2010

COMMUNICATION
About one hundred and fifty years ago Karl Marx, in a historic study, observed that British imperial capitalism smashed the economic foundation of the then pre-colonial India based on self-contained and self-sustained village units with a static stability for centuries. This develop-ment, of course, was facilitated by the Indian bourgeoisie after independence. But it appears that vast patches of areas, by no means insignifi-cant and inhabited by poor tribal people with their (…)

The deadlock in Parliant continues with the proceedings of both Houses disrupted for the 15th day. The Union Government is in no mood to accede to the Opposition demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum scam which the latter has amplified as the biggest scam in independent India. That is because such a JPC would have the authority to summon the PM before it; and this the government would under no circumstance allow.
On its part the united Opposition has (…)

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is visiting India in the second half of this month following French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s trip to New Delhi. The visit assume significance not only as yet another milestone in further enhancing the time-tested Indo-Russian cooperation, but in the context of the worsening situation in Afghanistan in particular; the threat of a Taliban takeover of Kabul is quite potent at this juncture and, according to keen observers and experts of the South West Asian (…)

Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram observed, in a an exclusive interview to Hindustan Times, that there was a need to look into the promises made in the Delhi Agreement in 1952, Indira-Sheikh Accord in 1972 and in the understanding of 1986 (between Rajiv Gandhi and Farooq Abdullah).
In the present context, the understanding of 1986 is most relevant. Commenting on it then, I had written in an article: “The net effect of the accord would be that Kashmir will go the Punjab way (when it was (…)

by Vidhu Verma
As India emerges as an important player in the restructuring of the world economic order, it is faced with challenges related to corruption, transparency and accountability in its methods of governance. Indian democracy seems terminally ill, weakened by internal corruption and unsus-tainable spending even as it enjoys technological progress, economic prosperity and political stability.
The recent reports on corruption linked to the Delhi Commonwealth Games, Adarsh housing (…)

The affidavit filed by Dr Manmohan Singh’s office has sought to divert attention from him to the Union Law Minister, Veerappa Moily. It has said that the latter took eight months to move forward the files relating to the telecom scam. This was in reply to the Supreme Court’s probe into the reasons for delay in taking appropriate action on the queries of Dr Subramanian Swamy. However, it comes out fully that the Prime Minister knew of the charges of corruption against the Telecom Minister, A. (…)

I
Anyone ever heard about Sudhakarrao Maratha alias Sudhakar Rao Prabhune? A hardcore Rightwing criminal who was nabbed a few months back in Jhansi by the MP Police which seized a car, a revolver and five cartridges from him. In fact one of Sudhakar’s colleagues, Shivam Dhakad, was already under the custody of the Ujjain Police when Sudhakar was apprehended. According to senior police officers, Sudhakar Rao was in touch with the RSS Pracharak, terrorist Sunil Joshi, who was shot dead in (…)

FROM N.C.’S WRITINGS
[The following piece, which appeared within a fortnight of the demolition of the Babri Masjid (December 6, 1992), is being reproduced on the eighteenth anniversary of that infamous event.]
To build a temple to mark the brithplace of Ram, a mosque was destroyed by deceit.
Those who swiftly and competently did the demolition job on Sunday (December 6, 1992), did so before the very eyes of those leaders who had been assuring Parliament and the public that the (…)

The Babri Masjid was one of the last masterpieces of what is known as the Sharqi school of architecture—different from the star-shaped temple Nagara style characterising the architectonics of Hindu temples. A former Director of the Archaeological Survey of India categorised the mosque as a specimen of Sharqi architecture which flourished decades before Babar arrived in India.
Constructed from the end of the 14th century, when Jaunpur was the capital of the Sharqi kingdom, architectural (…)

by Anand Swaroop Verma
If telling the truth is a crime then Arundhati Roy should be definitely penalised for what she said on Kashmir. I would like to quote a few paragraphs from the veteran journalist Ajit Bhattacharjea’s article ‘Reaping A Whirlwind In Kashmir’ which was published on August 22, 1990 in The Tribune (Chandigarh):
When Pakistan Foreign Secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan was in New Delhi for the second round of Indo-Pakistan talks, he based his case on excesses committed by our (…)