‘Political Issues’ Archives
On Leadership and Government
Recently, I was privileged to hear Dr. Abdul Kalam speak at The Indus Entrepreneurs (TIE) event in Seattle on the topic “Entrepreneurs in a nation’s development: Vision 2020.” In the context of Vision 2020, his vision of a developed India, Dr. Kalam spoke on leadership and his ideas on how to counteract corruption in India. His thoughts on [...]
Hit Pakistan army where it hurts — its funding
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited Islamabad and gave 6 million pounds (about Rs 433 million) to Pakistan's government as a reward for the attacks on Mumbai, carried out by trained Pakistani militants. Not that Gordon Brown meant to encourage terrorism. Quite the contrary. The funds were given to Pakistan for counter-terrorism support. [...]
The Crisis of Governance: What India can learn from America
We have been busy learning many a thing in adopting a Western lifestyle—among these consumerism, new means of environmental destruction and a fragmenting social structure—yetwe haven’t emulated the American systems that are far more effective than those in India today—the systems of local governance. These systems of governance reflect a [...]
Are Indians Corrupt?
In his recent Republic Day address, Indian president Abdul Kalam spoke about what has become a hot topic in India today. He said: “…There are only three members of the society who can remove corruption… They are father, mother and elementary school teacher.” The implication of his remarks is that widespread problem of corruption in [...]
Why India Is A Nation
Introduction One of the oft-repeated urban myths that sometimes pops-up in conversation even among many educated, well meaning Indians is that India as a nation is a British creation. The argument goes roughly as follows – India is an artificial entity. There are only a few periods in history when it was unified under the same political [...]
The Speech Musharraf Won’t Make
President Musharraf has made many speeches. This is the speech that (were he to make it) would change the course of Indo-Pakistan relations. Unfortunately, it would take a greater leader than Musharraf to make this speech. Here it is, with the hope that it may still get some Pakistani ears . I begin in the name of Allah, the most Beneficent, [...]
Who Killed Daniel Pearl?
Author's note: I started writing this article, with the above title, before it was announced that Daniel Pearl was killed. Since then this fact has apparently been confirmed, which makes the thesis of this article even more relevant. That Daniel Pearl was dead had become increasingly likely for some time. Enough clues were available that Daniel [...]
