Contours of emerging US strategy in Af-Pak: Rediff.com India News

• Rediff.com India News

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  • All in all the most likely scenario in Af-Pak seems to be a continuing civil war-like situation in Afghanistan and a real possibility that the present counter-insurgency in Pakistan also degenerating into internal revolt in south Punjab and the North West Frontier Province. A bruised Pakistan army may well think of taking over the reins again but this time at the behest of the Taliban and not Americans. A Taliban-like regime in Pakistan/Afghanistan seems the most likely outcome.

    What this means to the world at large and India in particular is worth pondering. It appears to me, as some American military analysts have been thinking for a while, that the long-lasting solution to the Af-Pak situation is balkanisation of the region -- a Bangladesh-type solution.

    Colonel (retired) Anil Athale is Chhatrapati Shivaji Fellow of the United Services Institution and coordinator of Pune based Inpad.

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The Pioneer > > A non event foretold

• The Pioneer
  

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  • Rajeev Srinivasan
  • The Prime Minister’s visit to the US shows that if India cannot articulate a vision about its being one of the poles in a multipolar world, it does not deserve any respect. Those who can’t assert themselves deserve vague platitudes and dinners where gatecrashers can casually walk in
    
    It is not clear why some are disappointed by the non-event of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Washington, DC. In fact, a sigh of relief is in order, as there was no major faux pas, which is customary when the Prime Minister and his Sancho Panzas sally forth abroad. No, the soporific, meaningless joint statement was better than the abject surrender of some major national interest, as in Havana 2006 and Sharm el-Sheikh 2009.

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(Part 1 of 2) Devotees of Amar Nath: Revolutionary Pioneers of a People’s Movement, by Bhagyashree Chanda Sathye | Tattva

• Tattva

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  • Part 1/2 of a first person account of the Epic 62-day struggle to get a land grant for the Lord Amar Nath (Shiva) Shrine located near Jammu city, India.
  
  • Around half a million people participate in the movement led by Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti (SASS) for the J&K Government to restore land to the ANSB.
  • the rallies on August 18, 19 and 20, 2008, were attended by literally hundreds of thousands of people. 250,000 women, and 1, 35,000 children also participated in these mammoth meetings. These numbers, as reported by the media, are simply too large to fathom.

  • END OF PART 1

    (Part 2 will be published in February 2010)

    Bhagyashree Chanda Sathye is a full-time worker of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti based in Maharashtra, India.

Chikmagalur: ‘Datta Jayanti’ Celebration Concludes without Untoward Incidents

• D A I J I W O R L D  :  Chikmagalur: ‘Datta Jayanti’ Celebration Concludes without Untoward Incidents

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  • Curtains fell on this year’s ‘Datta Jayanti’ celebrations on Tuesday December 1. The district administration, bending under pressure from the government, provided for the darshan of the ‘Dattapduke’ by the devotees, although this was not scheduled to be permitted as per the earlier plan. Widespread security arrangements were in place to control the mobs that included devotees who were wearing the ‘Datta Mala’ around their necks. People started making a beeline for the cave shrine since the early morning, notwithstanding chilly weather.

    Special puja, oblation etc., were performed by keeping the idol of Lord Dattatreya and Paduke at a place adjacent to Datta Peetha. The ‘Poornahuti’ at the oblation on Tuesday signalled the culmination of the ‘Datta Jayanti’ rituals including Anusuya Jayanti, ‘begging’ by Datta devotees, Bhajan troupe going around the town, holding of a procession, etc.

Now Chidambaram's turn to clash with Opposition

• fullstory

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  • Home Minister P Chidambaram today exchanged angry words in the Rajya Sabha with Opposition BJP which objected to his statement on "Hindu militancy".
    
    Trouble began when Chidambaram said the government would follow a "zero tolerance" policy for "Jihadi terrorism" or "Hindu militancy".
    
    BJP's objection was why the Home Minister was refraining from using the term "Islamic terrorism" though he used the words "Hindu terrorism" during his reply to the debate on the internal security.
    
    Interruptions by BJP angered Chidambaram who said, "I cannot modify my argument to please the BJP. My argument is that terrorism is inspired by religious groups - whether by Hindu religious groups or Islamic religious groups".

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