A man of peace
April 29, 2021
At a time when the world is suffering from immense religious hatred and intolerance, the passing away of Maulana Wahiduddin Khan is indeed an unfortunate omen for all of us.
Maulana Wahiduddin was born in Azamgarh UP in 1925. Always clad in a shalwar kameez with a thick beard and a white turban, Maulana to the outside would have looked like a fundamentalist cleric; however, his ideas and writings went on to influence a mammoth portion of the Muslim world. After the partition of united India in 1947, he joined Jamaat-e-Islami led by Syed Abu ul-Ala Maudoodi, and remained a key member of its core advisory council. In 1963 he parted his ways with the party due to some genuine differences with its leadership.
The writer is the author of No-Win War The Paradox of US-Pakistan Relations in Afghanistan’s Shadow.
IT is no more a secret. The two hostile neighbours have been talking to each other. Backchannel contacts between India and Pakistan have led to some melting of the ice. Over the past months, the guns have fallen silent along the Line of Control and the rhetoric is down on both sides.
It’s certainly a good omen for what is described as a most combustible region. But it may be too soon to expect any dramatic change in the situation given the nature of the beast. Wishing for peace is one thing but the reality cannot be overlooked.
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The writer is former Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Karachi and can be reached at [email protected]
When the UAE’s ambassador to Washington, in a virtual discussion with Stanford University’s Hoover Institution on April 14, took the credit of “bringing Kashmir escalation down and creating a ceasefire”, it reflected a shift in India’s policy on mediation. While India is silent on the claim, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, at a press conference in Dubai on April 18, ruled out ‘backchannel negotiations’ with India. However, he did admit that intelligence level talks were held between the two countries on contentious issues.
Saeed Naqvi | Recalling Iraq’s tragedy in 2003 & statesmanship of PM Vajpayee
Published : Apr 23, 2021, 12:00 am IST
Updated : Apr 23, 2021, 12:00 am IST
Worldview India’s journalists remember April 2003 for the kind of journalism Indians haven’t practised before or since
News
April 2003 was the cruellest month for the people of Iraq, a month of reflection on Pakistan by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and a rare opportunity for Worldview India, a group of Indian journalists who helped lift the mist from the month’s historic events.
The Americans occupied Iraq by April 3. Vice-president Dick Cheney, the real author of the operation, was eager to declare victory on April 9. It had to be a spectacular media event. After all, Mr Cheney embedded 300-plus journalists with the US military.