Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• In Dhaka Language Movement: Lessons in Student Politics

  26 December 2015, by A K Biswas

  Kanti Biswas took up teaching in Quaid-i-Azam Memorial College, Gopalganj in his native place and earned unreserved goodwill and approbation from all sections—students, guardians and the public alike. As a student of Dhaka University he was a member of the Action Committee which launched the historic language movement against the imposition of Urdu as the country’s sole official language on the Bengali-speaking people of East Pakistan. His celebrated friends—Barkat, Salam, Rafique and (…)

• Rabindranath Tagore and the Freedom of India from British Rule

  26 December 2015

  by Purusottam Bhattacharya
  There is a prevailing misconception that Rabindranath Tagore was not robust enough in his opposition to British rule in India. It is even thought in some circles, that Tagore composed his ‘Janaganamana Adhinayaka’, which has been the national anthem of India for nearly 70 years, as an eulogy for King George V on the occasion of the King Emperor’s visit in 1911 even though history has well recorded and even Tagore also offered numerous clarifications to establish (…)

• 90th Anniversary of the CPI - Communist Party in a Colonial Country: Constructive Role of CPI

  26 December 2015, by Anil Rajimwale

  The Communist Party of India was born in the conditions of colonial rule of British imperialism. This imparted certain distinctive features to the party, in addition to its usual nature of a Communist Party.
  The very first constitution of the CPI, adopted in its foundation conference in 1925, included the provisions for election of three general secretaries and two treasurers. Besides, the chairman of the conference was to be chairman of the party till the next conference. There was (…)

• Impact of the Black Economy in India: Brief Report of a Seminar

  26 December 2015

  by Arun Kumar, Sunil Dharan and Astha Ahuja
  The Sukhamoy Chakravarty Chair, CESP, JNU, in collaboration with Tax Justice Network, London organized a seminar on ‘Black Economy in India, its Global Dimensions and Impact on Policies’ at Jawaharlal Nehru University on June 26, 2015. In all 13 papers were presented in the day-long seminar which was spread over four sessions.
  In his opening remarks, Arun Kumar, Sukhamoy Chakravarty Chair Professor at the CESP, JNU, pointed out that the black (…)

• Stop the Government from Committing Higher Education to WTO!

  26 December 2015

  DOCUMENT
  The All India Forum of Right to Education (AIFRTE) circulated the following leaflet analysing why it is imperative that the ‘offer’ of committing our higher education for market access to WTO-GATS should be withdrawn before the 10th Ministerial Conference at Nairobi (December 15-18, 2015). On behalf of the AIFRTE, Justice Rajinder Sachar sought an appointment with President Pranab Mukherjee on November 4 to submit a memorandum to him on the subject, signed by thousands of people (…)

• Unbecoming of a leader as Prime Minister

  26 December 2015

  by M.C. Pindwal
  The recent statement of the former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, to the Centreal Bureau of Investigation, the premier investigation agency of the Central Government, that he had many other issues to worry about when he was holding additional charge of the Coal Ministry, is aimed at blaming the then Coal Secretary, P.C. Parekh, for failing to brief him properly. This is not tenable as the file speaks volumes in this regard; therein it was suggested to sell the coal (…)

• Centenary of First Independent Government of India Ignored

  26 December 2015

  The Union Government (as well as the Opposition in Parliament) totally forgot the historic significance of December 1 this year: the centenary of the first Independent Government of India—Hukumat-e-Azad Hind—set up in Kabul.
  On December 1, 1915 this government was formed with Raja Mahendra Pratap as its President. Many years later the responsibility of this government was passed on to Rashbehari Bose and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in Japan. Netaji was the second President of the (…)

• Bani Deshpande Is No More

  26 December 2015

  Veteran Communist leader Vidyadhar Laxman Deshpande alias Bani Deshpande, 88, passed away in Mumbai after a brief illness on December 4, 2015. He is survived by his wife, Roza Deshpande, a former MP from Mumbai, a son and a daughter.
  Suffering from lung infection, he was being treated for some days at the Dhanwantari Hospital in Dadar.
  While studying at Nagpur he joined the All India Students Federation and then the Communist Party of India.
  In his book, Universe of Vedanta, Bani (…)

• Public Intervention Despite Heavy Odds

  13 December 2015, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  The most significant of the political developments of the last few days was captured by The Indian Express headline of December 7: “India, Pakistan break the ice off camera in Bangkok”—a reference to the meetings between India’s National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval, and his Pakistani counterpart, Nasir Khan Janjua, as also Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar and his Pakistani counterpart, Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhary, that took place the previous day in the Thai capital, Bangkok, far from (…)

• Is the Ice Melting?

  13 December 2015, by Kuldip Nayar

  Suddenly there was summer. A chance 160-second meeting between Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Nawaz Sharif has melted the ice, which seemed frozen beyond change. The about-turn indicates that the differences have been exaggerated. The ego, which is probably the real reason, needs to be tackled.
  India was stuck on the stand that it would not talk anything else except terrorism as was the crux of the joint statement issued after their meeting at Ufa, Russia. Pakistan saw no purpose in (…)