October 2009

In human history, the discovery of an offensive weapon has each time been followed by the quest for a defensive weapon against it. Moreover, offensive weapons can also serve the purpose of defence and the same weapon can and has been used for both offensive and defensive purposes. All this is true of nuclear weapons also. Attempts to build defences against missiles commenced as early as in the 1960s. The first step in this direction was the launching of anti-satellite weapons of one kind or (…)

(On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s one hundred and fortieth birth anniversary on October 2 this year, we reproduce his following unforgettable words that are of abiding relevance in the current scenario.) The purity of my striving will be put to the test only now. Today, I find myself all alone. Even the Sardar and Jawaharlal think that my reading of the political situation is wrong and peace is sure to return if partition is agreed upon. They did not like my telling the Viceroy that even (…)

On October 2 this year India is celebrating the hundred and twentyfifth birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. The Government of India has set up a special committee studded with VIPs of diffe-rent denominations and is chalking out an extensive programme of functions which will spread over a whole year.
The Congress party is holding a meeting of its highest organ, the Working Committee, the very same week at Belgaum, at the border of Karnataka and Maharashtra—this again to mark the (…)

As history unfolds a trend is clearly visible that beyond a critical point simple patchwork solutions to some of our basic problems do not work. The only course then is either to accept the fate accompli or seek a holistic purposeful approach. The wisdom to see things in correct proportion and perspective has often been shown by few men and women of vision. The need to re-examine issues of sensitive nature in the right perspective, and use, as and when necessary, the elements of available (…)

Last month on September 1, the birth centenary of legendary Communist leader Somnath Lahiri passed almost unnoticed. The CPI, to which he belonged, did not deem it necessary to even hold a public meeting to pay homage to his abiding memory; yet he was one of the stalwarts of the party and the communist movement and ranked among those who had laid the foundations of both.
Along with Dr Ronen Sen and Abdul Halim he built the party’s Calcutta Committee which had once won the recognotion (…)

The following is based on interviews with Chinese intellectuals These interviews are part of a project entitled “Chinese Politics and Ideology since Tiananmen”, sponsored by the Indian Council of Social Science Research. The author visited China in April 2007, and interviewed 25 leading intellectuals of Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing and the Hong Kong University of China. As per the agreement, the names of Chinese intellectuals have not been mentioned. However, those of the proponents of the New (…)

In what was a political earthquake, Japan’s Opposition party, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), registered a stunning victory in the general elections held on August 30, 2009. The DPJ victory raised a significant shift in policy after more than half-a-century of almost unbroken conservative rule. In fact, much before the final counting of votes was over, it was being projected that the DPJ, a broadly progressive party whose ranks include Socialists as well as former Liberal Democratic (…)