COMMENTARIES
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Islamic Fundamentalism in Bangladesh and Pakistan: Role of Madrassas
Alok Kumar Gupta · 21 May, 2002 · #753 · Commentary
The course of events since September 11 and the earlier policy of
Pakistan
and
Bangladesh
governments to project their image as a moderate Muslim country has undergone a remarkable change. The ground realities are presenting grave ...
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Islamic Fundamentalism in Bangladesh: Domestic and International Ramifications
Saswati Chanda · 21 May, 2002 · #752 · Commentary
The Bangladeshi Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, in her 10 April 2002 address to Parliament, has accused the opposition Awami League (AL) led by Sheikh Hasina of sponsoring the cover story in Far Eastern Economic Review highlighting the rising I...
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Myanmar and MiG-29s
Atul Bharadwaj · 21 May, 2002 · #751 · Commentary
Myanmar
’s armed forces known as Tatmadaw became the proud owners of one of the most sophisticated fighter aircraft when they purchased eight Russian MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’ fighters and two MiG-29 UB trainers in July 2001. Since...
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Is Musharraf’s Nuclear Threat to India Real?
Wg.Cdr. NK Pant (Retd.) · 21 May, 2002 · #750 · Commentary
In a recent interview to the German magazine Der Spiegel General Pervez Musharraf issued a chilling warning to
New Delhi
that he was prepared to use nuclear weapons in the event of war. This runs counter to the Indian policy of ‘no f...
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New Challenges ≠ Newer Laws
· 21 May, 2002 · #749 · Commentary
The violence that erupted in
Gujarat
after the Godhra incident and, more importantly, the way it has continued unabated, brings into focus the lack of internal stability in our country. As
Gujarat
continues to burn, it highli...
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The International Criminal Court – Does the US Need to be Involved?
Mathew Angus · 09 May, 2002 · #748 · Commentary
A permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) came into being on 18 April 2002. Countries like
Cambodia
,
Ireland
and
Mongolia
have ratified the Rome Statute paving the way for it to become a reality. According ...
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Violence in Gujarat: A Firsthand Account
· 09 May, 2002 · #747 · Commentary
The present violence in
Gujarat
has many aspects:
Brutality:
I had witnessed and handled many riots in the past, but have never seen violence of this magnitude. It is a spirit-b...
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Population and Environmental Security
Col. PK Gautam · 09 May, 2002 · #746 · Commentary
One common factor in any dialogue on environmental stress is the question of growing population. Census data for 2000-01 shows that, of the top eight most populous countries in the world, three are from
South Asia
.
India
with a pop...
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Four Stories and Globalization
Atul Bharadwaj · 06 May, 2002 · #745 · Commentary
The front page of The Sunday Times, (The Times of India, February 3, 2002) carried four main stories. The lead story was a ‘Sunday Special’- “Will DU give lessons in Karvachauth”. The other stories were – “WSJ r...
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Operation Narcotics Knockout in Afghanistan
N Manoharan · 06 May, 2002 · #744 · Commentary
For Karl Marx, “religion is the opium of the masses”, but in
Afghanistan
opium seems to be the religion of the masses. Before analyzing the strategies for rooting out the drug menace in this war torn country, some facts are rel...