January Month Article’s
-
Pakistan must crack
down on terrorists, says Russia
-
The Times of India, January 31,
2002
Russia has reiterated its position
that only concrete steps by Islamabad to crack down on terrorist organisations
will pave the way for resumption of dialogue with neighbour India. ......
-
Bengal toes Centre’s
line, puts blame on Lashkar
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 30, 2002
The West Bengal government on Tuesday
endorsed the Centre's position holding Pakistan backed Lashkar-e-Toiba
for the attack on Kolkata's American Centre. The position of the state
government was put out by Soumen Mitra, Kolkata's deputy commissioner of
police heading the probe into the terror attack on the American Center,
after a visit to Hazaribagh in Jharkhand. ......
-
Helping Pak in Kunduz
won’t help the war
-
K. Subrahmanyam, The Times of India,
January 29, 2002
In June 1940, Hitler allowed the
British expeditionary force in France, trapped at Dunkirk, to escape as
the German Wehrmacht swept through Hitler's expectation was that the British
would not be able to continue the war after the fall of France and allowing
the British troops to be evacuated would earn him the goodwill of Britain.
Hitler was thoroughly mistaken. Britain fought on and four years later,
the British troops stormed the beaches of Normandy as part of Operation
Overlord, which liberated Western Europe. ......
-
CPI(M) unhappy over
Bengal CM’s remark on madrasas
-
Krittivas Mukherjee, The Economic
Times, January 29, 2002
Criticism from his own party leadership
has forced West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya to tone down
his statements on the sensitive issue of closing down unauthorised madrasas
in the state. ......
-
RSS releases book
on martyrs who fell to swords and bullets
-
Times News Network, The Times of
India, January 28, 2002
It released a book on its “429
martyrs” who have fallen to “the swords and bullets of the nation-splitters
in 15 states” over the last three decades. The “nation-splitters” include
the Marxists, Naxalites, Islamic fundamentalist outfits supported by the
ISI, and the north-eastern insurgents. ......
-
‘Dutch nationals
came with ulterior motives’
-
PTI, The Times of India, January
28, 2002
The two Dutch nationals, who were
killed by BSF jawans on January 13, could not have been tourists as they
had come to the Valley with “ulterior intentions”, according to evidence
available with, the Jammu and Kashmir police. ......
-
Do not test our
patience, Pak warns India against Agni firing
-
The Times of India, January 28,
2002
Pakistan may have second thoughts
and follow suit to test its Shaheen-II and other missiles in response to
India’s test-firing of Agni-II, if the condemnation of the international
community against the Indian test was not up to its expectations. ......
-
‘US support to Pak
will boost terror’
-
The Economic Times, January 28,
2002
New evidence shows that terrorism
in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of India could increase as a result
of US support to Pakistan, according to the Asia Pacific Foundation (APF).
The foundation, a London-based research group, says militant activity will
increase substantially as a result of the evacuation of Taliban, Pakistani
and Al Qaeda fighters by Pakistan. ......
-
Behind the Bonhomie
-
K Subrahmanyam, The Times of India,
January 28, 2002
General Musharrafs speech of January
12, 2002 has been hailed all over the world, including by the Indian leadership
and public as a progressive move towards rescuing Pakistan from the cults
of terrorism and extremism and steering it towards becoming a moderate
Islamic state. As is to be expected, some Indian commentators have expressed
scepticism about General Musharraf playing the role of Kemal Ataturk. In
their view, Pakistani society and polity are sicker than Turkey was in
the early '20s and General Musharraf does not have the will, commitment,
stature and charisma of Mustapha Kemal. ......
-
Court suggests common
code for marriage and divorce
-
Rakesh Bhatnagar, The Times of India,
January 28, 2002
If marriages are made in heaven,
as they say, there should not be any reason that different communities
belonging to different faiths and religions should ever be governed by
separate codes for bringing an end to the marital tie. Way in 1985, the
supreme court recommended to the government to intervene to “provide for
a uniform code of marriage and divorce and to provide by law for a way
out of the unhappy situation” being faced by certain couples. ......
-
India gives Pak
proof of terror designs
-
Times News Network & Agencies,
The Times of India, January 25, 2002
While demanding the extradition
of 20 criminals and terrorists from Pakistan, India has provided Interpol
with red-comer notices and details of the crimes committed by them, along
with their fake names and Pakistani passports. ......
-
Musharraf makeover:
don’t gloss over the past
-
Benazir Bhutto, The Indian Express,
January 22, 2002
The rebirth of General Musharraf
from Godfather of Taliban and Terrorism to Man of Moderation was externally
driven. It was midwifed through the ministrations of Tony Blair and Colin
Powell to save South Asia from war. Now Pakistan has two Musharrafs. The
pre-2002 Musharraf whose plane landed safely to the throne of power piloted
by hardline generals. The 2002 Musharraf, without apology for bringing
Pakistan near a war it least wanted, adopted peaceful coexistence principles
that his opponents proclaimed all along. ......
-
Poison of the past
-
Editorial, The Statesman, January
22, 2002
When Jyoti Basu speaks of the culture
of corruption having taken a stranglehold on the CPI-M, he wants to appear
as a patriarch the party is obliged to respect. The point to bear in mind
is that he makes these observations after having ignored and indeed encouraged
what he now says is unacceptable. Another name of the phenomenon is hypocrisy.
Knowing our former chief minister as we do he may well intend to suggest
that things have deteriorated recently - read under Buddhadev. ......
-
The Kathmandu Handshake
-
Seshadri Chari, Organiser, January
20, 2002
The eleventh summit of the South
Asian Association of Regional Co-operation (SAARC) will be remembered for
two things-the first is that despite the tension created by the Pakistani
terrorists in India and Pakistan, it was after all held. Secondly, the
biting sarcasm of Atal Behari Vajpayee that must have stung stuntman Pervez
Musharraf in response to his handshake with shri Vajpayee at the end of
his speech. ......
-
Marxists manoeuvred
to mould history
-
M.R.Mallya, Organiser, January 20,
2002
We are in the midst of a textbooks
controversy. On one side are persons like Romilla Thapar and Satish Chandra
complaining that portions of their history books are being deleted. Siding
with them are journalists publishing articles denouncing what they dub
the “saffron brigade”. The Times of India, 1-12-2001 “History as End, Beginning
of a New Mythology” by Mahesh Daga. The Hindu, 6-12-2001 “The Textbooks
controversy” by Achin Vanaik. ......
-
Musharraf must know
that Kashmir's future is not at all negotiable
-
MV Kamath, The Free Press Journal,
January 17, 2002
So, at last, General Musharraf
has spoken. His televised address was intended as much for a domestic as
for an international - specifically American - audience. It calls for analysis.
Most of his one-hour address was aimed at his fellow countrymen. He recalled
the words of Pakistan's founder, Mohamad Ali Jinnah and of the poet Iqbal.
......
-
Mumbai connection
in the list to Musharraf
-
N. P. Phadnis, The Free Press Journal,
January 15, 2002
Mumbai police had to do a lot of
home work before the Indian government could submit its list of most wanted
terrorists hiding in Pakistan to General Parvez Musharraf so that he can
act immediately and show his sincerity in fighting terrorism as promised
to world leaders. ......
-
Sickening double
standards
-
Editorial, The Free Press Journal,
January 11, 2002
If the sauce is good for the goose,
it is good for the gander as well, isn’t it? Well, Congressmen and Congresswomen
do not seem to have heard that old saying. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be
making such a hue and cry over the extension of the Maharashtra Control
of Organised Crime Act to the national capital. As the world knows, the
Congress Party heads the ruling coalition in Maharashtra. ......
-
Imams on watch-list
-
Ian Cobain, The Statesman, January
1, 2002
Muslim clerics preaching in British
prisons were told on Friday that they were being watched carefully after
two were suspended for allegedly delivering anti-American sermons to young
inmates after the 11 September attacks. ......
-
Osama may have been
in Pak all along
-
K Subrahmanyam, The Times of India,
January 31, 2002
CBS, the American television channel,
has reported that Osama bin Laden underwent dialysis at Rawalpindi's military
hospital on the eve of 9\11. ......
-
Hindu Panchayat
leader gunned down
-
Mukesh Ropeta, The Jang, Pakistan,
January 29, 2002
President Hindu General Panchayat
and PPP (Minority Wing) District President Jacobabad, Sudham Chand Chawla,
was shot dead here on Monday. ......
-
Kerala CM accuses
own party, others of inciting violence
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 22, 2002
Kerala chief minister, A K Antony,
has made a sensational first-of-its-kind statement, accusing the 'secular'
parties including his very own Congress and the CPM, of indulging in communal
violence in Kerala. Making a statement on the basis of findings of inquiries
into recent communal violence in his state, Mr Antony said that activists
of the Congress and CPM were involved in the violence along with 'communal
outfits like NDF, PDP and RSS'. ......
-
Fax the list, we’ll
send’em in double quick time
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 22, 2002
Restricting Pakistan's room for
manoeuvre even further, India today declared that it would work “double-time”
to ensure any Pakistani request for handing over criminals was met by India.
Refusing to fall back into defensive mode, India's latest diplomatic offensive
strategy is bound to boomerang on Islamabad's delaying tactics. ......
-
India blasts Pak
on wheat issue, says it’s inhuman
-
The Economic Times, January 22,
2002
India on Monday slammed Pakistan
for its reported move to deny transit facility for the wheat to be supplied
to Afghanistan, terming it as 'unfortunate, inhuman and politically motivated.'
......
-
Left pulls out of
all-party delegation
-
HT Correspondent, The Hindustan
Times, January 16, 2002
Left parties on Tuesday decided
to withdraw their members from the all-party delegation to be sent to various
countries to mobilise opinion on Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism
and to drum-up support in favour of India. ......
-
Speech received
with mistrust
-
Our Special Correspondent, The Asian
Age, January 14, 2002
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez
Musharraf’s address to the nation was received with a feeling of distrust
by Kashmiri pandits in New Delhi who said that going by past experience
his sincerity was doubtful. ......
-
Pak has ignored
32 Red Corner notices, says CBI
-
PTI, The Pioneer, January 14, 2002
The CBI is pressing Interpol to
persuade Pakistan to hand over 32 terrorists and criminals wanted in India
for serious crimes, CBI Director P C Sharma said here on Sunday. ......
-
RSS accuses China
of terrorism in Tibet
-
Pioneer News Service, The Pioneer,
January 14, 2002
The day Chinese Prime Minster Zhu
Rongji had landed in India, the RSS fired the salvo by accusing China of
indulging in 'terrorism in Tibet.' ......
-
Wipe out terrorism,
Peres tells Pakistan
-
The Economic Times, January 8, 2002
Israeli foreign minister Shimon
Peres today said though Pakistan had initiated certain steps against terrorist
outfits operating in that country the world community would be satisfied
only when all forms of terrorism are uprooted. ......
-
Stretching limits:
Yoga fans find fitness on the floor
-
Jerry Fink, Las Vegas Sun, January
31, 2002
The 27-year-old Las Vegas resident
was living in Salt Lake City at the time. Her mother had Hodgkin's disease,
a form of cancer, and took up yoga as a means of relieving the stress brought
about by her terminal illness. ......
-
What about PoK?
-
Editorial, The Hindustan Times,
January 30, 2002
Even if there was nothing substantially
new for an Indian audience in some of the things which the prime minister
said in Raipur, there was still a need for reiteration against the background
of the persistent Pakistani propaganda on Kashmir. ......
-
The mischief men
do at election time
-
R.K. Misra, The Indian Express,
January 30, 2002
Is it the Congress party’s new-found
slogan to woo the estranged minorities back to the fold before the forthcoming
assembly elections? Does not seem likely until you hear what Congress leader
K.C. Lenka has been telling the minorities in Orissa. Then you begin to
wonder and, as the full import of Lenka-speak begins to sink in, you fret
and fume. ......
-
Singapore tightens
grip on anti-US Muslim Web site
-
Reuters, The Hindustan Times, January
27, 2002
Singapore has ordered a Muslim
group to register its Internet portal as a political Web site after its
leader said the government had prompted local Muslim terror plots by aligning
itself with the United States and Israel. ......
-
‘You have to kill
in the name of Allah until you are killed’
-
Jason Burke, The Observer, UK, January
27, 2002
The trail runs from a wet corner
of a west London street to the dusty mountains of eastern Algeria, from
a garage on the Thames to the Mediterranean, from a mosque off north London's
Seven Sisters Road to Osama bin Laden's training camps in Afghanistan.
......
-
Buddha’s madrasa
remark draws fire
-
Sabyasachi Bandopadhyay, The Indian
Express, January 26, 2002
For the first time since the CPI(M)
came to power in West Bengal, the Muslim community’s ties with the Marxists
appear to have come under strain. ......
-
India steps up pressure
on Pak to deport Dawood
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 25, 2002
With fresh evidence confirming
Pakistan's inability to shift the privileged guest of the ISI, Dawood Ibrahim,
out of Pakistan, New Delhi has been stepping up pressure on Islamabad to
handover India's most wanted criminal. ......
-
Ease tension first,
then talk: Powell
-
The Times of India, January 17,
2002
U.S. Secretary of State Cohn Powell
on Wednesday night rejected a mediatory role for the United States in resolving
disputes between India and Pakistan and said that he was carrying “some
ideas” to New Delhi for initiating a dialogue between the two neighbours
on several issues including Kashmir. ......
-
Mystery blaze erases
Pak army’s jehadi connection
-
Manoj Joshi, The Times of India,
January 17, 2002
A little over three months after
an as-yet-unexplained fire gutted a portion of the Pakistan army headquarters
in Rawalpindi, housing records relating to the army's involvement with
the Taliban, a major blaze razed Islamabad's 16-storey Shaheed-e-Millat
secretariat late on Tuesday. ......
-
Singapore scare
sets off alarm bells about terrorism in South-East Asia
-
Harvey Stockwin, The Times of India,
January 17, 2002
The wake-up call, reminding that
terrorism is a problem and in urgent need of attention in South-East Asia,
was loud and clear. But it did not come from the southern Philippines.
......
-
Pak has ignored
32 Red Corner notices, says CBI
-
PTI, The Pioneer, January 14, 2002
The CBI is pressing Interpol to
persuade Pakistan to hand over 32 terrorists and criminals wanted in India
for serious crimes, CBI Director P C Sharma said here on Sunday. ......
-
Suspect Calls Malaysia
a Staging Area for Terror Attacks
-
Philip Shenon and David Johnston,
The New York Times, January 31, 2002
An operative of Al Qaeda arrested
in Malaysia has begun cooperating with investigators and provided new evidence
to show that the Southeast Asian nation was a major staging area for the
Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States, Bush administration officials
said today. ......
-
Nambiar’s Total
Recall (Interview with Vijay K Nambiar)
-
The Times of India, January 31,
2002
Introduction: In the course of
a turbulent 18-month stay in Islamabad, Vijay K Nambiar, India’s high commissioner
to Pakistan, saw both the high of the build-up to the Agra summit, and
the low to which Indo-Pak relations plummeted after December 13. Nambiar’s
recall from Islamabad by the Indian government marked a dramatic escalation
in tension between the two countries. ......
-
Sonia tries to woo
Muslims by attire gimmick
-
Manjari Mishra, The Times of India,
January 31, 2002
There are two sets of posters,
presenting two totally different avatars of the Congress chief. One has
a smiling Sonia draped in her trademark bordered handloom sari striking
a pose for the lensman with folded hands. The other has a new look Sonia
clad in a beige salwar suit, head covered demurely by a dupatta, waving
out of the mega-sized coloured sheet. ......
-
Pak heading towards
serial production of SRBMs: CIA
-
PTI, January 31, 2002
Pakistan is moving toward serial
production of solid-propellant Short Range Ballistic Missiles such as Shaheen-I
and Haider-I with extensive Chinese assistance, the CIA says in a report.
......
-
Withdrawal symptoms
-
Editorial, The Indian Express, January
31, 2002
Pakistan's new set of proposals
are, as its spokesman stated, a “sum-up and re-affirmation” of its earlier
positions. However, considering the gravity of the situation and the need
to roll back terrorism well in time for our electoral processes to remain
on track, it is important that the proposals are given serious attention.
But Pakistan could hardly be serious about its own proposal for strengthening
of UN Military Observers Group. ......
-
Camp X-Ray: Arrests
reveal terrorist links with Pak
-
Sanjay Suri, The Pioneer, January
28, 2002
An extensive link between Islamic
extremists and terror groups in Pakistan is beginning to surface after
the detention of several British nationals at Camp X-Ray in Cuba. The arrested
men in Cuba include three Britons. ......
-
Sadistic video used
to lure recruits for Osama
-
Agencies, The Pioneer, January 28,
2002
A video showing Islamic extremists
murdering and mutilating "infidels" is being circulated around Britain's
mosques as part of a recruiting drive for terror suspect Osama bin Laden's
network, a British Sunday paper reported. ......
-
History lesson from
Dunkirk for Kunduz
-
K Subrahmaniam, The Times of India,
January 26, 2002
In 1940 June, Adolf Hitler allowed
the British expeditionary force in France, trapped at Dunkirk, to escape
as the German Wehrmacht swept through. Hitler’s expectation was that the
British would not be able to continue the war after the fall of France,
and allowing the British troops to be evacuated, would cam him the goodwill
of Britain. Hitler was thoroughly mistaken. ......
-
Managing madrasas
-
Editorial, The Statesman, January
26, 2002
Buddhadev Bhattacharya deserves
a big dose of credit for not only being honest in publicly acknowledging
the large presence of unauthorised madrasas in West Bengal’s border districts
“run with foreign help and petro-dollars for churning out anti-national
elements” but also promising to take action against them. ......
-
Experts hail missile
launch timing, say it’s a warning for Pak (Part III of III)
-
Srinivas Laxman, The Times of India,
January 26, 2002
Strategic experts have welcomed
the launch of the Agni-l intermediate range ballistic missile (IRBM) on
Friday, saying it was meant to send a warning signal to Pakistan at the
right moment. ......
-
N –capable Agni
– 1 missile test-fired (Part II of III)
-
Times News Network and Agencies,
The Times of India, January 26, 2002
The Indian government on Friday
sought to allay fears that the Agni-II test would lead to an escalation
of tensions, but that cut no ice with Pakistan, which immediately termed
the test “prejudicial to the pursuit of stability in our region, especially
during the current situation”. ......
-
N –capable Agni
– 1 missile test-fired (Part I of III)
-
Rajat Pandit, The Times of India,
January 26, 2002
India on Friday successfully test-fired
a short-range variant of the Agni ballistic missile. With a range of about
800-900 km, this nuclear-capable, gravity-propelled variant of Agni-1 seems
to have been specifically designed keeping Pakistan in mind. ......
-
Hurriyat is bothered
-
Editorial, The Statesman, January
24, 2002
One of the problems with the Hurriyat
is that it rarely gets to speak in one voice. Syed Ali Shah Geelani of
the Jamat started off by saying that a dialogue should be held under the
auspices of the United Nations, mentioning in passing that the historical
background and the UN resolutions should be kept in mind. ......
-
CBI links 9/11,
Kolkata attacks; gives proof to FBI
-
The Times of India, January 22,
2002
Linking Tuesday's shootout at American
Centre in Kolkata with the September 11 US strikes, CBI on Tuesday informed
FBI that the ransom money taken by Dubai underworld don Aftab Ansari to
release a Kolkata shoe baron was used to finance Mohammed Atta, leader
of the hijackers who rammed planes into buildings in Washington and New
York. ......
-
Keeping Their Faiths
Under Taliban Rule Drew Sikhs and Hindus Together
-
Amy Waldman, The New York Times,
January 20, 2002
The men emerge from the rubble
like an apparition, 10 of them, most bearded and turbaned. They move toward
a bruised, shuttered building whose roof has been caved in by a rocket,
and unlock the door. They pass through an interior courtyard, remove their
shoes and enter a vast room empty except for a barren altar and perfumed
smoke. ......
-
Tough talk, tougher
times ahead
-
Imtiaz Gul, The Telegraph, January
20, 2002
Kashmir and Afghanistan have long
formed the two most important pillars of Pakistan's national security agenda.
General Pervez Musharraf has fiddled with one of them - the Afghan policy
- and, forced by the course of international events, looks set to turn
the other one - the Kashmir policy - on its head. ......
-
Act on list first:
India
-
Jyoti Malhotra, The Indian Express,
January 19, 2002
In the wake of worldwide approval
to General Musharraf's speech last week, India has formulated a two-pronged
strategy on dealing with Pakistan, which will separately address a return
to the diplomatic normalisation with Islamabad as well as a military de-escalation
from the border. ......
-
Fear and Flight
in Deadly Kashmir
-
Somini Sengupta, The New York Times,
January 16, 2002
One night two weeks ago, Gulshan
Kumar Sharma heard a knock at the door and a voice calling out, "Didi"
-- older sister, in Hindi. When he answered, the 28-year-old Hindu farmer
was gunned down on the threshold of his mud house. ......
-
Here’s a warning
General!
-
Wilson John, The Pioneer, January
16, 2002
President Pervez Musharraf sure
has a twisted sense of humour. In his Saturday Speech (he is still gloating
over it), he blurted out one-liners that seem to have come straight from
those loud, lewd Pakistani television soap operas that survive solely on
heaps of double entendre. This one from General Musharraf takes the cake:
Kashmir runs in our blood. ......
-
War against terrorism
-
M.V. Kamath, Afternoon Despatch
& Courier, January 11, 2002
Ever since September 11, the Indian
media has been steadily looking at the triangular relations between India,
Pakistan and the United States - and, interestingly, with little reference
to Britain or its Prime Minister Tony Blair. A quick run-down on media
thought throws light on what India, presumably, thinks. ......
-
“Musharraf Has Attempted
To Put Up A Smokescreen Of Action” (Interview with Selig Harrison)
-
Sanjay Suri, Outlook, January 10,
2002
Selig Harrison is Director of the
National Security Project at the Centre for International Policy in Washington.
Considered extremely influential among the think-tanks, his views on South
Asia are closely followed. Here he talks to Sanjay Suri. ......
-
God & I
-
Lata Mangeshkar, India Times
Nothing in this world can happen
without God's mercy that's my firm belief. I was raised in a very religious
family and follow the precepts of Hinduism. Though I love my religion,
I respect all religions as much. I visit and derive tremendous peace from
all places of worship. ......
-
Ansari’s man Friday
in the Net
-
Our Bureau, The Telegraph, January
31, 2002
The jigsaw pieces in the January
22 American Center attack in Calcutta have begun to fall into place with
police today catching one of the suspects involved in the conspiracy -
not dead, but alive. ......
-
Airlifting trouble
-
Editorial, The Pioneer, January
31, 2002
The United States and Britain have
not only exposed India to a vastly increased incidence of terrorism but
have also bought serious trouble for themselves by allowing Pakistan to
airlift thousands of Pakistani Taliban and Al Qaeda activists from Kunduz.
......
-
‘Musharraf had threatened
to quit before Jan 12 speech’
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 31, 2002
Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami has
claimed President Pervez Musharraf had threatened to quit three days ahead
of his January 12 address in the face of vehement opposition by military
commanders to his stand on terrorism, Indo-Pak relations and the Kashmir
issue. ......
-
Terror machine has
not halted; new outfits asked to create mayhem in Kashmir
-
Agencies, The Pioneer, January 30,
2002
Former Pakistani activists in the
Taliban have set up a new terrorist outfit to carry on jehad in Jammu and
Kashmir, according to informed Afghan sources here. ......
-
Musharraf's U-turns
and border prospects
-
Ashok K Mehta, The Pioneer, January
30, 2002
General Pervez Musharraf has mastered
the art of public speaking. The talent cultivated as a Brigadier at the
Royal College of Defence Studies in London in 1990 has been perfected on
the job. The hallmark of his frequent addresses to the nation is the carte
blanche attribution of policy decision to national interest. Whether it
is dumping the Taliban or elevating himself as President, even extending
his tenure as Army Chief, supreme national interest is invoked in their
justification. ......
-
Plot to kill Jinnah:
Advani in Pak’s Most Wanted list
-
Sify News, January 30, 2002
Even as India and Pakistan are
flexing muscles through a military stand-off on the border and are busy
pushing Most Wanted lists, Pakistan has allegedly come up with an extradition
list which features none less than Indian Home Minister L K Advani. ......
-
Did ally Pakistan
play role in 9-11?
-
Paul Sperry, WorldNetDaily.com,
January 30, 2002
India's Central Bureau of Investigation
is turning up evidence that is proving inconvenient for the Bush administration
as it tries to maintain its shaky alliance with Pakistan. ......
-
Pak-backed militants
planning another Kargil
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 30, 2002
In a bid to create a Kargil-type
situation of intrusions, militants of Laskhar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad
have constructed several bunkers and blown up small bridges in high altitude
areas in south of Pir Panjal range as part of a plan reportedly worked
out by the Pakistan army. ......
-
Pak dilly-dallying,
will press for UN sanctions: India
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 30, 2002
With Islamabad dragging its feet
on handing over India's fugitives, New Delhi is contemplating launching
a fresh diplomatic offensive for imposition of UN sanctions against Pakistan
for its failure to honour an enforceable General Assembly resolution requiring
countries not to support terrorism actively or passively. ......
-
We stand by PM’s
remarks on PoK: India
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 30, 2002
India on Tuesday rejected Pakistani
criticism of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's remarks demanding return
of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. New Delhi also asserted that the nation stood
by the ''well considered, principled position'' on the whole of Jammu and
Kashmir being an integral part. ......
-
India kills Muslim
militants sneaking into Kashmir
-
Reuters, January 30, 2002
Indian forces killed five Islamic
guerrillas trying to sneak into contested Kashmir on Wednesday as Indian
and Pakistani troops traded fire in the Himalayan region, a defence official
said. ......
-
The abduction of
Daniel Pearl
-
T V R Shenoy, Rediff on Net, January
29, 2002
Was it Jefferson or Lincoln who
described the journalist as "a disturber of the peace, a roiler of nations"?
Neither man is a hero in a dictatorship, but this is one description which
has often been taken all too literally. Several members of the media fraternity
have been jailed like common criminals for doing their job sincerely. And
this brings up the case of the unfortunate Daniel Pearl. ......
-
‘NCERT has corrected
the approach towards the teaching of civilisation’
-
Interview of Dr Murli Manohar Joshi,
HRD Minister, The Indian Express, January 29, 2002
One unit of the new Social Science
syllabus, which compresses history, geography, civics-specifically the
one meant for Class VI, looks at the features, spread and basic values
of 'major religions' - Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism,
Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity. Why has Islam has been left out?
......
-
Young Chinese Mother
Dies from Torture in Police Custody
-
The Falun Dafa Information Center,
January 29, 2002
Family and Local Village Under
Tight Security to Avoid Leaking News of Death NEW YORK, January 29th, 2002
(Falun Dafa Information Center) - Ms. Wu Jingxia, a 29-year-old Falun Gong
practitioner from Fangzi District, Weifang City, was tortured to death
in police custody nine days ago, leaving her 15 month-old baby without
a mother. ......
-
War paint against
terrorism
-
Benazir Bhutto, The Hindustan Times,
January 26, 2002
For the second time during General
Pervez Musharraf’s tenure as Pakistan’s chief of army staff, his men confront
their Indian counterparts over a potentially nuclear conflict. The first
confrontation took place in spring 1999. Then Kashmiri militants seized
the Kargil heights in the disputed Siachin area triggering a near war.
......
-
‘Joke of the year’
-
A Staff Reporter, Afternoon Despatch
& Courier, January 19, 2002
Pakistani railway minister, Mr.
laved Ashraf’s recent demand that India barter the Shiv Sena chief, Mr.
Bal Thackeray, in exchange for the 20 terrorists which it (India) has sought
from the Pakistani government has invited total condemnation from Sena
bigwigs who term the demand as “ridiculous and outrageous.” ......
-
Taliban of the east
-
The Public Affair Magazine, January
30, 2002
The message of the Indian military
build-up against Pakistani terrorism must be communicated to Bangladesh
if it has not already understood its significance. ......
-
‘Pak army, terrorists
conducting pre-war manoeuvres in J&K’
-
PTI, The Hindustan Times, January
29, 2002
In a bid to create a Kargil type
situation of intrusions, terrorists of Laskhar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad
have constructed several bunkers and blown up small bridges in high altitude
areas in south of Pir Panjal range as part of a plan reportedly worked
out by the Pakistan army. ......
-
India’s lost city
discovered under water
-
Graham Hancock, Mid-Day, January
29, 2002
Deep beneath the ocean, this extraordinary
picture reveals a city that was submerged 11,000 years ago... Could this
be the birth place of a modern civilisation? ......
-
Shahriar Kabir feels
insecure after bail
-
News from Bangladesh, January 28,
2002
Shahriar Kabir, acting President
of the Committee for Annihilation of the Killers and Collaborators of 1971
popularly called Nirmul Committee, who was recently released from jail
on a bail for six months said that he was living in a big prison now after
his release from the Dhaka Central Jail on January 21. "I am feeling totally
insecure as my daily activities are under surveillance", he said. ......
-
Return PoK before
talks: PM to Pak
-
PTI, The The Times of India, January
28, 2002
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
on Monday ruled out talks with Pakistan until it returned the parts of
Kashmir occupied by it in 1948. ......
-
LSE was focal point
of Islamic fundamentalist activity
-
The Daily Excelsior, January 28,
2002
Britain's prestigious London School
of Economics had become the focal point of recruitment of Islamic fundamentalists
in late 1990s and hosted at least three terrorists with Al-Qaeda links
including Omar Sheikh, who is said to be behind last week's attack in Kolkata.
......
-
Who wants a war?
-
Varsha Bhosle, Rediff on Net, January
28, 2002
My friends in the press have always
advised me against responding to hate mail through my column. They say
that I waste a whole week in giving undue importance to some frustro who
has no place else to vent his hate, and that it prevents me from focusing
on the current issue. I, of course, differ on all counts: One, the web
has made obsolete the take on immediacy, for, unlike surface mail, email
reaches a writer within minutes and can be answered in the very next column.
......
-
BJP supports Buddha
on madrasas issue
-
PTI, The Hindustan Times, January
28, 2002
The opposition BJP on Monday supported
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee on the issue of crackdown
on unaffiliated madrasas in the state and said the Left Front government
should take strong action if it was proved that they were harbouring anti-national
elements. ......
-
Too soon to write
off jehadis
-
Salman Hussein, The Indian Express,
January 21, 2002
As General Pervez Musharraf moves
following his January 12 speech to curb religious extremism and take control
of seminaries that provide religious groups with their cadres, indications
are the clerics may not go down without a fight, howsoever feeble. ......
-
Musharraf
backtracked: Advani
-
Agencies, The Economic Times, January
20, 2002
As Pakistan drags its feet over
India’s demand for handing over criminals and terrorists wanted here, home
minister LK Advani today said that President Pervez Musharraf backtracked
on an extradition treaty once the accused in the Mumbai blasts were mentioned.
......
-
Pak will give own
list for extradition, says Sattar
-
Agencies, The Economic Times, January
20, 2002
In an apparent bid to counter the
demand for handing over 20 criminals and terrorists, Pakistan said it would
provide New Delhi with its own list of wanted men allegedly sheltered in
India for extradition. ......
-
Islamabad shouldn’t
harp on Kashmir-centric talks: Powell
-
Our political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 19, 2002
India today virtually compelled
the visiting US secretary of state Colin Powell to accede to India's stand
that Pakistan had to deliver on infiltration and the list of terrorists
before expecting any positive action from India. Wrapping up several hours
of discussions here today, the Mr Powell found himself repeating that Mr
Musharraf would have to take further action. “We will know,” he said, “when
things stop happening over the line of control (LoC).” ......
-
We could take a
strike and survive. Pakistan won’t:
-
George Fernandes, BJP Today, January
16-31, 2002
Union Minister for Defence George
Fernandes is gung-ho... ready to take on all comers, Pakistan, the United
States and even the defence bureaucracy. My autobiography will be called
"George: My life as an obstacle course" he says laughing. In a wide-ranging
interview with Swati Chaturvedi, Fernandes speaks about the clouds of war,
defence procurement, the coffin seam and his return to the Cabinet. ......
-
Fight against terrorism
primary goal - “everything else is secondary”
-
Atalji, BJP Today, January 16-31,
2002
In an impassioned speech at the
emergency meeting of the Bharatiya Janata Party in New Delhi on Dec 29,
Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee declared the countrys firm resolve
to put an end to cross-border terrorism entirely on its own strength and
would not come under any external pressure to dilute the struggle. ......
-
Madarsa for girls,
school for boys
-
Sunando Sarkar and Alamgir Hossain,
The Telegraph, January 28, 2002
Five-year-old Reshma Khatoon rises
before the sun and heads straight for the morning namaaz at a Beldanga
madarsa. Prayer over, she has a frugal breakfast comprising dry bread or
muri and then rushes to class where the mistress is waiting. The day is
spent studying the Quran and gets over only in the evening. She, of course,
washes her own clothes and utensils. ......
-
America’s India
Problem
-
Selig S. Harrison, LA Times, January
27, 2002
When Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant
Singh made this caustic remark to an American journalist recently, he was
sending multiple messages to Washington. The most obvious one was that
Pakistan remains a hotbed of Islamic extremists, despite President Pervez
Musharraf's promised crackdown, and cannot be trusted. ......
-
Pakistani scribe
exposes Dawood, gets arrested
-
www.sify.com, January 25, 2002
A reputed journalist, who reported
on the plush lifestyles which wanted mafia lord Dawood Ibrahim and his
aides Chota Shakeel and Tiger Memon lead in Pakistan, has been arrested,
according to reports here. ......
-
Army chief defends
casket deal
-
Our Special Correspondent, The Hindu,
January 25, 2002
The Chief of Army Staff, S. Padmanabhan,
has defended the casket deal with an American firm, saying, “There was
no mala fide intent. An unnecessary controversy will hopefully now be put
to rest.” ......
-
Terrorism: Now in
the East?
-
Hiranmay Karlekar, The Pioneer,
January 25, 2002
On December 22, 1994, two boys
in Domkal in West Bengal's Murshidabad district discovered several bombs
very near a temporary dais from which Mr Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, now Chief
Minister of West Bengal, and then an important minister, was to address
a public meeting on December 24 along with other important functionaries
of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). ......
-
Army chief writes
to George, says time to bury the coffin scandal
-
News, The Indian Express, January
25, 2002
The Chief of the Army Staff (COAS)
General S. Padmanabhan has said there is no malafide intent in the procurement
of the aluminium caskets. ......
-
Moscow Patriarchate
Lays Down Conditions for Papal Visit
-
Zenit.org, January 25, 2002
Dialogue with the Vatican and a
papal visit are possible if the Catholic clergy ceases to proselytize in
Russia, a key member of the Orthodox Patriarchate of Moscow said. ......
-
The Karachi connection
-
Wilson John, The Pioneer, January
23, 2002
After Kabul and Kandahar, it is
time to turn to another hub of terrorism in the neighbourhood, Karachi.
If one were to draw lines on a world map linking various terrorist acts,
all the lines will, without fail, cross Pakistan's port town of Karachi.
Karachi is where the alma mater of all jihadis-the Binori mosque-is situated.
Terrorist leaders like Maulana Mohammad Omar and Maulana Masood Azhar are
students of the seminary run from the Binori mosque complex. ......
-
Just do it
-
Editorial, The Telegraph, January
23, 2002
Violence and terrorist attacks
are no longer things that happen in far away places like Jammu and Kashmir.
They happen early in the morning on Calcutta's most important thoroughfare.
The attack on the police picket outside the American Center on Tuesday
morning underlined Calcutta's vulnerability and the incompetence of the
city's police. The two may not be entirely unrelated. Assailants armed
with AK-47s fired from motorcycles and killed four and injured 23 persons.
......
-
Pakistan’s Kashmiri
Committee: headed in the wrong direction
-
www.tehelka.com, January 21, 2002
The newly-constituted Kashmir Committee,
inaugurated on January 16 in Islamabad, has officially started working.
Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf addressed the inaugural session, outlined
the fundamental assignment of the committee, and asked it to secure international
support on the Kashmir issue. He expressed the hope that the committee
would seek a solution of the issue in accordance with the United Nations
Security Council resolutions and the aspiration of the people of Kashmir.
......
-
Reasons for ‘jehad’
not economic
-
P R Ramesh, The Economic Times,
January 16, 2002
Three days ago, General Pervez
Musharraf promised he would compel Pakistan to mend its uncivilised ways.
Never mind that it was a reiteration of the steps that he announced a year
ago, the General said religious reforms planned by his administration would
change his society's outlook. ......
-
What he didn’t say
may be more significant than what he said
-
Manoj Joshi, The Times of India,
January 14, 2002
Can a real edifice emerge from
a pile of fine words from Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf? Few would
not want Pakistan to become a "tolerant" and "modem" Islamic state. But
government officials prone to scepticism say that as of now there is not
even a clear blueprint, leave alone the foundations, of a promising structure.
......
-
‘Madarsas being
used to provide shelter to ultras’
-
Krittivas Mukherjee, The Pioneer,
January 25, 2002
Following Tuesday's attack outside
the American Center in Kolkata, in which unidentified motorcycle-borne
gunmen shot dead four policemen and injured nearly 20 people, investigations
into the role of madarsas have been stepped up. ......
-
No options Left
-
Editorial, The Pioneer, January
25, 2002
It is difficult to accept at face
value the claim by the Dubai-based don, Aftab Ansari, that Tuesday's attack
on Calcutta Police personnel in front of the city's American Center was
meant to avenge the death of his associate Asif Reza Khan in an encounter
with the police in Gujarat. Ansari has links with the Jaish-e-Mohammad
which in turn is a creature of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
......
-
Did the Pakistanis
spirit away thousands of Al Qaeda men?
-
Mid-Day, January 25, 2002
In Afghanistan last November, the
Northern Alliance, supported by American Special Forces troops and emboldened
by the highly accurate American bombing, forced thousands of Taliban and
al-Qaeda fighters to retreat inside the northern hill town of Kunduz. Trapped
with them were Pakistani Army officers, intelligence advisers, and volunteers
who were fighting alongside the Taliban. ......
-
China may share
intelligence on J&K, northeast
-
Atul Aneja, The Hindu, January 25,
2002
As the war against terrorism begins
to realign political equations in the region, China has agreed to look
at sharing intelligence with India on terrorism in Kashmir and insurgency
in the northeast, highly placed government sources here said. ......
-
ISI sending spies
into Rajasthan
-
Narayan Bareth, The Pioneer, January
24, 2002
The Indian Army's build-up has
encouraged Pakistan to increase its espionage net across borders in Rajasthan.
The security agencies and Rajasthan police have unearthed a plot of Pakistan-backed
spies who are trying to penetrate the country. ......
-
Run, Osama, Run
-
Thomas L. Friedman, The New York
Times, January 23, 2002
On the way back from Kabul, I passed
through Pakistan, the Persian Gulf, London and Belgium, where I had a variety
of talks with Arab and Muslim journalists and business people and Muslim
community leaders in Europe. All of them were educated, intelligent and
thoughtful - and virtually none of them believed that Osama bin Laden was
guilty. ......
-
Rumsfeld Defends
U.S. Treatment of Detainees in Cuba
-
Katharine Q. Seelye, The New York
Times, January 23, 2002
Frustrated by an international
outcry over the American treatment of prisoners in Cuba, Secretary of Defense
Donald H. Rumsfeld defended the United States' conduct at length today
and dismissed the criticism as breathless armchair hyperbole. ......
-
Don’t wear your
attitude on campus, students told
-
Deepa A, The Times of India, January
17, 2002
There are no rule books tacked
to the notice boards in college campuses across the city, but St. Xaviers's
College at Dhobi Talao does not seem to be the only one policing students.
......
-
‘Pak should match
action with words’
-
Reuters, The Indian Express, January
15, 2002
Following is the full text of the
Government's statement in reaction to a pledge by Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf to crack down on Islamic militant The statement was issued to
day by Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh. ......
-
India welcomes Pak
policy shift, awaits ground action
-
Times News Network, The Times of
India, January 14, 2002
India has welcomed the “major shift”
in Pakistan's declared policy not to support or permit terrorism on its
territory, but said it would wait for Pakistan to “operationalise” its
intent before resuming dialogue. ......
-
Detonator thefts:
Possible ISI ‘link’ unnerves Bengal
-
Santanu Banerjee, The Indian Express,
January 14, 2002
It’s an old story that the detonators
are routinely pilfered from magazines of collieries in the coal belt of
Burdhwan district. Last year “we had four such cases,” said a senior district
intelligence official in Burdhwan. But Thursday night's theft from a magazine
in Madanpur colliery, set alarm bells ringing in the state for obvious
reasons. ......
-
American power
-
S K Datta, The Statesman, January
10, 2002
Let us get real. Pakistan-sponsored
terrorism has crossed the benchmark by attempting to kill as many politicians
as possible in Parliament on 13 December. A rehearsal of this was done
on 1 October by attacking the J&K Assembly' All these attacks were
carried out during the current US-led “war on terror”. General Musharraf
was literally “conscripted' to join the alliance. ......
-
Bin Laden Has ‘Tentacles’
In Bangladesh
-
Town Hall
Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com)
- As speculation mounts about possible future targets in the U.S. campaign
against terrorism, one country that has not generally been placed in this
category is Bangladesh, although Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network has
been active there. ......
-
‘Attack on USIS
could be ISI handiwork’
-
www.tehelka.com, January 24, 2002
The attack on Kolkata's American
Center could have been a handiwork of Pakistan's ISI operatives based in
Bangladesh, West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee said today.
......
-
Beware of the academic
fascists
-
Saradindu Mukherjee, The Hindustan
Times, January 23, 2002
In a genuine academic debate over
selection of facts and their interpretation, people should be graceful
enough to accept their folly, if and when it is exposed. As Union HRD Minister
Murli Manohar Joshi correctly put it (HT December 2): "Who says they are
respectable? ......
-
Adarniya Bandhuwar
-
Sadar Namaskar, January 23, 2002
Hope, you are in the best of health
and sprites. Those who are in India, might have read the news items and
some coverage of the "Hindu Sangam", organised in Jhabuwa on 17 January
2002 by Sewa Bharati Madhya Bharat, Bhopal with the co-operation and good
wishes of our sister organizations. The aim of the Hindu Samgam was to
awaken and make the Tribal aware of the tenets and philosophy Hindu Religion.
......
-
Kolkatta is considered
safe by Pak criminals (Rediff Interview/Sudhir Sinha)
-
Rediff on Net, January 23, 2002
The attack on the American Centre
in Kolkata has resurrected an old case file for Sudhir Sinha, inspector
general of police, border range, Kutch. A kidnapping investigation in December
2000 had led Sinha to Aftab Ahmed Ansari, suspected to be the mastermind
behind the attack. Ansari and his associate Asif Razakhan had kidnapped
Bhaskar Parekh, a wealthy Rajkot jeweller, on November 11, 2000, releasing
him on December 1 that year for a hefty ransom of Rs 3 crore [Rs 30 million].
......
-
Jehad in retreat
-
Mubashir Zaidi, The Hindustan Times,
January 20, 2002
President General Pervez Musharraf's
speech on January 12 banning two jehadi groups, Lashkar-e-Tayyeba and Jaish-e-Mohammed,
two militant sectarian groups, Sipah-e-Sahaba and Tehrik-e-Jaferia, along
with an Islamic movement, Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammedi, reflected
the sentiments of the people of Pakistan in general. There is no doubt
in that. They have had enough of religious fanaticism. ......
-
ISI: bogey then and
a menace now
-
Rakesh Sinha, The Pioneer, January
17, 2002
Home Minister LK Advani has been
warning against the nefarious designs of the ISI ever since the NDA Government
came to power. However, the serious issue of national security was reduced
to a farce and deliberately trivialised by the so-called secular media
which artificially metamorphosised it into an ideological question. ......
-
Old ghosts, new hopes
-
Yashwant Raj, The Hindustan Times,
January 17, 2002
The mujahid had just returned from
10 gruelling days in the icy mountains. His sunken cheeks and tired eyes
showed he was hungry as hell and was dying to hit the bed. But no, he says,
he is willing to fight again with Pakistan. ......
-
The Silicon Tong
-
Ashok Parthasarathi, The Times of
India, January 21, 2002
A while ago, several national dailies
carried reports about the government having “discovered” that the Bangalore-based
Chinese company Huawei Technologies may have helped Pakistan and the Taliban
upgrade their telecom network with both hardware and software during 2000
and 2001. The reports go on to state that, according to intelligence sources,
all the company’s 300 software professionals are Chinese and that the chief
executive of the company was formerly an officer of the People’s Liberation
Army of China. ......
-
Six Blind Women and
the Elephant
-
Judith Lewis, LA Times, January
18 - 24, 2002
In the aftermath of September 11,
when the world became irremediably aware of the treatment of Afghan women
under the Taliban, journalists, scholars and feminists have been asking
whether the burka, the forced illiteracy, and the beating of women in the
street have anything to do with Islam. ......
-
India not to pull
out troops from the border
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 15, 2002
India today ruled out pulling out
its troops from the border unless Pakistan followed up on its stated intent
of putting an end to cross-border terrorism by taking concrete steps on
the ground. ......
-
British Muslims are
the second-largest benefactors of Kashmiri terrorist groups
-
Mark Franchetti and Nick Fielding,
The Times of India, January 15, 2002
British Muslims are believed to
have donated more than pounds 2 million last year to one of the Kashmiri
terrorist groups accused of carrying out December 13 attack on the Indian
parliament, in which 14 people were killed. ......
-
China to cooperate
with India in fighting terrorism
-
The Economic Times, January 15,
2002
Making a prime ministerial visit
after a gap of ten years, China, a close of ally of Pakistan, today agreed
to cooperate with India in combating terrorism as part of steps to strengthen
trust and understanding between the two countries. It also said that India
need not have anything to fear from India. ......
-
Army build-up may
have prompted tough talk
-
Our Political Bureau, The Economic
Times, January 14, 2002
India’s diplomatic initiatives
and military build-up may have forced General Pervez Musharraf to declare
that he will compel the Pakistani society to mend its uncivilised ways.
It may have also prompted him to act against the two major terror merchants
in the Valley - Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. But will that change
the situation in Jammu and Kashmir? ......
-
Blair laughs away
blush
-
The Telegraph, January 8, 2002
British Prime Minister Tony Blair
today brushed aside reports in the British media that some of the remarks
made by parliamentary affairs minister Pramod Mahajan had caused him embarrassment.
Blair quipped that he had become a connoisseur of Mahajan's speeches. ......
-
‘The government felt
enough was enough’ (Interview with LK Advani)
-
Pankaj Vohra, The Hindustan Times,
January 20, 2002
Q.: Do you think that the chances
of an armed conflict with Pakistan have reduced after your US visit?
A.: First, this is a question to
which my answer has been fundamentally different from what is expected.
For the past month or so, ever since Indian Government decided to recall
its High Commissioner from Islamabad and take a series of steps including
the deployment of the armed forces in a big way on the frontiers, the question
I have been asked is whether there will be a war ......
-
‘Bin Laden is the
Lenin of the great Islamist revolution’
-
Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, The Hindustan
Times, January 20, 2002
Yossef Bodanksy authored the first
definitive biography of Osama bin Laden. First printed in 1999, a new version
of Bin Laden: The Man Who Declared War on America is due this summer. This
summer Bodansky, director of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism
and Unconventional Warfare in Washington, will have completed 30 years
of studying Islamic terrorism. Here, he speaks about Bin Laden and September
11. ......
-
1965, 1971, 2002?
-
Abhijit Bhattacharyya, The Pioneer,
January 17, 2002
Assuming that an India-Pakistan
military confrontation owing to Pakistan-sponsored cross-border terrorism
is round the corner, it is time to make assessment of the combat ground
realities. It is also time to throw light on the escalating violence because
of Pakistan's peculiar brand of Islam based on distortion, fundamentalism,
misrule and terrorism. ......
-
Confused comrades
-
Editorial, The Pioneer, January
17, 2002
As it so often does, the Communist
Party of India (Marxist) has made pronouncements which are India's despair
and its enemy's delight. Thus its general secretary, Mr Harkishan Singh
Surjeet, whom neither age seems to wither nor experience make wise, stated
on Tuesday that the country "should have made a fresh study" of the situation
created by General Pervez Musharraf's address to the people of Pakistan
on Sunday instead of going ahead with its diplomatic offensive "which was
planned under different circumstances" ......
-
Will Bangladesh be
converted to a country devoid of Hindus?
-
Abdur Guffar Choudhuri, Jugantar,
January 12, 2002
I was suffering from flu for a
few days. Owing to the physical weakness I made up my mind not to write
for a couple of days. Instead, I would read the book ??The Clash of Civilisations-the
remaking of world order?? by S. P. Hantington. The book was presented to
me by a close friend. The contents were very interesting and curiously
informative. ......
-
‘Armed forces are
and should remain last resort, we have to keep talking’ (Interview with
Admiral Sushil Kumar)
-
Gaurav C. Sawant, The Indian Express,
January 6, 2002
Even if we go for war, it will
be for peace, says Admiral Sushil Kumar, who retired last week as the Chief
of Naval Staff (CNS). Even as tensions continue to simmer between India
and Pakistan mount and forces swell at the borders, Admiral Kumar cautions
that a ‘‘war is the final act only when all other options are exhausted’.
......
-
Singapore Sleepers
-
Simon Elegant, Time, January 21,
2002
Even by the dull standards of home
videos, the tape is notably unexciting: a shaky, amateurish pan along a
typically busy Singapore street, with views of a subway station and passing
commuters. A bland voice provides a running commentary in well-educated
English, a litany of street names and building numbers. ......
-
Eastern Exodus
-
Swapan Dasgupta, India Today, January
21, 2002
Rai Saheb Nagendra Kumar Sur was
a leading lawyer of Noakhali in East Bengal in 1946. When the pro-Pakistan
riots broke out that year, he was kidnapped by a Muslim League gang, taken
to a lonely spot and asked to dig his own grave. Sur told his abductors
that since he was going to be killed in any case, there was no reason why
he should oblige them. ......
-
The General’s sly
refrain
-
Wilson John, The Pioneer, January
19, 2002
As expected, it has taken only
less than a week to unravel the jihadi magic played by Pakistan President
Pervez Musharraf. Going by the reaction to his January 12 speech, the whole
world seems to be in a mood to give the General a standing ovation for
his "bold and visionary" approach to tackle terrorism. Here I would advise
a pause. ......
-
Let’s not ease the
pressure on Pakistan
-
Sumant Dhamija, The Pioneer, January
19, 2002
All of America's immediate short
term objectives in respect of Afghanistan achieved, and Pakistan, basking
in the afterglow of international attention and flush with funds, will
now shift its focus completely to Kashmir. Despite appearances, it will
continue to give concrete help to terrorist groups (including the remnants
of the disbanded Al Qaeda, Lashkar, Jaish, etc) for the purposes of cross-border
terrorism and/or fomenting mass agitations in the Valley. ......
-
Govt to crack down
on non-affiliated madrasas
-
PTI, January 19, 2002
The West Bengal government would
take tough measures against non-affiliated madrasas that came up in the
bordering districts of the state, the Chief Minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee
said on Saturday. ......
-
E-mail ties Richard
Reid to Pakistan
-
NBC, MSNBC And News Services, January
19, 2002
In e-mails apparently sent by shoe-bomb
suspect Richard Reid before he boarded a Paris-Miami flight, he indicated
he would be destroying an airplane and, after being thwarted from boarding
an earlier flight, asked one recipient in Pakistan if he should ''go again.''
The mail was found on the hard drives of computers used by the 28-year-old
Briton while he was in Paris, French news media reported Saturday. ......
-
Excelling at the
art of the strategic U-turn
-
Ayaz Amir, Dawn, January 18, 2002
When President Bush suggested recently
that Iran was protecting some Al-Qaida fighters, the Iranian foreign ministry
angrily rejected his remarks and said they were groundless. When at the
height of the war on Afghanistan, the United States asked Lebanon to freeze
the funds of Hezbollah, Lebanon rejected the demand. On what planet lies
Iran, on what planet Lebanon? ......
-
Writer stands by
controversial remarks on Hanuman
-
Deepshikha Ghosh, Indo-Asian News
Service, January 18, 2002
One man's freedom fighter can be
another man's terrorist, says a leading literary figure who is not apologising
for saying that Hindu monkey god Hanuman may have been a terrorist for
demon king Ravana. ......
-
Talks: Powell doesn’t
push but nudges hard
-
Express News Service, The Indian
Express, January 18, 2002
The onus is slowly shifting to
India to ease its pressure on Pakistan. US Secretary of State Colin Powell,
who flew in here this evening from Islamabad, said the US was ‘‘anxious’’
to see talks begin, including on Kashmir, and insisted that New Delhi respond
positively to the ‘‘important statement’’ made by General Pervez Musharraf
last week. ......
-
Musharraf’s Ban:
An Analysis
-
B.Raman, South Asia Analysis Group,
January 18, 2002
"Don't blame the common man if
he does not take the government's orders seriously. What happened to the
deweaponization ? The paramilitary forces looked on helplessly when
the TNSM activists drove past the check points with guns mounted on their
vehicles. ......
-
The Chip on China’s
Shoulder
-
Nicholas D. Kristof, The New York
Times, January 18, 2002
As soon as the two planes hit the
World Trade Center, Chinese Internet users logged into online chat rooms
to discuss the terror attacks. ......
-
Same old bluff and
bluster
-
T.V.R. Shenoy, The Indian Express,
January 17, 2002
We of the media, print or electronic,
are wordsmiths. Words are the tools of our trade, and so, perhaps, we occasionally
grant them an importance which they do not deserve. Thus it was with the
British and American media’s reporting of General Musharraf’s much-vaunted
speech of this past Saturday. ......
-
Anglican priest believes
West is underestimating zeal of Islam
-
The Washington Times, January 16,
2002
The Rev. Patrick Sookhdeo, an expert
on Islamic history and politics, directs the Institute for the Study of
Islam and Christianity in London and the Barnabas Fund, a charity. Of Pakistani
descent, he grew up as a Muslim in Guyana, then converted to Christianity,
eventually becoming an Anglican priest. ......
-
Religious parties
criticize decision
-
Our Staff Reporter, Dawn, January
14, 2002
Leaders of some religious parties
criticized on Sunday the President's address to the nation in which he
had announced putting a ban on extremist religious organizations. ......
-
Arabs Still Want
to Destroy Israel
-
Daniel Pipes, The Wall Street Journal,
January 18, 2002
Last June, Palestinian television
broadcast a sermon in a Gaza mosque in which the imam, Ibrahim Madi, made
the following statement: "God willing, this unjust state Israel will be
erased; this unjust state the United States will be erased; this unjust
state Britain will be erased." ......
-
No scope for mediation:
Oppn
-
HT Correspondent, The Hindustan
Times, January 14, 2002
Major political parties on Sunday
rejected Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's suggestion for a third party
mediation to resolve the Kashmir issue. ......
-
And The World
-
Editorial, The Telegraph, January
14, 2002
It is a pity that Mr Pervez Musharraf’s
radical plan to reform Pakistan’s state and society is not matched by an
equally far-reaching plan to make peace with India. Although the Pakistan
president’s speech did address many of the issues that have caused deep
concern to India in the recent past, it is unlikely that Mr Musharraf’s
words alone will lead to a rapid de-escalation of the tension that has
gripped south Asia over the past few weeks. ......
-
3 foreigners held
in Lucknow may have links with Hamas
-
Times News Network, The Times of
India, January 7, 2002
Two Jordanians and a Palestinian
national were arrested by the Special Task Force (STF) and Intelligence
Bureau (IB) on Saturday after they were found in possession of fake passports
and other documents. The three were residing at a rented house in Indiranagar
locality and are said to have links with the intelligence agency Hamas.
......
-
Muslim policemen
allowed to sport beards in Rajasthan
-
Prakash Bhandari, The Times of India,
January 7, 2002
Muslims in Rajasthan's police force
will now be able to keep a beard, but they will first have to seek the
permission of the police headquarters. The state government has decided,
on the recommendation of the state minority commission, to allow Muslim
policemen to keep a beard. ......
-
‘The BJP govt. is
only aiming at de-Macaulisation of education’
-
S. Balakrishnan, The Times of India,
January 7, 2002
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)
government at the Centre is under attack in the academic world for allegedly
trying to saffronise education. The party has been accused of trying to
rewrite Indian history to fit into the RSS world view. In this context,
Times News Network spoke to Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, director-general of the
Rambhau Mhalgi Prabodhini and an important member of the RSS think tank.
......
-
Who Is the Enemy?
-
Daniel Pipes, Commentary, January,
2002
With whom, or what, is the United
States at war? The answer to this question has far-reaching implications
for strategy, for public diplomacy, and for foreign and domestic policy
alike. It may seem that the answer is obvious; but it is not. ......
-
Moksha Mantra
-
Sheela Raval, India Today, January
21, 2002
Four years ago, Parinita Zia Nath
was more than happy with what she was doing-taking classes in scuba diving
at the Laccadives Dive Centre at Kadmat Island in Lakshadweep. With the
magical blue sea for a workplace and a boundless sense of adventure about
her, the 28-year-old instructor believed hers was a dream job. ......
-
Comrades in Alms
-
Uday Mahurkar, India Today, January
21, 2002
Insurgency has often thrived on
the misconception that outlawing a subversive organisation will quell rebellion.
The Government sought to feed this delusion in September last year when
it banned the Students' Islamic Movement of India (SIMI). Only for the
unsavoury truth to be reiterated when 123 SIMI activists were arrested
in Surat last week. ......
-
The Enemy Within
-
Sayantan Chakravarty, India Today,
January 21, 2002
Abdul Raouf Hawash is no prophet
of doom, just a man with his finger on the pulse of the terror trade. Nine
days after the attack on the World Trade Center (WTC), Hawash, a Sudanese
member of the Al Qaida, told interrogators in his high-security cell in
the Tihar Jail: "India will be the new destination for the Al Qaida. Watch
out." ......
-
A Hawk Among Eagles
-
Prabhu Chawla, India Today, January
21, 2002
George W. Bush: "Mr Advani, your
reputation has preceded you here. You stand up for what you believe. You
are a strong leader. We appreciate that and also those who speak their
mind." ......
-
General Janus
-
Tavleen Singh, India Today, January
21, 2002
Why do Indians find it so hard
to trust General Pervez Musharraf? Why do we not see him, as western leaders
seem to these days, as a genuine crusader against terrorism? Well, until
I spent some quality time watching Pakistan Television (PTV) last week
I was beginning to believe that we were perhaps judging the General too
harshly. ......
-
US-Pak ties: Huge
carrot vs tiny stick
-
Pioneer News Service, The Pioneer,
January 18, 2002
Few phrases are more frequently
used to describe political and diplomatic pressure than "carrot and stick.
The phrase can lend itself to virtually any interpretation, and the United
States'(US) current support for its "strong ally" Pakistan, has often been
seen in these terms. ......
-
Valuable records
on militant outfits gutted in Pakistan
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 17, 2002
The mysterious fire that broke
out in a 16-storey state owned building in Islamabad on Tuesday night reportedly
destroyed valuable records containing sensitive information on Islamic
militant outfits, some of them which were banned by the Pakistan government.
......
-
Fear and Flight in
Deadly Kashmir - Islamic Militants Brutalize Hindus, Dramatizing a Land’s
Divisions
-
Somini Sengupta, The New York Times,
January 16, 2002
One night two weeks ago, Gulshan
Kumar Sharma heard a knock at the door and a voice calling out, "Didi"
-- older sister, in Hindi. When he answered, the 28-year-old Hindu farmer
was gunned down on the threshold of his mud house. ......
-
Madarsa Debate Spills
Across Border
-
Rasheed Kidwai, The Telegraph, January
14, 2002
Opinion among Indian Muslims is
sharply divided after his historic speech where he promised to regulate
madarsas and mosques in a sweeping reform to separate politics from education
and religion. Conservative sections of Indian Muslims are wary, fearing
that the BJP-led government may embark on a similar course, leading to
a witch-hunt. ......
-
Goading the general
-
Editorial, The Hindustan Times,
January 9, 2002
Isn’t it amazing that a promise
to rein in terrorists has to be periodically extracted from Pervez Musharraf?
The latest to do so is British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who had to repeat
in front of the Pakistani dictator the commitment he had secured from him
about rejecting terrorism “in all its forms”. ......
-
Travails of a failed
State
-
Amulya Ganguli, The Hindustan Times,
January 9, 2002
Is Musharraf doing enough to wipe
out terrorists? Or is this the endgame for Pakistan? It used to be said
at the time of the Agra summit that the best hope for peace between India
and Pakistan is when a BJP government is in power in New Delhi and a military
dictator rules in Islamabad. ......
-
An epistle to Mr
Advani
-
K.P. Nayar, The Telegraph, January
9, 2002
You have begun what is unquestionably
the most profound and consequential interaction between our country and
the United States of America since the two meetings between the then president,
Bill Clinton, and the prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee — the first
in New Delhi in March 2000, the next here in Washington in September last
year. ......
-
Motives unlimited
-
Editorial, The Statesman, January
7, 2002
Once more an assault from Jyoti
Basu reinforced by Alimuddin Street speaking from commanding heights casts
doubts about Buddhadev Bhattacharya's being allowed to function. It revolves
around workers' rights of which Basu, now safely retired, has become an
ardent champion. This is becoming a regular affair and is made worse by
dissenting voices. ......
-
It’s tough being
Pak envoy’s daughters
-
Shobita Dhar, The Indian Express,
January 6, 2002
This the time of year Maha and
Nilofer should be enjoying the most. One works with UNESCO, the other is
a consultant on women and development issues and both had an active social
fife. Suddenly, there's a chill in the air and it's not just the weather.
......
-
Rape of Unbelievers
in Islam - Mindset of Pakistanis favouring 1971 Genocide
-
Abul Kasem, www.golshan.com
This re-count starts when I was
in Thailand in 1973 to do my post graduate studies in Engineering. The
Institution was AIT and being an international institution for post graduate
study there were students from many parts of the world, though the majority
were from the Asian countries. There was sizable number of Bangladeshi
as well as Pakistani and Indian students. ......
-
Denial: A River in
Egypt
-
Daniel Pipes & Jonathan Schanzer,
The New York Post, January 14, 2002
You may think you know what happened
on Jan. 3, when Israeli Navy Seals seized the Karine A, a cargo ship carrying
50 tons of contraband Katyusha rockets, anti-tank missiles, mortars, mines,
explosives, and sniper rifles. ......
-
U.S. Holding British
Subject in Detention at Cuba Base
-
Katharine Q. Seelye and Thom Shanker,
The New York Times, January 13, 2002
The United States has notified
Britain that a British subject is one of the 20 detainees from Afghanistan
being held at the United States Naval Base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba,
a Foreign Office spokesman in London said today. ......
-
Pakistani Leader
Pledges to Bar Any Groups Linked to Terror
-
Erik Eckholm, The New York Times,
January 13, 2002
Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez
Musharraf, pledged tonight that his country would not be used as a base
for terrorism of any kind and announced a broad ban on militant groups
accused of fomenting violence in Indian-held Kashmir, as well as at home.
......
-
Hindutva is Elst-where
-
The Pioneer, January 13, 2002
According to a body of opinion,
the handling of the KN Govindacharya affair by the RSS last week was symptomatic
of a malaise that afflicts the Sangh parivar. True, a cadre-based political
formulation demands that an individual be subservient to the organisation,
but when this "cardinal principle" becomes overbearing to the extent that
any voice of dissent is treated as rebellion ......
-
Getting real
-
Editorial, The Hindustan Times,
January 12, 2002
The hasty acquisition of fighter
aircraft from China seems to be Pakistan’s only consolation at present.
Otherwise, it appears to be very much on the losing side where diplomacy
is concerned. ......
-
Musharraf: Another
Posture
-
B.Raman, South Asia Analysis Group,
January 11, 2002
Writing in its issue of October
4 to 10, 2001, "Independent", a weekly journal of Pakistan, quoted an unidentified
leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami as saying as follows: " The Pakistani Army
is jehadi by philosophy. Its hidden policy is still pro-jehad and
pro-Taliban. What we see is just a posture and not a policy. The
military Government's support to the US is just a posture." ......
-
ISI trail takes police
to Burrabazar
-
A Staff Reporter, The Telegraph,
January 11, 2002
The police today claimed they had
obtained several leads that linked Mohammad Dilshad, the ISI operative
arrested from Siliguri, to his network in Calcutta. ......
-
Transcript of Advani
on Newshour today
-
Lal Krishna Advani, PBS Online,
January 10, 2002
RAY SUAREZ: Tensions between India
and Pakistan have been rising sharply ever since Kashmiri militants attacked
India's parliament building in New Delhi on December 13. Both sides have
been mobilizing their military forces along the borders, and there has
been constant shelling between the armies. ......
-
World’s no.1 terrorist
state
-
A.R. Kanangi, Afternoon Despatch
& Courier, January 5, 2002
Pakistan's president Musharraf
can no longer deny it: the world can see skeleton after skeleton coming
out of Pakistan's terrorist cupboard. ......
-
Musharraf and cross-border
terrorism
-
Hiranmay Karlekar, The Pioneer,
January 11, 2002
How much can India rely on President
Pervez Musharraf ending the proxy war through cross-border terrorism that
Pakistan has been waging against it for over two decades? Those who say
that it can do so to a very great extent, point to the steps he has already
taken and his promise to do much more, including the announcement of a
total plan "in a few days". ......
-
“India shall not
take another Pak betrayal”
-
T.V. Parasuram, www.expressindia.com,
January 11, 2002
Home Minister L.K. Advani said
on Thursday that India would not take "another betrayal" this time by Pakistan.
Speaking to the media in Washington, he said, Pakistan has responded each
time to India's "immense restraint" with an act of betrayal, with state-sponsored
terrorism. "It has breached the limits of our endurance. We shall not take
another betrayal this time around," Advani added. ......
-
India walks the tightrope
with Israel
-
Ramananda Sengupta, Rediff on Net,
January 11, 2002
"We cannot accept that Israel,
with its plots and in this unusual manner, becomes involved in regional
affairs." So said Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Sadak Harazi on Tuesday,
expressing concern over the "real purpose" of Israeli Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres's three-day visit to India earlier this week. ......
-
Captive Lashkar cadres
say ISI instrumental in recruiting them
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 11, 2002
The ISI is instrumental in recruiting
terrorists into Lashkar-e-Toiba and training camps for militants are being
run in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), according to two arrested terrorists.
......
-
‘Heads I win, tails
you lose’
-
ML Kotru, The Pioneer, January 11,
2002
If terrorism be terrorism, how
come terrorism against the US is to be accepted as more heinous than terrorism
against India? But the question is why should anyone try to draw a distinction
between the attacks on New York's twin towers and the attacks on the Indian
Parliament? British Prime Minister Tony Blair was about to fall for this
fine distinction when he made that unfortunate off-the-cuff reference to
Pakistan having a strong case on Kashmir, even as he opposed terrorism
in any form. ......
-
And now, ISI agents
in the NE monitor troop movements
-
Press Trust of India, www.expressindia.com,
January 11, 2002
Pakistan's intelligence agency,
Inter Services Intelligence, was monitoring movement of Indian troops from
the North Eastern region and North Bengal to other parts of the country
in view of prevailing tension in the western sector, defence sources said
on Thursday. ......
-
Pak shoud give up
terror as state policy: Bush
-
The Times of India, January 10,
2002
US President George W Bush on Thursday
told Home Minister L K Advani that he expects Pakistan President Pervez
Musharraf to abandon terror as an instrument of state policy. ......
-
India wary of ‘nice
guy’ Musharraf
-
Siddharth Srivastava, The Times
of India, January 10, 2002
There is a sense of anticipation
here in India as Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf prepares to deliver
possibly his biggest speech "that could change the course of relations
between the two countries." ......
-
Powell, Advani disagree
on Musharraf
-
Chidanand Rajghatta, The Times of
India, January 10, 2002
US Secretary of State Colin Powell
will visit India and Pakistan next week amid realisation here that tensions
in the region are not about to abate. ......
-
Questions and doubts
surface in US war on terrorism
-
The Times of India, January 10,
2002
In particular, the reliance on
Afghan forces to fight Taliban and Al-Qaeda troo