Beyond Bhagat Singh’s headgear By Jawed Naqvi dawn.com Far more integral to an honest discourse on Bhagat Singh is not what his preferred headgear was but the request he had made in a bone-chilling last letter to the British governor of Punjab about what his choice was in the method of his own execution. He desired to be shot like a soldier and not hanged as a criminal. South Asians in particular revel in starting debates that miss the point. It was the revolutionary icon Bhagat Singh’s birth anniversary on Tuesday. It triggered a well-meaning discussion but one which was … Continue reading Beyond Bhagat Singh’s headgear and supposed religion

Drastic cut in visas By Kuldip Nayar dawn.com Recent talks between India and Pakistan’s foreign secretaries have shown that they have no will to normalise ties. — Photo by AFP India and Pakistan are growing more and more distant from each other. They have never been normal neighbours, but after the attack on Mumbai in November 2008, both are intentionally moving apart. Recent talks between the foreign secretaries of the two countries, more because of international pressure, have shown that they have no will to normalise ties. What has suffered most in the process is people-to-people contact. New Delhi and … Continue reading Drastic cut in visas is not going to help people on both sides to connect

Turning a new page By Ayesha Siddiqa dawn.com Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Quershi addressing the US-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue in Washington. –Photo by APP That Pakistan needs an alternative vision and leadership is beyond doubt. Any forward movement will depend on our national ability to recreate ourselves in our own eyes before we can have an impact on how people think about us or what they are willing to offer. Such were my thoughts as I stood in the company of some 300 Pakistani expatriates at the US State Department. We were all there at a reception during the US-Pakistan strategic … Continue reading Turning a new page in US Pakistan relations?

Posted by Amber Rahim Shamsi dawn.com A colleague of mine used to extinguish his cigarettes in his tea. His favourite Indian actor was Sunil Shetty, and he once wrote the first four pages of a proposed Mills and Boons romance between an Afghan girl and an American soldier. So while we took his editorials seriously, it was a little hard to digest his rants about food. “I wish they’d invent a pill so we wouldn’t have to eat food,” he once said as he scooped up his daal fry with a huge, palm-sized cone of roti. Or, before an editorial … Continue reading Royal Vegetables

Pakistan will participate in the first Commonwealth Rugby Sevens Test Tournament being held in New Delhi. —File Photo dawn.com KARACHI: Pakistan is among the seven countries invited to participate in the first Commonwealth Rugby Sevens Test Tournament being held in New Delhi on April 2 and 3. The Pakistan Rugby Union (PRU) has, however, yet to receive clearance from the foreign ministry to travel to the Indian capital. “Pakistan foreign ministry has not yet given us the green signal to travel to India and compete in the championship. But we are well prepared for the tournament and we can reach … Continue reading Pakistan, India to meet in rugby match next month

By Muhammad Cohen HONG KONG – My first reaction when I heard that Google had dragged Hong Kong into its feud with mainland China was unmitigated horror. On Monday night, the United States-based search giant announced that it would reroute search requests from the mainland through its Hong Kong servers. Google aimed to circumvent the great firewall of China and deliver uncensored search results to China’s masses. Thank goodness it didn’t work. Despite the rerouting, Chinese censors are still able to stop unwelcome content from reaching mainland computers. If Google’s ploy had worked, particularly given the company’s very public announcement … Continue reading Google blunders in search for China success

By Peter J Brown The Islamic Republic of Iran is both a member of the United Nations and a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the UN that oversees the global satellite industry. The ITU defines and adopts technical standards for the radio-frequency spectrum and regulates its worldwide use. In the ITU’s constitution, Article 45 – “Harmful Interference” – states clearly that, among other things, “the Member States recognize the necessity of taking all practicable steps to prevent the operation of electrical apparatus and installations of all kinds from causing harmful interference to the radio … Continue reading Iranian in a jam over satellite blocking

By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington is not just about trying to smooth over the crisis that has rocked United States-Israel relations over the past fortnight. It is first and foremost about how he chooses to operate at what Israel sees as a critical juncture between possible peace with the Palestinian Authority (PA) and possible war with Iran. He may be pressed to make his choice when he meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Will Netanyahu dare defy Obama on the issue of Israeli settlement expansion in … Continue reading Israel hovers between war and peace

Home truths call for tough love on Israel By Tony Karon Uncomfortable at the spectacle of the Barack Obama administration in an open confrontation with the Israeli government, Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman – who represents the interests of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party on Capitol Hill as faithfully as he does those of the health insurance industry – called for a halt. “Let’s cut the family fighting, the family feud,” he said. “It’s unnecessary; it’s destructive of our shared national interest. It’s time to lower voices, to get over the family feud between the US and Israel. It just … Continue reading US tough love on Israel despite the Christian Zionist desire for Nuclear holocaust

Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay evades capture for a year A fugitive rhesus monkey which looks both ways before crossing a road has become an unlikely local hero in Florida after resisting determined attempts to capture it for a year. By Tom Leonard in New York telegraph.co.uk The so-called Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay has managed to rise above the jumble of exotic animals, including pythons and big cats, usually on the loose in the state, earning its own Facebook page with more than 24,000 fans. The creature, native to southern Asia, has been shot several times with tranquiliser darts … Continue reading Monkey evades capture for a year – Florida Police think it may be a terrorist!