2017

You say good and evil both reside in man, the good corralling the evil within. But do you see the evil breaking loose, dancing in ecstasy all over the globe?
Innocent victims: men, women, children, uprooted, slaughtered, buried alive, their helpless cries haunting memory, crimes being committed with brutality by hate-driven terror everywhere— such graphic contents of barbarism are flashed by the media as breaking news.
As if it’s not enough, the virtual world is deluged with ghastly (…)

We commemorate this year the birth centenary of Smt Indira Gandhi. She is often acknowledged as the most popular Prime Minister especially among the poor and weaker sections of our society. Under her leadership the word Socialism was added to Secularism and Democracy in the Preamble of the Constitution and in 1975, her government formulated the 20-Point Programme. The basic objective of the 20-Point Programme was the removal of rural poverty, health, education and housing for all as well as (…)

by Shaukat Usmani
Indusky Kurs, the military academy for Indian revolutionaries set up at Tashkent, was a symbol of fraternal assistance that the new land of socialism extended to the fighters for Indian freedom against British imperialism.
But when one read anything about the Indusky Kurs from the pen of M.N. Roy, one cannot help feeling that he did a great disserice not only to the Muhajireens but also to the Russian efforts at helping Indians winning their country’s freedom.
Many (…)

EDITORIAL
The first anniversary of demonetisation has been observed across the country.
Almost a month after demonetisation it was written in these columns on December 1, 2016:
“...the words of two leading Indian economists in the US—Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen and Prof Pranab Bardhan—assume extraordinary significance. Prof Sen categorically states that demonetisation was a “despotic action” as “it undermines notes,... bank accounts, the entire economy of trust”, adding: “Only an (…)

So what has Shri Chidambaram said that is so new or offensive? In saying that most Kashmiris who speak of Azaadi are, in his estimation, seeking greater autonomy for the State, Chidambaramji has only voiced a common enough perception—one that has been expressed by sundry commentators scores of times during the recent past. And, further, in expressing his support for exploring such autnomy as was promised to the State during the Constitution-making years, he has only lent support to what (…)

by Ram Puniyani
Earlier in the year (2017) BJP President Amit Shah had launched a ‘Jan Suraksha Yatra’, a two-week programme to highlight the death of RSS workers in Kerala. Many BJP dignitaries (twelve Union Ministers and five Chief Ministers) participated in this. The one who made big news was Yogi Adityanath. The slogan of Amit Shah was that the CPM has been indulging in political violence, which has led to the death of RSS workers in Kannur-Kerala. He wanted to draw the attention of (…)

China does it again. It helps a well-known terrorist to escape the punishment. Azar Masood, a first rank terrorist, was sought to be banned by the UN. Beijing used its veto so that he stays free. This time it was not a casual move but a deliberate act on the part of Beijing.
The 1962 attack by China on India when Beijing pulverised the Indian troops in Aksai Chin looked only a probe to register its presence. But it turned out to be a full-fledged attack. In the same way, Chinese troops (…)

On the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s 128th birth anniversary on November 14 this year, we are once again remembering our first PM who played such a crucial role in shaping post-independence India. We are reproducing his following words that are quite relevant in the present context.
I am convinced that the only key to the solution of the world’s problem and of India’s problems lies in socialism, and when I use this word I do so not in a vague humanitarian way but in the scienfitic, (…)

The following are excerpts from the speech that the Deputy Leader of the united CPI Group in Parliament delivered on the Chinese aggression in the Lok Sabha precisely fiftyfive years ago on November 10, 1962. The speech was a tribute to Jawaharlal Nehru’s leadership and policies in the context of the Chinese aggression. Renu Chakravartty’s birth centenary was observed last month on October 21, 2017.
Mr Speaker, Sir, I rise with a deep sense of responsibility in this grave hour of national (…)

by S. Mohan Kumaramangalam
It was in 1936 that I first met Panditji. I was in my second year at Cambridge and he had come to Europe in connection with the serious illness of his wife, Smt Kamala Nehru.
At that time he also came across to England and down to Cambridge and met us, the Indian students there.
Our family had known Pandit Nehru for a long time because when Panditji was at Cambridge, my father and mother were studying at Oxford but unfortunately since I was educated in (…)