Cow and Hindutva: Myths and Facts
The Hindutva juggernaut, which rode on with Ram, love jihaad and ghar wapsi on top of it, is riding with the cow this time. There have been countless incidents of lynching, maiming and robbing of...
View ArticleDemonetisation X-rayed
by H.K. DuaThe following is an Introduction to a new book, Demonetisation : The Jury is Still Out, edited by the author who has sent this for publication in Mainstream. The book, now under print, is...
View ArticleNarendra Modi Regime's ‘Genes are Totalitarian'
by Arun ShourieVeteran journalist and former Bharatiya Janata Party Minister Arun Shourie on June 9, 2017 warned the media against becoming the Narendra Modi Government's “instruments for distracting...
View ArticleEthnic Divide
by Samit KarThe Right to Cessation among the people of Darjeeling began to snowball since the formation of Sikkim as a separate State in 1975 at the behest of Indira Gandhi. The creation of Sikkim also...
View ArticleHung Parliament in the UK: Theresa May Scores Self-goal
by Purusottam BhattacharyaThe opinion pollstars have got it wrong again—the Brexit referendum of June last year, Donald Trump's triumph in the US elections last November and the just concluded general...
View ArticleAgrarian Crisis, Darjeeling Unrest, Rising Intolerance
EDITORIALThe agrarian crisis across the country, that was highlighted in these columns last week, has further accentuated with another farmer taking his life in Madhya Pradesh's Hoshangabad district...
View ArticleFarmers and the Sangh
You would thinkThat farmers would beThe Sangh Parivar's first love,Considering how they tendThe holy cow, and areCustodians of Creation'sMost pristine ambrosia,Namely, cow's urine.You would think...
View ArticleLanguage of Counter-insurgency in Kashmir and Chhattisgarh
COMMUNICATIONGiorgio Agamben reminded us in his short piece, titled “Security and Terror”, that in the course of a gradual neutralisation of politics and the progressive surrender of the traditional...
View ArticleBharatiya Mazdoor Sangh in the Present Indian Labour Scenario
by Gautam SenThe Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS)has recently demanded a reorientation of the government‘s labour policies. The BMS has also called for a correction of the policies of the NITI Aayog...
View ArticleWhat ails Afghanistan?
After spending more than $ 117 billion for Afghanistan's reconstruction in fifteen years, the “largest expenditure to rebuild a country in our nation's history” (as the latest report of the Special...
View ArticleThe Kashmir Crisis
India and Pakistan attained independence in 1947 and all the princely States, except Kashmir, merged into either of the two countries. Pakistan demanded that Kashmir, a Muslim majority State, should...
View ArticlePalestine and the Jewish Lobbying Activities
by Ahmad ZaboorThe cornerstone of the American Middle-East policy has been its relationship with Israel. Why is it that Israel every time rides roughshod over the Palestinians and virtually listens to...
View ArticleThe Roots of the Emergency / Emergency (1975-77) Mainstream's Rewarding...
From N.C.'s WritingsThe Roots of the EmergencyAs years pass by, one after the other, the past recedes more and more into distant memory. There are certain events in the life of a nation, as of...
View ArticleRole of Government Officials?
In the May 4, 2017 judgement of the Bombay High Court related to the Bilkis Bano gang rape and rape and murder of 14 other family members, including her three-and-a-half-year-old daughter Saleha, in...
View ArticleV.P. Singh was meant to be a Dreamer, a Poet, an Artist; bad luck he ended up...
IMPRESSIONSIn the political universe of India V.P. Singh rose as high as a citizen could—MLA, Chief Minister, Union Finance Minister, Defence Minister, Prime Minister, father of coalition politics. For...
View ArticleEmergency: What it meant / Tagore for Today/ An Eye-witness Account
Lest We Forget Fortytwo years ago on June 26, 1975, the Emergency was proclaimed throughout the country as the ruling leadership bared its fangs nakedly displaying its dictatorial proclivities. We...
View ArticleTibet Question: A Dragon-hold and a Stifling US Agenda
by Pradeep Nair and Sandeep SharmaThe United States' ‘Tibetan Policy Act of 2002', clearly states that ‘the US would support the aspirations of Tibetan people in order to safeguard their distinct...
View ArticleResentment Growing over False Charges against Nikhil Dey and Other RTI Activists
Resentment is growing in Rajasthan and at the national level against some of the most senior, distinguished, selfless social activists being given a prison sentence in a 20-year-old case. The case...
View ArticleSudhakar's Letter to Modi on Agrarian Crisis
Dear Shri Narendra Modiji,Sub: Unprecedented Agrarian Crisis—Request for urgent special session of ParliamentThis is to bring to your attention that the country is facing an unprecedented agrarian...
View ArticleYechury's Letter to PM on Farmers' Plight
Dear Pradhan Mantri Ji,I am writing this letter to draw your attention to the plight of farmers across India, which has resulted in a high level of rural distress, including thousands of suicides by...
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