2018

by Ram Puniyani
Recently (May 2018) Hamid Ansari, the ex-Vice President of India, was invited to the Aligarh Muslim University to honour him with life membership of the AMU Students Union (AMUSU). He had due security with him, still the Hindu Yuva Vahini-ABVP activists could reach near his place of stay. The pretext of the armed protesters was that Jinnah’s portrait has been put up to please Ansari and that they will not allow Jinnah’s portrait in the AMU. The usual violence followed a few (…)

From N.C.’s Writings
The following piece, which appeared under the ‘New Delhi Skyline’ in Mainstream, was written two days after Jawaharlal Nehru’s demise on May 27, 1964. It was published on May 30, 1964.
As the golden flame licked up the funeral pyre, an unforgettable scene ended near the banks of the Jumna and under the shadow of the Red Fort.
It was an emotional experience without precedence, to watch this mightiest demons-tration of love and respect that this great country has (…)

by K.N. Raj
The following is the text of the paper read by the distinguished economist and Director of the Delhi School of Economics at the symposium held in New Delhi to mark the first death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru, May 27, 1965. Dr K.N. Raj, who passed away sometime ago, subsequently became the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Delhi.
Socialism, like democracy means now different things to different people. Almost everyone in India calls himself today a socialist. This (…)

by S. Gopal
The following contribution from Nehru’s biographer and eminent historian, Dr S. Gopal, was published in Mainstream (November 12, 1988). It was based on the Ansari Memorial Lecture which he delivered at the Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi on February 22, 1988. It is being reproduced here because of its relevance in the present scenario.
When Jawaharlal Nehru came to active politics in the early twenties, he had not yet moved to the personal position of religious agnosticism which (…)

I. The “Nehru Models”: The Historical Nehru Model and the Posthumous Nehru Model
In most circles where opinion-making on behalf of minorities takes place, one of the reasons for appreciation of Jawaharlal Nehru’s approach towards the minorities generally is his statement that majority communalism, that is, sectaria-nism, is more dangerous than minority commu-nalism. He said that “the communalism of a majority community must of necessity bear a closer resemblance to nationalism than the (…)

by Pervez Hoodbhoy
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru would never have won a popularity contest in Pakistan quite simply because he did his best to oppose our country’s creation. But nowhere is he reviled more than in India’s current ruling circles and among those whose loyalty they command.
The accusations against Nehru are often breathtaking: that he was degenerate and dissolute; born in a brothel and eventually died of syphilis; impregnated a Catholic nun; claimed to be a Kashmiri Pandit but (…)

IMPRESSIONS
Here is what the Buddha said about the Karnataka elections:
“There are many difficulties to overcome in this world. It is hard for a proud man to learn the way of enlightenment. It is hard not to argue about right and wrong. It is hard to find a good method. It is hard to keep the mind pure
against the instincts of the body. It is hard not to desire beautiful things. It is hard for a strong man not to use his strength to satisfy his desires.”
The Strong Man heading The (…)

POLITICAL NOTEBOOK
What was witnessed in Karnataka after the Assembly poll results were out, exposes the BJP’s cynical pursuit of power—absolute power. It also exposes the BJP’s cynical contempt for constitutional and legal propriety. If it emerges as the single largest party, it would insist that the Governor invite it because it is the single largest party. If it fails and knocks together a post-poll alliance which manages to get the numbers, it insists that the Governor allow it to form (…)

by Sandeep Shastri
May 15 will go down as an important day in the politics of Karnataka. In a day of dramatic political developments, the people of Karnataka watched the many twists and turns with the progress in the counting of votes. At the end of the day, the last scene in the political drama has not yet unfolded. For a third time in Karnataka, the BJP has emerged as the single largest party. Political events that followed the earlier two events were diametrically different. In 2004, (…)

Everyone knows that election results are decided by the number of seats won and so it is understandable that most public attention is focused on this. However, in terms of under-standing actual public preference and choice as well as trends relating to this, it is more important to look at the percentage of votes won by different political parties.
Depending upon the election system a democracy selects as well as the electoral demography of any region, the percentage of vote-share for any (…)