Mr. Devraj Urs has denied that Congress (U) ministers are likely to resign from the caretaker government in New Delhi. He may well be right. But since the government is not going to take any important decision in the next two weeks, it makes no difference whether they stay or … Read More
Only the naive could have expected a smooth transition to democracy in South Korea following President Park Chung Hee’s assassination on October 26. For they alone could have believed that the semi-dictatorial set-up was the handiwork of just that one individual, that he kept it going on the strength of … Read More
It can safely be said that in no previous election to the Lok Sabha has the Muslim voter been wooed so assiduously by major parties as this time. Several factors account for this development. Though Mrs. Gandhi is apparently more popular among the Muslims than any other political leader, no … Read More
Since the beginning of the insurrection in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s involvement in it has been common knowledge. It has repeatedly denied the charge. But that has not carried conviction in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. It has allowed thousands of rebels to cross the frontier at will and … Read More
Ever since August 20 when Mr. Charan Singh failed to appear in the Lok Sabha to seek and secure a vote of confidence we have held that he was a caretaker prime minister and his government a caretaker government. We have also held that while he and his council of … Read More
No one who watches developments in Pakistan can be surprised that an Indian diplomat in Islamabad should have been waylaid, blindfolded, taken first to a police station and then somewhere else, badly beaten, denied access to his embassy for hours and then dumped at his residence well after midnight. Darkness … Read More
Nothing concentrates a politician’s mind as well as an impending election. It helps remove the cobwebs in the form of principles, previous commitments and loyalties and focus attention on his most basic need, the need to survive. In conformity with this law (of the jungle, if you will), a number … Read More
Saudi Arabia’s rulers are keeping a strict check on the flow of information. As such it is difficult to find out what has been happening there. One has to piece together sketchy reports that manage to leak out to form any kind of picture. The resulting scenario is inevitably incomplete … Read More
America’s decision to withdraw “non-essential” staff from a number of Muslim countries is symptomatic of a crisis in its foreign policy. The move admits of two interpretations. First, the US administration has been shaken by the capture of its embassy and the continued captivity of its diplomats in Teheran, the … Read More
