Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Legacy of Anti-Communal Struggle: Gandhiji and Nehru

  31 January 2015

  by Mridula Mukherjee
  As we again approach two historic dates of our history, January 26 and January 30, our thoughts go back to those tumultuous years of the birth of the new nation. Independence in August 1947 was accompanied by widespread civil strife and violence culminating in the irreparable loss caused by the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse, a votary of HinduRashtra who had been associated with the RSS-Hindu Mahasabha strand of politics, just five months later on (…)

• Resolutions adopted by the 75th Session of Indian History Congress

  31 January 2015

  DOCUMENT
  The following two resolutions were adopted by the 75th Session of the Indian History Congress held at the Academic Staff College, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi last month. These were first passed by the Congress’ Executive Committee on December 29, 2014 and subsequently by the General Body of the IHC on December 30, 2014.
  Resolution 1
  In Defence of Scientific Method in History
  The Indian History Congress throughout its existence has been committed to the cause of (…)

• Tweaking the Republic for a Make-Over

  31 January 2015, by Badri Raina

  Rarely has an Indian Prime Minister had so tough a job to accomplish at the behest of such breakneck anticipations. Two impatiently imperious mandates —seemingly contradictory but headed toward a familiar convergence—press upon the beleaguered Chief Executive: one calls upon him to privatise with dispatch what remains of publicly owned national wealth, so that the rate of growth of corporate profit is catalysed to an Olympic sprint, and, the second nudges him through one sectarian putsch (…)

• Rewriting History for Political Gains

  31 January 2015, by Suranjita Ray

  History writing has always been a subject of debate and revision. It is an ongoing process and there can be no final writing of history. However, rewriting history for political gains is what one needs to be concerned. The attempts of political parties across ideological divides to make a certain writing of Indian history as dominant not only reflect their narrow political interests but also obstruct any comprehensive understanding of India’s history. In the context of commemorating the (…)

• Caste Pride

  31 January 2015, by A K Biswas

  On May 20, 2014 Jitanram Manjhi was sworn in as the 23rd Chief Minister of Bihar. On the previous evening, I received a phone call at Calcutta from Minapur Banglatola, a hamlet in Muzaffarpur district, North Bihar. The caller, one Binda Devi, a Musahar woman, informed me: “Apna aadmi will take over as the Chief Minister of Bihar tomorrow.” Referring to Jitanram Manjhi as apna aadmi in Bihar parlance, she was stating that the leader to occupy the top seat belonged to her caste. The excitement (…)

• ‘Rajapaksa’s Defeat is a Progressive Change from the Democratic Standpoint’

  31 January 2015

  In the following interview Varadaraja Perumal, the former Chief Minister of the north and east in Sri Lanka, speaks to the Mainstream editor on the significance of the outcome of the recently held Sri Lankan presidential election.
  How do you view the outcome of the Sri Lankan presidential election?
  VP: On the whole it’s a very progressive change because under Mahinda Rajapaksa’s government the situation was such that the government was ruling with nepotism in a dictatorial way, (…)

• The Great Suicide

  31 January 2015

  The following article was published precisely twentyfive years ago in the Mainstream Republic Day Special (January 27, 1990) after the Congress’ defeat in the 1989 Lok Sabha poll and created a stir in political circles. It is being reproduced in full now when the Congress is facing a much deeper crisis in the wake of its rout in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.
  by Congressman
  The dust of the Lok Sabha election is settling down.... Well, not quite, because the Assembly elections several (…)

• Je ne suis pas Charlie; Sorry, I am not Charlie

  31 January 2015, by Nandita Haksar

  The French President, Francois Hollande, immediately declared that the attack on Charlie Hebdo was an act of terrorism and an assault on freedom of the press. Michael J. Morell, the former deputy director of the CIA and now a consultant to CBS News and topmost national security professional, stated categorically:
  This is the worst terrorist attack in Europe since the attacks in London in July of 2005. The motive here is absolutely clear: trying to shut down a media organisation that (…)

• Long Live Charlie Hebdo!

  31 January 2015, by Harsh Kapoor

  about the January 2015 terror attack on the Paris satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and its gross misinterpretation by people of Left liberal sensibilities in India and much of the world.

• Tribute to B.G. Verghese: A Thorough Gentleman

  31 January 2015, by Kuldip Nayar

  Even after consuming reams and reams of paper, I would fail to describe Boobli George Verghese. Yet one word will suffice to portray him: Gentleman! He was a true Christian in faith and deed. He was a man of values who did his best to stay objective and humane in life as well in profession.
  The first time I met George was more than 50 years ago when he was officiating as the Resident Editor of The Times of India. I was then the Information Officer at the Press Information Bureau, (…)