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).
THE ARAB UPRISINGS: A SINGLE SPARK CAN LIGHT A PRAIRIE FIRE
Vinod Mubayi
When Mao Zedong invoked the ancient Chinese saying to describe the situation prevailing in rural China in 1930, no one would or could have predicted then how aptly it would apply to the events unfolding across the Arab world over 80 years later. Today, February 25, 2011, as these lines are being written, the Libyan dictator Qaddafi appears to be about to become the third “Supreme Leader” to be ousted, following the fall of dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt.
THE PERPLEXING CASE OF RAYMOND DAVIS – THE GREAT GAME REVISITED?
Kiran Omar
A perplexing and puzzling drama is being played out in the Pakistani and international media, the stakes of which are high – US/Pakistan bilateral relationship. At the heart of this puzzle is one Raymond Davis, a “consultant/contractor” attached or contracted to the US diplomatic mission in Pakistan. To date his exact official designation at said mission is unclear and his job description and area of operation/expertise ambiguous.
HONESTY IS INDIVISIBLE
Arun Kumar
Illegality in India touches every economic activity. It is both systemic and systematic. The Indian ruling class faced its severest crisis of credibility in 2010. Its past caught up with it and skeletons and scams were spilling out of its closets. The scams have a symbiotic relationship with the black economy. The number of scams is growing and so is the size of the black economy, which has reached a mind-boggling level of 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product, that is, it annually generates Rs.33 lakh crore [1 lakh=100,000; 1 crore= 10 million; US$1= approx 50 IRs] in black income. While the 1980s saw eight major scams, in the period between 1991 and 1996 there were 26 and during 2005-08, there were around 150.
NEW DEAL, NEW PRIME MINISTER AND OLD PROBLEMS IN NEPAL
Daya Varma
Jhalanath Khanal, the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninist) [CPN-UML] became the new Prime Minister of Nepal after receiving support from the United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [UCPNM]. The deal between the leaders of the two communist parties was okayed by Deuba, the leader of the Nepal Congress. Indeed Deuba urged the two parties to settle their disputes and provide formal shape to the government and start drafting the constitution drafting and expediting peace processes.
GUJARAT CARNAGE; MODI AND SPECIAL INVESTIGATION TEAM (SIT)
Ram Puniyani
There was a massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002. Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat at that time. Yet there are agencies in India which find that Modi is not responsible for open brutality against the citizens of a minority community in his state.
BACK HOME IN GODHRA AFTER NINE YEARS OF TORMENT
Basant Rawat
Over time many accused of setting the railway coach afire in Gujarat have been found innocent; this shows the arbitrariness of Gujarat authorities against Muslims.
THE SUPREME COURT ON CONFESSION DURING POLICE CUSTODY: The case of ARUPBHUYAN and the State of Assam
(Courtesy, Kavita Srivatava of PUCL, supplied by Sandeep)
According to the judgment by the Supreme Court of India, all confessions during police custody are obtained through torture and hence invalid.
THE BULLET AND THE ELEPHANT EXPRESS
Raja Murthy
While China has begun to earn billions of dollars exporting high-speed bullet train technology to the United States and Europe, the struggle of Indian Railways to manage its financial woes and modernization delays serves as a stark contrast between the operators of the world’s two largest railway networks.
THE FIRST LESSON FROM THE EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION
Salwa Ismail
It remains too early to draw out all of the lessons of the Egyptian revolution. However, given what has been achieved so far, Egyptians can offer the world a first lesson from their revolution. Undoubtedly, there will be other lessons to be learned especially as the process of revolutionary change continues.
NEW CHALLENGES FOR CHINA
(China Daily 15 February 2011)
The article reflects on scenario when China’s development plants are unable to have cheap labor, as will also happen in India if addresses the question of rural development and mass poverty.
BOOK REVIEW: JIMMY THE TERRORIST
Sensitively crafted and deeply evocative, Jimmy the Terrorist is about the best novel I have read on the unenviable predicament of Muslims in current times. It describes remarkably realistically, and without being preachy, sensationalist or apologetic, the painful dilemmas that vast numbers of Muslims are today faced with in the wake of mounting Islamophobia and increasing anti-Muslim prejudice, on the one hand, and radicalism and hatred in the name of Islam, on the other.
FORTY NOBEL LAUREATES APPEAL FOR THE RELEASE OF DR. BINAYAK SEN
It must be a great solace to Dr. Sen that forty of world’s top scientists are on his side while uneducated government and judges are bent upon keeping him in jail.
FAIZ ON GANDHI
(Faiz A. Faiz’ editorial of the Pakistan Times dated Feb 2, 1948. Original title was: Long Live Gandhiji. Faiz’z birth centenary is being observed this year in both Pakistan and India; supplied by Anand Patwardhan.)
MD. SALMAN DISCHARGED FROM THE 2008 DELHI BLASTS CASE!
Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association (5th February 2011)
Show me the evidence, says Judge: The Prosecution is able to produce none!
WORKERS DRAW THE LINE IN WISCONSIN
Aongus Ó Murchadha
Wisconsin saw its biggest labor rally in memory Tuesday as an angry crowd estimated at as many as 20,000 turned out to oppose Republican Governor Scott Walker’s efforts to gut public-sector unions of their bargaining power, break them financially and force workers to pay for the state budget deficit.
IMF on the Middle East
(The New York Times, February 23, 2011)
“Less than 2 weeks ago the IMF’s executive board, its highest body, assessed a North African country’s economy and commended its government for its “ambitious reform agenda.”