August 2023
India alarmed at the new official map released by China
By Abdus-Sattar Ghazali: China Monday released its standard map showing Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet and Aksai Chin occupied by it in the 1962 war as part of its territory. Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea are also included within the Chinese territory in the new map. New Chinese map comes days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with China's President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg last week and highlighted concerns about the stand-off on their disputed Himalayan frontier. Read More
Pakistan in Search of New Life
by Dr Mahboob A Khawaja: Few of the Pakistan accomplice Generals appear to have an unrestrained mental sickness to view Imran Khan (Teherk-Insaf Pakistan – “Justice Party”), as a threat to their survival and wanted to eliminate him by all means – fair or foul. The arrest of Imran Khan unfolds an unwarranted and fraudulent scheme of things orchestrated by Sharif brothers and a few Generals to cover-up their own scandalous corruption and was the result of individualistic political animosities. Read More
Making the USA as Global Greatest Power: From Alaska (1867) to Europe (1917)
by Dr Vladislav B Sotirovic: The historical time from 1867 to 1917, was a period of extraordinary (up to that time) rivalries in international relations and global affairs. The point of global politics was, in fact, that Washington took full advantage of the time and global geopolitical situation. It has to be noticed that the USA’s wider geopolitical ambitions were manifested since the end of the 18th century. However, the political and economic strife between northern and southern US states which went to the US 1861−1865 Civil War simply postponed further US geopolitical expansion. Nevertheless, after 1865, the geopolitical forward policy of Washington became re-driven, and industrialization and finance capitalism became superior factors compared to older types of the process of building global empires founded on commerce and territory acquisition. Read More
How BRICS+ Ensures Global Peace: “Rules-based World Order” in the Dustbin of History?
Drago Bosnic: The importance of BRICS+ is perhaps best seen in the joint diplomatic effort of its members to deescalate tensions in various parts of the world, even turning decades-old (or even centuries-old) rivalries and enmity into solid partnerships. A recent example of this is the thawing of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, two Middle Eastern countries that have been at each other’s throats for nearly half a century. Read More
BRICS summit ends with inviting six nations to join
Media Reports: The 15th BRICS summit ended in Johannesburg, South Africa Thursday with an announcement that Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, will join the bloc from 2024. It's the second time that BRICS has decided to expand. The bloc was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China. South Africa was added in 2010. The BRICS bloc represents around 40% of the world's population and contributes more than a quarter of global GDP. Read More
Hate Crimes in India Reach Class Rooms
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat: The poison of hatred has spread across. The Sangh Parivar outfits, Noida Propaganda media all have worked hard during the past 10 years. Remember, it is not merely the act of committing the hate crime but justifying it through the vilifying those who speak up against such hatred. The vilification of the opponents is justified through on the prime time shows. Criminals get normalised on TV. Media will wait for a couple of days till they find some Muslim criminal to have committed a heinous crime to deflate the story. The continuous vilification of Muslims in our media is the biggest achievement of the present dispensation. Read More
President Arif Alvi snubs Pakistan’s all powerful army
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: President Arif Alvi has snubbed Pakistan’s all powerful army by refusing to sign two pivotal bills, the Pakistan Army (Amendment) Bill 2023 and the Official Secrets (Amendment) Bill 2023. Amendments to both Acts were rushed in the parliament to try the people who are accused of participating in the May 9, 2023 attacks on military installations. Since there is no proof against the accused to try them in normal civil courts, therefore the government announced on May 10 that the accused will be tried under Pakistan Army Act and Official Secrets Act. Read More
Pakistan arrests 140 people after mob attacks on churches
Dawn: Punjab police on Thursday arrested at least 140 alleged miscreants, including two prime suspects, and registered five cases a day after violence targeting the Christian community in Jaranwala tehsil of Faisalabad left over 20 churches and over a dozen homes in ruins. Read More
American Muslims Condemn Church Burnings in Pakistan
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the nation’s umbrella group of national, regional, and local Muslim associations, condemns the armed mob attacks on two Christian churches in Jaranwala, Pakistan, and Christian residents based on unverified accusations of Quran desecration. Videos on social media showed hundreds of people armed with batons and sticks attacking the Salvation Army Church and the Saint Paul Catholic Church, setting them ablaze, while another mob attacked private homes, torching them and breaking windows, according to Al Jazeera. Read More
South Asia is endangered when the ‘unholy’ realities in today’s India is ignored
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui: My major concern, however, is that today’s India, despite her record of delivering fairer election results than those in Bangladesh, is locked down by the never-ending specter of genocidal pogroms against her minority Muslims and Christians. She poses more danger than any of her neighbors. I see Narendra Modi as the greatest threat to peace and security of entire South Asia. The BJP rule of India has weaponized religion, normalized fascism and given free license to every Hindutvadi to kill and plunder non-Hindus. The sooner the Indian voters throw him out of his office the better it is for the entire region. Read More
Under pressure from U.S., Pakistan abandons Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline project
By F.M. Shakil: Pakistan has formally conveyed to Iran its inability to withstand the pressure exerted by the United States and has requested Tehran suspend its contractual obligation on the completion of the multi-billion-dollar Iran-Pakistan (IP) gas pipeline project, citing external factors beyond Islamabad's control. Dr. Musadik Malik, Pakistan's Minister of State for Petroleum, formally announced in a written address to the National Assembly that Pakistan has officially served Iran with a notice of Force ‘Majeure and Excusing Event’ under the Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) signed between the two neighborly countries back in 2010 in Ankara. Read More
Continuing violence against Christians and Muslim minorities by Hindu extremists denounced
August 15, 2023: Indian American organizations, representing the Christian, Dalit, Hindu, Muslim and Sikh communities in America, strongly condemn the continuing violence against Christians and Muslim minorities by Hindu extremist groups in Manipur and Haryana states and urge the Modi government to punish those responsible for perpetrating the violence. Read More
Ethnic Cleansing of Muslims in India – Appeal to Chief Justice, Punjab and Haryana High Court
by P S Sahni: Following the mass scale demolition of Muslim settlements in Nuh, Haryana two Hon’ble judges of your court took suo motu cognizance of the matter and stayed further demolitions. Since then the case is being tossed around from one bench to the other. Too hot to handle? Political pressure at play? Leaving Haryana administration to fudge records, plant backdated legal notices for demolition? Ensuring that most Muslim victims would have migrated out of Nuh due to fear or police pressure or both. Read More
Is Urdu Dying? A Fact Check
by Mohd Arshid: There are three ways to measure the development of any language: First, there are newspapers and books; in which language how many Newspapers are printed and sold—second, TV programs in which language the public watches the news other debates and understands. TRP is a measurement unit of the popularity of a TV channel. Thirdly, digital media, meaning how much content is available online in which language, works better the more articles or content in which language will be available. Read More
19th round of China, India talks on Ladakh standoff fail
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: The rare two-day India-China military talks held this Sunday and Monday failed to make any immediate headway on the critical issue of Chinese presence in Depsang Plains but both sides agreed to “resolve the remaining issues in an expeditious manner”, The Print reported Tuesday. The primary points of focus of the 19th round of talks was the Depsang Plains, which fall under India’s Sub Sector North (SSN). As elsewhere, the LAC here is disputed. The SSN is sandwiched between the Siachen Glacier on one side and Chinese-controlled Aksai Chin on the other, making it strategically important. Read More
The Niger crisis and the global threat of war
By Thomas Scripps: The impoverished West African state of Niger is the latest flashpoint in the struggle by the imperialist powers for a redivision of the world. The issues involved in the NATO-Russia war in Ukraine—a fight for territory, strategic resources and regime change—are erupting all over the globe, in China and Taiwan, and now in the Sahel region of Africa. A great deal is at stake. The United States currently has 1,500 soldiers of its 6,500-strong declared African deployment stationed in Niger across two bases—one of which is the regional hub for drone missions. France has 1,100 troops in the country, Italy 300 and Germany around 100. Niger is a major uranium producer, providing a quarter of Europe’s supply. It is due to start exporting oil and plays a central role in policing migration out of Africa to Europe. It has become a frontline state in a battle for economic and military pre-eminence in West Africa and across the whole continent. Read More
Russia’s Return as a Middle Eastern Power to Reckon With
Amr Hamzawy: The repercussions of the Russian-Ukrainian war forced the administration of US President Joe Biden to back down from the policy of limited interest in the Middle East, and pulled the US back into a region that has changed dramatically in recent years. This region has now become a foothold and place of influence for several great powers competing with Washington. In addition to the complete Chinese infiltration that extends from the economy and trade to technology and diplomacy, Russia has succeeded in exploiting the disastrous results of the fluctuations in American policy since 2001, going from military interventions and a desire for unilateral domination in the Middle East to strategic hesitation and backing down from security pledges made to regional allies and military withdrawals, doing so in order to reformulate its roles in the region beyond its traditional area of influence in Syria. Read More
The reality of China’s influence in the Middle East
By DAVID P GOLDMAN: The difficulty in comparing America’s and China’s influence in the Middle East is that the two operate on entirely different planes. [Note: The Chinese use the term Western Asia, rather than the Middle East, to refer to a region that includes the Levant, Iraq, the Gulf, Turkey and Iran.] Despite China’s impressive naval construction program, China cannot challenge American dominance of the seas within any definable time horizon. There is no indication that China has or soon will develop the capability to put boots on the ground in the region. Read More
Niger: A Coup Against French Control and Dominance
By Dr. Chandra Muzaffar: France’s grip over Niger’s uranium is just one example of the former colonial power’s hold on Niger’s economy. This neo-colonial dominance expresses itself in many other ways. Niger, like other ex-French colonies in Africa, is tied to the French currency and the French financial system. It uses the Communaute Financiere Africaine (CFA) for its domestic and foreign financial transactions. As feelings against France in particular and the West in general have become more pronounced in West Africa, the mood towards Russia seems to have become more positive. An article in The Guardian (5 August 2023) notes that “Russian flags were brandished by those demonstrating outside the French embassy in Niamey, with many calling for Vladimir Putin to replace Macron as their biggest global backer.” Read More
Flames of Hatred in Modi’s India
by Abu Siddik: April is the cruellest month,” so begins one of the most admired literary pieces of modernity, The Waste Land by T S Eliot (1888-1965). Published in 1923, this masterpiece was taken to be a watershed in the genre of modern poetry. It is penned during a troubled time in Eliot’s life. His marriage was in disarray, he had a personality disorder, and his disenchantment with the post-war world was increasing. Read More
Leaked document implies US involvement in Imran Khan's ouster
India Today: A leaked document, with excerpts of a conversation between a Pakistani official and two US State Department officials has indicated the US' involvement in the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in 2022. The classified Pakistani document describes what happened in a meeting involving the Pakistani ambassador to the US, Asad Majeed Khan, and two US State Department officials, including Donald Lu, on March 7, 2022, as per the report by The Intercept. Read More
Imran Khan is exactly what the US hates in a Pakistani politician
By Peter Oborne: Lack of condemnation from the US over Khan's politically motivated imprisonment only confirms Washington's long history of preferring dictators pliable to its interests. Last week, the Russian dissident Alexei Navalny was sentenced to 19 years in a penal colony - accused of financing "extremism" and "rehabilitating the Nazi ideology". Quite rightly, the United States instantly denounced the move, with the US State Department describing the conviction as "an unjust conclusion to an unjust trial". Three days later, Imran Khan - until last year, the democratically elected prime minister of Pakistan - was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, courtesy of what looked like a kangaroo court, under murky circumstances. No US condemnation of Khan's politically motivated trial. Read More
Iran develops technology to manufacture supersonic cruise missiles
Press TV: Military experts and technicians at the Iranian Defense Ministry have reportedly developed the technology to domestically design and manufacture a sophisticated cruise missile capable of traveling at high supersonic speeds. The homegrown missile has been introduced as a new generation of Iranian cruise missiles and is currently in the testing stage, Tehran-based Tasnim News Agency reported Wednesday. Read More
France never stopped looting Africa, now the tables are turning
By Brad Pearce: The 26 July coup in the West African nation of Niger, which threatens to undermine French and US military presence in the region, has shed light on the historical exploitation and continued practices of Francafrique - the term used to describe the persistent exploitation by the former French Empire in Africa…. As developments in West Africa demonstrate, the francophone countries are no longer willing to accept French neo-colonialism. With the fear factor finally removed, Africa’s quest for genuine independence is steadily coming to fruition. Read More
Arrest of Imran Khan Signals Corrupt Authoritarian Order
Dr. Mahboob A. Khawaja: The illegitimate Sharif government makes a final stab into the body politics of Pakistan. Vengefully indoctrinated and politically paranoid and fearful thugs and indicted criminals trying to ditch Imran Khan into the unknown. Once again, his arrest was made like a military action against a former PM. They allege he bought foreign gifts while a PM and was sentenced by a court to three years in jail. Imran Khan was hurriedly arrested without any warrant and taken to Islamabad by road. Khan claims about 100 illegal politically geared cases against him to deprive him of a political come back. Read More
Occupied Jammu and Kashmir: A human rights black hole
By Yousaf Junaid: Under the Hindutva-inspired RSS-BJP government in India, hatred toward minorities and their human rights violations, especially Muslims, are growing both in scale and intensity. Not only the Muslims of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir are bearing the brunt of New Delhi’s xenophobic and extremist policies, but life for other minorities in different parts of India is also becoming miserable. The deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Jammu and Kashmir and India merits immediate attention of the custodians of international law. Read More
USCMO Condemns Hindu Nationalist Mob Murder of 19-year-old Imam and Mosque Torching in India
USCMO: The U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations (USCMO), the nation’s umbrella group of national, regional, and local Muslim associations, strongly condemns the savage mob mosque-murder of 19-year-old scholar Maulana Saad and the torching of the Anjuman Jama mosque, where he served as an imam, on August 1. Prime Minisrer Narendra Modi’s ruling extremist Hindu nationalist RJP party has cynically incited anti-Muslim pogroms in the city of Gurugram outside of New Delhi and across India as part of a virulently chauvinist Hindutva identity campaign, strategically scapegoating Muslims, and Christians, in contested districts, before the expected April 2024 general elections. Read More
French Invasion of Niger could Turn Into an “All-out Franco-African War”?
By Drago Bosnic: Paris is now faced with a strategic dilemma. If it lets Niger continue its path toward actual independence, France will be unable to continue exploiting the country’s natural resources. Namely, several of its former colonies have served as a source of massive wealth extraction and given the recent troubles Paris is facing, these resources might be more important than ever. On the other hand, recent geopolitical changes in the area have left France largely impuissant. After the defeat of its nearly decade-long intervention in Chad last year, Paris has been left with bases in Ivory Coast, Senegal and Gabon. Neither of these can be used effectively as a staging ground for an invasion due to the limited number of troops stationed there. Read More
Niger is the fourth country in the Sahel to experience an anti-western coup
by Vijay Prashad: The coup in Niger follows similar coups in Mali (August 2020 and May 2021) and Burkina Faso (January 2022 and September 2022), and Guinea (September 2021). Each of these coups was led by military officers angered by the presence of French and U.S. troops and by the permanent economic crises inflicted on their countries. This region of Africa—the Sahel—has faced a cascade of crises: the desiccation of the land due to the climate catastrophe, the rise of militancy due to the 2011 NATO war in Libya, the increase in smuggling networks to traffic weapons, humans, and drugs across the desert, the appropriation of natural resources—including uranium and gold—by Western companies that have simply not paid adequately for these riches, and the entrenchment of Western military forces through the construction of bases and the operation of these armies with impunity. Read More
The legacy of French colonialism in Africa
By Dr. Halim Gençoğlu: For almost a century and a half France maintained a substantial colonial empire in Africa, stretching from the Maghreb through the Western and Central sub-Saharan regions. Though direct rule ended in the early 1960’s, French influence over its former possessions continued. Through political, economic, and cultural connections, France has attempted to maintain a hegemonic foothold in Francophone Africa, both to serve its interests and maintain a last bastion of prestige associated with a legacy of past mastery. However, do these relations retain an essentially colonialist character? To determine this, we shall first briefly analyse the main rationale behind France’s imperial expansion; its ‘mission to civilise’. We shall then explore France’s more recent and existing relationships with its former possessions and conclude. Read More
Western attacks on Islam will backfire
By Muhittin Ataman: Nowadays, the West has left anti-Islam policies to the Scandinavian states such as Sweden and Denmark, which are considered some of the most democratic countries in the world. It is clear that the attacks against the symbols of Islam in Sweden and Denmark, such as the burning of the Quran, are a Western and European political project aiming to otherize Islam and Muslims further since no West European country has effectively reacted. Read More
Repeated Quran burning is a new Crusade against Muslims
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Iraqi refugee Salwan Momika, who previously came under fire for desecrating the Quran in Sweden, set the Muslim holy book on fire again, this time in front of the Swedish Parliament in Stockholm on Monday. Momika and Salwan Najem stomped on the Muslim holy book, set its pages ablaze before slamming it shut, as they did at a protest outside Stockholm's main mosque in June. The duo also staged a similar protest outside Iraq's embassy in Stockholm on July 20, where they stomped on the Quran but did not burn it. Read More
China, Pakistan celebrate decade of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng is visiting Islamabad to join a ceremony to mark 10 years of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. The 3,000-kilometer-long CPEC corridor starts from China's Kashi and ends at Pakistan's Gwadar, and connects the Silk Road Economic Belt in the north and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road in the south. It is a trade network of highways, railways, pipelines and optical cables, and a flagship project under the Belt and Road Initiative. With an investment totaling US$45 billion, construction of the CPEC is scheduled to be completed by 2030. Read More
Indian Defense Minister says New Delhi is ready to ‘liberate’ Pakistan administered Kashmir
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh has said India is ready to cross the Line of Control (LoC) to maintain its honor and dignity. The Line of Control (LoC) is currently the demarcation line between Indian and Pakistani administered Kashmir. "We can go to any extreme to maintain the honor and dignity of the country... if that includes crossing the LoC, we are ready to do that... if we are provoked and if the need arises, we will cross the LoC," Rajnath said. Responding Rajnath’s statement Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson said, these unwarranted and totally unacceptable remarks reflect India's hostility against its neighbors, Pakistan in particular." Read More
Turkey 100 years after the Treaty of Lausanne Updated
By Abdus Sattar Ghazali: Turkey on July 24, 2023 marked the100th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Lausanne, that ended the Ottoman Empire and established boundariesof the new Turkish state. In a statement on this occasion President RecepTayyip Erdogan said: Today is the 100th anniversary of the Lausanne Peace Treaty, which constitutes one of the turning points in our history. He also said while resolutely defending the rights we have gained with the Treaty of Lausanne, we will strengthen our country's gains with new moves." President Erdogan did not divulge on the new moves Turkey will take to strengthen its gains. However, in the past Erdogan has called for the revision of the treaty. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has told the Turkish mayors that Turkey wants to get rid of the effects of the Convention and the restoration of its rights, which were usurped by the Allies and Turkey considers also the texts of the Convention are unfair to its rights? Read More
Cry Out For Manipur: Stop Killing Christians in India
by Pieter Friedrich: The ongoing violence in Manipur is the worst pogrom in the nine years of the Modi regime’s rule over India. It’s also the worst anti-Christian massacre to take place in the modern history of the Republic of India. Oh, and, it’s also the longest-lasting pogrom independent India has ever seen.We all saw — or heard about, for those of us who couldn’t stomach even watching it — that viral video showing two Kuki-Zomi tribal Christian women who were being paraded by a giant mob, sexually abused on camera, and later gang-raped. As those women later testified, they were picked up by police first and then handed over to the mob. Read More
Hate Crimes in India
by Vidya Bhushan Rawat: The hate mongers are succeeding. India’s #manustream media can be redefined now as #hatemedia or simply #nafartimedia has been impactful in creating divisions and hatred in people’s mind. The incident in the Mumbai-Jaipur train where a constable of RPF Chetan Kumar Chaudhry fired at his senior ASI Tika Ram Meena and then killed three other passengers in the different coaches who happened to be Muslims. It is not known as what happened in this early morning terror attack but reports suggest that the constable might had an political altercation with ASI Meena and killed him instantly. He then goes to different coaches and kills three other people based on their physical identity and shout if you have to live in India, you have to follow Modi and Yogi. Read More
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The Journal of America Team:
Editor in chief:
Abdus Sattar Ghazali
Senior Editor:
Prof. Arthur Scott
Special Correspondent
Maryam Turab
