2015

IMPRESSIONS
Suddenly last week our country reverberated with voices of wisdom. Arun Jaitley’s was the clearest when he spoke of “extremely disturbing trends” of intolerance and vandalism. That was precisely what victims of intolerance, social workers, newspaper editorialists, writers, artists and other segments of the powerless have been talking about for at least six months. During those months, Jaitley and fellow policy-makers had dismissed them with denials and accusations of ulterior (…)

by Sukumaran C. V.
The following article is on Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, one of the greatest secular democrats of the country, on the occasion of his birthday (observed as the National Education Day) on November 11.
If religion expresses a universal truth, why should there be differences and conflicts among men professing different religions? Why should each religion claim to be the sole repository of truth and condemn all others as false? —Maulana Abul Kalam Azad
As far as we, Indians, (…)

by Sheel Bhadra Kumar
The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has opened a new chapter in the complicated region of West Asia. The strategic chessboard of West Asia has been set in for a strategic move. Russia, with its advanced warplanes, military hardware, troops and military advisers, has suddenly entered the already complex battlefields of Syria. While the West regard it as an unwelcome move, in the eyes of Syrian President Basher Al- Assad and its allies [Iran, Iraq and Lebanon], it is (…)

by MurzBan Jal
The Indian Brahman proves the holiness of the Vedas by reserving to himself alone the right to read them. —Karl Marx, The Leading Article in No. 179 of the Kölinische Zeitung
Does the Hindu social order, recognize social equality? The answer must be in the negative. —B.R. Ambedkar, The Hindu Social Order: Its Essential Principles
The revolutionary project is engaged in a struggle against oppressive and dehumanising structures. To the extent that it seeks the affirmation (…)

COMMUNICATION
The recent statements made by the Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Ms Maneka Gandhi, on October 19 should serve as a wake-up call for the Government of India as well as for all those concerned about proper functioning of critical nutrition and health problems in India. Ms Gandhi has expressed serious worry about nutrition programmes being adversely affected due to funds crunch caused by budget cuts.
Here it needs to be recalled that when the first (…)

Perched on the horns of Nandi, Bharat strikes back, Too quarrelsome to be cowed down. And too hypocritical to boot: Looking askance from a garbage dump, A thoughtful cow moos her rebuke: “Having no fodder for me, you will Let me munch of plastic; having No shelter, I may roam The busy street in mortal risk to Life and limb; driving in your latest Fad, you may ride over my leg, Unmindful of my existence; careful Of your till, you may send me off To far climes and hostile countries, Just so (…)

November 7 this year marks the 98th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia that heralded the birth of the now dismantled USSR. On this occasion we are carrying the following article.
We are approaching nearly hundred years of the epoch-making Russian Revolution. It is a revolution unequalled by any other, leaving a deep impact on history. The imprint has not diminished despite the collapse of the Soviet Union. We need to study the general and particular aspects of the Russian (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The following piece was written by N.C. fifty two years ago, published as it was in Mainstream (November 9, 1963).
As the IIyushin 14 touched down on the hard crust of the Siberian snow, the pretty Chinese comrade next to me said: “It seems we have reached Omsk. But don’t be upset by the bitter cold of the Russian blizzard. The Soviet people are as warm in their heart as the tea served out of their samovar.” She spoke fluent English, a medico, graduating from Peking, (…)

The author, then Mainstream’s Special Correspondent and now Editor, was in Moscow from November 6 to 23, 1991 to get an idea of the objective situation in the Soviet Union just before its dismemberment. The following is the first instalment of his report that gives a vivid account of how the 74th anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7 was observed that year in Moscow, which was still the capital of the USSR.
The Soviet reality today is complex and daunting. History is (…)

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
The political landscape of the country is changing at a fast and furious pace. ‘Intolerance’, ‘illiberal’, ‘communal bigotry’, ‘fringe elements’—all these have become hackneyed words and phrases. What we are witnessing today right before our eyes is the taking over of the Indian state by the Rightwing fascist forces with the connivance and complicity of those very people who have sworn themselves to defend it. From the targeting and physical elimination of free-thinkers (…)