Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• Thinking beyond War: An Analysis of India-Pakistan Relationship Post-Pulwama

  18 May 2019

  by Debtanu Majee
  India and Pakistan shared a malevolent relationship from the very inception of both the countries. Pakistan was the product of the divide and rule policy followed by the British between the Hindus and Muslims. The Hindu-dominated secular state of India was seen as a threat by the Muslims. They wanted an Islamic state of their own and thus was Pakistan born by fragmenting India. Pakistan’s too much dependence on their religious identity turned the clock in the reverse (…)

• Dr Meher Engineer

  18 May 2019, by SC

  TRIBUTE
  When West Bengal was in the throes of the 2019 parliamentary election campaign, noted scientist, social worker and leading associate of popular movements, Dr Meher Engineer, 80, breathed his last in Kolkata’s ‘Parsi Old Age Home’ on April 24. He was the former head of the Bose Institute, one of the premier scientific institutions of the country based in Kolkata.
  He was in the front ranks of the movement against the installation of the Tata Nano factory at Singur in West Bengal’s (…)

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  Murkier Poll Campaign, Frightening Prospects

  14 May 2019, by SC

  EDITORIAL
  As the parliamentary elections for the 17th Lok Sabha are drawing to a close within a few days, the election campaign is becoming increasingly murkier.
  One has just returned from a fleeting visit to Lucknow but even in the short span of one’s stay in UP one was able to clearly discern the public urge for a change from the BJP dominating the State to the SP-BSP mahagathbandhan; and experienced observers of the electoral scene disclosed that the BJP would suffer considerable (…)

• Balancing Economics and Politics in Elections

  14 May 2019

  by Joseph Abraham
  For the vast majority of the Indian electorate, the current elections appear to be a complex decision-making process between the economic gains of the pro-poor welfare schemes of political parties and the concerns of the electorate on issues relating to faith and religion. Though there is little doubt that these two are equally important for the large majority of voters, the growing agrarian crisis and rising unemployment appear to have shifted electoral preferences and (…)

• Judicial Activism, Right or Wrong

  14 May 2019, by Nikhil Chakravartty

  From N.C.’s Writings
  When politicians as a community are in a state of siege in the eyes of the public, it is extremely short-sighted on the part of any government to make any move that may appear to the public as a means to cover up or to close the channels of the politician’s exposure.
  While in the public mind, corruption among politicians has become a live issue since the Bofors bribery scandal, it was during Narasimha Rao’s Prime Ministership that the enormity of corruption in public (…)

• I don’t know anymore, what to make of what

  14 May 2019

  by Farzana Behram Contractor
  All I know is, without exception, everyone seems to be afraid. Afraid of the outcome of the ongoing elections. Fear and uncertainty seem to be the general emotion everywhere. What will happen to our lives if the BJP comes back to power, majority or coalition, it doesn’t matter. Twice as bad? Fact remains that we put our hopes in this party and they let us down. Lies, deceit, pretense... they misled, mistreated, caused confusion, twisted and re-twisted facts, (…)

• The Anti-Congress Narrative: Identifying Truth and Falsehood

  14 May 2019

  by Prem Singh
  1
  Narendra Modi, during the campaigning for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, had specifically emphasised two things: First, nothing has happened in the country during the Congress rule of the last 65 years. He, accusing the Congress of failures during its 65 years’ rule, had then claimed that he would complete 65 years of task in just 65 days if he is given power. Second, he will bring the black money, deposited in foreign countries, back to the country and deposit Rs 15 lakhs (…)

• Blasphemy perhaps, but Azhar’s Designation (or Not) Does Not Add Up to Much

  14 May 2019, by M K Bhadrakumar

  Designation did not make Hafiz Saeed less lethal. As patriotic Indians, we savour this moment as we hear the good news that the United Nations is blacklisting Masood Azhar as a global terrorist. The country applauds India’s diplomats who have finally clinched the issue through quiet, patient, dedicated work. On a personal note, it makes me feel proud of my erstwhile colleagues in the Indian Foreign Service.
  However, before we move on later today, inevitably, to the fateful final lap of the (…)

• Kanhaiya values Prajita’s love

  14 May 2019

  by Chandrasekhar Bhattacharjee
  It was August 23, 2017. The All India Students’ Federation and All India Youth Federation were organising a long march, much before the Farmers’ March in Maharashtra, from Kanya-kumari to Amritsar via Kolkata and Delhi. Kanhaiya, a leader of the march, was only the JNUSU President. The day before the marchers reached Serampur, a sub-divisional town of Hooghly district on the road to Howrah, a young girl, Prajita Dutta (12), asked her parents, “Tomorrow (…)

• Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Battleground of ‘Modi-ism’ versus ‘Mamata-ism’

  14 May 2019

  by Pratip Chattopadhyay
  Elections to form the 17th Lok Sabha of the Indian Parliament have been under way with the declaration of the seven phases of election across the country by the Election Commission of India spanning from April 11 to May 19 with the election results to be declared on May 23, 2019. Devoid of any national issue that could attract the society like unemployment, poverty eradication, basic health service and literacy, this election uniquely focuses on two political (…)