Evolution of liberalism on May 5, 2011February 22, 2011 (e-mailed March 01, 2011)The same as many other ‘-isms’, liberalism, at the outset, appears to be a confusing jumble of ideas. That it has something to do with liberty, i.e. freedom and equality, seems obvious but a concise definition is hard to find. Fishing the internet, the best rendition this writer came […]
Areas undefined on February 12, 2011The genesis of the now intractable problem of Kashmir, a problem that has plagued two generations of Indians, Pakistanis and Kashmiris essentially boils down to one word — areas. Specifically, it was the inability of the Muslim League leadership, at the time of partition, to define clearly what it meant by units or areas that […]
Backchannel on January 26, 2011March 25, 1971, exactly two years after he assumed power as the president of Pakistan, Yahya Khan started the fateful military operation codenamed searchlight that caused thousands of civilian deaths, war with India, a humiliating defeat for the Pakistan army and his own removal from power. Although the East Pakistan tragedy was in the making […]
Cambodian sanctuaries on January 10, 2011The American-instigated coup that ousted Prince Sihanouk on March 18, 1970 is aptly described as the “beginning of the end of Cambodia” by Seymour Hersh in his book The Price of Power. The coup really was the start of a minor apocalypse for the country. Sihanouk had kept his country neutral in the raging conflict […]