Mainstream Weekly

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• The Godfather {par excellence}

  23 March 2014, by Uttam Sen

  TRIBUTE
  I had met the famous Sardar of “... malice towards one and all” fame under trying circumstances in Mumbai, then Bombay. It was an otherwise pleasant winter afternoon but the occasion was as fraught as any associated with one’s first job interview. The Times of India’s trainee journalism scheme in the early seventies set the bar for the profession in India. After a written test in one’s city of origin, selected candidates were invited to the “Old lady of Bori Bunder”, The Times of (…)

• Russian Spring in Crimea

  23 March 2014, by Arun Mohanty

  Till a fortnight back nobody could ever imagine that the Ukrainian crisis, triggered by the ultra-nationalists in connivance with the West through an armed coup that overthrew the legitimate President of the country and brought a government full of semi-fascists, would snowball into a Crimean crisis, the worst one after the end of the Cold War. Ultra-nationalists along with their Western masters are completely responsible for this impasse. The problem with the West is that it never got rid (…)

• Jagat Singh Mehta

  23 March 2014, by Muchkund Dubey

  TRIBUTE
  Jagat Singh Mehta, a renowned diplomat, a skilful negotiator, a prolific writer and social worker, passed away quietly at his ancestral home in Udaipur on March 6, 2014. By his vision, sense of purpose and sheer hard work, he carved out a special niche and left an indelible mark in the annals of Indian diplomacy. He will be remembered as one of the handful of outstan-ding Foreign Secretaries of the Government of India. He fully utilised the potentialities of this post and in the (…)

• Meaning of Modern Civilisation

  23 March 2014, by Rammanohar Lohia

  [(Dr Rammanohar Lohia’s 104th birth anniversary falls on March 23 this year. Since his birthday coincided with the day of martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, he never wanted his followers to observe or celebrate his birthday. However, we remember him and offer our sincere tribute to the abiding memory of that stormy petrel of the Indian socialist movement on this occasion by reproducing the following article written by him; it appeared in Wheel of History that was first published (…)

• Left Unity: Lohia’s Approach

  23 March 2014

  by Ravindranath and Ayub Syed
  An encounter with the socialist leader would be rather extraordinary without some rough weather but we were not prepared for the squall we ran into the moment we sat down with him in his well-appointed drawing room. He said he would talk only in Hindi. When we remonstrated that one of us had been in the North for only three years, he said he had learnt German in Berlin in three months: “One learns a language only under compulsion.” Finally, he agreed to let us (…)

• Lohia Line on Destruction of the Caste System

  23 March 2014, by Anand Kumar

  Dr Rammanohar Lohia was the theorist of seven revolutions in the context of creating a new world order on the basis of socialism. The programme of seven revolutions included confrontation with discrimination and deprivations based upon caste, class, race, gender and nationality. He wanted to give a new direction to the movement for socialism by giving equal emphasis to the struggles against sexism, class and caste-based exploitations.
  It was a departure from the Marxist line of a (…)

• Where Are The Emile Zolas of Our Times?: On Minority Rights and State Violence

  23 March 2014, by Subhash Gatade

  Each one has his reasons: for one, art is a flight; for another, a means of conquering. But one can flee into a hermitage, into madness, into death. One can conquer by arms. Why does it have to be writing, why does one have to manage his escapes and conquests by writing? Because, behind the various aims of the authors, there is a deeper and more immediate choice which is common to all of us. What is Literature? Jean Paul Sartre
  It is difficult to start when you are among an august (…)

• Bhagat Singh : A Tribute

  23 March 2014, by Bimal Prasad

  Eightythree years ago on March 23, 1931, Bhagat Singh and his comrades, Sukhdev and Rajguru, were executed by the British Raj at Lahore Central Jail. On this occasion we reproduce excerpts from an AIR broadcast on Bhagat Singh to mark the fiftieth anniversary of their martyrdom by the eminent historian and retired Professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, Bimal Prasad. The text of the broadcast was carried in Mainstream (March 28, 1981).
  As Bhagat Singh, flanked by Rajguru on (…)

• Best Homage to Shahid Bhagat Singh is to Build Unity of Left Forces

  23 March 2014, by Bharat Dogra

  Search for a Genuine Political Alternative Continues
  The people of India observe the martyrdom day of Shahid Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev every year on March 23. This year this day comes at a time when the nation is engrossed in hectic campaigning for the general elections.
  In the middle of all the intense pre-election activities, the increasing marginalisation of the Left parties is all too evident. This is also the saddest aspect of the election scene that genuine alternatives to (…)

• An Open Letter to the Left Forces

  23 March 2014, by Bharat Dogra

  Dear Friends,
  During these critical times before the crucial general elections sincere and dedicated supporters and members of various Left formations are distressed at the growing marginalisation of the Left forces. Yet it cannot be denied that the Left forces have a very significant role in fulfilling the constitutional mandate of equality and justice, as it is the Left formations which are most committed to these cherished values.
  So instead of feeling weighed down by the present-day (…)