A number of major military interventions since the beginning of this millennium by the Atlantic Alliance troika - the United States, Britain and France - have left the Islamic world stretching from north of Afghanistan to south of Mali in a state of utter chaos. While the colonials and pro-imperial forces have already succeeded in making unstable a
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
30 May 2013
|
6 Comments
|
That the just-conducted three pre-poll surveys by ABP News-Nielsen, CNN-IBN-GFK-Mode and Headlines Today-C-Voter would predict a crushing, humiliating defeat of the Congress- UPA was a foregone conclusion. It was equally predictable that the fed-up-with-Congress-misrule electorate would swing behind the BJP-NDA. But more than that, it was also mani
Homs Palestinian Refugee Camp: Historically, Palestinian refugees, wherever they have sought temporary sanctuary following the ethnic cleansing of their country by the 19th century Zionist colonial enterprise, and pending their return to Palestine, have insisted on avoiding local and international conflicts while seeking a modicum of interim civil
India needs a new China policy that is more than “Hope for the best, Expect the worst.” I suggest that it be oriented to the realization of three primary goals. Primary Goals Ensure international support for peace and stability in China as it experiences the economic crash landing that is surely shaping up. Without clear assurance
We have a word for the conscious slaughter of a racial or ethnic group: genocide. And one for the conscious destruction of aspects of the environment: ecocide. But we don’t have a word for the conscious act of destroying the planet we live on, the world as humanity had known it until, historically speaking, late last night. A possibility might be “
It was recently announced at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town, South Africa that MasterCard and the Nigerian National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) under the government of Nigeria would form a partnership to distribute a new identity card to every Nigerian citizen. The purpose of the card is to have all Nigerian citizens participate in
British Prime Minister David Cameron has vowed to give Sri Lanka lessons on human rights when he attends the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Sri Lanka in November 2013. This is an astonishing statement coming from the head of a country that once ran an Empire on which it was said ‘the Sun never sets’. At its peak the British Empir
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
25 May 2013
|
9 Comments
|
“Today (May 12) is an important day for people of Jammu & Kashmir as the elections were held in Pakistan and Mian Nawaz Sharif is emerging as victorious. I from this stage at Trikulbal Pattan (Kashmir) congratulate Mian Sahib on behalf of people of Jammu & Kashmir, my government and myself and hope that he would carry forward the process of
Nawaz Sharif is all set to take over the reins of Pakistan after having won an impressive victory in the recently held elections. All eyes are set on the manner in which he relates to India. Will he live up to the encouraging words he spoke just before and after the elections? Will Indo-Pakistan relations see the new positive vibes that he promised
What kind of India will we have when an “industrial corridor” runs from Delhi to Mumbai and another from Chennai to Bangalore? Who will benefit most and who will lose most from the $1 trillion in infrastructure investment that Finance Minister P. Chidambaram deems necessary in the next decade? What will be the impact of a Chernobyl/Fukushima-style
Jammu & Kashmir is an integral part of India. The only problem that can be called the J&K Problem is the non-comprehension by India of this truth of its being the integral part of India and not distinct or separate from the other states. The problem that remains to be settled then is to free the areas of J&K illegally occupied
Some clues are dead giveaways. When Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, goes to discuss “innovative” ways to break the impasse in Sri Lanka with Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and not the Indian Prime Minister, and after 30 years the US Government has decided to financially assist Tamil refugees languishing in Tamil Nadu refugee camps, it all
Nomads – yak, sheep, and cattle herders – are conventionally the silent sentinels of the borders. Living close to nature in remote fringes, their sensitivity to movement and change in their isolated terrain and the speed with which they raise the alarm can determine the outcome of a border skirmish. Traditionally, cattle raids were the early warning signs of...
The recent arrest of the Paattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) president, Dr S Ramadoss, and the brutal crackdown on its workers seems to be an act of political repression. Top functionaries of the party were arrested under the National Security Act and Goondas Act, which is simply unprecedented. The PMK had recently organised a mega conclave of its Va
As is often the case, the world media under-reported what should be a game-changing event that took place at Washington DC’s storied National Press Club, close to the very centre of American political power for five days from April 29 to May 4, 2013. The Citizen Hearing on Disclosure was convened by the Paradigm Research Group, an advocacy lob
Yasin Malik, the separatist head of Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, is a troubled man these days. Torn between his family (wife and daughter in Pakistan) and his dwindling political career in India, he is going around making vague statements and courting arrest for no practical purpose whatsoever. He seems to be egged on by his few followers and so
The earth shook as the mighty salvo signalled the start. Gracefully, heavy armour proceeded along Red Square, passing by the stepped pyramid of Lenin’s Tomb, by the multi-coloured domes of St Basil, and descending to the embankment of the Moscow River; huge green trucks pulled the most obvious phallic symbols of all – the intercontinental missiles
US dollars have been flooding the financial markets ever since Bernanke launched quantitative easing allegedly to turnaround the US economy. These huge amounts of US$ toilet paper are mainly in financial markets (and in central banks) outside of the United States. A huge chunk is represented as reserves in central banks led by China and Japan. If t
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
17 May 2013
|
12 Comments
|
Believe it or not, but the larger truth is that the Congress (of “termites”) has never considered Jammu & Kashmir an integral part of India in the real sense of the term. That’s the reason it has been considering Kashmiri Muslims as a race apart ever since October 26, 1947, when Maharaja Hari Singh, who alone had the power under the Indian Inde
Several years ago, I wrote a series of articles on a journey in Europe. It was intended both to be personal and to go beyond recent events or the abstract considerations of geopolitics. This week I begin another journey that will take me from Portugal to Singapore, and I thought that I would try my hand again at reflecting on the significance of my
Indian farmers have often been perceived as lacking initiative, but the latest developments on the farm front belie that stereotype. Not only have they shown initiative, but they have started a quiet revolution on their own steam without prompting from anyone. Least of all from the Government of India was the case with the chemically-driven agricul
President Obama’s plan to withdraw the majority of US troops from Afghanistan may lead to another war in the region. The most dangerous signal suggesting that such an outcome is indeed on the horizon was the reported May 1 border clash between the armies of Pakistan and Afghanistan that killed soldiers on both sides. Afghanistan President Hamid Kar
Almost as interesting as the results of the Karnataka state assembly have been the explanations and opinions put forth by media talking heads and political experts. They tell us more about these experts and their thinking than they do about the ground realities in the state and what voters expect from their elected leaders today. I am a native of K
Presstitute is a term coined by Gerald Celente (Press + Prostitute) and has been defined by the Urban Dictionary as “a member of the media who will alter their story and reporting based on financial interests or other ties with usually partisan individuals or groups”. An alternate definition is one who “screws” the general public by intentionally s
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
11 May 2013
|
13 Comments
|
Thousands of essays on the genesis of and solution to the so-called Kashmir issue have appeared in national dailies and journals of repute during the last quarter century. More than 700 books on the same theme and during the same period have also come out. Most of these works – barring works on the forced exodus of over three lakh Kashmiri Hindus f
I just came across an interview of former United Nations Under-Secretary-General Brian Urquhart on the UN News Centre web site. It was supposedly conducted in 2011 to mark the 50th anniversary of Dag Hammarskjold’s death in September 1961. How I missed seeing it for over a year is a mystery, but it’s never too late to comment on what Urquhart said.
Pakistan is standing on the threshold of a historic transition; the process started with the Pakistan People’s Party-led government completing its full term and paving the way for a smooth general election by handing over power to a caretaker government and then entering the electoral fray like any other party. This was the first such instance in t
India is at a crossroads. There is rising debate and discussion on development, about aspirations and the virtues of entrepreneurship. In the last two decades, the global exposure of the average Indian has increased, and people are becoming increasingly impatient about the state of affairs in India vis-à-vis other nations, particularly the West. Th
In 2003, when in the writer’s opinion, Gen Musharraf had reached the acme of his power and usefulness to Washington, it was expected that another pliable ruler would be selected to rule Pakistan. To Musharraf’s credit, he survived much longer than expected, was perhaps one of the best rulers that country had, and departed only in 2008. He returned
A Defence Minister who cannot read a hospital register recording the date of birth of his Chief of Army Staff can hardly be expected to read a map and discern Chinese inroads to the extent of an admitted 19-kms (some say 30-kms). So it was no surprise that Mr. AK Anthony remained near-invisible after Beijing’s latest land grab became public, though protectio...
Shackled by feuding partisan political groupings lodged firmly in two hostile and conflicting camps, Bangladesh is heading toward another general election in early 2014. In all likelihood, the ruling Bangladesh Awami League (BAL) party’s failure to provide citizens with the hope of a better future will bring its rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Pa
Way back in 2006, when Israel had waged the war on Lebanon, we had to travel from Damascus to Beirut, the twin cities of resistance. When we went back in February 2013, approaching Damascus from Beirut, amidst the sounds of bombardments that continued all day and night, we were aware that the geopolitical war for Syria will have tremendous ramifica
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
04 May 2013
|
25 Comments
|
The Indian nation is in a state of shock and grief. It has been seething with anger following the April 26 planned inhuman and brutal attack on 49-year-old Sarabjit Singh of Punjab inside the notorious Kot Lakhpat Jail, Lahore. The Congress-led UPA Government stands charged with allowing Islamabad to bleed India and butcher Indian nationals at regu
Following their return from Pakistan, Sarabjit Singh’s relatives have charged that the Sonia-Manmohan Singh Government failed to support them and put no pressure on the Pakistani Government to stop its atrocities. This is consistent with Sonia Gandhi’s decades-long deference to Islamist forces even in the face of the most severe provocation. This w
|
by
Hari Om
|
on
03 May 2013
|
11 Comments
|
On March 15, the Indian Parliament passed a unanimous resolution on Jammu & Kashmir firmly reiterating that the border State, including the territories under illegal occupation of Pakistan, “is and shall always be an integral part of India”. The resolution said that any attempt from any quarter to interfere in India’s internal affairs will be m
The decision to hold the 23rd Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sri Lanka was endorsed on a proposal made in 2009 by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown at the summit in Trinidad and Tobago. But in an “all together chorus” the bandwagon of almost the same people supporting the LTTE now wants a CHOGM boycott of Colombo. All we can sa
The nation is currently agitated over the inability of the UPA Government to force the Chinese Army to retreat from Daulat Baig Oldie, a remote advanced landing ground (ALG) and old unused air strip which was recently reactivated. The ALGs are generally constructed where a land route is difficult to build and maintain and all-weather operations are