Mainstream Weekly

The Slumdog Phenomenon

SC — 2009-03-02T17:59:02Z

The resounding success of Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars—where it won eight awards (including that of the Best Picture)—has been greeted with spontaneous celebrations across the country.
The nation deserves to be legitimately proud of the fact that for the first time an Indian, our finest musician A.R. Rahman, aptly described once as the “Mozart of Madras”, won two Oscars—for the Best Original Song (‘Jai Ho‘), which he secured with another Indian, the distinguished lyricist Gulzar, and (…)

- February 2009

Lawyers, Judges and Justice Jujitsu

V R Krishna Iyer — 2009-03-02T17:55:51Z

In our adversarial system in preference to the inquisitorial system arguments by counsel have a key role to play in discovery of the truth. The Bar, the professional instrument of presentation of cases, is indispensable in the forensic process. As Brandeis observed: ‘For a judge rarely performs his functions adequately unless the case before him is adequately presented.' The great Holmes put it neatly: ‘Shall I ask what a court would be, unaided? The law is made by the Bar, even more than by (…)

- February 2009

Forging National Unity for Security and Ending Recession

Chaturanan Mishra — 2009-03-02T17:53:13Z

Due to the forthcoming general elections political parties are bound to remain heavily engaged in criticising each other in the days ahead. However, the political situation that has developed of late warrants national unity. This is of urgent necessity.
The first point that must be stressed today is that the country is in dire need of strengthening national security. The current head of Pakistan ruling that neighbouring state has declared that it is in danger of being overtaken by Islamic (…)

- February 2009

When scars grow tongues

Suhas Borker — 2009-03-02T17:43:33Z

Say Kudos to the Slumdog From your underbelly's Bloody rotting open wound. All the glamour, razzmatazz, Glitz and red fluff Cannot take away the stink Because Hunger does not Wait for your trickle down Because Faith does not Wait for your life to ebb away Because Breath does not Wait for your gaping maggots to multiply.
Let the golden statuettes Be put away as they were After Gandhi and Ray's Last Song of the Road —Pather Shesh Panchali. For us the barricades are up now Because you have no (…)

- February 2009

Raj Kapoor: Man of the Masses

Amita Malik — 2009-03-02T17:38:54Z

[(TRIBUTE TO AMITA MALIK
Veteran broadcaster and distinguished film critic Amita Malik, 88, passed away in NOIDA's Kailash Hospital on February 20 after a brief illness. Born in Guwahati in 1921, she joined the All India Radio as a casual staffer in Lucknow and moved to New Delhi as a permanent employee in 1946. From the mid-fifties she was the film critic for The Statesman. In fact she was one of the first Indian film critics of international standing. She wrote on film and media for all (…)

- February 2009

South Asia: Peace and Conflict in the Context of the War on Terror

Ninan Koshy — 2009-03-02T17:35:51Z

South Asia has been one of the most volatile regions of the world. The nature of its volatility and that of the conflicts has been redefined by the US-led war on terror in which the rulers of the region have joined. Tensions within the region have been heightened and conflicts have been made more intractable as states sought alliance with the USA. Peace and conflict in South Asia are today sought to be defined in terms of US interests and objectives in the region or in a framework imposed by (…)

- February 2009

Bangladesh: 'People Voted Freely Against Terror, Religious Bigotry'

2009-03-02T17:32:40Z

The Bangladesh scene has undergone a sea-change following the Awami League-led Mahajote's historic victory at the hustings on December 29, 2008. In the following interview to the Dainik Statesman editor Manas Ghosh, who was The Statesman correspondent in Bangladesh shortly after East Pakistan's emancipation from Pakistani domination, the Bangladesh PM, Sheikh Hasina, speaks on a wide variety of subjects ranging from her combination's landslide victory to her priorities. She highlights the (…)

- February 2009

Tragic Finale to a Courageous Nationalist

Nikhil Chakravartty — 2009-03-02T17:16:16Z

Following their capture of Kabul more than 12 years ago the Taliban goons had massacred—on September 27, 1996—one of the noblest sons of the Afghan people, Dr Najibullah, who courageously steered the country as its President at a crucial period in its history. Now that the Taliban are once again on the offensive as seen from the Pakistan Government's deal with fundamentalists in the Swat valley, we carry the following piece by N.C. (that appeared shortly after Najibullah's death) as our (…)

- February 2009

Mumbai Aftermath: India‘s Disciplined Response Helped Avert Major Threat to World Peace

Bharat Dogra — 2009-03-02T17:12:42Z

Now that the threat of an India-Pak war has receded, it becomes increasingly clear that India's disciplined response helped to avert a major threat to world peace.
The available evidence on the recent Mumbai terrorist attack indicates that this was carried out by terrorist organisations based in Pakistan (helped by a section of the Pakistan Army and ISI that has been close to religious extremists) mainly with the aim of creating tensions on the Indo-Pak border and thereby creating (…)

- February 2009

26/11: Is China Important….?

Gunjan Singh — 2009-03-02T17:10:53Z

India has compiled a dossier of evidence regarding Pakistan's involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks of 26/11. This includes confession of Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist arrested during the attack, satellite phone intercepts and record of logbooks recovered from a ship by which it is believed that ten heavily armed terrorists came from Karachi to Mumbai on November 26, 2008.
The Indian Government shared this information with various countries to bring the truth out and explain the (…)

- February 2009