Shipping and maritime travel has a long history around the Bay of Bengal. While the Portuguese conquered of the western coast of the subcontinent in 1498, the capture of Melaka in 1511 started Portuguese activity on the east of Cape of Comorin and Bengal was clearly the initiative of Portuguese privateers for numerous reasons, viz…
The eastern fringe of South Asia comprising of Bangladesh and north-eastern India known as the “seven sisters” are a region that has been suffering over the decades from multiple problems including poverty, underdevelopment, overpopulation and others. While one hardly ever learns much about the seven sisters, Bangladesh is much more often in the news but…
Our western borders may temporarily cease being hostile, simmering hostility by disparate groups inimical to Pakistan will persist. Consequently the evoking of dormant activists within Pakistan cannot be ruled out. We must retain credible deterrence capability for both the Eastern and Western fronts. The difference between the two fronts is in the nature of the…
Speaking on 6th September at the British security think tank, Royal United Security Institute (RUSI), Tony Blair confirmed that not only (1) he hasn’t learnt any lessons from history but (2) keeps to his old policy of denying established fact and substituting them with what he is universally known for, blending of outright lies with…
Dear Readers, That the U.S. has a very poor history of making efforts to learn the lessons of many of its recent wars is an understatement, the irony is that it is already focusing on other strategic issues and the crises that cropped up following its abrupt and ill planned withdrawal from Afghanistan in the…
Only days after the Taliban take-over of Kabul a fresh resistance has raised its head, in the Panjshir valley. The self-proclaimed leader of this resistance movement is Amrullah Saleh, vice-president in Ghani’s toppled government. After Ghani’s cowardly flight from Afghanistan Saleh declared himself President while referring to the Afghan Constitution. However he played it safe…
Dear Readers, History seems to be repeating itself with the lightning gains made by the Taleban across Afghanistan in the last few weeks, culminating in their takeover of Kabul on Sunday, August 15. This day should be remembered as a Red Letter Day in the history of both the United States and Afghanistan for contrasting…
Dear Readers, After the early demise of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in September 1948, followed three years later by the assassination of Pakistan’s first Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, the performances of leaders that followed, almost across the board with honourable exceptions, left much to be desired. The Quaid’s dream of Pakistan becoming a truly…
After the killing of more than 240 people in Gaza, and 12 in Israel mostly civilians the 11-day-long conflict between Israel and the Palestinians finally ended with a ceasefire on Friday, May 21, but fears of a fresh escalation continue to haunt the region. Like in the past, this latest bout of fighting basically proved…
My father was posted from GHQ to East Pakistan Rifles (EPR) in early 1962 as Sector Commander EPR Sylhet Sector. This Sector comprised the Districts of Sylhet, Comilla, Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts with HQs at Sylhet. I was then 16, studying in Murari Chand (MC) College Sylhet when my father went to command the…
