Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Showcasing Challenges before the Kerala Economy in Post-Reform Period

  13 December 2015

  BOOK REVIEW
  by Renji George Amballoor
  Kerala Economy and its Emerging Issues by V. Mathew Kurien and Raju John; Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society Limited, Kottayam; 2014; pp. 400; Rs 350.
  Kerala Economy and its Emerging Issues is a comprehensively edited book on the dynamics of the Kerala economy in the post neo-classical era by Dr V Mathew Kurien and Raju John. The book provides the readers with in-depth insights on the emerging economic dynamics of Kerala. The editors have (…)

• Why So Tolerant?

  13 December 2015

  by Ayaz Ahmad
  The heated debate on so-called intolerance and Award Wapsi keeps throwing up an obvious question, why now? What has happened after the ascent of the BJP/RSS to power at the Centre and in some States since 2014 to cause such widespread alarm in the citizenry? One explanation is that those protesting against the growing atmosphere of intolerance in the country are inherently opposed to the idea of the BJP/RSS and Modi in power. But for once, an explanation can be suggested by (…)

• Erdogan’s Game and Turkey’s Western Allies

  13 December 2015

  by Hasan Hamidullah
  By now it is getting increasingly clear by the day that the Turkish Government of President Recip Tayyap Erodogan is doing everything possible to help the Islamic State in every way thereby exposing the double-standards of a key member of the NATO military grouping that is pledged to fight the IS tooth and nail, especially after the deadly arrest attacks in Paris master-minded by the IS.
  Recently Turkish intelligence chief Hakan Fiden made a startling statement. On (…)

• An Existential Threat to Secular India

  6 December 2015

  political notebook
  The Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was demolished on December 6, 1992. The forces that demolished the historic mosque have become far stronger today and are threatening to demolish the entire edifice of India’s secular and democratic polity. The insecurity that the members of the minority community felt at that time has grown manifold. There is a pervasive fear among them. Witness the cold-blooded lynching of Mohammed Akhlaq of Bisada village near Dadri in UP in late September (…)

• Climate Change in India: Challenges and Solutions

  6 December 2015

  by Sharat Poornima
  “The Earth provides enough to satisfy every man’s needs but not every man’s greed.”
  —Mahatma Gandhi
  The idea of environmental conservation was built into India’s traditional culture. The ancient dictum in India “tyakten Bhunjitha” (concept of consumption along with sacrifice) indicates towards the method of checking the state of imbalance. With the scientific progress and technological development, man started utilising resources at a much higher scale. Large-scale (…)

• A Secularist Responds to Minister Rajnath Singh ....

  6 December 2015

  by Ram Puniyani
  The celebration of the Constitution Day (November 26, 2015) marked the revival of the debate, on, rather questioning of the concept of, secularism yet again. Rajnath Singh, the Union Home Minister, repeated the arguments which the RSS Parivar has been raising time and again. He said that the perverse use of the term secularism is causing social tensions. As per Singh, secularism is the most misused term in the country and it is this misuse of the term which is causing (…)

• Patriots and Intolerance

  6 December 2015, by Mukul Dube

  Some weeks ago, a friend and I were discussing the returning of the first few awards by writers. I said that the gesture was likely to have little effect as too few Indians cared for writers and their work. I added that what would be effective was something similar from the world of popular films. Sure enough, the actions of a couple of directors drew attention: but the real bomb-shell was the words of Aamir Khan, a major star, from a well-publicised platform.
  The reaction of the Hindu (…)

• Growing Intolerance

  6 December 2015

  by Neha Dabhade and Irfan Engineer
  Recently in an interview at an award function, Aamir Khan mentioned that his wife, Kiran, asked him whether they should leave the country. To Aamir Khan, the statement of his wife was disastrous and indicated growing intolerance in the country. Though we condemn any such sweeping statement coming from a celebrity idolised by millions in the country, one must, without politicising the statement, reflect over the context in which it was made. The Indian (…)

• How Not To Counter Communalism

  6 December 2015

  The following is a revised version of an article published in opendemocracy.net/ and the revision has been carried out by the author himself for its publication in Mainstream; we are, however, using it here with due acknowledgement. —Editor
  by L.K. Sharma
  Combating communalism is a creative enterprise. A few well-crafted statements or protest meetings would not be adequate to immunise a vast population against the communal poison. The civil rights activists who demonstrated in London (…)

• Not Sorrow but Atonement

  6 December 2015

  From N.C.’s Writings
  The following piece, which was published as ‘Political Notebook’ in Mainstream (December 12, 1992), is being reproduced on the twentythird anniversary of the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Its significance is heightened due to the ongoing offensive of the Hindutvavadi forces following the seizure of power at the Centre by the Narendra Modi-Amit Shah-led BJP in May 2014. —Editor
  The vandalism that brought down the Babri Masjid structure on December 6 will (…)