2017

by Mrinal Pradhan
In the wake of Communist leader Fidel Castro’s demise, when one ponders over the future of communism, one gets the feeling that the Leftist movement is never going to succeed in India. The most pervasive ideological contradiction in India is the concomitant existence of socialist ideals with religious zeal. According to the basic socialist ideology, matter leads spirit, and not the other way around. The most fundamental assumption in the ideology of Karl Marx, the father (…)

by Bhartendu Kumar Singh
The recent decision of a retired Army General (General J.J. Singh, the former Chief of Army Staff, and Governor, Arunachal Pradesh) to contest the upcoming Assembly elections in Punjab has come in for criticism from his own Veteran fraternity. The criticism had less to do with the actual entry into the political arena but more to do with the General’s decision to contest the Assembly elections and ‘demean’ his status! While this could be a subject of a separate (…)

by Suresh Jnaneswaran
The 77th session of the Indian History Congress took place at the University of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram from December 28 to 30, 2016. The following article has been written against that backdrop by the Local Secretary of the session.
The coming of the Indian History Congress to the Kerala University has greater significance than meets the ordinary eye. In the present political ambience with the ruling front at the Centre going all out to reinforce and perpetuate (…)

Editorial
On January 26 this year, when we observe our sixtyeighth Republic Day, it is most pertinent for us to recall the message to the nation from our first PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, on our first Republic Day on January 26, 1950:
There is a peculiar appropriateness about this January 26, for this day links up the past with the present and this present is seen to grow out of that past. Twenty years ago we took the first pledge of independence. During these twenty years we have known (…)

January 30 this year marks the sixtyninth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s martyrdom. We offer our homage to his indelible memory by reproducing the following excerpts from Jawaharlal Nehru’s statement in the Constituent Assembly on February 2, 1948, that is, within three days of the assassination of the Father of the Nation.
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I am not quite sure in my own mind if it is exactly fitting for me or for any others of this House to say much on this occasion, for I have a sense of utter (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
Every year we dutifully go through the ritual of offering homage to Gandhiji on the day of his martyrdom.
We shall once again be witnessing the ceremony on January 30 to be conducted as per protocol—early morning prayer at Rajghat, singing of bhajans and hymns, a round of spinning and then during the course of the day, meetings and seminars and a special programme on Doordarshan to remind us of the Father of the Nation. VVIPs encircled by gun-totting security guards (…)

On the occasion of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s 120th birth anniversary on January 23 this year, we are carrying the following excerpts from Netaji’s speeches and writings while remembering that stalwart of our freedom struggle.
This is Subhas Chandra Bose speaking to you over the Azad Hind Radio.
For about a year I have waited in silence and patience for the march of events and now that the hour has struck, I come forward to speak.
The fall of Singapore means the collapse of the (…)

There is no doubt that despite many infirmities the Indian Constitution, as framed by the Constituent Assembly (CA) of India on November 26, 1949, is a fine document of liberal democracy. Its emphasis on an all-inclusive polity assuring social, political and economic justice was, in fact, a continuation of the anti-imperialist legacy. But the Indian Constitution today faces the most critical challenge to its existence. It is true that the ruling parties before the enthronement of the Modi (…)

DOCUMENT
The following is the Political Resolution of the Socialist Party (India) adopted at the party’s Fourth National Convention (Lucknow, November 14-15, 2016).
Most of the established parties do all sorts of things to grab power during State and Central elections. False promises, personal allegations and counter-allegations, communal tension, casteism, regionalism, lingualism, individualism, dynasty politics, money and muscle power, conspiracy and all such tactics are used (…)

It is hard to believe that the government- financed Khadi Board printed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s picture in the familiar pose of Mahatama Gandhi sitting behind the charkha, spinning the yarn, without the PMO’s permission. Probably somebody at the lower level allowed the Board to go ahead. The furore in the public was so strong that the contradiction was inevitable.
Even then the PMO was not as strong as it should have been. In fact, a stern warning should have been issued there and (…)