2013

From N.C.’s Writings
A situation of unprecedented confusion synchronising with the onset of serious crisis for the entire constitutional structure of the Indian state presents before the nation today.
On the one side is the outright challenge of the BJP, the most aggressive of political parties, threatening to defy the entire administration in a manner never seen before; and on the other, the ruling party at the Centre presents a picture of utter disunity with factions not only (…)

Given the transition taking place in Myanmar from authoritarianism to democracy in the midst of ongoing communal and ethnic violence on the one hand and reform initiatives by the new regime on the other, the Indian mission in Myanmar faces immense challenges as well as opportunities. How well it is going to capitalise on these opportunities and ward off challenges is going to have a wide-ranging impact on the future of India-Myanmar relations. However, the chore is not free from caveat. The (…)

by Tamanna Khosla
The Guardian has an interesting article on the surging sentiment for the Five Star Movement (M5S) in Italy. The voters are sick and tired of the current parties and are rallying behind Beppe Grillo, the leader of the M5S. The Indian newspapers are full of stories of the new political party—the party of the Mango people led by Arvind Kejriwal. The sentiment here in the India is no different then the one in Italy. The Italian voters are no different from the voters in India (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by Tikaram Sharma
My Life, My Times: Journey of a Revolutionary by Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri; Publisher: Unistar; 2010; pp. 270; Price: Rs 300.
As these lines were being typed, Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri passed away. The sad news disheartened me very much, as I wanted the review to appear while he was still alive. It indeed is a very big loss.
Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri was the General Secretary of the Marxist Communist Party of India (MCPI) (not to be confused with the CPI-M), (…)

EDITORIAL
The situation in UP’s Muzzafarnagar has turned grave. As we go to press the number of those killed in communal clashes in the area has risen to 48.
Since the Samajwadi Party came to power in the State eighteen months ago in March 2012, UP has witnessed about a hundred communal clashes. However, as noted scholar Dr Sudha Pai has observed in her article in The Indian Express,
…the recent spate of violence in Muzaffarnagar district has particularly shaken people. With a toll (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
Last month was observed the twentyfifth death anniversary of General Zia-ul-Haq, Pakistan’s third military dictator, who was killed in an air crash in that country in August 1988. To mark the occasion we are reproducing the following incisive editorial N.C. had written in the August 20, 1988 issue of Mainstream following Zia’s demise.
With the passing away of President Zia-ul- Haq, Pakistan enters a new phase in its chequered political career. His death is also bound (…)

That India is in an economic mess is known all over the world. What is not yet public is that the malaise was because of the wrong decisions which President Pranab Mukherejee took when he was Union Finance Minister from January 2009 to mid-2012 and when Finance Minister P. Chidambaram was heading the Ministry till the end of 2008 and even before.
Mukherjee lives in the luxuries of Rashtrapati Bhavan and Chidambaram shields himself behind tall promises he still makes to mend the economy. (…)

At the beginning of Obama’s presidency, the present writer had written in this journal: “Obama under siege”. That was in the context of the circumstances of his becoming the President, with the sober and sensible, peace-loving people in the US and outside expecting a lot from him. His humble background had much to do with it, as also some of his utterances and initial responses. An apprehension was also expressed that Obama may come under increasing pressure from the US Administration which (…)

The Western (read US) military strike on Syria looks imminent. The plans for a “significantly larger” strike could include use of the long-range B-2 and B-52 bombers flying from bases in the US. President Barack Obama believes that such a strike “could do more damage to Assad’s forces in 48 hours than the Syrian rebels have done in nearly two years of civil war”. According to a report by The New York Times, Obama had ordered military planners to expand the list of potential targets in Syria (…)

The data released recently by the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development show that Goa is sliding sharply in the national education development index. It has slipped from the 13th place last year to the 21st spot now. It had slid from the ninth place to the 13th position already last year. These ranks are drawn by the HRD Ministry based on the parameters of access to education, infrastructure, teachers’ qualifications and training available to them.
Goa has made significant progress (…)