2014

Dr Rammanohar Lohia was the theorist of seven revolutions in the context of creating a new world order on the basis of socialism. The programme of seven revolutions included confrontation with discrimination and deprivations based upon caste, class, race, gender and nationality. He wanted to give a new direction to the movement for socialism by giving equal emphasis to the struggles against sexism, class and caste-based exploitations.
It was a departure from the Marxist line of a (…)

Each one has his reasons: for one, art is a flight; for another, a means of conquering. But one can flee into a hermitage, into madness, into death. One can conquer by arms. Why does it have to be writing, why does one have to manage his escapes and conquests by writing? Because, behind the various aims of the authors, there is a deeper and more immediate choice which is common to all of us. What is Literature? Jean Paul Sartre
It is difficult to start when you are among an august (…)

Eightythree years ago on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Sukhdev and Rajguru, were executed by the British Raj at Lahore Central Jail. On this occasion we reproduce excerpts from an AIR broadcast on Bhagat Singh to mark the fiftieth anniversary of their martyrdom by the eminent historian and retired Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Bimal Prasad. The text of the broadcast was carried in Mainstream (March 28, 1981).
As Bhagat Singh, flanked by Rajguru on (…)

Search for a Genuine Political Alternative Continues
The people of India observe the martyrdom day of Shahid Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev every year on March 23. This year this day comes at a time when the nation is engrossed in hectic campaigning for the general elections.
In the middle of all the intense pre-election activities, the increasing marginalisation of the Left parties is all too evident. This is also the saddest aspect of the election scene that genuine alternatives to (…)

Dear Friends,
During these critical times before the crucial general elections sincere and dedicated supporters and members of various Left formations are distressed at the growing marginalisation of the Left forces. Yet it cannot be denied that the Left forces have a very significant role in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of equality and justice, as it is the Left formations which are most committed to these cherished values.
So instead of feeling weighed down by the present-day (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The dragging-on of the Presidential talks with leaders of different political parties has no doubt exasperated the patience of the average citizen as much as the President himself. What has been found is that no political formation worth the name has been able to muster sufficient support to ensure a majority in the Lok Sabha.
What we have to thank our stars about is the fact that the entire game of elections is played within the four corners of the Constitution (…)

A Resolution of the Goa Legislative Assembly and a Memorandum submitted to the Prime Minister last year seek special status for Goa under Article 371 of the Constitution of India. This special status is sought on two grounds. As a result of large-scale purchase of land by persons from outside Goa, including foreigners, the average Goan cannot afford a house or land in Goa. Furthermore, there is large-scale migra-tion into the State which may destroy Goa’s id-entity.
The special status (…)

IMPRESSIONS
How passionate are our politicians about serving the nation! The scramble for tickets is always a feature of elections. But never have we witnessed the huddle and the muddle, the tumult and the chaos we see in the present rush to get into Parliament. There is nothing in this free-for-all to distinguish one party from another or one ticket-seeker from another. No one has an identifying ideology or principle. All are bound by a common thread: the greed for power. All are (…)

EDITORIAL
It’s election season now and the selection of candidates is giving headaches to the leaderships of all the major political parties including and notably the BJP. The Modi juggernaut is moving ahead across the country no doubt, but the seats of the supreme leaders of the party, BJP President Rajnath Singh and prime ministerial aspirant Narendra Modi, have yet to be finalised. Problems have reportedly mounted in the higher echelons of the party’s decision-making apparatus with (…)

Look at it this way: the anti-colonial Indian national movement, a far more multi-faceted conjuncture than is sometimes propagated, did yield, even among its propertied leaderships, a genuine socialist fervour to spread the fruits of post-colonial reconstruction as widely as new class interests and ingrained regressive social histories would allow. This historical dynamic necessitated assigning a leading role to the state, and placing the “commanding heights” of the economy in public (…)