The Londoner

Unmistakably, the recent upheaval in Kashmir, occasioned by an expression of a submerged freedom sentiment, and tainted with blood, has brought a tectonic shift in the public opinion in India. Although the recent unrest has not engendered a similar response elsewhere in the world, there is no gainsaying that Kashmiri’s main target audience resides not in the capitals of Western or Eastern countries- whose foreign policy priorities are dictated by their national interests- but in their own backyard. In pursuit of their freedom objectives, Kashmiris need to engage their would-be emancipators who live across Kashmir’s borders in India and Pakistan. The public in India needs education on the ground situation in Kashmir. Thanks to privatization of TV channels a new generation of Indian journalists, for example NDTV’s incisive Burkha Dutt, is slowly but steadily arriving on the scene. In a perfect world, the Indian TV channels would be expected to telecast the events in Kashmir as faithfully...

SRINAGAR, India (AFP) — Indian police clashed with stone-throwing protesters in the Kashmiri summer capital on Sunday, a day after a demonstrator died in similar anti-India rallies. Police fired teargas and used batons as scores of young Kashmiris, angry at the death of the Muslim man, threw rocks at riot police in Srinagar, police and witnesses said. "A few people were injured," police officer Pervez Ahmed said. The 20-year-old man was killed Saturday when police fired rubber bullets and teargas at hundreds of demonstrators in Srinagar. In the past few months, the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley has experienced the biggest separatist rallies since the revolt against New Delhi's rule erupted in 1989. The recent wave of unrest was triggered by a state government plan to donate land to a Hindu shrine trust in the valley. The decision was later reversed after massive Muslim protests, angering Hindus. Last Sunday, the government agreed to temporarily provide land to the trust ...

ISLAMABAD: Election Commission of Pakistan has officially notified Asif Ali Zardari as winning candidate in presidential election by securing 481 votes of electoral college. According to official results announced by EC here on Saturday PLM (N) candidate Saeeduz Zaman Siddique secured 153 votes and Mushahid Hussain Syed of PML(Q) secured 44 votes. Chief Election Commissioner Justice (Retd) Qazi Muhammad Farooq announcing official results said that keeping in view importance of Presidential election, Chief Justices of four provincial High Courts were assigned duty of Presiding Officers. He said that Chief Justices of respective province not only presided over the provincial assemblies meeting but also handled other issues in best manner. He himself presided over the joint sitting of the parliament (National Assembly and Senate) in Islamabad. President is elected by electoral college which comprises of members of National Assembly, Senate and the four provincial assemblies. He said the p...

QUETTA, Sept 2 (APP) : Balochistan Minister for Information, Muhammad Younas Mullazai said on Tuesday that Co-chairman PPP Asif Ali Zardari would be returned as President and his success in the presidential election would strengthen the federation and democracy in the country. Talking to APP here, the Minister hailed the passing of the resolution unanimously in Balochistan Assembly in which endorsed the Co-chairman PPP as the most suitable candidate for the slot of the Presidency. He said that Zardari after being elected as President would resolve all political problems through reconciliation process in the country. Mullazai said that Asif Zardari had demonstrated affectively his political insight after the martyrdom of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto and the nation got rid of a dictator due to political struggle of the Co-chairman PPP. He said that it was need of the hour to elect Asif Ali Zardari as President of Pakistan who deserved for the Presidency. He demanded of all the politicians to s...

Asif Ali Zardari is expected to be sworn in as Pakistan's president today. This caps a remarkable rise from jail, exile and his wife Benazir Bhutto's assassination nine months ago. The controversial frontrunner won more than two-thirds of the vote among law-makers, taking power in the world's only nuclear-armed Islamic state. In a short TV address, he said his triumph was a victory for democracy, a barbed reference to former military ruler Pervez Musharraf, whose resignation triggered the election. But the militant threat in the country was underscored in the northwestern city of Peshawar during voting, when a suicide car-bomber rammed a police checkpost, killing 35 and wounding more than 80. The explosives-packed pickup truck blew up at a police checkpoint. Police said a huge amount of explosives was used, so a more important target might have been planned. TV footage showed a blast crater 1m deep, ruined vehicles and debris scattered widely. Some buildings in a nearby mar...

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and remain deeply divided over the World War I deaths of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, the predecessor of Turkey. Their border has also been closed for more than a decade. "I believe my visit has demolished a psychological barrier in the Caucauses," Gul was quoted as telling reporters on his plane while returning from his trip to Yerevan for a football match. "If this climate continues, everything will move forward and normalise," he said, without elaborating. Turkish and Armenian ties have for years been poisoned by Yerevan's claims that up to 1.5 million Armenians were systematically killed by Ottoman Turks between 1915-1917 when their empire was falling apart. Turkey rejects the allegation and says that 300,000-500,000 Armenians and at least as many Turks died in civil strife when Armenians took up arms for independence in eastern Anatolia and sided with invading Russian troops. But Gul said neither the dispute...