In a compact 322 page volume Sandhya Jain has encapsulated a vast amount of information on Balochistan. Organized into six large chapters the book covers every major aspect of the land’s ancient and modern history, political and cultural circumstances, natural resources, geographical features and economic situation. The bibliography is comprehensive … Read More
When the Frontier Corps picked up Balochistan Students Organisation-Azad (BSO-A) chairman Zahid Baloch in broad daylight, in the presence of three female colleagues and other local persons on March 18, 2014, Karima Baloch stepped in as acting chairman to fill the vacuum. She pioneered women’s political activism in the troubled … Read More
Balochistan has for long been in the crosshairs of history. In the 17th century, the British, largely for geographical, administrative and security reasons, divided the Baloch land between the British Empire of India and the Persian Empire to the West, with a small number in the deserts of Afghanistan to … Read More
Activists for an independent Khalistan have successfully made this chimera a political issue in Canada, though the idea has little resonance in India’s Punjab that is supposed to be its heartland. The project, according to Terry Milewski of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, is funded by “thugs and political hustlers” in Canada, … Read More
The anniversary of December 6 this year will likely pass unnoticed, subsumed by the farmer blockades of major highways leading to the capital, ostensibly in protest against laws that had long been demanded by farmers’ unions themselves. This follows a little noticed precedent set on December 4, 2019, when protests … Read More
At a time when farmers should be fully engaged in sowing the rabi crop to the exclusion of all other concerns, a large number of farmers have left their fields in Punjab and moved to Delhi, carrying abundant provisions for a prolonged stay in the capital. Some conclusions are warranted … Read More
A hitherto little noticed Naxal outfit claiming lineage from Charu Majumdar, the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation (known as ‘Ma-Le’ in Bihar), has emerged as a surprising winner in the closely fought Bihar Assembly elections by riding piggyback with the opposition conglomerate (Mahagathbandhan). During the three-phase election campaign, national … Read More
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ostensibly moved closer to realizing their dream of heading a new Islamic Caliphate with the Turkish parliament’s decision on July 10, 2020 to reconvert Hagia Sophia into a mosque.[1] The aim is to preside over a Grand Turkey, … Read More
The Justice and Development Party (AKP) led by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan ostensibly moved closer to realising their dream of heading a new Islamic Caliphate with the Turkish parliament’s decision on July 10, 2020 to reconvert Hagia Sophia into a mosque.[i] The aim is to preside over a Grand Turkey, … Read More
The over-hyped green revolution of the late 1960s introduced varieties of dwarf rice and wheat in northern India, with a cocktail of chemical fertilisers and pesticides that sucked up ground water and gradually made it unfit for drinking as the chemicals leached into the soil and water. State-sponsored propaganda about … Read More
