2019

by Ram Puniyani
The ‘Howdy Modi’ event in Houston was an eye-catcher for more reasons than one. While Modi was saying ‘All is Well’ in India, thousands of protestors outside were showing the real mirror to the state of affairs in India. At the same time Donald Trump, the US President, while on one hand due to face the process of impeachment, was trying to promote his electoral prospects in the next US elections on the other. As is his wont, he does flatter visiting dignitaries, for (…)

Commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, it may be strange to focus on the days before his martyrdom. To me that was the most glorious phase of his life, when he was bold enough and uncompromising on issues most dear to him since his plunge into our national movement. Among those the most vital was the quesition of Hindu-Muslim unity. He battled throughout his life to make the Congress and also the people of the entire country to understand the importance of the issue. (…)

Two central values that Mahatma Gandhi espoused were truth and non-violence. He used them successfully in his method of Satyagraha in an attempt to change the heart of his adversary.
There are organisations and countries which adopt violence as a tool to achieve their objective but ultimately come around to non-violent methods like dialogue and participation in democratic processes to resolve their issues.
The Naga National Council and National Socialist Council of Nagaland, after having (…)

Beloved Bapu, you abide
In my heart as a ray
In a dark interior,
Or a syllable of daring
In a breast-full of fear.
But empty eulogies no longer
Ring true. The cruel fact is
That you have been set aside,
Like a piece of bone China,
To be polished and brought out
When an honoured guest is about.
Those that murdered you
Feel no shame in propitiating your
Example when need be,
Even as they pursue the teachings
Of your murder as policy.
I know this is not a fate (…)

The recent online edition of Mainstream (October 5, 2019) has carried a number of insightful articles on Gandhi, and human rights. The pertinent question that crops up in our mind is: how would Gandhi have responded to the happenings in the Kashmir Valley?
A collection of writings of M.K. Gandhi (compiled by R.K. Prabhu) was published in 1947 with the title India of My Dreams. (Navajivan Publishing House, Ahmedabad) Some of the writings of Gandhi incorporated in the book are of profound (…)

EDITORIAL
Today is October 3, 2019. The 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi was observed yesterday. In a brilliant article published five days ago in The Telegraph (Kolkata) on September 28, 2019, historian Ramachandra Guha referred to the relationship between the Mahatma and the RSS whose one-time pracharak is now ruling the country as the Prime Minister. In this article, Guha conveyed the venom of the RSS towards the Muslims in general and wrote how Gandhi was also assailed for (…)

Dear Compatriots,
Hoping that by this time, the fever of the so-called victory over the alleged abrogation of Article 370, created by the Government of India, has subsided at least by some degrees, I venture to draw your attention to the other side of the picture which is truth and reality.
At the very outset let me make it clear that neither Pakistan nor any other country has any right to meddle in this matter. Pakistan has not even a moral right to do so, since it has forcibly occupied (…)

by Sabzar Ahmad Bhat and Suhail Ahmad Lone
Dear Modiji,
As you know that on August 5, 2019, your government unilaterally abrogated the Articles 370 and 35A, which guaranteed the special status of Jammu and Kashmir within the Union of India. In this regard, you and your govern-ment claimed that it would pave the way for the development of Jammu and Kashmir. It would eradicate poverty and create new job opportunities for the young generation of Kashmiris. Even though the State of Jammu and (…)

by D.K. Giri
A needless controversy was created by the Home Minister with a tweet that Hindi should be made the single national language to unite the country. The television channels and social media buzzed with debates on the feasibility and desirability of the idea of ‘one language, one nation’. Given the political weight of Amit Shah, his Ministry reportedly switched to Hindi to lead the way. Perhaps realising the storm he had kicked off, Shah quickly made amends and said that he only (…)

by Purusottam Bhattacharya
The Context
Britain finds itself in the midst of the biggest crisis—political, constitutional, economic, diplomatic and, above all, its identity in the contemporary world—since the end of the Second World War in 1945. The decision to quit the European Union in a national referendum held in June 2016 by a slender majority has opened a veritable Pandora’s Box which has laid bare the hubris and nemesis in Britain’s relationship with Europe dating back to the end (…)