By Simon Denyer IMPHAL, India — Tens of thousands of Indian troops are deployed to these remote borderlands, their mission to fight a decades-long armed separatist rebellion. But for years, residents here have alleged that security forces have also waged a separate war of rape and murder of civilians, one they continue with impunity because federal law virtually prohibits the prosecution of soldiers in conf ...

Asif Haroon Raja Creation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947 broke the century old shackles of bondage. Although a moth-eaten and truncated Pakistan, yet it was the largest Muslim nation in the world. Seventy million hearts of Pakistanis throbbed and pulsated with rapturous excitement and joy. The unfurling of the green and white banner raised their heads with pride and their jubilation knew no bounds. Their re ...

By Lawrence Davidson In the halls of Congress and confines of the Oval Office, the perception is that the U.S. is at war with an enemy called al-Qaeda.  Is this actually the case or is the claim an exaggerated piece of propaganda that has conveniently captured the minds of leaders whose abuse of power has become institutionalized? In modern history “war” most often describes a condition of armed conflict be ...

Brig( retd) Farooq Hameed Khan   The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) setup in Bangladesh in 2010 by Prime Minister Hasina Wajid’s Awami League government, sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah,  a senior Jamaat-e Islami (JI) leader to life imprisonment on February 05 for  alleged  ‘atrocities’, in a trial that reopened the wounds of 1971 East Pakistan tragedy. In January the tribunal awarded death penalty in ab ...

Unreliable data can incite and escalate a conflict – the latest UN-sponsored figure of 60,000 should not be reported as fact By Sharmine Narwani February 16, 2013 "Information Clearing House" - Less than two months after the UN announced "shocking" new casualty figures in Syria, its high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay estimates that deaths are "probably now approaching 70,000". But two years int ...

 Asif Haroon Raja Deaths of Maulvi Tamizuddin and Khawaja Nazimuddin in 1963 followed by death of Suhrawardy in 1964 were setbacks for Pakistan. These three Bengali leaders were a bridge between the peoples of two wings and had always believed in oneness of Pakistan and were against centrifugal forces. Their departure gave free passage to Mujibur Rahman to give vent to his regional tendencies. In September ...

By Sajjad Shaukat Both open and clandestine techniques of state terrorism are being employed by India to suppress the struggle of Kashmiris who are fighting for their genuine right of self-determination as recognised by the UN resolutions. In this regard, after fabricating a false case of his role in attacking the Indian parliament in 2001, Mohammed Afzal Guru was hanged on February 9, this year, while he h ...

By Usman Khalid, Director Rifah Institute of Foreign Affairs (RIFA) Not many people know that Hindus are a minority in India. The number of those within the fold of chaturvarna i.e. four castes (Brahmin, Kashatri, Vesh and Shudara) are no more than 15% of the population of India – the same as the Muslims. The original inhabitants of India are treated as ‘untouchables’ like the shudras but their number is 65 ...