2017

Kumari Mayawati, the chief of the Bahujan Samaj Party, has alleged that the prime reason for the landslide victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pradesh elections is due to tampering with the EVMs. “How come the BJP managed to win in Muslim bastions across the State? Did the EVMs not accept votes cast for other parties?”—Mayawati wondered. Though one is unsure whether there was tampering of the machines or not, she has a valid point in her allegations.
There are no exceptional reasons for (…)

MUSINGS
What’s left of our democracy! Gone are the traditional notions of Governors being non- partisan. In fact, right from the summer of 2014, when the BJP came centre-stage, it has been appointing Governors with RSS-BJP background. And much in accordance with the fascist framework, the Right-wing sees to it that there is a pre-planned motive to every little move. Today, the BJP-appointed Governors in Manipur and Goa are lending a ‘helping hand’ in government-formation in those two (…)

by Kuldip Nayar
However democratic we may be, discrimi-nation on the basis of the caste system has not diminished. Every day, in some part or the other, there are instances of Dalits being burnt alive. Only the other day Dadri, near Delhi, was the scene of a Dalit family being consigned to fire. In the national Capital itself, a JNU student hung himself because he could not stand the jibe of discrimination. The 28-year-old M.Phil student had dreamt of studying in the JNU and was fortunate (…)

by Binoy Viswam
When I met Muthukrishnan’s father, he was sitting on a concrete bench in front of the mortuary at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). His eyes were manifesting the mental agony which he was going through. That is natural for a father who has lost his son at an unexpected moment. His name is Jeevanantham. Notwithstanding his immense sorrow he told me about his son and his three sisters. With his small earnings from the work as a watchman in a private (…)

Once again the forces using terror and violence have prevailed over the culture and tradition of reason, debate and discussion. It is a dark day in the history of the Indian higher educational institutions. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a name now becoming synonymous with vandalism on academic campuses, forced the cancellation of the seminar on ‘Cultures of Protest’ organised by a Literary Society of the English Department at Ramjas College in Delhi on February 21, 2017. Umar (…)

by Pradeep Nair and Sandeep Sharma
In 1998, while being the head of an alliance of 26 political parties, the then Prime Minister of India, Atal Behari Vajpaee, once frustratingly said that India should look for the possibility of adopting the presidential system which, in his view, would be more permanent and representative. However, amongst all the political compulsions and political opportunism, some of the electoral arrangements at the Centre and in the various States went on for (…)

IMPRESSIONS
by T.J.S. George
Miracles never cease. On March 12 Prime Minister Narendra Modi told a gathering of BJP workers: “I have a milestone of 2022 when India completes 75 years of independence.” He wanted everyone to take up a project for the good of the country and complete it by 2022.
On March 13 China’s official news agency said that President Xi Jinping had picked a milestone, 2022. Xinhua explained that later this year the National Congress would elect a new leadership for (…)

by Gautam Sen
India has recently hoisted the largest and tallest national Tricolour at the Wagah-Attari crossover point, on the Indian side. The flag is of 120 feet by 80 feet dimension, flies at a height of 360 feet and has involved a public expenditure of Rs 3.5 crores. This will be an unique symbol of national identity and inspiration for the Indian security and other government personnel who control the border and the installations of state display and ceremony at the border-point. The (…)

by Bharat Dogra and Jagmohan Singh
The following article is being published to mark the eightysixth anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru. They were executed in Lahore on March 23, 1931.
Despite many adversities after their imprisonment, Bhagat Singh and his comrades by their courage and noble conduct were able to inspire and mobilise millions of people for greater participation in the freedom movement. This period of the imprisonment of Bhagat Singh and his (…)

The six-nation conference on Afghanistan’s security future held in Moscow on February 15 has brought about considerable disquiet in the two participating capitals, Kabul and New Delhi. Since the conference wason Afghanistan, Kabul would have been concerned in any way but the objectives, deliberations, and indications of further action have induced Afghanistan and India to be watchful about what the future may unfold. This reaction of two of the participants—and the former being the very (…)