What happened in Uttarakhand is a national tragedy. Why couldn't Dr Manmohan Singh announce that he was forming an Uttarakhand Relief and Rehabilitation Committee, with himself as chairman but inviting Narendra Modi to become the deputy chairman, asks T V R Shenoy.
Lifting the AFSPA can certainly be attempted but the provisions of the AFSPA, as an emergency law that empowers the army -- the nation's instrument of last resort -- must continue to remain on the statute books given the increasingly violent and uncertain times that the subcontinent is likely to face in coming years, says Nitin A Gokhale.
The rally was being planned by UK-based Kashmiri groups to mark the first death anniversary of the commander of the Hizbul Mujahideen terrorist outfit killed in a gun battle with Indian armed forces in the Kashmir Valley on July 8 last year.
'The Pakistani military has encouraged and supported terrorist organisations, especially in Kashmir, as a means of waging proxy war against the Indian military and the country's superior economic resources.' 'The evidence is irrefutable with the recent killing of 46 paramilitary troops being just the latest example.'
India on Monday said it could approach the International Court of Justice against the brutal torture of Kargil martyr Captain Saurabh Kalia by Pakistan.
Decision will be taken in second democratic transition of power in the nation's 70-year chequered history.
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said India will be benefitted economically by having peace with his country as it will enable New Delhi to directly access the resource-rich Central Asia region through Pakistani territory.
'It is time to not merely assert that Kashmir is an internal problem, but begin to act on it,' argues Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
'Is Trump going to play a mediating role? Can he play a mediating role? It's out of the question.' 'Kashmir is an Indian responsibility.'
Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Monday upheld the death sentence handed down to a fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami stalwart for committing mass murder and crimes against humanity during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.
'Just as the monkey god needed a Jambavan to prod him into realising his superpowers, so did the poll panel need a poke from the Supreme Court into remembering it had an armoury of powers at its disposal to stop the infractions,' notes Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Bangladesh's decision to execute Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes committed in 1971 has provoked anger across the Muslim world. Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar arrived in Dhaka hours after the execution, an important expression of India's support to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, explains Rajeev Sharma.
Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar feels the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should have made Sachin Tendulkar skipper for his final Test match in his hometown in Mumbai.
Pakistan on Tuesday hanged its 100th convict since a moratorium on death penalty was lifted in December last year, prompting rights group Amnesty International to call it as a "shameful milestone".
By undertaking medical mercy missions, the Indian Air Force will win immense political and national goodwill.
'Galwan has turned everything.' 'The casualties on both sides alerted the Chinese to the fact that Indians are not going to take it lying down.'
Fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami leader and media doyen Mir Quasem Ali was Thursday indicted by a special Bangladeshi tribunal on charges of "crimes against humanity" committed during the 1971 liberation war.
'Insignias or not, Dhoni's will remain the deadliest pair of gloves behind the stumps,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
Global working conditions have worsened in 2014.
'Europe can be discussed on a golf course...' 'North Korea? What do I care what the man with the bad haircut does?'
Indian-American elected officials, civil rights organisations and queers welcome the United States Supreme Court historic decision to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide for all Americans on Friday.
Pakistani police have arrested 15 Christians and booked 45 other members of the minority community under the controversial blasphemy law for allegedly desecrating Muslim graves in a village in Punjab province, sparking tension in the area.
'Gwadar has the potential to facilitate PLAN's operations in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.' 'Reports of China setting up electronic eavesdropping posts at Gwadar to monitor US and Indian naval activity and shipping traffic through the Straits of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea lend credence to this,' says former RA&W officer Jayadeva Ranade.
Khan stressed on taking austerity measures, working on tax reforms instead of taking loans, rooting out corruption.
At its core, Criminal Justice is a tale of small miscalculations leading to grave consequences, feels Sreehari Nair.
The curative petition and other legal remedies still available to Yakub Memon are part of his rights as a prisoner condemned to death. Does the Maharashtra government want to deprive him of these rights, asks Jyoti Punwani.
While Prime Minister Modi may pursue the laudable aim of building a cooperative relationship with Pakistan, he and his advisers should never think that concessions (and dialogue is a concession in itself) will change the Pakistan army's approach to India, says Vivek Katju.
'Till today, the RSS only speaks of Hindu Rashtra but never explains what it means. It cannot, because it would be unacceptable to even a majority of Hindus, forget the Indian Muslims and Christians,' says Aakar Patel.
In his address to the UNGA, Khan spoke at length about India's decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and criticised the government's move to put in place a communication lockdown.
In the letter dated July 23, the celebrities have said that "exemplary punishment" should be meted out "swiftly and surely" in such cases.
'I do hope the Patel family sues the hell out of the state of Alabama, and I hope the Hindu American Foundation and other community organisations are helping with legal aid and monetary support. For, there is reason to believe that it is religious and racial bias that led to the incident: In other words, a hate crime. There is no reason to suffer that silently.'
'At a time when the news channels are screaming louder than the worst crowd, you can't be subtle if you really want to say something important,' Anubhav Sinha tells Bedika/PTI.
.jpg)
It's perverse to rationalise 'controlled' killings or torture -- without going down a slippery moral slope. Once the state stoops to torture, it's liable to sink into tyranny, says Praful Bidwai.
The suspension of mobile communication for the past 12 days in Kashmir amid strict curfew has put citizens in a desperate situation, says Athar Parvaiz.
Protesting against enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Abdul Qadeer Baloch, 72, has led a small group that has covered more than 2,000 kilometres on foot, breaking the 84-year-old record set by Mahatma Gandhi during his Dandi march. Hamid Mir reports from Islamabad.
Prime Minister Khan, in his address, said Pakistan will never fight any other country's war in future and his government's foreign policy will be in the best interest of the nation.
'The death certificate which I once read even states the date, 6 August, but I know that already.' 'Every year, we observe paath at the local gurdwara for which we need to take leave from school. The leave form always says 'attending father's death anniversary'. 'I always dread this day -- the long walk from my desk to the teacher's table with my diary in hand and in it a handwritten note dripped with sadness despite its curt language.' 'What generally follows is pity on my teacher's face, a deep sigh of sympathy and a sad pat on the back.' A moving excerpt from Gurmehar Kaur's memoir Small Acts Of Freedom.
'Many said his visit was very risky. But mercifully, Air Force One has taken off from Delhi without Mr Trump stepping on anybody's toes,' notes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
'The Indian military has rightly advised the government not to fall for the rather spurious Pakistani demand to demilitarise Siachen,' says Nitin Gokhale in an interview about his new book Beyond NJ9842: The Siachen Saga.
Claude Arpi reveals how Wing Commander Jag Mohan Nath won a second Maha Vir Chakra in the 1965 War.
