South Asia Citizens Web

War is a tragedy but a society at war with itself and everything around, with no objective and no remorse is more than a tragedy; it is a total disasterThe professional Muslim Ulema of Pakistan have influenced our thinking so much that we see everything in religious terms. We keep a keen record of “atrocities against Muslims” but we ignore the enemy within who hides behind Islam. Earlier, we used to see two centres of evil: India and Israel but with time they have increased to include (…)

sacw.net - 6 February 2013
I find myself in a state of mixed bewilderment and despair. I try to keep abreast of what happens in my part of the world, and what do I see? In Tamil Nadu a motion picture, part of the entertainment industry, becomes the centre of people’s universe. In the west, an intellectual says something to a small gathering and that causes tremors across the land. Neither of these provocations would have been nearly so effective when I was a young man. This seems to me the (…)

This cartoon by Amul appeared in the Indian newspapers on the 6th of January 2013

London Review of Books, Vol. 20 No. 12 · 18 June 1998 pages 18-21 | 5886 words
‘I am the destiny’
Eqbal Ahmad
The Terrorist Prince: Life and Death of Murtaza Bhutto by Raja Anwar, translated by Khalid Hasan Verso, 254 pp, £16.00, January 1997, ISBN 1 85984 886 9 Memoirs of a Bystander: A Life in Diplomacy by Iqbal Akhund Oxford, 500 pp, £15.99, June 1998, ISBN 0 19 577736 0 Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Pakistan by Rafi Raza Oxford, 420 pp, £15.95, April 1998, ISBN 0 (…)

The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will have its annual review in March. Many countries are likely to face the review of their internal rights situations. The United States has taken the decision to place a procedural resolution against Sri Lanka on the situation of Tamils, post the conflict. The country had after all faced 37 years of ethnic conflict and bloodshed. The end of the war was particularly gruesome since many civilians and surrendering militia were allegedly killed and women raped. Instead of using their victory to reassure and reconcile with the Tamil ethnic minorities, the Sri Lankan government pursues triumphalism and is increasingly intolerant towards any dissent. President Rajapaksa’s latest volte face is his statement that the Tamils will not get autonomy. Will India support the US resolution or will it give in to Sri Lankan pressure