Opinion

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: End of an era

01/03/2026
Asad Mirza Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (1939–2026), the second Supreme Leader of Iran, was killed on February 28, 2026, during coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes on Tehran. His death was confirmed by the Iranian state media on March 1, 2026, following an initial announcement by US President Donald Trump. Khamenei was killed at his office in a joint operation known as "Operation Epic Fury". Several other high-ranking officials, including the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guar...

Israeli-American attack on Iran:A prelude to the destruction of the Middle East

01/03/2026
Asad Mirza The latest attacks by Iran and Israel on each other heralds a horrific and decisive phase in the verbal duel between the two. It is no longer just a traditional fight of words between two countries, but is leading to a permanent change in the geographical and political map of the Middle East. 1. From historical background to direct confrontation For almost four decades, Israel and Iran have fought a "shadow war" against each other, which included cyber-attacks, targeted ...

From the Abraham Accords to South Asia: Realignment, Escalation

01/03/2026
Dr Shabir Choudhry The current turbulence in the Middle East is not an isolated eruption of violence. It is the visible phase of a deeper structural transformation that began years ago with shifting alliances, normalisation agreements, and recalibrated power balances. The question now confronting policymakers is not merely whether the conflict will intensify within West Asia, but whether its consequences will extend into South Asia. The concern is not about tanks moving across contine...

Backgrounder: Nepal Elections

01/03/2026
Asad Mirza Nepal will go to the polls on March 5 to elect a new government. Nearly 19 million people will take part in the ballot for Nepal's House of Representatives. The general election will be the first the country has held since the youth-led anti-corruption protests toppled the government in September 2025. The republic has since been governed by an interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki, which promised to hold fresh elections and hand over power within si...

Merz Shows The Mirror To Trump

23/02/2026
Asad Mirza In the backdrop of a continuous barrage of new American interpretations of the global law, threats and actions against unfriendly states, at least one leader has tried to show a mirror to the American President Donald Trump. Under Trump’s rule in the last 13 months most of the taken for granted American principles have been thrown to the winds, followed by his whimsical diktats. But at the recently held Munich Security Conference (February 13 to 15), the German Chancellor Fr...

Christianity and Islam Share The Fasting Month in 2026

20/02/2026
Asad Mirza Two largest religions of the world, i.e. Christianity and Islam started their most important period of fasting in a year on the same day this year. This rare convergence comes after a gap of 33 years. The Islamic month of Ramadan and Christianity’s 40 -day period of fasting called Lent, stated on 18 February this year. The last time the convergence happened was in 1993. Millions of Christians worldwide observe Lent, a 40-day period of prayer, fasting, reflection and s...

Israel’s aggression Continues Unabated in West Bank

17/02/2026
Asad Mirza Israel unabatedly continues its expansionist policy in the West Bank. The US, United Nations and several Arab states have criticised Israel as it expands powers in the occupied West Bank by allowing Jewish Israelis to buy West Bank land directly, and extending greater Israeli control over areas where the Palestinian Authority exercises power. A White House official has reiterated Donald Trump’s opposition towards Israel annexing the West Bank, after Israeli plans were...

Rise Of Jamaat-e Islami In Bangladesh And Its Impact On India

16/02/2026
Asad Mirza The much-anticipated election results from Bangladesh are out. The BNP has secured 209 seats, while the Jamaat-e-Islami won 68, as the Election Commission disclosed the unofficial election results for 297 constituencies. But the scale of the win surprised some observers, given expectations of a tighter race and wins by Jamaat-e-Islami. The keenly watched elections in Bangladesh were important, not just for the country but for the region as a whole. At the centre of this ...

Defence Budget Hiked Significantly

04/02/2026
Asad Mirza While presenting the budget for FY 2026-27, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman earmarked a record ₹7.85 lakh crore allocation for the county’s defence sector, post-Operation Sindoor. The increase in the defence outlay in the recent budget, was in the backdrop of "historic success of Operation Sindoor" which has further strengthened our resolve to make India's defence system even more robust, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said. In a decisive push to strengthen nati...

Indian Armed Forces Prepare for Strategic Sacrifice

01/02/2026
By Fatima Baloch War is never a desirable option; however, history demonstrates that nations are sometimes compelled to resort to military action in the pursuit of peace, sovereignty, and national security. India’s experiences in 1965 and 1971 underscore this reality. Whenever issues of territorial integrity, national dignity, and security have been compromised, India has demonstrated a willingness to bear significant sacrifices in defense of its national interests and honour. Thes...

Dead Gen-Z and Pakistan’s Future

30/01/2026
By Fatima Baloch and Dr K N Pandita Let us assume that the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)–led protests and the so-called revolutionary riots of September 2023 had succeeded. What would have been the fate of the PML-N, PPP, and the top military leadership? They would likely have faced trials, accountability, and punishment—because successful revolutions inevitably hold those in power responsible. Conversely, when a revolution fails, it is labeled a rebellion, and those involved face sever...

BLA and Afghan Taliban: A Comparative Struggle for Sovereignty

25/01/2026
By Fatima Baloch Pakistan occupied Balochistan on March 27, 1948, and since that time the Baloch nation has continued its struggle for independence and national identity. Early resistance movements were largely led by tribal elders, nawabs, sardars, and royal families. However, these traditional leadership structures proved insufficiently revolutionary and failed to achieve independence. Over time, Baloch students emerged as the driving force behind a more organized and ideologically...

Pakistan Damaged Islam and Involved in Muslim Genocide

22/01/2026
By Fatima Baloch Pakistan was created by the British in the name of Islam, but Pakistan has little to do with Muslims or Islam. Instead, it has consistently served British and U.S. strategic interests against Muslims. With British support, the Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1905 in opposition to the Indian National Congress (INC). The British encouraged Hindu–Muslim riots to sustain their colonial policy of “divide and rule” and to advance their scheme of creating Pakist...

US Withdraws from UN Agencies, Indian Could Step In

14/01/2026
Asad Mirza The US President Donald Trump has ordered US withdrawal from 66 international organizations including 31 UN entities and 35 non-UN bodies, targeting climate, human rights, and gender equality institutions. The administration characterizes these organizations as serving globalist agendas contrary to American interests. However, this mundane decision leaves the field open for countries like India to revitalise and reform the UN and push the Global South leading the interna...

The Forgotten Uprising: How the Martyrs of 1966 Transformed Jammu’s Academic Destiny

14/01/2026
Devraj Thakur Every year in mid-October, as the autumn breeze settles over the plains of Jammu, the quiet campus of GGM Science College comes alive with ritual: incense smoke curls upward near a modest memorial, students assemble outside the gates, and a small procession makes its way through the corridors of Jammu’s institutional life. For a few hours, a long-buried history is allowed to resurface. Then, almost as quickly, it fades again into the folds of public forgetting. T...

Kashmiri Pandits pay tribute to martyrs

07/01/2026
K N Pandita On December 27, Kashmiri Pandits gathered in good numbers at the Abhinav Theatre, Jammu to commemorate the martyrdom anniversary of Pandit Prem Nath Bhat. At least a thousand persons of the community attended the function. The first notable martyr of KP community was Pandit Tika Lal Taploo. He was gunned down by the local JKLF terrorist outfit outside his house on 14 September 1989. The second martyr was Justice Nilakanth Ganjoo who fell to the bullets of the same outfit...

American Onslaught on Latin America

06/01/2026
America’s recent actions in Venezuela do not simply seem to be that of a rogue state but something far worse: that of a rogue superpower and the global comity needs to take an immediate and strong action against this American swashbuckling politics. Asad Mirza During the past one year, perhaps no other man has garnered so much news headlines and space as the American President Donald Trump. This is not due to any of his humane policies or pro-people announcements, but based s...

Goodbye 2025, globally a deadlier year for scribes

05/01/2026
Nava Thakuria As the year 2025 bids farewell, it emerged as a deadlier year for journalists since the beginning of the century, after 2024. At least 165 media professionals were killed in 31 countries, where 2024 witnessed 179 journo-casualties around the world, said the Geneva-based global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), adding that by regions, the Middle East leads with 87 deaths, ahead of Latin America with 27, Asia with 23, Africa with 16, Europe with 10 and ...

Debunking Muslim Stereotypes

05/01/2026
Asif Ullah Khan For much of Hindi cinema’s history, Muslim characters have occupied a narrowly defined moral and visual frame. In earlier films, they appeared either as upright allies - Inspector Khan or Ali, loyal and self-sacrificing - or as caricatures: the street urchin in a skull cap and mesh vest chewing paan or the sherwani-clad Nawab Sahib bending at a ninety-degree angle in elaborate ‘adaab’. These figures were recognisable but rarely real, their identities flattened into shorthan...

Myanmar expanding economic ties with India

04/01/2026
Nava Thakuria Even though the global community is yet to appreciate the ongoing elections in Myanmar (earlier known as Burma and Brahmadesh) as a pragmatic way to transform the southeast Asian nation into a multi-party democracy, the Burmese military rulers start working to enhance bilateral ties with its neighbours including India. According to the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar, the poverty-stricken country is now working with China, India, Thailand, Russia and Middle ...

Indian Diplomacy in 2025

31/12/2025
Asad Mirza India’s foreign policy in 2025 continued to be anchored in the dual ethos of “Bharat First” and “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam,” balancing national interest with global cooperation. Strategic autonomy, non-alignment, and economic diplomacy remained central pillars of its international engagement. India maintained a multi-aligned posture, strengthening ties across diverse blocs without committing to any single power during the past year. The strategic focus remained on managin...

Somaliland Recognised by Israel

29/12/2025
Asad Mirza On Friday last (26 December) Israel became the first country to recognise Somaliland as a sovereign state, a breakthrough in its quest for international recognition since it declared independence from Somalia 34 years ago. However, the move has prompted a critical international and regional response. The Guardian has reported that the Israeli foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, announced on Friday that Israel and Somaliland have signed an agreement establishing full diplomatic ...

TTP threatens PoK: India’s national security options

29/12/2025
K N Pandita and Fatima Baloch On 24 December 2025, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced its organisational structure across Pakistan. The new structure will encompass Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), including Gilgit-Baltistan. Under the new plan, Pakistani armed forces are likely to face ambushes while their military bases are likely to be attacked. The upgraded structure envisages establishing an Air Force unit under the supervision of an experienced drone technocrat. He is...

TTP Threatens PoK and Indian Options for National Security?

28/12/2025
By Fatima Baloch On 24 December 2025 Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) announced its organizational structure across Pakistan, which also extends into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) including Gilgit-Baltistan, where Pakistani armed forces are expected to face ambushes and military bases are likely to be attacked in the near future. In this structure TTP declared the establishment of an Air Force unit under the supervision of Salim Haqqani, which will employ sophisticated portable dron...

Project Sunrise – Charity or Business?

23/12/2025
Asad Mirza The proverbial ‘cat’ is indeed ‘out of the bag’, after a hiatus of more than two years, following the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. The details of the alleged ‘Project Sunrise’ was shared by the Wall Street Journal, over the weekend. The proposal is to rebuild the war-torn Gaza into a high-tech, luxurious coastal destination over the next two decades and it has been pitched to possible donor and investor countries. Apparently, the project, costing $112 billion over th...

Trump’s Plan To Reshape The World

19/12/2025
Asad Mirza The last week witnessed both a loss and a win for the Indian diplomacy. The win was being include in the latest proposal by the American President Donald Trump to form a new regional grouping called C-5, and the loss was India being denied a seat at the Pax Silica. US President Donald Trump is reportedly looking to present a new global alliance, the ‘C5’, or ‘Core Five’, as a forum for global powers. It would include the US, Russia, China, India and Japan. It would seek ...

Bandhu Ji — Rise from the Ashes

18/12/2025
Rajiv Bhat Recently, Mr Raina who was a little child when his parents were forced to leave their ancestral village of Drusu in 1990, made a courageous decision to return and reclaim his land that holds the memories of generations. Driven by a heart aching for the warmth of his roots, Mr Raina returned to his ancestral village, Drusu, and decided to fence his ancestral lands that lay in ruins. But instead of the welcome he had hoped for, his neighbours met him with cold resistance ...

India Extends Warm Welcome to Russian President Vladimir Putin

06/12/2025
By Farooq Ganderbali India warmly welcomed Russian President Vladimir Putin on his arrival for the 23rd India-Russia Annual Summit, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally received him at the airport—an honour that reflects the deep strategic trust and time-tested friendship between the two nations. The visit, marked with dignity and respect, reaffirmed India’s spirit of Ganga-Jamuni tehzeeb, symbolising harmony, coexistence and gracious hospitality. High-level discussions be...

Honouring those who braved the brunt of militancy

02/12/2025
K N Pandita Externally sponsored and internally abetted armed insurgency in the Kashmir Valley and the adjoining regions of Jammu is running its 36th year. The security forces and their affiliates, in particular the J&K Police force, have performed a crucial role and made valuable sacrifices in securing the Kashmiri civilian population from the man-made scourge of terror. The concept, planning and execution of armed insurgency, which employed high skills of involving the local m...

SMVDS Medical College Faces Uproar

01/12/2025
K N Pandita Chief Minister Omar Abdulla defends a bizarre and controversial event that happened recently at the SMVD Hospital at Kakriyal, Katra. The admission of MBBS students in the SMVD Medical College has become a subject of controversy. The controversy erupted in Jammu and Kashmir after 42 out of 50 MBBS seats at the newly established Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Institute of Medical Excellence (SMVDIME) went to Muslim students in the first-ever admission cycle for the 2025–26 sessio...