Jammu and Kashmir "was, is and shall forever" remain an integral part of India, a top Indian diplomat asserted at the UN Human Rights Council's meeting in Geneva on Wednesday, a day after Pakistan sought the international community's intervention on the Kashmir issue. Speaking at the 43rd session of the UN Human Rights Council which is being held in Geneva in Switzerland from February 24 to March 20, Vikas Swarup, secretary (west), the ministry of external affairs, described Pakistan as the "epicentre of global terrorism".
'Neither India nor others deserve this unsolicited lecture on human rights from a country that has consistently persecuted its ethnic and religious minorities, is an epicenter of terrorism'
The killing of Christians is reportedly on the rise in Islamic countries such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Egypt according to a human rights group, with the Vatican claiming that 1,00,000 Christians are being killed each year.
Dalbir Kaur, sister of Indian prisoner in Pakistan Sarabjit Singh, is hopeful that Pakistan's Human Rights minister Ansar Burney will bring some good news for her and her family members after his meeting with President Pervez Musharraf. Burney had promised Dalbir Kaur that he would take up the matter Musharraf soon after a daily said Sarabjit would be hanged to death on April 1. He had been dubbed a RAW agent and sentenced to death.
Till date, Pakistan, in all its official communication, has been referring to Jammu and Kashmir as "Indian Administered Kashmir"
After Kashmir Singh, leading Pakistani rights activist Ansar Burney has found another Indian on death row, Karpal Singh, languishing in a jail in Punjab province since 1992.
Many of the stories, the pictures going out of India worldwide lately with these provocative processions, taunting of Muslims, bulldozers targeting mostly their properties, the sweeping 'othering' of a community of 200 million are painting the front pages and TV screens in the democratic world. That is where most of the friends we covet lie. Soon enough, these will also make our vital friends among the Muslim nations, from Bangladesh to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, uneasy. The best time for course correction is now, asserts Shekhar Gupta.
The 2025 Sony World Photography Awards has announced its National and Regional Award winners, celebrating talent from 56 countries.
Observing that the "mishandling" of the issue of Ajmal Iman's nationality by the government had brought bad name to Pakistan, leading human rights activist Ansar Burney has demanded the immediate resignation of Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik.
Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad has been reported missing from Islamabad days after authoring an article in which he contended that Al Qaeda attacked the naval airbase in Karachi on May 22 after failed talks with the navy to release personnel detained on suspicion of having link to the terror outfit failed.
At the end of the day, for many worldwide, the ongoing mutual attacks between Israel and Iran would seem a contest devoid of any moral high ground and only a bout between two ordinary adversaries, one that nevertheless risks spinning out of control into a larger conflagration, notes Shyam G Menon.
Manmohan Singh and Musharraf felt that what they were embarking upon, if successful, could lead to a future of boundless potential for the two countries and for the relationship that was hard to foresee from the prism of the existing situation and the historical position and orthodox ideas on both sides.
'It has been 14 years since I began living in exile and it's shocking that the situation in Balochistan has only worsened rather than improved.'
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said Pakistan is 'committing atrocities' against people in its occupied Kashmir and will have to bear its consequences.
Scores of churches and homes belonging to Christians in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad district, some 130 km from the provincial capital, were burnt down on Wednesday by a mob enraged over reports that two Christians had desecrated the Quran.
The Indian government expressed its dismay at some of the language used by participating MPs in the Backbench Debate, specifically Pakistani-origin Labour MP Naz Shah.
Civilian and military security forces deployed in Balochistan have done little to investigate attacks on Hazara or take steps to prevent the next attack, says a Human Rights Watch report.
ICC rejected Khawaja's application to have a sticker showing a black dove holding an olive branch on his bat and shoes during the Boxing Day Test against Pakistan.
The real fear then is of an unstable Pakistan sinking into chaos and anarchy and vast amounts of territory, weapons and perhaps nuclear materials falling under the control of Islamic extremists linked to al-Qaeda. This would without a doubt be the United States and India's worst nightmare. Indeed it might turn out to be the last act before decisive foreign military operations to neutralise Pakistan began in earnest.
Gambhir also took a dig at Qureshi's emphasis on a "new Pakistan" under Khan, saying while the Indian delegation had come to listen to Pakistan's "new" foreign minister outline the vision of a new Pakistan, "what we heard is a 'New Pakistan' cast in the mold of old."
The Indian Army's human rights record is above board, and people of India, army personnel and countries worldwide know the truth, he said.
The attack targeted a Frontier Corps (FC) checkpost on the Mastung road in Quetta, the provincial capital, Deputy Inspector General of Quetta police Azhar Akram said.
The organisation "extended" its support to the "inalienable right" of people of Jammu and Kashmir for "self-determination" in accordance with UN resolutions.
In the wake of the killing of three Hindus in Sindh province in Pakistan, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Friday asked India to take up the issue of the security of the minority community with officials in Islamabad. "We demand protection of minority Hindus in Pakistan where they have been subjected to repeated attacks. Human rights organisations across the world and the Indian government should seek an explanation from the Pakistan premier about the repeated killings," he said.
It's time India re-visited its Western alliances for the attitude and approach that the West reserves for the nation when it comes to security cooperation of the kind that they might not have visualised outside of China, India's bug-bear, asserts N Sathiya Moorthy.
The Lok Sabha on Wednesday passed three bills to replace the colonial-era criminal laws by voice vote.
An embarrassed Home Ministry on Saturday expressed regrets for sending back former Pakistan Human Rights Minister Ansar Burney upon his arrival at Delhi Airport on Friday night and said he was always welcome to visit India.
'Pakistan will leave no stone unturned to keep Kashmir on the edge and put the entire blame on the Government of India if there is any untoward incident,' says Brigadier Narender Kumar (retd).
Pakistan's major political parties on Saturday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's surprise visit to Lahore, saying it was a "new beginning of relations" and will help improve ties between the two countries.
In a statement, United States-based Human Right watch sharply criticised the law which was imposed in 1974 and calls for pre-screening of the candidates.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari had a secret meeting with a group of senior Taliban operatives in April last year during which he expressed the Pakistan government's "support for their mission", a researcher studying developments in Afghanistan has alleged.
Had it not been for the slow but sure emergence of China as a threat to the western order, would India have been accepted as a near-equal partner by individual western nations, jointly and severally, questions N Sathiya Moorthy.
Usman Khawaja suffered a setback after his appeal against the sanction imposed on him for wearing a black armband during the opening Test against Pakistan was rejected by ICC.
Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said the latest legislation by the Indian government was another major step towards the realisation of the concept of "Hindu Rashtra.
'From what evidence has come up, General Bajwa somehow managed to tell the Americans that I was anti-American.' 'And so, it [the plan to oust me] wasn't imported from there. It was exported from here to there.'
Days after it asked lslamabad to take "effective" steps to stop the activities of terrorist groups on its territory, Russia on Monday said it "welcomes" the surgical strike by India as every country has a right to defend itself.
An Indian journalist, who testified before a United States committee discussing human rights situation in Kashmir, said Pakistan-sponsored terrorism has been completely overlooked by the world press for the past 30 years, evoking a sharp reaction from a US Congresswoman who questioned her objectivity while reporting.
Addressing a press conference in Dubai, Bhutto said Pakistan's people are "extremely repressed" now and "no power on earth" would prevent her from going back to work for their empowerment.
Sheikh Hasina, who was elected for a record fourth consecutive term and fifth overall term this year, was always admired by her supporters as "Iron Lady", before the dramatic development that abruptly ended her 15-year-rule in Bangladesh.
