Articles by Gautam Navlakha

Judge Pramod Dattaram Kode while convicting Sunjay Dutt in the Bombay bomb blasts case agreed with prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam’s contention that the AK-56 was a “weapon of mass destruction” (WMD). He said that “its possession was an eminently dangerous act and the offence was serious”.

In late 2006, the Indian army released its first ever doctrine on sub-conventional operations, i e, internal operations. This article critiques the document.

Prolonged deployment of the armed forces in the "disturbed areas" causes stress among the personnel, leading to killing of colleagues and suicides. This is a reflection of the use of military force in such areas, the solution for which is a shift in the country's politics so that there is an end to military suppression in the "disturbed areas".

In the aftermath of the bomb blasts in Mumbai's suburban trains on July 11 the government put Syed Salahuddin, the head of the Hizbul Mujahideen, on the list of some 20 persons to be handed over to India by Pakistan. But HM is considered an indigenous resistance force even by the People's Democratic Party and the National Conference. It has come out openly against the use of violent acts that hurt the public and favours strict adherence to the code of conduct announced by the United Jehadi Council.

One needs to question the propriety of official promotion of the Amarnath yatra, for the pilgrimage now involves the movement of over 5,00,000 pilgrims in an ecologically fragile area. The Indian government views the yearning for moksha (salvation) that takes so many devotees to the challenging heights of Kashmir as "a fitting gesture of solidarity with our, valiant soldiers", elevating the pilgrimage to a patriotic enterprise. A bigger mess seems to be in the making even as secular concerns go unheeded.