|
|
|
|
Afghanistan down the memory hole
After 12 years of direct US combat in Afghanistan and 60 years of trying to remake that war-stricken country to serve Washington's aims, Americans have forgotten what it all means - if, that is, they knew in the first place. Weary of official reports of progress, most tuned out long ago. Among other unwanted consequences, the price will feature indelibly on US taxpayers' bills until at least the middle of this century. - Ann Jones
(Oct 4, '13)
Legacy of Pakistani scholar lives on
After making history at Cambridge University as the first person to take honors there in four degrees in five years, Allama Mashriqi returned to Pakistan in 1913 to found the groundbreaking Islamia College in Peshawar. Still a pillar of Pakistan's education system, the college was a bold forerunner in providing education, particularly to females, in what is still a troubled region today. - Nasim Yousaf
(Oct 4, '13)
Afghan mineral wealth
offers security or conflict
If Afghanistan's mineral wealth is managed well, the theory goes, it could serve as the backbone of a sustainable economy and stabilize the government. It could as easily exacerbate corruption and become another source of conflict. - Frud Bezhan
(Oct 4, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Disturbing discourse in Pakistan
Deadly blasts last week in Peshawar underlined to many Pakistanis that it is Taliban militants holding the nation hostage through constant violence, not the United States as right-wing leaders seem to claim. Politicians advocating expanded dialogue with the Taliban seem ignorant to the militants' historic tendency to use these as a smokescreen for strengthening operations. - Deedar Hussain Samejo
(Oct 4, '13)
Bangladeshi workers press for higher pay
Bangladeshi garment workers want to earn as much in a week as a pair of jeans costs in Europe. Employers, who are offering half that amount, say they will settle for a figure set by the government - which is dominated by apparel sector businessmen. - Robert Stefanicki
(Oct 3, '13)
Relief brings its own disasters
Children are the most vulnerable when natural disasters strike, with separation from families during the chaos of relief operations well documented in floods and cyclones in South Asia and the 2004 tsunami. Yet gathering metrics that allow relief workers to identify the most vulnerable in the aftermath of a calamity can go a long way to mitigating trauma that can last a lifetime. - Malini Shankar
(Oct 3, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India and Pakistan have to walk the talk
While India has said Pakistan must cease being "the epicenter of terrorism in our region" before a historic settling of differences, Delhi will face difficult decisions of its own - principally over Kashmir - along the roadmap being proposed towards peace. Viewing rapprochement as key to its plans to remain in Afghanistan, the United States can be relied upon to nudge the doubting couple together. - Irshad Salim
(Oct 2, '13)
"Donkey ambulance" rides to the rescue
A new invention promises to carry mothers-to-be in Afghanistan across difficult terrain so they can get the medical care they need. The inflatable donkey saddle eases the burden of traveling in labor that makes many women lacking suitable transport opt to give birth at home - and risk not getting care if complications arise - rather than head to health centers. - Antoine Blua
(Sep 30, '13)
Pakistan rots from the top down
Pakistan's capacity for change has been badly fractured as its moral, intellectual and political consciousness is undermined by incompetent, corrupt leaders. Unless the people can develop a collective consciousness and focus on putting a younger, educated generation in power, the violence will continue and Pakistan will never fulfill its destiny of becoming a peaceful Muslim nation. - Mahboob A Khawaja
(Sep 30, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Pakistan forced to rethink India policy
As Pakistan increasingly realizes that terrorism and militancy are by-products of its strategic depth maneuvers in the 2000s, instinctive mistrust of India is fading. The benefits of peace will also soon become clear, with high hope invested in the success of bilateral dialogue that such as that between the countries' prime ministers on Sunday. - Deedar Hussain Samejo
(Sep 30, '13)
Indian banks trip on bad-loan hurdle
The Moody's downgrade of State Bank of India, the country's largest lender, is just one indication of the tough times facing the banking sector as the economy slows, inflation remains persistently high, and the government prepares for an election. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Sep 27, '13)
India's Ladakh faces new scarcities
The hardy people of India's Ladakh region are coming under more pressure as climate change, tourism and modern practices exact a harsh toll on the high-altitude desert. While the replacement of traditional dry toilets sounds like progress, the impact of the borewells needed for flushing facilities is proving catastrophic for the fragile ecosystem. - Athar Parvaiz
(Sep 27, '13)
Taliban splinter groups damp peace talk
Peace talks with the Pakistani Taliban were a key part of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's electoral promise to end bloodshed. But with no end in sight to violence at the hands of Taliban splinter groups, Islamabad is reconsidering its offer of unconditional negotiations. - Ron Synovitz and Majeed Babar
(Sep 26, '13)
Afghan women face growing threats
A series of abductions and assassinations of high-profile women in Afghanistan highlights dangers that limited rights gains will be reversed once international forces pull out of the country in 2014. Taliban kidnappers this month freed a female politician in exchange for the release of insurgent prisoners. - Mina Habib
(Sep 25, '13)
Delusional reality of Pakistani peace
Pakistani political parties who blame the US's war on terror and drones attacks for the rise in militancy appear blind to factors such as the state's past support for sectarian outfits, the incapacity of law enforcement agencies to tackle terrorism and the impact of Islamization programs. Unless these root causes are recognized, militants will retain the strategic upper hand and peace talks will fail. - Sameera Rashid
(Sep 25, '13)
Christians protest Pakistan church killings
The deaths of more than 80 Christians in a suicide-bomb attack on a Peshawar church brought protest rallies in cities across Pakistan. With a string of attacks against the Christian minority, the response adds to past criticism that the government in the troubled northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is failing to protect a community regarded as a soft target by Islamist militants. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Sep 24, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Modi and minority rights
Narendra Modi, the Bharatiya Janata Party's candidate for prime minister in 2014, strikes a competent figure for those wishing to entrust the Indian economy to his hands. But the controversial record of the Gujarat chief minister shows he is the wrong man for minority rights, the unbiased rule of law, and secularism. - Liam Anderson
(Sep 24, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Singh needs to shine in Washington
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the US this week offers him a chance to inject renewed vigor into the strategic partnership ahead of India's general elections next year. Unless he can explore the scope for improved cooperation in areas of shared need such as securing energy resources, creating jobs and improving infrastructure, bilateral momentum could again stall. - Sanjeev K Shrivastav
(Sep 23, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
Military matters in Myanmar
Soldiers and Diplomacy in Burma by Renaud Egreteau and Larry Jagan. Strong Soldiers, Failed Revolution by Yoshihiro Nakanishi
Outside focus on Myanmar's new civilian authorities and recent economic changes has helped the military, still the country's most powerful institution, to retreat into the shadows and to evade similar scrutiny. These two books help to shed light on that space, though both fall short of their objectives. - Bertil Lintner
(Sep 20, '13)
Killers roam free in Nepal
Not one case of extrajudicial killing, abduction, rape or torture in Nepal's decade-long civil war has been punished since the Maoists and other political parties signed a peace agreement in 2006 pledging to establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to punish war crimes, and a body to investigate the fate of the disappeared. Seven years later, the two commissions are yet to materialize. - Sudeshna Sarkar
(Sep 20, '13)
Mollah: a Bangladeshi travesty of justice
Veteran Bangladeshi politician Abdul Quader Mollah has been sentenced to death on appeal for committing crimes against humanity during the nation's 1971 independence war against Pakistan. The death sentence imposed without the possibility of appeal is incompatible with international human rights law and is logical only when seem as the result of a political vendetta. - Mohammad Hossain
(Sep 20, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Afghanistan, corruption and Karzai
While US nation-building funds have fueled Afghan's endemic graft, final responsibility for the problem's exponential growth rests with the Afghan leadership. That bribes are now double the country's domestic revenue attracts no condemnation from President Hamid Karzai or other influential Afghans - most likely because he and his government and officialdom are the main benefactors. - Brian Cloughley
(Sep 20, '13)
India's free lunches exact a high price
More than 24 million kilograms of food is cooked daily at Indian schools, mainly using wood fuel stoves that bring health and environmental costs. Yet the world's largest free-lunch program has no energy conservation or even a fuel policy in its workings. At least part of the answer to the problem is available, but slow to catch on. - Keya Acharya
(Sep 19, '13)
'Fear of Taliban' stops executions
The execution of three Taliban men has been kept on hold because the Pakistan government fears reprisals by the militant group, according to political leaders, including Awami National Party leader Mian Iftikhar Hussain. Hussain, whose party has been a target of attacks, says the Taliban kills innocent people, but now want to stop legal executions. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Sep 18, '13)
Dark days in Pakistan's city of lights
Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city and port, was once a peaceful melting pot, but is now dangerously divided along ethnic, political and sectarian lines. Missteps in a security sweep of criminal cartels and terrorist cells provoked rioting last week, with critics saying that disconnect between civilian leaders and the security establishment doomed the clean-up attempt. - Abubakar Siddique
(Sep 16, '13)
Trapped between terror and graft
Daily encounters with official corruption are increasing Afghans' mistrust of their government and generating the grassroots resentment that feeds into the continuing insurgency. The cycle of corruption and terror is being turned by vast inflows of aid and an empowerment of warlords who were included in the Western coalition's failed post-invasion reconstruction effort. - Giuliano Battiston
(Sep 12, '13)
AFGHANISTAN
Freed Taliban may hold key to peace
Hopes that former Taliban second-in-command Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar will win moderate Taliban over to President Hamid Karzai's grand plan have led many Afghans to view his release this week by Pakistan as presenting a unique opportunity for peace. Others feel Baradar can no longer muster enough influence among the insurgents. - Abubakar Siddique
(Sep 12, '13)
Who shall guard the guardians of India?
China is testing the mettle of the Indian political leadership with small-scale military incursions across the Indian line of their disputed borders. The PLA is not yet confident enough to invade, though that day will come. As things stand, India will lack the political resolve and military capability to support its inferior forces. - Aruni Mukherjee
(Sep 10, '13)
Pashmina withers on roof of the world
Extreme cold weather in Kashmir's Changthang region - the Roof of the World - is killing the goats whose fine wool is woven into prized pashmina shawls. With goat rearing under threat if conditions persist, so are the livelihoods of 300,000 people in Jammu and Kashmir state of India who depend on the product. - Athar Parvaiz
(Sep 9, '13)
Sri Lanka cornered over human rights
That United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navanetham ''Navi'' Pillay's visit to Sri Lanka would be fraught with diplomatic tension was undoubted. But tensions came to a head when Pillay called for the government to account for continuing abuses and the militarization of the Tamil Tiger's former northern stronghold. - Amantha Perera
(Sep 5, '13)
IMF approves $6 bn lifeline for Pakistan
The International Monetary Fund is to increase an earlier loan agreement with Pakistan to US$6.6 billion, which may head off a balance of payments crisis. Repaying an old loan, however, will eat up much of the new cash. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Sep 5, '13)
Jihadist books back in Pakistan classrooms
Hard-fought changes to remove Koranic verses preaching holy war from school textbooks in Pakistan's restive northwest are under threat. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province's newly elected government has announced its intention to restore violent jihadist content in a decision that dismays teachers. - Frud Bezhan
(Sep 4, '13)
Populism behind rupee's free fall
Government determination to secure the popular vote rather than address fundamental economic and administrative issues is directly linked to the rupee's present freefall. With the next election in India due next spring, expect little to change. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Sep 3, '13)
India's partition debate best left to artists
Historical analysis that places the blame on early Indian or Pakistani leaders for the massacres following India's 1947 partition often provokes needless controversy. A better way for the countries to purge inter-communal hatred is to explore the consequences of bloodletting through the poignant and thoughtful work of filmmakers and novelists. - Jiwan Kshetry
(Aug 29, '13)
Indian widows celebrate at last
Upper caste Indian widows shunned for decades simply because they were "ill-omened" are finally being permitted to celebrate holy festivals after an organization took up their cause. Legislation is still needed to ensure the widows receive education and training that will equip them to take their rightful place in society. - Sudeshna Sarkar
(Aug 29, '13)
Afghans warned of refugee perils
An awareness campaign warning prospective Afghan refugees of the dangers posed by fleeing illegally towards destinations such as Europe is aimed at the rising number ending up destitute, detained or worse far from home. Although Afghans are likely to lose family savings to unscrupulous traffickers, they believe that endemic graft makes fleeing their best hope for prosperity. - Farangis Najibullah
(Aug 26, '13)
Angry birds skip polluted Delhi
Breakneck development in New Delhi is believed to the reason why endangered bird species are avoiding a traditional migratory stopover at wetlands in city's center. Environmentalists say designating the wetlands sanctuary as a site of international importance will guarantee its future, but claim that construction and real estate lobbies sing the only song the government can hear. - Ranjit Devraj
(Aug 23, '13)
Afghan pullout risks Central Asia security
Intensified fighting in north Afghanistan involving Islamist militants from Central Asia is raising concerns that they plan to exploit the Western coalition's 2014 withdrawal to target their home countries. What is a country to do to prevent the insurgent influx. Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan could take Uzbekistan's example of constructing electrified barbed-wire fences. - Saule Mukhametrakhimova
(Aug 22, '13)
Musharraf charged with Bhutto murder
Nearly six years after former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was gunned down in the garrison city of Rawalpindi, one-time dictator, military strongman and president General Pervez Musharraf has been charged with her murder. The move has been long promised by the man he ousted as prime minister, the now re-elected Nawaz Sharif. Critics say the action is politically motivated. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Aug 21, '13)
When disaster rains, talk
The 2013 monsoon in South Asia proved deadly even before its expected peak in late August. Mechanisms for real-time sharing of weather information among countries in the region are needed, and as talks to put alerts in place fail to outpace the destructive rains, Pakistan's chief meteorologist says the monsoon should be treated with more respect. - Amantha Perera
(Aug 19, '13)
Pakistan puts executions plan on hold
Pakistan has placed a temporary stay on resuming executions, which were to take place from next week for the first time in more than five years. The restoration of capital punishment was designed to deter the country's hardened Taliban. Instead, it provoked threats of war from the militants and objections from rights groups. - Abubakar Siddique
(Aug 19, '13)
Anger rises after Taliban jailbreak
Hardcore militants released following a Pakistani Taliban-masterminded jailbreak in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province last month will likely now target those suspected of turning them in, and launch attacks to destabilize the region. Residents, angry at their loss of security, say the authorities were either negligent or complicit in the escape of more than 200 inmates. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Aug 19, '13)
India kicks the can down the road - again
A decline in the rupee to historic lows and a widening current account deficit have prompted the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian government to take the unusual step of acting in tandem. But even then, they are still just kicking the can down the road. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Aug 16, '13)
Hopes fade for Indian submarine crew
The chance is fading of finding survivors among the 18 sailors aboard a Russian-built Indian Navy submarine that exploded and sank in the port of Mumbai on Wednesday, with India's naval chief saying all concerned compartments have been flooded now for more than 12 hours.
(Aug 15, '13)
Pakistan's 'Little Brazil' lives for soccer
The sprawling Karachi slum of Lyari, one of Pakistan's most dangerous urban neighborhoods, has earned itself the nickname "Little Brazil" as a nod to its reputation as a hot-bed of soccer in the cricket-crazed country. Sporting dreams are now also in vicious collision with politics after a bomb killed at least 11 people at a local soccer match. - Abubakar Siddique
(Aug 14, '13)
In Afghan schools, black is the new black
Schoolgirls are asking the Afghanistan government to change regulations that stipulate they wear a uniform consisting of a black dress, black trousers and white headscarf. Some scoff at a promised consultation process for changing the color of clothes that are both stiflingly hot and, as traditional mourning garb, thoroughly depressing. - Mina Habib
(Aug 14, '13)
Lahore going back to its old ways
A multi-donor program that aims to rehabilitate and conserve Lahore's walled city is seeing facades re-painted, an underground sewerage laid and original historic features being restored, much to the bemusement of some Lahoris who ask if the city can afford it. If the initiative succeeds in reviving traditional arts and festivals, it could help Lahore become an oasis from the country's insecurity. - Irfan Ahmed
(Aug 13, '13)
Part of Indian heritage site bulldozed
The widening of a road in India's southern state of Karnataka has drawn flak from all over the world after the bulldozing of a 153-year-old structure put the ruins of the last capital of the Vijayanagar kingdom, a World Heritage site, at risk. To many, the public works expose failings in government conservation and the ineffectiveness of the UNESCO approach. - Sudeshna Chowdhury
(Aug 9, '13)
India's top banker faces enemy within
New Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan must take on persistently high inflation in a declining economy burdened by widening fiscal and current account. Pursuing his goals over the hurdles thrown up by inept government will magnify the challenge he faces. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Aug 9, '13)
Decoding India's Telangana conundrum
The people of India's coastal Andhra region are furious about the decision to carve the new state of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh, saying that the "loss" of Hyderabad through bifurcation would betray hard work put into creating the information technology boom town. However, the seeds of separation were inherent in a 1956 merger, which "Telanganaites" long sought to dissolve. - Mayurika Chakravorty
(Aug 9, '13)
China boosts Sri Lankan
trade options with India
A harbor expansion in Colombo is only one of China's numerous investments in Sri Lanka that are opening new opportunities for the island to play a bigger role in regional trade networks. Ironically, it stands to benefit as much from Indian business as from Chinese throughput. - Amantha Perera
(Aug 8, '13)
Death toll rises as floods sweep Pakistan
With the death toll in the latest flooding to hit Pakistan rising, the government, local authorities and disaster-response teams appear to be no more prepared to manager the impending disaster than they were two and three years ago, when international donors were reluctant to throw money at the problem due to local ineptitude and corruption. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Aug 6, '13)
Nepali, but not in the eyes of Nepal
Most of the 15% of Nepalis without citizenship papers are women and their children. The struggle of those trafficked to India as minors and returning later in life with children of their own is notably desperate, as limited options force them to work in the informal sector. At the heart of the problem is the constitution. - Naresh Newar
(Aug 5, '13)
India fails to protect the rented womb
Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan and his wife have thrown a national spotlight on the taboo subject of surrogate motherhood with the admission that their third child was born through the technique. As the number of clinics offering the service in India grows, so tales of desperate women as "baby production machines" are strengthening calls for better regulation. - Ranjita Biswas
(Aug 5, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India-China make a tryst
From energy to trade and counter-insurgency, India and China's converging interests in Myanmar are too deep to be easily undermined by economic competition and strategic power politics. By bridging their trust deficit and recognizing the potential for joint development, Beijing and Delhi could make the country a prototype for future Sino-Indian cooperation. - Sonu Trivedi
(Aug 5, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
How colonial Britain divided to rule
Define and Rule: Native as Political Identity by Mahmood Mamdani
Following a series of revolts, the British Empire was forced to recalibrate its style of indirect rule. Instead of merely differentiating between conquerors and the conquered, it now drew lines between distinct political identities and between natives according to tribe. This work argues that this not only led to local administrations becoming racialized, it also helped create our modern preoccupation with defining and managing difference. - Piyush Mathur
(Aug 2, '13)
Rail route upsets remote Afghan province
Tribal leaders from Afghanistan's northeastern Konduz province are lobbying hard in Kabul to keep to a planned route for a long-awaited railroad meant to link northern Afghan provinces with Turkmenistan and Tajikistan. A shorter route, tentatively approved by the government in July, would bypass Konduz and spoil its chance to create an economic hub.
(Aug 1, '13)
Nepal claims strategic middle ground
Senior Nepalese officials on simultaneous visits this month to China and India underlined to their hosts that the Himalayan country would not allow itself to become a staging post for militants in restive regions of Tibet and India that it borders. Kathmandu also seeks to stress that it's not a pawn to be fought over, rather a useful link between its two large neighbors. - Brendan P O'Reilly
(Jul 31, '13)
Taliban free hundreds in Pakistan jailbreak
Taliban fighters used grenades and explosives in an overnight attack on a Pakistan prison that allowed the escape of more than 240 prisoners, including about 30 militants, who disappeared into the darkness of the country's restive tribal belt. The attack on a jail regarded as one of the safest in the troubled northwest raises concerns that the authorities are ill-equipped to detain terrorists responsible for the sectarian violence that plagues Pakistan. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Jul 30, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Challenges loom for post-2014 Pakistan
Anti-US camps in Islamabad expect Washington's withdrawal from Afghanistan to end drone attacks, stabilize Pakstian's domestic security and ease its economic woes. Realists expect exactly the opposite to happen on those three fronts, with the power vacuum that will be created across the border also having potentially disastrous long-term consequences. - Arshad Mahmood
(Jul 30, '13)
Asia laps up lax Israeli weapons rules
Israel's limited political, economic and diplomatic leverage make its arms trade a vital facet in spreading influence and achieving foreign policy objectives. For customers such as South Korea, Vietnam, India and China, the offer of cutting-edge weaponry with lax technology transfer rules is simply too good to refuse. - Alvite Singh Ningthoujam
(Jul 30, '13)
Bhutan's Thinley still on the happiness trail
Defeated Bhutanese Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley's gross national happiness index succeeded in putting his small country, crammed between China and India, on the global agenda. It didn't convince voters this month that his prowess on the global stage outweighs his failure to address graft, unemployment and inequality. Undaunted, Thinley is still selling happiness to the world. - Vishal Arora
(Jul 26, '13)
India facing current
account deficit bulge
India's current account deficit has now exceeded 4% of gross domestic product for a record two consecutive years. That is not yet a crisis, but it should be of concern.
- Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jul 26, '13)
Nepal under pressure to reduce child labor
Almost half of Nepalese children between the ages of five and 17 are working, two-thirds of them aged under 14. The creation of national and international legislation to curb such abuses has not been accompanied by any capacity to enforce the laws. - Mallika Aryal
(Jul 26, '13)
Sport beats terror in Pakistan's tribal belt
Sport is quickly becoming a popular "weapon" in the arsenal against religious extremists in Pakistan's tribal belt, especially as a means of turning youth away from militant activity in a region where the Taliban are entrenched. Cricket rules supreme in the wave of sports fever sweeping the region, but resources are pouring into other sports as tools to promote peace. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Jul 25, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Partition no panacea for Afghanistan
Western analysts who say Afghanistan must be divided by new borders to bring security to the country ignore the
population's historic hatred of occupation and attempts at separation. Despite their country's chaos and cruel history of warfare, Afghans can still look across the border at Pakistan and say theirs is a true state, not one forged artificially from colonialism. - Ehsan Azari Stanizai
(Jul 24, '13)
Pashtuns rue militant image
Propaganda portraying Pashtuns as violent warriors, based on their considerable presence in the Taliban's rank-and-file, ignores that the militants have never identified with the ethnic group, and that Pashtun history is replete with heroes who fought with the pen instead of the sword. While the situation can be partly blamed on the geopolitical vortex in Afghanistan, a fragmented Pashtun leadership is also responsible. - Ajmal Shams
(Jul 24, '13)
Afghan mission far from ending
A desire to avoid the nightmare of defeat in Vietnam repeating itself in Afghanistan is seen by some as a reason for the United States to stay beyond its planned 2014 pull-out. While other countries in the US-led NATO mission view the collapse of the government in Kabul as probable unless they remain, the real reasons have everything to do with geo-strategic and mineral-wealth prizes. - Paul Weinberg
(Jul 23, '13)
 THE ROVING EYE
Magic carpet ride
In a remote village in Northern Afghanistan, Turkomen women have been spinning wool for 7,000 years. Anna Badkhen's delicate tale The World is a Carpet takes Roving Eye there and on a magical ride down memory lane, retracing steps over the years in bits and pieces of the Silk Road; all roads paved with carpets. - Pepe Escobar
(Jul 19, '13)
India's food bill feeds political aims
The Indian government's decision to push through a measure to guarantee food to 67% of the population will satisfy only the hunger of its political ambitions, while corruption and maladministration will continue to deny nourishment for the real supposed beneficiaries. The Food security bill reflects a poverty of thought. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jul 19, '13)
Revisiting the Persian cosmopolis
The extent of Indic culture's influence over South Asian history is clear from the enormous geographic sweep of sanskrit text, but the continuing popularity of Persian concepts of justice, sultanhood and separation of religion and state underlines how Persian language and culture was equally significant. - Richard Eaton
(Jul 19, '13)
FILM REVIEW
India remembers the 'Flying Sikh'
Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (Run Milkha Run) directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra
Revisiting the national trauma of India's partition in 1947 through the eyes of Milkha Singh, who became the country's best-known track and field athlete, this film uses the athlete's emotions to immerse the audience in the hopes and fears of a fledgling nation. The story of Singh, whose first sprint was away from sectarian riots that claimed his parents' lives, will surely resonate with modern India. - Dinesh Sharma
(Jul 19, '13)
Maoists: India spreads the red rash
The Indian government is doing little to calm the country's red rash of Maoist insurgencies, with recent guerilla attacks proving that a "carrot-and-stick" economic and security offensive is failing to meet expectations. That is because the government program ignores more fundamental social maladies that fuel tribal displacement and keep land ownership and exploitation in the hands of the feudal few. - Prathapan Bhaskaran
(Jul 18, '13)
Energy theft a burning issue in Nangarhar
Residents forced to use generators to run businesses and escape the heat in Afghanistan's Jalalabad city allege that corrupt officials are siphoning off power generated by two hydroelectric dams into a private "distribution network". Even without graft, the two stations would struggle to supply all of Nangarhar province as capacity falls short of what's needed to meet demand. - Hijratullah Ekhtyar
(Jul 16, '13)
Report undermines US's Osama glory
While the Abbottabad Commission's report into the Osama bin Laden killing focuses on Pakistan's own failures, its findings - that the raid could only take place in somewhere local governance had "completely collapsed" - also detract from the glamorous image of the mission projected by Americans, as seen in Zero Dark Thirty. - Ramzy Baroud
(Jul 16, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India-Bhutan ties reach a crossroads
The fact that India's decision to withdraw key subsidies likely cost Bhutan's ruling party last week's elections suggests New Delhi took it either to reinforce its clout over the tiny Himalayan Kingdom or in anger at the government's increasing closeness to China. Either way, Bhutan's largest development partner must be careful of forces unleashed through interference. - Medha Bisht
(Jul 16, '13)
Quakes could collapse Kathmandu
The Nepalese capital Kathmandu, rated the world's most "at-risk" city for earthquakes, is unprepared for what experts believe is an inevitable disaster. With residents now on red-alert about the scale of the risk from non-engineered buildings, the primary concern is for schools and the safety of children. - Naresh Newar
(Jul 15, '13)
UNCTAD chief slams US, EU
sanctions against Bangladesh
The decisions of the United States and the European Union to demand implementation of controversial labor standards in Bangladesh, recalling differences that stirred violent protests at the Seattle World Trade Organization conference of 1999, are distracting from the WTO's authority, warns United Nations Conference on Trade and Development secretary-general Supachai Panitchpakdi. - Ravi Kanth Devarakonda
(Jul 15, '13)
What the Abbottabad report didn't reveal
While the report of Pakistan's Abbottabad commission is heavy with accusations of collective incompetence and negligence for the failure to detect the presence of Osama bin Laden, it is short on meaningful answers as to how it actually happened. Instead of prompting useful reform in the military or intelligence services, it will likely just become a political tool for the Nawaz Sharif government. - Sameer Patil
(Jul 15, '13)
China looks again at Gwadar and Pakistan
Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif underscored the importance he places on China's US$18 billion plan to build a road, rail and energy route linking Xinjiang with Gwadar Port by hot-footing it to Beijing this month. Just as he is in dire need of China's investment, the corridor fantasy describes the strategic necessity for China to place more eggs in the troubled Afpak basket.
- Peter Lee (Jul 12, '13)
Taliban vaccine ban has crippling effects
Incidences of polio have soared in Taliban-run areas of Afghanistan where the militant leadership has banned vaccines following wild claims the jabs are a US plot to render the Muslim population infertile. With hundreds already crippled and hundreds of thousands more at risk, parents in the affected areas are calling the Taliban, the "enemies of children". - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Jul 12, '13)
THE ROVING EYE
The China-US 'Brotherhood'
The latest US-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue talk fest now underway in Washington comes with local punters believing Beijing has weakened since its post-financial crisis heavy lifting days. Don't bet on it. With Barack Obama trapped in a Middle East Brotherhood net, Chinese leader Xi Jinping sees good pickings in Pakistan, Iran, Syria, Iraq - not to mention Pipelineistan and the South China Sea. "Fragile"? You wish. - Pepe Escobar
(Jul 11, '13)
US brands agree safety patch
for Bangladeshi workers
An alliance of Walmart, the Gap and other US brands and retailers has unveiled an agreement aimed at improving conditions at garment factories in Bangladesh following the April factory collapse there that killed 1,110 workers. Labor organizations condemn the deal as weak and parsimonious. - Carey L Biron
(Jul 11, '13)
Obama's 'zero option' on AfPak is viable
A report that President Barack Obama is seriously considering a total pullout of American troops from Afghanistan by end-2014 sounds incredible. If real, the threat could aim to pull President Hamid Karzai in line over talks to establish US military bases in the country. Or it could be that, given contradictions in US policy, the "zero option" is Obama's most viable exit route. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Jul 10, '13)
Security fears divide Afghans over election
A public meeting in Helmand's provincial center last month saw some tribal leaders demand that the government first ensure security before holding elections planned for next April, citing fears of harsh Taliban reprisals against voters. Critics say postponement would merely give President Hamid Karzai an excuse to extend his term illegitimately or select a puppet successor. - Gol Ahmad Ehsan
(Jul 10, '13)
India held hostage by democracy
The increasingly fractious nature of India's coalition governments amid a rising criminalization of politics has enabled the opposition to disrupt government work on an unprecedented scale, with debate, allegations and forced adjournments slowing parliament's work beyond that seen in authoritarian regimes. While the endless debate succeeds in making the ruling party look bad, it does nothing for the institution of democracy. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jul 9, '13)
Afghans leery of Taliban plans
The new Taliban head office in Qatar seems to suggest that the militants are planning for a central role in Afghanistan as future negotiator and national representative after international forces withdraw in 2014. Afghans who lived under Taliban rule need convincing amid fears that the militants will use the drawdown to regain power lost more than a decade ago. - Giuliano Battiston
(Jul 8, '13)
IMF agrees to Pakistan bailout
Recently elected Pakistan's prime minister, Nawaz Sharif has secured a US$5.3 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund to help avoid a repetition of the country's 2008 foreign exchange crisis. First, though, he has to show he is getting tough with tax evaders. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Jul 8, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Rajapaksa autonomy move risks harmony
An attempt by Sri Lanka's Mahinda Rajapaksa government to dilute an amendment that promises autonomy to the Tamil minority breaks pledges to bring self-rule to provinces, and to the Indian and Tamil parties initially party to the agreement. Colombo may claim that autonomy sullies the military victory over the rebels, but even the army doesn't agree. - Sumanasiri Liyanage
(Jul 8, '13)
Indian disaster response falls short
Two weeks after floods killed at least 580 people and trapped thousands of tourists and pilgrims in the north Indian state of Uttarakhand, search and rescue operations are still under way for the more than 3,000 people still missing. The operation is straining from a lack of coordinated action amid further shocks. - Malini Shankar
(Jul 3, '13)
India's problem blacker than gold
The Indian government is pointing to increased gold imports as the main reason for the full-year current account deficit widening to a historic high of 4.8%. That conveniently masks the real reason - higher demand for imported oil and coal that is due to the government's own mismanagement. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jul 3, '13)
China the key to India's Afghan puzzle
India's internal security and plans for economic expansion depend on post-US withdrawal Afghanistan not falling to Taliban elements controlled and manipulated by Pakistan's military intelligence. To bolster its aims, New Delhi must raise the specter of Central Asian terror to unsettle Beijing into pressurizing its "all-weather ally", Pakistan. - Prathapan Bhaskaran
(Jul 1, '13)
COMMENT
An assault on hope in Pakistan
That last week's terrorist attack on foreign tourists in Pakistan took place in a relatively safe region will further undermine international confidence in the country after a blood-drenched election campaign. Much of the mayhem is driven by evil-minded anarchists and a US foreign policy that's a far cry from heady days in 1956 when Dizzy Gillespie sizzled in Karachi as a mouthpiece for America. - Maliha Masood
(Jul 1, '13)
Afghan refugees dig heels into Pakistan
The Pakistan government for years has been extending a deadline for allowing Afghan refugees to remain in the country, even as pressure from an increasingly disgruntled local population grows stronger. As Afghanistan's unstable politics and next years withdrawal of international troops make its neighbor an inevitable destination, realities on the ground will once again mean Islamabad will have no choice but to extend refugees' stay. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Jun 28, '13)
Bangladesh loses US trade benefits
The United States has suspended trade benefits for Bangladeshi exports under the Generalized System of Preferences, citing the country's alleged failure to respect international labor rights. The move came two months after 1,200 people were killed in a Dhaka garment factory collapse but will not directly impact the country's garment trade.- Jim Lobe
(Jun 28, '13)
Rural tales of Afghan despair
Although the most devastating impacts of the Afghanistan conflict have been on rural areas, mainstream media have failed to cover the story for fear of kidnapping or worse. A new documentary, My Afghanistan: Life in the Forbidden Zone by Nagieb Khaja sets out to tell often harrowing tales of village life from the people's perspective, resulting in revelations that represent a damning indictment of the Western invasion's legacy. - Sudeshna Chowdhury
(Jun 28, '13)
Mixed report for Afghan education
Evaluations of progress in Afghanistan's education system since the ousting of the Taliban cite poor security, crumbling infrastructure and limited rural provision as critical problems. However, advances have been made in improving girls' access to schooling and in enrollment. That is a marked step away from the brutal teachings of the past hardliner rulers. - Shelly Kittleson
(Jun 27, '13)
Trust can break Indian Ocean vicious cycle
The growing US-India strategic partnership reinforces the view from China that Indian Ocean arc of Washington's Asian pivot is part of an encirclement strategy. Amid a naval buildup, a trust mechanism is sorely needed to hold back an arms race that will lead to all parties sacrificing increasingly shared economic and security interests. - Namrata Goswami and Jenee Sharon
(Jun 27, '13)
Taliban talks renew specter of civil war
The opening of a Taliban political office in Qatar raised alarm bells in Kabul not only because it honed the ousted group's image as an Afghan power, but because it threatens to unravel everything President Hamid Karzai's government has worked for. Saber rattling by warlords opposed to talks with the Taliban, like General Abdul Rashid Dostum, could lead to war breaking out again. - Frud Bezhan
(Jun 26, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
How politics fueled India-Pakistan wars
Classic liberal beliefs that democratic nations are less likely to wage wars with each other, grounded in Immanuel Kant's theories, seem validated when applied to the painful history of India-Pakistan relations. If only democracy had been allowed to nourish in Pakistan from its founding, then three major wars and immeasurable misery could have been avoided. - Arshad Mahmood
(Jun 26, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
US warriors in search of Afghan peace
The United States' plans to hold peace talks with the Taliban highlight the moral bankruptcy of the Washington's initial decision to invade Afghanistan. There's little chance of any peace succeeding without help from Iran and Pakistan, but it will be hard for them to help the US - a country that's continually undermining them through warmongering, drone attacks and threats. - Mahboob A Khawaja
(Jun 24, '13)
US 'rebalancing' in the Hindu Kush
The start of Afghan peace talks (at present delayed) in Doha, which will include Taliban representatives but no direct Russian involvement, will further weaken the US-Russian entente cordial over Afghanistan. Paradoxically, it suits the US to have a Taliban-controlled Kabul become a co-protagonist with regard to Central Asia. A stronger Russian military presence in Tajikistan indicates the Kremlin is alive to that possibility. - M K Bhadrakumar
(Jun 21, '13)
RBI shows its wisdom
The Reserve Bank of India rightly resisted pressure, and fingers pointing to the weak economy and declining inflation, to ease its monetary policy this week. Long-term consequences of inept government and future price pressure are more important than short-term mollification of mandarins and industrialists. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jun 21, '13)
Bad weather holds growth hostage
Erratic weather patterns are wreaking havoc across Sri Lanka, from more than 50 fishermen killed at sea during the past two weeks alone to the decimation of hydropower supplies in last year's drought. New research suggests that for Sri Lanka and other Asian countries extreme weather events are set to become the deciding factor in economic growth. - Amantha Perera
(Jun 20, '13)
Taliban hints at Afghan power-sharing
Amid attempts by the United States to defend efforts to negotiate with the Taliban, and Kabul's strident rejection of the hardline Islamic group's political representation in Qatar, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem expresses the militants' readiness to share power in Afghanistan. - Abubakar Siddique
(Jun 20, '13)
India places its Asian bet on Japan
Indian overtures to Japan suggest New Delhi, encouraged by the Abe administration's vigorous approach to restoring Japan's national and regional stature, has decided to place an open bet on the fellow democracy over state socialist China. By challenging the Chinese diplomatic narrative that has since World War II painted Tokyo as the colonizer, New Delhi's maneuver could shake up the Pacific power dynamic. - Peter Lee
(Jun 20, '13)
Militants torch NATO lifeline
Intensified attacks on supply convoys from Pakistan for international forces in Afghanistan may signal a turning point for US drone attacks on militants on the AfPak border. With observers pointing out that the Taliban is in a stronger position than at any time since the 9/11 attacks, the main exit route for the 2014 withdrawal of troops is looking vulnerable, unless the US stops its drone program. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Jun 19, '13)
US-Taliban talks set to begin
Nearly 12 years after the United States ousted the Taliban, the US will begin formal talks with the militant Islamist group this week as part of Afghanistan's national reconciliation process. Whether a major change in US policy, or more a reflection of shifting power inside Washington, the road ahead will be long, and negotiations between the Taliban and the Hamid Karzai government will also be of crucial importance. - Jim Lobe
(Jun 19, '13)
Afghan bomb victims pay price of graft
Evidence that a consignment of medical supplies destined for Afghans injured by a suicide attack was sold off illegally has exposed a suspected network linking provincial council officials with sales to pharmacies. The death of 10 of the victims from their wounds was likely due to lack of treatment. Meanwhile those allegedly involved in the medicines' "disappearance" remain free. - Abdul Maqsud Azizi
(Jun 17, '13)
Indian women talk about sex
Middle-class "mommy bloggers" in India are breaking sexual taboos through online discussions that broach subjects such as sexual health and family planning, reflecting a nationwide backlash against conservatism on issues related to rape and homosexuality. The cyber-chat may have an impact on the ground, but is unlikely to reach rural areas patriarchal culture is entrenched. - Ranjita Biswas
(Jun 14, '13)
FILM REVIEW
When will the dirty wars end?
Dirty Wars: The World Is a Battlefield by Jeremy Scahill
Using investigative reports, this film argues that from cover-ups of Afghan night-raid atrocities to extrajudicial assassinations, a globally extended US militarism is being used to prevent anything undermining the US image of dominance being projected overseas. If it weren't for journalism exposing dirty wars, knowledge of such abuses might never escape the affected hotspots. - Steve Fake
(Jun 14, '13)
Delhi bill to criminalize
opposition to GM food
The India government aims to curb opposition to the introduction of genetically modified (GM) food crops with a bill that provides for jail terms and fines for "whoever, without any evidence or scientific record misleads the public about the safety of organisms and products". The bill does not take into account evidence about the safety risks posed by GM food crops, say critics.
(Jun 14, '13)
India still a good bet after market sell-off
India's stock markets, like those in other emerging economies, have been hard hit by the recent sell-off by investors. Compared with the likes of commodity- and export-dependent China, Brazil and Russia, however, India is still worth a punt given its domestic consumption. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jun 14, '13)
Iran flexes muscle with Taliban meeting
Despite past enmity, a recent visit to Iran by a Taliban delegation from Afghanistan suggests that Tehran now sees the insurgent group as possible partner following next year's withdrawal of international forces. For their part, the Taliban characterized the meeting as a parallel government taking part in talks with its neighbor. - Mina Habib
(Jun 13, '13)
Met men miss Sri Lanka's deadly tempests
The lack of an effective weather warning system in Sri Lanka has seen increasingly common gale force winds claim the lives of numerous fishermen, with a squall last week costing some 51 lives. Days-late meteorological updates are dismissed as "annoyingly cryptic" while media are failing to effectively convey weather threats, but critics place most of the blame at the government's door. - Amantha Perera
(Jun 13, '13)
Pakistan sets sights on drones
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, under intense pressure from politicians and the public, has promised that his government won't secretly allow the US to conduct drone strikes on Pakistani territory. Given that the strikes are often inaccurate, and that enraging tribal citizens endangers its exit from Afghanistan, perhaps Washington should pay heed to its ally this time. - Sajjad Ashraf
(Jun 13, '13)
Sharif targets power crisis
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif tapped public anger over power shortages to secure victory in last month's general election. Now he has to start delivering on his promises to alleviate the misery that comes with 20-hour blackouts. - Abubakar Siddique
(Jun 13, '13)
Pakistan boosts defense spending
Pakistan is to boost defense spending 10% in the coming 12 months under the budget announced on Wednesday by Finance Minister Ishaq Dar, even as the economy is burdened by an 8.8% budget deficit, damaging power shortages and the prospect of having to secure more support from the International Monetary Fund. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Jun 13, '13)
Subsidy juggling trims back
India's fiscal overhang
Indian Finance Minister P Chidambaram appears a man who can deliver on his promises, judging by the full-year fiscal deficit, which was even better than he forecast. All it took was a squeeze on oil companies and fancy juggling with the data for oil subsidies. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Jun 7, '13)
Time for Japan, India to go beyond words
Goodwill between Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Abe Shinzo is mirrored in the state of bilateral ties and the rapid strategic strides taken over the past decade or so - at least through a string of declarations. So much for the words on paper: the reality of strategic cooperation has been less impressive. - Sourabh Gupta
(Jun 7, '13)
Kashmiri health system takes to sick-bed
The lingering effects of a fake-drugs scandal in Jammu and Kashmir are indicative of deeper problems in the region's health provision, with infant mortality and hospital deaths also flaring. While patients fear the drugs they are now offered, and the elite go elsewhere for treatment, there's only one root cause for the myriad symptoms of a broken healthcare system - corruption. - Athar Parvaiz
(Jun 7, '13)
Nuclear hazard in Tokyo, Delhi embrace
India's soon-to-be-concluded civil nuclear deal with Japan will fuel an anachronistic drive for nuclear energy in India, which is being imposed by the government through brutal repression. It will also help destabilize the Asian continent by deepening the countries' strategic role in encircling China while dealing a severe blow to the nuclear non-proliferation regime. - P K Sundaram
(Jun 7, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India blinded by China's shock and awe
The notion of China as a new-age El Dorado seems to permeate India's political and policy-making elite and some portion of its academic leaders, dangerously inhibiting New Delhi from perceiving how its own views and strategic approaches are and should be quite different to those of its northern neighbor. It also blinds India to the hard core at the heart of Beijing's rise in the world. - Madhu Bhalla
(Jun 7, '13)
Window shuts on
Pakistani talks with Taliban
Pakistani politicians lured war-weary voters with promises of peace negotiations with Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan militants. With the elections over, the window of opportunity for talks has already slammed shut amid a string of events - starting with the death of the group's deputy leader in a US drone attack - that have buried hopes of negotiated peace.
(Jun 6, '13)
QE measures risk repeat Asian crisis
The global economy is awash with successive waves of liquidity generated in the form of quantitative easing over the past few years by the United States, the European Union, Japan and Britain. Leading economies risk a re-run of the Asian financial crisis, on a broader scale, if such flows are reversed. - Shyam Saran
(Jun 6, '13)
India's Maoists far from a spent force
A large-scale, well-coordinated ambush in the southern Bastar region of Chhattisgarh has underlined that India's Maoist rebels remain of the greatest threats to India's national security. Unless the government develops better policies, issues will continue to fester and erupt into similar bloodbaths. - Sujoy Dhar
(Jun 3, '13)
Walmart, Gap fail to please
critics on Bangladesh safety
Moves by United States companies Walmart and Gap to agree on new safety standards for clothing-producing contractors in Bangladesh are being rejected by critics, who say a non-binding deal will do little to avoid a repeat of the recent factory disaster that claimed more than 1,000 lives. - Carey L Biron
(Jun 3, '13)
 SALEEM SHAHZAD
Two years after the murder of Asia Times Online's Pakistan bureau chief, Syed Saleem Shahzad, and despite evidence pointing towards state agent complicity in his death, no significant progress has been made in bringing his killers to account. With a heavy heart, ATol adds its voice to those advocating for an independent, international investigation into his death and to a statement calling for justice made by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists.
|
No taxation delivers
tyranny to Afghanistan
"No taxation without representation" was the call to revolution in colonial America. Yet the easy cash funneled into Afghanistan by occupying powers (notably the United States), and the subsequent absence of the necessity of taxation, has delivered its people up to tyranny. - Inge Fryklund
(May 31, '13)
Afghan media fear collapse in funding
As Afghanistan prepares for the 2014 withdrawal of foreign forces, journalists and media organizations there, long reliant on international support, fear a collapse in funding as backers along with other investors quit the country in fear of civil war. - Shelly Kittleson
(May 31, '13)
Fundamental errors in Indian education
A deadline for implementation of India's Right to Education Act passed last month with stagnant enrollment figures and declining reading and mathematical standards, suggesting the law is failing to meet the desired objectives. With free education is being shunned for paid-for private schools, it appears policy makers are failing, not in provision of funds but in imaginative thinking. - Swati Lodh Kundu
(May 31, '13)
Drone death would hit
Pakistani Taliban hard
The death of key Pakistani Taliban commander Wali-ur Rehman Mehsud in a US drone strike would be a big blow to the militants. The as yet unverified killing of the deputy leader would deprive the Taliban in Pakistan of a key strategist and operative capable of navigating politics, raising funds, and carrying out major attacks. - Abubakar Siddique
(May 30, '13)
Sri Lanka readies for the rain, and after
As Sri Lanka awaits the imminent arrival of the annual monsoon, disaster managers say they are better prepared than ever for the rescue and relief work that comes with the rain. Investments in early warning systems since the 2004 tsunami struck are just as well, as experts warn the island can expect the barrage of extreme weather to intensify. - Amantha Perera
(May 30, '13)
Afghanistan: Is it really the end game?
Given the fragility of the Afghan government and army, and the skepticism rising over the bloody and expensive Afghan conflict's legacy, most would expect the United States to place extra effort into securing a safe withdrawal and military and economic transition. Yet instead of pursuing the inclusive dialogue needed to prevent chaos, Washington is relying on a "shoot and talk" strategy that's consistently failed. - Conn Hallinan
(May 30, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Islamabad faces drone dilemma
Placing limits on Pakistan's cooperation with the US in the use of drones to fight the Taliban would ease
intense political pressure over the issue for the incoming Nawaz Sharif government, but the resultant power vacuum in the northwest would enable the militants to regroup and inflict maximum damage on the US withdrawal from Afghanistan. - Sajjad Ashraf
(May 29, '13)
CHINA DIPLOMACY
Frost in a promising Indian summer
High drama of a Chinese troop "intrusion" on the disputed border with India seemed to ebb through negotiations as silently as it had begun, with seemingly little damage to Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's state visit to New Delhi. Yet Beijing may have weakened the very power centers in India that were working to usher in a brave new world of partnership. - M K Bhadrakumar
(May 28, '13)
Peace gets a chance in Pakistan
An offer by Pakistani Prime Minister-designate Nawaz Sharif of talks with the outlawed Pakistani Taliban has created a wave of relief among people on the northwest, who have borne the brunt of the militancy since 2001. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, even the secular Awami National Party which is in control of the province, is in favor of making peace after losing 800 members in attacks. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(May 28, '13)
Neighbors eye Sharif with caution
Pledges new Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has made to investigate the Kargil border conflict and Inter Services Intelligence agency involvement in the Mumbai bombings will be welcomed in Delhi. However, as past stints as premier saw him recognize the Taliban as a legitimate Afghan government and take his country diplomatically closer to Saudi Arabia, leaders in Kabul and Tehran will be less enthusiastic about his return to power. - Fatemeh Aman
(May 24, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
America's truth-seeking drone program
Hunting militants through morally and legally questionable bombing missions hardly provides real justice to the victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. The same international laws are broken by the drone program purportedly intended to protect American soil from foreign enemies seeking to eliminate its citizens. - Elliot Saunders
(May 24, '13)
Indian growth model unsustainable at best
India managed growth of a mere 5% last year. That there is expansion at all is thanks to the services sector, one part of the economy able to operate outside government control. As a growth model, that's unsustainable. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(May 24, '13)
China's premier Li Keqiang in Islamabad
Several agreements including plans to work on developing a north-south economic corridor marked Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Islamabad this week. China has been a strong ally to its southern neighbor, but critics in Pakistan urge the government there to stop deluding itself and recognize that India is of far more importance to Beijing. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(May 23, '13)
Darkness envelops Pakistan
Elections in Pakistan have seen one crony replaced with another, further distancing from power the educated and intelligent young generation that could shape a new future for the nation. Unless the generals and their political accomplices hand some power to the people, the moral and intellectual thread of society will continue to unwind. - Mahboob A Khawaja
(May 23, '13)
Bangladesh farmers battle water woes
Water shortages are endangering the livelihood of farmers on northwest Bangladesh, as drastically low rainfall levels fail to replenish the falling water table, while once-abundant flows from nearby rivers in the region are stemmed by damns across the border in India. - Naimul Haq
(May 23, '13)
Survivors of factory collapse speak out
Harrowing survivors' tales from the Rana Plaza collapse in Bangladesh recount an ordeal of darkness and screams, with many recalling how bosses threatened them with dismissal for questioning the sanity of working in the crumbling building. New safety standards have been rushed out, but punishment for the bosses looks unlikely. - Naimul Haq
(May 22, '13)
Explosives shatter lives in Kashmir
Maimed victims of landmines in Kashmir are struggling to pay for medical treatment and prosthetic limbs with the menial government compensation on offer. With many farming families forced to sell land and beg as a result, the impact of such accidents lasts long after the detonation. - Athar Parvaiz
(May 21, '13)
Patience needed for Sharif's India goals
Pakistan's Prime Minister-elect Nawaz Sharif has his hands full with domestic challenges, let alone find time to pursue his stated goal of better relations with India. Benefits from that would accrue to both countries, but prudence dictates New Delhi should be ready when Islamabad (and the Pakistan military) is ready. Until then, Sharif can do with India's benefit of doubt and time. - Ramesh Ramachandran
(May 17, '13)
Dark shadows in data haunt India's output
A reversal of India's downward trend in industrial production in the most recent quarter will provide some sense of comfort for the government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. That vanishes on a closer look at the underlying numbers. - Kunal Kundu Kumar
(May 17, '13)
Daunting challenges await Sharif
Nawaz Sharif, heading into a third term as prime minister after historic elections in Pakistan, has little time to bask in victory. Daunting challenges piling up in the pending tray include tackling economic malaise and foreign policy matters and dealing with a military establishment that ejected him in 1999. - Sajjad Ashraf
(May 16, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Nepal charges towards total impunity
The selection of Maoist nominee Lokman Singh Karki as the chief of Nepal's anti-graft body, despite mass objections from the public, political parties and civil society, has dampened hopes that a so-called "election government" formed to restore political stability will succeed. Seen as proxy of the Maoist leadership, critics say Lokman will usher in a era of impunity and abuse of power. - Jiwan Kshetry
(May 16, '13)
Pressure on US retailers
to sign Bangladesh pact
Top US garment retailers face more pressure to back a binding building safety agreement for Bangladeshi factories after 10 of their European counterparts joined the landmark pact as the death toll from the Rana Plaza disaster passed 1,100. - Katelyn Fossett
(May 16, '13)
Taliban deny Afghan dam attack plan
Hundreds of Afghan and foreign Taliban insurgents are said to be building up a presence to attack the Kajaki dam, a flagship of international reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province. Some locals say the Taliban claim that its forces would never attack national assets as an outright lie, while others point to reasons for outsiders to destroy the unfinished project. - Gol Ahmad Ehsan
(May 15, '13)
Pakistan throws down gauntlet at the US
Nawaz Sharif's return to power in Pakistan electrifies South Asia politics, while the electoral turnout represents an historic vote for democracy and rejection of extremism. The Pakistani electorate has thrown down the gauntlet for Washington to grasp the benefits of strengthening the new leader's hand. The big question is whether the US wants to be on the "right side of history" or to conduct business as usual with the generals in Rawalpindi. - M K Bhadrakumar
(May 14, '13)
Sharif set to form Pakistani government
Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif looks to be within days of taking up the role for a third time after voters turned out in force to defy Taliban threats in Saturday's general election. Sharif has called for cooperation among political forces to battle Pakistan's problems, including militant violence, and is likely to forge a cooperative relationship with Washington.
(May 13, '13)
Drone strikes on trial in Pakistan
A High Court declaration in Pakistan that Central Intelligence Agency drone strikes are war crimes comes as US critics of the strikes increasingly call into
question the lack of legislative or judicial pressure to curb the executive powers used in launching the unmanned aircraft. For many, the lack of transparency suggests that the administration is well aware the drone program breaks international law. - George Gao
(May 13, '13)
BOOK REVIEW
Portraits of an identity crisis
Lens and the Guerrilla: Insurgency in India's Northeast by Rajeev Bhattacharyya
Che in Paona Bazaar: Tales of Exiles and Belonging from India's Northeast by Kishalay Bhattacharjee
Scores of local rebel groups are active in the seven states east of the narrow "Siliguri Neck" connecting the northeast with the rest of India, but the motivations and people behind these movements are understudied. By taking entirely different approaches to the problems of identity in the volatile region, two new books shine complementary light. - Bertil Lintner
(May 10, '13)
Bangladesh Jamaat leader
sentenced to death
Cheers outside the court greeted the death penalty handed down to Mohammad Kamaruzzaman after the Jamaat-e-Islami party assistant secretary-general was found guilty of 1971 war crimes. But the sentence raised concerns it would spark renewed clashes between police and supporters of the 59-year-old Islamist leader that have seen protesters die in marches marred by violence.
(May 10, '13)
Gilani's son kidnapped at Pakistan rally
Ali Haider Gilani, son of former prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani and a provincial assembly candidate in Pakistan's May 11 elections, was abducted on Thursday by gunmen who attacked a rally, killing six people. President Asif Ali Zardari has condemned the kidnapping as a "reprehensible act of a cowardly enemy" as progressive parties warn of extremists hijacking democracy.
(May 10, '13)
Rapes highlight 'colonial' police practices
Public fury at the Indian police's violent response to protests against their failure to stop gang rapes has intensified over reports on the ordeal victims and their families are put through. Police behavior is blamed on an Indian Penal Code introduced by the British colonial regime in 1860, yet reforms to rape laws introduced last year have had no apparent effect on their attitudes. - Ranjit Devraj
(May 10, '13)
India reduced to a stumbling elephant
For all the talk of India's huge middle class and economic prospects through urbanization and concomitant consumption, the country is failing itself where it hurts the most - in the quality of governance. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(May 10, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Afghan peace snared in regional politics
Peace and stability in post-withdrawal Afghanistan depends as much on the outcome of elections in Pakistan, Iran and India as on the capacity of the Afghan National Security Forces to take over security. As Tehran and Islamabad are the two external players with the perhaps the most to lose in the Afghan calculus, the results of their polls will have particularly momentous implications. - Rajeev Agrawal
(May 10, '13)
KARZAI'S CIA BUNDLES
The hand that scolds also bribes
Confirmation from Afghan President Hamid Karzai that the CIA bribed him with bags of cash (the presidential palace providing good accounting in return) smacks of the dollar-billed baksheesh flown into Iraq by the planeload, and adds currency to the words of one commentator: "If the US ever stood for good government and democracy, it does not any longer." - Thalif Deen
(May 9, '13)
Fear envelops Pakistan elections
The mounting death toll from the Pakistani Taliban's campaign of terror in the last days before the country's general election and the switch in targets to include both secular parties and the leading Islamist contender have created a chaotic climate of fear surrounding the May 11 vote. That is exactly what the Taliban wanted as punishment for candidates and voters taking part in a democratic process the banned militants have branded "un-Islamic". - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(May 9, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China's incursions show strategic blindness
Incursions by Chinese troops into eastern Kashmir are reflective of new leader Xi Jinping's assertive strategy on territorial disputes. While rallying behind People's Liberation Army causes may boost Xi's leadership, such aggression merely vindicates the "China threat" discourse among the country's neighbors. - Namrata Goswami
(May 9, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Democracy in peril in Bangladesh
Instead of seeking the culprits behind a deadly building collapse, Bangladesh's government has been focused on closing down an opposition newspaper and arresting its editor. Such harassment of dissenting voices has been a regular feature of successive Bangladeshi governments, but the scale of the repression has grown alarmingly under the present administration. - Hasan Mir
(May 8, '13)
Blood-stained garments in Bangladesh
The West's lust for cheap prices and designer labels is partly to blame for the crushed bones of so many young women in the Rana Plaza disaster. As bodies (44 yesterday alone) are still pulled from the rubble two weeks after the collapse, the deep stain of corruption, by officials turning blind eyes to illegal building, harsh labor conditions and the murder of trade union representatives, cannot be easily erased either. - Ramzy Baroud
(May 8, '13)
Bangladesh clashes claim 35 lives
A blockade of Dhaka by Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam descended into chaos amid pitched battles with rival supporters and security forces and the deaths of 35 people. The rising fatality count from protests in Bangladesh this year has shaken a long-held political stalemate, while some see Hefajat's emergence as a political force as a direct threat to the South Asian country's secular traditions. - Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
(May 7, '13)
SINOGRAPH
China losing cultural
race with India
More than border flare-ups, deep cultural disconnects between China and India are sabotaging growth of a bilateral dynamic as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's prepares for landmark visit. One factor niggling Beijing is that while its rival seems economically, militarily and politically inferior, India, from dress to religion, has better preserved its traditions and enjoys a special place of interest in the Western world. - Francesco Sisci
(May 7, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India-China war delayed by technology
The asymmetry and imperious emperors that could provoke an India-China conflict aren't in place, and even if a war were to break out over remote border areas, international pressures and military parity require that at most, the two countries fight a very limited war that does not cause irremediable loss of face. - Mohan Guruswamy
(May 7, '13)
Obama's AfPak envoy may embrace Iran
The need for damage control in the US withdrawal from Afghanistan likely motivated President Barack Obama's choice for US special representative for the country. Ambassador James Dobbins' past acknowledgements that Iran's help proved crucial in forming a post-2001 invasion government underline his willingness - unlike others - to welcome Tehran's input. - M K Bhadrakumar
(May 7, '13)
Killing buries truth in Pakistan
Truth was a casualty in the gunning down last week of Pakistan special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali while reportedly on his way to court present a charge sheet against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Zulfiqar Ali's murder is a new twist to intrigue surrounding the case he was leading into the assassination four years ago of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(May 6, '13)
US firms called to
account on garment workers
Worker advocacy groups in the United States are calling on some of the most high-profile US-based clothing companies to make drastic reforms to their international labor practices in the wake of the factory collapse that killed more than 600 workers in Dhaka last month.
(May 6, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Pakistan: Good people and evil politics
Pakistanis are questioning the incompetence and corruption of politicians who for decades have used violence as a tool for personal gain. The only route out the morass is to disconnect the country from the bogus US-led "war on terrorism" and create a non-partisan government under new leadership. - Mahboob A Khawaja
(May 6, '13)
China's border rows mirror grim history
Two Chinese territorial disputes - one high in the Himalayas with India, the other with Japan involving similarly uninhabitable islands - indicate two different paths concerning Asia's future security. The clash with Japan is the more unsettling, not least as the government in Tokyo faces a political and economic environment uncomfortably parallel to that of Germany in the 1930s. - Peter Lee
(May 3, '13)
India's retail FDI bid fails to sell
The Indian government late last year ended a long and agonizing debate and allowed foreign companies such as Walmart and Carrefour access to the country's huge retail sector, yet the lure of a large and growing middle class has signally failed to attract a single big-ticket investor. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(May 3, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Doubly deadly drones in Waziristan
Inhabitants in Pakistan's North and South Waziristan tribal agencies not only fear death from the CIA-operated drones targeting militants in the region; there is also a risk of the Taliban targeting them as suspected US spies directing the unmanned aircraft. Charged with placing American-supplied electronic tracking devices near militants' houses, the punishments for "collaborators" include death by explosive belt. - Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud
(May 3, '13)
Delhi's rubbish plans
throw poor off waste heap
Delhi's decision to hand over refuse collection to private corporations will prevent thousands of unskilled ragpickers making a living. It will also increase dangerous pollution in the already heavily polluted city while ratcheting up carbon credits under the Kyoto protocol. - Ranjit Devraj
(May 2, '13)
Bangladesh disaster can be costly lesson
Criticism of the latest Bangladesh factory building disaster ignores the real benefits the garment industry brings to the local population. Yet, Bangladeshi business owners must implement safety reforms or lose the work to other countries. - Himaya Quasem
(May 2, '13)
Musharraf gets life ban from elections
Former Pakistani dictator Pervez Musharraf has been banned for life from running in national or provincial elections, killing his chances in the May 11 general election. The court ruling is the latest humiliation served on him by the formerly cowed judiciary, and further embarrasses the once all-powerful military. The army, so far, remains silent on the issue. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(May 1, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Social media overhyped in Indian politics
The spiraling number of Indians hooked on social media and high-profile "hashtag wars" between politicians has brought predictions that Twitter and Facebook will be key battlefields in the 2014 elections and pithy posts could swing key states. This ignores the stuffy mindset of Indian politics and that poor, starving India won't be swung by digital devices. - Shruti Pandalai
(May 1, '13)
Arrest sparks clashes amid Dhaka rescue
As rescuers continue the grim search for survivors in Dhaka, the owner of the building that collapsed last week killing nearly 400 people is now in custody after a manhunt. Mohammad Sohel Rana's arrest sparked clashes on Monday between police and workers demanding the businessman's death. - Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
(Apr 29, '13)
Christians feel heat of intolerance
Christians whose homes in Lahore were torched when a mob of Muslims tore through Joseph Colony a month ago are putting their lives back together with government support and charitable contributions. The return of some sense of normalcy has not replaced fear as accused arsonists are back on the streets of Pakistan's second-biggest city. - Irfan Ahmed
(Apr 29, '13)
PAKISTAN'S CAMPAIGN OF TERROR
Election violence rolls on, unabated
A surge in pre-poll terror attacks in Pakistan shows that the Taliban and allied extremists are throwing all their resources at sabotaging the election process in the political strongholds of the country's three main secular parties. To some, the campaign of terror belies claims that the May 11 vote can be free and fair. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Apr 29, '13)
India gets it wrong with growth optimism
The latest official review of India's economy projects a relatively bullish view of economic growth in the year ahead. History is against its forecasting being close to reality, while the present outlook plays down domestic hurdles and makes mistaken assumptions about global demand. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Apr 29, '13)
Babies among rising Bangladesh death toll
New-born babies are among the dead from the Rana Plaza factory building collapse on the outskirts of Dhaka, as the death toll climbs towards 300 and possibly 800 as survivors lose strength before rescuers can reach them. - Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
(Apr 26, '13)
Bangladesh mourns latest factory disaster
The death toll from Bangladesh's biggest industrial disaster climbed near 200 on Thursday as charges were laid against the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza, politician Mohammad Sohel Rana, after he kept garment factories running despite the building being declared unsafe. - Syed Tashfin Chowdhury
(Apr 25, '13)
Troubled new year begins in Sri Lanka
As Sri Lanka celebrates its fourth Sinhala and Tamil New Year since the civil war ended, sectarian Buddhist-on-Muslim violence, government defiance over international human-rights abuse allegations and continued attacks on journalists underscore that the "peace" is far from calm. - Amantha Perera
(Apr 25, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
The garrison state in Pakistan
Since the military elite's struggle with civilian power factions has subsumed all other state-building ambitions in Pakistan, such as developing modern educational institutions or a multifaceted industrial base, it seems apt to describe the nation as a "garrison state". The legacy of "fortress Islam" and woeful military governance in the past makes a stable democratic evolution even unlikelier today. - Ehsan Ahrari
(Apr 25, '13)
Grime and gold in Mumbai's modernity
A vast hand-powered laundromat in Mumbai known as Mahalaxmi Dhobi Ghat is a perfect example of heavily labor-intensive forms of production that have come to define the city's class structure. Its place not far from modern high rises also encapsulates the contradictions created by India's rapid growth since the economic explosion of the 1990s. - Joshua Leon
(Apr 24, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Busting crime myths in Delhi
Delhi Police and the political and bureaucratic leadership see an increase in the force's budget as a panacea for the city's security woes. but the claim has been repeated far too often. Available resources are underutilized, and a stronger sense of intent by the force should precede the grant of additional funds. - Bibhu Prasad Routray
(Apr 23, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
China-India border talks pivot on Tibet
For China and India to resolve issues surrounding Tibet that have for decades stalled progress on border talks, both countries must bring together their brightest minds to identify intertwining core interests. Although Beijing and Delhi both view the Tibetan independence struggle as a security threat, an impasse that prevents the Sino-Indian dynamic from reaching its full potential is allowed to persist. - Namrata Goswami and Jenee Sharon
(Apr 22, '13)
India's inflation dip rouses false hopes
Preliminary inflation data shows the first sub-6% gain in the Wholesale Price Index since late 2009, prompting calls for further easing of interest rates. A nudge down in May is likely, but more than that would have unpleasant consequences. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Apr 22, '13)
Court puts Musharraf under house arrest
Former Pakistan president and military ruler Pervez Musharraf saluted briefly for the cameras before returning from court to his Islamabad home, where he is now officially under house arrest. The surrender of the retired general to the court after he evaded an arrest ruling on Thursday, could lead to a trial that would open a new rift between the judiciary and powerful military as the country goes to the polls. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Apr 19, '13)
Medieval Afghan fort under threat
Locals in the southern Afghan town of Gardez have their sights a 900-year-old fort controlled at present by the country's defense ministry. Their aim is entirely peaceful: they say the important cultural site, neglected and scarred by years of battle damage, is endangered by the continuing army presence and would be better off if turned into a tourist attraction. - Sahil Mangal
(Apr 19, '13)
Nearly shell-shocked
in Iraq
As many as one in three American combatants treated at Veterans Association hospitals and clinics post-9/11 have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. To that add civilian contractors and others who bear the psychic scars of recent US wars. Then consider all those Iraqis and Afghans, millions of them, without so much as the possibility of diagnosis or welfare support. - Jeremiah Goulka
(Apr 19, '13)
PAKISTAN'S ELECTION WARS
Musharraf's triumphant return goes awry
Pakistan's former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf returned last month from self-exile with hopes of saving the nation from economic and political ruin. Now his triumphalism is in tatters, after he was officially taken out of the running for the next month's general election by an appeals court rejection of his candidacy in Chitral.
- Abubakar Siddique
(Apr 18, '13)
Meeting terror with defiance
As Pakistani secular parties like the Awami National Party grow in popularity in tribal areas ahead of the May 11 general election, so does the wrath of the Taliban. The ANP "does not fear the Taliban", says party vice president Ghulam Ahmed Bilour, who was injured by the latest suicide bomb on Tuesday that killed 10 people, and the violence shows no sign of reducing the campaign. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Apr 18, '13)
US legacy of rogues in Afghanistan
Atrocities by the US-founded Afghan Local Police since its creation in 2010 underline concerns that the program - devised as a quick means to turn insurgents - will backfire as badly as similar efforts in Iraq following the US withdrawal. While Kabul's resentment of the program is clear, it's uncertain how the 30,000-strong "militia" will react should the government close it down.
- Jennifer Norris
(Apr 18, '13)
Pakistan poll campaign
advances by degrees
Former Pakistani parliamentarian Jamshed Dasti has emerged a local hero after winning an appeal against a conviction for presenting a fake degree to become eligible for a seat in parliament. In any event, candidates for the May 11 parliamentary elections are no longer required to be bona fide graduates, but pressure is still on parties to root out cheats before the polls. - Zofeen Ebrahim
(Apr 16, '13)
Indian factory output
maintains weakness
Indian authorities continue to trumpet that ''change is just around the corner'' when they release industrial production data, yet improvements are negligible, with no indication that a real uptick in output is in the offing. Investors are taking note, with a close eye on the next election. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Apr 16, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
Afghanistan's fractured future
There is little doubt that whatever government replaces Hamid Karzai's administration in Afghanistan next year, it will be heavily influenced by the Taliban. The country will revert to its typical fractured state, with pockets ruled by warlords. US media rhetoric now concentrates on the Pakistan arena, hiding the American military's last desperate attempt to retain influence once it withdraws from Afghanistan next year. - Shahab Jafry
(Apr 12, '13)
India blows gains from assets sell-off
India's boast of being the world's biggest democracy comes with the cost of paying for promises to the poor electorate that keeps politicians in power. That has led to sales of government-held assets to cover the launch of vote-grab programs that require perpetual funding. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Apr 12, '13)
Daring woman enters Pakistani contest
A 40-year-old woman's decision to stand in Pakistan's general elections, for a district in the ultra-conservative Federally Administered Tribal Areas where women do not even vote, never mind compete, has challenged Islamic conventions in the area. Her entrance raises the prospect that female disenfranchisement might one day end in the tribal areas. - Ashfaq Yusufzai
(Apr 10, '13)
Degrees of separation in Pakistan
Pakistan's electoral authorities, acting on the Supreme Court's orders, have moved to arrest and disqualify up to 100 lawmakers who reportedly presented fake university degrees at 2008 elections, ruling them out for next month's national polls. Although the step is indicative of the judiciary's increasingly assertive forays into governance, politicians seem powerless to reply. - Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Apr 9, '13)
SPEAKING FREELY
India's strategic culture is plain to see
Hardcore realism of projecting power beyond India's borders and the Nehruvian ethos of dialogue and international cooperation underline New Delhi's strategic power. Those exalting India to take Great Power status are frustrated by the duality, and in for a disappointment as the country takes the road to greatness by focusing on the war on poverty. - Namrata Goswami
(Apr 5, '13)
Dozens die in attack on Afghan court
Militants disguised as soldiers have killed at least 44 people by storming a court in western Afghanistan in an attempt to free Taliban fighters standing trial. The multiple bomb-and-gun assault raises further questions about the Afghans government's ability to secure the country as international combat forces withdraw.
(Apr 4, '13)
The Great Afghan corruption scam
The United States vociferously denounces Afghan corruption as a major obstacle to its mission in Afghanistan. Missing from this routine censure is a credible explanation of why American nation-building failed there. No wonder. To do so, the US would have to denounce its own role in letting a flood of Pentagon dollars spread corruption, to the extent of hiring a bank well known for its murky past. - Dilip Hiro
(Apr 3, '13)
Terror makes first marks on Pakistan ballot
The decision of the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) to call off an April 4 public rally as its lead event for the 2013 general election campaign comes as militants turn threats into terror attacks on supporters of secular parties. The May 11 poll is seen as a vote on whether the country will tackle such extremism.
- Syed Fazl-e-Haider
(Apr 3, '13)
India sets path for reform of financial sector
A commission considering reforms to India's financial sector in the wake of the global financial crisis proposes as its main point the setting up of a single regulator to replace numerous competing agencies. The range of dissenting views indicates that haste in implementation could be counter-productive. - Kunal Kumar Kundu
(Apr 3, '13) |
|
ATol
Specials
|
 |
|
Syed Saleem Shahzad in
Pakistan's Swat Valley (May '09) |
|
 |
|
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
(Jan '09) |
Syed Saleem Shahzad reports on
the Afghan war from the Taliban side
(Dec '06)
|
 |
|
A series by Syed Saleem Shahzad |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright 1999 - 2013 Asia Times Online
(Holdings), Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Unit B, 16/F, Li Dong Building, No. 9 Li Yuen Street East,
Central, Hong Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
