PRAGOTI

Floods are a perennial problem in Bihar. The very same water source that acts as the life-blood for the agriculture-dependent population in the state, turns into an avalanche of death and misery every year. And every year, as this natural disaster strikes, it evokes temporary attention to the plight of the victims and soon to be forgotten government commissions and helicopter visits by the bourgeois polity. But once the shock value of the images fades away, all is forgotten even if misery is compounded and the people are made to brace up for the next year's natural fury. Such is the case of floods in Bihar. The Kosi river- a dynamic, sediment carrying water body is particularly driven to course-changes and therefore to put paid any plans to tame the river (through the embankment strategy that has been adopted for years). That the fact that this river originates across national borders in Nepal makes the problem even more complicated. Four experts - whose intros are provided in the post- with substantial understanding of the problem through different forms of expertise weigh on the Kosi tragedy and the perennial woes of river management and floods. They even venture to offer solutions. Pragoti hosts the links to these articles published in the Economic and Political Weekly.

What has long been suspected is now in the open. How will mainstream politics deal with Hindutva terror?, asks an EPW editorial. 

India’s moon probe has fascinating possibilities in scientific research, but will it stop there?, an EPW edit asks.

Three articles on the Chandrayaan mission point out to the "positive science" aspects of the mission. But there is a cautionary note added to the story- that of the bogey of "national pride"/ "space race"/ "military use".

"Interest in lunar exploration has flared up anew. What’s left to find out about the Moon? ", N. Gopal Raj writes in The Hindu about the aspects of science & technology, which are part of the mission. EPW's editorial gives an overview of the project and adds the cautionary note. Raghu's commentary in the People's Democracy puts the mission in a scientific perspective. Articles, courtesy "The Hindu", "Economic and Political Weekly" and "People's Democracy".

For a state that has been mired in recurring forms of violent ethnic conflict, the recent set of incidents in Udalguri and Darrang districts of Assam which resulted in widespread arson and the deaths of 40 people do not come as a surprise.These districts, apart from two other, are part of the Bodoland Territorial Areas District (BTAD) administered by the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC). The BTAD consists of a majority of tribal people (most of whom belong to the ethnic Bodo community) and was created after protracted struggles and negotiations between Bodo groups and the Indian state.

The violence and mayhem in Udalguri and Darrang have to be seen in the background of the present phase of communal mobilisation in the 'anti-foreigner' agitations rocking the entire state. Added to this are unresolved tensions emanating from the creation of an "exclusive Bodo district" in an area where the Bodo tribals form only a small majority, with other identities substantially represented".

Uddhab Barman, CPI(M) Assam State Secretary, writes on the multiple factors that contributed to the communal flare up and violence. An EPW editorial highlights the ethnic divisions that remained unresolved when the the Bodoland Territorial Areas District was created and got exacerbated subsequently. Also, an article by MS Prabhakara written in 2003 from Frontline on the issues around Bodoland.

The domestic and international reaction to the Left parties that are in office in a number of countries in South America – most notably in Bolivia and Venezuela – has tended to utilise violent, non-democratic and even means of sabotage to destabilise the regimes. The ongoing developments in Bolivia are the most notable examples of the tactics of the opposition.

The big question when Morales was elected was whether he could stay long in office, or whether the Bolivian right, perhaps in collusion with the armed forces, could oust him. He has now demonstrated that he can.

An EPW editorial (Courtesy Economic and Political Weekly) and an article by Immanuel Wallerstein (Courtesy Monthly Review) on the political developments in Bolivia.

Robert Mugabe's authoritarianism takes Zimbabwe into a downward spiral

Alienation and communal fissures make Kashmir a tinderbox that can explode with a spark.

Courtesy: Economic and Political Weekly
Image: Courtesy Frontline

The soul of parliamentary democracy in India was destroyed during the past week.

Courtesy: Economic and Political Weekly

Cartoon: Courtesy The Hindu