Robi's South Asia Briefing: 2003-08-06

Winds of Change.NET Regional Briefings run on Tuesdays & Wednesdays, and sometimes Fridays too. This Regional Briefing focuses on South-SE Asia, courtesy of Robi Sen.

• Last month we mentioned the increasing relationship between India and Israel. In September, Sharon will travel to India to further that relationship. Varnam has some comments.

Other Topics Today Include: Indonesia blast; Developments in and around Kashmir; Musharraf speaks out against extremism; Islamic terrorism throughout SE Asia, from Bangladesh to the Phillipines; and a superb book that offers insights into the current War on Terror.

• It's important for everyone to remember that the War On Terrorism is a World War. Just this week, terrorists struck again in Indonesia killing 14 and injuring approximately 150 more people. Suman Palit though sees this as proof that the War On Terrorism is seriously under mining terrorists' abilities to attack 'hard' targets and they are resorting more and more to 'soft' targets.

• In response, Michele writes: "Fear no evil. Seek out and destroy it."

• This month India refused to send troops to Iraq to support collation efforts there though it may still happen.

• This week the Pakistani Prime Minister said India had to sacrifice on Kashmir. Rantburg has some thoughts. Sometimes though its hard to have hope about Kashmir with calls for Jihad from countries beyond Pakistan and India.

• JK: Winds of Change.NET explains what's at stake politically in Kashmir, from both India and Pakistan's point of view. Not to mention the nuclear stakes involved, and the medium-term prognosis.

• India continues to claim that Pakistan supports terrorist camps. The Strategypage has more on this topic, and what's going on in between India and Pakistan on a day to day basis. And have we mentioned the wall India is building in Kashmir?

• Recently in Bombay (Mumbai), India has connected a bombing of a bus to the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Once again Rantburg has some thoughts on the Lashkar-e-Taiba.

• While we're in mumbai, Niraj points us tio this TIME Magazine article about the Hindu-Muslim divide within India itself.

• General Pervez Musharraf speaks out against extremism and denounces hate and Rantburg has thoughts. Niraj has some more comments on the subject but one has to wonder if its really in Pakistan's intereast to totally stop all terrorism and give up one of its few levers over the U.S.A and its aid.

• Unfortunately, Kashmir is not the only place where terrorism and Islamic fundamentalist wage war against civilization. Bangladesh also suffers.

• On July 14th Fathur Rohman Al-Ghozi, leader of Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, escaped from prision. The Gweilo has some thoughts. It's disturbing to realize that the Philippines are a major partner in the War On Terrorism, yet are incapable of keeping people like Al-Ghozi in jail.

• Just a few weeks latter Filipino army officers tried to stage a coup, complaining against poor living conditions, low pay, and corruption. The Instapundit makes a comparison.

• Did Sleeman have the answer to dealing with terrorism? In 'Children of Kali' the author discuss the history of the Thuggee or the Strangles, a religious cult of murderous fanatics who killed millions in India and almost brought British and European powers to their knees. Yet one man, William Henry Sleeman, managed to crush the Thuggee. How did he do it?

The next installment of Robi Sen's South Asia Briefing will be September 3. Meanwhile, regular updates concerning the region can be found at Robi Sen (and also Rantburg).