A festering wound in Pakistan

"The conspiracy of silence over Balochistan is finally breaking but the alienation of the province runs too deep for any easy solutions."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : A festering wound in Pakistan:  Intelligence agencies have viewed the Balochistan with suspicion from the very beginning for their reluctance to join Pakistan. This resulted in four earlier rounds of insurgency but none of them lasted this long. And those resistance movements were not for independence but rights, quite unlike this time. Demand for secession is a bitter pill to swallow for any country, more so for a nation that has been seeking strategic depth in Afghanistan at phenomenal costs to itself to counter the Indian behemoth.

As always, “foreign hands” are being accused of destabilising Balochistan with the aim to Balkanise Pakistan. Rhetoric of ‘foreign hands' has allowed for further militarization of Balochistan and given the military a licence to seal the province and make it a no-go zone where it can abduct, torture, kill and display bodies with impunity, extract Balochistan's resources under the barrel of a gun, use Balochistan territory to conduct nuclear tests. However, the military in Balochistan has not been able to control the spirit of the Baloch people.

All for trade, waiting for visa

"India and Pakistan have travelled quite far in improving trade relations, not to speak of breaking through the logjam of mutual hostility, mistrust and suspicion that had set in after the 2008 Mumbai attacks. "

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : All for trade, waiting for visa: Despite the continuing political pressures on the Pakistan government against normalisation of trade with India, the two sides signed three MoUs, on customs procedures, harmonising standards, and grievance redress in case of disputes between traders.

Pakistan cabinet's decision to grant Most Favoured Nation status to India has still not been notified due to the opposition stirred up against it by extremist and militant groups including the Jamat-ud-Dawa.

 It is disappointing, however, that the two sides have not yet been able to finalise a “liberal” visa regime, even for businessmen. It is futile to think of normalising trade, or of trade as a normaliser of relations, without first getting rid of the troglodytic visa system.

A hearing on Balochistan that stirs up new tensions between U.S. and Pakistan

"Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has triggered new diplomatic tensions between Washington D.C. and Islamabad. "

The Pakistan government was using American weapons against the secular Baloch rebellion instead of using them against al-Qaeda and the Taliban. Islamabad had manipulated the “war on terror” to commit widespread human rights violations against its Baloch political opponents. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : A hearing on Balochistan that stirs up new tensions between U.S. and Pakistan

Balochistan is almost half of Pakistan's territory, but is its most backward province despite vast reservoirs of gas, gold, copper and a port in Gwadar. The Baloch have faced at least five deadly military operations by the Pakistani Army since what they describe as Balochistan's “illegal and forceful occupation” by Pakistan in 1948.

It was an "incontrovertible fact" that Balochistan was an "occupied territory which never acceded to Pakistan and now does not want to be a part of Pakistan. If a plebiscite or referendum is to be held tomorrow, Balochistan would vote to leave Pakistan."

Islamabad must be mindful of the fact that it can no longer commit human rights violations, curb basic freedoms and still remain unnoticed in the age of social media!

Prospects of Pakistan's Islamist resurgence

"Even though Islamists have enjoyed only limited electoral support, they have shaped the state's destiny. The country's liberal democratic politicians must confront them or prepare to see them take power."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : Prospects of Pakistan's Islamist resurgence: The world has watched, with ever-growing concern, the growing momentum of the Difa-e-Pakistan (Defence of Pakistan) — a new Islamist coalition that represents the full flowering of Abdul Ala Maududi's vision - that Islam was, in fact, "a revolutionary ideology which seeks to alter the social order of the entire world and rebuild it in conformity with its own tenets and ideals."

Has the Pakistani Islamist movement's tryst with destiny finally come?

Pakistan's democratic politicians have shown no stomach for a frontal confrontation with the ideas of the religious-right — and without this rupture, the growth of Islamist influence will remain inexorable.

T is for trade in India-Pakistan ties

"The challenge for both sides this year will be to insulate gains in the economic relationship from wider strategic anxieties."

The Hindu : Opinion / Lead : T is for trade in India-Pakistan ties

Pakistan's judiciary faces criticism for ‘overreach'

"The superior judiciary's seeming convergence with the anti-government sentiments in the establishment and media has sparked unease."

Viewing the judicial activism in the context of 'jockeying for power and influence in the formative phase of democratic transition', the increased tension between the elected executive and non-elected Supreme Court could be used by the opposition to destabilise the government. Given the state of affairs in the country and maintaining that the military's capacity should not be underestimated. The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Pakistan's judiciary faces criticism for ‘overreach':

Exit At Any Cost?

The US's attempt to engage the Taliban is fraught with risk for Afghanistan

Exit At Any Cost?

-The Times of India, February 1, 2012

While the Taliban have agreed to hold talks with "the world" through an office in Qatar, the US, it seems, has no idea as to where the talks will lead them, as was honestly uttered by the secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

"The Obama administration is willing to hand over five Taliban commanders currently in Guantanamo Bay as a "confidence-building measure" without significant concessions in return."

How is Afghanistan going to be effected in the wake of current circumstances? Especially when Pakistan's role is an additional "dark mystery."

Signs Of Strain

Much rides on how Pakistan's political crisis is resolved


Signs Of Strain


-The Times of India, January 13, 2012

Taliban's new address

With the fact that Taliban is moving away and heading towards Qatar to establish it's headquarters, the process of America's reconciliation and Taliban's transformation to a modern outlook along wth the recently began dialogue by USA with the orthodox group and Qatar's unique political position in the same is explained by Firdous Syed in his DNA editorial on Jan 11th 2012...

Why the Taliban are getting a new address?

Think Peace

Normalisation of India-Pakistan relations can transform South Asia


Think Peace

-The Times of India, January 4, 2012

For Af-Pak, a future that looks exactly like the past

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : For Af-Pak, a future that looks exactly like the past:

"There is talk of an endgame, but in this region the game of wars has a way of lingering on."

Instability in Pakistan

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Instability in Pakistan:

Was there an Indian plot to break up Pakistan in 1971?

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2721165.ece

Erasing memory to deal with loss

On Pakistan and 1971 debacle

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/article2721164.ece