31 October, 2003
American Imperialism Off The Rails
By Haroon SiddiquiThe Bush administration is taking its pre-war dishonesty to new heights. After manipulating intelligence, exaggerating the Iraqi threat, it is busy insisting that night is day
Military Conflict Becoming A Private Enterprise
In Iraq the war is fought not just by the soldiers.It is subcontracted to private companies with close connections to powers that be in Washington
Rambhakti Unveiled
By Ram PuniyaniWhy is the meter of Rambhakti breaking the upper barriers whenever elections are announced?
Of Sense And Sanskrit
By J Sri RamanPolitics and ideology are driving the aggressive promotion of Sanskrit and this has given the language - the mother of many South Asian languages - an image it does not deserve
30 October, 2003
Up To 15,000 People Killed In Invasion
By Suzanne GoldenbergThe report, by Project on Defence Alternatives, a research institute from Cambridge, Massachussets, offers the most comprehensive account so far of how many Iraqis died
“This is a Resistance Movement,
Whether We Like It or Not”
By Robert FiskRobert Fisk talks to Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!
Our Friends, The Warlords
By Jonathan SteeleIn northern Afghanistan the US backs all sides in a continuing civil war
Outsourcing Culture
By Jeremy SeabrookCall centres may be creating thousands of jobs for Indians - but the price they pay is a loss of culture and alienation
A Saint Marches In...
By Poornima JoshiThe formidable Mahant Gyan Das builds up a popular resistance to the VHP
Hindutva's Strategic Crisis
By Praful BidwaiThe Sangh Parivar faces a strategic crisis after the failure of the "Sankalp Sammelan" and the isolation it faced in Ayodhya
29 October, 2003
The Two Brides Of Baghdad
By Gerard WrightLove blooms in the time of war. The slogan, "Lets make love, Not War", which echoed across the globe in every antiwar demonstration comes true in Baghdad. Two American GIs are under friendly fire for marrying Iraqis
Iraq's Guerrillas Learn The American Lesson
By Robert FiskThe Iraqi guerilla's have learnt a lesson from America's "war on terror". Kill the leadership.
Sunnis Wait For Their Moment
By Nir RosenWhat we see now in Iraq may not be organized sunni resistance
A Disastrous Dead End:The Geneva Accord
By Ali AbunimahIts creators have tried to sell the Geneva Accord as some sort of breakthrough, it is nothing of the sort. The document recycles the unworkable arrangements that Israel and the United States tried to impose at Camp David in July 2000
Human Rights Defenders:Fighting An Uphill Battle
Human rights defenders form the backbone of what might be an energetic and vibrant democratic polity. But the Indian State however does not look upon such activists as partners in the democratic process
Rape: National And international
By Valson ThampuThe rape of a Swiss embassy staffer in Delhi must be condemned.But what is neither acceptable nor understandable is the fact that tens of thousands of other rapes are simply glossed over
28 October, 2003
Slaughter In The Rush Hour
By Patrick CockburnSuicide bombers struck four times yesterday, slaughtering at least 35 and injuring 224 in the bloodiest day in the Iraqi capital since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein
Living On Lies
By Robert FiskAll American soldiers are supposed to believe that Osama bin Laden's "al-Qa'ida" guerrillas, pouring over Iraq's borders from Syria, Iran, Saudi Arabia are assaulting United States forces as part of the "war on terror"
Death Of Rafah
By Chris McGrealWith ruthless efficiency, the Israeli army has been crushing and rocketing the Palestinian refugee town of Rafah in a manner which rivals the destruction of Jenin last year
The Great Oil Grab
By Daurius FigueiraIn November 2001 President Hugo Chavez-Frias of Venezuela passed fifty laws, one of which was the Hydro Carbon Law. These fifty laws were the catalyst for the launch of the covert/ overt strategy to remove President Higo Chavez-Frias from state power by any means necessary
Literature Is Freedom
By Susan SontagThe Friedenspreis acceptance speech of Susan Sontag
The Seven Veils
By Dr Bhaskar DasguptaThe veil is a fascinating piece of clothing. It seems to be present in almost all cultures throughout the centuries. But using the name of God to oppress women is cowardly and should be shunned
Tagore And His India
By Amartya SenA tribute to Tagore by the Nobel luareate Amartya Sen
Gandhi: An Apostle Of Violence?
By C Rammanohar ReddyOne of the ads in the `India Shining' series put out by the Government of India quoting Mahatma Gandhi out of context as though he is exhorting the people to violence is the last in a series of efforts by the government to distort history
26 October, 2003
Road To Ruin
By Matthew EngelAmerica produces a quarter of the world's carbon dioxide emissions. What does the Bush administration do? It ignores all attempts to curb environmental damage. Here is a look at how America is Ravaging the Planet
The Flight To India
ByGeorge MonbiotThe jobs Britain stole from the Asian subcontinent 200 years ago are now being returned
25 October, 2003
Trafficking Human Misery
By Richard TylerEach year, some 1.2 million children are trafficked worldwide. 200,000 individuals are trafficked annually from eastern Europe, a significant proportion being children
Post-war Civilian Deaths In Baghdad
By Human Rights WatchThe U.S. military keeps no statistics on civilian casualties. Such an attitude suggests that civilian casualties are not a paramount concern. The Human Rights Watch report has several startling findings
False Case Against Mallika Sarabhai
A letter From Mallika SarabhaiGujarat government has framed yet another false case against Mallika Sarabhai to cow her down politically
Ayodhya's Forgotten Muslim Past
By Yoginder SikandHindutva ideologues insist that Ayodhya must be theirs alone. Reinventing tradition and myth, they claim that Ayodhya has always been Hindu, thus promoting it to the status of a Hindu Vatican. But it did have a Budhist and Muslim past
On Climate Change And Social Change
By Doyle CanningOur planet is literally falling apart at the seams
23 October, 2003
Turning The Holy City Into A fortress
By Chris McGrealDespite the UN's vote of condemnation, Sharon remains intent on redrawing Jerusalem's borders
One State: Threat Or Promise Of Peace?
By Hasan Abu-NimahIt is fairly right to assume that Israel would oppose the one-state option at any cost, because it would mean the end of the Jewish character of the state; the PNA would oppose it because it would end its monopoly on power; and the US would oppose it because Israel does. Why, then, should it be an option?
The Philippine Model
By Stephen R. ShalomBush was right when he suggested that looking at the U.S. record in the Philippines can help to illuminate what is in store for Iraq
And Then They Carved His Eyes Out
By Priya GanapatiStory of Dhanvir Yadav, 14 , who had his eyes gouged out with a sickle by a group of boys on the reported orders of a sarpanch of a nearby village
Little More Vibrancy And The Gujarat
Volcano Would Explode
By Digant OzaPeople of Gujarat are vibrating with anguish, agony and anger against Mody Government, ever since Congress and other secular parties presented on silver plate power in Gandhinagar to Bhartiya Janta Party, thanks to their stupid strategical mistakes
Ayesha And the Scarf
By Ram PuniyaniIts time we struggle against the deeper disease which gives rise to the symptom of terrorism rather than letting a particular religious community be demonized by the vested elements globally and locally
22 October, 2003
Global Trade Keeps A Billion Children In Poverty
By Maxine FrithMore than one billion young people in the developing world are now living in conditions of severe deprivation, according to a report for the Unicef
The Return Of Arabophobia
By Neil ClarkArabophobia has been part of western culture since the Crusades, with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden only the latest in a long line of Arab bogeymen
Is the Pope Crazy?
By Katha PollittIt's bad enough to argue that condoms are against God's will while millions die. But to maintain, falsely, that they are ineffective in order to discourage their use is truly immoral. If not insane
Rape Capital
By Soma WadhwaA series of gruesome rapes and sexual assaults in the last two months in New Delhi have served as rude reminders of how frighteningly unsafe the city has become for women
Survivor's Of Godhra Give VHP
The Cold ShoulderOf the 38 residents of Ramol Janata Nagar in Gujarat who went to Ayodhya in February 2002, only 28 returned. Ten were killed in the S-6 compartment of Sabarmati Express which was torched at Godhra on February 27. And the others who returned are disillusione with the VHP
21 October, 2003
The Government of India's directive to all internet service providers in the country to block access to the Yahoo! discussion group of the Hunniewrtep National Liberation Council of Meghalaya has had all the negative consequences usually associated with bumbling censorship
19 October, 2003
How They Got Rid Of The President In Bolivia
By Andrea Arenas Alípaz and Luis GómezGonzalo “Goni” Sánchez de Lozada had to resign from the Bolivian presidency after weeks of popular mobilizations, for having massacred the people, for lying and trying to hang on to power by all means necessary
Bowing Before Bush
By Chris MarsdenThe United Nations Security Council’s unanimous vote Thursday to support Resolution 1511 drafted by the United States represents a grotesque cave-in by the European powers, Russia and China in the face of sustained pressure from Washington
In The Shadow Of Inequality
By Nighat GandhiIslamic feminism, or the quest for Muslim women's rights within the framework of Islamic laws, should be seen as a starting point. It may enable them to step out of a world of ignorance, inequality, and indignity
17 October, 2003
One State, Two People
By Ali AbunimahPeace in Palestine through territorial partition is a doomed fantasy and the time has come to discard it. It is time to declare the era of partition over and commit to a moral, just and realisable vision in which Israelis and Palestinians build a future as partners in a single state which guarantees freedom, equality and cultural self-determination to all its citizens
Bush Gunning For Regime Change In Cuba
By Marjorie CohnIn a brazen move to solidify his electoral support among Cuban-Americans in Florida, George W. Bush is gunning for another "regime change." Last week, Bush announced the formation of a commission to "plan" for a Cuban change in government
The IMF And The Bolivian Crisis
By Tom KruseThe current crisis in Bolivia bears the imprint of IMF policies, both in terms of background conditions and immediate causes
16 October, 2003
Monsanto Retreats From Europe
By Steve ConnorMonsanto, the huge American biotechnology company which has pioneered GM crops, is withdrawing from many of its European operations
The Quartet 'Party' In Iraq
By Hazem SaghiehIs it possible to say that George W. Bush, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin Laden and Moqtada Al Sadr are affiliated to one 'party' whose objective is, regardless of the rhetoric, to fragment Iraq?
Neo-con or Just Plain Ol' Imperialism Unleashed?
By William BowlesWhat is a neo-con and what are the objectives of the so-called neo-conservative agenda? Most importantly, do their policies represent a radical departure from previous US strategy and if so, how and why?
US, Israel Destroying The UN System
By Hasan Abu NimahThe Arab group at the UN has three times in less than a month requested Council action to deal with ongoing Israeli aggression in the region. In no case was the Council able to properly discharge its essential duties or offer any meaningful help
Bus To Delhi
By Dr Mubashir HasanNothing exists in the world like Lahore-Delhi bus service. It is not an economic proposition but a political triumph of sorts. A personal account of the trip that the writer took from Lahore to Delhi