This Months Article

Starting: Sun July 1, 2001
Ending: Tue July 31, 2001

Messages: 225

• Sri Lanka's Buddhist clergy want to ban conversion to Christianity
• World News from Radio Australia, July 31, 2001

>>> Sri Lanka's influential Buddhist clergy have called for laws to ban Christian conversions spreading in poverty-stricken rural villages and vowed collective action against the practice. ......
 
• Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan wins appeal against British ban
• The Associated Press, abcnews.go.com, July 31, 2001

>>> LONDON (AP) Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan won his appeal Tuesday against a government ban preventing him from visiting the United Kingdom. Justice Michael Turner did not immediately disclose his reasoning in overturning the ban, imposed by former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's government in 1986. ......
 
• Kashmir: stuck in a legal bind?
• Ijaz Hussain, Dawn, July 30, 2001

>>> Life for Pakistan with reference to the Kashmir dispute for a long time was a simple affair as the relevant UN Kashmir resolutions, in its estimation, provided the legal framework for its settlement. ......
 
• Not Arafat's Fault?
• William Safire, The New York Times, July 30, 2001

>>> The negotiators of the process that led to the terrorist war against Israel have independently reached consensus on how to protect their posteriors: because everybody was responsible for last year's failure at Camp David, nobody can be held accountable. ......
 
• Israel Needs a True Partner for Peace
• Ehud Barak, The New York Times, July 30, 2001

>>> Eight years after the Oslo accords, amid a wave of Palestinian terror and violence and without a peace agreement, Israel should ask itself, Do we have a partner? What is the future of the peace process? ......
 
• Pak army trains 100 young girls in two PoK camps
• Sanjeev Pargal, The Daily Excelsior, July 30, 2001

>>> Giving a new dimension to the ongoing militancy in Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan army has started training young girls in the training camps of Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) for pushing them into the State shortly. ......
 
• Should Kashmir be handled internally, the Punjab way?
• The Times of India, July 29, 2001

>>> It is unfortunate, but inescapable: all summits, talks and 'peace initiatives' not withstanding, the conflict in Kashmir will, eventually, have to be resolved in Kashmir, either by the terrorists, or by those who confront and eventually defeat them. The 'peace processes' of the recent past have only resulted in more people being killed. ......
 
• Back to the future: TV channels tread mythical route to viwership success
• Sujoy Bosu, The Times of India, July 29, 2001

>>> Steven Spielberg could well adopt it as his next magnum opus. After all, the ingredients are all in place. First came the stars, albeit of the legendary variety. Then followed the wars between them. And now we are witnessing the return of the stars, along with their wars. ......
 
• Can one 'ignore' visible dangers?
• A.B.S. Jafri, Dawn, July 28, 2001

>>> It is some comfort to note that President Pervez Musharraf has taken note of the existence of what he calls the "hawks." Then follows cold comfort. He advises the people to "ignore" them. ......
 
• Breaking the logjam
• Anwar Syed, Dawn, July 28, 2001

>>> During the weeks before the Agra summit, Pakistani and Indian spokesmen, including the two heads of government, reiterated their traditional positions on Kashmir but also emphasized repeatedly that they would be open-minded, flexible, willing to engage in the process of give-and-take, ready to discard the old texts and explore new paths to peace. ......
 
• The Menace of Jihad Suicide
• Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, July 27, 2001

>>> Soon after an EgyptAir plane crashed into the Atlantic shortly after takeoff from New York in October 1999, killing 217, the plane's copilot came under suspicion of intentionally bringing down the aircraft. ......
 
• Pak propaganda can create problems: PM
• Our Special Correspondent, The Hindu, July 27, 2001

>>> Kargil Vijay  Diwas today saw the Prime Minister, Mr.  Atal Behari Vajpayee, warn Pakistan that its  propaganda about divisions within the Indian  camp at the Agra summit could create  problems for future talks. ......
 
• Reconstructing the Agra summit
• Atul Aneja, The Hindu, July 27, 2001

>>> In the days and weeks before his visit, I had occasion to exchange views and perspectives - individually and collectively - with leaders of political parties, eminent personalities, media repres ......
 
• Recent Summit level talks held between India and Pakistan in Agra
• Statement by PM in Lok Sabha, July 24, 2001

>>> In the days and weeks before his visit, I had occasion to exchange views and perspectives - individually and collectively - with leaders of political parties, eminent personalities, media representatives and intellectuals, on the future prospects for India-Pakistan relations. ......
 
• Kashmir - Pakistan's one-track agenda
• Anil Dhar, Mid-day, July 23, 2001

>>> Aakar Patel, in an otherwise cogent '2 reasons the summit could fail' (Mid Day, July 16), draws one debatable conclusion: that had India gone along with Pakistan and recognised Kashmir as the main issue between India and Pakistan the consequences for India would have been minimal. ......
 
• Pandits demand probe into Musharraf-Hurriyat meeting
• Herald, July 19, 2001

>>> The Panun Kashmir today, demanded an inquiry into what transpired at the closed-door meeting between Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the Hurriyat leader's at High Commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi's reception on July 14. ......
 
• Sibal's arguments could spell trouble for Sanjay Dutt
• Prasad Patil, Mid-Day, July 19, 2001

>>> In the ongoing bail plea of Bharat Shah, who is being represented by noted lawyer and politician Kapil Sibal, there is uncertainty over the possibility of Shah getting bail. However, many feel that Sanjay Dutt could definitely get into trouble after Sibal's arguments. ......
 
• A strange peace of patience
• Raja M, The Statesman, July 19, 2001

>>> The Agra summit gifted sobering lessons. But how many listened? Another summit. Another flock of frail expectations declared dead, or considered as hope gasping in ICU. One tribe says the summit dropped the promise of golden eggs in future. ......
 
• Terrorists Threaten To Take Jehad Beyond The Valley, Attack Govt Establishments
• Political Bureau, The Economics Times, July 18, 2001

>>> The government fears an escalation in jehadi violence in Jammu and Kashmir in the wake of the failure of Vajpayee-Musharraf talks last night. ......
 
• Pressure from Pak ultras made Gen abandon Agra
• Bharti Jain, The Economics Times, July 18, 2001

>>> General Pervez Musharraf virtually walked out on his host by repeatedly seeking to negate India's position on the contentious issues of cross-border terrorism while a joint declaration was being finalised in Agra. ......
 
• Destination Dubai : Dawood takes plane out of Pak
• S. Balakrishnan, The Times of India, July 17, 2001

>>> Was President Pervez Musharraf telling the truth when he told Union home minister L.K. Advani that Dawood Ibrahim was not in Pakistan? Sources in the home ministry told this newspaper that the Pakistan President was right. A few hours before Gen Musharraf left for New Delhi on Saturday, Dawood, with Tiger Memon in tow, flew out of Karachi and headed for Singapore. ......
 
• Looking at the Agra prospects
• Shahid Scheik, Dawn, July 15, 2001

>>> In the run-up to the Musharraf-Vajpayee summit political comments in Pakistan have been marked by both excessive optimism and abundant caution in regard to the Kashmir dispute. Among the optimists, three schools of reasoning have emerged. ......
 
• An Appeal to the President of Pakistan
• Sajan K. George, The Examiner, July 14, 2001

>>> We appreciate your recent sharp admonishing of "Jihad Groups" in Pakistan and reminding them that it is 'Un-Islamic' to malign a particular people or country and your bold step in reducing defence spending in the current budget. ......
 
• Hurriyat kettle on boil, Govt, NDA to stay away
• Express News Service, The Indian Express, July 12, 2001

>>> Neither the government, nor the NDA will sip tea at the Pakistan high commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi's party in honour of President Pervez Musharraf. It was decided today to boycott the tea party in protest against the exclusion of all from Jammu and Kashmir, with the sole exception being the Hurriyat Conference. ......
 
• Hope floats for families of POWs in Pak jails
• Sreelatha Menon, The Indian Express, July 11, 2001

>>> A summit like Agra has kept the hopes of Suman Purohit alive for the past 30 years. Purohit has been staying in Agra ever since her husband Fl Lt Manohar Purohit went missing in the 1971 Indo-Pak war and was reported to have been imprisoned in a Pakistani jail along with 53 other war prisoners. ......
 
• Thodi si to lift karade
• TCA Srinivasa-Raghava, Business Standard, June 4, 2001

>>> The recent Vajpayee initiative on, well, what - Kashmir, Pakistan, both? - has reminded me of a song by the young Canada-based Pakistani singer, Adnan Sami. The song has a mesmerising rhythm and goes: ......
 
• 14 killed in J&K, Pak shelling in border
• The Times of India, July 31, 2001

>>> Fourteen people have been killed in fresh violence in Kashmir, the police said on Monday as the army reported Pakistani shelling across the border. ......
 
• Pak to nominate Army General as PoK President
• The Indian Express, July 30, 2001

>>> In a surprise move, Pakistan's military regime has decided to nominate a high-ranking Army general, due to retire shortly from service, for the post of president of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), media reports said here today. ......
 
• Mexico Debating Over Religious Images in Public Offices
• Zenit.org, July 30, 2001

>>> Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera spoke out for religious liberty, amid a controversy over whether religious images should be allowed to be displayed in public offices. ......
 
• Israeli police storm mosque
• The Indian Express, July 30, 2001

>>> Hundreds of Israeli police today stormed the Al-aqsa mosque compound, Jerusa-lem's most contested religious site, and fired stun grenades at Muslims who were pelting stones at Jews worshipping at the nearby Western Wall. ......
 
• PM's Islamabad visit on: 'I don't work under any pressure'
• Express News Service, The Indian Express, July 30, 2001

>>> A Day after delivering a hawkish speech to the members of the BJP national executive, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said he was not under any pressure from either his party or any constituent of the NDA to call off his Islamabad visit. ......
 
• Special powers: Centre lobs ball into Farooq court
• Manoj Mitta, The Indian Express, July 30, 2001

>>> In a significant initiative on Kashmir since the failed Agra Summit, the Centre has asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah to propose a package of ''special powers'' for the state instead of the pre-1953 level of autonomy which his Assembly demanded through a resolution last year. ......
 
• One militant killed, 3 still holed up in Badgam shrine
• Mukhtar Ahmad, Rediff on Net, July 30, 2001

>>> Security Forces on Monday morning laid a siege around a shrine at village Goigam near Magam, 23 km from the summer capital Srinagar, where four militants were holed up. ......
 
• Pak afraid of people-to-people link: Abdullah
• Binoo Joshi, Rediff on Net, July 30, 2001

>>> Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah has said Pakistan had spurned Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's offer of greater people-to-people interaction, as this would expose its propaganda against India. ......
 
• Top Pakistani defence official shot dead
• Rediff on Net, July 30, 2001

>>> Gunmen shot dead a top Pakistani defence official outside his home in the southern port city of Karachi, the Online news agency reported. ......
 
• India's next satellite could be for spying: US weekly
• Rediff on Net, July 30, 2001

>>> Packed with advanced technologies and a high resolution camera, India's next satellite mission later this year could be a run-up to placing a spy satellite in orbit, a leading American space weekly has said. ......
 
• US applies pressler amendment against Pak
• The Daily Excelsior, July 30, 2001

>>> The United States applied the pressler amendment, cutting off aid to Pakistan for violating its nuclear proliferation law, after ouch "hedging and fussing" as then President George Bush had scant room to avoid imposing sanctions, a former US Ambassador Dennis Kux says. ......
 
• Israeli police storm mosque
• The Indian Express, July 30, 2001

>>> Hundreds of Israeli police today stormed the Al-aqsa mosque compound, Jerusa-lem's most contested religious site, and fired stun grenades at Muslims who were pelting stones at Jews worshipping at the nearby Western Wall. ......
 
• Keep Talking to Pakistan
• K Subrahmanyam, The Times Of India, July 30, 2001

>>> Barring the views of some fringe elements, there is unanimity in this country on the imperative need to engage Pakistan. This is also influenced by the fact that India and its neighbour are nuclear weapon states with mutual hostility going back to 1940 when the two-nation theory was proclaimed in the Lahore resolution. ......
 
• Prisoners Of Agenda
• Sharda Ugra, India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> To some, cliches do not apply. Time does not heal wounds as efficiently as platitudes promise nor do memories and grief fade together in slow and perfect synchronisation. ......
 
• People's verdict: Meet again, but be careful
• Pramit Pal Chaudhari and Yashwant Raj, The Hindustan Times, July 29, 2001

>>> Don't worry about great expectations when India and Pakistan get together to talk of cabbages and kings. Media and government can beat the drum as hard as they like - the Indian public knows a summit between these two rivals will yield less not more.  However, the majority also believe that despite all this, New Delhi and Islamabad need to keep talking.  ......
 
• Al-Badr, Lashkar planning to attack House
• Bharati Sinha, thenewspapertoday.com, July 29, 2001

>>> The Delhi Police has got intelligence information that groups like Al Badar or Laskhar-e-Toiba could attack Parliament during the current session, taking advantage of the uncertainty created over the security environment in the VIP area in Delhi following the gunning down of Lok Sabha Member Phoolan Devi last week. ......
 
• Musharraf cannot be trusted
• The Week, July 29, 2001

>>> Two days after the talks between India and Pakistan broke down at historic Agra, Sofres Mode interviewers fanned out in New Delhi to gauge the mood of the people.  They spoke to 220 adult males across the city to gather what they thought about the summit and its fallout. ......
 
• 'Pak almost got terrorist label'
• The Times of India, July 28, 2001

>>> Pakistan came within an inch of being labelled by the US as a state sponsor of terrorism but escaped by giving assurances which it promptly broke, a former senior US diplomat has said. ......
 
• Only an alliteration: US on the K-word dispute
• Chidanand Rajghatta, The Times of India, July 28, 2001

>>> President George Bush's off-hand mention of Kashmir in a speech to American troops in Kosovo was no more than an alliterative reference espousing US global values and held no special meaning or message to India and Pakistan, US officials said on Friday. ......
 
• Sydney temple disallowed public worship
• Paritosh Parasher, Rediff on Net, July 28, 2001

>>> A newly constructed Hindu temple has been denied permission for public worship or social functions under a city council decision labelled as blatant racism. ......
 
• Muslim woman's plea to ban polygamy makes SC take action
• PTI, India.com, July 27, 2001

>>> The Supreme Court (SC) has issued notice to the Solicitor General of India (SGI) on a petition filed by a divorced Muslim woman seeking ban on polygamy prevalent in the community and divorce by way of triple talaq. ......
 
• Many States Ceding Regulations to Church Groups
• Pam Belluck, The New York Times, July 27, 2001

>>> State officials in Missouri were distressed earlier this year when they received a complaint that a religious boarding school in the rural town of Bethel was punishing students by forcing them to muck out deep pits of manure. ......
 
• Kashmir in US eyes in '71
• M. V. Kamat, The Gomantak Times, July 27, 2001

>>> But for United States intervention in 1971 India could have taken over Pakistan occupied Kashmir and resolved the Kashmir issue once and for all. The United States prevented that from happening and Henry Kissinger's book 'White House Years' recounts the story in detail. ......
 
• Needed, summit with a structured agenda
• Brij Bhardwaj, The Pioneer, July 27, 2001

>>> Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf is either naive or he has very low opinion of the power of understanding of Indians. Otherwise there is no rationale for his insistence to describe crossborder terrorism in Kashmir as "freedom struggle". ......
 
• China takes note of Indo-Israeli 'Phalcon' deal
• The Times of India, July 27, 2001

>>> China is uneasy about a reported Indo-Israeli deal under which India will purchase three 'Phalcon' early-warning aircraft, a sophisticated force multiplier which was denied to Beijing under intense US pressure in 2000. ......
 
• Production of Agni missile begins: Govt
• The Times of India, July 26, 2001

>>> The government said on Wednesday it had begun production of the intermediate range ballistic missile Agni and the nuclear-capable missile would become part of its military arsenal during 2001/02. ......
 
• Agra Flawed from Start Pakistan is the Real Core Issue
• Manoj Joshi, The Times of India, July 26, 2001

>>> The last volley on the Agra summit was fired on Saturday when 15 dirt-poor farmers in Doda district were gunned down by general Pervez Musharraf's ``freedom fighters''. Each shot is a nail in the coffin of those who say that the summit was a success, and of those who so casually ignore the reality of Pakistan-aided terrorism. ......
 
• India needs to be managed 'astutely': Pentagon study
• Rediff on Net, July 26, 2001

>>> A Pentagon study, while analysing the balance of power scenario has said 'astute management' of US relations with Russia, China and India may prevent any regional conflict before 2025. ......
 
• Chandra Shekhar loses the 500-acre 'gift' he got as PM
• Express News Service, The Indian Express, July 25, 2001

>>> The Supreme Court today ordered the Haryana Government to take back the 500 acres of forest land Chandra Shekhar had added to his controversial Bhondsi Ashram after he became Prime Minister in 1990. ......
 
• Killings up during J&K ceasefire, women being trained in terrorism
• The Daily Excelsior, July 25, 2001

>>> Young women are likely to be employed as overground workers by the Pakistan's ISI to take part in intelligence activities in India, according to intelligence reports available with India. ......
 
• KL may detain Muslims who renounce faith
• The Straits Times, July 25, 2001

>>> The government in mostly Muslim Malaysia is considering a new law that could mean detaining people who renounce Islam in rehabilitation centres, the Bernama national news agency reported on Wednesday. ......
 
• Some NGOs helping pro-Pak elements, say security forces
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 25, 2001

>>> The last few years have seen the mushrooming of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) all over the state. Most of them have been founded by individuals or groups to spread education, awareness about health problems and such other noble causes. ......
 
• The child within: Class explores teachings of Buddhism
• Barrie Page Hill, The Dallas Morning News, July 24, 2001

>>> When Nikki Meyer eased into the dental chair, the 12-year-old had Buddhist meditation on her mind. ......
 
• Musharraf And Terrorism
• B.Raman, July 23, 2001

>>> In our earlier paper titled "Musharraf, bin Laden & the Lashkar" disseminated on July 1, we had, inter alia, stated as follows about the links of Gen.Pervez Musharraf, the self-reinstated Chief of the Army Staff (COAS), the self-styled Chief Executive and the self-promoted President of Pakistan, with Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM), terrorist organisations active in Jammu & Kashmir (J&K). ......
 
• The General's breakfast that was not meant to be served live
• Siddharth Varadarajan, The Times of India, July 22, 2001

>>> Was it serendipity or grand design that led to President Pervez Musharraf's controversial breakfast meeting with Indian editors last Monday being broadcast on TV soon after? Since Gen Musharrafs televised remarks are being widely blamed for vitiating the atmosphere at Agra and undermining the prospects for a declaration, how they came to be broadcast is a matter of considerable interest. ......
 
• Hindus follow strict guidelines for renovations, tower additions to temple
• Kristen Holland, The Dallas Morning News, July 21, 2001

>>> A decade after moving into the D/FW Hindu Temple in Irving, members have decided it's time the brick-and-concrete building looked like a traditional temple in India. ......
 
• Hindus celebrate their Heritage in a historic event - Hindu Sangam
• www.hindusangam.org, July 21, 2001

>>> The Hindu Sangam, a confluence of Hindus of the Bay Area, was a grand success.  It exceeded the expectations of its organizers, drawing about 12,000 to 15,000 Hindus in a daylong program on Saturday, July 21st, 2001, at the Milpitas High School, Milpitas, California. ......
 
• Desperate Musharraf insisted on 'dispute': PM
• Smita Gupta, The Times of India, July 20, 2001

>>> In what is seen as a damage-control exercise, Prime Minister Vajpayee on Wednesday night gave his NDA colleagues a blow-by-blow account of President Musharraf's courtesy call on him on July 16, as well as a chronological account of the reasons why the summit failed to produce even a joint statement. ......
 
• Blackwell's brief: Transform ties with India
• Chidanand Rajghatta, The Times of India, July 19, 2001

>>> President Bush is sending his new envoy to New Delhi this week with very clear instructions: Transform the relationship with India. ......
 
• The Vedic solution
• Rehan Ansari, Mid-Day, July 19, 2001

>>> So in the last column I bitched about Pervez Musharraf. No surprise as one of the themes of this space is debunking the Pakistani elite's mindset. ......
 
• An Appeal to the President of Pakistan
• Sajan K. George, The Examiner, July 14, 2001

>>> We appreciate your recent sharp admonishing of "Jihad Groups" in Pakistan and reminding them that it is 'Un-Islamic' to malign a particular people or country and your bold step in reducing defence spending in the current budget. ......
 
• The Commando's Mind
• Prabhu Chawla, Raj Chengappa and Shishir Gupta, India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> His agenda was clear: Kashmir or nothing. India initially thought he was posturing. ......
 
• Hit and Run
• Prabhu Chawla, Raj Chengappa and Shishir Gupta, India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> One of the first things a commando learns in military school is that a battle never follows a script. Audacious dare-devilry must inevitably be accompanied by constant improvisation. The greater the surprise the more the chances of success. ......
 
• Mother Inspiration
• Kanchan Sushil Maselekar, India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> In his small living room on Bajirao Road in Pune, Milind Sabnis sits surrounded by audio cassettes. He is obviously a music lover and those who know him confirm that he is obsessed with the tapes. But there's a difference. Unlike most who plump for a certain type of music, perhaps Hindustani or classical or pop, perhaps a combination of rock and jazz, Sabnis is stuck, like a faulty gramophone, on one song. ......
 
• Step Three First
• Tavleen Singh, India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> It might seem an odd thing to say with the air still thick with debris from Agra's failed summit but, personally, I think we could have in General Pervez Musharraf our first honest interlocutor from the other side. Let me explain. ......
 
• VIS-A-VIS
• India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> "How can you call it a jihad when 25 crore Indian Muslims are not supporting such an action?"
Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Imam of Jama Masjid ......
 
• India Said No
• India Today, July 30, 2001

>>> Shri Abdul Sattar: Link settlement of the Kashmir dispute with progress on normalization of bilateral ties.
Shri Jaswant Singh: Goes against India's stand that relations should not be held hostage to the Kashmir issue.
......
 
• Kashmiris In Pakistan
• Editorial, The Navhind Times, July 24, 2001

>>> General Pervez Musharraf's game is out: he will help the terrorist groups step up bloodshed in Jammu and Kashmir, while he sends an official invitation to the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee to visit Pakistan, "reiterating" his belief in resolution of all outstanding issues with India through dialogue. The hypocrisy is barbaric, to say the least. ......
 
• Counter, then talk
• Editorial, The Pioneer, July 24, 2001

>>> With two massacres-one of Amarnath yatris, the other of innocent civilians in Doda-and unprovoked artillery fire at the Line of Control, Pakistan has made its intentions loud and clear. ......
 
• The failure of anti-caste movements
• T. R. Anandan, The Hindu, July 24, 2001

>>> The curse of the caste system as it obtains now or as developed in the course of the past several thousand years is not peculiar to Dravidian or non-Dravidian States. It was and continues to be very much alive throughout the country with all its ugly trappings. Movements to eradicate the system have taken shape in various parts of the country at various times but have failed to continue as a sustained effort. ......
 
• Jaswant defines India's 'Kashmir' agenda
• Indrani Begchi, The Economic Times, July 13, 2001

>>> India today laid out the bottomline for the weekend's summit, sending a dear message to Pakistan that it could not be on Islamabad's terms, and for this it was willing to face failure at Agra. In equally unambiguous tones, India also communicated that the onus for salvaging success from the summit would rest with Pakistan. ......
 
• BJP blames Musharraf for J & K killings
• Pioneer News Service, The Pioneer, July 23, 2001

>>> Sharpening its attack on Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded that Government should take a tough stand to highlight Islamabad sponsored terrorism in the country. ......
 
• Pak Army against Qayyum as PoK PM
• The Indian Express, July 23, 2001

>>> Efforts to form a new government in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) after recent legislative Assembly elections suffered a setback as the Pakistan Army openly expressed its Opposition to former prime minister Sardar Abdul Qayyum Khan taking over the post for another term. ......
 
• 'Kashmiri militants can't function without Pak army'
• The Daily Excelsior, July 23, 2001

>>> Militant outfits carrying out violent activities in Jammu and Kashmir have been created and run by Pakistan's secret agencies, a top leader of Pakistan's Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam, which claims to be non-militant, has claimed. ......
 
• Musharraf 'biggest hurdle' in solving Kashmir issue: PML
• The Indian Express, July 23, 2001

>>> Deposed prime minister Nawaz Sharif-led Pakistan Muslim league has said Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf was turning out to be the ''biggest hurdle'' in finding a solution to the Kashmir issue and accused him of sabotaging the Lahore peace process. ......
 
• The Moment Of Truth
• Prem Shankar Jha, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> As the Musharraf visit draws near, the feeling that this is a defining moment in Indo-Pak relations and that next weekend could decide the future of both countries perhaps for all time pervades the entire subcontinent. ......
 
• The Thousand-Year War With Ourselves
• Zia Mian, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> For 30 years, Pakistani leaders have believed their salvation lay in one single thing: the Bomb. Now, once the idea has been rendered into reality, it is plain the Bomb has failed Pakistan. It has been unable to cement the fissures in a crumbling state and society fast approaching ruin. Rather, it has hastened the collapse by removing all illusions. ......
 
• Pause Button On An Old Tunic
• Najum Mushtaq, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> Foreigners are often surprised by the lack of public resistance to military intervention in Pakistani politics. They shouldn't be. Pakistani society has developed a socio-psychological subservience to the men in uniform. It's the result of a long history of indoctrination and less subtle means of cooption by successive military rulers. ......
 
• The Emperor's New-Look Clothes
• Hasan-Askari Rizvi, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> General Pervez Musharraf is the fourth serving army chief to assume power in Pakistan. The October 1999 coup was an institutional response by the army to what the top commanders viewed as then prime minister Nawaz Sharif's efforts to divide them and control the army, quite in the same way as he had weakened Parliament and divided the Supreme Court. ......
 
• Clotted Streams
• Arif Jamal, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> On July 1, 1980, Pakistan's Shia clergy converged on the administrative city of Islamabad to protest against the pro-Sunni policies of the military ruler of Pakistan, Gen Zia-ul-Haq. For nearly three consecutive days, the Shia clergy occupied the building blocks housing the secretariat of the federal government as well as the streets in Islamabad. ......
 
• "We Still Have To Take Revenge For East Pakistan"
• Amir Mir, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> Prof Hafiz Saeed, chief of the Lashkar-e-Toiba, will brook no compromise on the Kashmir issue and promises dire consequences for saboteurs. Nor will his jehad end after Kashmir, revenge for East Pakistan is next. Excerpts from a telephonic interview with Amir Mir in Lahore: ......
 
• Travels In Veiled Reality
• Tavleen Singh, India Today, July 23, 2001

>>> They use the word despondent a lot in Pakistan these days. They say it in Urdu, mayoosi, which adds a deeper meaning because it hints at defeat and a loss of hope. It comes up so many times in so many conversations that, by the end of my second day in Lahore, mayoosi seems unshakeably around me like sadness or a malignancy. ......
 
• Home Truth
• Sandeep Unnithan and Anjali Cordeiro, India Today, July 23, 2001

>>> If it wasn't for the battered sign that reads "Photography is strictly prohibited", it would perhaps be an ideal location for a B-grade horror film. Situated in a leafy lane opposite the Maharashtra chief minister's residence, the single-storey, fading white, colonial bungalow is overrun with creepers and weeds. Its only residents are bats that fly out and attack baskets of fruit vendors and snakes that have forced neighbours to build higher walls. ......
 
• Saving Disgrace
• Salman Shah, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> The popular perception is that Pakistan's economy is in dire straits, virtually on the edge of collapse. It is believed the economy needs massive international support for survival and growth, that the country has been living beyond its means and needs to greatly tighten its belt. This impression is probably reinforced by the presence of a stringent imf programme, which has been going on and off for almost the last decade. ......
 
• Modernity, Hijab-Wrapped
• Mariana Baabar, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> Will the real Pakistani woman please stand up? Err... are you talking about the woman in jeans, hip and suave, cool and confident, blowing smoke rings in the rarefied air of the elite social circuit, capable of holding her own anywhere in the globalised village? ......
 
• Gunpowder In Their Veins
• Amir Mir, Outlook, July 23, 2001

>>> Pakistan has banned toy weapons. It has restricted the display and use of arms in films and television. There are euphoric claims that the government has successfully wiped out poppy crops. It would seem Pakistan has managed to turn the clock back, disarming its populace and eradicating drugs, and redicovering its pristine, innocent self. ......
 
• 15 villagers gunned down in Doda district
• Mukhtar Ahmad, Rediff on Net, July 22, 2001

>>> At least 15 Hindu villagers were gunned down by unidentified militants at village Chirjee in hilly Doda district, 350 kms from the winter capital Jammu. ......
 
• Sangams to unite Hindus in America
• Nirshan Perera, Rediff on Net, July 22, 2001

>>> Over 35 Indian organizations in the Bay Area put away petty differences of caste, language and geography to come together in a unified Hindu sangam (congregation) on Saturday. ......
 
• 5 pilgrims among 11 killed in Amarnath blast
• Mukhtar Ahmad, Rediff on Net, July 21, 2001

>>> Eleven persons were killed in a big explosion near Sheshnag on the heavily guarded route to the Amarnath cave. ......
 
• Twelve Dead, 15 Hurt in Attack on Kashmir Pilgrims
• Reuters, The New York Times, July 21, 2001

>>> Twelve people including two policemen and three pilgrims were killed in Indian Kashmir on Saturday when suspected separatist guerrillas attacked a route along which thousands of Hindus were trekking to a shrine. ......
 
• The Lessons of Agra
• Francois Gautier, Rediff on Net, July 20, 2001

>>> There are five lessons to be drawn from the Agra summit:
1. Keep the Press away. Sensitive summits, like those held at Camp David between the Israelis and Palestinians, are off bound to the Press, except for a few photo ops and restricted briefings by official spokesman. The hype from the Indian press and the television channels did quite a lot of damage to the summit. ......
 
• Everybody won at Agra - Perils of the blame game
• Amrita Abraham, The Indian Express, July 20, 2001

>>> After the messy finale in Agra, New Delhi and Islamabad are putting out separate versions about why the talks broke down. The two stories take things right back to the beginning: Pakistan will not acknowledge its role in cross-border terrorism and India will not accept Kashmir as the core issue. ......
 
• Imam Bukhari says Lashkar has threatened him
• Kavita Bajeli-Datt, Rediff on Net, July 20, 2001

>>> The imam of Delhi's Jama Masjid, India's largest mosque, said on Friday that he had received a threat from the pro-Pakistan Lashkar-e-Tayiba extremist group. ......
 
• PM explains failure
• Pioneer News Service, The Pioneer, July 19, 2001

>>> The Vajpayee Government was willing to overlook Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf's lack of diplomatic manners but the General's absolute insistence on holding all points of engagement hostage to the Jammu and Kashmir issue reduced the Agra summit to a dead letter. ......
 
• Musharraf turned spoiler as he received 'coup' signals
• O P Verma, Deccan Herald, July 19, 2001

>>> The ice melted first and then froze at the Agra summit. Insiders say that it was Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf who acted spoiler. He hardened his stand as he is believed to have been threatened with a coup by his army deputies if he signed the Agra Declaration. ......
 
• Now, the plateau
• Editorial, The Pioneer, July 19, 2001

>>> Comments emanating from both New Delhi and Islamabad the day after the Agra Summit suggest that the meet has not been a complete failure, as projected by certain quarters. The commonality of approach adopted by External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar appears to suggest that the search for continuity in the dialogue process has received priority from both Pakistan and India. ......
 
• India was not for holding ties hostage to Kashmir question
• Neena Vyas, The Hindu, July 19, 2001

>>> There was ``near agreement on confidence- building measures related to the nuclear issue'' but even that could not be agreed upon between India and Pakistan at the Agra summit because of several factors that derailed the process, highly-placed Government sources indicated today. ......
 
• 'Talks alone can resolve Indo-Pak. Disputes'
• Sridhar Krishnaswami, The Hindu, July 19, 2001

>>> The United States has once again said it will strongly support a sustained engagement between India and Pakistan at a senior level as that was the best way to settle long-term bilateral disputes and make real progress for the reduction of tensions in the sub continent. ......
 
• Forces along border are not fatigued'
• Rahul Datta, The Pioneer, July 19, 2001

>>> With the Agra summit failing to provide a break-through in the Indo-Pak ties, Indian security forces feel that there is a 'strong' need to counter the 'perception' that they have been "bled" and are 'tired' by the decade-long militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. ......
 
• D-Company on a roll in Pak
• Deepak Sharma, The Pioneer, July 19, 2001

>>> While Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf denies the presence of Mafia kingpin Dawood Ibrahim in Karachi, a report of the Interpol headquarters in Lyons sent to Islamabad confirms that the D-Company boss and his 11 associates, including Chhota Shakeel, hold Pakistani passports and have a "permanent base" in Karachi. ......
 
• US lawmaker lists must-dos for Pakistan before Vajpayee visit
• The Navhind Times, July 19, 2001

>>> An influential US Republican lawmaker has demanded that Pakistan conform to a laundry list of things before Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Bihari Vajpayee visits that country. ......
 
• Differences over wordage led to summit deadlock
• The Navhind Times, July 19, 2001

>>> Sharp differences over use of words like "dispute", "cross border terrorism" and "freedom struggle" in relation to Jammu and Kashmir were among the factors that led to a deadlock at the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit in Agra, highly placed sources said tonight. ......
 
• Yes, Kashmir First
• K. Subrahmanyam, The Times of India, July 18, 2001

>>> In spite of the failure to agree on a joint declaration, the Agra summit between the Indian prime minister and general Musharraf was a distinct move forward in the relationship between the two countries. India held its moral high ground. ......
 
• Pak must give up rigid stand: RSS
• The Indian Express, July 18, 2001

>>> RSS today said that unless Pakistan gave up its rigid stand in Kashmir, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee reciprocal visit to Pakistan would be of no use. ......
 
• Gujral saddened at turn of events
• The Indian Express, July 18, 2001

>>> Former Prime Minister I K Gujral today said that the failure of Vajpayee-Musharraf Summit in Agra would have saddened every sensitive heart both in India and Pakistan who were wishing for an improvement in the relationship between the two countries. ......
 
• Battle against history
• Ajai Shukla, The Indian Express, July 18, 2001

>>> The circumstances surrounding the Pakistani delegation's midnight departure for Islamabad - unreal expectations of personal chemistry, unsurprising disappointment, and a stampede by demanding presspersons - encapsulated what was played out over three days during the Agra Summit. ......
 
• Preventing War: Israel's Options
• Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, July 18, 2001

>>> Back in December I warned in these pages of the "winds of war" blowing in the Middle East. A few days ago, the far-left Israeli politician, MK Naomi Chazan, echoed my warning in these same pages, down to using that same English expression. ......
 
• How the Agra summit lost its way
• Siddharth Varadarajan, The Times of India, July 18, 2001

>>> Providing the first Indian account of why the negotiations eventually broke down, a senior member of Prime Minister Vajpayee's team in Agra told The Times of India there was simply no words that could bridge a gulf that was conceptual, not lexical. ......
 
• Analyse And Then Act
• Afsir Karim, India Today, July 16, 2001

>>> Will the Indo-Pak summit help bring down the simmering tensions in Kashmir?  Opinions differ vastly. Rhetoric and hyperbole aside, there is no change in the prevailing situation in Kashmir.  Tensions may appear to recede during the talks, but that will be a temporary reprieve.  The ground realities will be different. ......
 
• Verbal sparkls fly between leaders in Delhi
• Faraz Ahmad, The Asian Age, July 16, 2001

>>> The Imam of Jama Masjid and Mr Syed Ahmad Bukhari and the All-Party Hurriyat Conference member and firebrand Jamaat Islanii leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani clashed Verbally on Saturday evening at the tea party hosted by Pakistani high cornmissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi because of Geelani insisting on calling the activities of cross-bor-der terrorists jihad and describing himself as a Pakistani. ......
 
• Little Chance Of Success
• Hamid Gul, India Today, July 16, 2001

>>> Any dialogue that takes place under pressure cannot work. In Agra, Vajpayee and Musharraf will at best agree to keep the dialogue going. ......
 
• Through Deeds, Not Words
• Mr. G. Parthasarathy, India Today, July 16, 2001

>>> We are inclined to believe that every Pakistani ruler is different from his predecessor. But from Zia to Nawaz Sharif, all have pursued the same course. ......
 
• Should Jinnah House be used as the Pakistani consulate? (Part II of II)
• Saeed Mirza, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> According to newspaper reports, Jinnah House at Mount Pleasant Road, Malabar Hill, Mumbai, has been vacant for the past two decades. ......
 
• Should Jinnah House be used as the Pakistani consulate? (Part I of II)
• Raj Thackeray, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> Handing over Jinnah House to Pakistan is a patently illogical suggestion. Pakistan may lay claim to its founder's monument in Mumbai and one can understand Islamabad's sentiments, in that acquiring Jinnah House is the legitimate and proper way of cherishing the Qaid-e-Azam's memory. ......
 
• What about Jammu & Ladakh?
• Karan Singh, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> I can't understand why everybody keeps talking about Kashmir. There is no such thing as Kashmir. It is the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It was ruled by my father till October 7, 1947, when he signed the Instrument of Accession. It consisted of five clear-cut geographical, ethnic, administrative and cultural units - the huge northern areas of Gilgit and Baluchistan, PoK, Ladakh, Jammu province and Kashmir Valley. ......
 
• The forgotten exodus
• Shobha John, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> The root cause of Kashmir's problem is poor governance by the state, Pakistan's facilitation of gun culture in the Valley and jehad by fundamentalists. And the victims of the armed insurgency are the Pandits who have been discriminated only on the basis of faith. Kashmiriyat is a chimera. ......
 
• This is Pakistan's last chance
• Piali Banerjee, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> "It's easy to be cynical about the actual effect of any political talk, but this time, I prefer to be optimistic about the Indo-Pak summit. The Kashmir problem has been going on for so long that any effort taken towards solving it must be lauded. My theory has always been that if you try to do something, you risk failure - but if you don't try, you ensure it. ......
 
• 'Pak not sheltering Dawood'
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 15, 2001

>>> Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf has denied that his country was providing shelter to underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. General Musharraf's assertion came when Union home minister L K Advani broached the issue during his meeting with the former. "Dawood Ibrahim is not in Pakistan," the General is believed to have told Mr Advani. ......
 
• Advani urges Pak to sign extradition pact
• Bisheshwar Mishra, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> In a friendly yet candid manner, home minister L. K. Advani on Saturday told General Pervez Musharraf that "innocent people should not be made victims of terrorism" simply because of differences between Islamabad and New Delhi. ......
 
• Pakistan migrants live in hope
• Ram Dutt Tripathi, BBC News, July 14, 2001

>>> The India-Pakistan summit in Agra has raised new hopes among the Pakistani Sindhi Hindu migrants living in that city. ......
 
• Musharraf met jehadis, says Pakistan daily
• PTI, The Times of India, July 14, 2001

>>> Notwithstanding the official denial here, Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf had an unpublicised meeting with militant groups last week during which they reposed their confidence in his decision to hold talks with Indian leaders and agreed to join a ceasefire if the summit achieves a "positive breakthrough." ......
 
• Kashmir's status is non-negotiable, asserts Jaswant
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> External affairs minister Jaswant Singh, outlining India's approach to the Vajpayee Musharraf summit at a crowded news conference on Thursday, firmly ruled out a referendum on Kashmir. ......
 
• Congress will attend tea party
• PTI, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> After a meeting with Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Congress on Thursday night announced that it would be attending the tea party being hosted by the Pakistani high commission in honour of President Pervez Musharraf contrary to earlier indications. ......
 
• Beware of Musharraf
• Sanjay Nirupam, Mid Day, July 13, 2001

>>> The Shiv Sena does not expect anything from the summit because it is not going to deliver anything. What we want is a solution to the Kashmir issue. Without solving Kashmir, one can't have trade relations with Pakistan. This is as good as playing cricket with Pakistan while fighting at the border. ......
 
• Failed summit will do Musharraf more damage: think-tank
• IANS, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> A failed summit will do much more damage to Pakistan President Musharraf than Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, a leading U.S. think-tank has said. ......
 
• India must not fight shy of plainspeak with Pak
• K Subrahmanyam, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> The forthcoming summit is not expected to produce any worthwhile solution immediately. Neither party expects it. For India, it is an opportunity to check whether it is worthwhile dealing with President Pervez Musharraf and finding out in which direction Pakistan, under his leadership, is headed and what damage-limitation measures this country has to adopt in case Pakistan insists on sliding towards 'failed state' status. ......
 
• 'Laden has raised 35,000 -strong force'
• PTI, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> Saudi millionaire Osama bin Laden has raised an "army" of 35,000 men for incursion and terrorist activities to destabilise Central Asian countries, a media report said. ......
 
• Advani likely to talk tough with Gen Musharraf
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> In this one-to-one meeting, Mr Advani is likely to air in clear terms his concerns about cross-border terrorism, the ISI's subversive role, infiltration of militants, training camps located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and smuggling of arms, drugs and even fake currency into India. ......
 
• A Muhajir's Prayer (Q&A with Altaf Hussain)
• Altaf Hussain, The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> London-based Altaf Hussain, founder-leader, Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), is sceptical of the outcome of the Indo-Pak talks slated for the coming weekend, when Pakistan's Pervez Musharraf and India's Atal Behari Vajpayee will exchange views in Agra. Hussain maintains what he's said several times before - ``Partition of the subcontinent was the biggest blunder in the history of mankind'' he said during a recent indiatimes.com live chat show: ......
 
• 'Pakistan must vacate Kargil peaks before the Agra summit'
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> India must ask Pakistan to vacate various strategic heights such as Point 5353 along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir before the beginning of the Agra summit, demanded Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Rajya Sabha member and noted lawyer R.K. Anand in a letter to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee here on Tuesday. ......
 
• Cong finds Quzi's tea rather hot for its linking
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Like the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the Congress, too, is confused over attending the tea party being hosted by Pakistan high commissioner Ashraf Jehangir Qazi on Saturday for General Pervez Musharraf where Hurriyat leaders are also on the guest list. ......
 
• Asians in UK must build bridges of social integration
• Rashmee Z Ahmed, The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Though Abdul Alim has been living in Ilford, a London suburb, for the last 25 years, his mindset is still Pakistani. He can say 'yes' and 'no' in English. When he goes into a White man's shop, he silently looks for what he needs, takes it to the cash till and pays for it without uttering a word. That too, he doesn't have to do, because Pakistani stores supply all his needs. ......
 
• Kashmiri Pandits, Mahesh Bhatt condemn Indo-Pak summit
• A Staff Reporter, The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Film-maker Mahesh Bhatt on Tuesday flayed the Vajpayee government for failing to take concrete steps to resolve the Kashmir issue. Stating that the much-hyped Indo-Pak summit at Agra is "nothing but a farce" Mr Bhatt said, "the government is trying to distract people's attention from pressing problems by organising summits and offering fairy-tale endings". ......
 
• All in 'supreme national interest'
• Asma Jahangir, Dawn, Karachi, July 11, 2001

>>> The US ambassador to Islamabad and our general-president are the only two people who would have us believe that Gen Musharraf will revive democracy. The US ambassador, if he is quoted accurately, says that by assuming the presidency, the Chief Executive has not violated the mandate given by the Supreme Court. ......
 
• Gas pipeline via Pak to be focus of summit: ICC
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 10, 2001

>>> It's not going to be an exhaustive economic agenda for the forthcoming summit between President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee. The single-point agenda is the proposed Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, feels the visiting Pakistani ICC delegation. ......
 
• Hurriyat inclusion incites boycott call
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 10, 2001

>>> The meeting convened here on Monday by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee saw a majority of parties calling for a boycott of the tea-party organised by the Pakistani high commissioner if the hurriyat leaders insisted on attending. ......
 
• Oppn endorses PM's move to broadbase Pak talks
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 10, 2001

>>> The Opposition on Monday endorsed the Vajpayee government's attempts to thwart Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's gameplan of making the forthcoming Agra summit a Kashmir-centric affair, even if it meant risking its failure. ......
 
• Tribals express ire against NBA, Patkar
• Our Correspondent, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> The Narmada Bachao Andolan's attempts to halt the construction of the Narmada dam on the tenet of rehabilitation and environment was delivered a crucial blow after the project affected people, comprising mostly tribals from Madhya Pradesh, waged an open campaign against Medha Patkar and her organisation. ......
 
• Kashmiri pandits want right to visit shrine in Pak
• Vishal Sharma, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> Emphasising the Kashmir Pandit's right to be heard in the Agra summit, Dr Agnishekhar, convenor Panun Kashmir said on Monday that it (summit) would be a fiasco if' it steered clear of the Panun Kashmir's long standing demands of allowing an annual pilgrimage to the Sharda temple in PoK and compensation for Panun Kashmiris from Pakistan for the alleged atrocities committed on them by Pakistan-backed militants during the ongoing insurgency. ......
 
• My father is still a solider, not a thief or smuggler, says PoW's daughter
• Rajeev Khanna, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> It was December 4 in 1971, a day after the Indo-Pak war had started, that Captain Dalgir Singh Jamwal of 81 Field Regiment was captured by the Pakistani forces in the Chhamb sector. Till date there has been no news of his whereabouts. ......
 
• Don't compromise on Siachen: VHP
• Our Special Correspondent, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> The Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Monday launched a blistering attack on the Vajpayee government at the Centre and warned that the Centre must not compromise on the Siachen issue. ......
 
• Mulayam tries to woo Milli Council for votes
• Shahid Faridi, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has embarked on a move to woo the Muslim voters of Uttar Pradesh for the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state. ......
 
• On piffle and publicity
• Sukanta Chaudhuri, The Asian Age, July 10, 2001

>>> I find little time to watch television; but in those brief spells, a particular commercial has thrust itself on my sight. It celebrates a brand of soap. It shows a young woman, apparently anxious for a bath using the said soap, curiously running out into the Rajasthan desert for the purpose. ......
 
• Were you surprised?
• Rajeev Srinivasan, Rediff on Net, July 18, 2001

>>> The projected arrival of Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf in India has led to the predictable flurry of hosannas in the Indian media. There are touching stories about the dictator's aged nanny waiting to see him; there is speculation about whether he will visit his ancestors' mansion. ......
 
• Dawood leaves Pak to avoid embarrassing Musharraf
• S Balakrishnan, The Times of India, July 18, 2001

>>> Was President Musharraf telling the truth when he told Union home minister Advani that Dawood Ibrahim was not in Pakistan? Sources in the home ministry told The Times of India that the president was indeed telling the truth. A few hours before Musharraf took off for New Delhi on Saturday, Dawood, with Tiger Memon in tow, flew out of Karachi and headed for Singapore. ......
 
• Fresh tension brewing along Indo-Bangladesh border
• G Vinayak, Rediff on Net, July 17, 2001

>>> Fresh tension is brewing along two different sectors of the Indo-Bangladesh border following the killing of at least four Bangladeshi intruders by the Border Security Force, BSF sources said. ......
 
• A Letter to Pervez Musharraf
• Arvind Lavakare, Rediff on Net, July 17, 2001

>>> At the outset, let it be made clear that the prefix "Dear" above has been used only because it is "the core issue" in any letter written in the civilised world. Please don't mistake it for anything else. This fundamentalist Indian (not an Indian fundamentalist) can, you see, never forget the treachery of Kargil and the thousand cuts of jehad. ......
 
• Musharraf went for broke, and lost in Agra
• Kanchan Gupta, Rediff on Net, July 17, 2001

>>> The Great Agra Bash is over: General Pervez Musharraf has gone back to his self-appointed job as chief executive-cum-president of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan; Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has returned to his elected job at South Block in New Delhi. ......
 
• Pak's unifocal approach unacceptable: Jaswant Singh
• PTI, Rediff on Net, July 17, 2001

>>> Minister for External Affairs Jaswant Singh, in a media briefing on Tuesday morning, said that Pakistan's unifocal approach, refusal to accept cross-border terrorism as an issue, and attempt to wish away previous agreements between the two sides proved the key to the failure of the Agra Summit. ......
 
• 'For once, India is reacting to what Pak is doing'
• Rediff on Net, July 17, 2001

>>> Prominent Pakistani columnist Ayaz Amir was one of the most sought after voices in Agra during the two-day Indo-Pak summit. He was courted by television channels, cultivated by fellow print journalists and consulted by the people involved directly in the summit. Senior Editor Sheela Bhatt spoke to him soon after the talks between Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and President Pervez Musharraf broke down. ......
 
• Two nations, two world-views
• Sandhya Jain, The Pioneer, July 17, 2001

>>> Semantics cannot gloss over the fact that the Vajpayee-Musharraf summit has failed to make progress on substantive issues. The reasons are not far to seek. Just as there were two nations present at Agra, so there were two divergent world-views competing for legitimacy and dominance. ......
 
• Parvez Musharrf: The villain of the failure of the Agra summit
• Chandan Mitra, The Pioneer, July 17, 2001

>>> It was a kind of belligerence and bluster we are unused to. As we trooped into the imposing Amar Vilas Hotel at 9 am, we had little premonition of the diatribe we were about to be subjected to. Conditioned to deploying a sledgehammer where a pocket knife would have done the job, Pakistan's bellicose President, Parvez Musharraf, systematically destroyed the much-hyped Agra summit at this interaction. ......
 
• A belligerent Pak reduces talks to naught
• Chandan Mitra, The Pioneer, July 17, 2001

>>> The inevitable happened. The Indo-Pak summit, so boldly conceived by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, wound itself to an outright failure shortly before midnight on Monday. Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's belligerence and inflexibility was eventually reciprocated by uncharacteristic firmness from the Prime Minister and his colleagues, resulting in the breakdown. ......
 
• RSS chief favours world-wide movement against conversions
• The Navhind Times, July 16, 2001

>>> India will not tolerate attempt by foreign missionaries to force Hindus to change their religion, Rashtriya Sawayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mr K S Sudarshan said here today. ......
 
• Shahi Imam challenges Geelani on Kashmir
• Kavita Bajeli-Datt, Rediff on Net, July 16, 2001

>>> The high priest of India's largest mosque has hardline Kashmiri separatist leader Ali                Shah Geelani's contention that the Himalayan state should be merged with Pakistan.  "Who is Geelani? He cannot chart out the future of  Kashmir. We are as much worried about the issue as he is," said Syed Ahmed Bukhari, the Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid here. ......
 
• Thank God for multi-faith India!
• Faith Line/Renuka Narayanan, The Indian Express, July 16, 2001

>>> A close encounter with a few Pakistanis made me thankful as never before, for the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Parsis who inhabit my corner of Bharat. The professional, urban, English-speaking slice of Indian society whose government is NOT mixed up with God. In this world, you can criticise Lord Ram himself, you can fiercely oppose the reactionary attitudes of people like the Puri Shankaracharya. ......
 
• Sena claims 'cleaning' Mahatma's samadhi
• The Hindu, July 15, 2001

>>> A group of Shiv Sena activists today gave a symbolic wash to Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi at Rajghat by the Ganges water after the visit of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf yesterday, Sena sources claimed. ......
 
• Kashmiri pandit leader meets Musharraf, blames Pak for plight
• The Hindustan Times, July 14, 2001

>>> "Kuch karna padega (something will have to be done)," was the response of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf as a Kashmiri pandit leader on Saturday confronted him with the account of death and destruction in Jammu and Kashmir and the plight of the minority community because of cross-border terrorism. ......
 
• Ulster Talks Resume, but Riots Dim Hopes
• Warren Hoge, The New York Times, July 14, 2001

>>> Last-ditch high-level talks on Northern Ireland were to continue today in an atmosphere of tension and gloom after rioting in the province left more than 100 police officers injured and hope for peacemaking by the province's Roman Catholic and Protestant politicians fading. ......
 
• FBI predicts major terrorist attacks in US
• Letitia Stein, The Indian Express, July 13, 2001

>>> The FBI predicts terrorists will launch a major attack on American interests abroad every year for the next five years and believes an attack using a weapon of mass destruction is likely at home, an official said on Wednesday. ......
 
• Congress regrets Musharraf's rejection of Simla accord
• Tara Shankar Sahay, Rediff on Net, July 13, 2001

>>> The Congress on Friday regretted Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf's contention that the Simla Accord and the Lahore Declaration had become irrelevant and underscored that such an assertion indicated foreclosing of the Indo-Pak talks even before the Agra summit began. ......
 
• Pak facing more US sanctions
• The Times of India, July 13, 2001

>>> Pakistan, reeling under severe economic crises, may face US sanctions for "failing to do enough to curb trafficking in women and children," a State Department report said. ......
 
• A dead duck summit?
• Business Standard, July 13, 2001

>>> Pakistan's behaviour prior to its President's visit to India has been most extraordinary. It has gone to great pains to ensure that the forthcoming talks between Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Musharraf lead to nothing. ......
 
• The core of the matter
• Editorial, The Indian Express, July 12, 2001

>>> So anxious is Pakistan to get across the message that Kashmir is the ''core'' issue at the Agra summit, that it has begun to tie itself into knots. Not only has this introduced a negative note in bilateral discourse during the crucial run up to Agra, its obsession with its core issue has now made the country deeply suspicious of every confidence building measure that India has undertaken to ease tensions between the two nations. ......
 
• Negotiate Kashmir or Risk A Nuclear War
• Hamid Gul, The Newspaper Today, July 12, 2001

>>> General Musharraf has already offered a hand of friendship by accepting Prime Minister Vajpayee's invitation but the crucial question is: what will come of this? Several such summits have been held in the past but nothing substantial has ever come out of them because India is the usurper. Pakistan has never held back when it comes to the issue of Kashmir but India is uncomfortable about discussing it. ......
 
• Ex-Bangla dictator wants to establish Islamic rule
• The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Bangladesh's ex-military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad on Thursday joined forces with a rightwing Muslim spiritual leader committed to Islamic rule. ......
 
• Hindu Minority Seeking Own Homeland
• Hema Shukla, Associated Press, July 11, 2001

>>> Pinni Suri remembers the scene exactly though 11 years have passed. Dawn had just broken when two teen-agers knocked on the front door of her home in the Kashmir (news - web sites) Valley, where her Hindu ancestors had lived for centuries among the majority Muslims. ......
• Bishop Thomas, orphanage are mired in controversy
• Prakash Bhandari, The Times of India, July 10, 2001

>>> Kota: Workers of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Shiv Sena here are after Bishop M.A. Thomas, the founder of the Emmanuel Mission Family. The Bajrang Dal recently organised a Kota bandh demanding an inquiry against Bishop Thomas, who is away in the U.S. ......
 
• All-party meet backs Vajpayee's stand on Kashmir
• The Times of India News Service, The Times of India, July 10, 2001

>>> Leaders at an all-party meeting convened by Prime Minister Vajpayee warned the government that it should not allow Kashmir to be the "core issue" at the forthcoming Indo-Pakistan summit, even as they welcomed the resumption of a dialogue between the two countries. ......
 
• Summit: Sattar Takes Charge
• B. Raman, July 10, 2001

>>> Or, rather the Sattar show, with Abdul Sattar, Pakistan's Foreign Minister, from behind the scene, deciding what subjects Pervez will raise, what he will say, how and so on. ......
 
• PoWs in Pak jails afloat on hope
• Sreelatha Menon, The Indian Express, July 10, 2001

>>> AS the Agra summit draws near, two organisations are busy with efforts to highlight the cause of the 54 Defence personnel languishing in Pakistani jails for three decades. ......
 
• Agra isn't only about Kashmir: PM (Part II)
• Gaurav C. Sawant, The Indian Express, July 10, 2001

>>> The ministries of external affairs and defence share a corridor in New Delhi's South Block and a common minister, Jaswant Singh; yet the communication gap between the two couldn't have been greater when it came to the Director General of Military Operation's (DGMO) proposed Pakistan visit. ......
 
• Agra isn't only about Kashmir: PM (Part I)
• Express News Service, The Indian Express, July 8, 2001

>>> Barely five days before Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf is scheduled to arrive for the Agra summit, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee rejected his repeated references to Kashmir being the core agenda of the talks. ......
 
• To Gen Musharraf, from a mother in mourning
• Sankarshan Thakur, The Indian Express, July 8, 2001

>>> Soldiers do not make wars, their bosses do. So when General Pervez Musharraf steps off the plane to inspect a guard of honour, a few contradictions might shimmer in the restrained ceremonial air, among those lined up to salute him. ......
 
• Shift in ties is too drastic, we are not one people
• Gen Aslam Beg, The Times of India, July 8, 2001

>>> Whenever I meet people from India, they talk in annoying terms. They never accepted the reality of Pakistan. They talk about being one people, one culture, one tradition, whereas the fact is we are two people. We got separated only on the basis of this very fact - we probably could not live together. Accept that we are a separate entity, with a separate culture and outlook. ......
 
• India makes right noises, shows up Pakistan's 'panic' responses
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 8, 2001

>>> Pakistan's vicious diatribe last night is a sure sign that it is pressing the panic button, as Pakistan sees its Kashmir-centric agenda overtaken by India's broad strokes of unilateral initiatives. Today India deliberately struck a responsible note after yesterday's censorious tones. ......
 
• MEA goes beyond J&K for summit (Part II of II)
• Neerja Chowdhury, The Indian Express, July 7, 2001

>>> Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf's invitation to the Hurriyat leadership is becoming a sticky issue and has divided the Cabinet in he run-up to the Agra summit. ......
 
• MEA goes beyond J&K for summit (Part I of II)
• Jyoti Malhotra, The Indian Express, July 7, 2001

>>> The forthcoming summit between India and Pakistan seems to be acquiring shades of a positive pre-glow, with New Delhi seeking to revive discussion about the Line of Control as well as proposing the re-establishment of nuclear confidence-building measures agreed once upon a time in Lahore. ......
 
• Nehru wanted to gift Jinnah House to Pakistan government
• Siddharth Varadarajan, The Times of India, July 7, 2001

>>> It is one of Partition's abiding ironies that the man who led the struggle for Pakistan was forced by the very success of his movement to abandon, like millions of others on either side of the Radcliffe Line, a home he was deeply in love with. ......
 
• Hurriyat to attend party: Pak
• Press Trust of India, The Indian Express, July 7, 2001

>>> Overriding strong objections from India, Pakistan today said Hurriyat leaders would be invited at the reception hosted by its high commission in New Delhi on July 14 in honour of President Pervez Musharraf. ......
 
• White House Wants to Bury Pact Banning Tests of Nuclear Arms
• Thom Shanker And David E. Sanger, The New York Times, July 7, 2001

>>> In its first six months, the Bush administration has been examining ways to escape permanently from an unratified international agreement banning nuclear tests, just as it has moved to scrap the Antiballistic Missile Treaty and has rebelled against a global warming pact that it believes would cripple American industry. ......
 
• Guests should not disregard sentiments of the host: Advani
• Raja Asghar, The Economic Times, July 7, 2001

>>> Home minister L K Advani today placed on record India's displeasure over General Parvez Musharraf's plans to hobnob with the secessionist Hurriyat leaders, cautioning that he should not be unmindful of the Indian sentiments. ......
 
• Hurriyat exposes Musharraf's multiple voices, releases his letter
• Our Political Bureau, The Economic Times, July 6, 2001

>>> The Hurriyat let the cat out of the bag today, exposing Pervez Musharraf's multiple voices when it comes to Kashmir and Hurriyat on the eve of the forthcoming summit. The turnaround was clear today with the Hurriyat releasing a letter to them by the Pakistan President directing the high commissioner to arrange a meeting between him and the Hurriyat leaders when he comes to Delhi on July 14. ......
 
• Musharraf writes to Hurriyat leader, calls for meeting
• Seema Guha, The Times of India, July 6, 2001

>>> Pakistan President Gen Pervez Musharraf has written to Hurriyat chairman Abdul Gani Bhat saying that he wants to meet the Kashmiri leader during his stay in India. New Delhi had expressly asked the Pakistani leader not to do so. ......
 
• 'The condition in POK is one of severe oppression'
• The Indian Express, July 5, 2001

>>> Any visit by a Pakistani to India at this time is bound to be greeted by intense speculation. But Khalid Perwaize is very open about the reasons he's in New Delhi: as secretary of foreign affairs of a Pakistan Occupied Kashmir based political party, the United Kashmir People's National Party (UKPNP), he has travelled to the Capital to await the outcome of the Indo-Pakistan summit and compile the final chapters of his book on the Kashmir problem. ......
 
• India's bhai bhai package for Pakistan
• Times Internet Network, The Times of India, July 5, 2001

>>> Warming up to the theme of Indo-Pakistani goodwill ahead of the Pervez Musharraf visit, India on Wednesday said it will release civilian Pakistan prisoners, be more lenient towards straying fishermen, and slash import duties on more Pakistani goods. ......
 
• Pak sees prosperity only after Kashmir peace
• The Daily Excelsior, July 5, 2001

>>> Little more than a year ago Pakistan's military ruler General Pervez Musharraf stated that every Muslim was talking of a Jihad in Kashmir. ......
 
• Musharraf, Bin Laden & The Lashkar
• B.Raman

>>> The report on the Patterns of Global Terrorism during 2000 released by the Counter-Terrorism Division of the US State Department in April had made detailed references to Pakistan and the Taliban and to the activities of the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET). ......
 
• Muslims in China
• Prafull Goradia, BJP Today, July 1-15, 2001

>>> During a fortnight's tour of Chinese cities by air as well as road and rail, the writer came across only four obvious Muslims. An elderly couple dressed in long robes; the man wore a white cap and a beard with a shaven upper lip. The lady also wore a robe and had a veil thrown over her head. ......
 
• You Make Money, I Make Money (Q & A with Tariq M A Rangoonwala)
• The Times of India, July 16, 2001

>>> One of Pakistan's best known corporate faces, Tariq M A Rangoonwala is a prominent industrialist and has served as trade adviser to successive national governments. He is also chairman, International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). With business interests ranging from edible oils, toothpaste and toiletries to operation of cold chains and bulk storage tanks in Karachi, Rangoonwala is a strong votary for enhancing Indo-Pak trade. ......
 
• Mirror Images
• Dileep Padgaonkar, The Times of India, July 15, 2001

>>> In both India and Pakistan, you come across a breed of men who hold forth on the relations between the two countries with an astounding degree of assurance. It derives from the conviction that they alone have grasped the true `essence' of the other country. That `essence', in their eyes, survives the vicissitudes of history. ......
 
• Charting a Peace Map (Q & A with George Fernandes)
• The Times of India, July 14, 2001

>>> A twist of fate has left the former defence minister George Fernandes out of the limelight in the first Indo-Pak summit after Kargil, the war that he oversaw as the country's defence minister. However his influential role in the government continues to inform policy, even if it sometimes forces him to do backflips while traversing the distance from Samata leader to NDA convener. ......
 
• Musharraf wiser after 12 years: Benazir Bhutto
• Benazir Bhutto, Daily Telegraph, July 13, 2001

>>> As General Musharraf and his delegation prepare to leave for New Delhi airport, my thoughts go back to another airport and another tarmac. ......
 
• Ex-Bangla dictator wants to establish Islamic rule
• The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Bangladesh's ex-military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad on Thursday joined forces with a rightwing Muslim spiritual leader committed to Islamic rule. ......
 
• What Vajpayee must tell Musharraf
• K Rukmini Menon, The Indian Express, July 12, 2001

>>> There is a feel of inevitability about Prime Minister Vajpayee's invitation to President Musharraf. He is determined to leave no stone unturned in the search for peace. The 'last but one' stone was the 'Insaniyat Ceasefire', but in the absence of insaniyat among terrorists that move failed. ......
 
• Hopes of breakthrough fade
• Josy Joseph, Rediff on Net, July 12, 2001

>>> Hopes of a major breakthrough at Agra have faded as both sides finalise contrasting delegations and differ on the basic approach to the talks. ......
 
• Pallone chides delay in lifting sanctions against India
• The Times of India, July 12, 2001

>>> Rep. Frank Pallone, India's staunch ally on Capitol Hill, has taken the Bush administration to task for its continuing delay in lifting sanctions against India. ......
 
• POW kin flay Pak for denial
• Express News Service, The Indian Express, July 12, 2001

>>> Relatives of Indian Prisoners of War (PoWs) today expressed shock at Pakistan Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider's denial that 54 men held in the 1971 war were languishing in its jails for the last 30 years. ......
 
• Talks useless until Indian troops are withdrawn: Lashkar mentor
• www.tehelka.com, July 11, 2001

>>> On the eve of the forthcoming Indo-Pakistan summit in Agra, Lashkar-e-Toiba big daddy Prof Hafiz Muhammad Saeed has, in a scathing albeit sarcasm-laden editorial in the outfit's Website, criticised the Indian leadership and exhorted the Pakistani President to represent Muslims of the subcontinent, says Nabina Das ......
 
• Relatives of PoWs demonstrate
• Onkar Singh, Rediff on Net, July 10, 2001

>>> Relatives of the prisoners of war who are still in Pakistani jails held a demonstration in New Delhi on Tuesday and demanded their release with immediate effect. ......
 
• Labyrinth of indifference on J&K
• Arvind Lavakare, Rediff on Net, July 10, 2001

>>> With D-Day just four sundowners away and Vajpayee on his best Nobel Peace Prize behaviour, the fact can now be asserted without fear of contradiction. India's various opinion makers let the nation down in the long run-up to "the summit" with their deathly silence on the sacred document named as the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, in force from January 26, 1957. ......
 
• Hindu-bashing Chicago Radio and TV talk show airs
• Frank Parlato Jr., www.parlato.org, July 9, 2001

>>> Chicago: A campaign launched by Chicago radio and TV talk-show host Tony Brown purports to "inform" the American public about Hinduism. One of Brown's shows aired on WLS 890 AM between 10 a.m. and 12 noon, on Saturday, June 30, and a similar television show aired 6 a.m. on Sunday, dedicating its time allotment to a bash of Hinduism. ......
 
• KPs want access to ancestral temple in PoK
• The Daily Excelsior, July 9, 2001

>>> Kashmiri Pandits today urged Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to include in the summit talks the issue of their annual pilgrimage to their ancestral Sharda Temple in Muzaffarabad. ......
 
• Man in uniform demands justice
• K P S Gill, The Hindustan Times, July 8, 2001

>>> I cannot imagine any other country in the world where this would be possible. One of the most notorious terrorists in Punjab, with a criminal career that spanned the entire course of terrorism in the State, from the earliest killings under Bhindranwale's malign leadership to the last gasps of the Pakistan-based proxy campaigns in the early 1990s, ......
 
• Mr PM, it's our paradise lost
• Aditi, The Pioneer, July 8, 2001

>>> In 1989, over 4,000 multi-storeyed houses stood tall on the banks of river Vitasta (Jhelum) in the heart of Srinagar. Bustling with life, all these belonged to Kashmiri Pandits. Today, all that remains of them is burnt shells and rubble with overgrown vegetation, while some have been occupied by Muslims. ......
 
• Pakistan's pipe-dream
• Anil Narendra, The Pioneer, July 7, 2001

>>> Pakistan's ruler, General Pervez Musharraf, keeps harping on plebiscite in Jammu & Kashmir on the bases of the UN Resolutions on Kashmir. It is important to go back to these resolutions and see if these are applicable in the present context or not. Have all the prerequisites been honoured by Pakistan for it to be in a position to talk about their implementation? ......
 
• Say Om: Meditation and medicine
• Health Reporter Anna Patty, The Daily Telegraph, July 6, 2001

>>> Modern medical science has tapped significant health benefits from the ancient practice of meditation. ......
 
• The Self-Determination Dichotomy
• Outlook, July 5, 2001

>>> "If Pakistan is so concerned about the "right of self-determaination" by the "Kahmiris" in India, why does it not grant the same to the areas under its occupation?" ask the pro-independence leaders. ......
 
• To cut the Gordian knot
• Kuldip Nayar, Afternoon Despatch & Courier, July 5, 2001

>>> I have covered all the summits between India and Pakistan from the one held at Tashkent in 1966 to that at Lahore in 1999. All of them, around six, failed because both sides were seeking different things. New Delhi wanted Islamabad to eschew violence in settling Indo-Pakistan differences while Islamabad demanded a solution of its liking on Kashmir before, responding to appeals for peace. ......
 
• Terrorist Details His Training in Afghanistan
• Laura Mansnerus And Judith Miller, The New York Times, July 4, 2001

>>> An Algerian convicted of trying to carry out a terrorist attack in Los Angeles on the eve of the millennium celebration testified yesterday that he had received money and training at camps in Afghanistan that American officials say were run by Osama bin Laden. ......
 
• Maoists Offensive In Nepal
• B.Raman

>>> On July 7, Maoist insurgents in Nepal attacked and blew up police posts in Bichaur of Lamjung district, Wamitaksar of Gulmi district and Taruka of Nuwakot district. 21 policemen were killed in Bichaur , nine in Wamitaksar and 10 in Taruka . Before withdrawing, the Maoist looted all the arms and ammunition kept in these posts. ......
 
• A Skeptic's View Of Musharraf
• B.Raman

>>> Before Kargil, I had done a piece on Gen.Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's Chief Executive and President, in which I had mentioned that he had never done a training course in the US. ......
 
• Brutal Terrorist group active in Kashmir - Lashkar-e-Toiba - "Army of the Pure"
• www.sreevideos.com

>>> Huddled in apartment blocks of Karachi's East District, a core group of brutal militants sends cadres of jihadis (holy warriors) in batches of 15-20 to wage war against India for what they call "restoration of Islamic rule over all parts of India". They are a dedicated lot prepared to kill and die in the name of Allah. ......
 
• An American Rushdie?
• Daniel Pipes, The Jerusalem Post, July 4, 2001

>>> Today, the Fourth of July, marks the joyous day when Americans celebrate their freedom.  But Khalid Durán of Bethesda, Maryland, has little cause for celebration.  For, in an eerie echo of the Rushdie affair, the death of this freethinking Muslim has been called for by an Islamist (or fundamentalist) leader living in the Middle East for a book he has written. ......
 
• DMK : make Dharma your refuge
• Sandhya Jain, The Pioneer, July 3, 2001

>>> There is little doubt that the Tamil Nadu Governor, Ms. Fatima Beevi, was guilty of grave dereliction of duty last Saturday when she failed to inform and keep the Centre abreast with developments following the scandalous arrest of former Chief Minister Mr. Muthuvel Karunanidhi. ......
 
• Another agreement, another prime minister
• Shrikant Khandekar, The Indian Express, July 3, 2001

>>> Shri Vajpayee spoke also of Indian unity. I know something about the unity of this country and the unity of the people. Let me repeat what I have said before, that unity is for a purpose. You do not have unity just for the sake of unity. You have unity to make the country strong; you have unity to take the country forward. ......
 
• Pak under strict IMF scrutiny after data misreporting episode
• Huma Siddiqui, The Financial Express, July 3, 2001

>>> The day General Pervez Musharraf took over as Pakistan's president, a critical news item got buried in the local press in Islamabad-that a team comprising the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank and Asian Development Bank officials was scanning with a fine toothcomb the 2001-02 Sindh budget being drawn up in the provincial secretariat located in Karachi. ......
 
• Tehelka tells Tehelka panel: keep us out
• Manoj Mitta, The Indian Express, July 3, 2001

>>> In a surprising twist to the Tehelka controversy, the portal has sought an ''assurance'' from the Justice Venkataswami Commission that its own conduct should not be a subject of inquiry. ......
 
• Rethinking Asia in India's Favor
• Jim Hoagland, The Washington Post, July 1, 2001

>>> Add the Bush push for missile defense to a long list of items separating India and China. Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's government likes it. Beijing hates it. Therein lies a tale of Asia's most dangerous long-term tensions and America's obligation to avoid making them more dangerous. ......