2010

Every law is the product of a particular point of time and carries with it the political and economic ethos obtaining at that point of time. Enacted with good intentions, it falls into disuse and eventually becomes a dead letter on account of sweeping changes in the social, economic and political milieu on the one hand and rapid decline over a period of time in the positive and proactive ethos which had given birth to the legislative framework at a particular point of time. It is precisely (…)

by Madhuresh Kumar
In the early eighties when the murmurs of protest were taking shape against the Sardar Sarovar Dam then no one had thought that the reverberations of ‘Narmada Bachao, Manav Bachao’ [Save Narmada, Save Humanity] will continue nearly three decades after that. The Narmada Bachao Andolan, the seeds of which were sown in 1985, has continued to challenge the Dam, the technocratic model of development, and kept the flag of resistance and justice afloat for the communities in (…)

The Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) has reached its quarter century landmark of resistance to the mega-projects in the Narmada valley, becoming an international icon of non-violent protest against destructive development. The NBA is a mass movement; its sustained non-violent and peaceful efforts for equity and justice in the face of severe provocation, and its model of leadership make it a shining example of Gandhian ideals in an era of extreme corruption in morals and ethics.
Resisting the (…)

I. Introduction
The New Economic Policies (NEP) were initiated in June 1991 by the Narasimha Rao Government within days of its taking office. There was little hint in its manifesto drafted to fight the elections in May 1991 that anything like this would be initiated by it if it came to power. Dr Manmohan Singh was chosen to be the Finance Minister of this government. In the past two decades of the working of these policies, the basic parameters of the economy and society have undergone a (…)

The Indian bourgeoisie had its genesis in the colonial order created by the British in the interest of their imperialist designs. They transplanted the European type of feudalism on Indian soil. Under British rule zamindars were owners of the bulk of the land and were free to raise revenue exactions beyond any limit. And their greed and tyranny knew no bounds. The British deliberately destroyed the handicrafts, mainly cotton textiles, to make room for British manufactures. Rural India was in (…)

Any security—individual, societal and state stands on values, structures and processes within a state in a given external environment of hostility. Constitutionalism, democracy, group rights, secularism and justice are the foundational values, as laid out in the Constitution, that would and do form our core values informing the structures of India’s ‘democratic political community’. Every person, group, official, political party, tribe, community and caste are supposed to abide by these (…)

REVIEW ARTICLE
In Search of a Better World: Memoirs by Jolly Mohan Kaul; published by Samya, a publishing house in Kolkata; 2010; pages 384; price: Rs 700.
This reviewer has much in common with the author. Both joined the communist movement in their teens. This reviewer, after a stint of 19 years, relinquished his membership in February 1957, after his differences on both domestic policies and foreign affairs culminating in his public denunciation in 1957 of the Soviet suppression of (…)

“In May next year the country will observe Rabindranath Tagore’s 150th birth anniversary. The following piece is being carried here as a token of our tribute to that extraordinary personality who, while being rooted in Indian ethos and culture, transcended the barriers of nationalism and attracted several of our national leaders, notably Jawaharlal Nehru, while engaging in lively debates with Mahatma Gandhi. Incidentally the centenary of Tagore’s novel Gora (on which the ariticle is written) (…)

by Shruti Mukherji
One can trace back the history of today’s Miera Paibis to the days of the Nupi Lan or women’s war in 1904 and 1939. Beginning as a protest against price rise, the demand extended over to administrative reforms against the oppressive economic and administrative policies ruled by the Manipur Maharaja and the Political Agent—Mr Gimson—of the British Government. Women’s role in public sphere is not new to Manipur. Meitei women have enjoyed a significant space outside (…)

by Madhu Shetye
What is the path of the democratic socialist system in India? This is a moot problem for this country’s crisis-ridden Left whose politics and ideology are deadlocked. Thanks to their dogmatic bookish non-innovative ideological imprison-ment.
The exception to this catastrophic crisis of the Left is the leadership of Comrade Sharad Patil who founded his Satyashodhak Marxwadi Party among the adivasis in the rural backward areas of Maharashtra.
His deep research into (…)