China and Pakistan are in a tight strategic alliance. India must deal with them one at a time, but be prepared in case they decide to collude, points out Shekhar Gupta.
'A man with a gun commanded respect. I thought if I also got a gun, I could save my family. With this thought, I went to Pakistan and got training there'
Discussions and deliberations need to be held on the purpose of imposing AFSPA and how to revoke it, Rio said during the public funeral of the 14 daily wage earners of a coal mine, who were shot dead by security forces on Saturday at Oting village on their way home from work.
The inquiry will focus on the "intelligence" and the "circumstances" on which Saturday's operation was based on.
Minister of State Kiren Rijiju, who looks after the northeast division in the home ministry, seems to have been bypassed in recent decision to declare entire Nagaland as 'disturbed area' under the AFSPA with clear indications emerging of his unhappiness.
Demand for repeal of the act found echoes in the nation's Parliament with National People's Party (NPP) MP Agatha Sangma, a former Minister in the United Progressive Alliance government, terming the act as 'the elephant in the room which (needs to) be addressed' and seeking the 'draconian' Act be repealed.
'The present generation, either due to historical amnesia or political propaganda, has been fed a narrative that paints India as an adversary rather than an ally.'
'The era of conventional wars is almost over in the Indian context.' 'In such a scenario, special forces could play a decisive strategic role in the spectrum of conflict.'
The army has been left to do justice to itself for crimes it is accused of committing against civilians. As a force inside the government, obviously it will want that there be no intrusion into what they do, points out Aakar Patel.
Nearly 13.04 per cent voter turnout was recorded till 9 am on Wednesday in 43 assembly constituencies in Jharkhand where voting is underway in the first phase, officials said.
Across five fiercely contested Tests, more than 7,000 runs were scored, including a record-equalling 21 individual centuries. Every match stretched into a gripping fifth day. The sun shone, the stands were full, and the cricket -- emotional, enthralling, and endlessly unpredictable -- captured imaginations around the world.
A day after AFSPA was extended in most parts of Manipur, rights activist Irom Sharmila said the "oppressive law" was not a solution to the conflict in the state.
Now, the chief minister is under pressure to make good his promise after the December 4 incident in Nagaland's Mon, where 14 people were killedAFSPA has eclipsed all other achievements of the Biren Singh government.
'The lack of a majority isn't the issue. He has enough in 240, especially as none of his allies can pull down his coalition.' 'That's why he's started as if this were just another, normal term. That pretence is vital for him.' 'The change for Modi 3.0 comes not from numbers, but from the new environment of contestation,' points out Shekhar Gupta.
India-Turkiye ties are strained over Ankara's Islamabad tilt, its arms links with Pakistan, and fallout from the Pahalgam terror attack.
Exploiting the killings to ratchet up the tension in the region and harden negotiating positions with the central government serves nobody, least of all the people of Nagaland. The peace process must not be stalled because of this incident or distracted by calls to repeal the AFSPA, argues Vivek Gumaste.
'Due to the imposition of AFSPA, our people have for so long suffered untold miseries and discrimination at the hands of security forces'
>The Indian Army still uses old British-era names and recruits soldiers based on caste or region, which hurts national unity, argues Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
She also demanded that Chief Minister N Biren Singh admit his failure and apologise to the people of Manipur.
'My one recommendation would be to first quell the violence and then encourage dialogue and build the trust among the different communities.' 'This is not easy but necessary, for violence cannot be the way forward.'
Activist Irom Chanu Sharmila, who has been on fast for the past 12 years demanding withdrawal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958, from Manipur, has been remanded to judicial custody for 15 days.
From bhikshus of Ashokan 3rd century BC and medieval Sufis to Oxfam, Omidyar and Soros now, non-State actors have any real power only when they work in conjunction with a real State, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah Wednesday expressed satisfaction over the recent statement by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde wherein he had said that 'the state government would be taken on board over the revocation of the controversial Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
On July 30, the CBI informed the apex court that its had filed two chargesheets before the competent court in connection with the cases.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday asserted that the Bharatiya Janata Party will win more than 300 Lok Sabha seats across the country in next year's general elections and return to power for the third consecutive term with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the helm.
The National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak-Muivah on Wednesday said no peace talks were possible 'under the shadow' of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act and termed Union home minister Amit Shah's statement in Parliament on the botched counter-insurgency operation as 'irresponsible.'
Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd) lists why India must not do away with AFSPA, but ensure enough transparency to avoid confrontation with human rights.
Captain Bhoopendra Singh was subjected to court martial after a Court of Inquiry and Summary of Evidence found that troops had "exceeded" powers vested under the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, they said.
Addressing a press conference, minister Neiba Kronu said members of the government's Core Committee on the Naga political issue will have a meeting with Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who is also the convenor of the North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), in Kohima on December 9 to decide on the approach in the aftermath of the civilian killings.
'The Arunachal border is not demarcated in that way, so there can be differing perceptions (between two sides)'
Enchanted rings, talking teddy bears and arranged marriages of the phony kind, hijack horror and more on OTT this week.
Stating that incidents of militancy related violence in Jammu & Kashmir have come down by over 70 per cent in the past five years, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Saturday asserted that gradual revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act will begin in his present tenure.
This Act was imposed in the state on February 16, 1997 following spurt of violence by the ultras.
The statements the separatists make, the abominable tableaux at their parades, the slogans, posters, and selfies with assault rifles are not India's problem. If they are a nuisance, it should bother their host countries, because they are armed and have their own underworld with deadly gang rivalries. Significantly, none of this happens in the US -- only in snowflaky Canada, points out Shekhar Gupta.
Besides law and order, the long standing demand for junking Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, economic woes of the land-locked state which has hardly any industries, are expected to figure high on the agenda of the unfolding electoral battle between the two main parties with smaller local parties such as National People's Party and the Naga People's Front chipping in with their own demands.
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said the Congress and other opposition parties have brought the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government in the Lok Sabha at a 'wrong time and in a wrong manner'.
Security bunkers manned by the central armed paramilitary forces are being set up in many areas of Srinagar where these were removed between 2011 and 2014 following the overall improvement in the security situation across Kashmir.
A mother of two girls, Arambam Robita Leima said she would launch her fast-unto-death against AFSPA.
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin on Monday said the purpose of the march towards Moscow was to stop the destruction of the private military company and "bring to justice those who, through their unprofessional actions, made a huge number of mistakes during the special military operation".
Unless the anarchy in Manipur is brought under control quickly, we are sowing the seeds of a flare up in the entire North East and the end of our dream of checking China in South East Asia, warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
