CRT 2004: RETURN TO REASON
AJAI SAHNI
An encouraging aspect of CRT 2004 is that the numbers given for all the countries in South Asia (this Assessment deals only with the Country Reports for this region) are in conformity with other available open-source and Governmental data (within an entirely acceptable range of variation), a radical departure from the past, where the divergence between the PGT numbers and other sources bordered on the ludicrous......more...

SECTARIAN MONSTER
AMIR MIR
Facing international criticism over its status as a host to numerous Islamist extremist elements, the Musharraf administration has, from time to time, sought to take steps to deflect growing internal and international criticism of the activities of fundamentalist elements within Pakistan. Inner contradictions within the ruling establishment are, however, bound to hamper these efforts......more...

DANGER SIGNAL FROM CENTRAL ASIA
DR. K. N. PANDITA
May 13, 2005  witnessed a massive orgy of death and destruction in the eastern Uzbekistan town of Andijan. Andijan is located in Ferghana valley, which stands on the confluence of three republics of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. It is important to note that the bloody event in Ferghana Valley happened close at the heels of March event in which Askar Akayev, the former President of Kyrgyzstan, had to flee his post and country....more...

DEADLOCK IN BALOCHISTAN
KANCHAN LAKSHMAN
As part of the continuing efforts to find a 'political solution' to the Baloch imbroglio, the Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan chaired by former Prime Minister Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain unanimously approved, on May 2, 2005, a report by its Subcommittee headed by Senator Syed Mushahid Hussain, proposing various recommendations on clearance of gas royalty arrears, abolition of the Concurrent List, the National Finance Commission (NFC) award, provincial autonomy and the development of gas-rich areas.....more...

HURRIYAT: A JOURNEY ALONG THE CROSSROAD
DR. K. N. PANDITA
No political organization is as weird as Hurriyat is. Ever since the conglomerate was cobbled together in 1993, it always found itself at pains to mince, mix, eat or suppress words and statements, deliberately creating more confusion and less clarity about its precise objectives and instruments. The reason is that they are riding a bus without any control on its driver. Its double speak is a class by itself that embodies the strange blend of ridicule and sublime, an art in which Kashmir political class is remarkably adept......more...

KISHANGANGA IMBROGLIO - PAKISTAN ‘S MYOPIC WATER GAMES
SARLA HANDOO
Far from settling down, the dust over Baglihar Hydropower project dispute in Jammu and Kashmir is still raging. And here is another power project, the Kishanganga, in the eye of a storm. Despite visits, inspections, assurances and several rounds of meetings over many years, India and Pakistan have not been able to resolve the Baglihar dispute so far. Pakistan went ahead to approach the World Bank which negotiated the Indus Water Treaty between the two countries in 1960. The Bank has now appointed an Umpire, in a bid to resolve the differences......more...

SUMMER MAYHEM: The Dances of Death and Dialogue in Jammu & Kashmir
PRAVEEN SWAMI
Even as President Pervez Musharraf was finalising his preparations for talking peace with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month, the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) had set about realizing a rather different agenda. Late on the night of April 14, a group of LeT terrorists entered the home of Mohammad Shafi at the village of Bathoi, near Mahore in Jammu province. Shafi had opposed jihadist groups in the area; that evening, he paid for it with his life.....more...

WAR AND PEACE IN WAZIRISTAN
AMIR MIR
The American Commander of the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, Lt. Gen. David Barno stated on April 18 that terrorists were infiltrating into Afghanistan from Pakistan and Islamabad had been asked to begin a fresh operation against remnants of Taliban and al-Qaeda presently hiding in the Waziristan region of Pakistan.....more...

J&K: PROXIES ON TOUR
KANCHAN LAKSHMAN
Among aspects of the 'collateral damage' inflicted by 9/11 on Pakistan's enterprise of terror and covert warfare in South Asia is the increasing uncertainty it confronts in managing both the underground and the 'overground' movements it created and sustained over the past decades.....more...