The collapse of the ceasefire in Kashmir, unilaterally proclaimed by the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen on July 24, was inevitable. India demanded surrender instead of seizing a fine opportunity for initiating a process of peace and conciliation in which India would have retained an upper hand. India's interests would have remained secure and it could have pulled off a settlement that would have established peace on the subcontinent.
A circular has been sent by the University Grants Commission to the central universities and other institutions asking them to identify sensitive areas in different disciplines so that foreign scholars can be prevented from doing research in these areas. Involved here is the issue of freedom of speech and expression. That right vests in the Indian citizen - the right to receive information and knowledge.
Japan's foreign policy has of late acquired significant new nuances. The nuclear issue apart, there is a distinctive Japanese perspective on south Asia, though there is little effort in India to appreciate its subtleties.
The media, with notable exceptions, has neglected enquiring into rights violations, generally accepting official explanations. It needs to be more alert to such events and also to the state's moves to introduce legislation that threatens to curtail journalists rights.
Problem Pursuit of Peace in Sri Lanka: Past Failures and Future Prospects edited by K M de Silva and G H Peiris; International Centre for Ethnic Studies, Kandy, Sri Lanka in association with the United States Institute of Peace, Washington, DC.
Towards Freedom: Documents on the Movement for Independence in India 1938 edited by Basudev Chatterji; Indian Council for Historical Research and Oxford University Press, Parts I (pp 1038), II (pp 1039-2282), III (pp 8,500 per set.
Protection of minorities is both a right and a responsibility of every member of society. Minority Rights Group, based in London, promotes minority rights by researching and publishing on the issue and raising awareness.
Intolerance of dissent from the orthodoxy of the day has been the bane of Indian society for centuries. But it is precisely in the ready acceptance of the right to dissent, as distinct from its mere tolerance, that a free society distinguishes itself.
