Asian Lite News Archive

Category: COLUMNS

  • Farage’s UKIP =  BNP in New Bottle

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    Farage couldn’t understand why people kept calling him a Nazi…writes Yaseen Patel Hot on the heels of Channel 4’s The First 100 days of UKIP’ which was a fictional account, if the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) ever come into power- incidentally also the most complained about programme ever comes another. The BBC’s ‘Meet the UKippers’. This…

  • Spectrum demystified

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    By Aparajita Gupta   The issue of spectrum has been in news in India with unfailing frequency in recent times, for reasons both right and wrong. What does this term mean? How does it affect lives, yours and mine? A primer: Radio frequency spectrum is a band of electromagnetic airwaves, used to transmit signals. It can…

  • What a comeback by Team India!

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    By Veturi Srivatsa  Where does one put one’s finger on for India staying unbeaten, winning all their five Pool B matches in the World Cup? For once, answers are easy. The major achievement is that the Indians bowled the opposition out in all matches with all-round performances. The batsmen gave enough for the bowlers to…

  • Breaking Bad – Manchester Style

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    What Jamshed Javeed showed was these ‘independent self taught revolutionaries’ are nothing but self centered suicidal narcissists hellbent not only on the annihilation of their own life but also of anybody else’s be that their own family and whoever else they’re in contact with…writes YZ Patel What the recent imprisonment of Levenshulme’s very own Walter…

  • DANGER FOR INDIA’S DAUGHTERS

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    BY BIKRAM VOHRA For some reason anything the BBC does is given great importance by the Indian mindset. Something to do with the ex-empire I reckon but we all respond with predictable indignation at their efforts to project India’s warts. A part of our psyche sees the BBC as the benchmark of quality and par…

  • India’s Daughter: A Note of Dissent

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      By Rajeev Poduval The government of India recently banned the documentary film Storyville: India’s Daughter by British filmmaker Leslee Udwin breathing life into an international discussion on the supposedly growing connoisseurship of rape and violence against women in the country. Undoubtedly, the brutality the film depicts is gruesome and raw. As the film takes…

  • Dirty politics in Aam Aadmi Party ?

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    Surprise will be felt because it was believed that the party had learnt the right lessons from the suicidal tendencies which it displayed after its electoral success last year. The need for piping down was evident from Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s call for eschewing arrogance during his speech after being sworn-in…writes Amulya Ganguli  For the Aam…

  • Saeed Naqvi on Modi’s Kashmir policy

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    Kashmir challenge: Modi could write history or blot it…writes Saeed Naqvi   A principal reason for Narendra Modi being swept to power in May was disgust with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh – indecisive, short on ideas, bereft of charisma and supervising a government of scams. In a house of 543, the Congress had 209…

  • Identity Politics & Radicalisation

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    Exploring this issue why someone is ‘radicalised’ gave no one universal answer why a individual decides to take the step into what is now known as ‘jihadism’ in the mainstream media. Investigating what makes a person inhabiting a seemingly comfortable existence with all the trappings and freedoms that are afforded to them, to partake in…

  • BBC DOCU – Don’t shoot the messenger!

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    Without even watching the documentary “India’s Daughter” about the Dec 16, 2012, rape of the woman who has come to be known as ‘Nirbhaya’ or ‘Braveheart’ in a bus in New Delhi, critics have accused BBC of “voyeurism” and worse for interviewing one of the convicted rapists…writes Arun Kumar  India’s ban on a BBC documentary on…

  • British Sikhs Hail Regiment Plan

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    The bravery of the Sikhs is recorded in the annals of history. The Battle of Saraghiri is one of the most famous where 21 Sikh soldiers kept 10,000 Afghan tribesmen at bay and fought until their last breath in defence of the British realm, rather than desert their posts. The Afghan tribesmen had expected to…

  • Mr Cage, please get out of the box

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    Cage’s research director Asim Qureshi told the media that the Jihadi John was in fact ‘beautiful and kind’ and it was the intimidation by the spooks that unhinged him, making him the callous, bloodthirsty butcher that we know of today …writes YZ Patel ‘Victim culture’. A recent inception where the onus of responsibility for any actions…

  • Invite the world to fight ISIS

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    By Saeed Naqvi West Asia becomes more mysterious by the minute. Who is fighting whom on whose behalf? The lines were always blurred. Now they are more so. Iraq’s army has just shot down two British planes as they were carrying weapons to the ISIS in Al Anbar province. How do we know this to…

  • Changing American views on Israel

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    By Saeed Naqvi  To win the March 17 Israeli elections or to postpone them , Benjamin Netanyahu is turning heaven and earth. Last month’s Israeli air strikes killed six Hezbollah commanders and an Iranian general in the Syrian town of Quneitra. The purpose was to invite retaliation. Warlike atmosphere would block Secretary of State John…

  • Rahul the fugitive prince

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    By Amulya Ganguli  There may be a deeper and more unsettling reason for Rahul Gandhi’s present farewell to active politics than the explanation that he has gone away to mull over the factors which led to the Congress’s recent electoral reverses. Even the reticent and reclusive heir apparent cannot be unaware that a spell far…

  • Top Asian Doctors Defend NHS Services

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    Asian Lite published a column by Dr Kailash Chand, deputy chair of the BMA council and a GP of 30 years service, challenging the NHS reforms of the coalition government. Here four prominent doctors –Dr Sheo B Tibrewal, Dr Johnson D’souza,  Dr Priyada Pandya and Dr Bashir Qureshi – supporting the reforms introduced by the…

  • Everybody’s responsibility is nobody’s responsibility

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    The girls were being ‘wilfully groomed’ in effect to buy into an ideology which seemed exciting and a world away from the everyday drudgery of school and all this was being done in the safety of their bedrooms…writes YZ Patel The eloping of Kadiza Sultana, 16, Amira Abase, 15, and Shamima Begum, 15,  the three…

  • A Message To Bibi: Enough Is Enough

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    Israel represents a sanctuary where any Jew is welcome, not a single non-Israeli Jew living outside Israel has appointed Netanyahu to be their spokesperson or protector….writes Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, a professor of international relations at the Center for  Global Affairs at NYU The killing of a security guard at a synagogue in Copenhagen over two weeks…

  • It all started from 1967 war

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    By Vikas Datta Wracked by insurrection and terrorism, the Middle East is going through a traumatic time but most of its problems can be traced to one short war between Arabs and Israelis nearly half a century ago, says a Pulitzer Prize-winning American historian who spent his formative years in the region. “The Middle East…

  • EXTREMISM: The tentacles are far reaching

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    What interfaith relations can be built when you hold every other faith with disdain and a total lack of respect is a anathema to me…writes YZ Patel Extremism as ITVs programme showed last week is not exclusive to the Islamic faith. The instant connection which is made by most would only link it to the…

  • ‘The Ballot Is Stronger Than The Bullet’

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    Dr. Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, comments on the latest developments in the Middle East The Israeli general election, scheduled for March 17, can be fateful for the Israeli Arabs as their voting en masse could change the political map and potentially prevent Netanyahu from forming the…

  • Cathy Newman – No place to hide

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    The Cathy Newman debacle is something that refuses to go away. Emails are constantly in my inbox since it was first published in the Huffington Post that the Channel 4  journalist had actually lied during the Muslim Council of Britains visit a mosque day initiative…writes YZ Patel People say to me.. Your columns carry a…

  • He lost because of himself

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    By Saeed Naqvi  Politicians and pundits across the country have been served notice by the Delhi electorate: please take a bow and make way. Mingled with the voter’s ecstasy is a primeval cry: we are tired of old politics. Meanwhile Kejriwal’s cup runneth over. “Dene waley mujhe dena hain to itna de de Phir mujhe…

  • Will Kejriwal deliver on his promises?

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    By Sreeparna Chakravarty   With the overwhelming vote from the people of Delhi in his favour, Chief Minister-designate Arvind Kejriwal has been saddled with the challenging responsibility of meeting the collective and varied aspirations of the 17 million residents inhabiting one of the world’s largest and most densely populated cities. Delhi’s unique position as a city-state…

  • Kiran Bedi is not the only reason

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    By M.R. Narayan Swamy It will be too tempting to solely blame it all on Kiran Bedi, the BJP’s chief ministerial candidate, for the party’s humiliating rout in Delhi. Nothing can be farther from the truth. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be committing a blunder if it does not accept the larger ugly reality…

  • ‘British values are Muslim values’

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    The Prince of Wales also spoke of his anxiety at the number of young British Muslims being radicalised by extremist preachers and the internet and the continued persecution of Christians in the Middle East. These concerns are deeply shared by British Muslims and British Imams have been very vocal in propounding that a sincere, intelligent and…

  • I, me, myself’ style backfires for Modi

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    By Amulya Ganguli  What the Delhi poll outcome has confirmed is that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) can be stopped in its tracks by a determined opponent, even one not as well-entrenched as established regional parties like the AIADMK, the Biju Janata Dal or the Trinamool Congress were in their respective states in last year’s…

  • Delhi defeat will hit hard BJP

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    By Prashant Sood   A defeat in the Delhi assembly elections, as predicted by exit polls, is bound to hit the BJP hard and shatter the aura of invincibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, analysts say. Although the Bharatiya Janata Party has declared that the Delhi outcome cannot be considered a referendum on Modi’s government, few…

  • Why AAP bounced back and not Congress?

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    By Amulya Ganguli Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had said after the Aam Admi Party’s (AAP) success in the 2013 Delhi elections that there was much to learn from the fledgling outfit and that the Congress will do so “in a way you cannot imagine”. More than a year later, when the AAP is again…

  • The Great Chasm

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    Why does the north/south divide in Great Britain continues to grow and what can be done to stop it? The reasons for this disparity are well documented. Economic prosperity in the south ? particularly in the Home Counties ? leads to better health, better education, better employment and life expectancy of nearly 20 years more…

  • AAP rises from the ashes

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    By M.R. Narayan Swamy  For a party that was written off after its humiliating rout in the Lok Sabha election, the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP) has seen a spectacular renewal ahead of the Delhi assembly polls. Irrespective of who actually wins the Saturday battle, the AAP is giving sleepless nights to the Bharatiya Janata Party…

  • Faith schools : Help or hindrance?

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    According to a report by the London School of Economics, Communities will best learn to live peacefully together if they grow up and learn together, respecting each other’s differences. Separation along religious lines they say invites division, racism and bigotry to develop, everything the government and every think tank is trying to circumvent. YZ Patel looks…

  • COLLATERAL DAMAGE

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    BY BIKRAM VOHRA Why is it that certain acts of terrorism and gratuitous violence simply slip off the news page while others garner attention? The obvious response would be that faceless people in weak nations or parts of nations who are already marginalized don’t really count. Consequently, a bomb explosion in upmarket Mall in some…

  • The forgotten Mahatma

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    By Brij Khandelwal  We remember Mahatma Gandhi only on October 2 and January 30. The symbolic spinning of the charkha, recital of bhajans and selling khadi at a discount are the only activities that remind us of him. For the rest of the year, Gandhi remains a forgotten Mahatma, deified like one of our numerous…

  • A Momentous Opportunity To Embrace The Arab Peace Initiative

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    BY Alon Ben-Meir  The Arab Peace Initiative (API) presents an unprecedented and vital opportunity to change the course of events in the Middle East by realizing an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement in the context of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace. At no time since the API was introduced in 2002 by Saudi Arabia has the development of…

  • Cyberbullying: The Dark Side of the Internet

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    Smartphones and technology can be used for a lot of good, but it is vital to be aware of how it can be used to sabotage a child’s development. Awareness is the first step to halting the aggression and being proactive can save a child from the debilitating consequences of online bullying. Hopefully, with a…

  • Why vote for Conservatives?

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    Within 100 days, Britain is going to elect the next government. It will be a tough fight in between Conservatives, Labour and other national parties. There are many issues at stake. Who is best for the Asian community? Who is sharing and respecting our values? The Conservative Government led by Prime Minister David Cameron, and…

  • Warsi Attack: Too little too late

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    When a personal plea was made by the mother of Abbas Khan to help in his release in Syria Ms (Baroness Sayeeda) Warsi suddenly claimed it was against government policy and declined to do so. Party policy was relevant to her principles on that occasion…writes YZ Patel Being in the political wilderness after her resignation…

  • ‘Modi’, ‘Barack’ chatted like old friends

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    By Ranjana Narayan  The friendly warmth and camaraderie between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Barack Obama was on full display as the two chatted and laughed like old friends over a two-hour period while watching India’s Republic Day parade and pageantry. A day after the two leaders – one the prime minister…

  • Abdullah a moderate who had to deal with Islamists

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    By C Uday Bhaskar The demise of the ailing Saudi Arabian monarch king Abdullah is a significant punctuation for the desert kingdom, the Arab-West Asian region and the extended Islamic world, which in turn has larger global implications. The royal transition has been effected and King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud has taken over the reins…

  • Tory bid to tackle extremism divides

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    The events in France condemned by everybody within these isles and beyond has not stopped the collusion by the Communities Minister Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon and Eric Pickles the Communities Secretary to do more to tackle extremism within the Muslim population of the UK…writes YZ Patel   Whenever anything happens that concerns the religion of peace then immediately…

  • Palestine in the ICC: A game changer?

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    By Hardeep S. Puri and Omar El Okdah The year 2014 ended with a cliff-hanger for the Israeli-Palestinian question. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas signed the Rome Statute on New Year’s eve, a day after a UN resolution mandating Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank failed to pass at the Security Council. As a result,…

  • Modi reassuring figure for Muslims

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    By Mohammed Shafeeq Narendra Modi is a reassuring figure for Indian Muslims but not the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) yet, says Zafar Sareshwala, the most high-profile Muslim aide of the prime minister. The Gujarati businessman, who took over as the new chancellor of Moulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU), believes Muslims are closer to Modi…

  • “Bibi’s Policies Fueling Anti-Semitism”

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    Alon Ben-Meir, professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU, comments on latest world events I am no longer surprised by what Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu says or does. No leader with any pride and sensitivity would have tried to exploit for political gain the tragic deaths of four French Jews who were…

  • The mirage of defence indigenisation

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    By Avishek Rakshit  While the hike in defence sector FDI to 49 percent and the ‘Make in India’ campaign have opened up newer possibilities for both indigenised equipment makers and joint ventures with foreign partners in the defence segment, the MSMEs are hamstrung by their inability to meet defence tender parameters and shortcomings in technology…

  • Tectonic shift in Cuban ties

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    By Amit Dasgupta  Crafted in extreme secrecy and brokered by Pope Francis, the thaw in US-Cuba relations is a tectonic shift in international relations and quite possibly the boldest initiative of 2014. So stunning and unexpected was the announcement that its implications are yet to be fully fathomed. In India, not surprisingly, the self-absorbed media…

  • CHARLIE HEBDO ATTACK: JE SUIS AHMED

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    BY BIKRAM VOHRA My name is Ahmed Merabet. Not Francois or Pierre or Gaston. Just Ahmed. I was a French policeman in Paris on duty when the gunmen struck the Charlie Hebdo magazine’s offices. They killed me in a spray of  bullets and in cold blood. I did my duty as an officer of the…

  • Only men can be lethally stupid!

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    The Funny Side by Nury Vittachi  If you play the movie “A Hard Day’s Night” backwards, it’s about four boys who wander through London making unearthly noises that cause huge crowds of girls to back away, screaming. It’s actually quite good that way. And the truth is, women should back away screaming when approached by men,…

  • Modi must resolve inner contradictions

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    By Amulya Ganguli  The year ended by confirming the BJP’s upward mobility when the alliance led by it secured a majority in the Jharkhand assembly and the party put up its best ever show in Jammu and Kashmir. But there is a hint in both the elections that the party’s ascent may not continue to…

  • AT ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT 

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    Daily Dose by Bikram Vohra You don’t have to listen to me, kid, said 2014, the young never do, but it’s tough holding out all year, even beauty queens have easier reigns. 2015 stuck his pin in his diaper and said, hey old man, but you better get going, you have a plane to catch,…