Mainstream Weekly

Unfortunate Woman

Sangeeta Mall — 2015-12-13T16:47:46Z

WOMEN'S WORLD
‘Oh poor India!... How sad! The country, whose male population is unkind, unreligious and unaware of the distinction between good and evil and doesn't care about justice and fairness and where abiding by rituals is the chief preoccupation of religion, should not give birth to girls!' In the 19th century, noted social reformer Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar gave this lament. Have things changed much since then?
Last year I happened to spend a few hours at Dubai Airport. As I sat (…)

- 2015

When People Aren't Equal, How Can They Be Free?

Sangeeta Mall — 2014-10-11T20:10:06Z

In a very small corner of the world, in my neighbourhood, which is an island of privilege in the ocean of squalor called Mumbai, a debate rages. It is about whether service providers like nannies, domestic help, charwomen, cooks and chauffeurs, colloquially known as maids and drivers, should be made to use separate elevators in our condominium. There is no sense of ‘infringement of human rights' in this debate. The elite do not find anything bizarre in this discussion. They find nothing (…)

- 2014

No Excuse for Fascism

Sangeeta Mall — 2009-03-15T15:33:17Z

Communication
My congratulations to Spencer A. Leonard for writing such a detailed critique of the Left's approach to the War on Terror in the Mainstream issue dated February 14, 2009. While the Indian Left political parties have repeatedly shown their tendency to follow an agenda that often seems anti-Indian, notably in their opposition to the nuclear deal with the US, that will allow India to develop its energy agenda in an alternative manner, their reaction to Islamist jihad is (…)

- March 2009

Can the Caste Problem be Solved?

Sangeeta Mall — 2008-12-03T06:30:58Z

If there is one problem that keeps India's progress in check, it is that of caste. The Hindu caste system divides society so rigidly that everyone is either an outsider or insider. There is always a side, depending on where one is looking from. This also prevents the country from moving forward in a single-minded manner, for there is no unifying social force that can make everyone come together to change their lot. Political parties, of course, are the worst exploiters of caste. But there (…)

- November 29, 2008

Death Penalty—State Hate

Sangeeta Mall — 2008-03-16T22:27:51Z

The only files the outgoing President, Dr Abdul Kalam, did not clear were the mercy petitions of 50 prisoners on death row, some of them there for as long as 10 years. Going by the rate at which justice is delivered to these convicts, these files will probably be passed on from the present incumbent to the next one, and so on. The situation of the men and women on death row is akin to the situation of the poor tribal who lives at the mercy of the feudal landlord, always fearing for his life. (…)

- March 15, 2008