On the Indian National Interest
Taking Churchill’s word “A new iron curtain seems to be falling,” he said. “This iron curtain somehow is dividing the Muslim world on one side and the West on the other side. This is very dangerous,” (Musharraf) said in an interview after the speech. [Calcutta Telegraph] With enlightened moderation backfiring almost completely, the General is … Continue reading “Playing the statesman – another attempt”
A quick win-win formula is required Bangladesh has agreed in principle for gas pipeline connecting Myanmar and India to pass through its territory. Besides yearly income of $100 million in wheeling charges and $25 million in maintenance charges, Bangladesh wants to levy a transit fee on the pipeline. Local politics has also prevented Bangladesh from … Continue reading “Myanmar-Bangladesh-India gas pipeline”
A dictator’s core competence On the whole Musharraf got exactly the opposite of what he bargained for when he got his ‘enlightened moderation‘ speech published in the Washington Post. In the same newspaper, Samina Ahmed and John Norris of the International Crisis Group have written a hard hitting critique of Musharraf’s policies that expose his … Continue reading “The vision thing backfires”
If you are lucky, you may get paid Robi pointed out this post by the Religious Policeman – Indian workers remain unpaid eight months after a Saudi labour court decided in their favour. Their papers remain in the hands of their employer, so neither can they return to India nor seek employment within Saudi Arabia. … Continue reading “Indian workers in Saudi limbo”
If you cant beat them, seek their assistance Unable to control the spiraling sectarian violence in Pakistan, Musharraf’s intelligence agencies are seeking the assistance of the very jihadi leaders they banned under US pressure. So the ISI is back in bed with Masood Azhar, Fazlur Rehman Kahlil, Abdullah Shah Mazhar, Ali Sher Haidri, Ahmad Ludhianvi … Continue reading “Another mushy deal in the offing”
The reality is neither enlightened nor moderate Always quick to allege that India is engaging in state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir, Pakistan has been long hiding its own systematic repression of the Kashmiri people through an insidious administrative trick. It has split its portion of the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir state into two administrative units: the … Continue reading “Its state-sponsored terrorism in Kashmir”
Let’s have it first, say Pakistanis Their views are unequivocal. The mainstream Pakistani English language press wants ‘enlightened moderation‘ first and fast. Here’s a quick roundup:
UPI’s Arnaud de Borchgrave reviews Pakistan’s Urdu jihadi press, and reveals such gems like Yet another story in Majjala-tul-Dawa told of the exploits of Hafiz Saeed, the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba (terrorist group known as LT). “With the help of specialists, Saeed preached jihad to the deaf mute that ‘Allah has created the human being for … Continue reading “Jihadi press review”
In parallel with Bangladesh’s fundamentalist thugs getting bolder, Pakistan’s Inter-services Intelligence (ISI) is doing to Bangladesh what it did to Afghanistan. This includes peddling visions of an Islamic state, sending fundamentalist teachers in madrasas, supporting terrorist organisations like Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and corrupting ordinary people to take up the criminal tasks of terrorism. The only missing portion … Continue reading “Of intervention in Bangladesh”
Nitin Sawhney – he of the chillout music fame – wrote quite a good piece in response to the BBC sting on racism in the British police. I found his views on nationalism particularly interesting. Like his music his interpretation of nationalism is quite progressive. Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Whose country is it … Continue reading “Racism in the UK – Nitin Sawhney’s opinion”