Catching a somnolent Indian political and security establishment unawares, the Chinese dragon has taken virtual charge of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan in the northwest corner of the undivided kingdom of Kashmir. This – like the 38,000 sq. km. in Ladakh connecting Tibet and Xinjiang, and 5000 sq. km. in Shaksgam Valley … Read More
Bismarck understood that the meaning of the concept of separation of Church and State was not that the State should have no religion, nor even that it should not discriminate between citizens on the basis of religion. It was that the Church – hitherto the dominant religio-political entity of European … Read More
In a welcome development for India’s beleaguered forces that are fighting the Naxal-Maoist menace across several states, women cadres have begun to revolt and speak out against the gender abuse by the armed insurgents. Young Shobha Mandi (also known as Uma and Shikha), barely 23, surrendered to the police on … Read More
By the time this article appears in print, the Jammu & Kashmir Chief Minister may have resigned or had his government dismissed by Governor N.N. Vohra. Even if he continues in office, Mr Omar Abdullah will be heading a lame duck regime, incapable of controlling the Lashkar-driven violence in the … Read More
The primary constraint to India’s emergence as a Superpower is simply that this is not the natural culmination of a diligently pursued national quest for affirmation and assertion of the civilisational identity and ethos of this ancient land, now a modern nation-state. The idea of an economically rising India as … Read More
Was the alleged rape of an Orissa nun, following the assassination of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and four sanyasis in Kandhamal on Krishna Janmasthami, Aug. 23, 2008, an afterthought by missionaries targetted by enraged Hindus? Was it a planned vengeance, aimed at garnering the international spotlight and forcing Chief Minister Naveen … Read More
If there is a reason behind the madness with which Pakistan foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi blew the dialogue with his Indian counterpart S.M. Krishna, we should look for it on the frontiers of that imploding nation. Not Indian Kashmir, but the western sector – Afghanistan, Iran, even Central Asia, … Read More
A possibly weak Nuclear Liability Bill is not the only threat facing citizens who are now alert to the apocalyptic potential of environmental disasters like the Bhopal gas tragedy. As dangers of a delayed or inadequate monsoon loom large, it may be appropriate to rethink the wisdom of opening domestic … Read More
Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s spin doctors should advise her that when things get tough, silence is perceived as fearful complicity. Once public outrage exploded over the niggardly sentences awarded to the Indian culprits of the Bhopal gas tragedy and it became known that Union Carbide’s American CEO Warren Anderson was … Read More
The apocalyptic deep-sea oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, is destined to cast a long shadow on all life in that vast biosphere. In its immediate fallout, the catastrophe will ruin the sun-soaked coastlines of Florida, Louisiana, Texas and Mexico, impact Cuba, and totally annihilate … Read More
