2021

IMPRESSIONS
The Telegraph said what others hesitated to state openly. "It’s best to state this simply," said the Kolkata daily. "Narendra Modi needs to go. Amit Shah needs to go. Ajay Mohan Bisht, aka Yogi Adityanath, needs to go." This view is not new. What is new is that it is being publicly aired. The public mood in India has changed. Tired of the pretensions, and the proprietorial arrogance of he Government, people have found the courage to come out and openly attack Naredra Modi and (…)

by Prem Singh
The Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) tasted the allure of partial power during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government. It has now experienced seven years of complete power under the leadership of Narendra Modi. The RSS has been nurtured in the right armpit of the Congress. Hence, it had gained some experience of sharing power since the Independence. RSS had enough time to learn as to how to imbibe the Constitution, to treat constitutional institutions with due deference, and (…)

by Anandi Pandey, Lubna Sarwath, and Sandeep Pandey
A common question asked by upper caste people, who form the core support of Hindutva politics, when opposing the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 or the policy of reservation in educational institutions, government jobs or elected posts is why should they be held responsible for the atrocities committed by their previous generations on the weaker sections (read lower castes) of society? (…)

In the media discussion and the political discourse, the common refrain is that the Indian National Congress (INC) is crippled by the crisis of leadership. Since Indira Gandhi created Congress (I) in the 1969 split, the Congress party has been led by a member of her family. However, after the death of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, due to reluctance of his widow to take over the leadership and his children were too young, the leadership passed on to non-Indira Gandhi family members. Sonia Gandhi came (…)

In memory of 203rd birth anniversary of Karl Marx
(Paper for AIPF-All India Progressive Forum - zoom meeting of 5 May 2021.)
There is widespread impression that Karl Marx was opposed to religion and God, that Marxism does not tolerate religion and that socialism would destroy religion. This subjective and misplaced impression is based upon preconceived notions. Today the reactionary, communal and obscurantist forces are at the forefront of this propaganda. At more intellectual levels, (…)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
30 April 2021
Joint Statement of extended “Troika” on peaceful settlement in Afghanistan, Doha, 30 April, 2021
On 30 April, representatives of the extended “Troika”, comprising the Russian Federation, the United States, the People’s Republic of China, and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, met in Doha, Qatar to discuss ways to support intra-Afghan negotiations and help the parties reach a negotiated settlement and a permanent (…)

May 5, 2021
Hakha Town in Myanmar’s Chin State bordering Mizoram was the scene of attacks on the military by rebel fighters on May 5, 2021
How some animals get to sense when earthquakes are imminent remains a mystery. Just before the great Asian tsunami on December 26, 2004, elephants in Sri Lanka moved to high ground before the giant waves struck; at Galle, dogs refused to take morning walk with their masters on the beach.
Conceivably, therefore, the decision by the Adani Ports and (…)

by R G Gidadhubli
23rd April 2021
Relations between Russia and Ukraine, which are both Slavic States having close social, political and economic relations for centuries have witnessed downward trends during the last several years leading often to conflicting situations. Russia’s takeover of Crimea in 2014 has resulted in the on-going conflict between the two countries. Moreover, Ukraine has alleged that separatists are holding parts of the Ukraine’s eastern regions of Donetsk and (…)

MUSINGS - 5 May, 2021
May stands for Manto – after all, this rebel writer was born on 11 May, many summers back, in 1912, in Punjab’s Samrala, in district Ludhiana. For the last few days I have been thinking what if Saadat Hasan Manto was alive today in these dark times! Would he have survived? Nah, its not just a question about the virus but the human disasters and destruction taking place all round us. Murders of the patients taking place, where even in the so called elite (…)

We are going through a time when the normal parameters of life are suspended. Pathologies of our modernity are being manifested day by day in the post-COVID world. According to media reports, people are dying in India due to lack of supply of medical oxygen, and mass cremations/burials are taking place. The Indian State has miserably failed in ensuring the minimum life-support facilities to the victims of the corona virus. This moment of darkness brings back to our memory T S Eliot’s (…)