2016

by Sheel Bhadra Kumar
With the passage of the last two centuries, we have witnessed major paradigm shifts in the nature of international politics. Before World War I broke out, world politics was multipolar but dominated by the European powers which had basically divided the whole world among themselves. They used to quarrel among themselves for the spread of their colonies and influence. The game of international politics was played by those powers which competed among themselves for (…)

by Hasan Hamidullah
India should be far more active in the use of international institutions while promoting its national interests, especially in its territorial disputes and the right of free navigation.
Our support to the Philippines in their case against the well-known claims of China in the West Philippines Sea helps us to pursue our own interests in similar cases, like the Sir Creek dispute with Pakistan or measures to counter Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea. In such a (…)

Veteran journalist Saral Patra, 93, passed away in New Delhi in the early hours of October 31, 2016. He leaves behind his wife, Protima, and sons, Arun and Sanjay.
Born in Bengal in April 1923, he went to Lahore to work in the UPI (United Press of India) news agency and stayed there till 1947. It is there that he became fluent in Punjabi.
After the partition he moved to Delhi. By that time he had been drawn into the communist movement. Being a Punjabi-speeking Bengali from Lahore, he (…)

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
Several striking developments of the last few days have hogged the headlines.
These include the removal of Cyrus Mistry from the chairmanship of the Tata Group and the ongoing war in the Parivar of the ruling Samajwadi Party in UP. Mistry says his ouster from the top office of the Tatas was “unparalleled in the annals of corporate history” and manifests the “total lack of corporate governance and a failure of the Directors to discharge there feduciary duty to (…)

The following is the press statement issued by the India Chapter of the PIPFPD after the Forum’s National Committee meeting in Jammu on October 22.
The Pakistan-India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), in its National Committee meeting held in Jammu on October 22, 2016, has decided to launch a “No to war” campaign.
In the prevailing tense scenario between India and Pakistan, the campaign is the need of the hour. It is necessary to neutralise pro-war jingoism generated by (…)

It is Mandir again. The controversy over it comes to life whenever there are elections. The Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992. No doubt, the blame for the destruction is on the extremist Hindus, who did not even care for the Supreme Court’s advice to let the status quo prevail. The controversy over it, however, was practically over.
The then Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, connived at the whole thing and promised to demolish the small temple which had come up at the site in (…)

MUSINGS
Why did this government indulge in all possible publicity stunts on Gandhi Jayanti Day when it was all set to follow the Israeli way to strike? Doublespeak at the highest level! The top brass of the BJP-RSS should not talk of Mahatma Gandhi and his philosophy of non-violence when it is flaunting its might to kill! In fact, Modi’s Government is going a step further; it’s not just threatening to kill the enemy but also its own people. After all, the so-called ‘controlling the crowds’ (…)

by Ram Puniyani
Retired judge of the Supreme Court Justice Markandey Katju wrote (September 26, 2016) to the Supreme Court judges: “You are aware that one Ikhlaq was brutally lynched by cow vigilantes in Dadri. Instead of severely punishing the perpetrators of this heinous outrage, the police and local judge are proceeding against the family of Ikhlaq... Have the police gone mad?”
Chand Khan alias Shan Khan spent 11 years in a jail in the 2002 Akshardham temple attack case before he was (…)

by Binish Maryam
The hasty departure of the Britishers from India in 1947 resulted in the emergence of two independent states, India and Pakistan. Though sharing a common history, the two states have been engaged in the most complex and sharply contested rivalry. The source of this contention has mainly been over the control of the erstwhile princely state of Kashmir. Since 1948 the state of Kashmir is divided into a Pakistani controlled part and an Indian controlled part. This de facto (…)

IMPRESSIONS
Patriotic quibbling will not hide the basic fact—that Pakistan has boxed India into a tight corner. As happened in the wake of the Mumbai terror attack eight years ago, every muscle in our body politic twitches to take revenge against the rogue state. But a whole bunch of reality checks hold us back. Fortunately, the Prime Minister recognised this and resisted hawkish pressure from his own party parivar. That prevented the tight corner from developing into a trap.
By now (…)