2016

by Vijay Singh
People believed that the Congress and Communists would transform the communal, casteist, fuedal India into a casteless, classless, egalitarian society but created a capitalist, communal, corrupt, casteist, criminal India much against the spirit of the Constitution of India of Justice, Freedom, Equality and Brotherhood.
Nehru suppressed all progressive thinkers like Ambedkar, Rammanohar Lohia, Jaya-prakash Narayan, M.N. Roy, Dange and established a psuedo-secular culture in (…)

by Ayan Guha
It is a well-known fact that caste has always remained a marginal factor in the domain of organised electoral politics in West Bengal. However, the electoral decline of the Left Front sparked off some anticipation about the enhanced role of caste in the future politics of the State.
The hypothesis regarding the enhanced role of caste in the organised politics of the State gained some plausibility in academic discussions due to two concrete developments. First, there was an (…)

by Archishman Raju
A recent Washington Post editorial says that ‘Venezuela is in desperate need of a political intervention’ mirrored in the Indian press by a recent editorial in The Hindu asking if ‘the country can afford to wait for the political process to play itself out’ and calling for international (read US) mediation. Coming after weeks of news showing empty supermarkets and long food lines, these editorials reflect a highly sinister attempt to try and politically intervene in the (…)

BOOK REVIEW
My Myanmar Years: A Diplomat’s Accounts of India’s Relations with the Region by Preet Malik; Sage Publications; 2016; price: Rs 495 (paperback).
Formerly, the British members of the Indian Civil Service used to write their memoires which constituted an important source of historical events. It is true that the memoires used to be coloured by the author’s pride and prejudice but when a number of memoires were read together, facts emerged correctly. It is rather unfortunate (…)

The following article by A.M. was carried as First Person Singular in The Telegraph, Calcutta on June 15, 2016.
The World and the Left:
Western Capitalism is in crisis but not the one marx Foretold
by Ashok Mitra
We are living in a world full of uncertainties; anything might happen, or not happen. Even so, my instant reaction to those who confidently assert the imminent total eclipse of Marxism and the Left in the global context are, to use the vernacular, talking through their hat. (…)

by R.G. Gidadhubli
The NATO—Russia relations have entered into a conflict zone subsequent to the decision taken by the NATO at its Summit held in Warsaw on July 9, 2016. This raises several questions—What is the significance of decision? What are the objectives of the NATO? And what is Russia’s response to the NATO decisions?
At the outset it may be stated that an important decision was taken to deploy NATO forces in the countries of its allies bordering Russia. As per reports, four (…)

Fable for our Times
by Aurobindo Ghose
According to the Gujarat CID, a lion killed Najabhai Ahir’s cow in Bediya village. Najabhai informed Balu Sarvaiya of Mota village on the morning of July 11, 2016 to come and dispose of the dead cow. Whereupon, the sons of Balu Sarvaiya, a SC by caste who traditionally skins and disposes off dead cows, brought the dead cow to their village and started skinning it. Suddenly, from nowhere, members of a Gau Raksha Dal appeared on the scene and accusing (…)

NDTV released a video on July 30, 2016 which posed the question, “Gau-Rakshaks—Protectors or Extortionists?”
(http://www.ndtv.com/video/news/truth-vs-hype/truth-vs-hype-gau-rakshaksrprotectors-or-extortionists-425653)
The video shows how “gau rakshaks”, always associated with one or other Hindutva outfit, forcibly stop those who are transporting cattle and snatch away the cattle. The animals are taken to one or other cow shelter owned by the same cabal and are released only when (…)

EDITORIAL
As we go to press, news has come that yesterday two Muslim women, suspected of carrying beef, were beaten up and abused at a railway station in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandsaur district. The police had reportedly come to the railway station to arrest the women on receiving information that they were travelling with 30 kg of beef to sell. However, before the police could do anything a mob that had gathered there began to thrash the women. The mob allegedly comprised activists of the (…)

MUSINGS
Ban on newspapers in the Valley. No news, no reports, no views, no comments. Pumping pellets right into connectivity. A complete black out as mobile and internet connections are snapped. Reeking of dictatorship. Nothing short of an undeclared Emergency. Back to those dark ages in these developed times!
Last weekend the police raided the newspaper offices of the three leading newspapers of the Kashmir region—The Kashmir Times,Rising Kashmir,The Greater Kashmir, and its Urdu sister (…)