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The controversy over Padma Awards 2022

Written on January 30th, 2022 in Editor's page by heidi

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By K N Pandita

This year’s Padma award event has met with some clumsiness. Two things have happened and both have given the nation moments of anxiety. The first is the rejection of the Padma Bhushan award that the government had announced in favour of former Chief Minister of West Bengal, Shri Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee. The second is the row over Ghulam Nabi Azad, the senior Congress leader being nominated as the recipient of Padma award. Continue Reading…

Kazakhstan disturbances: A warning bell in the CARs

Written on January 13th, 2022 in Editor's page by heidi

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By K N Pandita

The sudden eruption of public disturbances in Zhanaozen, the western town in the Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan on January 2 last, and its quick proliferation in the rest of the Republic is the first signal of public disapproval of structured governance which the CARs inherited from the Soviets. Continue Reading…

Pakistan-Taliban bonhomie under stress

Written on January 13th, 2022 in Editor's page by heidi

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By K N Pandita

The Afghans were not very happy with the creation of the Dominion called Pakistan to the east of their country as a result of the partition of India in August 1947. They had more than one reason to be cheerless. The newly created dominion was the handiwork of the colonial power which the Afghans did not trust. The Durand Line drawn by the British meant dividing the Pukhtoon community that lived on either side of the line. Afghans knew that “divide and rule” was the old game of the colonial power and the Durand Line had no other purpose for the British. Continue Reading…

India and Central Asian Republics to forge close relations

Written on January 13th, 2022 in Editor's page by heidi

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By K N Pandita

India belatedly woke to the importance of establishing closer and more favourable relations with the Central Asian Republics after they declared their independence in 1991. Perhaps India wanted to play discreetly with the imploded Soviet Union from which five Central Asian and two Trans-Caspian States separated to form sovereign republics. The Central Asian region, traditionally known as Turkestan, had remained almost out of bounds for the outside world during the Soviet era. India was no exception although the Soviets had generously allowed her to open a notional cultural office in Tashkent, the capital of the State of Uzbekistan. Continue Reading…