2013

Part-I
Caste in New Home
In the voyage of caste to the Western hemi-sphere, the first port of call was Britain. The Hindus take pride that they did not conquer any nation with sword. But they exported caste to sabotage England internally. The cancer has gone deep and assumed so critical a dimension that Queen Elizabeth assented to an amend-ment in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill in April 2013 when the House of Commons bowed to reassure from the House of Lords to include (…)

With Precedents in Mind One operative aspect of David Thompson’s assessment of the re-drawing of Europe’s map in the 19th century was that it brought a disadvantaged ethnic group (outside Russia), namely, the Slavs, into the picture as members of new nation-states.1 They were the original tillers and owners of the land in several territories. This was the flip side of the European quest at the time, namely, of democracy as the means to nationalism.
After the peace settlement of 1815 (…)

by Mohd Yousuf Dar
Jawaharlal Nehru, the great Indian political leader, was the first Prime Minister of independent India. Nehru was an upholder of some of the concrete political values. He believed in socialism, secularism, democracy and in the modern values of positivism. He always worked to translate these values in the practical field through the relevant institutions. He was a Congressman par excellence, willing and able to rule by consensus and accommodation. He was aware of the (…)

The history of the earth since the advent of humankind on it can be largely understood as the history of four crucial relationships—the relationships among various human beings at various levels, the relationship of human beings with nature, the relationship of human beings with other forms of life, and the relationship of the present generation with the generations to come.
What we should try to learn from history, above all, is: what were the most important periods of closer and better (…)

WOMEN’S WORLD
by Nirupam Hazra
According to the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report, 30,942 cases of crime against women were reported in 2012 from Bengal, the highest in the country. Bengal accounted for 12.67 per cent of the total crime committed against women in India and for the second year in a row Bengal was burdened with the distinction of being the most unsafe place for women. What ails the State which is known for its cultural vibrancy and progressive intellectualism and (…)

Even for a longtime compulsive Iran-watcher, this is feast to the mind—never in these three decades has the struggle within the US establishment been so fierce as it is today regarding America’s painful Iran question. To engage, or not to engage Iran—that is the question. In a fascinating story, New York Times takes the American heartbeat.
Of course, an unseen hand is propelling the street-smart lawmakers on The Hill to apply the brakes on President Barack Obama even as momentum is (…)

Seventyone years ago in this very week under the inspiring leadership of Mahatma Gandhi the people of this vast nation had risen as one man to decree that the alien rulers must quit forthwith leaving the country to be governed by Indians themselves.
Seventyone years after that memorable August Revolution of 1942, what is the spectacle we behold today? Free India is beset with numerous divisions on caste, communal, linguistic, regional lines. This has been exemplified of late by the (…)

The fulmination of Chandan Mitra, the spokes-man of the BJP and editor of Pioneer, against Prof Amartya Sen by urging that the latter be stripped of the Bharat Ratna, conferred on him by the BJP Government itself, has fateful impli-cations for freedom of speech and expression and for democracy. The retraction in the form of regret expressed by him will not detract from the seriousness of the issue and deserves strongest condemnation by all right-thinking persons. The diatribe of Mitra (…)

It was heartening to watch debates on poverty on national television channels, particularly the English ones. Elitist in approach, they seldom deliberate the privations of the common man. Likewise, the English press is reluctant to carry news or write-ups on poverty because it has come to believe that its well-to-do readers do not want to know about the extent of poverty at the breakfast table. The Hindi and other language papers are more sensitive. This is probably the difference between (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
Gopalaswami Parthasarthi or GP, as the legendary diplomat, academic and media specialist was widely known to one and all, passed away in New Delhi on August 1, 1995. His birth centenary was observed on July 7, 2012. This piece by N.C., who was quite close to him, appeared in Mainstream (August 12, 1995).
The passing away of Gopalaswami Parthasarathi on August 1 marked the disappearance of a familiar landmark in the public life of our country. A diplomat, media (…)