November 2009

In the sultry summer morning of May 27, 1964, when Jawaharlal Nehru left the land of his birth and its people whose affection he earned in abundance, nobody in this wide world of India had any idea how this country would look twenty years later, how the life and living of its toiling millions would change, how the nation would conduct itself in the comity of nations. As his funeral cortege wended its way through the vast humanity wrapped up in tearful mourning, the one thought that hovered (…)

With the trial of the assassins of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman well under way in Bangladesh, violent incidents are taking place there pointing to a worrying and live nexus between Islamic fundamentalism and the anti-freedom struggle forces. Unless tackled immediately with required firmness by the Sheikh Hasina Government, this nexus holds out threatening prospects for not just Bangladesh but India as well.
The murderous attack on Fazle Noor Taposh, the Awami League parliamentarian and a (…)

Abstract
The article presents the political and economic impacts of various kinds of natural and man-made disasters and associated displacement of populations, and argues for a wider and more inclusive definition of disasters in the interest of human rights, social justice and equity for the victims of disasters.
Legislation, Disasters and People
Numerous disasters at national and international levels have caused governments to recognise the need for rapid and effective response to (…)

Of the now six Nobel Prizes the announcement of the names of awardees for Literature and Peace raises a few eyebrows everywhere every year. Unlike the science subjects, selection from among the nominees for peace is indeed a difficult task. Hands that were stained with human blood have received the medal and the cheque while men of meaningful peace have been overlooked, not once but several times. However, people all over the world look forward to the news of the selection every year because (…)

China’s demand for the removal of two Indian Army bunkers from its outpost at Batang La in Sikkim near the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction recently can be seen from two angles. First, as a case of highhandedness of a few Chinese border officials who entered the Indian territory inadvertently and came face to face with these Indian bunkers. Oblivious of where their actual position on the ground is, these officials then raised objections about the bunkers. This scenario seems probable because, (…)

China had always been a paradox for India, and a potential threat the country had downplayed as long as Pakistan was seen as the main adversary. After the 1962 war, India had exercised moderation while dealing with China as it did not want encirclement by two hostile countries. China had been obsessed with the presence of the Dalai Lama in India, particularly after it became sensitive to global public opinion in the wake of its economic reforms. The country also seemed to be uneasy at the (…)

The much anticipated Operation Green Hunt has started in fits and starts. It is a high stake hunt. The government is waiting to re-assert its authority in the forested reaches of Central India. The corporations are waiting for unhindered access to the wealth underneath the land. The Maoists are [perhaps] waiting for the atrocities to begin so that the discontent takes deeper roots into the hearts and minds of the adivasis. And the adivasis...what are they waiting for? We do not know. We do (…)

Posters on the walls of Kolkata’s Jadavpur University of the Progressive Students’ Democratic Front, a pro-Naxalite outfit, have one common theme—indignation against giving a prefix—Maoist —to every expression of protest. The CPI-ML (Liberation), which still has pockets of influence in south Bihar, Jharkhand and Karbi Anglong, tries to prove that Maoism and Mao Zedong Thought are mutually exclusive. Some political analysts find a common tactical agenda in both—protection from the threat of (…)

The following is the Interim Report of an Independent Citizens Fact-finding Mission to Manipur. This was released in the form of a press release at a press conference at the Press Club, Imphal on November 7, 2009.
A team of concerned citizens comprising Dr K.S. Subramanian IPS (retd.), formerly of the Manipur-Tripura cadre and currently Visiting Professor, Jamia Millia University, New Delhi, Sumit Chakravartty, Editor, Mainstream, Kavita Srivastava, PUCL National Secretary, and Vasundhara (…)

It was literally a bolt from the blue. On November 6 we had gone to the young man Sanjit’s residence for getting an idea of what really happened on July 23, 2009 when the police allegedly killed Sanjit in cold blood in the heart of Imphal. ‘We’ meaning members of a team of independent citizens on a fact-finding mission to Manipur, with the aim of comprehending and bringing to light the issues behind the latest disturbing developments in that trouble-torn State. After meeting Sanjit’s mother (…)