PRAGOTI

While the danger of war between India and Pakistan is accelerates, a peace demonstration in Lahore on December 20 demanded no war between the two countries. More than 100 activists of the Labour Party Pakistan and the Communist Mazdoor Kissan Party (CMKP) demanded an end of war fanaticism.

"The US never considered India 'special' as we were made to believe" Writes Bhadrakumar

The costs of the Tel Aviv-New Delhi-Washington axis are too much to bear, at least for India. India cannot afford to mimic Israel’s failed neighborhood policy, nor can it follow the U. S. example that seeks to solve its problems by aerial bombardment. South Asia requires a regional solution to what is without doubt a regional problem, one with its roots in the Afghan jihad of the 1980s as much as the unresolved Kashmir question

Vijay Prashad writes about the deepening covert defense ties between India and Israel,under the guise of fighting terrorism and strengthening India's security system.The author points out that there is a need to seek a regional solution to the security concerns of India, instead of importing the military option projected by Israel as a counter-terrorist measure,which has failed in its own soil.

"The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) today, while saying 'no' to terrorism and 'yes' to caution on media reportage of terrorism has called upon the government to desist from clamping down on the media be it visual or print and instead put in order a Media Council with teeth to act without pressure from the government or other vested interests" Reports INN

"THE results of Assembly elections have proved that Indian electorate has a mature understanding of terrorism as being a world phenomenon as against anti-Pakistan sentiment projected by the BJP. The cult of war cry, in the wake of Mumbai terrorist attack had inflated the ego of the BJP to imagine itself as a colossus." Writes Rajinder Sachar

Following a special report from The Dawn, which clearly established that the apprehended terrorist Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman "Kasab" was indeed a resident of Pakistan, from Okara to be specific, the newspaper pens an editorial asking for its fellow citizens to work toward removing the scourge of terrorism and extremism from Pakistan. Pragoti re-publishes this edit and joins The Dawn in calling Pakistanis to work toward the effort, as much as Indians would have to work toward removing fundamentalism and right wing extremism from South Asia.

"It is worth learning this: Al-Qaeda was the biggest beneficiary of the “response” of the United States to 9/11 alongside U.S. corporations. America’s “War on Terror” produced far more terrorism in the world than there had been prior to that response." Writes P.Sainath

According to Pakistani officials, security forces over-ran a militant camp on the outskirts of Pakistani Kashmir's main city and seized the alleged mastermind of the attacks that shook Mumbai last month. Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi was among at least 12 people in Sunday's raid on the camp run by the banned group Laskhar-e-Taiba the group reportedly responsible for the attacks. It remains unclear if Lakhvi will be extradited to India. These ongoing tensions between India and Pakistan took place amidst local Indian elections with certain Indian media stations speculating on potential Indian military action against Pakistan. Although the deputy editor of The Hindu, Siddharth Varadarajan states "that there is no danger of war between India and Pakistan" he believes that "this crisis is pregnant with implications for Indo-Pak relations and the future of Pakistan." Real News Network interviews Siddharth Varadarajan on the developing situation between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai Terror Attacks.

India and Pakistan are in this together. Their fights against extremism will founder if fought alone. Mohsin Hamid writes in The Guardian.

Attack on "everyday India"

The tragic deaths of victims of the terror attack at Mumbai's busiest railway station gets scarce coverage by an elite-driven media.