No one can be surprised over the size and sweep of the Congress (I) victory in the vidhan sabha elections. The surprise, indeed, is that the party and its DMK partner have fared so badly in Tamil Nadu and that it has yielded ground to the Akali Dal in Punjab. … Read More
We are launching our enlarged and revamped Sunday Review at a most difficult period in the country’s history. The nation has been through trying times before – the Chinese attack in 1962, the war with Pakistan in 1965, the drought in 1966 and 1967, the Bangladesh crisis in 1971 and … Read More
Our political parties have become lifeless and shapeless. They seem to have lost their way. This is true not only of the demoralised Opposition parties but also of the ruling Congress (I). The CPM is perhaps the only exception. What are the causes of this malaise in our party system? … Read More
The American secretary of state has been churlish in criticising President Giscard d’Estaing for holding discussions with President Brezhnev in Warsaw recently. There is a world of difference between the recent US decisions on Afghanistan and Iran and the French president’s action in holding the summit meeting with the Soviet … Read More
Some of the criticism Mr. H.N. Bahuguna has made of Mrs. Gandhi’s actions and policies as Prime Minister is, to say the least, misplaced. It is, for example, absurd for him to criticize the way she has handled the agitation in Assam. She has been patient and she has not … Read More
The general mood in the country is not one of hope and confidence in the future. On the contrary, there is apathy, cynicism, fatalism and even despair and despondency. The state of the economy accounts for this pall of gloom to a large extent. The worst drought in almost a … Read More
The Soviet government has launched a ‘peace’ offensive on Afghanistan. That is the plain implication of the proposals the Karmal regime has made to Pakistan and Iran. It could not possibly have acted on so sensitive an issue without the Kremlin’s consent. Since President Zia-ul-Haq has not disclosed the contents … Read More
The Union government should accept with good grace the Supreme Court’s judgment striking down sections 55 and 4 of the constitution (42nd) amendment act, 1976. It will be within its rights to appeal against the verdict to a full bench of the Supreme Court. But it will be well-advised not … Read More
President Nixon deliberately cultivated the reputation of being unpredictable, rash and even slightly mad to ‘persuade’ the Soviet leaders to act with restraint lest he went over the brink and plunged the world in a nuclear holocaust. It is doubtful that President Carter was in search of a similar image … Read More
The cold-blooded murder of Baba Gurbachan Singh, head of the Nirankari religious sect, is an extremely ominous development. It has sent a wave of shock among millions of people, especially among his followers in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and elsewhere in the country and they cannot be blamed if they are … Read More
