Indian Opinion

Dust and smoke billows out from a residential house which was blown up during a gunfight between militants and Indian soldiers in Durbagh village of Chadoora, 15 km from Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir on March 28, 2017. One militant was killed and an Indian soldier injured during a 10-hour-long gunfight. Three civilians were also killed and at least 15 injured during clashes near the gunfight site. Photo courtesy Agencies SOURCE - NAM NEWS NETWORK Mukesh Devrari First, Young generation of Indians are least bothered about freedom and liberty ensured in this country to each and every citizen. They feel too much of freedom is hampering decision making and implementation of policies. Students, mostly upper caste, who have never seen any hardships in life, have been coaxed to believe that democracy in India is a barrier in our rapid progress and economic development. These emerging militant nationalists are not ready to accept that almost all rich nations o...

Mukesh Devrari The question of access to the information world cannot be seen in isolation. It is impossible for the nation-state to provide universal access to the internet and to various services through it with changing the wider situational realities of the common masses.  Is it possible to provide smartphone and computer to a population which does not have anything to eat? Is it possible to provide access to the internet to the 25 per cent population which is illiterate? Is it possible to provide access to the internet for free of cost to each and every citizen? Even if universal access to the internet is ensured for free in third world countries like India, what purpose it will serve if more than 90 of the content available on the internet is in non-Indian languages. These are the hard questions which need hard answers. Recent reports in newspapers also highlight another disturbing report. Indian railways provided free internet services in many railway platforms ac...

 Photo Courtesy - Nirmal Poddar Mukesh Devrari Modernization is a series of transitions from primitive subsistence economies to technology intensive industrialized economies, from subject to participant political cultures, from closed ascriptive status systems to open achievement oriented systems, from extended to nuclear kinship units, from religious to secular ideologies and so on. (Tipps, 1973, 204) In other words, every characteristic of the modern western nation-state is a symbol of modernity. Modernization is generally referred as an ongoing process to improvise the lives of people in third world countries. But another section also interprets it as a conspiracy against the impoverished population of third world countries. Acceptance of modernization is interpreted as accepting western superiority and dominance. Photo Courtesy - Nirmal Poddar Max Weber in his book, ‘Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ held Asian cultural values responsible for t...

Photo Courtesy - Nirmal Poddar  Mukesh Devrari  The earth has enough resources for our needs – not for our greed – Mahatma Gandhi In the early nineteenth century renowned political economist Thomas Robert Malthus tried to point out that the incremental growth in food production can never match the food requirements of an exponentially growing population. He suggested that a better way to deal with the problem is to open sewer lines. It would lead to the spread of diseases and the result will be an immediate reduction in population. Today Malthus can be charged with underestimating the resilience of human beings as a biological entity against the odds of life and nature. Lot has changed since then. Requirements of human beings now go far beyond mere food. The lifestyle of westerners suggests earth has enough not only to fulfil our needs but also our greed. It seems each one of us can have things in abundance. The byproduct of modern man’s quest for progre...

Mukesh Devrari During the tenure of Congress, party country came to stand still. It was described as policy paralysis. There were many reasons. During its tenure, Congress decided to hear the complaints of farmers that their land is being acquired by state governments arbitrarily for the benefit of corporate groups.  In West Bengal CPIM decided to acquire land from farmers for failed Tata small car project. Farmers agitated against government fiercely.  Congress as a true left-leaning political party provided relief to farmers at the cost of long term benefits to the nation. For some, it was very encouraging to see that the mainstream political party in India is willing to take the side with the weaker sections of society.  According to the detractors of the Congress party, this decision led to the complete stagnation in developmental projects. It became impossible for states to acquire land. Many of the Chief Ministers in congress govern state opposed the bill...