Mainstream Weekly

Afghanistan in the historic context: From Saur Revolution and its Immediate Aftermath | Sumit Chakravartty

Sumit Chakravartty — 2021-12-17T20:56:48Z

Now that the Taliban have established their sway over the whole of Afghanistan after capturing the capital, Kabul, I am reminded of the days of 1979 and 1980 when the country was in a different set-up under the impact of the Saur (April) revolution that saw the end of the Zahir Shah and the Daud dynasties and the ushering in of the rule of People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). My first visit to Kabul was in August 1979 when an international peace conference was held in defence of (…)

- 2021

The West Bengal Mandate | Sumit Chakravartty

Sumit Chakravartty — 2021-05-07T22:52:00Z

May 8, 2021
The Trinamool Congress' (TMC's) victory in the 2021 State Assembly elections in West Bengal has been momentous and historic in every sense of the terms. This becomes all the more evident from the manner in which the country's ruling party at the Centre, the BJP, strained every nerve to win the elections as money was spent like water, not only to break the Trinamool but also to leave an imprint of ‘Jai Shree Ram' on the length and breadth of the State.
According to the latest (…)

- 2021

Bangladesh: Looking Back | Sumit Chakravartty

Sumit Chakravartty — 2021-04-23T14:31:50Z

In the post-independence history of our sub-continent, 1971 occupies a prominent position. That was the year in which the pernicious two-nation theory which led to the vivisection of our vast landmass in 1947 was given a complete burial with the liberation of East Pakistan (rechristened as Bangladesh) that was situated thousands of kilometres away from its parent territory Pakistan in an artificial arrangement somewhat unique in the world.
Sometime ago this year, one had written in these (…)

- 2021

Bangladesh: Looking back at its Liberation in 1971 | Sumit Chakravartty

Sumit Chakravartty — 2020-12-19T16:23:00Z

As many as forty-nine years have passed since December 16, 1971, resulting in the transformation of South Asia with the independence of a new nation called Bangladesh. This was a momentous development which led to the end of the pernicious two-nation theory that caused enormous damage to the polity which emerged after the independence of our subcontinent from alien imperialist rule in August 1947. The emergence of Bangladesh in December 1971 changed the whole complexion of South Asia. Since (…)

- 2020

Surendra Nihal Singh (1929-2018)

Sumit Chakravartty — 2018-04-28T16:26:33Z

TRIBUTE
Surendra Nihal Singh, who would have turned 89 on April 30, passed away in a New Delhi hospital on Monday, April 16, 2018 due to kidney-related ailments.
Nihal Sigh was, apart from editing two major daily publications, The Statesman and The Indian Express, one of the most distinguished foreign correspondents India has produced. He was the most sought-after foreign affairs expert, having lived and worked as a journalist in Islamabad, Moscow, Singapore and Paris besides New York. (…)

- 2018

Two Poems

Sumit Chakravartty — 2017-11-19T11:07:12Z

The following are two poems composed by the author in October 1985, one year after Indira Gandhi's assassination. The first was translated by the author from the original Bengali. The second was published in Mainstream (November 16, 1985).
We shall Overcome
A year has passed.
In memory's portico your painting on canvas Is still as bright as on that day.
The void of your absence In the hearts of the toiling people—
The guffaw of (he foul-mouthed and The exhilaration of the (…)

- 2017

To Indira Gandhi

Sumit Chakravartty — 2015-11-21T20:07:40Z

On the occasion of Indira Gandhi's 98th birth anniversary on November 19, 2015 we remember her by reproducing the following poem written a year after her death (she was killed on October 31, 1984) and published in Mainstream (November 16, 1985). a year has passed without you; tears dry up on the surface, but the pain persists down below where my heart writhes like a wounded fawn as it dawns on me with every passing day: how much we lost by losing you.
Sumit (…)

- 2015

Report from Moscow

Sumit Chakravartty — 2015-11-10T08:10:16Z

The author, then Mainstream's Special Correspondent and now Editor, was in Moscow from November 6 to 23, 1991 to get an idea of the objective situation in the Soviet Union just before its dismemberment. The following is the first instalment of his report that gives a vivid account of how the 74th anniversary of the October Revolution on November 7 was observed that year in Moscow, which was still the capital of the USSR.
The Soviet reality today is complex and daunting. History is (…)

- 2015

Nehru's Struggle for Secularism

Sumit Chakravartty — 2015-05-30T21:18:11Z

The French writer, André Malraux, had once asked Jawaharlal Nehru what had been his “greatest difficulty since independence”. Nehru's instant reply was: “Creating a just state by just means.” Soon he added as an afterthought: “Perhaps, too, creating a secular state in a religious country.” [André Malraux, Antimemoirs, translated by Terence Kilmartin (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1968), p. 145; the conversation took place sometime in 1958—cited in Ramachandra Guha, India After Gandhi: The History (…)

- 2015

Dr Rammanohar Lohia: A Tribute

Sumit Chakravartty — 2015-03-22T09:52:58Z

I am certain that the life and activities of Dr Rammanohar Lohia, that remarkable socialist leader who left an indelible imprint on the Indian political scene in both the pre-indepen-dence period and the two decades following independence (that is, till his untimely demise on October 12, 1967), have been propagated throughout the country in the last two years (2009-11) in order to ensure the revival of a vibrant democratic socialist movement which is the imperative need of the hour in the (…)

- 2015