra Sharma explained: “I wrote this poem with pain and (…)

The occultist is likely to be interested in novel application of high technology with one or more creative endeavour—be it writing, art work, music or multimedia by using computers. Here, the reality of consumerism can be manipulated, twisted, shattered for fun to control and gain profit. Walking down a street at sunset striding with a sense of purpose what I realise is that I am in a movie. Like many modern films it has good sets with wild special effects but the script leaves something to (…)