November 17, 2007

Shocked into silence by the ongoing ‘Operation Nandigram II’ one has no option in this dark hour but to turn to our National Poet, Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, for guidance and solace as this journal did thirtytwo years ago when Emergency descended on this land of ours. Nothing more needs to be conveyed in the circumstances beyond the following unforgettable words of Rabindranath that aptly mirror the anguish of a stunned humanity in the killing fields of Nandigram today. As the drama (…)

We, the undersigned, have been dismayed and revolted by the events of the past few days in and around Nandigram in West Bengal’s East Medinipur district. The manner in which the anti-socials of the dominant party in the ruling front attacked the residents to re-establish the domination over the area exposes the party’s commitment to democratic values, principles and norms. The actions of these people under the benign indulgence of the State administration can only strengthen the criminalised (…)

West Bengal has experienced three decades of Left Front rule with the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) acting as the dominant partner in the coalition government. After coming to power in 1977 the Left Front (LF) Government took some significant land reform measures within the constitutional framework. Keeping this in mind, Atul Kohli characterised the Left Front rule as the ‘rise of reform communism’. Actually, in the early years of its rule, (…)

Indo-Russian ties have reached a point where these can be likened to a marriage in which jealousy is greater than love. The romance is long gone. The marriage is going through rough patches, but no one is contemplating a divorce. Marriage is still popular (divorce is not) as it combines the maximum of temptation with the maximum of opportunity. But when the marriage begins to sour, you still have the same bed, but you dream different dreams.
As the Indian economy has risen, it has taken (…)

Since the declaration of Emergency on November 3, the developments in Pakistan indicate that the country is slowly drifting into a civil war. General Musharraf’s rule is being opposed by two groups—Jehadis on the one hand and defunct political parties and activists of civil society on the other. The latest reports indicate there is even an under- ground movement opposing General Musharraf. According to unconfirmed reports, the Jehadis have captured large parts of the Swat area and Waziristan (…)

These are early days in Pakistan. But the unfolding developments in that country already offer some very serious lessons for India about the realities of the contemporary world order.
First and foremost, we now know that being the biggest functioning democracy in the world is hardly the reason behind the U-turn in the United States’ policy toward India since the latter half of the 1990s.
If India happens to be an engaging partner for the US today, that is because through a self-reliant (…)

General Musharraf declared Emergency rule on November 3, 2007 as a desperate attempt to remain in power. He has justified the declaration of Emergency by saying that the terrorist groups surround Pakistan and the active interference of the judiciary has made counterinsurgency operations difficult. Therefore, while addressing Pakistan he states that imposition of Emergency is important for dealing with terrorist groups who have entered into the “heart of Pakistan”. But soon after declaration (…)

(On November 14 falls the one hundred and eighteenth birth anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru. To mark the occasion, Mainstream reproduces in the following pages articles from distinguished contributors touching on different areas of immediate concern for the nation in the domestic and international spheres. —Editor)
“Nahi Manushat Shrestha Taran Hi Kinchit (There is none loftier than man!)” —Mahabharat “Sabar Upare Manush Satya Tahar Upare Nai (Man is above everyone. There is (…)

It is now more than two decades since Jawaharlal Nehru passed away. For more than forty years he had been a major figure in the Indian national movement. For the first two decades he had been a loyal lieutenant of Mahatma Gandhi, disciplining himself to conform to the priorities of the national struggle, as defined by Gandhi, in spite of his skepticism about some of the methods adopted by his leader and some of the aims which appeared to him to be not so important.
In doing so, Nehru had (…)

There can be, and will be endless debate on the achievements and failures of Jawaharlal Nehru, as politician and statesman, as Prime Minister and Congress leader, as democrat and socialist.
But whatever the controversies and whatever the arguments, it is irrefutable that the democratic consciousness of our people, their capacity to express their social and economic aspirations despite the massive illiteracy among them, the emergence of viable popular institutions that continue to (…)