India Narrative

A recent story by The Hindu made a lot of uncomfortable noise as it mentioned 800 Pakistani Hindus leaving India for Pakistan in 2021. It was unsettling to read that Hindus who wanted to stay in India left the country for Pakistan where they are routinely discriminated against. Lack of empathy in India and Covid-19 also played a major role in their return to an unsafe situation. Between 2015-2019, India granted citizenship to 2,668 Pakistani nationals, but these numbers are minuscule compared to the tsunami of people fleeing Pakistan due to religious persecution. Rajasthan houses the maximum number of Pakistani minority migrants—around 25,000, of which 7,500 are in Jodhpur alone. Since the Partition of India, millions of people both Hindus and Muslims migrated but after a few years, the Muslim migration to Pakistan stopped while Hindu migration to India continues till date due to persecution of Hindus at the individual and State-level.  India is no Israel that will help evacuate Hindus

Lord Rami Ranger has seen unparalleled success despite serious setbacks in life. He was born two months after the assassination of his father Nanak Singh who was killed for opposing the partition of the country. Forced to relocate to a refugee camp in Punjab after the death of her husband and the Partition of India, Lord Ranger's mother, Harbans Kaur raised eight children all alone ensuring that they reached the pinnacle of success. Being an educated woman helped her in looking after the children—a fact that has marshalled Lord Ranger towards speaking about women empowerment among the diaspora in the UK. In an exclusive interview to India Narrative at the House of Lords, Lord Ranger does not shy away from discussing contentious issues. Made a Lord in 2019, he talks about his vision of the 'idea of India', his support for The Kashmir Files, the role of the Sikh gurus during tumultuous medieval times and the issue of Khalistan. Excerpts from the interview: The idea of India i

Anil Kumar Baloch has spent almost half of his life in India. He spent the other half in Balochistan, Afghanistan, Russia and Kazakhstan. Now that he has settled in India, he is working in medical tourism—an interpreter and a medical tourist guide to people who come from half a dozen countries. "I know Russian, Hindi, Sindhi, Baloch and Pashto. I can also converse in Dari, which resembles Persian therefore I can interact with people from Iran as well", says Anil with a sense of justified pride. Struggle in New Delhi Life wasn't as easy in New Delhi. "My initial life in Delhi was a struggle. I tried my hand at many jobs—made credit cards, did odd jobs in shops and worked in a bank. None was easy”, says Baloch. One day, whiling away time with friends, an Afghan recommended him to utilise his multilingual skills to help people coming from Afghanistan as they faced problems in interacting with medical staff. "I began translation for Afghans coming to India for trea

Pakistan’s new government has decided to file a case against the ousted former premier Imran Khan following his heavy attack against the Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. In a statement released late Sunday night,  Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced that a treason case will be filed against Imran Khan for his speeches against Pakistan and its powerful military establishment. "Imran first conspired to destroy the economy of the country and now planning to trigger civil-war in Pakistan", said Shehbaz Sharif adding that Khan’s “nefarious designs” would be crushed at all costs. Sharif’s statement came after the Pakistani army came heavily on Imran Khan . The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the Pakistani military’s media wing, took exception to “intensified and deliberate attempts to drag Pakistan armed forces and their leadership in ongoing political discourse in the country.” "Pakistan armed forces take strong exception to such unlawful and unethi

They have been one of Pakistan’s most enduring backers and Shahbaz Sharif’s very first foreign visit, after taking over as Prime Minister of Pakistan, to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and thereafter to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), set the compass for the future trajectory of the country’s foreign policy. A priority is to mend fences with these two energy powerhouses, as bilateral relations had been in a free fall under the now deposed Prime Minister Imran Khan. To be fair to Imran Khan, relations between the two sides had begun to deteriorate since the time of Nawaz Sharif and his government’s refusal to participate in the Saudi-Emirati war in Yemen in 2015. That spurred the Saudi led coalition to go it on their own and it still remains embroiled in the war with no end in sight while the Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, have become increasingly aggressive targeting oil installations inside Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Given the deep and strong security relations between Pakistan and the Gu

When Imran Khan had to unceremoniously give up the office of Prime Minister, he left behind a troubled legacy. Pakistan’s economy was in shambles and the relations with several key foreign powers in free fall. However, in one area where he tasted some success was in forming an “Islamic alliance” with pal Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Mahathir Mohammed of Malaysia, and in crying himself hoarse about 'Islamophobia’, instigating an almost riot like situation near the French Embassy after caricatures of prophet Mohammed were published in France.  He feverishly tried to internationalise the Kashmir issue, taking it after decades to the UN Security Council where nothing came of it. And he managed to get the UN to adopt a resolution to mark an international day for combating Islamophobia. Under Imran Khan's watch the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) strengthened its position in Pakistan, while Khan himself became an unofficial spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban on the internatio

In December 2021, a vessel MV Seago Piraeus, was repatriated from Port Mombasa, Kenya for emitting radiation from a container (TCKU3337296), booked by M/s Prama Exports. Upon reaching the Indian port JNPT on December 25, 2021, the cargo was duly inspected by Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) officials, who concluded presence of “Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material” (NORM)-Thorium-232 with marginally higher radiation levels. The radiation background of the container at 1 mtr distance was found to be 0.02 to 0.04 µSv/h and at container 1 mtr – 3 mtr height from base (two locations at opposite outside walls of the container: 32 µSv/h and 8 µSv/h). BARC officials determined that the amount of material would be in larger content, resulting in a marginally higher radiation field. According to BARC officials, NORM is non-hazardous and is not dangerous to a person coming in close proximity to it and allowed in small quantities under exemption certificate which is issued by the Atomic E

In multiple messages both to his corps commanders, especially the upstart former ISI chief Lt. Gen. Faiz Hamid, and the raucous hordes of Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, Pak army Chief, Qamar Javed Bajwa has declared that he is boss, and the simmering rebellion against him must end. Amid the speculations of differences between the former ISI chief Lt General Faiz Hameed and the Pakistan army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, the military establishment has declared  that there is a planned propaganda campaign to create division between military, society and the various institution but the “Pakistan army has always stood by the state institutions to guard them.” This was the first time when Gen. Bajwa came out openly since the ouster of former Prime Minister Imran Khan. “Pakistan Army is aware of its responsibilities and shall continue to defend territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan against all internal and external threats under all circumstances,” the  Baj

An 18-year-old girl, Pooja Kumari, belonging to Hindu minority has been brutally murdered by extremist Muslim youths as she resisted an abduction attempt in Rohri, Sindh province of Pakistan. According to The Friday Times, Pooja was shot in the middle of the street after she put up resistance to the attackers in Rohri, Sukkur. Three persons came to her house on Monday to abduct and forcibly convert Pooja. They shot her dead when she put up resistance. Sharing the picture of Pooja and her murderer, Pakistani journalist Naila Inayat wrote on Twitter:  “In the land of the pure where every day Hindu, Christian daughters are lost to abductions, forced conversions, marriages and Pakistan continues to be a bystander. Pooja Kumari Odh, an 18-year-old shot dead by Wahid Lashari while resisting abduction, conversion in Sukkur, Sindh”.   Read more

The Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is angry and frustrated with his “master” the Pakistani military establishment as it has refused to bail him out at a time when he is facing a crucial no-confidence motion against his government, in what is shaping up to be his toughest test since coming to power in 2018. The establishment has also asked Khan to “resign” as he has lost majority in the parliament. "I salute India. India's foreign Policy is better than Pakistan's, they work for their people, the Indian army is not corrupt and they never interfere in civilian govt" Imran Khan said in a public meeting on Sunday without mentioning the name of Pakistani army. Pakistani observers see Khan’s statement  as a dig at the Pakistani military establishment which controls the country’s foreign policy and the civilian government. Three years ago, it was the Pakistani army or military establishment, rigging the elections in favour of Imran Khan, to head the “hybrid” regime. But

  Last week Uzbek president Shavkat Mirziyoyev paid a state visit to Pakistan - his first ever visit to the country after taking charge in Tashkent in 2016. He had, however, met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan twice earlier - during the Central Asia-South Asia connectivity conference that Tashkent hosted last year in July and thereafter in August at the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, in September 2021. The two had earlier held a virtual meeting on April 14, 2021where they had supported the construction of the ‘Termez–Mazar-e-Sharif–Kabul–Peshawar’ railway line, calling it an "important initiative" to establish connectivity from Central Asia to the Arabian Sea through Afghanistan and the Pakistani seaports of Karachi, Gwadar and Bin Qasim. Mirziyoyev's visit marked the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Uzbekistan and is expected to provide a huge fillip to bilateral ties, a wide

International terror outfit, Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack inside Peshawar’s Shia Mosque Imambargah during  Friday prayers. Over 60 worshippers were killed, and over 200 injured in the suicide attack. ISIS-K posted a statement, claiming responsibility, on the group's Amaq News Agency. The statement identified the attacker as an Afghan, and posted his picture. It added that “Islamic State fighters are constantly targeting Shiites living in Pakistan and Afghanistan despite the intense security measures adopted by the Taliban militia and the Pakistani police to secure Shia mosques and centers.” The posting named Julaybib al Kabuli as the suicide bomber . He could be seen wearing a suicide vest and bearing a T56-1 AK rifle. The statement then gave a detailed account of how the suicide bomber  had stormed the Shiite Mosque in Peshawar after shooting two Pakistani police officers. “The assault was clearly intended to target Shia worshipp

 The Afghanistan-Pakistan dispute over the Durand Line has taken centre- stage yet again. Facing prospects of high-octane street protests Pakistan's National Security Adviser Moeed Yusuf has dropped his plans of leading a high-level inter-ministerial delegation to Kabul on January  18  for two-day  talks on the Durand Line dispute and the humanitarian crisis exploding in Afghanistan! In the last week of December 2021, videos showing Taliban fighters removing Pakistan’s border fencing appeared on social media. Taliban commanders were seen threatening Pakistani soldiers against pursuing construction of the border fence. Various spokespersons and Taliban Commanders described the Durand Line border fence as “illegal”, and resolved to “not allow the fencing anytime, in any form”. What is the Durand Line? Henry Mortimer Durand, Foreign Secretary of British India from 1884 to 1894 left behind two legacies in India and Pakistan. One, the popular Durand Cup Football Tournament in India that