Do the Mentally Retarded ve the Right to Refuse Abortion After Rape?

Do the mentally retarded have the right to take their own decisions? Whether or not there exist support systems that should equip them to take informed ones? The Indian Supreme Court judgement in September 2009 on a contentious issue—whether a mentally retarded orphan can decide whether or not to deliver a child conceived from rape—has

Stop Exploiting the Orissa Mountains for Bauxite: Arundhati Roy

The low, flat-topped hills of south Orissa have been home to the Dongria Kondh long before there was a country called India or a state called Orissa. The hills watched over the Kondh. The Kondh watched over the hills and worshipped them as living deities. Now these hills have been sold for the bauxite they

Stop Selective Operations Against Taliban

The realisation that the national mood has hardened against the militants and that Pakistanis own the war against the Taliban more than before will strengthen the army in its ongoing operation in South Waziristan. But if the idea is to root out terrorism and extremism, the time for selective operations is long past. The security

Why Do People Hate You: Q to Pak Politicians

“Why Do people Hate You?” This was the question a 9-year-old fourth-grader asked President Obama at a town hall meeting. Obviously the boy must have been exposed to the right wing propaganda and mounting criticism of Obama these days, on TV, by Republicans and other quarters, not happy with his proposed health care plan, the

Sindh Government Continues to Protect Child Rapists

Senior police officials are said to be preventing an investigation into the alleged gang rapes of female students by a group of teachers. The family of one victim is being pressured to settle outside legal channels in a feudal jirga court, despite directions from the Chief Minister of Sindh to have the accused arrested. Their

Hillary Clinton Outshines All the Pakistani Anchors

On October 28, 2009, Hillary Clinton gave an interview to seven Pakistani anchors. They were Moeed Pirzada and Nasim Zehra of Dunya TV, Talat Hussain of Aaj; Anwarul Hasan of PTV; Mubashir Luqman of Express; Hamid Mir of Geo and Naveen of Dawn News. Hillary appeard prepared, and confident; and had ready-made answers for all the questions. The local

Indian Muslims Hurting the Muslims Themselves

800 years is how old the institution of Wakf is in India. It began when Muslim rulers donated huge lands for charity. 300,000 is the approximate number of registered Wakf properties in India 4 lakh acres is the land Wakf properties account for. According to the deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha, K. Rahman Khan,

What Osama’s 4th Son out of 20 Thinks of His Father

For Omar Bin Laden, the fourth eldest of Osama bin Laden’s 20 known children, the awful realization that his own father was a terrorist mastermind plotting a global conspiracy that would destroy the lives of thousands of innocent people and even his own family came gradually. Of course, there were warning signs: Omar’s childhood was

G Vishvas Blames Islam for the Sorry State of Affairs in Pakistan

Mubarak Ali says in Dawn (25 Oct 2009) that “as far as Pakistan is concerned, we can say that it has no history of ideas because its society has neither the capacity to face the challenge nor the creativity to invent anything in science and technology to improve its skill to compete with others nations.

India Desires Current Ground Positions Authenticated in Siachen

The military conflict over the Siachen glacier began 25 years ago, catapulting it to the world’s highest battle zone and demonstrating the limits to which human endurance and military ingenuity can be pushed. The strategic consequences of the conflict, like the slow but relentless movement of the glacier, have been irreversible.  Pakistan had linked with

Prostitutes Refuse to Cooperate in Durga Making

Long before it became politically incorrect to call sex workers by any other name, it was considered inauspicious to worship the goddess Durga without seeking out the blessing of courtesans, even if they were otherwise stigmatised and ostracised by society. Thus originated the little-known, age-old custom of collecting a handful of soil (punya mati) from

Subhaan Allah: Foreign Minister’s Son Working with Senator Kerry

Ahmad Raza Kasuri has revealed in a television talk show that son of the foreign minister is on staff of Senator John Kerry in Washington, working as Legislative Fellow. Foreign Minister’s son Mr. Zain H. Qureshi’s assignment is clearly linked with John Kerry’s legislature work. Against this backdrop, foreign minister’s vociferous defence of John Kerry-Lugar Bill tends