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?
India Express reports that authorities on the Indian side of divided Jammu & Kashmir state are on “red alert” as Hindus prepare for protests following yesterday’s attack by presumed Islamic militants on Ayodhya, the disputed holy site in Uttar Pradesh…. Read moreHindu nationalists support Pakistan’s Ismaili separatists
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
It was wonderful to see photos in the newspapers today of Hindu pilgrims making their way up mountain trails in the disputed Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir for the annual yatra or pilgrimage to Amarnath Cave, where Shiva is… Read moreKashmir: Amarnath Yatra peaceful this year
Almost completely overlooked by the world media, the insurgency of the Naxalites, India’s Maoist guerillas, has been simmering since the 1960s, and now shows signs of gaining ground, as indicated by this June 17 report from the Indian news agency… Read moreIndia: Maoist insurgency gains ground
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
A new outbreak of ethnic violence in Sri Lanka’s restive east is hindering tsunami relief efforts, a group of nearly 100 aid agencies said June 3. Shootings and grenade attacks have become commonplace in the east in recent months, blamed… Read moreSri Lanka “Moors” protest tsunami aid deal
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?
