Mr Rajiv Gandhi must be an innocent abroad if he truly needed reverses in the recent by-election to appreciate the magnitude of the decline of the Congress party even as an election machine. Surely he is not such an innocent despite his relatively brief experience in politics. Surely he would … Read More
President Zia faces a problem of unknown dimensions as a result of the Pakistan supreme court’s judgment that political parties are entitled to participate in elections without having to submit themselves to humiliating and crippling conditions. While it is difficult to say how the General will respond to this challenge, … Read More
At long last the Americans are beginning to be concerned over president Zia-ul-Haq’s dangerous moves in respect of Afghanistan. The Washington Post has quoted an US official to say that the Reagan administration is considering the appointment in Islamabad of a whole-time diplomat to assess the situation in Afghanistan and … Read More
The SGPC executive claims to have met at an undisclosed place and adopted some resolutions. The resolutions run true to form, one of them claiming that the SGPC is answerable only to the Sikh community and not to the government, and another condemning the recent ordinance banning the use of … Read More
It is still a matter of speculation whether differences over Afghanistan figured prominently in President Zia-ul-Haq’s decision to dismiss Prime Minister Junejo. But there can be no question that President Zia has all along been determined to place his nominees in office in Kabul and that he proposes to use … Read More
A great deal of unnecessary confusion has arisen over the SGPC executive’s move to remove the Akal Takht chief, Mr Jasbir Singh Rode, and the other head priests and replace them with nominees of the United Akali Dal. This confusion could have been avoided if in the wake of the … Read More
Yet another remarkable product of the freedom movement has left the scene forever. It will be less than honest to list him among the great the struggle threw up; D.P. Mishra was more a close lieutenant of Sardar Patel than of Mahatma Gandhi, who alone in modern India has shaped … Read More
Behind its show of defiance of the government, the executive of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee has staged a volte face which amounts to an endorsement of the measures the authorities have taken in the fight against terrorism and secessionism in Punjab. This represents a major victory for the Indian … Read More
Having flushed out the terrorists from the Golden Temple, the government faces a dilemma to which there can be no neat solution. If it is legitimately keen to ensure that the Khalistanis are not able to use the temple complex as a sanctuary and fortify it, for the third time, … Read More
Pakistan has denied the New York Times report that it has tested an indigenously designed missile, capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and hitting Delhi and Bombay and Pentagon in Washington has reinforced this denial. But that cannot quite settle the issues raised by the report. To begin with, the … Read More
