Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
MAY DAY 2008!
The 2008 May Day One comes on the eve of good news – communists are on the verge of forming a government in Nepal, the Communist Party of India and Communist Party of India (Marxist) had successful 20th and 19th Congresses, respectively, South African workers refused to unload the ship carrying arms for Zimbabwe, left governments have swept across South America and the US is in a no-win situation in Iraq and Afghanistan!
NEPAL ELECTIONS – RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT
Vinod Mubayi and Daya Varma
The last five years in South Asian politics have proved to be extremely embarrassing to the mainstream media, its self-anointed pundits and the pollsters as far as ascertaining the wishes of the people are concerned. In the 2004 elections in India, an easy victory for the “Shining India” of the NDA was predicted. Similarly, in the just concluded Constituent Assembly elections in Nepal, the winner by a large margin, the CPN (M), had been forecast to come in at a distant third, behind the Nepali Congress and the CPN (UML).
ROAD TO FAIR REPRESENTATION: A LOOK AT THE POLITICS OF TRANSITION IN NEPAL
Pramod Dhakal
On April 10, 2008, the people of Nepal surprised the world in a number of ways. First, a much awaited, but often postponed, election for the Constituent Assembly actually happened. Second, it happened with a level of violence and disturbances so far below the expected international norm for countries like Nepal that the whole world came to extol Nepal.
TRIUMPH OF THE NEW MAINSTREAM IN NEPAL
Siddharth Varadarajan
By voting in the Maoists, the Nepali people have chosen the party most likely to push for an egalitarian society and inclusive republican system in the Constituent Assembly. India must not only respect the verdict but also help the new government implement its democratic mandate.
CRY FOR JUSTICE! FRESH PROBE ORDERED INTO GUJARAT’S CARNAGE CASES
Ram Puniyani
The Supreme Court order for fresh probe into some Gujarat riot cases, like Naroda Patia, Naroda etc. (March 25 08) comes as a welcome relief in the dark times where most of the times justice is conspicuous by its absence. In Gujarat, we witnessed the case of Zahira Sheikh, going for a toss, the judiciary quietly watching and ignoring all the witnesses turning hostile, but preferring to accept the version of the state despite all the holes in its argument.
FREEDOM OF THE PRESS IN PAKISTAN – RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Kiran Omar
” A free press can be good or bad, but, most certainly, without freedom a press will never be anything but bad.”….(Albert Camus)
The newly installed government of Yousaf Raza Gilani has made many promises to the nation, amongst them is the striking down of the much hated Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Bill.
SWAYAMSEVAK’S STORY: Advani’s Aurobiography is RSS version of Events
Ram Puniyani
Undoubtedly there are some serious mistakes like the narration of the hanging of Bhagat Singh, but how can one expect a Hindu nationalist to know the life events of an atheist, communist, dead against the politics promoted in the name of religion, which Advani practices. Then there is a deliberate presentation that he, despite being Home minister, was not the part of decision making process of Jaswant Singh accompanying the terrorists to Kandhar.
WHAT IS REALLY BEHIND THE FUROR OVER TIBET?
Sharat G. Lin
The U.S. government has been funding and encouraging Tibetan exiles in India through the U.S. Agency for International Development, National Endowment for Democracy, and through covert operations by the Central Intelligence Agency.
A MUSEUM OF RESISTANCE
In Ahmedabad, the city which witnessed the criminal assault on Muslims in 2002, a museum is being erected.
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