The ‘Legitimate' Writer and his ‘Illegitimate'(?) Writings
by Sudipto MukhopadhyayThe ongoing protest on Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar's writings and the debates over their legitimacy (to the claim of an accolade from the Sahitya Academy) and authenticity (in...
View ArticleWithout Borders
How do you conjure up a scenario:no states, no nations,only a vast ocean of humanity!It may sound amazing - not easyto comprehend; yet, look inward.Blind self-love fascinates, but excludes,blurring...
View ArticleMy Transition from Gandhism to Marxism
For a child to be born into a staunch Gandhian family and to have grown into boyhood in the strict disciplinary ambience of an ashram run on Gandhian principles to have embraced Marxism and become a...
View ArticleMockery of Independence? What a Country!
Nationalist ruler's loyal forefathers were ‘unsolicited' British collaborators honoured with Royal SaluteI was overwhelmed on reading in The Calcutta Gazette, 1858 that the East India Company bestowed...
View ArticleIndia At Seventy: Are All Citizens Equal?
by Mridula MukherjeeThe celebrations of the seventieth anniversary of Independence Day and the seventyfifth anniversary of the ‘Quit India' Movement, within the same week, have brought with them a...
View ArticleIndependence Day: May the Good Indian Show Us the Way
In 2016 this writer published a collection of commentaries on the ongoing state of the Republic titled, recklessly it may seem, Idea of India Hard to Beat: Republic Resilient.The central speculation in...
View ArticleLet Us All Stop Degeneration of the Country, Immediately Ban Vigilante...
The following is the speech of CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in the Rajya Sabha on July 19, 2017 during the short-duration discussion on the situation arising out of the reported increase in...
View ArticleFreedom Fighters lament India moving away from the Ideals of Equality,...
by Bharat Dogra, Jagmohan SinghThe freedom movement of India is a vast saga of great sacrifices, very inspiring courage and an overwhelming commitment to securing liberty from the bondage of colonial...
View ArticleChristian Contribution to the Freedom Struggle
As we celebrate 70 years of India's indepen-dence the Christian community has reasons to legitimately feel proud of its contribution to the nation. Both prior and after independence 2.3 per cent of...
View ArticleThe Paika Revolt of Khurda, 1817
by Pritish AcharyaThe Paika Revolt was an armed revolt of the traditional Paika militia in the state of Khurda in Odisha in the year 1817. It began in the month of March and sporadically and...
View ArticleIssue versus Faces: Question of Ownership of Campaigns
by Bihu ChamadiaStarting with Akhlaq, we witnessed umpteen number of incidents of mob lynching across the length and breadth of the country. Recently, A 16-year-old Junaid was killed by the same...
View ArticleEPW Controversy and Mainstream
COMMUNICATIONThis is with reference to the EPW controversy, narrated by Sankar Ray in Mainstream (August 5, 2017) [‘Communication: More on EPW' (page 33)]. The author's value-judgement is much evident...
View ArticleSeventy Years of Joy and Pain
Independence celebrations bring to my mind the days I spent in my hometown Sialkot City. After earning the law degree, I was settling to be a lawyer; but partition upset my whole plans. It made me...
View ArticleCommunal Challenge to Free India: Some Reminiscences and Reflections
Desh Raj Goyal, 84, passed away in New Delhi after a brief illness in the afternoon of February 3, 2013. A veteran journalist and academic, he was the editor of Secular Democracy. From 1963 to 1967 he...
View ArticleA Page from History: Day One in Calcutta
From N.C.'s WritingsThe following report by Nikhil Chakravartty, the Calcutta correspondent of People's Age (published from Bombay), appeared in the weekly's August 24, 1947 issue (it was wired from...
View ArticleOn Independence Day
On August 15, we celebrate the Independence Day. On that day, in 1947, Prime Minister Nehru proclaimed a tryst with destiny, “a moment which comes but rarely in History when we step from the old into...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Disturbing Thoughts on I-Day, 2017
EditorialToday is August 15, 2017. This day marks the seventieth anniversary of our attainment of independence after around 200 years of British colonial thraldom. It is indeed a historic occasion...
View ArticleWhy should you Worry unless you have Something to Hide?
by Ram KrishnaswamyIn the last seven years every time I opposed Aadhaar and said it was a Frankenstein monster the creators will not be able to control and it invades our privacy, my opponents never...
View ArticleRight to Privacy
Nine good men from the highest HouseOf Constitutional guaranteeHave spoken in one ringing voiceThat to be human is to be free.To be free is not to be Held captive in a card;To be at the lordly beck and...
View ArticleThe Great Face-saving U-Turn on Privacy
On July 22, 2015, the Attorney General (AG), Mukul Rohatgi, representing the Union of India (Centre, hereinafter), argued before a three-Judge Bench (Justices J.Chelameshwar, S.A. Bobde and C....
View Article