Mainstream Weekly

Most recent articles

• The Poltics of Violence Against Doctors | Alok Ajakkala

  12 June

  Abstract: This essay examines violence against doctors in contemporary India through the Marxist concepts of alienation and reification. While conventional explanations focus on infrastructural failures and emotional distress among patients’ relatives, the essay argues that these alone cannot explain why physicians become targets of violence. It proposes the idea of ‘hyperidentity’, where doctors become so reduced to their professional role that their humanity fades from social perception. (…)

• Sufism: Towards a Truer Picture | Khizra Abidi and Bhavuk

  12 June

  Introduction
  “My message is that you have to study history in depth and in detail and look at particularities” stated William Dalrymple in an interview with Vrinda Gopinath last year . The interview has been doing the rounds lately again. In this light, are you also among those who associate Sufism with just Raqs (dance) and Sama (music) and the peripatetic Darveshis (wandering Sufis) aloof from this world busy in finding solace in the remembrance (zikr) of God? If so, then you may need to (…)

• Recognition undone: the Transgender Persons Amendment Act, 2026 and the return of social morality | Divya Parmar

  12 June

  June 2026
  Abstract
  The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Act, 2026, is widely described as a regression, a reversal of the rights framework established in National Legal Services Authority v Union of India (2014). This article concurs, but contends the regression has a distinct character that existing commentary has not been fully articulated. Drawing on B.R. Ambedkar’s distinction between constitutional morality and social morality, it argues that the Amendment does (…)

• Beyond the Hindi versus regional languages: the case of Khortha | Mrinalini Raj

  12 June

  When Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin warned that the expansion of Hindi was threatening smaller Indian languages, he listed several languages struggling for survival. Buried somewhere near the end of that long list was Khortha, my native language. It was one of those rare moments when I encountered Khortha in a national political debate. Despite being spoken by millions of people across Jharkhand, the language rarely features in discussions on language policy, linguistic rights, or (…)

• Re-reading Gangadhar Adhikary’s Thesis through the Lens of Thomas Kuhn, Phil Anderson, and Swami Vivekananda | Sindhunil Barman Roy

  12 June

  1. Introduction: The Scientist-Theoretician in a Newtonian Trap
  Dr. Gangadhar Adhikary was not merely a political organizer; he was a Berlin-trained PhD in Chemistry, a man who viewed the social world through the rigorous, albeit rigid, prism of the natural sciences. As a scientist-revolutionary, he approached the chaotic landscape of 1940s Indian politics with the mindset of a laboratory researcher. His 1942 thesis, Pakistan and National Unity, was an ambitious effort to distil the (…)

• What is missing in Piketty’s well-intentioned aim of prosperity for all while achieving climate goal | Bharat Dogra

  12 June, by Bharat Dogra

  Thomas Piketty is a world famous economist known for his emphasis on justice. Srijana Mitra Das of The Times of India is a famous journalist known for her detailed interviews with famous academics and thinkers. So it is nice to see a full page carrying the interview with Thomas Piketty titled ‘India’s growth ambition is valid—99% can get richer without climate disaster’ (see The Times of India, Chandigarh edition, June 10).
  This detailed interview has a lot of valuable information for (…)

• Militarisation : Journalism and Control in Ukraine | Ilya Kharkow

  12 June

  First, one group of journalists writes that the president has signed a decree introducing a minute of silence. Now, every day at 9:00, the entire country must fall silent in memory of the victims of the war. These texts usually include an exhaustive list of who can be considered a victim. As you might expect, the men who died while trying to escape conscription are not included in that list.
  Then a second wave of journalists joins in. They add details: pedestrians and vehicles must stop in (…)

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  Film: 6:40 pm - student film by Mani Kaul (1967)

  12 June

  Play
  6:40 P.M. (1967) | FTII Student Film directed by Mani Kaul ft. Sarika, Kalyan Chatterjee by FTIIOfficial https://youtu.be/I98m9FupcoU?si=UU6hOWdWau-FTCSl

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  Music: M° Roberto De Simone - TARANTELLA DE LU CACARE

  12 June

  Play
  M° Roberto De Simone - TARANTELLA DE LU CACARE by Francesco Focas https://youtu.be/Se8qHABEowU?si=9XsgPhiG2ySqs11M

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  Table of Contents, Mainstream, Jun 1, 2026

  1 June

  * The Strange Myopia of West Bengal CPI(M) | Aditya Nigam
  * Is the INDIA Block dying? | Faraz Ahmad
  * Kerala’s Agrarian Crisis and the Search for an Ecological Future | Jos Chathukulam & A. M. Jose 16775
  * The Intellectuals | Anton Pannekoek (1935)