(On the thirtieth anniversary of the painful exodus of the tiny Kashmiri Hindu community from the then State of Jammu and Kashmir, we publish (as an exception to our norm) a poem of wounded yearning by one of the victims. The poet has dedicated it to all those who have suffered the agony and pain of living in forced exile from a much loved homeland,...
For many years, the Middle East has been a turbulent region, where military clashes and terrorist attacks occur regularly. The Middle Eastern governments pay therefore special attention to security issues and the development of military technologies. It is especially valuable for them to cooperate with Russia in these areas, as Moscow is an established autho...
An Iran hawk who advocated killing general Qassim Soleimani, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, has ordered his diplomats to limit contacts with militant Iranian exile and opposition groups that support either regime change or greater rights for ethnic groups like Kurds and Arabs. Coming on the back of the Soleimani killing, Mr. Pompeo’s directive appears to...
Trump was panting heavily, like Darth Vader on the Death Star. The mike was too close to his mouth. His laboured speech and strange look did not match the comforting words as he spoke to the American people. But the meaning was clear: the world sheriff had received a ringing slap in the face. First time ever, a regional power brazenly shelled a...
The romance of ‘The Great Game” lingers. Abandoned as a pointless draw a century ago, its power to evoke stirring images endures. The fabled lands of Central Asia long have been the stuff of dreams – Samarkand, Balkh, Hotan, Chitral, Ladakh, Timur, the Khans, the Khyber Rifles, mysterious Tibet concealed behind the Himalayas. Kipling and Kim engraved it on...
Information has come to light that indicts the United States not just for the Soleimani killing but also for the over 300 killings during the Iraqi protests in late 2019. In fact, it can be proven that the United States not only organized the protests but also is responsible for killing protestors as well, hundreds of them, something we have seen before,...
There have been a series of events that have shaped the overall political landscape in East Asia, and all of the events which have been more or less significant are worth reflecting on. After all, this is the first place where we see the interests of the world’s two most powerful countries collide - the United States and China. Japan’s return to the “Great G...
They say he came from a humble background, and worked himself up the ranks, becoming, as many believe, the second most powerful man in Iran. They say he had the chance to become the next Supreme Leader of the country. Whenever I visit Iran, I am told how much he is loved by his people. He became the symbol of resistance against the West; the symbol of the st...
While General Qassim Soleimani’s death in a US air strike may apparently seem not big enough a development to start an all-out war, or even World War 3, there is no gainsaying that this deliberate attempt to escalate tensions in the region will have severe consequences. For one thing, Soleimani was no ordinary Iranian soldier, for another, his death is a US ...
The US killing of Iranian general Qassim Soleimani has further opened the door to a potential restructuring of the Gulf’s security architecture. In line with an Iranian plan launched at last year’s United Nations General Assembly by president Hassan Rouhani that calls for a security architecture that would exclude external forces, cooler heads in Tehran argu...
Interestingly, after the US attack on Iraqi Militia fighters on 31 December 2019, and the assassination of General Qassem Suleimani, the first thing President Trump could come up with was bragging that it was him who gave the order to murder the popular military leader. General Qassem Suleimani was the commander of the Iranian special Quds Force. The Quds Fo...
It does not matter where the green light came from for the US targeted assassination of Quds Force commander Major General Qassim Soleimani and the Hashd al-Shaabi second in command Abu Madhi al-Muhandis. This is an act of war. Unilateral, unprovoked and illegal. President Trump may have issued the order. Or the US Deep State may have ordered him to issue...
The paroxysms of religious intolerance increasingly engulfing Pakistan and sections of its civil society, not to mention the frenzied anti-India exhortations of its favourite militant outfits, are inexorably pushing the nation towards political incoherence and religious apoplexy, from which return to sanity seems unlikely. Two recent events best exemplify...
The incident of mob violence at Gurdwara Nankana Sahib in Pakistan on Friday, January 3, has raised deep concern worldwide, especially amidst the Sikh community. Reports suggest that, post the afternoon Friday prayers, a mob comprising of hundreds of Muslims laid siege on the gurdwara. The holy premises were pelted with stones and Sikhs offering prayers in...
The killing of Iranian military leader Qassim Soleimani proves the point: The United States has perfected the art of strengthening Iranian hardliners fuelled by an apparently ingrained misreading of Iranian politics and strategy sustained over decades. It also suggests that the Trump administration has walked into a trap in which spiralling tension between...
In 1909, Mahatma Gandhi was invited by the Indian diaspora in the UK to attend a Dussehra function. It was attended by Savarkar, then a student in London. The two finally shared a stage. While Gandhi talked about Lord Ram as selfless and conciliatory, Savarkar spoke of Durga as destroyer of evil. Both pitched for an inclusive India where all religions live i...
After Israel was created in 1948, Turkey became its most important partner in the Middle East. Ankara recognized the Jewish state as far back as 1949, establishing official diplomatic relations with it, which clearly illustrated the direction of Turkey’s foreign policy. The first two Israeli prime ministers, David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Sharett, spoke Turkish....
Does anyone know what COP25 stands for? Probably very few. Its unimportant. As unimportant as the whole roadshow itself. Just for the hell of it, for those who read this article, COP means Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The 25 stands for the 25th year that such annual conferences have ta...
A new world order is here, and Trump’s impeachment is playing a roll. For nearly three years the planet has been turned upside down, threats of war, endless sanctions, treaties tossed aside, trade agreements trashed and, just perhaps, a pattern is emerging. “Madness or method,” these are the questions we will examine. Inside the US, it is much more. While...
Traveling the Pamir Highway, we’re not only facing a geological marvel and a magic trip into ancient history and customs. It’s also a privileged window on a trade revival that will be at the heart of the expansion of the New Silk Roads. Khorog is the only town in the Pamirs – its cultural, economic and educational center, the site of the multi-campus Univers...