Jayalalitha---The Caped Wonder-Woman Of course India needs Nobel prizes. It is not just about prestige. It is the responsibility of all world civilizations to contribute to the greater good. A Nobel prize is not simply a prize, but a validation of unparalled intellectual brilliance.

It bothers me when the `lower` castes readily admit that they are not as good as brahmins in intellectual pursuits....therefore India should accomadate them by concentrating on the mundane. Are you readily admitting that as a `lower` caste you don`t have the intelligence for a Nobel Prize? You don`t have the intelligence to strive for greatness? As a muslim..and therefore non-Brahmin, I reject that hypothesis. After all Kalam is obviously a non-Brahmin.

I cannot believe that TN has 70% reservations. This is a vile indictment of politicization. Rather than bringing up the population to achieve its greatest possibilities, you Tamilians have voted in laws to bring down those who do achieve. No wonder that all the Tam-Brahms are fleeing to the US. Anti-Intellectual societies are doomed for failure, as they cut off their own heads.

South Asia Needs a Bomb-less Deal Re: # 135

Don`t be ridiculous and obsess about this Kashmiri that Kashmiri. Have you BEEN to `Azad Kashmir.` I have...Indian Kashmir is no Switzerland(besides the scenery), but it is one-hundred times better than ours. The news media tried to be `unbiased` in its earthquake coverage saying that on `both` sides the relief effort was poor. This is nothing but pathetic patronizing on the part of Western media. India`s response was quick, efficient and compassionate. Much better than the US response to its own hurricane Katrina. In addition India denied any foriegn aid as well. The reason so few Indians died is not only because the earthquake was less here, but because the Army saved thousands of people.

In `our` Azad Kashmir there is no freedom, candidates are forced to sign a document regarding accession to Pakistan. There was a poll in 2002 with around 60% supporting India, 33% not sure and only 6% Pakistan. We have to wake up to reality and stop making a mess of everything.

South Asia Needs a Bomb-less Deal Wow, these comments really have nothing to do with the article. Though I am Pakistani in origin I must side with the Indians here, both in regard to the comments and the article. It almost seems like Pakistanis automatically deny anything good about India. This is a stupid mistake, like calling your own brother `dumb` ....it brings us down as well.

Back to the article:
In principle I agree the whole world should be nuclear free. However the world is bigger than South Asia. While Pakistan may not have other military rivals, India most certainly does. There is no way the US should allow China to access advanced technology and fissionable material while India is forced to sit idly by. Ultimately I do not believe Pakistan and India will have a nuclear exchange, as long as Mussharaf is in charge. Though he has been a rascal in the past, I think he now clamours for the `love` of the western world.

The thing about the India-Pakistan peace is that once it is achieved it will really be an all-out peace, eventually perhaps even an alliance or federation of sorts. We Pakistanis denigrate India but ultimately there is NO one else on earth that truly would have our back. We are not Israel that has a big brother US. If we can get over the ludicrous levels of hate between us, there is a huge potential for cooperation that is not possible with any other nation simply because of cultural and geographical ties. We say Islam Islam Islam, but look how ALL South Asians are treated in the Middle East. Right now we have no leverage against the Arab governments, because we are essentially leveraging against ourselves. Imagine, if we were on the same side, we would control the rest of the Muslim world. We would have 3/4 largest Muslim populations(with Bangladesh). And we would be the only muslim population with nuclear weapons. We could really take over the Middle East economically with our vast South Asian populations in the UAE and Saudi, and gain leverage on oil deals over the Chinese. We could gaurantee our citizens rights in the oppressive Arab regimes. Our friendship would be leverage against persecution of minorities on both sides, and against destruction of common cultural artifacts. For the Islamic faithful, we could demand the independence of Mecca and Medina from the Saudis and elimate the ridicoulous quotas that favor Arabs. Since we would have US AND Russian backing over the Chinese we would be extremely secure. We could play a huge role in the Middle East peace process as well, and form a fair counterbalance in negotiations.

I am not advocating an undoing of partition, but we must not be shortsighted. It is to the benefit of all our people and the world if we would work together.