Bangladesh's Forgotten River Nomads
November 27, 2009 1 min. read

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  On this day, I hope that most of my readers are fortunate enough that should they suffer at all, it is because they are the victim of their qualities.  Most people in much of the world cannot stake claim to such fortune. The Asia Foundation has a wonderful donation program called […]

Read more
Who Wears the Taj (crown)? : South Asia post 26/11
November 26, 2009 4 min. read
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

On the eve of the Mumbai atrocities, writer Zainab Jeewanjee discusses the detrimental effects of the massacre. Specifically, how terrorism is causing a rapidly deteriorating state of affairs in Pakistan. But the United States has a chance to get things right in South Asia by engaging both India and Pakistan economically. With economic interests in India and security/geopolitical interests in Pakistan, policy-makers should focus beyond immediate security and further extend cooperation to economic development in Pakistan to ensure they remain a long standing ally in the War on terror and in the face of an ascending China.

Read more
A year after ten gunmen held Mumbai hostage
November 26, 2009 6 min. read

Last year this time I was busy planning my first Thanksgiving when terror struck Mumbai once again. Earlier that year there was a chain of explosions across various cities, and I thought this was a continuation of the same. But it was much more than crude bombs planted in rickshaws and cycles. So instead of […]

Read more
Bangladesh: the Next Staging Arena for an Islamist Emirate?
November 25, 2009 6 min. read

Bangladesh is becoming enmeshed in the broader regional strategy by which political Islamists in Bangladesh and Pakistan might bring down secular governments and establish a wider Islamic emirate. I want to propose that Bangladesh has been chosen as the alternative ground from which Pakistani militants will launch attacks into India.   Before I get to […]

Read more
Phillipines: In A State of Emergency
November 25, 2009 2 min. read

Since election violence in the Philippines began, approximately 57 people have been killed.  At least 22 of these dead were kidnapped lawyers, journalists, and relatives of local politicians.   President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declared a state of emergency on Tuesday in  the two Southern provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat.   Both are located on the […]

Read more
Obama skirts Pakistan-terrorism question
November 25, 2009 3 min. read

Even as President Obama hosts the Indian Prime Minister at the State Dinner tonight, the joint press meet during the day sent conflicting signals about the future of Indo-US relations. In spite of being asked directly if the US would put pressure on Pakistan to act against terrorist operating from its territory, President Obama talked […]

Read more
Pakistan, the ISI, Lashkar E Taiba and Bangladesh Locked in a Death Spiral
November 24, 2009 1 min. read

Pursuant to the developing story on the 3 men arrested in Bangladesh for plotting to attack U.S and Indian political institutions, I’d like to point out an interesting piece of editorial analysis by the India based South Asia Analysis Group.  The short paper examines the history of Lashkar e Taiba in a broader, electoral context […]

Read more
Terrorist Plot Involves Groups in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Myanmar
November 24, 2009 3 min. read

I’ve been following reports that three Bangladeshi men affiliated with Lashkar E Taiyeba and Harkatul Jihad al Islam have been implicated in a plot to attack the U.S. Embassy and Indian High Commission in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This story just got a lot more interesting and puzzlingly complicated.  Even though the piece is […]

Read more
Singh asks American businesses to invest in agriculture in India
November 23, 2009 1 min. read

Before he meets with President Obama on Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today addressed the business community at the United States India Business Council in Washington, D.C. Here he called upon American business to increase investments in infrastructure projects and agriculture. Dr. Singh said that American businesses are welcome to invest in “agriculture based businesses […]

Read more
Stop bombing Pakistan. Really?
November 23, 2009 4 min. read
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Believe me, I’d be mad like hell if Americans bombed Pakistan and killed innocent civilians. Believe me, America is not targeting Pakistan. The Taliban are attacking Pakistan. Today, Pakistan is facing a very tough challenge of defeating home grown insurgency funded and fueled by the money that is directly coming from the Middle East. And […]

Read more
Children's Rights and Child Marriage in Bangladesh
November 21, 2009 2 min. read

Today is Universal Children’s Day.  50 years ago today, on November 20th, the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of the Rights of the Child.  20 years ago today, the General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights the Child. These declarations and conventions are aspirational, high reaching rhetoric and are considered normatively obligatory […]

Read more
Manmohan Singh to visit US next week
November 20, 2009 2 min. read

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will arrive this Sunday for his first visit to the US since the Obama administration took office. The Indian Prime Minister will be President Obama’s first State Guest since his inauguration in January. During an interview with the Washington Post, Prime Minister Singh said that during the visit he “would like […]

Read more

Popular from Press