Archive of South Asia Citizens Wire

  • Militarisation or Demilitarisation in Nepal?

    by Rita Manchanda, 5 November 2008

    Inter Press Service, November 5, 2008
    Kathmandu, Nov 5 (IPS) - Fighting a decade long ’People’s War’ for the revolutionary transformation of a feudal monarchy meant that the Maoists had to militarise Nepali society, including women and youth.
    However, even after the Communist Party of Nepal -Maoist (CPN-M) was popularly elected to power, following the April elections to the constituent assembly, it seems reluctant to disband the paramilitary Youth Communist League (YCL).
    Indeed Prime (…)

  • Anatomy of Sangh Parivar

    by Ram Puniyani, 5 November 2008

    The arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in the context of Malegaon blasts of September 29, 2008 has been an important step in the investigation of bomb blasts which have been blowing the social peace and communal amity. Along with her the arrest of army officers, retired and serving, has unfolded the whole new dimension about investigation of acts of terror. The involvement of Bhonsala Military School has also come under the scanner of investigating agencies.
    The Sadhvi has been the (…)

  • A Saffron Terror Network Surfaces

    by Praful Bidwai, 5 November 2008

    With the arrest of "Sadhvi" Pragya Thakur, Sameer Kulkarni and former Major Ramesh Upadhye for the bomb blasts of this past September in Malegaon in Maharashtra and Modasa in Gujarat, the police seem to have unearthed what has all the makings of an organised, well-ramified Hindutva terrorist network. The network may have been involved in numerous other recent bombings outside mosques, whose victims were primarily Muslims. The police are now questioning a serving army officer too for his (…)

  • The Kosi Disaster: Dont Forget the Survivors

    by Harsh Mander, 5 November 2008

    Hindustan Times, October 27, 2008
    A happy Diwali?
    The tragedy of Bihar — the devastation wrought because the mighty river Kosi changed course after it breached its embankment in Nepal on August 18 — has slipped off the pages of newspapers and TV screens. The calamity has also been virtually ignored by most international humanitarian aid agencies, and even national relief organisations. The people affected are among the most impoverished in this land, and floods seem to be part of the (…)

  • Hindutva Fundamentalists Mirroring Thier Counterparts

    by Jyoti Punwani, 5 November 2008

    The Times of India, 4 November 2008
    Aping each other
    The TV coverage of the arrest of Sadhvi Pragya Thakur brought about a sense of deja vu. Where had we seen this before - a preacher being charged with a terrorist act? Then it struck home. Mullah Omar, Maulana Masood Azhar, the Lal Masjid mullahs... and nearer home, MuftiAbu Bashir, the imam of Mumbai’s Musafirkhana mosque, the maulvi arrested after the Ahmedabad blasts.
    One always suspected that the RSS was envious of Muslims. The (…)

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