By Kuldip Nayar Indian Army Chief Deepak Kapoor gives a press conference in New Delhi. — AFP It was a welcome coincidence that both Bangladesh and Pakistan figured in the recent discussions in New Delhi. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed was on her first official visit after a landslide electoral victory last year. Top Pakistan lawyers, academicians and human rights activists sat in the capital with their counterparts to find ‘A Road to Peace’. What was common to both meetings was the search for peace. Both took certain decisions which, if implemented, will yield numerous benefits. The difference is that … Continue reading In search of peace despite General Kapoors political erections

Dawn Editorial The recent video showing Hakeemullah Mehsud seated next to the Jordanian suicide bomber makes nonsense of the American claim that while the Pakistani state’s actions against the TTP are a start, the real work against groups such as the Quetta shura and the Haqqani network is yet to begin. – Photo by Reuters. Pakistan Afghan soil being used for terrorism: ISI chief Is Hakeemullah Mehsud dead? History suggests we must wait until we can know for sure: the TTP leader has risen from the ‘dead’ before. But two observations are in order. First, even if Hakeemullah has been … Continue reading The Taliban – Zombie Mullahs of Pakistan!

Islam4UK has been pilloried and banned For many the plan to have a demonstration by an Islamist group attacking the actions of soldiers in Wootton Bassett, where the bodies of servicemen are received, is offensive and should be stopped. But should there be a level of protection for soldiers that trumps freedom of speech, asks ethicist David Rodin. Many people believe that the invasion of Iraq was unjust and a growing number question the legitimacy of the war in Afghanistan, yet many of those same people passionately hold that those who served in those wars should be honoured as heroes. … Continue reading Should we be free to criticise serving soldiers?

Nasa photographs ‘trees’ on Mars By Ben Leach TELEGRAPH Comments  The “trees” are really trails of debris caused by landslides as ice melts in Mars’s spring Photo: NASA The images appear to show rows of dark “conifers” sprouting from dunes and hills on the planet surface. But the scene is actually an optical illusion. The photographs actually show sand dunes coated with a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, less than 240 miles from the planet’s north pole. Related Articles Urine damages Space Station Nasa telescope detects five planets outside the solar system A decade of scientific … Continue reading A Nasa probe has sent back photographs of what appears to be trees on the planet’s surface.

Posted by Sana Saleem  In the first-ever, one-on-one interview by any US president to the Pakistani media, President Barack Obama assured Pakistan that the US had no desire to seize Pakistan’s nuclear weapons or to send US troops inside the country. However, in the same interview he avoided commenting on drone attacks. While answering questions on the South Waziristan offensive, he candidly suggested that there are decisions that ultimately need to be made by the Pakistani government and the Pakistani people. The position of the US is that they are partners in the process of seeking to root out extremism … Continue reading Drone fury

Holy SMS Posted by Nadeem F. Paracha  Pakistanis love emailing and text messaging quotes from hadiths and assorted religious paraphernalia. I usually ignore such messages because in my mind I imagine a holy punter who is convinced that each email or SMS of his is getting him that much closer to booking a cosy place in heaven. The truth is that this (albeit irritating) activity is actually better than a holy bum blowing himself up in public to find that same place in Paradise. However, last Monday, as I again received my share of emails and SMSes quoting hadith and … Continue reading SMS and the secret Mullah?

Is the Islam4UK ban a blow against democracy? Deborah Orr The Guardian, Anjem Choudary in London. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Today, the British government will proscribe the Islamist organisation Islam4UK and gift its leader, Anjem Choudary, with the useful satisfaction of telling its “former” members, “See? I told you so.” Choudary argues that this latest ban, one of a number that have been imposed on extremist groups he has been involved with, is a prima facie example of the narrow inadequacies and febrile delusions of liberal democracy. The annoying thing is that, according to his own limited and specific agenda … Continue reading The government’s decision to proscribe the Islamist organisation throws up an age-old moral dilemma

What hope for Hebron? With attacks on Palestinians by settlers commonplace, the last thing Hebron needs is the removal of international observers Seth Freedman guardian.co.uk “The situation is getting worse here,” says Zleikha Muhtaseb, the principal of a Palestinian kindergarten in Hebron’s old city. “After the intifada calmed down, we thought things were improving, but now it’s getting worse again: roadblocks are increasing, soldiers are attacking Palestinians at checkpoints, and the settlers are becoming more violent. Day and night the settlers threaten [local Palestinians], throwing stones and trying to burn their property, in order to put more and more pressure … Continue reading With attacks on Palestinians by settlers commonplace, the last thing Hebron needs is the removal of international observers

Islam4UK: free speech is never absolute Anjem Choudary’s group has incited violence and banning it is the right course for a society fighting terrorism Sunny Hundal guardian.co.uk, Alan Johnson’s decision to ban Islam4UK has led to many predictable and intelligent responses of derision from the left, notably at Index on Censorship and Our Kingdom. I’ve criticised various organisations, including Muslim ones, for not embracing free speech enough in the past. But here are the reasons why I believe it’s right for Islam4UK to be banned. • Islam4UK (and its earlier incarnations) do have a track record of inciting hatred and … Continue reading Anjem Choudary’s group has incited violence and banning is the right course for a society fighting terrorism

Yoav Shamir’s documentary offers a more nuanced view than the ADL’s identification of antisemitism with hostility to Israel Antony Lerman guardian.co.uk, Exploring antisemitism: Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir on set during the making of his documentary Defamation, 2009 Photograph: Everett Collection/Rex Featu/Rex Features How is it that so many people who care deeply and genuinely about the problem of antisemitism find themselves on the opposite sides of a barricade fighting what sometimes seems like a war to the death? How many of us who have got caught up in these often bitter battles have hoped for some way of finding a … Continue reading Defamation v Anti-Defamation