2017

EDITORIAL
In the evening of November 8, 2016, the Government of India under Narendra Modi suddenly decided to embark on demonetisation. This was described by many, including in this column, as a “surgical strike on the Indian people”. By pulling out in one stroke high-denomination Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes—that constituted 86 per cent of the total currency in circulation—the government created a severe currency crisis. Writing in this column on December 1 last year one pointed out: (…)

by Purusottam Bhattacharya
In a way the outcome of the French presidential elections is a vindication of the belief, held by many perceptive observers of Europe, that the prospects of Right-wing populist leaders and parties capturing power in that continent were grossly overrated. This was already proved in the Austrian and Dutch elections held last year and in March this year respectively when voters in those countries decisively rejected the far Right, anti-Islam, anti-immigrant and (…)

Rabindranath Tagore’s 156th birth anniversary was observed on Tuesday (May 9, 2017). We remember him and offer our sincere homage to his abiding memory on this occasion by reproducing the following poem, and publishing an article (on pages 27 to 35) in this issue. —Editor
where you walk in company
with the world of men,
I am united with you.
Not in the forest retreat,
nor in isolation,
not even in the solitude of
my inmost thoughts,
but where the people have you
for their (…)

The mysterious rise of Yogi Adityanath as a centre of power contenders amongst the BJP/RSS leaders seems to baffle the public. It is a wrong assessment that he has been installed at the instance of Modi/Amit Shah. They are too politically astute not to create another power centre against themselves.
Though Yogi was no doubt a Thakur (the Bollywood perpetual tormentor of the weak, and ruthless in accomplishing his aim) — he was a Mahant for a long time thus establishing easily his (…)

by M.M. Khajooria
A section of self-styled ‘Hindutva’ zealots have decided the fate of Kashmir. They have dumped all Kashmiri Muslims in the lap of Pakistan and similarly branded the youth of the Valley as stone-pelters. Having made this determination they have decreed that Kashmiri students studying in educational institutions in the country must be made to pay for the sin of “humiliation and injuries inflicted on our brave Jawans” by the stone-pelters. After all, they were chips of the (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
In the brochures and posters of Indian tourism, Kashmir still figures with its enchanting attractions. In reality, however, the picturesque Valley of Kashmir is becoming out of bounds for the peace-loving citizens of this country.
In a sense, Kashmir today represents the gravest challenge to Indian democracy—perhaps much more than what happened at Ayodhya on December 6 and all that followed. If the bomb blast in Bombay on March 12 and the blow-up of the bomb storage (…)

by Ram Puniyani
The turmoil in Kashmir, which got intensified after the fake encounter of Burhan Wani (July 2016), does not seem to abet. It has been worsening as reflected in the ongoing violence leading to low turnout of voters in the by-poll (April 2017). Shockingly, there was a turnout only of 7.14 per cent of voters. The by-polls were also marred by violence in which many a civilian and security force person also died and lately one witnessed with great horror a Kashmiri youth being (…)

May 9, 2017 marked the seventysecond anniversary of Victory over Fascism in the Second World War. On this occasion we carry poems by Russian poets who, like all other citizens of their country, actively participated in the struggle to rid the world of the fascist menace and bore the real brunt of that War.
These times of ours are rather hard upon the pen. —Vladimir Mayakovsky
You’ll hear the ring of metal in my voice. Direct and heavy into life I came. Not all will die, nor all be (…)

Quite a few weeks have passed since the verdict of March 2017 that gave a real boost to the saffronites while leaving the secular liberals hurt and clueless. Now, it’s time to define, honestly, what has happened, and more importantly, why it happened. While the larger perspective of any such analysis remains constant—how to advance towards an India that is internally at peace with the right to freedom of expression and dignified life of all citizens ensured—an objective comprehension of the (…)

by Jajati K. Pattnaik
The OBOR (One Belt, One Road) is a trans-national connectivity project which was initiated by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013 to connect China with Asia, Europe and Africa through the land corridor (SREB—Silk Road Economic Belt)1 and the sea corridor (MSR—Maritime Silk Road)2 to augment global trade and economic cooperation. But the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), ‘the flagship project’ of OBOR which passes through Pakistan- occupied Kashmir (PoK), has (…)