Censoring Michael Moore #40 by rahul_capri

It gives them a message to shut up. Some accept the message, and some don`t. The point is that you cannot stop information flow anymore. People may have trouble owning their words, but they will still get the message across. It can (and should) certainly be improved substantially, but it is not like a total blackout either, like some people are projecting out of sheer ignorance. Thanks.

Musharraf’s Enlightened Moderation, My Foot I would love to hear something like this from some news reporter in some press conference of Musharraf. A state that doesn’t empower people to take control of the governance through active participation can not progress by simply improving literacy or cracking down on extremists. This is like giving aspirin to a cancer patient. Thanks.

Censoring Michael Moore Banning a book in the 21st century is not technically possible. It serves as nothing more than a political statement. If it is on the internet in electronic format, it is available everywhere, so please get out of your old mindsets. Restricting information flow is a thing of the past. And by the way I know plenty of people in Pakistan who have owned and read Satanic Verses, mostly due to their curiosity on why it was banned. Thanks.

Problems with Co-Education I think both options should be present. And it should be a matter of choice, left to individual students, based on their own personal preferences. Different people respond differently to circumstances they are put in. You can`t really generalize it. Thanks.

My Pakistan Diary: A Rich Heritage Neglected #215 by harish_hyd

Let’s be realistic. Pakistan should not agree to a no-first-use policy because Pakistan doesn’t compare with India in terms of conventional weapons. If India starts a full-scale conflict, Pakistan will be out of ammunition within a week, and the only thing left would be the big bomb. That’s the main factor keeping India peaceful in spite of the ongoing proxy war in Kashmir. Don’t go for official statements of the Pakistani government. They are being diplomatic to win points in the international community. It is up to you if you want to feel good about it.

By the way, I haven’t seen any Baluch movement going on in Pakistan since that uprising some 30+ years ago (when I wasn’t born). Please enlighten me on any recent political or militant activity in context of freedom movement in Baluchistan. Current prime minister of Pakistan is a native Baluchi too. Of all Pakistani provinces, presence of Pakistani security forces in minimum in Baluchistan because it is a very low-profile province which rarely makes any headlines. Now compare that with the level of activity in Kashmir. From where do you get such news? Thanks.

The Secularity of India #173 by nikki7777

You have a point. That`s why I said ``some of you friendly neighbors`` as opposed to ALL of you friendly neighbors. :) Now let`s observe silence for a minute (in respect for Ronald Reagan if you are a conservative). Thanks.

The Secularity of India It is interesting how some of you friendly neighbors turn into a collective paradox every now and then by sending a bunch of messages telling us how indifferent you are towards Pakistan. Your attitude of throwing tantrums and then acting cool is quite comical. My observation on your posts is that for some reason you people keep Pakistan as your primary point of reference in almost everything. Like some of you here seem to be taking the position that India is secular because Pakistan is not secular and India is not Pakistan. Thanks.

My Pakistan Diary: A Rich Heritage Neglected #212 by ankit

Thanks for your comments. That`s the basic point of conflict probably. People of Pakistan and Kashmir don`t consider Kashmir as a part of India. And it is widely viewed as a disputed region internationally as well. Like you, I don`t see the status quo changing anytime soon either, and probably our next generations will still be going through the same debate. Since such debates on this site are almost always started by Indians whining over armed conflict in Kashmir, I think this is something for Indians to understand as well. You keep the occupation, and the freedom fighters (with support from Pakistan) will keep killing your troops. Fair enough?

The Secularity of India #116 by rahul_capri
On second thoughts, you are right about not prolonging the debate because we have already made our points. :) Thanks.

#100 by rsridhar
Talk about why you are telling people what to talk about.

My Pakistan Diary: A Rich Heritage Neglected #209 by arjun_m

Indeed. :)

#208 by harish_hyd

You were given the reasons, which you probably chose to ignore. And since you seem a bit confused here, let me try to help.

Kashmir is an internationally recognized disputed region, with no defined international borders. It is not an internal problem of India (or Pakistan). Two nations with nuclear weapons are at constant risk of sparking yet another conflict over it. The case has been in the UN since decades, without a resolution. So there is a difference between this problem and uprisings like those in Baluchistan and Indian Punjab (how could you forget that?).

On one hand your government is insisting that Kashmir is an “atoot ang” of India and UN resolutions are irrelevant, and on the other you are asking Pakistan to unilaterally work on them. Consider this as a transaction, where every client enlisted in the transaction first agrees to completion of the entire transaction, has an effective rollback mechanism, and then goes ahead with it.

You can show whatever statistics you want regarding development work in Indian occupied Kashmir. But the fact remains that your government is terribly nervous about letting people of Kashmir decide their future, because their decision is way too obvious since decades. Thanks.

The Secularity of India #83 by rahul_capri

Our standing at different places shouldn`t impact what should be an academic debate, although some people here have posted quite emotional comments about it. About the cricket thing, Pakistan Cricket Board wasn`t the reason why Pakistani cricket team was a good team before, but it is the reason why Pakistani cricket team is a very mediocre team now. Basit Ali retired a long time ago due to his own political reasons. Thanks.

The Secularity of India #87 by nikki7777

A miracle indeed! It reminds me of a song titled ``It`s a Miracle`` from the ``Amused to Death`` album of Roger Waters. And yes, insanity certainly isn`t confined to Karachi. Rejoice the way it transcends political and ideological borders. Thanks.

The Secularity of India #65 by rahul_capri

In that debate too, I didn`t agree with you because your argument is too abstract, and it sounds more like your aspiration that India should be a secular state. The indicators you mention are there, but the opposite indicators are also there. And no, Pakistan doesn’t have a good cricket team anymore (especially since Wasim Akram left). :) Thanks.

#57 by arjun_m

No, Pakistan isn`t an Islamic state. But then what is an Islamic state? I have yet to find a convincing answer from anyone.

My Pakistan Diary: A Rich Heritage Neglected #201 by harish_hyd

With due respect to your point of view regarding root causes of the problem, I disagree with you on that. Good to know that you also believe in the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. So you realize that it is not an ``atoot ang`` of India after all. If India agrees to roadmap of a fair plebiscite, I don`t think Pakistan would have any objection in helping create favorable conditions for it. Thanks.

#202 by Ralph

I also think that Pakistan has mishandled the situation. But final decision should be left to the people of Kashmir about which misrule (maybe their own) they prefer.

#204 by arjun_m

British used to say the same about India once upon a time. :)

The Secularity of India #24 by nikki7777

Do you have any credible data to support your claim that India`s space program is on par with EU? Probably you are not aware of ESA projects like Huygens and Rosetta. Since space exploration fascinates me, I frequently visit websites of NASA and ESA. I couldn’t find anything comparable at the website of ISRO, so please enlighten me if I am missing something. I think a more realistic comparison for you would be with China`s space program. Thanks.

My Pakistan Diary: A Rich Heritage Neglected #191 by harish_hyd

So now it is a clever ploy on my part. Before you label me as an ISI agent too, I would suggest you to please revisit your own earlier comments regarding paranoia. :) It is good to know that you are at least accepting that there is a problem and that all parties share the responsibility for it. And if you read your own lines again, you would find that root of the problem isn’t Pakistani army’s training of militants, because as you mentioned, the secessionist movement was there before as well. And the reason why the movement was there was because people of Kashmir were denied their right of self-determination. So there you have the root cause, and the solution is to peacefully give them that right. Thanks.