Clearly the Joint Parliamentary Committee has not settled the controversy regarding the alleged payoffs in the Bofors gun deal to the satisfaction of the general public, not to speak of the government’s critics. Indeed, even those who do not subscribe to the charge that it has done a whitewash would … Read More
Mr Rajiv Gandhi has sprung a big surprise on the country. It is doubtful if anyone outside the small circle of his aides, if there, could have anticipated that he was about to invite President Najibullah for a discussion of the post-Geneva accord situation in Afghanistan. To be candid, we … Read More
Finally the government of India has spoken about Pakistan’s deep involvement with the terrorists in Punjab with the necessary firmness. This inevitably raises the question why it has been so muted in its response all this time. Only Mr Rajiv Gandhi can answer this question. One point is, however, reasonably … Read More
Last Tuesday, the authorities in Punjab arrested Mr Kuldeep Singh Arora, a UNI correspondent in Amritsar, under the National Security Act. The very next day, a number of organisations of journalists or their office-bearers issued statements condemning the government action as an attack on the freedom of the press and … Read More
Baisakhi has come and gone, leaving the Punjab scene as confused and confusing as before. For reasons known only to it, the Union government had clearly pinned hopes on the convention the jathedar of the Akal Takht, Mr Jasbir Singh Rode, had convened in Bhatinda on that day. We do … Read More
Finally an agreement of sorts has been hammered out in Geneva on Afghanistan. When signed in a few days, it will provide the Soviet Union a face-saver. Under it, Moscow will be able to withdraw its troops without having to acknowledge the plain fact that it has failed to pacify … Read More
It was only to be expected that the visiting US defence secretary, Mr. Frank Carlucci, would not commit himself on the level of American military assistance to Pakistan in the wake of the proposed Soviet troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. For one thing, the situation in respect of Afghanistan itself is … Read More
The Geneva discussions on Afghanistan under U.N. auspices have taken a bizarre turn, with the Soviets suggesting that the US need not co-guarantee the agreement and the Pakistanis insisting on such an American guarantee. So it is not possible to say whether or not a formal agreement will be reached … Read More
President Venkataraman deserves to be commended for readily giving his assent to the 59th amendment of the Constitution which authorizes the government not only to extend President’s Rule in Punjab by another two years but also impose emergency in the state, if it deems it necessary. A decision to delay … Read More
