The MF Husain Controversy: Identity, Intent and the Rise of Militant Fascism

The campaign against the iconic Indian artist Maqbool Fida Husain, perhaps the most prominent living symbol of art under attack, is part of the political fight for India’s soul – secular democracy versus a ‘Hindu’ state.

India's Primary Duty

How can we get a society of adults to be accountable for the treatment of its youngest citizens?

Squatters, Scavengers and A Gandhian

Some of these people would stand up holding their pajamas or dhotis to protect their dignity at the sight of the approaching train; most would carry on without paying any attention to those seeing them perform one of their most private functions.

All Boys

While America is grappling with gay marriage, we sat celebrating the second Queer Pride Parade in Delhi, Kolkata and Bangalore.

Justice and Just Society

Just is what is right and democracy allows the right to be called wrong if it is said so by maximum majority.

Book Review: The Shadow of the Great Game – The Untold Story of India’s Partition

Well-researched, demolishes many myths and presents an intriguing perspective on India Pakistan Partition

Evolution of a War

The Untold Story of Jihad in Kashmir is a myth-busting and brutal exposé of Pakistan's secret war against India.

Indian Technical Recession

Over last decade or so, engineering institutions have produced mostly bankers, some managers but very few engineers. Even if some opted for technical career, it was for teaching in some US university.

An Indian Abroad

While not being jingoistic, I realized that it is only in a foreign land does one realize the worth of one's identity.

India’s Nuclear Fizzle

Suspicion has now turned into confirmed fact: India’s hydrogen bomb test of May 1998 was not the fantastic success it was claimed to be.

Aids Sutra: Untold Stories from India

In this groundbreaking anthology, sixteen renowned writers tell the hidden story of the AIDS crisis, illuminating the complex nature of one of the major problems facing the developing world.

Independence Day

Ramanand Tiwari rounded the corner at a brisk pace – the achhoot well was now visible. He made a long peripheral detour around it.

Jinnah to Jihad

Author Arvin Bahl attempts to analyze this conflict (Kashmir) in the context of international relations theory, drawing on a variety of sources, including interviews with leading figures of the Indian and Pakistani establishments.

Bombay Lefties

You can still find some of the old vanguard sitting in the garden at Horniman circle in the Fort area of Bombay, discussing the murder of the Communist MLA Krishna Desai.

Maoist Insurgency Rocks India

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist uprising as ‘the biggest internal security challenge ever faced by our country’

Indo-Pak Talks: Comedy and Controversy

Both sides used their media as negotiating tools. A Pakistani journalist was fed a story of ‘deadlock’ to adjust Indian diplomatic temperature. It worked… Indians had toned down their rhetoric after this story emerged on the web.

Teaching for India

It is an unfortunate fact that despite India’s rapid economic ascent and her emergence on the global stage, millions of Indian citizens are still left out of the sun.

In This Multi-polar World NAM Must Address Regional Issues

Theme for this year's summit, "International Solidarity for Peace and Development, and the Current Economic and Financial Crisis,� is appropriate but several key regional conflicts will not be debated.

Himanshu Rai: The Light of India

Before Danny Boyle, before Shyam Benegal, even before Merchant-Ivory and Bimal Roy, there was one Indian who was peddling Indian fare to the cinema audiences of Europe.

Nabil and Fatima

Approximately 9,000 Afghan refugees continue to live in Delhi today. After years of lobbying by various NGOs, Indian government is now allowing some of these families to become naturalized citizens.

Hindu Mathematics – How Original Was It?

Plofker’s book (Mathematics in India) fulfils an important need in a world where mathematical historiography has been largely shaped by the dominance of the Greco-Christian world view and the Enlightenment period.

Obama's Regional Strategy and India

Obama has ignored India in all his important foreign policy pronouncements since taking office. Even the appointment of a US ambassador to India was given a low priority.

Talk English, Walk English

Should Hindi be imposed instead of English? Hardly. In my opinion, no one single language should be imposed. India, for better or for worse, just isn’t a single language country.

Delhi's Desert Adventures

In the context of growing American dominance in the Gulf, India’s rise as a major Asian power with global aspirations and the expansion of Indo-American cooperation.

India Votes for Stability

The election sees the passing of Congress baton from mother to son. Rahul Gandhi played a prominent role as a campaigner and seems to have impressed voters with his charm, modesty and maturity.

Result 2009

Yes, it’s time to jive to Jai Ho. The big story of the day, apart from what I had for lunch, is that the Congress has swept the country, Singh is King and Sonia is our soniya.

The Gentle Power of the Sufi Tradition

Although Sufis are now widely considered to be a Muslim sect, their history goes back to long before the advent of Islam.

Tharoor of Trivandrum

If there is indeed a worthy candidate standing for election from the Trivandrum seat once occupied by the legendary V.K. Krishna Menon – then it is Tharoor.

The Dust and the Shadows

There is a hardness which descends on you like a shell when you are in India, like a protective shield except it protects nobody but you – it makes you more of your own master and less of a man.

The Other Wonders of Khanpur

Lately, we’ve seen a flurry of first-rate fiction as young Pakistani writers begin to confidently address turmoil and change in their societies in a refreshing, contemporary way.

Painting in the Sikh period

It was Sikh period when the painting style started to turn from aboriginal stylized miniature style to the western realistic one and provided the foundation to the “Company Painting�

Company Style: Indian Painting under the British Rule

Under western influence and out of the centuries old tradition of native convention of miniature painting ‘company style of painting’ evolved with local artists working for company projects.

Hindutva's Paradox

With general elections in India around the corner, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) recently promised to a construct a temple in Ayodhya if elected to power.

Mangalore vs Kolkata

In Mangalore the issue was of the freedom for women to visit pubs without intimidation by religious zealots. In Kolkata the issue was the right of a newspaper editor to publish a reasoned academic critique of religious fundamentalism

Demystifying Slumdog

Any film about the ‘East’ that gains recognition at the global level (read: Western), must fit the frames constructed by the West, frames that deny the ‘East’ a place in ‘modernity.’

Slumdog Success Brings Focus on Child Poverty

After the well-deserved success of the well-made Slumdog movie, will the lives of poor children in Mumbai improve?

Elderly Suicide: Breakdown of Traditional Support System

One had heard of younger people committing suicide in such a drastic manner, but now even the elderly? With a breakdown in the family based traditional support system, things are unravelling.

Pubs, Liquor Shops and Women Empowerment

CPLFW: Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women. Should we take it that these women believe going to pubs and having sex outside marriage as a matter of right?

Oh My God

Every few days Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs or barbers pop up out of nowhere claiming that their sensibilities have been hurt.

Leadership Crisis of South Asia

Asking people to choose from amongst the likes of Narendra Modi, Bal Thackeray, Sheikh Hasina Wajid, Khaleda Zia, or the assorted Nehru-Gandhis, Sharifs, Chaudhries is an exercise in futility.

President Obama’s Political Style: Tips For India

There is an urgent need on India’s part to replace rhetoric with merit based arguments. Convincing discussions based on facts and supported by logical arguments.

Congress Party's Dilemma

What can Manmohan Singh do to avoid a war but still pander to the rampant anti-Pakistan sentiment among the masses.

Obama's Surge in Afghanistan: An Indian's view of Opium trade

Why such importance to this tiny country. The Jihadies have already gone into the caves of Wazirstan. Then Why? Is it the poppy and heroin trade?

How Sacred is Life ?

If the government accepts the recommendation of legal reform submitted by Kerala Law Reforms Commission, Kerala will become India's first state to legalize euthanasia.

Civil Society Pleads for Peace

As tensions between Pakistan and India continue to see-saw, citizens in both countries are stepping up efforts for peace through initiatives

Babel

“Babel� is the best word that describes the present situation in South Asia. Have we solved issues like poverty, unemployment, malnutrition that we want to go to war?

The Many Colors of Indian Corruption

Unless the complex multi layered system of Government inherited from the British is simplified, corruption will continue to thrive.

Introspection – Pakistan and Terrorism

Isn’t dispensing power to non state actors a crime against the state itself, and those who committed it should be brought before the court on the charges of high treason.

In Search of Identity : Tribal Warriors

We have to shed our colonial identity imposed on us and undertake a fresh challenge, an IDENTITY-altering venture that allow us to paint the happenings and experiences of our existence and our dreams.

Ajmal Amir Kasab – Right to Defence?

In a solid show of patriotic zeal and indignance, the Bombay Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court Bar Association has passed a resolution restraining its members from taking up the case.

Mirror, Mirror

The electronic media in Indian and Pakistan is simply reflecting the paranoia and politics of a class of people that became an important economic plank in the economics of consumerism

A Just War?

If defensive war is found to be just, there is moral imperative to wage it; even if one is morally against war itself. Case regarding Pakistan's role in Mumbai attacks.

One Hour From Midnight

If the people clamour for more stringent laws, the government is bound to heed. After all, no political party can be trusted to resist a demand for a police state.

Do Not Wash This Blood; Do Not Wipe This Tear: Get Angry

Change the system, change the governing tools, change the consitution, change the laws, change the criminal jurisprudendec system and dump the politicians of present variety.

Zardari: An Emerging South Asia Statesman?

The article 'The Terrorists Want to Destroy Pakistan, Too' by Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari, published in NYT on December 9, 2008 is significant in many ways.

Evil Walks the World Today

Pakistanis are in denial and Indians are baying for blood and pointing a finger across the border at Pakistan as the source of the murderous plan.

How to Stop Terrorism: Appeal to Advani

Terrorism cannot be fought or prevented by mere expansion of our firepower. To attack it, we need to attack the tools of terrorism and roots of terrorism.

No Short Cuts to End Terrorism

There was such a huge feeling of outrage against the lapses of the intelligence and security services, the custodians of law as well as all the politicians and officials.

Pleas For Sanity as Sabres Rattle Over Mumbai Mayhem

Angry condemnations lead us nowhere; political demands may make vote-catching politicians rethink strategies, but we need to create space, think things out in the long term…

Mumbai Wounded

Yet amidst death,
The goodness of humanity, triumphed
Unknown brave hearts
Shielded strangers, fellow beings

I Am A Pakistani

(India, America) These are countries that I carry in my heart but do not carry their passports. I am a threat to the safety of their people. I am a threat to my friends.

India-Pakistan: Empathy, grief in Pakistan for Mumbai mayhem

The Mumbai attacks, hitting in the midst of the fifth round of the ongoing composite dialogue between India and Pakistan, are likely to have wide-ranging repercussions for India and Pakistan relations

Proud to be an Indian

Like the memorial to the Unknown Soldier; we need a way to honor the unknown citizens of all hues – the ones who really make us proud to be Indian

An Indian Muslim

The Indian Muslim doesn’t need people killing in his name. He needs reform. The community is one of the most backwards in India, and largely the blame has to be shouldered by itself.

Mumbai Attacks: Shocking

This kind of terrorism is unforgivable and must be condemned unilaterally in no uncertain terms, in all forms, in all contexts.

Child Labour – Legislation Alone not Enough

The Government of India has always been committed to the elimination of child labour. Enforcement or even a workable machinery to implement the policies seems to be lacking.

Leprosy : The Shadow Lingers

Medically, leprosy is detected early and thanks to a multi drug regime, cured early too. And yet piles of archaic legislation keep those infected on the margins of society.

The Muslim Protagonist and the Past Three Years

What better a movie to begin with than Rang De Basanti? RDB will stand out for long as ‘The Generation X Movie’ in the annals of Bollywood.

Singur and the Small Entrepreneur in India

Thank you, Mr. Tata. 10 years ago, for another magazine and on television, I predicted how the Tata Indica would change the face of the small car scene in India. It did.

Through Bloodshed and Tears

It was the year 1984. The Anti-Sikh massacre was taking place in India after the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi on October 31 by her two Sikh guards.

Miley Sur Mera Tumhara

These days it is not enough any more to be a Hindu alone. No – indeed you have to be a particular kind of Hindu.

Post Colonial English Language Writers

Post Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist a whole raft of new Pakistani novels are due to appear, all of which have already caused considerable pre-publication stir.

Are the Converted Tribals Really Hindu?

Several reports confirm that many tribals have cynically accepted the tonsuring of their hair and the mouthing of Vedic prayers as a small price to pay to get back to their villages.

It's A Deal After All!

In the long run, however, it will be difficult to ignore Pakistan’s demand for a similar deal once it establishes a clean record of nuclear safety and non-proliferation.

It's Politics Uber Alles In Kashmir ..... And India

The BJP, while paying lip service to maintaining peace, did nothing to calm the situation in Jammu; instead, its troops have taken to the streets in other cities in India.

A Strategy For Real Agricultural Prosperity

2.4% farmers control 23% of the land. They are the barriers to India's progress in agriculture. They can be moved, and they must be moved if India is to eliminate rural poverty.

Responsibility of the Media and the Repercussions of Terror Strikes

What is forgotten in the attempt to pacify the people is that there is no restraint in labelling a community responsible.

Kashmir Experiencing Hyderabad

In January every year all India industrial exhibition is held in Nampally, Hyderabad. Most of the businessmen taking part in the exhibition are from Srinagar.

Government Wins Manmohan Singh Loses

The way is now clear to officially approach the Board of Governors of the IAEA to approve the agreement reached between the Government of India and the IAEA officials.

Feminist Mumbo-Jumbo!

Patriarchal society has ingrained in us so deeply the thought that women are lesser to men, that it is bound to surface (even if it is subconscious).

Dhokha and Being a Muslim in India

Mukesh Bhatt’s Muzammil Ibrahim starred ‘Dhokha’ or ‘Betrayal’ is the Bollywood’s latest offering that raises several questions about Muslims and their identity in India.

An Ode Called Amritsar

On hearing that I was about to visit her ancestral city, my mother gave me instructions to reach her childhood home from the railway station...

A Fatal Act-Bad News for India Pakistan Relations

The assassination of Indian Defence Attache in Kabul on 7th July 2008 is a watershed in the ongoing undeclared low intensity war in Afghanistan.

Anil Ambani Pursues Global Media Empire

Besides the Hollywood deals, Ambani is launching 20 TV channels and owns FM stations in India.

The Bhopal Tragedy Continues

On June 10th a global hunger strike was called to bring justice to Bhopal victims and put the corporation Dow Chemical, to shame, since the Indian government does not seem to be doing its job.

Were Buddhists and Jains Persecuted in Ancient India?

Many genuinely believe that Hinduism had always been a tolerant religion that assimilated other peoples and ideas without bloody conflict.

India-US Nuclear Deal

If the government thrusts the deal down the throats of the Indian nation the Left may pull out of the alliance and force the country to face general elections.

The Raj Lives: India In Nepal

Six decades after the British withdrew from the subcontinent, it takes considerable audacity to produce a book titled “The Raj Lives�.

Harold and Kumar Escape From Gitmo

This time the duo attempts to explain the difference between a Bong and a Bomb aboard an airplane to Amsterdam in a post 9/11 environment.

Akbar and Alexander

Jodha Akbar has stirred considerable interest in the historic Akbar but it mostly shows his softer romantic side and rather little of his tougher character.

Why not hang Surabjit Singh?

Whether it is for illegally crossing borders, overstaying visas or terrorism, Indians and Pakistanis arrested in each other's countries have poor consular and legal access.

The Deoband Declaration on Terrorism: Why Now?

On February 25, 2008 an “All India Terrorism Conference� was attended by over 10,000 Islamic clerics, scholars, muftis and teachers.

Warday

A continuation of the Graphic novel WARDAY, but from the perspective of ex-patriot Pakistani population stranded after a 36 hour nuclear holocaust.

My Top Ten Novels by Desi Writers

I am a prose stylist and all my choices reflect this bias.

Revival of Passive Resistance in Indian Commercial Cinema

That non-violence is an integral and a much respected part of our culture, seems to have slowly escaped our memory.

India Chalo - An Anecdotal Look at the Indian Economy

Combining real facts with anecdotes and colourful characters that symbolise the new India, INDIA CHALO written by Brij Raj Singh, is a passionate look at India and its opportunities .

The Unravelling of Project Snow

It is interesting to see the dynamics between the members of of Project Snow during the recent fracas downunder. And the cry about the great game of cricket from this old guard!

Indian Supreme Court says- ‘Live in is marriage’

A momentous turn that will create upheavals in Indian society from bottom to top.

1857-What Really Happened-A Reconstruction

A brief analysis of the claims about 1857 as one hears them in today’s Pakistan.

Shoaib Malik at the cross-roads

Pakistan has let go of another impressive record that they held for almost three decades - that of not losing a test series in India. The series was lost, as was the pride...

The Slow, Castration of Pakistani Cricket

When asked if this draw was a moral victory for the Pakistanis Kumble remarked "When you struggle to pick up five wickets in both innings, that's no moral victory to me."

6th December 1992

A turning point in Hindu Muslim relations in the post independence Indian history. It was a moment when all truths about religious coexistence suddenly proved false.

Free to Dress

Subhash Chandra Bose, three year old. Jawaharlal Nehru, eight year old. Shivaji, ten year old. Rani Luxmi Bai, five year old. Sounds puzzling?

Nandigram Turmoil, Boiling the Nation

Left Front used a private army to recapture Nandigram in November 2007. 600 people were killed. The Muslim friendly, Kisan Friendly and Labourers friendly mask of Left is torn.

Is this the worst Pakistan team ever?

They have been successful in erasing 24 years of winning record of Pakistan cricket team in India.

Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema

His skin color is not fair; his acting skills are too loud; he is less muscled than neighborhood gym boys; and he is rumored to be gay! How did this Khan become a Sultan?

Bobby & Jerry : Rise of a Coloured ‘son’ Retold

Bobby has proved that he is more Christian than the Christians, more conservative than the conservatives, and as or more embedded in the Bush-Cheney establishment than the others.

Relevance of English Studies in India

The need of the hour is to decolonise our English Studies by judging English literary texts not by European critical tools, but by Indian critical theories.

Indian Exceptionalism: Colonial Stereotypes and Postcolonial Realities

Indian exceptionalism manifests itself as nationalist, chauvinist, and fundamentalist sentiment, often mingling unhealthily with other kinds of closed-minded imperatives.

Communists and the Making of Pakistan

History of the last years of Punjab under the Raj

Identity and Synergy - Classical Music and Film Song

The popularity of film songs is at a peak today, irrespective of the quality of music. In stark contrast, classical music is getting less patronage and popularity.

Opportunity Knocks But Once

The story goes into the mind/psyche of a surgeon. A competitive, aggressive, brilliant, trained professional mind.

Imperialism and the Writing of History

Occupied Iraq and Colonial India

Magic of metaphors : Op-Ed Journey of Thomas Friedman

What is common between Detroit, Toyota, Jack Kevorkian, Mileage Standards and Assisted Suicide? Who would see such disparate elements as connected? Thomas Friedman!

Blinkered Vision: Unravelling the Nuclear Debate

Why is the 'US India Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreement' called 123? The answer lies in the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954. Article 123 of the act governs US 'Cooperation with other countries'.

Footfalls of Indian History

Nivedita shows a remarkable insight into India’s past which comes out in this book. It is not that she accepted India without questioning.

The First Indian-American Governor in America

Odds are that shortly after October 20th Louisiana, US will have the nation’s first-ever governor-elect of Indian descent.

The Monks and Realpolitik

Monks with prayers on their lips, and students with hopes in their hearts, march towards pagodas, as soldiers armed by the Chinese beat them. And the world's largest democracy, India, does nothing.

Dillu Ram Kausari: The Hindu Poet who Loved The Prophet

One quatrain, in particular, shocked the entire community in India, both Muslims and Hindus.

War of Independence or the Great Mutiny

A review of William Dalrymple's book, The Last Mughal

Floods in Assam

When will Assamese see a permanent solution to the problem they have come to live with. To remove the backwardness of the region, tackling the flood menace is a must.

An Unconditional Commitment to Pluralism

It means accepting a Hindu as a Hindu, a Muslim as a Muslim, a Jew as a Jew, an atheist as an atheist, an unbeliever as an unbeliever and it means respecting that choice.

India's first Citizen Journalists Meet held in New Delhi

Citizen journalists participating in the meet shared their views and ideas to take the country ahead into the next 60 years of independence.

Violence, the Indian Media, and 'Non-Violent' Indian Society

Coverage of violence appears to be motivated by the profit margin, and often veers on the sensationalist. Issues are also prioritized based on their populist appeal.

Dodging Pakistani Sleuths to Cover a War and a Coup

Are there Indian journalist who could come anywhere near the blunt posers that are hurled by Pakistani journalists to people in authority?

India: The Empire Strikes Back

In 1600 India produced 22.5% of global GDP. By 1870, India had been reduced into a Third World nation, thanks to the Raj.

Making a new Future: Peace Dividends for India and Pakistan

India Pakistan relationships in the light of future economic and security dividends of peace.

The 'poor' Neighbour

India is seen as a success story, while Pakistan is written off as a failed state and the hiding place of Osama bin Laden. What went wrong?

Rise of Hindu Right Wing Ideology

Today, when a Hindu shouts an obscenity at Pakistan the Indian Muslim has to shout two to show their patriotism towards India.

Stephen Gill on his Writing and Diaspora

Multiple award-winning author Stephen Gill was born in Pakistan, grew in India and has settled in Canada after staying in Ethiopia and England for a while.

India's Yin and Yang 60 years After Independence

There is no disease that has not afflicted India, no catastrophe not experienced... Yet India, a land of fabled and stoic resilience, always picks itself up and keeps going.

The Corporation That Changed The World

A book exposing the illegalities, tyrannies, immorality, rapacity, frauds and every kind of misfeasance practised by the East India Company.

India’s First Woman President?

Madam Pratibha Patil, 72 years old, the candidate of India's ruling coalition-- UPA, will be the fourth woman to contest the presidential elections but the first to surely become the twelfth President of India.

The Indian American

A mixed up amalgam of diluted Indian traditions and strong western ideas, the Indian American appears to be a rootless, yet confident, brown entity aspiring to be something it is naturally not.

Hindus in J&K: Elated in minority

Hindus in Jammu and Kashmir, who have been at the receiving end of militancy in the state are elated over the proposal of the UPA government to bring about a law which will decide the status of minorities on the basis of state population.

India-Iran Ties

One has the world’s second largest gas reserves and the other is one of the world’s largest gas importers.

Talking Tall on Human Rights

India talks tall on human rights in its attempt to seek re-election to the Human Rights Council.

Citizenship and Identity in Pakistan

Before the British colonised the subcontinent, the people of this region existed in overlapping sets of multiple identities, where contending sovereignty of identity groups was negotiated and power was shared at several levels. When the British came alon

Sanskritization, de-Sanskritization and Colonial Rule

The British did not ‘invent’ the caste system but what they did do was to make it the primary basis of social classification.

India and the Cricket World Cup

Although in audience reach Cricket World Cup does not match football but in passions, racial overtones , money making and cheating it is like a heady sports cocktail, brewed since Greek Olympic games and Roman gladiator combats.

Understanding the Death Fatwa on Taslima Nasreen

It has become a time honoured tactic to incite the faithful into attacking and murdering those dare to criticise Islam and has served the spread of Islam well by terrorizing people into submission and silencing opposition.

Notes from the Sunderbans

Same place, different times. And now we are told that they may vanish below the surface of the Bay of Bengal in the next few years.

The Hypocrisy of the Indian Leftists

A great victory for the cause of the OBCs was proclaimed by Karunanidhi though the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) estimated the loss due to strike at Rs. 2.5 billion.

Commercialized Sports

The days of feeling empowered over defeating former colonial masters are gone. That is a small satisfaction and it cannot compensate for our lowly performance in many fields.

Soul Atrophy

Teams in any sport can be as good or as bad as the countries, societies and institutions they represent.

India: Is Growth Coming at Expense of Development

For the last two years the IMF and the World Bank have been warning India about the dangers of inflation.

Indian Shuakat Aziz and Pakistani Manmohan Singh

In one of his recent articles, India’s famous journalist, Mr. M. J. Akbar has unveiled an open secret, that Dr. Manmohan Singh is in fact India’s ‘Shuakat Aziz’; i.e., a Washington’s man; i.e., a man sponsored by the World Ba

Why Assam to be Asom?

In the early nineties BJP politically aired a new slogan—'Indianization of big cities' since old names, to them were, symbolic to either Mughals or British slavery. The idea later became cheaper for all political parties with much vote bank credits.

India’s Foreign Policy: An Analysis

It is time for a reality check: A look within. India was a great civilization and has a great history. As Indians we are right to be proud of it. However, as Indians we must not forget what history teaches us: that humility not hubris is what makes you gr

Untouchability and Sex

No one practices untouchability when it comes to sex.

Nehru’s Legacy: Time to pay tribute

The 77th anniversary of the declaration of Purna Swaraj, the 57th anniversary of India’s Republic Day – it is time to pay tribute to some one without whom India would not be what it is today: a global economic, military and political power.

Is it time to recognize Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians?

It is interesting to note that of the 30 million Catholic Christians in India, more than 20 million are said to be Dalit Christians who are also descendants of the converts and have lowly professions.

An Untouchable Apology

The untouchables of Hinduism are a wretched lot. While it is not at the level of genocide, it is an institutionalised social discrimination over a very long period of time.

India, Pakistan and the Kashmir dispute

The number of people who have died and who are still dying in order for us to hold on to our illusory ideals are not worth the ideals.

Truth Behind US-India Nuclear Deal

US-India deal has all the signs of great treaty. However it also contains some ominas signs of India getting trapped in a CIA net.

Indian Filmmaker Plucks Musical Strings in Pakistan

Khayal Darpan, a documentary film explores Pakistan's Classical Music traditions

India-Pakistan talks: the endless cycle

The two countries agreed to set up a six-member panel to counter terrorism; A nuclear safety agreement was signed; However, no progress took place on reducing troops in Kashmir and in Siachen.

Indian Muslims

The Sachhar Committee report, to be released in end-November, states that the condition of the majority of Indian Muslims is worse than that of even the Dalits. It recommends, among other measures, an allocation of 15% of all government funds for schemes

Vidarbha and Farmer Suicides - Facts and Fiction

The black cotton soil of Vidarbha is legendary and is supposed to breed “aalsi” (lazy) farmers since you simply have to throw the seeds onto the fields and you will have a rich cotton crop! So why the suicides in the cotton belt now?

Don’t Cry for me Rawalpindi

They each carry a sports bag and wore crisp new white shirts with the letters “Under 19” engraved on the left side.

Terrorism is Nobody's Monopoly

There are or have been terrorist groups among Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and even Buddhists. And secularists amongst these (anarchists) have been the biggest killers.

Vignettes from the Cellular Jail

The cellular jail is a hugely understated monument to the sacrifices in fighting British imperialism for what is now India , Pakistan and Bangladesh

The Myth of the New India

Only 1.3 million out of a working population of 400 million are employed in the information technology and business processing industries that make up the so-called new economy.

The Art of Eating Gulab Jamun

One evening I suddenly feel an urge, a craving, a desperate sort of yearning, for my favourite sweet – The Gulab Jamun.

A Nation of Eunuchs

Another serial bomb blasts rocked Mumbai on 7/11 while the criminals behind the 1993 blasts are still at large.

Mumbai Rocked by Seven Bomb Blasts

The Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh put India’s major cities on high alert and called an emergency meeting. Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for this dastardly act.

Star, Crescent, Cross

Expectedly, the formalities take a long long time. Once done, as I look down from my aircraft window, I feel a great sense of accomplishment at having been there, having seen a bit, and having got a feel of this fantastic place called Israel.

Taj a Mirage

I saw a group of young artisans. They looked timid and frightened, their head bent down trying to concentrate on their work, but at the same time wanting to communicate with the onlookers

Ba, Beti aur Bahu

Uma Bharti is putting on the loner act for only one reason – to save the BJP’s top rung. The real loner here is Sonia. Her godfathers are ghosts. Are both of them “mind-controlled victims”?

Red Sea Rising

America is still at the same place, using double standards and double edged swords to promote both Pakistan and India, the former by diplomatic patronizing and the latter with economic and military assistance. However, one key player has changed -- China

Anatomy of a Karachi Bomb Blast

With so many issues whipping the air like a tornado on the national canvas it is impossible to assign responsibility of such terrorism to any single group unless someone claims it and provides a signed affidavit to that effect

Would India be a Threat to the Islamic Conference?

What is the true motive behind India's eagerness to join the Organization of Islamic Conference? If it wants to do anything positive for its Muslim population, then the first place to start would be Kashmir and Gujarat

Up sh*ts creak without a paddle, nahin nahin, the road to AIESEC!

Take last nights jaunt for instance: there we were in all our glory in the middle of four hundred Indians surrounded by malevolent chanting and the sinister drum rolls...

Indian Corruption Reaches the World

It was in this atmosphere that Natwar Singh apparently found his calling, a move that would make him some money and later destroy his political career though it is widely believed that he has been made a scapegoat

One Dayers and All

India is a good side, and they have world class players. But, in terms of maturity and settlement into their roles they are still very young. This Indian one day team is where the Pakistan team was a couple of years ago

Losing one’s culture

Conduits

This is the reality, for most of us who live outside our countries. We’re always looking for that door… the conduit that connects our new home to the real home we long for

Pak vs Ind, 3rd Test in Karachi, Day 3 - A Tale of 2 Y’s

Pakistan vs. India, Third Test Jan 29 2006, Day 1 - Dispatch

Searing Pace, Scintillating Swing and a budding Pillar make for a great cricketing day

AMU at the Crossroads

On January 5, the Allahabad High Court took away the minority tag from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The court upheld its judgment in October last year terming as “unconstitutional” the grant of minority status to AMU

BPOnama

Urban India -- The NRI Viewpoint

Perhaps this wave of westernization and erosion of culture and values is limited to a few, a solitary blond hair follicle in a jet black mane?

The Political-Economy of the South Asian Economic Union

While SAFTA doesn't seem to make immediate economic sense, a South Asian Economic Union (SAEU) may still make considerable political sense, provided its anchor country, India, displays the kind of 'self-less' leadership required to make it a reality.

Nowhere: The Utopian Destination

Every philosopher/prophet/freedom fighter/terrorist had to break the norms. Unlike the stratified and codified democracies of the West where you are riled for snorting but not for bombing, the subcontinent has a dynamic protocol-less mutinous edge

SAARC Syndrome: Asia's Burden

This is Asia, completely corrupt and bogged down under its own weight. Adding a straw to break the camel’s back is SAARC,Adding a straw to break the camel’s back is SAARC. In the last two decades it has done nothing except to raise hopes and t

A Devastated Metropolis

Plots and skirmishes have footnoted the sub-continent’s history, warmongering coupled with bomb blasts sometimes provide the punctuation. The question is can we as a South Asian people stem the tide and end this feudal-frenzied animosity through cro

Bomb Blasts in Delhi

A series of bomb went off in Delhi on Oct 29th, three days before the festival of Diwali.

August 2003

Eventually I learnt to leave my Kraft cheese at home, stop talking about Luke Perry, and dress up to look poorer.

Samosey mein aloo: why not Laloo?

Dishonesty and corruption are a part of democratic politics. Laloo is upfront about both. You know where you stand with him, and you know where to place him.

Deadly Earthquake

This earthquake is perhaps the most intense one seen in this region for over 100 years.

The Naked Fakir

’The naked fakir,’ Churchill called him. ’Greatest man ever who walked on the earth ...’ said Einstein.

W(h)ither BJP?

His departure may placate the RSS apparatchiks in Nagpur but it will not resolve the internal contradiction in the BJP. These contradictions will be resolved only by a split in the party.

Savita’s Choice

Hundreds of child marriages are held across Rajasthan with no one stopping them. The reality sinks in when the children attain puberty by which time they are told they have no choice. But they do.

This thing called Love of Country

If we want to know why we are what we are, psychology, science, anthropology, sociology, geography, environment, economics ---everything can be used to excavate the past. Uncover inconvenient truths. But we have to be brave enough to look these truths in

Arabs, Jains, Mammon and Osama

There were two kinds of immigrants who washed up on the west coast of the sub continent.

Doomed If They Do, Doomed If They Dont

Since the issue at hand is so complicated and steeped in strategic considerations and nucular, sorry, nuclear jargons, let us try to understand the situation with the help of an allegory, “The Largest Singh Meets the Longest Sam, A True Sad Story.&#

All Goods Foreign

Most of us have been fascinated by foreign stuff. Here is my love-hate story.

The Weight of Water

“Women are like water,” her father used to say, “they are gentle and patient and they take the shape of whatever situation into which they are poured.”

Hazrat Sarmad Shaheed: The Naked Sufi Martyr

Every man who is aware of his secret
He becomes concealed even from the skies
The mullah says that Ahmad went to the heavens
Sarmad says that the heavens were inside Ahmad!

Indians Do Not Like Each Other

India is an amalgamation of 29 different mini countries/states.

Cardamom Cloud over Coffee

Indians have so many divisions, and one of the divisions between North and South India is the preference in beverages. Tea is the preferred drink in the North of India, while South Indians love coffee.

Last Rites in Kashmir or a New Journey?

The Kashmir issue really has no solution that can resolve this problem to everyone’s delight. Then why are Generals smiling? What have they stumbled on in Kashmir?

March for Peace

Indians and Pakistanis are allowed public access for cricket, but not if they are walking for peace

Dude, Where’s My Reference Point?

The edge to Harold is that he affirms to us the mainstream perception of the Asian Ivy League quota buster. It is almost as if the filmmakers are rubbing our noses in the very stereotype of the Asian takeover-a tyranny based on the work ethics America has

India Through Pakistani Eyes

Is India now set to become a science juggernaut, a leader of the coming 'Asian Century'? A nascent superpower of the East?

Conflict over Foreign Investment in Indian Press

Is it a threat of further invasion of our values, culture and life by foreign opinion makers or would it simply bring in financial investment, editorial quality and transparency. A heated debate amongst editors, publishers, and politicians in India.

Bharati Mukherjee : The American Dreamer

‘The experience of cutting myself off from a biological homeland and settling in an adopted homeland that is not always welcoming to its dark-complexioned citizens has tested me as a person but it has made me the writer I am today.’

Let the People Meet

In Pakistan, the demand for Indian visas is as much as 1500 – per day – from around the country -

The Tsunami Disaster

If the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) officials are unable to protect their own men and machines from a natural disaster, how on the Earth are they going to protect us, evacuate us, rehabilitate us and safeguard our safety and security from possible at

On-Air Exclusive!

Ted Turner’s Cable News Network, once disparagingly called the Chicken Noodle Network, now “the most trusted name in news” or CNN, changed everything...

Recipe for Anarchy

They seem to be interested on anything but peace and social order. They are running a parallel administration in the countryside of Andhra Pradesh, indulging in extortions, rendering instant justice, pulling up the government officials, stopping developme

Manmohan Singh Ko Ghussa Aata Hai Kya?

Vajpayee’s ’letter’ to the PM:They are calling you the rudest prime minister ever. This is your moment of glory. Enjoy it. Do something like what I did in Goa. If you can find someone like Narendra Modi in your party, life will be

Indira Gandhi Bunaam Bush!

Let us hope that the administration has the capacity to learn from other people’s mistakes instead of making their own and turn the Iraq misadventure into a bigger tragedy than it already is.

Careless Consciences

Vajpayee is invoking the inner voice. And if the Mahatma could use it, then it ought not to surprise anyone that Sonia Gandhi is resorting to it too.

The Secularity of India

a ’secularism’ that never came to be..

A Bold Agenda for United Progressive Alliance (UPA)

These proposals are driven by common-sense and not by any ideology. They are pragmatic and intended to create social harmony and improve general social welfare without causing any disruption to the engines of economic growth

Sonia Gandhi and the Coming of Age of the Indian Nation

Even as she declines ...the Indian masses have very clearly expressed their YES to Sonia becoming the Prime minister given the way they voted. That I believe counts for the biggest authority in the land.

Mama Mia! We just voted!

Now that she (Sonia Gandhi) is the most likely successor to the politically seasoned Vajpayee, this woman from Turin, a relative novice in politics, must deliver, else her detractors both within and outside her combine would find valid reason to point fin

Feeling Good

Leaders – self-styled or elected – must accept responsibility for the actions of those they lead. Secondly, a government is responsible to all its citizens and not just a privileged few... Pakistanis look forward to the day when they too are a

Shiners versus Whiners; it’s Economics, Stupid

After all the hype and hoopla about India Shining, the results are a clear indicator that the BJP-led coalition misread public perception completely.

India Votes - and How!

Gujarat results, the Left wave, and the dark lining of the silver cloud.

Bring on The Empty Horses

They are the new face of Indian politics. The branding of democracy with a stamp of supra-populism. The marketplace where you do not need to buy masses to listen to speeches, but to purchase the glamour of fringe stars

Changing World Order: India’s Response

In 1991, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, a unipolar world emerged. The United States emerged as the only superpower ... For India, the year 1991 signaled major changes in its economic policy. To tide over the balance of payments crisis, the Indian

An Indian in Pakistan

Love across the Wagah border

Murder on Helm Street

Under the BJP regime, democracy is dying. The “Vision Document 2004” is a sure case of “mooh mein Ram, bagal mein chhooree”. It is such a sly piece of garbage.

Unbinding India

“The heroes here are not the Gandhis and Nehrus but the banias…Hindutva is such an impoverished image of our past. Spirituality is only one strand. There is medicine, astronomy, mathematics.”

India-Pakistan: Friends on Visa

When people from India and Pakistan meet, peace seems the most favoured option.

The Case for Sonia Gandhi!

A reader at this point may be excused for wondering whether this article is meant to praise this government or to bury it.

Pakistan: Inside The Nuclear Closet

Many in the Pakistani press had warned that any attempt to punish Qadeer, advertised for near two decades as the architect of Pakistan’s and the Islamic world’s nuclear bomb, would provoke rampaging mobs to demand an end to Musharraf’s p

Can Pasta Become Paratha?

When we flaunt a Praveen Togadia who is shoving Hindu heritage down our throats, why must we have a problem with a woman who talks about Indian culture?Sonia Gandhi certainly has more of a right to speak on behalf of the country than the NRIs.

India Pakistan Friendship, Why Now?

What has changed geopolitically that has forced both countries to reconsider their long-stated positions?

Defy the Divide, Unite For Peace

10 students from all across the country recently went to Karachi to attend the 6th Joint Conference of the Pakistan India People’s Forum…In between doing a play, late night drives to the sea view, eating biryani we came out with a youth declar

A Strip of Road, a Bulb of Light, a Bucketful of Water

We are getting reported in the US as “women are moving up in India” even in the notoriously backward and casteist cowbelt. This might be seen as good omen, the external push to internal determination for aspirants of mud and thatch paradises.

Kalapini Komkali & Shewta Jhaveri

Kalapini Komkali & Shewta Jhaveri are a breath of fresh air. I came across them recently and would like to share my impressions.

The Most Ineffective Ban Ever

What is common to Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka? Besides being neighbours of India, these countries also live under the fear of Indian hegemony.

India Ascendant: Gravity’s grasp versus poverty’s clasp

On August 15th 2003, Prime Minister Vajpayee announced - “Our country is now ready to fly high in the field of science. I am pleased to announce that India will send her own spacecraft to the moon by 2008. It is being named Chandrayaan I.”

To Taj -- In Dutch Company

To live in India and not to see the Taj Mahal is like to have eyes and not to know beauty. For over 25 years, I had not known beauty.

Widows of Banares

The tradition of widows gathering, sometimes willingly, other times unwillingly, is based o the Hindu belief that those who die in Kashi, or Banares will go to heaven.

What time is it? Marriage time

In comparing these two systems (East & West), many people point to India’s low divorce rate and therefore claim innate superiority. However, the analysis is inconclusive when taking into account the cultural stigma associated with marital termin

Greatest Indians

Ideally speaking, the Bharat Ratna award should give a list of the greatest Indians, but I was rather disappointed with it, it doesn’t fit into my definition of greatness. In any case, it comprises of people from the past 50 odd years only. So I dec

Two Phases of Indian Secularism

The second phase of Indian secularism started at Somnath (Gujarat) in a Toyota pick-up converted to look like a medieval Rath (chariot)

Shalom or Salaam

Ariel Sharon can be my guest. As Indians, we are renowned for our hospitality. The West has not yet certified him a terrorist, so he can do just as he pleases. In fact, he can even announce, “We control America”.

I am Not a Patriot

When the ideology of Islam expands, nationalism is destroyed, and when nationalism grows, Islam is annihilated.

Can Muslims Become Part of Mainstream Nationalism?

Whenever any disturbances involving Muslims take place anywhere, the Hindu community is automatically blamed - though sometimes justifiably.

The Phantom of the Opera

One people, one law! Why not?

The Razor’s Edge

The United States seems to be losing the proverbial battle for the “hearts and minds” of the Afghans. The biggest problem was that the United States was not prepared for the post-war situation and had no plans to tackle the problems

President Pervez Musharaff’s Views

The present line of control, he asserted, is the issue over which the two countries have fought three wars. So how can that be a solution to the problem, he asked with all the emphasis he could invoke.

Many Questions, No Answers

Solutions do not rest in either Democracy or in the Shariah. The answers are in Education and Social Equality. Only this will invalidate the Bush Doctrine and Extremist Fatwas.

The Jihad of a Humanist

Eighteen years ago today, the Air India Kanishka plane flew from Toronto enroute to London with its full load of over three hundred passengers. It never made it to its destination. Kanishka was blown to bits in mid-air above the Atlantic Ocean off the coa

The Follies of the Natives

A circus called Pakistan

Terror in Okara

Pakistan cannot bear the shock of nearly a million of its own people being dispossessed

The Beginning of the End of the Kashmir Problem

Do not underestimate either the love or the hatred that the peoples of the two countries are capable of having towards each other

On the Assertion of Rights

Why Pakistan’s institutions are ass backwards

Pakistan and India - Lets Compromise

The program began by applauding Indian PM Vajpayee’s concession to meet Jamali, his Pakistani counter-part

Dangerous Precedents

emerging international scenario in the wake of Iraq war

Saddam Hussein Lives!

The Future of America’s Occupation is Failure

Survival of the Fittest

If Pakistan is next then what are the options?

Origins of the Modern World Capitalist Economy

An Answer to the Pro War Surrealists

If you feel that your way of life is better than us, than live it, but stop trying to impose it upon us.

The Great Game for Central Asian Oil

The Imperialist Ring from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan

Loitering with Intent in Ayodhya

My basic contention is that Indian Muslims never had a claim to the Babri mosque...

Kashmir: Time for a Radical Approach?

The Kashmiris are not even a foot note and Ram Babu and Allah Rakha the perennial losers.

Open Letter to Those Opposing the Iraq War

And the truth shall prevail. Whether someone likes it or not.

They Shoot Kashmiri Pandits, Dont They?

They say they will act as a “buffer against the export of jehad into India”. They who ran away?

Excavating India

I say, thank god for Babar, for the dear departed Mughal badshah has revealed how the purring cats are jumping on a hot tin roof.

Three Arguments Against a War

As America prepares for war, I want to present three arguments for peace:

Muslims in India: Communalism vs. Backwardness-Minority Syndrome

Today, it is imperative that the Muslim community fights the ogre of communalism

What Would Baynard Rustin Say?

In our casual GAP knockoffs and Old Navy clothes, we convey the idea that we are rebelling against suburban middle class proprieties

Preventing Military Take Overs

Military Reforms

Dam it?

Protest against the extension of Mangla Dam continues despite the mainstream media's ignorance

Rightsizing of the Armed Forces

the huge Pak Army fulfils few strategic functions

The Urdu Press in New York

We never thought we would flee America

Towards Greater Tolerance

Anti-Pakistanism and neo-Indian Nationalism

A Work In Progress

Jinnah put Pakistan in such a location that the future state would always be involved in the geo-politics of world

Khaki wisdom -- One-way ticket to Hell

the world came closer to a nuclear exchange during the recent standoff between India and Pakistan than at any time since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis

Creation of Hindu ’madrasas’

Is this the sort of education we Indians want in our school system?

The Kashmir Committee: Ram in U.S

Ram Jethmalani, to further the agenda of KC, recently made a trip to US

The Unmaking Of Gujrat

The key players in these elections and therefore Indian polity seem like characters in a drama of the absurd.

Husain Haqqani at UC Berkeley

Pakistan has to revisit its relationship with India

Changing The Thana Culture

as time passes land holdings of Feudals continue to decrease through an ongoing evolutionary process

Games Generals Play

the General deserves to be applauded for forcing a semblance of democracy to the working of political parties

Hypocrisy Big

Is America an Empire? Is the Pope Catholic?

Lessons from Constitutional History

But we never seem to learn from history

Sobho: the struggle continues

I still believe in the revolution, in a society that provides justice for all

The Election Burp

Don’t stand around wondering what to do, trying to please everybody—take a stick and throw it.

Unraveling Pakistan: Taming The Shrew-Mare

Pakistan’s Army has become a wild mare. It has to be broken into. It has to be re-taught to walk, run, trot

What I Saw In Okara

An investigation into the Okara land dispute

Road Blocks in Normalising Relations

If cross border terrorism ceases, facilitating a dialogue between India and Pakistan, will a dividend of long term peace follow?

Organized Irrelevance

Are Muslims hopeless? With the OIC, they are...

Piece of What?

I left home for a gathering of peaceniks and ended up at the social event of the year. The card in my hand said ‘Arundhati Roy: keynote speaker: seminar on peace and freedom in south Asia’

Peace in South Asia

Arundhati Roy gave the Pakistanis a glimpse of what free-thinking is

India’s Potential Lose-Lose-Lose Scenario

India may actually be helping Pakistan in the long run, not harming it, with its current war hysteria

The Hindu Right

Advani’s yathra in an air-conditioned Toyota left a trail of blood in its wake

The Right To Bigotry

as long as government and courts and police and diplomats and moralists approve of it

Of Errant Politicians And The Kashmir Cause

In politics being good is not necessarily good enough

Of Violent Birth and Peaceful Death

I have a dream for South Asia

A Contrary Opinion

why not give the goodwill to someone who has only been brutally honest with us

The Pattern of Violence

if the man at the helm sees the larger picture

An Equal Reaction

We don’t know WHAT happened at Godhra

The Panel of Vendettas at UC Berkley

A true hero would make a radical notion and never back track

Why Are We Killing Ourselves?

What mentality burns a human being alive?

An Interview with Noam Chomsky

I don’t feel that I have important messages to convey

The Wages of Obedience

The systemic failure of a whole class of people to think honestly and seriously, in short a failure to do their job as political analysts

An Insight Into the Way Shiv Sena Functions

This political sex appeal of Thackerey is the reason that Shiv Sena shakhaas have sprung up in Haryana and Punjab

Empty Vessels And All That Jazz

do you think he is up to task to rid us of feudals next?

Pakistanis in Afghanistan, Nothing New

The more the government cuts back on the opportunities available to the Mullah to interact with the citizen, the more the government is cutting back on the Mullahs sources of revenue

The Future Is Another Country: 2050 And Beyond

Osama bin Laden has his own vision of a perfect world and millions will die

An Indian salute for President Musharraf

On January 12, President Musharraf exhibited the moral courage of the man with character who has been called by destiny to the antechamber of history.

1971: A Forgotten Story

We ‘forgot’ to ask for our men to be returned

Indian Diplomacy : Time To Recheck

The year saw a marked upswing in new Delhi’s relations with the US, Russia, Japan, Germany and France

A Reason For Change

What is really interesting about Marianne Pearl’s interview with CNN is not what she said

Borders are Made of These

if I join this ideological war, the blood will only congeal in my heart

Enough is Enough

Some of us, like Noah’s family, will be saved

India, Pakistan and America’s Mixed Signals

War is the last thing that we need there

Running Naked

Looking at the current India, Pakistan conflict as Manto would have

Is Jehad Passe’?

it is too early to say that the military has changed its spots

The Clash Of Un-Civilizations And Osama-ism

It is misleading to think and give an impression that these issues will just disappear if Osama is captured or killed today.

A Journey Into Afghanistan

Aside to President Bush: Afghans have been conquered and made to submit by only two men

In Search of the Moderate Muslim

Indian society’s latest fad

A Letter Home

An American teacher’s perspective

A Decision to Regret

the Afghans have always resisted a government imposed from abroad

India’s Communal Gamble

What sells best in India?

Violent Changes

I will let life go on

Love On The Line Of Control, a Story by Col Dharam Pal

There seems to be a lot of acrimony and bad-blood between some Indian and Pakistani contributors ...

Explaining it to an American Friend

godspeed and prudence in this time of grieving

Implications for India

India needs to show maturity

Caught In Between

Pakistan is on the defensive almost constantly

Crisis and Opportunity

This crisis is ultimately a consequence of myopic policies in the US and in the Muslim world

Just the End of the Beginning

... will the arraignment of Osama BL be the end of the story?

Coming Home to a Foreign Land

Kirtida Oza recently crossed the border from Ahmedabad for a three week trip to Pakistan

No Fault Of Mine

We nurture a strange vision of patriotism in India these days. As Pakistan yells at us, accusing us of misdeeds, we must shout louder still. Meantime, Kashmir bleeds. So do we all.

A Medley of Internal Contradictions

Shedding tears for the plight of Indian Muslims is also a case of internal contradictions

The Indo-Pak Summit, Kashmir and the Taj Mahal

One cannot expect a solution from just one summit on the complex Kashmir problem ...

Group Captain Cecil Chaudhry, SJ

An interview with a war hero ...

An Eulogy For The Hawks

Your administrations’ talks with President Musharraf

The Quest for Power

It took General Zia 14 months after the July 1977 coup to assume the Presidency, while General Musharraf waited 20 months to do the same

Talking to Vajpayee

Vajpayee has demonstrated that he can be different

Reforming the Armed Forces

Like any institution in a status quo society, the Armed Forces badly need reforms as well.

Mocking the Frontier: The Baba’s Dargah and Chamaliyal

What would the Baba have to say ...

The Winds of Change

When the world’s only superpower changes direction, smaller states, especially those located on the periphery of potential conflict, have to be nimble in adjusting their policies.

Across the River

Why are the poor poor?

The Chicken Hawks Of Pakistan

The military should accept the fact that it is a dictatorship

Obsession with Borderline Issues

pre-occupation with insignificant extremes in the name of religion is misplaced

Our Blind Nuclear Prophets

why did Indian and Pakistani defence budgets go up, rather than down, after the May 1998 tests?

Hands Across The Border

we all must plant our saplings of peace today

Eathquake Hits India And Pakistan

At least 15,000 people are feared dead

Democracy in Pakistan: The Missing Link?

Democracy has long been a buzzword in Pakistan

The Mandir Mirage

The Babri Masjid may itself not be important to the Muslims in India, but where will this end? A Holocaust?

The Soft Option

How can we say that Pakistan is misrepresenting the term ’jehad’ with regard to Kashmir when we Indians are doing the same?

Yet Another South Asian Story

The rapist was convicted for seven years... the victim to solitary confinement for life

A Different Story

The winds of change are slowly whispering their way across the South Asian sub-continent

Should Pakistan Honor the Lahore Resolution?

why Pakistan failed to become a confederation in accordance with the spirit and content of the Lahore resolution?.

The Autonomy is for India

greater autonomy for states is the only way

Defend the Country, not its Government

What are the responsibilities of citizens when governments lie to them?

The Imperatives of Power

A physically injured leader has won hands down against the leader of a psychologically injured nation in the world of diplomacy

Would Devolution Empower “We the People”?

Musharraf’s devolution plan is likely to empower the people of Pakistan. But, how?

1971 in 2000

... this singular event is consigned to the dustbin of history.

Faith, Religion and National Direction

A winner makes commitments, a loser makes promises

Lahore Notes, March 2000

I took the famous Bus to Lahore

No More Hiroshimas Anywhere, Ever

Fat Boy and Thin Man, created atomic hell on August 6 and August 9, 1945

Protest against Kalabagh Dam

Please urge Pakistani Government

Where Mountains Move

The Story of Chagai

Pakistan, India and the Spirit of Chowk

a time when civility ruled Chowk and personal attacks were rare

Khuda Hafiz, Kashmir?

I am a militant. According to a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member ...

The People’s Initiative

Exposure to ordinary people serves as a powerful perception changer ...

Negotiating Peace in Kashmir

President Clinton should also exhort the Indian leaders

What’s the future of India and Pakistan?

there are only two solutions to this problem[Kashmir]. A Change of attitude or war

When Pakistan Defeated Herself...

there was no way for it [India] to convincingly prove that Pakistan indeed harbored territorial ambitions on i-Kashmir

Looking for Razia

Razia (Zafar) Chaudhury, are you out there?

Where did Pakistan go wrong?

...you will find that in the course of time Hindus will cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims...

A Nation of Beggars

The irony is that the poverty myth has itself become a barrier to reducing poverty

Game Theory and Pakistan

the elite in Pakistan are nothing short of omnivorous parasites

TIEcon 2000 Generates Hope

Entrepreneurship in the 21st. Century

Us and Them - A Pakistani professor counters Urdu newspapers

A student stood up and berated me for negating the Ideology of Pakistan

Open Letter to General Musharraf

Field Marshal Ayub Khan was forced out of power after extensive rioting . . .

Eqbal Ahmad: Post - Pokhran Days

The mountain had turned white. I wondered how much pain had been felt by nature ...

Can Clinton Stand in Front of the Taj?

Vices or not, Clinton certainly got to go as far as India

Pssst...This is Rest of South Asia speaking

for every Indian dollar-billionaire, there are at least a hundred million paupers

Why Clinton should visit Pakistan

The Americans simply cannot sideline Pakistan...

Talibanization or the Turkish Model?

My son is a U.S Citizen, and he is going to Afghanistan to join the Taliban.

Boundaries or Bridges?

We didn’t find the Pakistan we were looking for

Let us Not be Foolish

Mistakes, misunderstandings and downright hate have led us too long in India-Pakistan relations...

In the Supreme National Interest

the days of loot and plunder are over

International Monetary Fund (IMF) __ Friend or Foe?

The friendship of IMF is like that of a bear. Its embrace will kill you.

Twosome Troubles of Troublesome Two

The adolescent behavior of both the Indian and Pakistani elites and their awry management of bilateral relations has become a matter of international notoriety

The Millenium Manifesto or ’Ikeesween Sadi Dastoor’

Kashmir does not belong to Pakistan regardless of historical events during partition...

Resolving the Hijack Crisis

The timing of the IC-814 hijack crisis portends several things

Indian Airlines Plane Hijacked

On the eve of Christmas, Flight 189 an Airbus A300 on a scheduled flight from Kathmandu, Nepal to New Delhi, India has been hijacked

Scandalising the Pakistani Courts

Ardeshir Cowasjee has been hauled into court again on contempt charges ...

Pakistan: Rapprochement with India ‘unstoppable’

One thing is clear: people want peace with India

Compilation of Opinions on the Military Takeover in Pakistan

Peoples opinions and reactions

Our Man From Delhi

saade dilli daa mundaa hai jee

Text of Speech by Gen. Pervez Musharraf

The choice before us on Oct 12th was between saving the body - that is the nation, at the cost of a limb - which is the Constitution, or saving the limb and losing the whole body

Pakistan Alert: Revolution in the Making?

Perhaps, this will be the beginning of the World War III

Diary of a Coup

A coup d’etat had taken place and everything was going on as if nothing had happened?

Why An Interim Civilian Government will Fail

Putting up a front government will achieve simply nothing

Masala Democracy

Only in South Asia would a masala mix of militancy, neglect of the masses, and elite politics pass for democracy

A Recipe For Unbridled Pak-India Competition

Independent thinking on foreign and defence policies has virtually ceased to exist

Lahore Diaries III

So why was this county divided?
That was a mistake. Sorry. It won’t happen again.

Connected to: Harsh Kapoor

SPIDER talks to Cyber Warrior Harsh Kapoor about his stance on the recent blocking of the Dawn Internet Edition in India

Love in the Time of Kargil

I am Indian. My wife, Mona, is Pakistani. We got married in Toronto last week

Save India

A martial law administration has to take over the country

Kargil: A view from Pakistan

What gives in the mountains?

After the defeat

An analysis of the Kargil conflict and the ensuing defeat for Pakistan.

Imran Khan: Pakistan’s Next PM?

In terms of being a hypocrite - who in Pakistan isn’t?

A Road To Siachen

An analysis of the Pakistani military thought and its interests in the present crisis

Kargil Issue

I begin the issue right from 1947 when India and Pakistan were planned to be two separate countries

Falsehoods Galore

Pakistan has thus turned into an oligarchy well versed in the art of making things disappear

India’s Failure of Imagination

No one in India, it seems, has a clue what people across the border in Pakistan are thinking

Karachi, a City Born of Dreams, Bred with Love and Left to Rot

Only Karachi can define Karachi the way it is

A Visit to Pakistan

Could it be that there is a feeling that India does not accept the existence of Pakistan?

Pokhran-Chaghi audit: Winners and losers

India and Pakistan conducted their nuclear tests one year ago.

Why Not This One?

Of Sharifs, Bhuttos, missiles and carrots.

Nuclear powers can count too!

Can we implement a new census at the dawn of the new millenium?

The Dark Tower

The editor of Pakistani most outspoken English weekly was arrested in a most undemocratic manner for going abroad and saying what we all say in our living rooms

The Decline and Fall of Pakistan

Pakistan on the crossroads of a dilemma

A Letter from Veer

My reason for taking an interest in this episode is simple

Face to face with the Indian Muslims

How are the Muslims faring in India?

Make ’Nobody’ Indian Prime Minister

Keep away from politics and electricity, cautions an Ethiopian proverb

Nawaz Sharif Plays Lady Macbeth

Pakistan government is an accomplice in domestic violence and the death of Samia Sarwar.

Vajpayee Toppled

Next: Sonia Gandhi?

WW III? An Analysis of Yugoslavia

The media has been lying to the world about the crisis in Kosova

Balkan Tragedy: A Re-enactment of the 1971 Genocide in Bangladesh

The escalating human tragedy in Kosovo gives me a sense of deja vu

Evolution of South Asia

Information revolution and the future of the sub-continent

Waiting Upon the Prime Miniterial Burp

In Lahore we are expecting to hear a burp

Why Vajpayee’s Trip to Lahore Was a Failure

Vajpayee’s bus trip can be described in one word: nothing

Need for a Confederation

India had never been a Nation, it is still not one

Getting Ready for ‘Bus Diplomacy’

Vajpayee and Sharif get creative. First bombs then bus rides.

A Matter of Principle

Anatomy of the governments vendetta against a leading newspaper in Pakistan

An Interview with Deepa Mehta

Of partition, hybrid filmmaking and the lack of inhibitions

Jinnah, My Hero

Jinnah, the fragile man with an iron will.

A Forgotten Incident

India and Pakistan go to war!

A Line Runs Through It

Siachen-Kargil: India, Pakistan, Kashmir and forgotton lessons of history

Is Impeachment Realistic

Scandal and sex are easier to start than explain. Just ask the President.

India is South Asia’s Natural Hegemon

Pakistan is more an army with a state than a state with an army.

The Weakest Link

An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand...

March on! Fellow Robots and Cyborgs!

We are the technocratic power barons ... And anyone human is a clear moron!

Monks on a Pilgrimage

a peace march to Pakistan across the India-Pakistan border

Talking of Talks

...the Prime Ministers have had a telephone talk

Shadows of Hiroshima

An airplane as pretty as a silver treasure slowly flying from east to west in the cloudless, pure blue sky ...

A Nobel for Development Studies

Amartya Sen wins Nobel prize in economics

Pride and Potatoes: Trade with India

Is importing Potatoes a source of pride?

Waiting for you, Mahatma

Proud I am of Gandhiji’s birth - But feeling ashamed of not being its worth!

What Is Your Caste?

Caste is South Asia’s apartheid

From Zharkent to Laguna Pueblo

We are still suffering from the radiation effects of tests done by China and Russia

Giving Way to Intolerance

During the last many years, religious intolerance and sectarian fanaticism have created a war-like situation in Pakistan

Communists and Congress Should Give Birth to ’Red Indians’

The Communist parties and the Congress (I) are toying with the idea of coming closer to form an alternative political dispensation

Sanctions - the carrot follows the stick.

A crack in the door - sanctions may be lifted soon.

Nuclear Bomb for Sale

the demand for nuclear bombs outstripped that of mangoes, movies, health services, designer labels, paan, clean water,

Nuclear South Asia: An Explanation to America

The US and the rest of the world needs to help in the resolution of this issue because if we don’t address it now we will all hear about it later.

Onwards to the Nuclear Abyss

India, Pakistan and the March of Folly

Letter from Nagasaki

I am the grand daughter of a survivor of Nagasaki, and I bear the scars of that living hell

Living with the Bomb

A 2-5 minute flight time, almost zero chances of interception, and the impossibility of recall

Getting to Yes

Not to test was to permanently accept Indian domination.

The Hard Choice

A Pakistani physicist’s view on the eve of the Pakistani N-tests

Nuclear Tests in Pakistan

We have settled the score, Nawaz Sharif.

Pakistan in State of Emergency

President Tarar promulgates state of emergency in the country

Compilation of Articles and Opinions on India’s Nuclear Test

The events surrounding the nuclear tests conducted by India have resulted in a number of articles and opinions. This is a compilation of those articles.

Crying Buddha

Three tears fell to wet the Indian desert on
This grim and horrifying day in May as ...

Statesmanship Needed

Mr. Bhutto’’s decision to go nuclear would prove pivotal quarter of a century later

Patriot Games

Pass out the barfis. It could be a hockey match. A Tendulkar century. A riot or a nuclear blast.

Say No to Indian and Pakistani Bombs

...against the ideologies of hate created and promoted by our governments

Petition against the Nuclearization of South Asia

Petition circulated at a seminar at MIT on the nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan.

To Quota or Not to Quota

A look at the divisive quota issue.

A Letter to the Prime Minister of Pakistan

A letter urging restraint on part of Pakistan in response to the recent rash behavior of the Government of India.

India tests three nuclear devices

Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee announced that India had conducted three underground nuclear tests on Monday.

Brown Man’s Burden

I remember my English teacher sneering at students for not understanding what they were teaching, attributing our faults to lack of breeding

The Intellectual Imperative

As a people and a nation, Pakistan’s need for intellectual direction has never been greater. So where are the intellectuals?

Upon the return of a Desi

The phenonmenon of reverse culture shock.

Pre-Eid Fireworks in Pakistan

On Monday April 06, Pakistan successfully tested a surface-to-surface missile capable of carrying nuclear payload over a range of 1100 km.

Imperatives For Economic Development Of Pakistan

So how can we hammer out a consensus around the proposition that we have to rapidly raise the standard of living of the people in Pakistan?

Excuse Me but Can ANP Spell Pakhtoonkhwa?

What difference would a name change make any way?

The Exploding Cities of the Developing World

With ever-increasing global integration, problems that arise in one city can quickly spread throughout its region and even worldwide.

Madeleine’s ’Deadly Delusions’

Well over 6 million Indian and Pakistani citizens live in the Middle East and Washington’s apparent indifference towards their safety has roundly ticked off nations who generally need little reason to feel offended.

Calling a Spade a Spade

Thus a new historical precedent was established where 53% of the population were denounced as traitors

Poet Sheikh Ayaz

He was incarcerated many times for his seditious writings and was also sentenced to death, but escaped gallows due to the sudden change of government.

Of BB, AZ, and NYT: The Corruption of Politics and the Politics of Corruption

An analysis of the New York Time’s analysis of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari’s Trail of Corruption. What was important in the story is not what was said, but how it was said and what was left unsaid.

Bebee Phool Nahin Lo

Can this poor, raped, ravaged, depleted, sick earth take the burden of industrializing China, India, Pakistan and other third world countries?

Gender and Literacy in Pakistan

By looking at agendas and practices of some organizations involved with women’s literacy in Pakistan this paper attempts to clarify ideas related to gender, assumed or consciously advocated in their various approaches.

Women’s Rights in Pakistan

... and by the time we are old enough to understand and question, the standards by which we judge have already been defined in our minds...

The Pakistani Connection: An Opinion

Pakistani media watchers have to be concerned today because people and the newspapers in this country have recently started mentioning Iraq and Pakistan in the same breath.

My Crimson Reality

In which the poet, in the best traditions of Meer, Dard, Ghalib, seems to prefer reality in an intoxicating red shade.

Almost Live in Concert

It is important for us to understand more about DAT’s and Sequencers and how they work because paying $10 or more for a live performance where as only 10% of that is live, in my opinion, is making a fool out of people.

Death of the Raj: Subcontinent in the Third Millennium

The second of two articles outlining a new definition of Pakistan and the Indian sub-continent. Ready your pens for aggressive interaction.

The Old Pakistan is Dead, Long Live New Pakistan

On December 16, 1971 Pakistan ceased to exist during a well celebrated ceremony when Lieutenant General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi and Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora signed an armistice document.

A Word to the Wise: Industrialize

Industrialization: That has the potential to take care of ethnic divides, over-population, in-law (and out-law) problems, poverty, corruption, arranged marriage woes...

Talks, Talks and More Talks

Next Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met with President Clinton. What really came out of this talk? Did we get the F-16s released... Any action on reversing The Pressler Amendment?

Who is the Potato-head Now?

Inzaman’s foolishness was in response to being called a ’potato’.

Pakistan’s Golden Jubilee

Even now, the Mian has a cabinet of 41 ministers. FORTY ONE (count ’em)!! I can’t even think of thirty things that would need a minister.