COMMENTARIES
  • Fuelling Dissent: Anti-terror Laws in India’s Northeast
    Bibhu Prasad Routray    ·   06 May, 2003    ·    #1027    ·    Commentary    
    Anti-terror laws play a key role in India’s war against insurgency in its northeast. These laws are designed to provide dominance to the security forces to deal with the violence perpetrated by the insurgents. Such legalized dominance in t...
  • The Cost of Environmental Degradation
    Col. PK Gautam    ·   06 May, 2003    ·    #1026    ·    Commentary    
    Almost all economic activities, including the annual defence budget, are expressed as a percentage of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP); the current defence budget expenditure is about 2.3 percent of the GDP. This trend in defence expenditure is an...
  • Asia after Iraq
    Bhartendu Kumar Singh    ·   06 May, 2003    ·    #1025    ·    Commentary    
    As Iraqis prepare for a post-Saddam regime, elsewhere people are pondering over the next steps the US might take; it is clear that the US will not stop with Iraq and it will go after other targets, most of which are in Asia. Suddenly, Asia has b...
  • The Sole ‘Lesson’ of the Iraq War
    Firdaus Ahmed    ·   01 May, 2003    ·    #1023    ·    Commentary    
    With the fall of Baghdad, military pundits in India will no doubt busy themselves in riding their hobby-horses, presenting these as ‘lessons’ for India and the Indian military. At least of a few of these can be anticipated: India mus...
  • New Avatar of Insurgency: Manipur Human Rights Protection Guild
    Paolienlal Haokip    ·   26 Apr, 2003    ·    #1022    ·    Commentary    
    The immediate impression one gets from the name “Manipur Human Rights Protection Guild” (MHRPG) is of a registered Non-governmental Organization espousing causes that its name suggests. Interestingly, MHRPG is an armed outfit in Mani...
  • Jharkhand: Anti-Naxal Strategy and Use of POTA
    Sanjay K Jha    ·   26 Apr, 2003    ·    #1021    ·    Commentary    
    The recent controversy over the alleged misuse of Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) in Jharkhand has raised some fundamental questions regarding the counter-Naxal strategy adopted by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the wors...
  • E-Bomb: Will Bush Use It?
    Ajay Lele    ·   16 Apr, 2003    ·    #1020    ·    Commentary    
    Every war brings out surprises in the form of tactics and technology. During 1991, Operation Desert Storm had demonstrated the importance of airpower in general and precision guided munitions in particular. Satellite guided munitions like JDAMS ...
  • Pentagon’s Private Warriors
    Atul Bharadwaj    ·   22 Apr, 2003    ·    #1019    ·    Commentary    
    The US oil, pharmaceutical and construction companies are not the only ones who would profit from the current invasion of Iraq by coalition forces; private military companies (PMCs) and private security companies (PSCs) are likely to enhance the...
  • Organized Crime and India’s Extradition Treaty
    Nihar Nayak    ·   16 Apr, 2003    ·    #1018    ·    Commentary    
    Terrorist-Mafia (organized criminal) nexus has emerged as the biggest challenge before Indian authorities. Mafias are no longer confined to their traditional style of extortion and abduction. Their nexus with terrorist outfits and drug barons as...
  • Gulf War II: Some Reflections
       ·   15 Apr, 2003    ·    #1017    ·    Commentary    
    The long awaited war to liberate Iraq is now five days old. Unlike the 1991 Gulf, 1999 Kosovo, and 2001 Afghanistan wars, that the US fought, this one has little justification. Protests are mounting the world over. While one cannot hold a brief ...
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