China - say no to Olympics!

The recent Tibet violence is slowly spreading to other districts and towns in China and should give the Communists there some off for thought to see the countless thousands who are not very happy with the governance so say the least. That said,it would be a mockery to write off the current Tibet violence as a public relations disaster. It shows at the very least the amount of discord that is prevalent in this Buddhist capital, one that no matter how much the communists may try to whitewash it as something else. It is quite evident that the communist rule has been very harsh on the Tibetans living there and then to say that the Dalai Lama, his holiness, was behind all this is just typical of the kind of behaviour that one may expect from the current Chinese government.
The fact of the matter is that the current government and the style of governance is not exactly loved in China or out side of China either. The neighbouring countries like those of Japan,Taiwan and India well know the risk and the danger that China poses to the whole world. China must understand that in order to develop further and to be considered developed, it must get rid of its dependence on the age old policy of fear and intimidation and must start embracing the concepts of free speech and religious tolerance. Until and unless this happens, the other countries would soon become developed long before China has. Take a look at Japan,in spite of its connection to the war time atrocities, today Japan is accepted as a widely developed country and one that is also highlighted as a model of development. Take a look at India, with so much baggage and so much poverty, India is growing much faster than all the other developed countries put together and is already three quarters of the way to getting that label 'developed'. China,on the other hand,if it keeps on suppressing its own people, would soon find itself in very hot waters, not the kind that one would find at a spa, but one that preempts a revolution. All I can say to any Chinese reading this is to batter down, because a storm is indeed coming and it is heading for the Chinese mainland!

The cat and mouse between the Iranian Navy and the U.S Navy!

With all the baggage that exists between them, one would think that these two would have much better things to do than to play a 'cat and mouse' game and on international waters at that. If things were not bad between the two of them, they have to resort to this as well. In case, you are wondering what am I jabbering about here, it is all about the Iranian Navy targeting the U.S navy ships and vice versa.

All this does is bring to my mind a line from one of the many action movies, 'Children, we must all learn to share' and this is one lesson that neither party wants to learn anytime quickly. One can understand that both the Americans and the Iranians have a lot of baggage between the two of them, but if both India and Pakistan can be matured about the relationship between them, then why on earth shouldn't the U.S and Iran start behaving themselves, at least when they are in the international arena??

Iran: The report that never was!

Iran seems to be more in the news these days and not for all the right reasons. The latest round in the Iran-U.S war of the meek seems to have ended in the favor of Iran. The leakage of the intelligence report telling one and all that Iran seems to have halted its nuclear weapons program way back in 2003 is not all that surprising to those who know the Iranians well. For those who do know the Iranians well, know that they have this inherent tactic for survival and that they will never take the foolhardy path of Saddam Hussein. They well know that to take that path will only lead to total and utter destruction on all sides and that it is indeed better to live and let live. On that thought, did you know that the ancient school of philosophy can be traced back to Iran and that it is in Iran that it had its roots and not in Greece as many think so!

This intelligence report has come at a time that the United states is going hammer and tongs at getting even more sanctions against Iran approved by the Security council. For one, this report does make things a little bit difficult for the United states to push for even more tougher sanctions. And anyone can see that to most Americans today, Iran and its hardliners still represent a threat not because of their religion or the fact that Iran thinks that Israel does not exist, but for the fact that many Americans were taken hostage during the Iranian revolution. What irks the Americans to this day is the fact that many Americans were taken hostage in the American embassy in Teheran. This baggage is one of the main reasons why America today finds it so difficult to even get along with Iran. The past is in the past and that is easier said than done, but it is high time that both these countries realise that there is nothing to be gained by holding onto past grudges. They should really take a page from the India-Pakistan book, the whole world knows the legendary rivalry between those two and today, they are not against each other, at least not the way that they were in the 1970's. They have matured and come a long way since then.

One thing is for sure, the other countries can breath a sigh of relief as they know that the United states would not be pressing that hard for sanctions this time around and that the Nuclear watchdog and mr.ElBaradei can go about their job and make sure that Iran has indeed complied with the IAEA rules and that Iran is only involved in fuel enrichment for peaceful purposes!

Iran,United States,India,Pakistan,iaea,nuclear,

Sidr blasts away at Bangladesh!

Sidr the cyclone that hit Bangladesh, hit it very hard. The cyclone strengthened just before it made its landfall in Bangladesh. It was expected to hit the Orissa coastline but then it made a sudden turn and headed straight towards the Bangladesh coast. The cyclone was unexpected to be this severe and it literally blew Bangladesh off the map.
Take a look at the satellite image above and you can see for yourself the path of destruction that Sidr created when it landed in Bangladesh. Now Sidr, as the cyclone was named, has moved on to the Indian state of Assam. The destruction along the Bangladeshi coastline is enormous with many villages completely washed away. The red cross has estimated that Sidr must have caused at least 1000 fatalities this time around. The minute that the Cyclone landed in the Bangladeshi coast line, the sea overcame the land and pretty much took everything on it. The thing that one should remember is that Bangladesh is a low lying area with much of the land area below the sea level kind of like Holland. Whenever it rains, even so slightly,Bangladesh gets flooded. Now with rain accompanied with heavy to very heavy gusts of winds, you can imagine the impact that Sidr has had on Bangladesh. Many weather gurus had predicted that as the Global warming increases, the sub tropics will see unusual and destructive weather abnormalities like the Sidr. Maybe it is high time we did something with regard to Global warming and the next time a cyclone is on its way to meet us, lets all just run out of the front door.

Tags: Sidr,Cyclone,Hurricane,India,Bangladesh,weather,

The President cracks the whip and Pakistan jumps the hoop!

The man behind the current turmoil in Pakistan is none other than the General A.K.A president Musharraf. He has not only promulgated an ordinance suspending the very constitution of Pakistan but he has also effectively gagged the rights of every single Individual there. The fourth estate is gagged and can only report according to Musharraf's views. In short, what he says goes, and if you are found to be breaking the law by just being yourself, even god cannot help you at the moment. Most of the top opposition leaders have all been arrested and placed under house arrest, thereby curtailing all of their movements ion and around Pakistan.

The Human rights commission of Pakistan stands suspended and most of its top members placed under arrest. The explanation that Musharraf gave the nation yesterday is really laughable. If he was so into protecting the stability of Pakistan, then why did he wait until now to do what he has done? The only logical explanation being that Musharraf wanted to hold on to the reins of power by any means possible.
It is at times like these that all political parties from the length and breadth of Pakistan unite together and fight literally for their freedom. After all, their ancestors did fight the British occupation of India[then both Indian and Pakistan], so if they could do it, there is no reason why the current politicians cannot fight Musharraf.

It is disgusting to see the way the the United states is pandering to the whims of their darling child, Musharraf, all because they consider him to be an important allay in their fight against terror. But I do not think that I have to remind anyone that this 'fight against terror' is all America's fight and there is no reason why democracy in Pakistan should be sacrificed just because Musharraf is helping the Americans out some of the time. Should not the ultimate goal be democracy and not just this 'war on terror' which by the way is not even our war to start with. Will democracy rise in Pakistan ever again?

Musharraf pips the Supreme court and declares Emergency!

Musharraf has gone the way that previous army generals have gone before him, that is the way of the Emergency and the imposition of the Martial law. It is sad to see democracy being given such short shrift in Pakistan and although this news is shocking in its very nature, it certainly comes as no surprise to any of us in the sense that we all expected this rouge general to do this quite a while back.
All the fundamental rights of all Pakistani citizens are hereby suspended, what is more the very constitution of Pakistan is hereby suspended by a new Provisional Constitutional Order, one which cannot be legally challenged in a court of law.

What started off Musharraf on this road to the emergency was the removal of the Supreme court chief justice Iftekhar Chaudhry and this started off Musharraf on a collision course with the judiciary. Soon the rest of Pakistan joined in to protest the rule of the general Musharraf. Under enormous pressure, Musharraf had reinstated Iftekhar Chaudhry as the chief justice of Pakistan but it seems that the plans to remove him were already in motion. The Supreme court of Pakistan was to announce its verdict on the 14th of November regarding the validity of the recently held presidential elections which Musharraf won by a huge margin. Had Musharraf waited until the 14th of November, his reelection may well have been declared invalid. So as to prevent that from happening and to remain in power, Musharraf pipped the judiciary in declaring this emergency.

The reasons put forth by Musharraf in declaring this emergency are manifold but one of the chief reasons was the recent surge in militancy and the attack on Ms. Bhutto's life. Of course, there are many who think that the attack was self contrived by the general and that it was all too convenient for him to get rid off his chief political rival. All said and done, Bhutto had emerged as the strongest political contender and had the bomb attack worked and Bhutto had died, then Musharraf would have got ridden off his main rival. Since he could not do much to Nawaz sheriff due to the Saudi royal family connection, he decided to deal with Bhutto and we all know how that attack went. Bhutto must have gotten an inkling of things to happen in Pakistan which is why she flew to Dubai under the pretext of seeing her children but the latest reports suggest that Benazir Bhutto is on her way back and is due to arrive in Karachi even as I write this post.

All fundamental rights are all suspended and there are to be no meetings of any kind and the army has moved into all corners of Pakistan with orders to fire at will. This is not the kind of behaviour that one expected from one of America's closet allies in the war on terror. Recently Condi rice had said that the current administration is totally against any imposition of any emergency or any martial law but it seems that is what is taking place in Pakistan as we speak.More to the fact, right now there is a high level meeting going on in the American embassy in Islamabad between the American officials to chalk out their position on the current emergency. Meanwhile, the army entered the Supreme court of Pakistan and told Iftekhar Chaudhry, that his services as the chief justice of the Supreme court of Pakistan is no longer required. This has all the hallmarks of being just a preview before the actual 'martial law' is imposed on Pakistan. At the moment, in Pakistan, all phone calls and mobile signals are halted as well as the airing of independent television channels. It is sad to see this happen to a neighbouring country and one that India values a great deal. What is puzzling me a little bit is both India and Pakistan have a common heritage and a similar constitution that upholds democratic values. Yet, in Pakistan, time and time again, the democratic values have been suspended and the army has taken the reins of power from an elected government. This has happened so many times that it seems that this imposition of the emergency since the time of General Zia ul haq has become an all to familiar story in Pakistan. It seems that even the coffee wallah no longer looks surprised as the army imposes emergency on his home nation and it has all the appearances of 'Business as usual'!

Tags:emergency,pakistan,Musharraf,United states,India,democracy,Benazir bhutto,Nawaz sherrif,

Russia and China block the Iran sanctions!

This is not exactly a surprising news, is it? Both Russia and China have enormous economic capital invested in Tehran and they know that if the U.N were to apply any economic sanction of any kind on Iran, they both face huge losses as well as the loss of lucrative oil contracts.
This does bring into the question of the 'Multi polar' world versus that of the 'Unipolar' one. Is the United states right in waging an economic war on a single country and expecting all the other nations to follow its lead? Many people may have something very strong kin nature to say to the United states, especially with the way that its foreign policies are being run. The way it is going, it is only a matter of time before the United states sees that it has no friends whatsoever in the International community. Both Russia and China are totally against the imperialistic attitude of the United states. What is more they both together with India are trying to fashion up a multi polar world, one that does heed to the rules of the book. Where the Unites states is concerned, it has long since thrown the book out of the window along with Jimmy carter. The United states has made it clear that it has no intention of being a 'hall monitor' but instead plans to be the bully. And do you want to take an educated guess who is in its headlights, Iran, right in the center of this storm that is yet to blow!

united states,iran,sanction,russia,china,foreign policy,

More bomb blasts in Pakistan?

Is the peace and security destabilising in Pakistan? Is General Musharraf aware of the world's perception of his government and his presidency? The recent suicide bomb blasts at an army camp could not have come at a even worse time for Musharraf. As things stand, the Supreme court is mulling over his presidency and may soon issue a decision that will shake all the politico's in Pakistan.
Coupled with the recent bomb blasts in Pakistan, the release of the controversial book,
Deception: Pakistan, the United States and the Global Nuclear Weapons Conspiracy where it is claimed that Musharraf had his finger on the nuclear button and wanted to nuke India, this is only causing the whole world to turn up the spotlight on the general and Pakistan. When a person can be so irresponsible to almost start a nuclear war, can the world really trust this man? That is the question that a lot of the Indians, Americans and the whole world at large are asking themselves today. With the general elections due in Pakistan, is it any wonder that the general is left with few friends and the ones that he has are increasingly distancing themselves away from him and his 'gung ho' policies?

The Nuclear headache that is not going away!

India and her prime minister dr. Manmohan singh are having to face a major Nuclear headache with the honeymoon being over and all that. Since most of the allies had okayed the India- U.S nuke deal, Manmohan Singh is confounded at the turnaround by his allies in the cabinet. What is troubling Manmohan singh and the ruling congress party is the fact that the Left parties, who are providing the essential support to the government from outside the government, are not backing down from their anti US stance.
As things stand, a series of meetings on this very issue are scheduled to take place later on, the purpose being to resolve issues and to project a common agenda to the people. But as the Left parties have indicated in public that they are not interested in anything to do with the United states, the ruling Congress party will have to cross the 'thorny bridge' very soon. The Congress party has to decide whether to go for the Nuke deal in which case the Left parties will withdraw support to the government and the government will collapse. Or the Congress party can decide to bury the Nuke deal in which case it will lose the respect that it has in the International arena and the people of India will see it as a political party with no backbone what so ever and therefore that decision will impact on the party in the General elections. So it is indeed a very thorny bridge that Manmohan singh will have to cross and he has to do it very soon!

india,united states,nuclear,politics

Bush puts the squeeze on Myanmar!

After George Bush had introduced even more sanctions against Myanmar, the Junta went on a damage control measure aimed at the United states lifting off its sanctions. But their efforts were termed as 'cosmetic' by the White House and rightly so. The Junta seized power even though Aung San Sui Ki clearly won the election by popular mandate, and had ruled Burma with a iron fist for a really long time. The world has decided that enough is enough, especially when the whole world witnessed the ruthless way the Junta attacked the unarmed Buddhist monks. The White House is leading the pack for increasing the squeeze on Myanmar and the whole world agrees that something must be done about Myanmar and that the status quo cannot be allowed to continue any further.
But the dispute is all about what exactly should be done, with the Asian giants, China and India, both refusing to interfere in Myanmarese affairs directly. This refusal stems from the fact that both these Asian giants view Myanmar as a strategic buffer and as such both are at pains to avoid offending the Junta without due cause. Further more, Both the Asian giants and Russia are due to have a trilateral conference very soon and Myanmar sanctions will figure in it. Whatever method is chosen, it will only serve to increase the squeeze on Myanmar, either by way of sanctions or by way of aggressive action on the part of the Asian giants. The Junta can be sure to count its last days in power. It seems that it is true,"absolute power does corrupt absolutely".

myanmar,burma,junta,india,china,

Myanmar security forces kills opposition dissident!

Things are not exactly cool in Myanmar right now especially as the people have got the news that one of the opposition dissidents seems to have been killed by the security forces during interrogation.this only bodes ill for the peace loving people of Myanmar.we have seen how the security people have attacked the unarmed Buddhist monks recently and this killing is only a manifestation of that.most of the World has rightly condemned what is going on in Myanmar right now.but the opinions of the Asian giants,the ones that really matter in Myanmar and the rest of east Asia,the opinions of both Indian and China has been rather muted.
What is more,both countries have been talking to each other and it seems that both the Asian giants as well as Russia will not only not back any moves to sanction Myanmar but will finalise their own policy as far as Myanmar goes.it is in this light that the soon to be held trilateral conference between India,China and Russia should be seen.all the three view Myanmar as their own neighbourhood and the west should well be aware that any move to recreate an Iraq like move will not just be countered with words but with military might of all of the three nations.by the way this is the second such trilateral conference between the three nations.it is not that all the three want the Military Junta to rule Myanmar,it is just that they want a peaceful resolution of matters and a stable handover of power to a democratically elected ruler.the end game is still on!

democracy,myanmar,india,china,russia,

Myanmar-end game begins??

Myanmar a nation that has always stood for peace and democracy-well,that was what it stood for 20 years ago and it has been suffering under the dictatorship of the ruling Junta and now it has all come to a boil.with An Sang Su Chi under a virtual huose arrest the ruling Junta has pretty much had their way until now,keeoing the riches of the land to themselves.is it any wonder that Myanmar is considered to be one of the most corrupt nations in the whole wide world.the people had put up with the ruling Junta and their corrupt practices for so long and they have decided that enough is enough.they want their democratically elected leader An Sang Su Chi to be in power and the Junta to go away.but that is easier said than done.
Now that the Junta has started cracking down on Buddhist monks and protesters alike,killng nearly 9 people in the process,well,the world is watching with horror as this goes on ad it is only a matter of time before intervention takes place.the key question that is doing the rounds in diplomatic circles is will it be India or China that will do the intervention?as it is both the Asian giants have a very close relationship with Myanmar and now the whole world from the Asean group to the United states and now the United nations all are increasing their pressure on both India and China to act and to take whatever action is necessary to take so as to ensure peace and put an end to this violence.
The problem for both India and China is that they both enjoy a close relationship with the Junta and neither wants to change the status quo.what is more,they both see Myanmar as an important allay as well as an essential buffer zone between the two giants.both India and China are enjoying a warming of relations they have not seen in
quite a while.and as such neither wants to upset the regional balance.what is more,both know that any intervention by one will not be seen friendly by the other.it is high time that both of these asian giants got off their high horse and did something to prevent the army slaughtering the monks.if they are not comfortable with the idea of one acting alone then they both can sit down ad talk and do the intervention together!lets see what happens!

myanmar,united states,india,china,junta

Musharraf gets a breather-Pakistan!

Pakistan is known for its dynamic politics but none of the kind that the past few weeks has shown the entire world.with the presidential elections due to be held on October the 6th,there had been a number of petitions filed in the Pakistan Supreme court,alleging that the current Army chief A.K.A the president of Pakistan was ineligible to run for the presidents office as he is guilty of holding two office posts,that is one of the president of Pakistan and the other,the Army chief.as such nearly everyone including president Musharraf expected the Supreme court to rule against him,but to the surprise of all,they did not do so.
In a 6-3 majority decision,the Supreme court has decided to throw out the petitions against the president Musharraf,thereby allowing him to run for the office of the president of Pakistan once again in the army uniform.Musharraf may have won this round but all the lawyers as well as various sections of the civil society are all gearing up for a battle of sorts.to say that the next few days it will be turmoil in Pakistan will be a gross understatement.what is more,many of the legislators have already announced plans of resigning en mass so as to deprive the electoral college of the much needed votes that is required to elect the president.of course if that is to happen,then Musharraf may have only two options,either to resign and go into exile or to declare emergency.
The way things are looking,i have to say that democracy is fast breaking out of the bonds that Musharraf has put around her and that it is only a matter of time before democracy and the constitution is restored to the people of Pakistan.as for Musharraf,he is fast becoming the most hated man in Pakistan right after his predecessor,general Zia-Ul-Haq!

musharraf,united states,india,dual office,president,

Nuclear deal all set to go through??

With the nuclear debate still raging in the Indian subcontinent,it seems that the left parties that were opposed to the deal may finally come to the congress point of view and allow the deal to go through.of course their ideology makes them see any deal with the United states as a deal with the enemy.but it seems that common sense has now prevailed.with most of the newspapers reporting that if there was a mid term election forced on the country by the left parties,then it is they who will suffer for doing so.it makes no sense to force an election especially when one knows that one is going to lose!lets hope that this sense prevails and that the nuclear deal does go through!

U.S asks India to clarify its relation with Iran!

As it is the U.S nuclear deal is fast pushing this country to mid term elections.and such statements as the one where the United states has asked India to clarify its position regarding Iran is only like setting the cat amongst the pigeons.such statements are only adding fuel to the communist bloc and this will only increase the attacks on the current incumbent government.
I am sure that the United states would like to have this deal all finalised at the very earliest.if that is their agenda,then they should stop making such statements which will only end up irritating the Communists all the more and thereby may result in the real danger of this deal getting held up once and for all!

Musharraf ready to call quits from the army??

Well,even stranger things happen in real life than they do in 'reel' life.the deal between Benazir Bhutto and the wily general of Pakistan,Perez Musharraf have reached a deal of sorts.according to the deal,Bhutto will return to Pakistan soon and contest in the october elections.and before the election,Perez Musharraf will quit the army and Bhutto will support his election.so a deal of sorts has been reached in Pakistan.but will this be enough to control the turmoil,especially in the NWF provinces?maybe,maybe not.but all eyes are on Nawaz shariff who plans to return to Pakistan soon.the situation is in a flux right now and it still is not clear who is going to win the coming elections as it is not even clear who is going to be eligible to stand for these elections.

China and Pak area thrilled at the Impasse in India!

Is it any wonder that the recent Nuclear deal problems has brought a cheer in both the Pakistani and the Chinese establishments.it is only to be expected.however the deal only underscores that the west need a counter balance to the growing influence of China in the Asian continent and they see India as the counter weight.of course whether India wants to be sen as that is totally another question?
the way that things are going on,this nuclear deal between India and the United States is sure turning out to be one huge surprise after another!

Ronan sen offers apology?

Well,one of the golden rules that all diplomats learn is top never say what you are thinking.here is where Ronan sen had failed and miserably at that.i think that for a moment he had forgotten that he was a diplomat and not an ordinary person.anyway he made his apologies and to be fair did not make any more headless chickens count!
In the end,it was as he had said in the beginning,that all of this was a storm in a tea cup.all that apart,all Ronan sen had managed to do was to hand over more ammunition to the opposition.how all of this will play out?only time can tell.maybe Ronan sen may be recalled,maybe not,but the 'headless chickens' will still be squawking in the parliament for some time to come!

The left softens stand!

The left seems to have softened its stand in a kind of way.that is they are no longer threatening the government directly but the threat as it is still stands.the marriage between the government and the left parties seems to be over but the official ending is yet to come.
Both the parties are looking for a way out of this tangle and both do not want to drop their stands.that is on the one hand the government is stubborn about continuing the negotiations for the nuclear deal and on the other hand we have the left parties and their well known hatred of anything capitalistic A.K.A United States.so maybe the withdrawal of support to the government will come sometime in the next 2 weeks.i shall of course keep you all updated on this.by the way,today's press conference was nothing new,same old message by the left but in a new wrapper making it more palatable to the government!

india,politics,karat,sonia gandhi,

India mulls "headless chickens".

As the United states ambassador made the comment likening certain people to that of 'headless chickens' running from place to place looking for a comment,that started off a ruckus in the Indian Parliament.well,the diplomat who was not so diplomatic is getting a huge headache.he had actually said the above comment in response to the way some of the political parties and the media have been attacking the U.S-India nuclear deal.he had actually said that comment in regard to media people who have been blowing things out of proportion,but that is what one can expect of the media nowadays.after all glamorising sells and anywhere in the world at that.the diplomat clarified later on that those comments were directed at the media and not at any Honorable member of the Parliament.
But the storm in this tea cup has still to die down.one of the hon'able members went on so far as to say that "the chickens are insulted by this comment from the ambassador".that does lead to the question,who are the chickens that are insulted by this comment??

india,united states,chicken,ronan sen,