Whom do natural resources belong to? How are they to be managed? When there is a conflict of interest between individuals or collectives or even the state, how is it to be resolved?
Whom do natural resources belong to? How are they to be managed? When there is a conflict of interest between individuals or collectives or even the state, how is it to be resolved?
What is the role of the state in managing natural resources: does it know best and has hence to be given the power of eminent domain? Should we trust the state to always act in the interest of the public good and dispassionately in the societal interest? How has this system evolved? What was the Indian way of dealing with these complex issues and what changes were brought about by British colonialism that continue to this day? Isn’t considering the state as trustee in these contentious days highly naïve and dangerous?
These are some of the pressing questions considering that there is a scramble among Indian and foreign capitalists for land, mineral wealth, water, oil and gas and even electromagnetic waves used in modern communication. Should they be given away for a small fee and then the prices of services offered like power, gas, telecommunication be strictly controlled or should they be auctioned to get the best available price for the government of the day and let the companies then charge market determined prices for the services? Who can have a decisive say in this: bureaucrats, ministers, industry lobbyists, media businesses who advocate policy on behalf of different corporate interests or the citizenry to whom the wealth ultimately belongs?
The cover story in this issue throws light on some of these questions. Particularly on the Indian way of solving these issues in the pre-colonial days and the new features introduced by the British, which continue to be followed even after independence to the detriment of the interests of the people and for the benefit of private monopoly capitalist interests.
The conversation (Peepul ke Neeche) in this issue is with Prof. Harabans Mukhia, a well-known historian of medieval India. He had risen to prominence in the 80’s when he questioned the thesis that medieval India was feudal. He has also extensively written about medieval agriculture and various aspects of Mughal rule. The word "feudalism" is used extremely loosely in India, even in serious academic discussions, without properly understanding the term and blindly transporting it from European historiography. We have a short but interesting overview of ancient Indian mathematics and an article highlighting the contributions of Kautilya-Chanakya to economic theory. In this issue, we also have a portrait of Sharief Sahib of Shishunal, an extremely popular saint and poet from Karnataka, hailed as Kabir of Karnataka, whose poetry is very popular even today.
The problem of quality articles still besets us and leads to irregularity in the production of the magazine as the editorial board awaits a well-researched cover story to build an issue around. Our website (www.ghadar.org.in) is however constantly being updated with news and views and has a steady stream of visitors from all over the world.