2020

Integrity and credibility of the media has degenerated to such an extent that now the police, not the judiciary, will issue its firman (diktat) whether it has the right and enjoys the privilege guaranteed by the constitution to criticise the government and question its action.

Between June 25 and July 4 as many as 120 persons died in Bihar due to lightning strikes. In addition there were several other deaths due to the same cause during the same period in neighboring state of Uttar Pradesh. Several others were injured in very painful ways.
As many as 110 persons died following lightning strikes on a single day on June 25 in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, over 80 in Bihar alone. Others later succumbed to their injuries.
This is a huge tragedy as this many (…)

The far right-wing government of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil has used the COVID-19 pandemic as a smokescreen to undo environmental regulations and undermine the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples and traditional Afro-Brazilian communities in the Amazon.

Even Orwell would be at a loss to make sense of some of the recent antics of leading governments. We would expect Orwell to be out-satirized by the American actions to impose penalties and sanctions on officials of the International Criminal Court

by R.G.Gidadhbli
On 3rd July Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that will bring into force a sweeping package of constitutional amendments that were approved overwhelmingly by Russians. According to Russia’s Central Election Commission, 65 pc of voters participated in the week long voting from 25th June to 1st July 2020 with 78 pc ballots approving the package of more than 200 amendments to the Russian Constitution. This is a significant political development in contemporary (…)

In his presentation, Paul Le Blanc has provided a brief account of the darkening situation in the Soviet Union in the years following the revolution, of the heroic resistance by members of the Left Opposition, and of the “deep black night

Akhil Gogoi-a peasant leader and Right to Information activist from Assam has been in jail since December 2019. His crime is that he exercised his fundamental right of speech and expression by protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act.

MUSINGS - July 7, 2020
Guns and gun battles! Land mafia ruling and overruling the political mafia, together with the police force! The latest, of course, the gunning down of eight policemen by gangster, Vikas Dubey. Violence and anarchy is spreading out in the State of Uttar Pradesh, together with polarization and divides. Decay and deterioration hits. Many of the mofussil towns described as living hells.
Killings of civilians have been on, in recent years, by gangsters and also by (…)

by Badre Alam Khan
Recently the NHRC (National Human Right Commission) has released its report on ‘Jamia Violence’ which took place on 15th December 2019 at night. The Commission in its report has largely blamed the protesting students (who were peacefully and non-violent manner against anti-constitutional Act like CAA, emphasis mine) and said that they were found being indulged in violent protests without permission from concerned authority. The report while doing some ‘soft criticism’ (…)

Contents: Mainstream, VOL LVIII No 29, New Delhi, July 4, 2020 Letter to the Readers – Mainstream Lockdown Edition No.15 | The Editor Tribute to Jolly Mohan Kaul | Sankar Ray Jolly Mohan Kaul (22 Sept 1921 - 29 June 2020) | Aditi Roy Ghatak Early India, Goats and Brahmins | Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd Russian bounty killing forces Trump’s hands on troop withdrawal from Afghanistan | M. K. Bhadrakumar The Escalating Crisis on the India-China Border | Achin Vanaik Page from History: Nehru and (…)