South Asia Citizens Web

www.sacw.net
Whither India: Qualitative change in Polity
Last six months have been most disturbing on the Indian political scene. As far as the values of integration are concerned they are being attacked very severely by terrorist-communal forces. First, we saw the series of bomb blasts, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Delhi and Malegaon. It was projected by the authorities that all these acts are due to Jehadi Muslim groups that police have succeeded in cracking the network. One outcome of this (…)

Committee to Protect Journalists - News Alert
Journalism student given 20-year jail term in Afghanistan
New York, October 21, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is outraged by a Kabul appeal court’s decision to sentence Afghan journalism student Parwez Kambakhsh to 20 years in prison for blasphemy today. A three-judge panel commuted the death sentence given to Kambakhsh in January, but upheld the original conviction, according to Kambakhsh’s brother and lawyer.
Mohammad Afzal (…)

Pakistan rupee has sunk to an all time low of Rs 85 to a dollar and it is still on the downward spiral.
Ordinary people, and not simply economists, are debating whether Pakistan’s economy can be prevented from an almighty crash. That is supposed to follow after the default on external payments some time in the spring of next year, which would put a stop to LCs being opened for import of goods. Pakistan rupee has sunk to an all time low of Rs 85 to a dollar and it is still on the downward (…)

Economic and Political Weekly
One cannot fight the faith-based politics of Hindu nationalists and the similarly inspired initiatives of the Indian state unless one questions the very foundations of the beliefs and rituals of popular Hinduism itself. One cannot go on "respecting" people’s faith, but then turn around and start questioning them when they actually act upon that faith under the banner of Hindutva.
"New cars smell the same in India as they do in the US", was the first thought (…)

CNN-IBN
Devil’s Advocate: Arundhati on media-police collusion
interviewed by Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN