Papua’s separatist fires burn bright By Sara Schonhardt JAKARTA – Shootings, protests and violent attacks are on the rise in Indonesia’s easternmost Papua province, home to a low-level separatist struggle and the operations of US mining giant Freeport McMoRan. Security analysts warn of increased radicalization by groups that feel violence is the only way to draw international attention to their suppressed cause. At the same time, human-rights activists say arrests of pro-independence supporters have robbed the movement of moderate voices. Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), a US-based rights group, says police dragnets of peaceful separatist … Continue reading Papua’s separatism – why is it growing?

BOOK REVIEW: Jewish question and the Palestinian connection —by Iftikhar Ahmad Hitler’s Private Library: The Books that Shaped his Life By Timothy W Ryback The Bodley Head; Pp 278, £ 18.99 Books that we happen to own and read do impact our thoughts and actions. How we perceive, interpret and respond depends on forces in the general and specific environment and circumstances that impact us as readers. A writer may or may not have a special agenda or a motive. Similarly, a reader may or may not read for confirming his or her own ideas and to look for support, … Continue reading The Books that Made Hitler!

VIEW: The framework of hope —Anum Raza Hasan Motivations and initiatives should not be judged on how much or how little they can do. These remain the single most visible sign of a society that is alive To seek that desired muse of hope on the crossroads of an inferno, perhaps instigates tendencies bordering on delusion and denial. A cold-blooded massacre targeting scores from a faith-based community isolates victims from its own citizenry and yet draws hesitant condemnation buried under a blanket of cowardly escapism. Eyes remain shut to the backstage drama of a suffering nation, distracted by the seduction … Continue reading The framework of hope

WASHINGTON DIARY: What a change a day makes —Dr Manzur Ejaz From the Taliban of Pakistan and Afghanistan to the conservative Hindus of Haryana, all the extremists are obsessed with controlling the females in their respective societies My ridiculing of Father’s Day for many years has not deterred my children from giving me befitting gifts every year. As a matter of fact, I have rediscovered my father through my children: one rediscovers the importance of parents after one knows the pain of having and raising one’s own children. I feel indebted to my father more than to my children because … Continue reading What a change a day makes

The armed forces, winning the war against discrimination It is a remarkable sea change in policy that now sees our armed forces at the vanguard of delivering equal opportunities for all Peter Bracken guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 June 2010 13.30 BST Article history Twenty odd years ago, as a recently promoted army captain, I was made second in command of a unit established to identify and develop potential officers serving as soldiers in the ranks. The gifted among them could exchange their lance corporal’s stripe for lieutenant’s pips within a year. The unit’s egalitarian impulse was an example of the army … Continue reading British armed forces winning against discrimination?

Freedom of speech includes freedom to offend – but when a preacher’s words incite violence, there has to be some sanction Tehmina Kazi guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 June 2010 13.00 BST Article history What do Dr Zakir Naik, Russian skinhead Pavel Skachevsky, far-right US talk show host Michael Savage, former Kahane Chai leader Mike Guzovsky and Kansas Baptist pastor Fred Phelps have in common? They are all on the list of people who have been banned from entering the UK. Several commentators, like Inayat Bunglawala last week, have asked exactly what Naik has done to deserve such company. A quick internet … Continue reading Zakir Naik’s incendiary words