'For the Tamil Nadu protestors to openly ask popular film actor Vijay Sethupathi not to don Murali in 800 is a travesty in every sense. It may have given them a cause to tell the world, and the governments in New Delhi, Colombo and Chennai, that the Sri Lankan ethnic issue was still alive in the state -- more so, during the current run-up to two major events in the first half of 2021,' says N Sathiya Moorthy.
He died in New Delhi on Thursday at the age of 78.
In a televised address, Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi said that her country does not fear the scrutiny of the international community, as more than 400,000 minority Rohingya have fled violence in the country's northern Rakhine State.
A 16-year-old Singaporean boy, a Protestant Christian of Indian ethnicity, was detained last month under the Internal Security Act (ISA) after planning to use a machete to attack Muslims at two mosques in March, on the anniversary of New Zealand's Christchurch attacks.
India has conveyed its concerns to the top security and intelligence officials of the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia over the possible implications of Pakistan's links with the Taliban and various terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan for regional security and stability, people familiar with the development said.
Promising safety and security of Indian students, Australia is considering amending the law to enlarge definition of offence to include race, religion, ethnicity and nationality related violence, the Rajya Sabha was told on Friday.
At least 129 people were killed as riots erupted in northwest China, where protesters from the ethnic Muslim Uighur community went on a rampage, prompting a statewide crackdown. The violence in Urumqi, the capital of Xinjiang state, has left 129 people dead and injured 816 others, state-owned Xinhua news agency reported on Monday, quoting the regional public security department. Police cracked down on protesters on Sunday night, arresting several hundred of them.
'Washington is well aware that the Haqqani group was responsible for terrorist attacks on the Indian diplomatic establishments in Afghanistan.' 'But today US self-interest dictates that Sirajuddin Haqqani's mainstreaming in Afghan political life and a potential elevation eventually to a leadership role at the national level is useful and necessary, since he can deliver peace,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
First Secretary Sneha Dubey gave a blistering retort to Khan in the UN General Assembly as she delivered India's strong Right of Reply from the UNGA hall, carrying on with a tradition seen over the past few years of young Indian diplomats taking on Pakistani leaders and strongly responding to their rants over Kashmir and other internal matters of India.
'Amit Shah's trajectory seems unstoppable; no wonder some say the day is not far off when he could be pitching for the top job, and that this is only the first step,' says Saisuresh Sivaswamy.
Shooting in Sri Lanka costs one-fourth of that in India, has one-tenth of the headaches, looks like Indians and the country can easily form the background for an Indian story.
The country is an old hand at pitching for international productions.
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.
The area was a theatre of violence for several years since Naga-Kuki ethnic clash broke out in 1993 and the civilian Kuki tribe population suffered severely in that war zone.
Weeks after the Chinese security forces put down a bloody strife in the Muslim-dominated border province of Xinjiang, a top Communist party official has vowed to crack down on any renewed violence in the area with an 'iron-fist.'
Here's what the Canadian PM said at IIM-Ahmedabad...
Eight eminent personalities have appealed to people to "introspect and audit" the working of the Constitution.
Seeking protection from any police violence, a five-year-old ethnic-Indian girl has urged the Penang Chief Minister to accompany her to Malaysian Parliament when she visits it on Saturday to request Premier Abdullah Badawi to free the detained activists complaining of racial inequality.
'It is more of a catalyst.' 'People bring in their own demons and they are not created by fake news'
The statement comes in the midst of countrywide protests against the new citizenship law.
The alacrity with which regional States responded to Delhi's invite signals that expectations are high regarding an Indian role in the efforts to stabilise the situation in Afghanistan, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The world's attention is on the new Taliban and the imminent announcement of an inclusive government in Kabul, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar
Every year, at least a million Hindus visit Batu Caves on this day, but this year the crowd seemed to be much lesser in number. Other than the boycott call by Indian activists, rumours that violence could break out also kept people away.
Putin is looking beyond the current regime in Kyiv. Of course, if the Western military assistance to Kyiv continues in any form, Washington knows that Russia will regard it as a hostile act and there will be severe consequences, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The new rules do not mention Islamic State or any other group by name
During the 30-minute meeting between Samaraweera and Rice, the peace process in Sri Lanka and the current security situation came up for discussion.
Facebook -- which counts India among its largest markets with over 300 million users -- has been in the eye of a storm after a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report alleged that the social media platform's content policies favoured the ruling party in India. The report had accused Facebook of ignoring posts containing hate speech by BJP MLA Raja Singh. Since then, the ruling BJP and Congress have been trading barbs over the social media giant's alleged political bias.
Experts who work on race and gender issues have now put together a syllabus for desis.
"The UPA government has no political will and courage to avert the impending danger of migration of Hindus from Jammu and Kashmir," Naidu said.
The BRICS stressed on resolution of conflicts in a declaration issued after a virtual meeting of foreign ministers of the member nations of the grouping. The meeting was attended by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.
R Sampanthan, leading the delegation, expressed satisfaction over the discussions and hoped that CPI would help make a favourable public opinion about the Eelam issue.
The rankings were prepared after examining the volume of terrorist and rebel alerts, messaging traffic, videos, photos, incidents and the number of killed and injured in a country over the past 30 days.
A Harvard study finds a 'peculiar relationship between the levels of political freedom a nation affords and the severity of terrorism.'
Brutal and ruthless, with terrible human rights records, these autocrats will welcome Narendra Modi to their realm this coming week.
In an unprecedented incident, over three dozen armed Nepalese police personnel crossed the border and took shelter in frontier posts of Sashastra Seema Bal.
The curfew was imposed on Sunday after a group of miscreants carrying swords attacked some people travelling on a three-wheeler in Porathota area of the town. The vehicle was set on fire.
The majority Singhalese community is split over the two leading contenders, leaving the minority Tamils in the role of the kingmaker.
In a moving encounter, Francis blessed them, held their hands and intently listened to their heart-rending tales of escape from the Buddhist-majority nation, in an apparent show of public solidarity towards Asia's worst refugee crisis in decades.
Armed forces and the police can only ensure that violence is kept under control but for any kind of lasting peace, politicians will have to find an answer to the perception that the Indian State is anti-Islam. Therein lies the biggest challenge to the Modi government, says Colonel Anil A Athale (retired).
