Courtesy: Gateway House
Kartarpur is an exemplary achievement of bilateral discussion over two decades. For the faithful, it is an emotional reconnection with the life of Guru Nanak, now made into a grand memorial. For others, on both sides of the border, it is a neutral place where they can renew contact with long-lost relatives. The author, who visited Kartarpur a month after its inauguration, was witness to the joy and aura of collective worship
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The United States’ decision to rebuild Afghanistan’s ring road was a change of strategy from its earlier focus on countering terrorism. But the road remains in a state of disrepair because the U.S.’ commitment to the cause has wilted
Courtesy: Gateway House
Bombay’s Pathan community was most visible from the 19th century until India’s partition in 1947. Taking to hard labour with a natural ease, they worked mostly in mills and as security staff. Others went into business. Their numbers have thinned now, but they have retained their cultural identity, holding fast to feudal codes of conduct
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Bangladesh fulfills an important stabilising role in South Asia. It has been able to perform this function in the last decade because of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s efforts to fortify the domestic scenario by first cracking down on terror outfits – and their political fronts. The clean-up was necessary, but a robust Opposition and democratic institutions need to be nourished too
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The protests sweeping the world have reached Pakistan. The issues are similar, such as corruption and rising living costs, but there are significant differences between the Pakistani and global protests.
Courtesy: Forum 2000
Peaceful dissent was the original animus for the formation of the Forum 2000 Foundation. Started by the late Czech dissident Vaclav Havel, the conference, held in Prague every September, offers a platform to experts and activists from around the world to revisit ideas about pacifism and protest
Courtesy: Sameer Patil
On a week-long October visit to Jammu and Kashmir, the author found both clarity and complexity among the citizens about their new status, and that the practicalities of daily life are more compelling than ideology
Courtesy: MEA/Flickr
Bangladesh prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India earlier this month, resulting in seven new agreements, showed the strength of the mutual relationship. But both governments need to address some rankling issues: the sharing of the Teesta waters, the Rohingya problem and repatriation of the illegal people from Assam
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The United Nations’ Paris Agreement of 2015 had nations committing to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to slow the rise in global temperatures. But terrestrial geoengineering – or the use of “carbon capture” technologies and developing carbon sinks to remove gases already in the atmosphere – and atmospheric climate engineering are technologies which also seek to slow global warming
Courtesy: Harper Collins
This is a grippingly written account of a not very widely documented episode from the Indo-Pakistan war of 1971: ‘Operation X’ was a naval commando operation, executed by a brave band of Bangladeshi freedom fighters. But it also marked a turning point in the war – and in the way India was to fight future wars