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Terrible Thursday: on Pulwama terror attack As India  mourns  the death of 40 CRPF personnel in Thursday’s terrorist strike in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, it is clear that the attack was meant to provoke. The Jaish-e-Mohammed, the Pakistan-based terrorist organisation which has  orchestrated  numerous strikes in the Kashmir Valley, has taken responsibility for what is now the highest toll of security forces in any attack in the State. Investigations should yield a better picture, but it is a matter of extreme concern that a suicide bomber could time his attack to hit a security convoy. There is no question that Pakistan bears the onus to explain why Masood Azhar, the leader of the Jaish-e-Mohammed, enjoys such freedoms on its territory, if not  outright  support from the establishment. Certainly,  diplomatic  backing by Pakistan and China has been crucial in defeating efforts at the United Nations to put Azhar on the list of banned t...

Well oiled — on Saudi Crown Prince’s India visit Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman visits India next week at a time when both countries are seeking to deepen  bilateral  cooperation. For MBS, as he is widely known, the visit to India, Pakistan, China, Malaysia, and Indonesia is an opportunity to re-assert Saudi Arabia’s role as a major foreign policy player in Asia amid growing  criticism  over the Yemen war and the brutal assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul. For the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the visit, with general elections approaching, is an opportunity to cap its  pursuit  of stronger ties with West Asian nations on a high note. High-level visits between India and Saudi Arabia have become the new normal since King Abdullah came to India in 2006, the first Saudi monarch to do so in five decades. Four years later, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh travelled to Riyadh. Mr. Modi visited Riyadh in 2016; last year, h...

Ageing revolution: on discontent in Iran Iran has concluded the formal celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Islamic  revolution  at a time when the  regime  is under serious global, regional and domestic pressure. The  theocratic regime, established by Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in 1979, struck a defiant note by mobilising a huge rally in Tehran and repeating its familiar anti-West  rhetoric.  But Iran’s leaders are under pressure with a weak economy and social tensions rising at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is becoming increasingly hostile towards Tehran. The fact that the Islamic Republic has survived four decades is telling. Over these years, Iran saw an eight-year-long war with Iraq, near-total  isolation  in West Asia, and economic hardships. The Iranian regime turned some of these challenges into opportunities — as in the case of the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war — and made substantial changes in certain sector...

Welcome shift: on Muzaffarpur shelter home trial The Supreme Court’s order transferring the trial in the Muzaffarpur shelter home case from Bihar to a court in Delhi is a welcome  intervention  to ensure justice for the children who were sexually  exploited.  The Central Bureau of Investigation had argued that the trial would not be fair if it was held in Muzaffarpur. In shifting it to a court notified under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act at Saket in Delhi, the apex court has once again  demonstrated  its lack of confidence in the Bihar government. It had transferred the investigation from the State police to the CBI. Later, it asked the agency to take over the probe in respect of 16 other shelter homes for children, destitute women, and senior citizens. These interventions had become necessary, given the apparent  apathy  of the authorities in Bihar even after horrific instances of physical and sexual exploitation came to...