Mainstream Weekly

Ambedkar on Bhagat Singh

Anand Teltumbde — 2016-03-20T22:48:00Z

Legendary freedom fighter and martyr Bhagat Singh's birth centenary was observed on September 28, 2007. On the occasion of the eightyfifth anniversary of his martyrdom, we are reproducing, with due acknowledgement, the following article (published earlier in Countercurrents.org) in homage to the outstanding revolutionary hero's abiding memory. He was executed along with Sukhdev and Rajguru in Lahore on March 23, 1931. He was and remains to this day a source of inspiration for our youth. In (…)

- 2016

On Reservations

Anand Teltumbde — 2015-12-26T13:58:14Z

The following is a note by the author on a discussion on Affirmative Action in the private sector during a two-day international seminar on ”Dalits and African-Americans in 21st Century: Learning from Cross-Cultural Experiences” in Bengaluru on July 10-11, 2015. It is rejoinder to the comments in favour of reservations made by Prof Sukhdeo Thorat.
During the customary question-answer session following the presentation of Armugam Raju on Affirmative Action (AA) at the international seminar, (…)

- 2015

Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Neoliberal Economic Reforms

Anand Teltumbde — 2012-04-14T09:11:37Z

When the International Monetary Fund and World Bank-dictated neoliberal policy package was adopted by the Narasimha Rao Government in July 1991, with a false projection to the people that those were homegrown economic reforms, albeit with a Thatcherite apologia that ‘there was no alternative', many intellectuals, whether they understood economics or not, vied with each other in supporting it to get into the good books of the government. Economics has by and large been an outcaste in Dalit (…)

- 2012

The Neoliberal Revolution

Anand Teltumbde — 2011-09-23T11:09:23Z

Expectedly, the high-pitched media-supported Anna anshan at the Ramlila Ground has come to an end with Parliament passing a unanimous resolution as dictated by Team Anna. The three conditions—that the lower bureaucracy should be within the Lokpal's ambit, Lokayuktas in States should be brought in through a Central legislation like the Lokpal's, and a citizen's charter detailing the responsibilities of government functionaries and the penalty for non-fulfilment should be instituted—were (…)

- 2011

The Farce of Bhimshakti and Shivshakti

Anand Teltumbde — 2011-07-20T10:15:11Z

History repeats itself, the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.
—Karl Marx
The famous quotation of Marx from The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte, which comes in reference to the rule of Napoleon I and thereafter of his nephew, Louis Napoleon (Napoleon III), actually runs as follows: “Hegel remarks some-where that all great world-historic facts and personages appear, so to speak, twice. He forgot to add: the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce.” What if it (…)

- 2011

Retrograde Verdict Rewards Hindutva Zealots

Anand Teltumbde — 2010-10-19T11:33:04Z

The much awaited Ayodhya verdict pronounced by three judges of the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court on September 30, 2010 stunned the entire progressive establish-ment of the country. All the three independent versions of the judges converged in relying on the faith and belief of the Hindus forsaking the established principles of law, and vindicated the stand of the Hindutva movement which brought about the destruction of the Babri Masjid. As a compromise solution, again sans any (…)

- 2010

Some Questions around Kasab's Case

Anand Teltumbde — 2010-06-01T13:27:02Z

There was expected jubilation on May 6 when Mohammad Ajmal Kasab, that little devil who felled 72 innocent people including 14 policemen jointly with his deceased partner, Abu Ismail, on 26/11, was awarded death sentence by the Special Judge, M.L. Tahaliyani. Three days earlier when he was held guilty of all the 86 charges, Mumbai had heaved a sigh of relief as though it had apprehended his acquittal. All the news channels were full of Ajmal Kasab and Ujjwal Nikam, the new public hero in our (…)

- 2010