Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Militancy in the North-East and Armed Forces Special Powers Act

  28 September 2015

  by Siddhartha Guha Ray
  The ambush of an Army convoy by insurgents in Manipur killed 18 soldiers of 6 Dogra unit on June 4. It was undoubtedly a dastardly act of violence, rightly condemned by the people of several walks of life. In a quick response to the action, Indian Para Commandos smashed two insurgent camps inside Mynmar territory and brutally killed about 50 Manipuri militants. The Indian politicians felt elated at the ‘heroic deed’ of the Indian Army. It is learnt from the (…)

• NMML in Danger - Statement by Leading Intellectuals

  28 September 2015

  The following statement was issued by the country’s four leading intellectuals on the proposed changes in the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library.
  The Nehru Memorial Museum and Library bears the name of Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964), a political leader, intellectual, lawyer, thinker and author who became India’s first Prime Minister. Beyond that, and the observance of his anniversaries, the NMML (or Teen Murti, as it is popularly known) is unconnected with the perpetuation of his name or (…)

• Face of the Challenge

  20 September 2015, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  While secular democracy is at stake under the Narendra Modi dispensation with countrywide rise in parochial communal violence spearheaded by the Hindu extremists on the one side and Muslim fundamentalists on the other, the largest circulated national newspaper in the Capital has reported today that the ongoing war on dengue (which has taken a toll of 15 lives in Delhi so far following the death of yet another child) has been crippled due to a 66 per cent drop in funds in the last (…)

• On the Seventieth Anniversary of Hiroshima

  20 September 2015, by Eduardo Faleiro

  The world observed last month the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the final stage of the Second World War, on August 6, 1945, the first nuclear device was detonated by the American military on Hiroshima. Several thousand people died on the spot and lakhs perished subsequently. A few days later, Nagasaki, another bustling Japanese city, was also bombed with a nuclear missile and a similar catastrophic outcome followed. Meetings held (…)

• Remembering Ramaswami Iyer

  20 September 2015, by Devaki Jain

  TRIBUTE
  I first met Ramaswami Iyer as the husband of Suhasini Iyer—Suhasini was deeply admired and loved by a Cambridge graduate called Foy Nissen who later was in charge of the British Council Library in Mumbai. He insisted that we meet her and of course, typical of Suhasini, we were cherished and fed and our bonding began.
  But the real intertwining between my family and the Ramaswami Iyers began when my husband, L.C. Jain, belonged to a special committee set up by the Planning (…)

• The Dimensions of Veterans’ Disillusionment and Ire

  20 September 2015, by S G Vombatkere

  The Government of India (GoI) finally announced its version of One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP) for military Veterans. This was welcomed only in part by the Veterans, because there were important sticking points which were not included or inadequately included in the announcement. Fortunately, the Veterans who were on fast-unto-death were persuaded to end their fast, but the Veterans’ resolve to remain on protest until the outstanding points were settled to their satisfaction, resulted in (…)

• Stock taking after the Ordeal

  20 September 2015, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  An ordeal by fire is not necessarily the best moment to expect a chastened mood in a nation. The upheaval through which New Delhi has just passed could hardly be expected to restore immediately the balance needed for a sternly objective appraisal of the six stormy weeks that preceded the Cease Fire in the early hours of September 23.
  For New Delhi as for the entire country, it was an overwhelming experience, the trials and tribulations as also the emotional stresses (…)

• Kashmir Diary

  20 September 2015

  As the nation observers the fiftieth anniversary of the 1965 India-Pakistan war, we reproduce the following piece that appeared in the Annual Number of Mainstream (which came out in September 1965).
  by Pannalal Dasgupta
  Almost immediately after I set foot in Srinagar on August 30, I got the chance of attending a public meeting in a hall. The meeting was organised by the traders and houseboat associations over the situation created by Pakistani aggression, which has badly hit the (…)

• Dear India, your policy on Pakistan is utterly obsolete

  20 September 2015

  by Farrukh Khan Pitafi
  The following article appeared in the well-known Pakistani publication, Dawn, and was then carried in Scroll.in from where it is being reproduced here, with due acknowledgement, for the benefit of our readers.
  The National Security Advisors’ meet fiasco has led to some graver questions.
  • Are both sides losing control to the hardliners?
  • Are they even aware of the consequences of their actions?
  • Is there any reset button to undo the damage done?
  It is my (…)

• Corbyn Wins An Outstanding Victory!

  20 September 2015

  by Rob Sewell
  The following article appeared on September 12, 2015 in Marxist.Com from where it is being reproduced, with due acknowledgement, for the benefit of our readers.
  ELECTION RESULT:
  Jeremy Corbyn: 251,417—59.5 per cent
  Andy Burnham: 80,462—19 per cent
  Yvette Cooper: 71,928—17 per cent
  Liz Kendall: 18,857—4.5 per cent
  This astonishing victory of Jeremy Corbyn becoming leader of the Labour Party represents a political earthquake of monumental proportions. It has turned (…)