Turning a deaf ear

Thursday , Sep 17, 2009 at 0351 hrsGandhiji’s rulesAs usual, Gandhiji’s rules, sprinkled throughout his writings, speeches, letters, are an excellent guide, even though for us pygmies, trying to abide by them taxes one to the limit.“I do not read newspapers as a rule, but look at the enclosed in The Leader...” writes Gandhiji answering a series of letters from C.F. Andrews against the Khilafat

A few lessons

Source: Indian Express Wednesday, Sep 16, 2009 at 0232 hrs“Arun Shourie has attacked the Chief Minister, A.R. Antulay because the latter has opposed America’s decision to give arms to Pakistan... Arun Shourie’s well-known connections with the American CIA... He was got a job at the World Bank... Since his return to India, he has been using the pretext of his son’s illness to regularly visit his

Master strategies

Source: Indian Express Thursday , Aug 27, 2009 at 0530 hrsHere we are breaking each other’s heads over Partition when the man who presided over it has already assumed responsibility for so much that happened. Here is what we find in Stanley Wolpert’s Shameful Exit, (Oxford University Press, New York, 2006, p. 2):“When asked how he felt about his Indian viceroyalty eighteen years ago after

A few extracts from the book

Source: Indian Express Tuesday , Aug 25, 2009 at 0529 hrsNow, it so happens that I profoundly disagree with Mr. Jaswant Singh’s assessment of Jinnah. Ever since I read the multi-volume Jinnah Papers — brought out by the National Archives of Pakistan; the two-volume, Foundations of Pakistan, edited by Syed Sharifuddin Pirzada; and the four-volume History of Partition of India, edited by the

“Either diplomacy or war”

Source: Indian Express Thursday , Aug 13, 2009 at 2353 hrs New Delhi:“Trust but verify,” the Prime Minister says, invoking Ronald Reagan. Of course, Reagan did not just stop at enunciating a maxim. He worked to, and succeeded in helping dismember “the Evil Empire.” One does not have to even ask whether the Prime Minister will do anything of the sort.But take the maxim itself that the Prime

New beginnings?

Source: indian Express Monday , Jun 15, 2009 at 1635 hrs Special to Indian ExpressNew Delhi: Of course, I would have liked the election results to have been the other way round. [1] But, of the remaining alternatives, what the electorate has handed down is the best one. While many had been celebrating the trend towards coalitions – “The real India is coming into its own… India’s vibrant

When the danger is imminent, loud and clear, our voice must be insistent, loud and clear

Source: indian Express Tuesday , May 26, 2009 at 1530 hrsWalter Lipmann put the matter succinctly: “A nation has security when it does not have to sacrifice its legitimate interests to avoid war, and is able, if challenged, to maintain them by war.” [1]Consider Aksai Chin: Are we prepared to go to war to recover it? Or, is it more likely that we will rationalize not going to war by giving

Bringing India’s money back to Indian shores

Source: Indian Express Tuesday , Apr 21, 2009 at 1531 hrsStupefied by the string of endorsements across the country of the demand that the money looted from India must be brought back, the Congress has tied itself in knots. Its spokesmen — led, as will be clear from the arguments they have advanced, by four lawyers — have given five reactions:• •Why is Advani taking up this matter now, on the eve

Facing down the neighbourhood bully

Source: Indian Express Tuesday , Apr 07, 2009 at 1534 hrsThe danger will not go away just because we refuse to see it. A clue to the coming years lies in the contrasting attitudes of governments and legislatures in the West. This very month, both the European Parliament and the US House of Representatives have passed resolutions endorsing the cause of Tibet and its people. In this very month,

Digging our head deeper in the sand

Source: Indian ExpressTuesday , Apr 07, 2009 at 1533 hrs- Tibet’s cause is just;- Tibetans have given no cause for offence;- China has already reduced Tibetans to a minority, even in Lhasa. It is systematically obliterating the Tibetan culture and the identity of the Tibetan people;- It has not succeeded as yet, but nor has it loosened its vice;- People across the world feel intensely about this

Responding to the Economic Meltdown

Source: Indian ExpressThursday , Mar 19, 2009 at 1703 hrsResponding to the Economic MeltdownSome lessons for South Asia Arun Shourie(The Asian Development Bank recently organised a meeting in Manila of central bank governors, ministers and senior finance officials from South Asia to consider the impact of the economic meltdown, and possible responses. Michel Camdesus, former managing director of

Surprised ?

Source: Indian Express Monday , Dec 01, 2008 at 0545 hrsOur coastal areas are coming under increased threat from terrorist groups, which have decided to use the sea route to infiltrate into India. They also plan to induct arms and ammunition through the sea routes” — that is Shivraj Patil addressing the directors general and inspectors general of police in November 2006. “We understand they (the

An empty claim?

Source: Indian ExpressMonday , Sep 08, 2008 at 2352 hrsArun ShourieManmohan Singh and his spokespersons have said times without number that the US has assured India of “uninterrupted fuel supplies”. They have pointed to Article 5(6) as proof to say that the 123 Agreement enshrines this commitment. I had pointed out at that very time that the Article is just a face-saving farce. Manmohan Singh had

‘But there is nothing new’

Posted: Saturday , Sep 06, 2008 at 0157 hrsArun Shourie Source: Indian ExpressSep 06, 2008 at 0157 hrs  But why now? Why on the eve of the NSG meeting in Vienna?” — the cry went up. Entirely predictably: when they can’t deal with the facts of a disclosure, the embarrassed always demand, “But why now?” Should we not, on the contrary, be grateful that, at least at this penultimate hour, someone has