If the East India Company used complex mechanisms and took 100 years to seize control and loot a subcontinent, the tech imperialists of today have the power to replay that story with nothing more than code, clicks, and clips that can divide people, break institutions and incite violence.
Seeing humans as the earth’s primary inhabitant has led to policies and practices that prioritize short-term economic gains over long-term ecological sustainability. Recognizing our role within a broader ecological system is key to developing strategies that respect the Earth's carrying capacity. Johan Rockström’s concept of 'planetary boundaries' outlines nine thresholds, like climate change and biodiversity loss, that shouldn't be crossed to maintain a 'safe space for humanity’.
India sent full details of Nijjar’s terrorist activities to Canada in 2014 but Canada simply sat on it. Canada also didn’t hand over Bangladeshi Noor Chowdhury who admitted being one of the killers of Sheikh Mujibur Rehman, Bangladesh's founder president, in 1975. Stewart Bell wrote in his book ‘Cold Terror’’ that Canada became an operational base of international terrorism long ago and by 1998 every terrorist group in the world was operating in Canada.
If Israel fails to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities now, it will be doing an ‘INDIA’, which too failed to allow Israel to strike Kahuta in Pakistan. Pakistan today is a formidable nuclear power. Had India allowed staging facility to Israeli fighters at Jamnagar, Kahuta might have met the same fate as Osirak in Iraq.
Now, the two important power centres in Bangladesh are the interim government led by Prof Muhammad Yunus and the students who led the protests. Both are stressing the inclusive character of Bangladesh and taking a strong position on the protection of Hindus and other minorities.
Yet, this will be a delicate task that may test India much more than Bangladesh. This is because the secular credo of Yunus and a pro-poor agenda that has defined his work and his life pose a unique political challenge to the agenda of right-wing politics that holds centre stage in India.
Thus, the renewal of the Ganges water treaty is much more dependent on the bilateral relations between the two countries. Under the present conditions, there are politically driven ideological differences between both countries that may carry adverse consequences for the Ganga treaty.
Shouldn’t we reflect as a nation of 1.4 billion people, with 117 participants at the Paris Olympics, winning only six medals (that included no gold) and ranked 71 among participating countries? Can we not learn from much smaller countries, some indeed tiny, that won several gold and silver medals and ranked above India?
India must look to improve the quality of education and make it affordable equally to all irrespective of religion or caste. Else, we will continue to feel safe in “reservations” and never ever look at improving the quality of the society
China was miffed with Hasina giving the Teesta project to India but why China gave $11 million to Bangladesh instead of earlier promised $3 billion during Hasina’s visit is because it perhaps knew regime change in Dhaka was coming?
How quickly a country which was coasting along for a decade of strong, export led growth with improvements in poverty as well as human development indicators and social capital, can crumble.
There are any number of disasters happening in India, with the sad conclusion that the elected representatives of the people are failing in their duties and remain indifferent to pressing local issues and the needs and grievances of the people.
Such behavior from the Pakistani State is a concern for the future of Balochistan. Pakistan needs to thoroughly review its policies in Balochistan; otherwise, it may not be long before another Bangladesh is born.
The rise of ethnic violence in Manipur has had a devastating impact on the state. Thousands of people have been killed and displaced from their homes. The violence has also crippled the economy and disrupted the development of the state.
The government’s answer is to keep the pot boiling as it lives a Rip Van Winkle story – almost as if it slept through the election results and now wants to live an old reality in a new world.
The proceedings of the recent parliamentary session create doubts as to whether our MPs are capable of setting up such standards. By their behavior as seen currently, they are setting up a very bad example for the younger generation and are doing great harm to the fiber and fabric of a resurgent India.
There should also be no doubt that these protests are being fueled by China and Pakistan to depose the pro-India Sheikh Hasina Government and install a pro-Islamist anti-India government like the erstwhile BNP-led government in Bangladesh.
The reality is that communal politics of the kind played by the BJP, led by Prime Minister Modi, has stopped paying dividends of the kind that it once did.
As the world watches the unfolding drama in the United States, the implications for South Asia, particularly India, Pakistan, and China, are profound
