2015

BOOK REVIEW
by Vijay Kumar
Force or Dialogue : Conflicting Paradigms of World Order by Hans Kochler with a Foreword by Fred Dallmayr—Collected Papers edited by David Armstrong; 2015; Manak Publications, Delhi; pages 401, Price: Rs 2500.
The book under review represents an assiduous effort on the part of Professor Hans Kochler, one of the most distinguished scholars/ practitioners of international law and philo-sophy, to interrogate the growing contradictions between normative and (…)

An extraordinary thing happened in the Left politics in Britain and in the southern State of Kerala last week. There are similarities and dissimilarities between what happened in the two situations so far apart. But it gives much food for thought for all Leftist workers and their leaders as well as the fellow-travellers of the Left in India.
The stunning victory of Jeremy Corbyn as the leader of the Labour Party in UK on September 12 made headlines in the world media. Corbyn won despite (…)

Communication
Despite the Samajwadi Party supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s tall talk of being a great champion of socialism, standard-bearer of secula-rism and great crusader against communalism, his decision of quitting the grand secular alliance in Bihar is nothing but a clear move of his closeness to and having a secret deal with the BJP which is implementing the RSS agenda of making India a Hindu country and establishing here a state based on Hindutva. The following instances justify the (…)

EDITORIAL
Soon after the mid-term poll in 1998, when the results were yet to come but one was certain that the BJP and its allies would form the next government at the Centre, a political leader who later joined the A.B. Vajpayee-led Union Ministry, had asked this correspondent as to what should be done after the outcome of the elections. One had then clearly pointed out to him that regardless of what course the BJP-led government would follow (that is, a Right-of-Centre line or a (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The following appeared fifty years ago as the editorial in the Annual Number of Mainstream 1965.
The valiant defence of the Motherland by our armed forces as well as by the brave people of Jammu and Kashmir has inspired the nation. The grim determination of the people of this country not to rest till Pakistani aggression is completely vacated and it is ensured that there will be no recurrence of violation of our frontiers was fully reflected in the President’s (…)

(Mainstream, Annual Number 1965)
As the nation observes the fiftieth anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war, we reproduce here two pieces that appeared in the Annual Number of Mainstream (which came out in September 1965).
Twice during the last eighteen years, Kashmir has had to go through an ordeal of fire, an ordeal which no other part of our great country has had the misfortune to face. Pakistani rulers have not yet been able to get over their covetous greed and so the people of (…)

His name was Abhijit, the conqueror of the foe. And he has conquered death, for by giving his very life, he shall be remembered so long as the beauty of Kashmir shall endure, so long as patriotism shall be cherished as an abiding virtue.
When Abhijit joined the Army in October 1963, it was not just the end of the quest for a career: for him it was exclusively a call of the motherland. The old father, the veteran of many a battle against the British rule, had himself offered to fight for (…)

Democracies celebrate Magna Carta, not war victory. Such actions only encourage Bonapartism and, in no way, strengthen the people’s say. I was dismayed to see a full-page advertisement in newspapers to commemorate the victory in the 1965 war against Pakistan. The advertisement said:
“The Indo-Pak War of 1965, which began on 05 August and ended on 23 September, is one of the biggest tank battles since World War-II. Pakistan launched troops inside Kashmir under Operation Gibraltar in early (…)

How often in India’s ancient and more recent history have the people of Bihar played a decisive role? And thrown up men and women of great persipicacity and doggedness to stand before events and portents of grave consequence? Inumerable times, the evidence suggests.
Another such time beckons the distinguished electorate of Bihar to a trial on behalf of the Republic. There are many who are busy to grab their allegiance, through means fair and foul, but one has the faith that such allegiance (…)

by Arun Srivastava
Nitish faces the most potentthreat of losing the crucial election to the Bihar Assembly from his secular friends than his communal adversaries. At a time when it appeared that Nitish was high and going great guns, came the psychological set back in the form of the Samajwadi Party refusing to contest the elections and withdrawing from the election arena.
The justification cited by the Samajwadi leadership not to go to polls as alliance partner is indeed ridiculous. Ram (…)