The alacrity with which Muslim
intellectuals have rejected the Supreme Court's call for a Uniform Civil
Code to ensure equal justice to all citizens highlights the community's
determination to maintain a privileged ghettoised existence by taking advantage
of our secular polity. .....
The term civil code is used to
cover the entire body of laws governing rights relating to property and
otherwise in personal matters like marriage, divorce, maintenance, adoption
and inheritance. .....
The BJP today called for a nation-wide
debate involving political parties and social and religious groups on evolving
a uniform civil code in the light of the Supreme Court's obiter dicta in
a recent judgment. .....
'Bali is Bali forever'. Though
coined by the tourism sector, the words reflect the resilient character
of this little island that could well have fallen off the tourist map after
terrorists blew up a nightclub last October, killing tourists and residents.
But it has survived the blast. Tourists are trickling back to the island
that Jawaharlal Nehru called 'the Morning of the World'. .....
Is Chhattisgarh Chief Minister
Ajit Jogi pushing the plank of soft Hindutva? The answer to this question
is in the affirmative, if one goes by recent happenings in the state. However,
the Jogi camp stoutly refutes any such charge. .....
One of the more inspired whispers
that did the rounds of South Block this month, centred on the woes of a
senior Indian diplomat in Islamabad. There is not enough justice to go
round the subcontinent these days, he is said to have complained. "I got
my house freshly painted but there was no one from the media to interview
the workmen." .....
With the state government
organising a campaign to build up opinion against naxals in Vidarbha,
14 more villages declared 'gaonbandi' (prohibition) against Naxalites
this week at a police rally, taking the total number of such villages to
86. .....
With thousands of different social
castes and 18 major languages in India, plus the cultural and regional
differences of a country of more than 1 billion people, Rev. Saji Lukos
knows that pulling together his fellow Indian-Americans is difficult at
best. .....
The Supreme Court on Monday said
there is no connection between religious and personal law in a civilised
society and favoured putting in place a common civil code governing all
religious communities. .....
Q.: Swamiji, You have made two
attempts earlier to solve the Ayodhya tangle. Those didn't work. What makes
you think that you'll succeed the third time?
A.: We are talking in front of
a mandir, before a Goddess. For it to succeed you need the blessings of
the Goddess. .....
Amendments to a community's personal
law with a view to bringing about changes for betterment is one thing,
but to tinker with the enactments with the sole purpose of introducing
'uniformity' is another. The former may be an act of reform while the latter
would be an arbitrary action that could attract the disapproval of the
community. .....
The Supreme Court's directive to
the Government that it should enact a uniform civil code is an example
of judicial activism deserving of the highest plaudits. The provocation
for this ostensible intrusion into the executive realm is a persistent
legal and social anomaly which has its origin in Muslim Personal Law: the
freedom Muslims are given to have more than one wife. .....
The Karnataka High Court stayed
yesterday's order of Bijapur Deputy Commissioner and District Magistrate
banning the entry of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International Secretary
Praveen Togadia into Bijapur. .....
The court has spoken. The highest
court of the land, that is. And it is music to the ears of anyone who believes
in the equality of law. And does not pander to the sectional interests
of the populace only to hoodwink them out of the votes every election.
.....
The year is 300 B.C. A boat sails
into the port of Nani Rayan with wine in Roman amphoras. On its way back,
it would take home textiles, ornaments and pottery Over 2,300 years later,
pieces, probably from those amphoras surfaced as workers dug the ground
to create the Narmada canal through the sleepy hamlet of Nani Rayan, situated
on the banks of the Rukmavati, 4 km from the river's confluence with the
Arabian Sea. .....
The North-Indian town of Ayodhya
is scene to a controversy over a Hindu sacred site, the Rama Janmabhoomi
or "birthplace of Rama". That is where a mosque, the Babri Masjid,
was built in forcible replacement of an earlier Hindu temple, in 1528 under
Moghul emperor Babar at the latest, and demolished by a Hindu crowd in
1992. .....
There is no solution to Kashmir.
Neither Pakistan nor India will relinquish their claim. This appearance
of normalcy that you see now is temporary and will be destroyed with the
first bomb. There has been a radicalisation of the Kashmiri youth. This
statement comes from Francois Gautier who sounds like a man with a mission.
.....
When the House passed a $3 billion
aid package for Pakistan this week, Jewish and Indian American lobbyists
teamed up to win an amendment pressuring Pakistan to stop Islamic militants
from crossing into India. .....
Muslims constitute majority in
Malegaon town and Hindus are in minority. Recently, the communal spirit
has started taking roots among Muslims and their tendency to trouble Hindus
is on the rise. Some half-educated Muslims have made the life of Hindus
difficult. A few days ago, idols of Hindu gods were destroyed. .....
Just about the time that Noor was
entering India, some brave Pakistani thugs were rigging up a bomb in a
school bus. Bomb in a school-bus?? Noor went to B'lore to get life-saving
surgery, but the school-bus bomb (july 12-Dawn) grievously injured 5 little
Indian school girls. These are facts that were available to every Indian
journalist - but, none published this obvious, but strange quid pro quo.
.....
As a serving army officer, I never
stop marvelling at the gullibility of our countrymen to be provoked with
alacrity into virulence in the name of religion. I have never heard the
word 'secular' during all my service -- and yet, the simple things that
are done simply in the army make it appear like an island of sanity in
a sea of hatred. .....
Not one political party in Kerala
has the right to point fingers at any party. Every one of them has succumbed
to various pressures to gain power or stay in power. This process has made
communalism in the state grow from strength to strength. .....
Sixty is the age when a person
assumes Shashtipoorthi, which in the Hindu scheme of things is the time
traditionally marked for retirement. But for some people, life begins at
60. Ask A.K. Antony, the 63- year-old chief minister of Kerala. .....
Pozhuthana lies five kilometres
from Vythiri, a popular tourist spot. With verdant forests and tea
gardens, it rivals Vythiri in scenic beauty. But its claim to fame (or
infamy) has nothing to do with this. The small village in north Kerala
is home to dozens of abandoned and disconsolate wives. .....
Four persons, including the imam
of a mosque, were arrested in Andhra Pradesh for their alleged involvement
in the killing of former Gujarat Home Minister Haren Pandya, taking the
total number of those arrested in the case so far to 17. .....
The Shiv Sena's offer to restore
the 463-year-old dilapidated St John The Baptist Church at Andheri
(east) has made the Archdiocese of Mumbai, the Bombay Catholic Sabha and
the Maharashtra Minorities Commission to see red. .....
However much we love to despise
Laloo Prasad Yadav, it is simply bad form to gloat over his discomfiture
at the horrible riots in Sitamarhi which, by official count, left 44 people
dead. From all accounts, and despite the chief minister's disclaimer, the
riots were communal in character, and like Bhagalpur in 1989, spread from
the town of Sitamarhi to adjoining villages. .....
The riddle that had stumped many
of the world's intelligence agencies over recent months appears to have
been solved. The question that no one was able to answer: Where did Iran
obtain the know-how to manufacture the centrifuges used in the creation
of the enriched uranium used in nuclear weapons? .....
The Supreme Court's advocacy of
a common civil code in India has irked top leaders of the influential All
India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB). .....
In a major development, the Supreme
Court on Wednesday regretted the non-implementation of a Uniform Civil
Code while hearing a petition pertaining to the Indian Succession Act.
.....
It is astonishing that a section
of government and strategic writers still push for sending Indian troops
to Iraq when terrorism remains uncontrolled in our own frontyard, Jammu
and Kashmir, and is growing. After the killing of Vaishnodevi pilgrims
on Monday, an army camp was attacked yesterday. .....
The Holy See has been informed
of Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega's request for forgiveness for the "errors"
committed by his government (1979-1990) with the Catholic Church, a religious
source stated yesterday. .....
Trial proceedings against Christian
schoolteacher Pervaiz Masih began on July 17 in northeast Pakistan, two
years and three months after the high school principal was jailed for alleged
blasphemy. .....
The top brass of the Army's Northern
Command was caught off guard by remnants of a fidayeen squad which stormed
an Army camp at Tanda, 35 km from Jammu city, early Tuesday. The attack,
less than 12 hours after militants struck at Vaishno Devi pilgrims near
Katra, left a Brigadier and seven other Army personnel dead. .....
Religious groups are unhappy with
Supreme Court's expression of regret on the non-implementation of the Uniform
Civil Code during a ruling on a petition pertaining to the Indian Succession
Act on Wednesday .....
They came, they shouted and went
home. But not before ensuring that they all got a full working day's pay
and perks. Our hon'ble MPs do believe in having a swell time at the cost
of us poor tax-payers, isn't it? Otherwise, instead of creating bedlam,
which is no more unprecedented, they would settle down to debate and discuss
the urgent business of the House, nay, of the people and help in creating
an orderly democracy. .....
The Ramjanambhoomi issue is not
a religious but a political issue. The moment we consider it a religious
matter, it becomes a conflict between Hindus and Muslims. Hindu philosophy
talks of God being universal, omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. It
tells us that all forms of life are manifestations of the same divinity.
.....
In a major development, the Supreme
Court on Wednesday regretted the non-implementation of a Uniform Civil
Code while hearing a petition pertaining to the Indian Succession Act.
.....
Zahira Shaikh's disgruntled sister-in-law
Yasmin Banu Shaikh has joined the long list of eyewitnesses of the Best
Bakery carnage who have come out in the open and said they would like to
tell the court "the real truth". .....
Ever since NCERT Director J.S.
Rajput publicised his decision to modernise textbooks in all subjects,
a barrage of one-sided criticism has accompanied the proposed updating
of history texts. .....
Following US Deputy Secretary of
State Richard Armitage's visit to Islamabad last May, most of the militants
were herded out of PoK, mostly to camps in Tarbela and Mansehra areas.
.....
After the Rs 25.33 lakh-fine slapped
on upper caste residents of five villages in Rajgarh for oppressing those
from the SC/ST community, the Digvijay Singh government has now begun the
process of imposing a similar fine at other places in the state. .....
I was to learn of the sad demise
of Rajju Bhaiya on July 14, 2003. It was not easy for me. The way he discharged
his important responsibilities as a teacher, pracharak, and RSS Sarsangh
Chalak, with straightforwardness and simplicity, and inspired crores of
Indians for a long time, will always be remembered. .....
Why are Pakistan's top hawk, Fazlur
Rehman, and Jammu and Kashmir's chief pro-Iran politician, Abbas Ansari,
saying no to US mediation between India and Pakistan, and yes to bilateral
talks under the Shimla Agreement? Rehman says truthfully the US intervention
in Iraq and Afghanistan changed his mind, while Ansari comments America
is welcome as a friend but "not as a master". .....
A key suspect in last year's Bali
bombings claimed at trial today the attack was justified under Islam because
it avenged the killings of innocent Muslims by the United States and its
allies. .....
Several Hindu leaders in UK, on
Tuesday, sought an "unconditional clarification" from Earl of Mar and Kellie
about his remarks that it was "not lies" to say "Hindus were lost and spiritually
blind and that Hinduism was a false religion" as claimed by Christian Medical
Fellowship's Pastor Juge Ram. .....
Devotees of Mata Vaishnodevi shrine
including women and children continued their journey to the holy Bhawan
today even after two powerful grenade blasts here last night pledging to
thwart the designs of Pakistan-backed militants, who carried out the first
major strike against the pilgrims in 13 years of militancy. .....
A few weeks ago, I was invited
for a poetry reading session at Harvard University. When the organisers
called me to let me know that the theme for this year's poetry reading
session was 'Freedom,' the very first words out of my mouth were "Kaisee
Azaadi? (What Freedom?)." That question instantly became the title for
my poem. .....
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad has found
a most unlikely ally in its campaign against cow slaughter -- Fazal-ur
Rehman, chief of Jamait Ulema-e-Islam. .....
The women of today are confident,
dynamic personalities crossing all social and economic barriers to prove
that they are no less than their male counterparts. But when it comes
to religious affairs the picture is different as men still continue to
dominate the performance of pujas and other rituals. .....
If the renewed involvement of the
Kanchi Shankaracharya in the Ayodhya negotiations generated a bout of optimism
that a solution was imminent, the peremptory rejection of his plan by the
Muslim Personal Law Board earlier this month has triggered the predictable
recriminations. .....
Two activists of the banned Students'
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), including an American national, were
Monday jailed for seven years for distributing anti-Indian literature and
engaging in activities inimical to the country. .....
The British government has effectively
closed the door on asylum seekers from Bangladesh despite having seen a
dossier which detailed more than 700 attacks by fundamentalists on ethnic
and religious minorities in the country. .....
At least six devotees, including
a child, were killed and 48 injured, in twin powerful explosions set off
on Monday night by militants at Banganga, two kilometres from Katra, on
way to Vaishno Devi shrine, police sources said. .....
The Law and Order in Kodingaiyur
- a place near chennai - is slowly slipping away from Police Control. Lots
of people from a particular Minority religion have been relocating to this
place. When police arrested people under petty crimes, their investigation
uncovered links between these criminals and Mumbai Underworld, Kashmir
Terrorists and Afghanistan. .....
More than one and a half years
since the September 11 attack on the United States, the security situation
in Europe has not yet calmed down. On the contrary, the situation is increasingly
tense, and concerns everyone in any of the European cities on a daily basis.
.....
The 20th century was a time of
the collapse of colonialism -- perhaps no event marked the collapse more
than the end of British rule in the Indian subcontinent in 1947. A large
number of new states were created in this period and the concept of international
law was conceived. .....
Marylyn Mandeville sits crossed-legged
on a mat in front of 11 of her students. Her hands are folded as if in
prayer, framed by the slogan on her T-shirt: "Know Yoga, Know Peace." A
gold cross rests on the Om symbol emblazoned on her shirt. "Namaste," she
says to the class, bowing deeply while offering the Sanskrit salutation
"I bow to the God within you." .....
A month or so ago, I was in Kurigram
and talking to an NGO worker. She was young and pretty and although
the ostentatious sindur was not there on her sinthi, the white sankha on
her hand told me that she was married. She proudly told me that she
is considered to be the best worker in her office, and I could see that
she possessed those ingredients of management that set leaders apart from
the others. .....
Once thought by local people to
be the abode of a fairy named Shamsa, the 12,000-foot high Shamsbari mountain
towers calmly over the often restive Lipa valley. There are no border incursions
by militants and no retaliatory Indian fire to drive residents out of their
homes and into the underground bunkers. But people are keeping their fingers
crossed as militants in small groups start trickling into the valley in
time for snows to melt on high mountain passes. .....
Even as the Delhi High Court rejected
the bail application of Shahid Badr Salhi, president of the banned Students'
Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), the organisation's national secretary
Safdar Nagori kept his date with Maulana Fazlur Rehman, the visiting secretary
general of Pakistan's Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam. .....
Purnima Rani, a 12-year-old Hindu
girl, is terrified and breaks down frequently as she describes what happened
18 months ago in the village of Perba Delua in Bangladesh. .....
At least six devotees, including
a child, were killed and 48 injured, in twin powerful explosions set off
on Monday night by militants at Banganga, two kilometres from Katra, on
way to Vaishno Devi shrine, police sources said. .....
Distortion of history and culture
in the official textbooks of Pakistan has reached a point of no return.
A group of independent and highly-respected Pakistani scholars, after a
detailed analysis of the school textbooks, have concluded that the material
is directly opposed to the goals and values of a "progressive, moderate
and democratic" Pakistan. .....
As a caseworker for Refugee Family
Services in Clarkston, Laila Mohamed often helps immigrants struggling
to maintain their culture in new surroundings. .....
As a thinly-veiled mouthpiece of
the American establishment, the Time magazine is strictly outside the purview
of my already limited reading list. I must, however, confess that I was
tempted into breaking my vow of abstinence last week. The June 30, 2003
issue of the magazine carried too provocative a cover to resist. .....
An influential Muslim political
party on Tuesday demanded the right to partially govern Muslim-dominated
areas in Sri Lanka's civil-war-wracked northeast -- further complicating
a fragile peace pact between the government and Tamil rebels. .....
Probably the most significant utterance
made by General Pervez Musharraf made at his Camp David meeting with President
George Bush last month went unnoticed by the press. At one point, after
US President Bush declared that he is "hopeful that the two countries will
deepen their engagement on all issues, including Kashmir" .....
Just as he did on the issue of
madrasas suddenly mushrooming in North Bengal border districts, Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee has now engaged in some plain speaking on the old problem
of illegal immigrants from across the border. .....
After West Bengal, it is now Maharashtra's
turn to acknowledge that the continuing illegal influx of Bangladeshi migrants
is a serious problem. The Congress-NCP coalition has asked the Centre to
vest officers of the rank of deputy commissioner of police and superintendent
of police with powers to arrest and deport illegal Bangladeshi refugees.
.....
The Soharee leaf, a plant native
to Trinidad has served the Hindu community for more than a century. In
fact, Hindu scholar Ravi ji believes that over 100,000 leaves of this plant
are used in one month alone for the various Hindu functions held in this
country. .....
A Sangh parivar constituent has
chosen the Sports Authority of India to tap the "rich natural pool of sports
talent" and strike its roots deep in the tribal belt of Bengal and areas
across the country known to be under the influence of Marxists or Christians.
.....
The BJP State vice-president, P.
S. Sreedharan Pillai, has appealed to the Muslim leadership to lead the
efforts to restore lasting peace in violence- ravaged Marad. .....
While Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf was in the U.S. last month to reassure his interlocutors about
his pro- American bona fides, his own chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff
Committee, Gen. Mohammed Aziz Khan, said, at a public meeting, "America
is the No. 1 enemy of the Muslim world and is conspiring against Muslim
nations all over the world." .....
I agree with all the points you
made in your editorial titled "Victims of hate crime" in the July 17 issue.
What concerns me is that more people die in Pakistan because of hate crime
than in any other country. The issue is even more serious than it is in
the United States where fellow Muslims are killing each other. Is that
not a more serious hate crime? .....
According to the new Haj policy
approved by the federal cabinet here on Saturday, Haj expenses for each
intending pilgrim are expected to come down by about Rs5,100 in view of
the rupee's strengthening versus the US dollar - from Rs62 to a dollar
last year to Rs58 to a dollar at present. .....
When I heard about the 54 year
old Canadian photo-journalist going into a coma after repeatedly being
beaten while in detention in Iran, I said to myself, this is it, this will
break the British press' silence on the harsh religious dictatorship in
Iran. Zahra Kazemi was in a coma for a week and I saw nothing on TV and
nothing in the British newspapers. .....
I am glad to report on the meeting
organised by VIGIL in Chennai today evening. The topic of discussion was
the Ayodhya issue. The Chief Guests were Dr. Pravinbhai Togadia and Pujya
Swami Vishveshtheertha of the Pejawar Matha of Udipi. The welcome address
was by Mrs. Radha Rajan of VIGIL. .....
When the House passed a $3 billion
aid package for Pakistan this week, Jewish and Indian American lobbyists
teamed up to win an amendment pressuring Pakistan to stop Islamic militants
from crossing into India. .....
Fiji's indigenous government must
be reshaped to include ethni9c Indian MPs from ousted leader Mahendra
Chaudhry's Labour Party, the racially divided South Pacific nation's Supreme
Court ruled on Friday, ,report agencies. .....
Croatia's education ministry has
withdrawn its recommendation that teachers take yoga classes after the
Roman Catholic Church accused it of trying to sneak Hinduism into schools.
.....
For a while now, the US Department
of Defense and its research wings have been in a tearing hurry to read
Hindi. Because keeping tab on a faraway border that doesn't speak English
is tiresome work, the translation a painfully slow exercise. .....
Muslim personal law in Sri Lanka,
as Thesawalamai and Kandyan law and systems of personal law in other countries,
discriminates against women. Certain provisions relating to marriage and
divorce will be discussed to illustrate issues of concern to women. .....
Demanding that Kanchi Shankaracharya's
fresh formula for settlement of the Ayodhya issue be made public, VHP general
secretary Praveen Togadia on Monday warned of a Big agitation that will
change the course of country's politics" if the disputed land was not handed
over to Hindus "unconditionally" for construction of Ram Temple. .....
Next month, your kinds won't be
shocked to have 40 thieves in your living room. Alibaba, the latest animated
series on Carton Network and the fifth Indian cartoon character on the
channel's new franchise Cartoon Theatre will be launched on July 27. .....
The recent killings of innocent
Hindu fishermen in Marad, Kerala, by Islamic terrorists have shocked the
entire nation. The killings are reminiscent of the Mopla riots of 1921.
The misuse of a local mosque for hiding terrorists, storing illegal arms
and ammunition, and hatching conspiracies and the political support of
the Muslim League. .....
The latest massacre of innocent
Hindus at the hands of Christian terrorist in the State of Tripura was
shocking and outrageous. And what is more shocking and outrageous is the
involvement of Church in aiding and abetting the separatist rebels. .....
The gruesome murder of eight unsuspecting
and innocent Hindu fishermen, without any provocation whatsoever, at Marad,
a coastal hamlet in the Beypore panchayat, near Calicut on Friday May 2,
2003, by Islamic terrorists, with the connivance and active support of
the local Muslim populace, including women, through a meticulously planned
and professionally carried out operation, cannot be viewed as an isolated
incident. .....
Although the security forces are
on high alert all along the 'International border and LoC in J&K, large-scale
infiltration of terrorists from Pakistan and PoK has not stopped. Any softening
of the borders, as recently suggested by Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed
Sayeed, will prove counter productive. .....
Of course, Adam Osborne invented
the portable computer. Turned a billionaire. Ended as bankrupt. His father
Arthur Osborne spent the best part of his life with Ramana Maharishi. .....
The letter is unsigned. It demands
in the name of "Allah the most gracious, the most merciful" the release
of all Muslim prisoners from NSW jails. .....
What is Ayodhya all about? It is
about a temple that was built in the city which reportedly was demolished
by Babar's General, Noorkhan Baqui Tashkandi in 1528 A.D. giving grievous
offence to Hindu sentiments, considering that the temple had been built
on a site known to be birth place of Shri Raam. .....
One Dimasa woman was burnt to death
while 23 dwelling houses and a school building set ablaze by suspected
Hmar miscreants in two separate incidents in violence-hit North Cachar
hill district during the last 24 hours. .....
For 21 years, Narayan, one of the
2,000 Indians released by Pakistan from its prisons last month, didn't
see the light of day. Held virtually incommunicado, ''a very small light
burning at a distance was the only light'' he and his 13 countrymen ''used
to see.'' .....
With three tactical helipads in
place and sophisticated weapons and equipment at its disposal, the army
is continuing its massive operation in the Hill Kaka region near Surankote
in Jammu and Kashmir, evicting intruders and killing at least 100 of them
in the last two months. .....
More and more children in Aligarh
district are ending up with twisted limbs as organisations like the WHO,
UNICEF and Rotary International and the district authorities find that
their concerted campaign against the disease is proving to be hopelessly
inadequate. .....
Paleolithic man roamed the land
once called the Indian subcontinent in the prehistoric days. These are
the people who developed the agricultural settlement along the rich alluvial
banks of the great Indus river and its tributaries. These are the people
who created the first great civilization. .....
Commander Mamabaidullah switches
off the ignition and alights from his pickup truck onto the desert plain
surrounding Spin Boldak, a chaotic Afghan town that borders Pakistan. Followed
by four of his Kalashnikov-toting men, he walks briskly toward a graveyard
where scores of bodies lie buried beneath mounds of dirt and clay. .....
Friday evening was a washout for
me -- cancelled dinner, no alternate plans, so I settled comfortably to
reach out through the Web. Finally, it did turn out to be an interesting
evening for me, but not in the way I'd thought it would be. .....
The Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti
Peetam, Sri Jayendra Saraswati's negotiations with the All India Muslim
Personal Law Board over the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid site in Ayodhya,
have run into rough water. In an exclusive interview with Managing Editor
Saisuresh Sivaswamy at his Mutt in Kanchipuram, in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday,
the seer explains what went wrong, and how the talks could get back on
track. .....
A group led by Chanchalguda corporator
Amjedullah Khan pelted stones at MCH commissioner Chitra Ramachandran and
officials, injuring three drivers, one of them seriously, here on Tuesday.
.....
"Sheik T. Suleiman of the Council
of Ulamas, who signed the statement with Sheik Zubairu Sirajo of SCSN,
told reporters the two bodies had found evidence the polio vaccine was
intended to sterilise children and control population growth." .....
Kashmir is the 'lifeline' of Pakistan
and it will not compromise on it, Pakistani premier Mir Zafarullah khan
Jamali said on Friday. "As far as I am concerned, Kashmir is the lifeline.
It's not just a political issue; it's an economic issue too. It's lifeline
as far as Pakistan is concerned and we have to keep that right in front
of us and then decide," Mr Jamali told the BBC World, in its programme
'Question Time Pakistan.' .....
This is a modern Muslim horror
story from Austria, whose capital, Vienna, barely avoided falling to Islam
half a millennium ago. Imagine an exquisitely beautiful citizen of this
ancient Christian nation having to go underground in neighboring Germany
just to stay alive. .....
For last two years I have felt
an earnest desire to speak to my community on certain developments within
my community. The desire has perhaps been driven by the realisation that
we are placed at a time in history when momentous and critical events are
happening around us which have crucial bearing on our future. .....
The disclosures, made in the wake
of launching of 'Operation Sarpvinash' regarding the extent of subversion
well inside Indian territory, is a matter of shame and agony for all Indians.
How the second largest army in world allowed a terrorist enclave, spread
over hundred square kms, to come up, has shocked Indians. .....
In the latest attacks on Serbian
Orthodox sites in Kosovo, a church in the capital Pristina that had been
attacked in May was again stoned late on 26 June. The NATO-led peacekeeping
force KFOR withdrew its protection from St Nicholas' Church at the end
of last year (see F18News 13 May 2003). .....
Pakistan should use Netpolitik
to influence world opinion in favour of giving Kashmiris the right to choose
their own political dispensation. It should stop providing military assistance
to the jihadis .....
Two brothers accused of gang raping
teenage girls have sacked their lawyers and intend to represent themselves
at their Supreme Court trial, meaning they may get to cross-examine their
alleged victims. .....
Its apparent failure notwithstanding,
the Kanchi Shankaracharya's mediation in the Ayodhya impasse marks a definite
step forward in the movement for the recovery of the birthplace of a God
intimately linked with resistance to the molestation of Hindu society in
the medieval period. .....
One of Al Qaeda's first assignments
for Iyman Faris, the Ohio truck driver named last month in a terrorist
plot to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, was to visit a travel agency while
he was in Pakistan in late 2001 to have some old airline tickets reissued,
federal investigators say. .....
A prominent Muslim missionary group,
Tablighi Jamaat, has come under the scrutiny of US investigators who suspect
that al-Qaeda used it for recruiting terrorists, a media report said. .....
Hindus worship in temples which
are narrow and dark places, where they worship idols. Only one person can
enter the temple at a time. In mosques, on the other hand, all Muslims
can say their prayers together. .....
They were lost in a Laotian jungle,
stalked by a lion in Ethiopia and had rocks thrown at them. A fish bite
in Papua New Guinea needed stitches. Hindu militants in India pulled the
plug as potential converts were watching a film about Jesus. .....
The recent terrorist strikes in
the USA on September 11, 2001, in which the World Trade Centre and Pentagon
were "crash-bombed" by large airplanes, have brought a new resolve in the
global community to root out terrorism from all parts of the world. The
Americans are playing a leading role in building a world coalition against
terrorism. .....
The Ahmadiyas are a Islamic sect
who derive their ame from a nineteenth century holy man of Punjab, named
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Qadiani (1835- 1908). Other Muslims object to two central
tenets of the Ahmadiyas; first, the almost prophet-like status of their
master Ahmad Qadiani; second, the Ahmadiya belief that all religions of
the world including Hinduism are valid religion. .....
Why do they hate them? That is
the question to ask in the wake of the slaughter of 53 people by Islamic
suicide attackers in a mosque in Quetta, Pakistan, on July 4. .....
The Cachar and North Cachar Hills
districts of Assam located in the southern banks of river Brahmaputra witnessed
the worst ever-ethnic mayhem between the Dimasa and Hmar tribes, rattling
the age-old bonhomie. The mercury soared to new summit with the summary
execution of 27 Dimasas in March 2003 culminating in to mass exodus of
Dimasas leaving their hearth and home to make shift refugee centers. .....
In a sea of saffron, they stand
apart. Their clothes and their physical features give them enough distinction,
even before they begin talking. They are the dondeis, nibos and sadhus
from the northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Manipur
and Meghalaya -- that rarely get a mention in reportage on Hindutva. .....
The bomb blast, that occurred in
the multi-story commercial building, Kawish Crown Plaza, situated at the
Shahrah-e-Faisal, was not carried out by any Jihadi outfit or any anti-US
group and it only reinforced the doubts that the Indian intelligence agency,
the Research and Analysis Wing (Raw), was responsible for this attacks,
senior investigators told The News here on Friday. .....
Worried that Islam is being linked
to terrorism, Muslim scholars at an international conference on Friday
proposed encouraging greater dialogue with the West and banning books that
promote extremism. .....
Bowing to the pressures of its
rank and file, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), the second largest
constituent in the UDF, is on the warpath against the Kerala Chief Minister,
A.K. Antony, for his observations on the equations between the majority
and minority communities. .....
The most important outcome of the
Congress's three-day strategy camp in Shimla's salubrious surroundings
is not the long apology for a manifesto obediently cheered by delegates.
Nor is it Sonia Gandhi's arguably first attempt to project herself as the
prime ministerial candidate. Or the clear signal to build alliances. .....
"Enough is enough. We can't tolerate
any more infiltration into out state through the (Indo-Bangla) border.
The BSF has failed to tackle the problem in several places. As the first
measure we've stopped issuing new ration cards from block offices close
to the border. .....
Bengal's ruling Left agrees with
the BJP-led Union government on the need for firm action to check infiltration,
Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said today. .....
About twice every year, an old
codger from New Delhi's teeming club of Cold War nostalgics wakes up and
demands a China-Russia-India alliance to take on the United States. One
seminar, two editorials and a few polite noises later, the idea is dismissed,
recognised as vaguely desirable but totally impracticable. .....
Though the All India Muslim Personal
Law Board has rejected the recent proposals of the Kanchi Shankaracharya,
the sources said both the Board and the Seer have not closed the doors
for negotiations. .....
After too many years of Africa's
being pushed to the global background, it's heartening to see the world's
attention being focused on our continent. International support - both
financial and otherwise - is certainly needed to help combat the severe
poverty and disease gripping our nations. .....
The debate on Ayodhya has reached
center-stage again. While there are political moves afoot, aimed at reaching
some kind of satisfactory via media, the court-ordered digs have generated
much news, although the work itself is progressing at a glacial pace. .....
Port-of-Spain - More than 158 years
after the first Indians arrived in Trinidad and Tobagao, plans are now
afoot to restore the island where more than 200,000 indentured Indian labourers
were brought to work on sugar plantations. .....
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir
Mohamad on Thursday urged Muslim countries to equip themselves with modern
knowledge and weapons to fight oppression by world powers and restore their
civilization to its former glory. .....
A day after some people reportedly
reconverted to Hinduism in Tankvasna village in Patan, parents withdrew
over a dozen students staying at a Catholic ashram and attending a primary
school in Hansapur. A programme had been organized here on Sunday to bring
back Christian converts to Hinduism. .....
Upping the ante on Ram temple after
the failure of the Kanchi seer's formula and three days prior to the crucial
session of the 'Uchchadhikar Sami-ti', Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief
Ashok Singhal indicated here on Tuesday that a repeat of the mass movement
on the lines of the 'shila poojan' agitation of the '80s was on the cards
with the active participation of the Sangh Pariwar. .....
The terrorist brigade of a local
leader of the political party of Jamaat-E- Islami led by Mr. Kowsar Mollah
conducted a three hour long rampage in the village of Biswanathpur under
the sub district of Kaligaonj in Satkhira, Bangladesh, during which they
wiped out all the houses and the Godess Kali temple of the Sarkers [Hindu
family name]. .....
The Committee for Citizenship Rights
of the Chakmas of Arunachal Pradesh (CCRCAP) has sought the intervention
of the National Human Rights Commission against the quit notice served
on them and Hajongs. .....
The disputed sites in Ayodhya,
Kashi and Mathura should be handed over to Hindus either through negotiations
or legislation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh demanded in a resolution
adopted unanimously on the opening day of its two-day national executive
meeting in Kanyakumari on Saturday. .....
Prema Jain does not begin her day
with a prayer or a cup of coffee. Instead, the first thing she does when
she steps into her kitchen every morning is take a handful of rice from
the rice tin and deposit it in a can. This is her way of sharing what she
has with those who cannot afford even one square meal a day. .....
In 427 B.C., Diodotus of Athens
in a speech to the Athenians asked: "The question for us rightly considered
is not, What are their crimes? But, what is our interest? If I prove them
to be so guilty, I will not on that account bid you put them to death,
unless it is expedient." .....
George W. Bush announced an economic
development and defense-aid package of $3 billion over the next five years.
While it may be necessary to compensate Pakistan for its aid in capturing
al-Qaida, the administration needs to realize that the country has not
been a consistent and enthusiastic ally in Washington's war against terror.
And it should not risk damaging America's important relationship with India.
.....
Sitala Devi Primary School, situated
in the heart of Pokhara Valley, is an inspiring example of how collapsing
public schools can find a new lease of life under community management.
.....
The death of a child, who was a
student in a madrassa in Vijay Nagar, has created panic in the city. The
child was reportedly severely beaten up by the madrassa maulvi (teacher)
on June 19 and died 10 days later. .....
I returned from the hectic coverage
of the State Assembly elections in Gujarat on June 10 via Jaipur where
I spent a day at the invitation of Mr Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, with whom
I had travelled from Ahmedabad. .....
Next time you read depressing statistics
about India - the vast numbers below the poverty line, low per capita incomes,
low teledensity and find ourselves being compared unfavourably with China
yet again - just pick up a copy of the latest Foreign Policy, The Economist
issue dated 27 June, or better still, CLSA Emerging Markets' recent publication,
'The Indian Paradox'. As an antidote, nothing could be better. .....
Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani
on Sunday pilloried Marxists for "political intolerance" towards nationalist
leaders like Shyama Prasad Mookerjee and said that ideological and political
differences should not hinder showing of respect to stalwarts
of other political parties. .....
The temple of Lord Venakateswara
at Tirupati is lucky. The Andhra Pradesh government has finally backed
off from its demand for Rs 36 crore from this cash- rich shrine, in the
wake of public outcry and a litigation in the high court. .....
Having come to know that your good-self
is not keeping well, his holiness decided to make a private visit to Nadwa
to see you and pray for your well-being. Accordingly, on the 7th June,
he took a private trip from Delhi to Lucknow and visited you in the afternoon
and was indeed happy to be with you in the pious ambience. .....
A leading South Asia expert in
the US has said Pakistan's military president General Pervez Musharraf
has blatantly lied to the US administration about his role on uranium enrichment
technology transfers to North Korea. .....
In their election coverage, newspapers
have been providing booth-wise analysis of votes polled by winners and
runners-up in the contests in West Bengal. These dull statistical exercises
have become newsworthy owing to the incredible difference between figures
like 787 against a miserable three. .....
Recently, I read a book titled
'Many Lives,Many Masters' , written by Dr.Brian Vies. This was first
printed in 1988, after which it was reprinted 12 times, and totally 10
lakh copies were printed. .....
It was a marathon session by any
standard. Fifteen hours of lectures by over three dozen speakers, and a
little poetry at the end, only meant that the first Annual Conference of
Indian Muslim Council-USA succeeded in hardening the stand of Muslim groups
against Hindu groups in the United States. .....
In a sea of saffron, they stand
apart. Their clothes and their physical features give them enough distinction,
even before they begin talking. They are the dondeis, nibos and sadhus
from the northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Assam, Manipur
and Meghalaya -- that rarely get a mention in reportage on Hindutva. .....
Christian leaders in India are
kicking up a row over the bill banning conversions by fraud or allurement
passed by the Jayalalithaa Government in Tamil Nadu. The Pope, who has
no more locus standi in India than the Shakaracharyas have in the Vatican,
told church officials to ignore the law and continue their conversion activities.
.....
You are traveling by bus a few
hours out of Katmandu in Nepal. The sun is falling fast as the road climbs.
When the bus stops to refuel, you climb out and look up at a new moon high
in the sky. Then with a little surprise you look higher and see, above
the moon, the snow-covered tops of mountains. .....
Bangladesh's soil is being used
by at least 80 militant training camps run by "rabidly anti-Indian Islamic
militant organisations", a report submitted to top officials by Central
and West Bengal intelligence agencies has said. .....
The Maoist Communist Centre is
raising funds to appeal against the death sentences awarded to three activists
in a massacre case in 2001. According to officials, the banned Naxalite
group has directed the residents of Beltu to pitch in for the fund. .....
There is no universally acceptable
definition as to what exactly "religion" is. There appears to be near unanimity
that religion, generally, is a belief or faith in the existence of a Supernatural
Being and the precepts which people follow for attaining salvation. .....
History has been made, ladies and
gentlemen! A senior journalist of an English-language newspaper of ours
has done what our Muslim rulers of 600 years had not dared to do: dub India
as...'an Islamic nation.' .....
The Centre is proposing a new law
to keep tabs on whether foreign funds received by non-governmental organisations,
charitable trusts and educational institutions are used for the purposes
for which they were meant and not diverted for anti-national activities.
.....
India on Monday rejected as "absolutely
baseless" Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's charge that
its consulates in Kandhahar and Herat in Afghanistan and Zaidan in Iran
were behind Friday's attack on a mosque in Quetta. .....
A unique temple dating back to
10th century ad with Nagi sculpture as the presiding deity, has been discovered
in Ghasiandhuti village under Balipatana block in Orissa's Khurda district.
.....
Nobody is in doubt that the health
condition of the Sri Sankaracharya Sanskrit University in Kalady
is anxiety-generating. The expert study group sent by the UGC has
unambiguously pronounced this. .....
A missionary has written to ask
me to give my opinion with regard to 'mass conversions' to Christianity
from the lower castes of the Hindu religion. This question of the conversion
of large masses of people from one religion to another has come into prominence
lately. On the true solution will largely depend the future harmony of
religions in India. .....
The text of the second letter of
the Kanchi seer to AIMPLB Chairman Maulana Rabe Hasan Nadwi in response
to the clarifications sought by the latter. .....
Suspected Islamic militants opened
indiscriminate fire on a group of Hindu villagers in Jammu, killing at
least five civilians and critically wounding another, police said. .....
To be or not to be, that is the
question. The Bharatiya Janata Party leaders are desperately trying to
find the answer. There seems to be serious differences among them in this
regard. .....
The Bhojshala issue should be settled
on the lines of Somnath temple through talks and Chief Minister Digvijay
Singh should take the initiative to find a solution, BJP leader Uma Bharti
said today. .....
After Giriraj Kishore, it was today
the turn of VHP international general secretary Praveen Togadia to assert
that his organization would not allow any mosque to be built at Ram Janmabhoomi
in Ayodhya. .....
Former Gujarat Chief Minister Chhabildas
Mehta has called for drastic measures by the Congress to win back majority
support which, he claims, was lost in the search for minority votes. This,
he said, should be done after washing away the impression from the majority
that the Congress was interested only in the minority. .....
The Hague, The Netherlands. The
human rights situation in Bangladesh specifically needs to be seen in a
sequence of four perspectives, according to Global Human Rights Defence.
Information needs to be given on the legal and constitutional system of
Bangladesh, the Bangladeshi campaign of apartheid, crimes against humanity
within Bangladesh and the effects of terrorism on human rights. .....
In West Bengal, a state in which
no citizen up to 26 years has seen a change in government by election,
corruption has been expectedly institutionalised. The bulk of the 86,000-strong
police force is unionised under a CPI(M)-controlled association. No promotion,
transfer or dismissal can take place without its nod. .....
Echoing VHP's stridently, the RSS
on Saturday demanded 'handing over of Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura to Hindus
either through negotiation or legislation and asked the Muslims to give
up their claim over these places of worship, reports PTI. .....
After the Blast in Coimbatore in
February 1998, Intelligence sleuths have been watching various organisations.
By watching seriously some troublesome organisations, they say that problems
are avoided. .....
Eleven men accused of training
to join a Pakistani terrorist group cannot be prosecuted because
the US government has indirectly supported the same group, a defence
lawyer said. .....
The Congress seems to have hit
upon a temple- discourse formula to corner the Hindu votebank. Chhattisgarh
chief minister Ajit Jogi has formed a trust to construct a temple in honour
of Lord Ram's mother Kaushalya at Aarang, 55 km from here. Jogi heads this
trust, other partymen are members. .....
In high school, Atep Arofiq was
fascinated by Islamic studies, and with meager means for higher education,
a free institution financed by Saudi Arabia in this bustling capital seemed
like a natural choice. There was an added attraction: the best students
could graduate to further study in Saudi Arabia, all expenses paid. .....
President Jacques Chirac has said
French people must respect France's commitment to secularism, suggesting
laws might be passed to ban Muslims from wearing headscarves in schools
and at work. .....
Police in Zambia have arrested
two foreigners for unlawful confinement and abuse of 280 boys being kept
in cages at an Islamic "school" where they were taught Arabic and military
tactics. .....
Dozens of Muslim militants have
crisscrossed Asia, visiting terror training camps and learning how to use
guns and make bombs, members of an al-Qaida-linked Islamic group testified
Thursday. .....
Controversy is brewing in Kenya
between Christians and members of the public over the country's national
motto Kenya's had for 40 years, "Harambee." A number of Christians, drawn
mainly from the Pentecostal churches, want the motto erased from the country's
coat of arms, alleging that Harambee gives honor to a Hindu Goddess called
Ambee (Kali). .....
The Communist outlook which pervaded
the contemporary marxist ideology, cast its shadows on the evolution of
the Communist movement in Jammu and Kashmir. In its earlier phases, the
main inspiration for the movement was the revolutionary movement in Russia
and the rise of the Soviets to power. .....
The Delhi Government filed a petition
in the Delhi High Court seeking revision of a court order refusing permission
to the Government to drop sedition charges against Naib Iman of Jama Masjid
Syed Ahmed Bukhari.1 .....
Five police officers and one civilian
were shot dead and three police were wounded in three separate attacks
by masked gunmen in Thailand's troubled Muslim-majority south, police said
today. .....
"There are conspi-racies to convert
Assam into a minority-dominated State. Under the game plans Muslims are
active through infiltration in plain areas and Christians are making attempts
through conversions in hill areas to achieve their nefarious goals. .....
A few days ago a news item allegedly
supplied by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) was planted in the
newspapers that no evidence of a pre-existing structure under the disputed
Rama Janma Bhumi-Babri Masjid was found. The said news item was definitely
deceptive, roundless, misrepresented and calculated to dupe the country.
The misrepresented item was based on an unfinished progress report of the
ASI. .....
National president of Bahujan Samaj
Party, Kanshi Ram warned people to keep away from the political forces,
trying to exploit the sentiment of the Dalits and downtrodden for political
gains at a "Savdhan, rally" (Caution rally) held at government School ground
here today. .....
While nearly 8,500 private schools
in Nepal face the wrath of student unions over fees, missionary schools
have to deal with another more insidious enemy - distrust. Of the 19 odd
schools in the Himalayan kingdom run by Christian orders, one of the most
famous and respected is the St Xavier's School in Jawalakhel that boasts
of nearly cent per cent success during the School Leaving Certificate examination.
.....
A rights group here has expressed
outrage at the use of the Hindu symbol 'Om' on socks in the United States.
"We are outraged seeing such repetitive insults and attack on Indian culture,"
IndiaCause coordinator Sanjeev Dahiwadkar said. .....
Hindus were like Jews and they
can never be the friends of Muslims, a leading Pakistan journalist was
quoted as saying by a newspaper in Lahore on Wednesday. .....
Many idols in ancient Hindu temples
in Pakistan are missing and the government there has denied permission
to install new ones in place of these. Reports from across the border say
that the condition of most Hindu temples there has deteriorated since the
1999 ban on the Hindu jathas visiting Pakistan. .....
After personal requests from George
Bush, the United States president, and the Pope, Israel yesterday destroyed
the foundations of a mosque in the heart of Nazareth that Christian groups
feared would impinge on what remains of the town's Christian character.
.....
The Opposition parties have described
the $3 billion package announced by US President George W. Bush after his
meeting with Gen. Musharraf at Camp David as "dismal and disappointing."
.....
About 500 Hindu women in Pakistan's
Sindh province have been protesting at what they believe is the abduction
of a teenage Hindu girl by a Muslim youth, the BBC reported on its Web
site. .....
Three Sindhi organizations in US
held a joint protest rally and news conference at the National Press Center
in Washington against treatment of Sindhis by the military Government of
General Pervez Musharraf. .....
A News report quotes the decision
of a minorities' organisation of Rawalpindi to launch a campaign to oppose
the adoption of the Shariat in the Frontier and its likely follow-up elsewhere
in the country. I must say it is brave of them to do so in face of an overwhelming
and rather intolerant majority. .....
The Kerala High Court has held
that a Muslim girl, even if she is a minor as per the Indian Majority Act,
can enter into a valid marriage agreement if she has attained puberty and
her husband was legally bound to provide maintenance to her. .....
Boy wizard Harry Potter has failed
to weave his magic at a Christian school in the southern city of Melbourne,
which has banned all five J K Rowling books about his adventures from its
library. .....
The police in Bharuch, Gujarat,
arrested nine foreigners for violating visa and immigration norms by making
"inflammatory" speeches and preaching Islam in various parts of Bharuch
since May 22. Eight of the arrested men are from Saudi Arabia and the ninth
is from Sudan. .....
Some of the most radical Islamic
groups in the world are using Britain as their strategic base. Why
are they allowed to conduct their activities unimpeded? .....
A film theatre in Islamabad finds
itself in the eye of a storm after secretly screening Bollywood blockbuster
"Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum" last weekend as the audience, mostly youngsters
began dancing to the irresistible tunes of film including 'Vande mataram'
and 'Saren Jahan sey acha, hindusitan hamara." .....
In India the politicians change
their statements like weather. In an interview to a German daily, Der Spiegel,
Prime Minister Vajpayee said that the resolution of Kashmir problem would
require serious compromises. He even warned that he will retire if his
third peace initiative with Pakistan fails. On return to India, he backtracked
from his earlier statement and claimed that talks with Pakistan over Kashmir
would start on Pak occupation of PoK. .....
The Islamic community has a long
history in the great state of Iowa. In fact, it is home to
the oldest mosque in the United States, aptly called the Mother Mosque
of America. It is here, in Iowa - one of the major cogs in
America's Heartland - that plans are being set forth to construct
an Islamic camp/convention center. The catch is that it is
to be created on federal land. This, for various reasons, has
sent up red flags throughout the area. .....
Jerusalem: Bulldozers on Tuesday
started ripping out the foundations of an unauthorised mosque whose construction
has raised tension between Christians and Muslims in Nazareth, Israel's
largest predominantly Arab city. .....
The editors and reporters of the
Washington Post are great guys. They would not be satisfied with anything
less than hearing it from the horse's mouth. So they arranged a special
dialogue with Musharraf, the great fighter against terrorism. How, the
showman that he is, he lived up to their expectation to produce copy of
invaluable information. .....
The testimony of the three Jemaah
Islamiah detainees, who accept that they were misled by spiritual leaders
who warped Islamic teachings, has a wider message for the Muslim community.
.....
Official efforts to better integrate
France's five million Muslims into mainstream French society were in turmoil
after a moderate Islamic leader tendered his resignation as head of a council
increasingly influenced by hard-liners, and then retracted it hours later.
.....
Atal Bihari Vajpayee is a seasoned
and cultivated politician, who displays a good grasp of current international
trends as they change along the time-graph. He is also an eminent realist,
and does not let ideology or isms of any kind cloud his vision. .....
An embarrassed CPM leadership in
Kerala has decided to "publicly censure" party veteran and ideologue P.
Govinda Pillai for "grave indiscipline" in criticising the late E.M.S.
Namboodiripad, who headed the world's first elected communist government.
.....
1. Islam is a totally MISSIONARY
religion committed to making EVERYONE Muslim, according to the Koran the
world is divided up into 2 parts, Dar-as-Islam (House of Faith) a title
which applies to all Islamic countries and Dar-al-Harb (Household of War),
land not yet surrendered to Allah, which is the rest of the world. .....
In the end, it was India's Iraq
connection that nixed a military package for Pakistan during General Pervez
Musharraf's Camp David visit on June 24. India had unequivocally stated
it would find it "very difficult" to justify sending troops to Iraq if
the US was seen to be strengthening Pakistan, a point Deputy Prime Minister
L.K. Advani tirelessly made to President George W. Bush and Defense Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld during his recent visit. .....
In the theological dogmas of Islam
there are plenty of unanswered questions to which most apologists play
same old game of sidetracking and putting lame excuse to the 'out of context',
or 'faulty Quranic translations'. Among them, I like to discuss one question
about which I have been asking/searching the truth for long time, but till
today nobody could give me satisfactory answer. .....
What's the fastest route to economic
development? Welcome foreign direct investment (FDI), says China, and most
policy experts agree. But a comparison with long-time laggard India suggests
that FDI is not the only path to prosperity. Indeed, India's homegrown
entrepreneurs may give it a long-term advantage over a China hamstrung
by inefficient banks and capital markets. .....
Though he once criticized what
he saw as the excessive personalization of diplomacy by his predecessor,
President Bush continues to lean heavily and exclusively on a handful of
heads of state to advance crucial American interests. He's still courting
Russia's Vladimir Putin, despite Mr. Putin's curtailment of democracy and
obstruction of the U.S. mission in Iraq. .....
A gathering of 50 Children was
hardly a crowd at the Ayyappa temple in R.K. Puram, Delhi. It was Vishu,
the Malayali New Year's Day, and thousands of them, expatriates in the
kingdom of nostalgia, had thronged the temple from dawn. They came-and
went-offering prayers and receiving the token one-rupee coin from the priest.
.....
No musclebound heroes like Phantom
or Tarzan here. Forget Wolverine-like characters with unbreakable metal
claws and mutants with healing powers. Or even kings, queens and palace
intrigues. Welcome to a more benign world, clever and cunning at times,
of Roama and her companion 'Dicti', an impatient and curious dictaphone,
in search of India's forgotten legends and myths. .....
General Pervez Musharraf, the president
of Pakistan, got the treatment reserved for the closest of friends this
past week -- a visit, with his wife, to the presidential retreat at Camp
David, only one step short of a trip to the ranch in Crawford, Tex. .....
Malawi called in troops on Saturday
to quell Muslim riots sparked by reports that U.S. officials had whisked
five al Qaeda suspects out of the country and the president vowed to crack
down on religious violence. .....
The Gumla district administration
has ordered an inquiry to find out how the names of at least two foreigners,
both Jesuit priests, have been figuring in the state voters' list since
1995. .....
