2016

by Kadayam Subramanian
India’s intelligence agencies have played a controversial role in reporting on the nature of the current unrest in Kashmir. By blaming Pakistan for instigating trouble in the Valley, they have failed to address the genuine problems of the people on the ground, which the younger generation of Kashmiris are agitated about including the negative role of the security forces. Prime Minister Narendra Modi should reject spurious analysis which encourages confron-tation with (…)

A few years ago when I persuaded Yasin Malik, the first militant in the Valley of Kashmir, to give up his fast unto death, his demand was that the International Amnesty should visit the Valley to verify the violation of human rights. He broke the fast when I gave an undertaking that I would myself head a team to Srinagar to prepare a report on the violations of human rights.
Today that kind of confidence has gone. The Hurriyat has refused to meet the delegation because the Hurriyat is not (…)

by S.K. Jain
In recent time, the Rajya Sabha has become the centre of controversy for two reasons. First with the recently held biennial election to fill the vacant seats where cross-voting by MLAs of different parties led to the defeat of the official/supported candidate of the Congress and other regional parties. Charges are being levelled by these parties of using corrupt practices against each other bringing the reputation of the Rajya Sabha to a very low level contrary to the (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The monolith of one-party domination having broken for good not only at the Centre but in many of the States, the search for allies has become the major preoccupation of practically all the parties, particularly with the historic split of the Congress after its twenty years of uninterrupted raj.
This preoccupation has assumed urgency after the Kerala elections which acted as a sort of sounding board for most of the parties. It is noteworthy that within less than a (…)

COMMUNICATION
The debate about the genetically modified (GM) mustard variety called transgenic mustard hybrid (DMH-11) has now reached a critical stage and very high-power efforts are being made to get it approved as India’s first GM food crop variety. Several scientists, farmers’ organisations, environment and health activists have drawn attention to several problems which are specific to this GM crop variety. In petitions sent to the government they have pointed out that DMH-11 testing (…)

by S. Sudhakar Reddy
The Indian working class successfully organised a historic, massive general strike on September 2, 2016, in which a large number participated actively. The pent-up anger of the workers and employees was reflected in the strike. This was an unprecedented struggle.
Banks, insurance companies, financial institutions, workers of big public sector companies (including navaratnas, miniratnas), coal, steel and mine workers, ports, unorganised workers, school and university (…)

by Santhoshkumar, R. and Lalithambika, R.
The sheer volume of investment in participatory notes (P-notes, estimated at around $ 43 billion last June) and private equity money flowing into real estate ($ 1.3 billion in January-June, 2015) suggests that illegal money held abroad may actually be substantially invested here. (Jagannathan, 2015) The line separating foreign from domestic assets is arbitrary and thin. In any case, the two cannot be segregated unless we know the full identities of (…)

by Fayezah Iqbal
Today it would be passé to term facebook as some alien revolution that overtook us sweepingly in a span of five-six years. Its virtual fleeting impact imperceptibly diluted in our real lives so much so that every ‘share’ comment and ‘like’ by a person crystallises our notion about the other person without knowing the person and sometimes even after knowing them for years.
It, nevertheless, has succeeded in engraving as strong an impression on a person’s psyche as the (…)

by Nidhi Sharma
The Muslim individual has a certain eating habit—during meal times each family is likely to eat from the same plate. During meals the less wealthy Muslim is likely to sit upon the floor and eat from the same plate with her/his family. The rich Muslim also likely partakes food from the same plate but is likely to not sit upon the floor. Instead, the rich Muslim eats while sitting on a chair and served upon the table. The food is served at the centre of the plate by the (…)

BOOK REVIEW
by Mehrag-Ud-Din Bhat
India-Pakistan Composite Dialogue Process: Issues and Concerns by Sajad Padder; Kalpaz Publications, New Delhi; 2015; pages: 178, Price: Rs 540.
India was partitioned into two independent and sovereign countries—India and Pakistan—in 1947. After partition several issues remained unsolved between India and Pakistan. Issues like Kashmir, Siachen, Sir Creek, and Tulbul Navigation etc. became so contentious that both countries fought several wars with each (…)