Founding Editor: Daya Varma (1929-2015)
Editors: Vinod Mubayi (New York) and Raza Mir (New Jersey).
Editorial Board: Ram Puniyani and Irfan Engineer (Mumbai); Pervez Hoodbhoy (Islamabad); Dolores Chew (Montreal); Vamsi Vakulabharanam (Amherst); Ajay Bhardwaj (Vancouver).
Circulation/website: Feroz Mehdi (On behalf of Alternatives, Montreal).
NEPAL: THE FIRST IN MANY WAYS
Daya Varma
Pushpa Kamal Dahal, long known as Prachanda, becomes the fist Prime Minister of the democratic Republic of Nepal, which used to be the Hindu Kingdom a while ago. Departing from the tradition of making the first visit to India, Dahal attends the dazzling closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics while expressing a desire for friendship with both its neighbors.
FROM JAMMU & KASHMIR TO ORISSA: HINDUTVA ON WARPATH AGAIN
Vinod Mubayi
As if paying the nation back for its unsuccessful attempt to unseat the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) government in the no-confidence vote on July 22 on the nuclear deal, the forces of Hindutva, led by the BJP (Bhartiya Janata Party) and cheered on by its leader Mr. L.K. Advani, have gone on a mad warpath against the minorities in India. While Muslims are the predictable victims in Jammu district of J&K, it is the fate of poor Christians in Kandhamal district of the eastern state of Orissa, whose meager properties are being burnt as this issue is being written and whose lives are being snuffed out in retaliation for the alleged killing of a Hindutva leader, Swami Laxmananda Saraswati, and four of his associates, that is particularly poignant.
JAMMU AND KASHMIR: AT CROSSROADS!
Ram Puniyani
In the aftermath of the Amarnath shrine board land transfer and then reversal of the same, the matters in the state are going from bad to worse. One was witnessing a gradual decline in acts of terror and increase in the democratic space, democratic patterns, despite the heavy presence of the army in the state. With the Shrine board issue being used by the separatist elements and communal elements, the things seem to be heading in the direction which will have far reaching adverse impact on the politics of the region.
WHY HAS SECTARIAN VIOLENCE FLARED UP AGAIN IN JAMMU &KASHMIR?
Kaleem Kawaja
The resurgence of ugly Hindu-Muslim violence in the state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) in the last month is very disturbing. The manner in which all of the J&K state’s political parties have fanned sectarian feelings between the two communities, exploiting a small event, and the poor management of this episode by the government reflects poorly on the secular character of the Indian nation.
RESOLVE KASHMIR CRISIS NOT BY FORCE BUT BY MAKING THE LoC IRRELEVANT
Tapan Kumar Bose
The entire valley of Kashmir is under curfew since August 24, 2008. Curfew is a weapon in the hands of the state to prevent people from exercising their right to democratic dissent. On August 11, the state had imposed curfew to prevent the Kashmiris from marching towards Muzaffarabad. The armed forces opened fire on unarmed civilians and killed people, including Sheikh Aziz, a leader of the Hurriyat. Later, the armed forces insinuated that Sheikh Aziz was killed by militants hiding in the crowd of marchers and not by the army.
TERROR ATTACKS – IS THERE ANY WAY OUT?
Asghar Ali Engineer
It is often maintained and rightly so that it is very difficult to define terrorism as one person’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter. But in our case there is no such ambiguity. These people whatever they call themselves, Indian Mujahidin or something else, there is no doubt that they are terrorists pure and simple. It is great insult of the word mujahid as mujahid is one who struggles for higher causes, for humanity, for justice and is most compassionate to others suffering. No one can be termed mujahid who kills innocent people, women and children and in case of Ahmedabad even those of sick and injured. Let alone mujahideen they cannot claim to be human beings. A mujahid does not seek revenge. Qur’an condemns seeking revenge and describes Allah as ghafoorur Rahim i.e. a Pardoner and Merciful. Murderers cannot pass themselves as mujahideen in any case.
OF FAREWELLS AND NEW BEGINNINGS – MUSHARRAF’S EXIT FROM THE WORLD STAGE
Kiran Omar
Watching the unfolding of the events, that led to ex-president Musharraf’s final exit from the world political stage, one is reminded of the famous children’s poem by Lewis Carroll, The Walrus and the Carpenter. The poem is too long to be quoted here, however the following rather arresting passage sums up the situation quite well….”The time has come, ” the Walrus said, “to talk of many things”…..”of shoes and ships and sealing wax and cabbages and kings…and why the sea is boiling hot and whether pigs have wings…” (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) It goes on in this whimsical vein and seems at times to be mockingly reflective of the equally whimsical convolutions world politics takes specially in our vibrant South Asian region.
IN FAIRNESS TO THE ISI
I.A. Rehman
WHATEVER the merits of the move to change the address of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate, the genius behind it earned extra marks for ham-handedness. But the storm in the media that followed indicated that the government did not have a monopoly on naivety.
WHY DID CPM WANT TO BRING DOWN THE UPA GOVERNMENT ON THE NUCLEAR DEAL?
Daya Varma and Vinod Mubayi
The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) claims that the Indo-US nuclear deal threatened the sovereignty of India so much so that it was forced to withdraw support for the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government of Manmohan Singh even if it meant joining with Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). The UPA government some how survived the July 22 No Confidence Motion. Thus far, the only important casualty of all this drama has been the expulsion of the Speaker Somnath Chatterjee from the primary membership of CPM.
REALITY, ONE BITE AT A TIME: INDIA, ASIA AND THE WORLD
Siddhartha Varadarajan
The nuclear deal and other questions of foreign policy should be opposed or defended on their own merits. Sadly, both the government and its opponents have played fast and loose with the “Muslim” card, to the detriment of the community’s larger interest.
COMBATING TERRORISM
Ram Puniyani
The sufferings of the country are worst compounded with the occurrence of acts of terror. Every such act not only inflicts bodily blow to the innocents but also acts as a divisive force, subtly polarizing the communities and weakening the bonds of National integration. One is not talking of the massive bonhomie shown by the communities in the wake of terror attack. Actually immediately after the attack the communities come together like solid rocks, helping each other in the moments of grief. One is talking of the strengthening of communal politics, which emerges stronger after the terror attacks. The role which communal violence has played during last two and a half decades, of dividing the nation, gets a deeper strength due to these blasts as by now despite the most immediate protests by most of the Muslim groups, coming out with severest condemnation of these dastardly acts, the ‘social common sense’ that ‘all terrorists are Muslims’ does get a shot in the arm.
NINE DAYS IN AZAMGARH
V.K. Tripathi
An important mission of the author Tripathi is communal harmony and his visit to Azamgarh, an Eastern district of India’s northern province UP is a part of that mission.
AFGHANISTAN TRANSFORMS CANADA
Murray Dobbin
To play junior partner to empire, we’ve militarized our identity. Some government policy decisions are so profound in their impact that they can actually change the nature of the country. Medicare was one such policy decision and so was the signing of the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement. It could be argued that the decision to take on an explicitly war-fighting role in Afghanistan will turn out to be another watershed decision, this one at odds with Canadian values and Canadians’ convictions about the military’s role in the world and society.
URDU/HINDI MUSHAIRA/KAVI SAMMELAN IN WASHINGTON AREA
Zafar Iqbal
The Aligarh Alumni Association held a function honoring Professor Satyapal Anand. An Urdu/Hindi mushaira/kavi sammelan was celebrated at Gaithersburg, Maryland on 2nd August 2008. More than 200 people attended this event. The function felicitated Professor Satyapal Anand for his contribution to Urdu literature as a poet, critic, and short-story writer.
CANADA FORUM FOR NEPAL
Canada Forum for Nepal was active in organizing program for Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). leader Hisila Yami. The following press release was sent by Pramod Dhakal who was also kind enough to make possible the visit of Yami to Montreal on August 29 to address a meeting organized by INSAF Bulletin and Alternatives.
STATEMENT ISSUED BY SOMNATH CHATTERJEE, SPEAKER, INDIA’S PARLIAMENT
Following refusal to resign as the Speaker of the Parliament, the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) expelled Somnath Chatterjee from the party. Below is his statement explaning the basis of his stand.
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