This report from India’s northeastern Bihar state is analogous to situations we have noted in Colombia. Caught bewteen the government and guerillas, self-governing peasant communities are finding a voice of their own via village-based radio. From the Christian Science Monitor,… Read moreGrassroots radio empowers India’s peasants
Hard to say if this is more bizarre or terrifying. Talk about the banality of evil. What about the evil of banality? From Reuters, Aug. 21: MUMBAI, India – A new restaurant in India’s financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler… Read moreIndia’s Jews protest Hitler-themed restaurant
India’s pro-secular website “Citizens for Justice and Peace” carries the following story on a July 27 fatwa jointly issued by a Muslim mufti (revered scholar) and a Hindu mahant (temple leader) in response to the Mumbai bombings. Chief Mufti issues… Read moreIndia: Muslim moderates declare jihad on terrorism
What a conundrum. The Pakistani state has long cultivated Lashkar-e-Taiba to make trouble in India-controlled Kashmir. But now it seems to have gotten out of control, and Islamabad, under pressure from Washington, has been induced to crack down. Yet every… Read morePakistan: Lashkar leader under house arrest
Note the highlighted section and sound off, readers. From the CBC, July 14: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said Friday that Pakistan is still harbouring “terrorist elements,” jeopardizing the peace process between the two countries as tensions remain high in… Read morePakistan’s ISI behind Mumbai terror?
This optimistic June 26 analysis by Kavi Chongkittavorn in Thailand’s The Nation is one of the very few accounts we’ve been able to find that even mentions the question of Nepal’s indigenous peoples in the new order which is emerging…. Read moreNepal: “light at end of tunnel” —for tribal peoples too?
Once again, someone feels compelled to prove the intellectual superiority of their position by killing scores of random civilians. Some details from the Financial Times, July 11 (link added): Within minutes, seven explosions on the railway that forms Mumbai’s spinal… Read moreTerror bombs rock Mumbai rail
Nepal’s Maoist rebels agreed June 16 to lay down arms and join the government, ending the 10-year guerilla insurgency. The accord, announced following a daylong meeting between Maoist leader Prachanda (“the fierce one”) and interim prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala,… Read moreNepal: Maoists chill out; Hindu backlash next?
The final capitulation of King Gyanendra to a militant pro-democracy movement that has made common cause with the Maoist guerillas is closely followed by The Rising Nepal website. The king, who had seized dictatorial absolute power last February, reached an… Read moreNepal: back from brink?
A new and dramatic attack by India’s Maoist Naxalite rebels. From the Times of India, April 16: RAIPUR: At least 10 policemen were killed on Sunday in a Maoist attack in Dantewada district of Chhattisgarh, an official said. “Maoist rebels… Read moreIndia: Naxalite insurgency spreads
From Gulf News, United Arab Emirates, via TMCNet, April 15: New Delhi: Delhi was put under red alert after two low-intensity blasts rocked the historic Jama Masjid yesterday. At least 15 people were injured in the twin blasts that took place… Read moreImam calls for peace after Delhi mosque blast
Police in Nepal opened fire to break up anti-King protestors. Separately an attack by Maoist rebels last night left 22 people dead. Opposition parties said authorities detained dozens of protest leaders in Kathmandu. The four-day protest was called against the… Read moreNepal: violence meets four-day strike against king
