In the last intallment of a series on the looming disaster in Nepal, Newsday‘s courageous reporter Matthew McAllester Aug. 17 highlights a little-noted ethnic dimesion to the conflict, which is usually portrayed soley in terms of fanatical Maoist guerillas versus… Read moreParamilitary terror, ethnic warfare in Nepal
Recent optimism on reducing tensions between India and Pakistan is tempered by Pakistan’s Aug. 10 test-firing of its first ground-launched nuclear-capable Cruise Missile Hatf VII Babur, with a range of 500 kilometers. The military said that with the “successful test,… Read morePakistan test-fires cruise missile; strategic re-alignment on subcontinent?
Arrested for “spreading hatred”? Sounds frighteningly arbitrary and subjective. From UPI, July 20: Pakistan arrests 200 extremist suspects ISLAMABAD — Pakistan has detained more than 200 suspected Islamic militants in a new security crackdown this week. The government of President… Read moreSweeps in Pakistan
Well, the pending US nuclear aid to India is now official, with India hailed as a beacon of “responsible” nuclear development (which we argue is as oxymoronic as “authentic reproduction,” “corporate responsibility,” “military music,” etc.). This despite the fact that… Read moreIndia gets US nuclear aid; oil issues in background
Following the July 5 attack by presumed Islamic militants at the disputed Indian holy site of Ayodhya, protests have broken out throughout India. Over 2,000 were arrested in Delhi, where police used tear gas, and critics charge the protests have… Read moreBJP exploits backlash violence in India?
Six were killed today as unidentified militants attacked the bitterly contested holy site of Ayodhya in India’s Uttar Pradesh. First, a likely suicide bomber in a jeep blew up an outer security wall; then a group of five others posing… Read moreNew violence at Ayodhya
Western governments are flouting their own rules and contributing to grave human rights abuses by selling arms and weapons systems to Nepal, Amnesty International said in a statement today. The rights group accused the UK, US and India of supplying… Read moreAmnesty: West arming Nepal dictatorship
Violence continued in Nepal June 7, with 14 soldiers and six Maoist guerillas killed in a clash in the southwest, even as the rebels publicly apologized for killing 38 civilians in a land mine blast the day before. The civilians… Read moreNepal: Maoists apologize for atrocity; repression continues
Nepal’s royalist government May 18 freed nine opposition political leaders detained since King Gyanendra seized sweeping emergency powers over three months ago. Nepal’s Supreme Court one day earlier ruled the politicians had been held illegally, and ordered that the detainees,… Read moreNepal: “normalization” of royal dictatorship?
The recent moves towards peace between India and Pakistan, symbolized by the historic establishment of bus service across the line of control in divided Kashmir, are a welcome development. But the April 6 arson attack on a Srinagar compound where… Read moreKashmir water war
Violence continues to escalate in Nepal, with 64 Maoist guerillas reported killed in a gunbattle with security forces in western Rukum district April 14. (Reuters, April 14) A page 3 story in the New York Times April 12 notes that… Read moreNepal: thousands flee vigilante terror
More than 400 members of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) staged a rally in Kathmandu March 29 to demand an end to press censorship imposed by King Gyanendra when he seized power last month. Unlike other anti-monarchy demonstrations in… Read moreNepal: journalists protest censorship
