April 2014
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History
Sikhs (15th Ludhiana infantry) save Sahibs
The poster notes that Britain gained hugely from Indian soldiers in the world wars and that a few words of gratitude would be welcome, citing David Cameron’s praise for a…
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Geopolitics
Desert ports (Singapore dreams)
A comment on desert ports such as Duqm, Chabahar and Gwadar as rival strategic assets, noting India’s talks on a deep-sea gas pipeline with Iran and Oman and speculating that…
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Politics
Modi-Mao: may a thousand shakhas bloom
A comment, with a news extract, on a surge in RSS shakhas, which the poster calls the real Modi effect, warning that polarisation is bad for the country and for…
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Politics
Losing my (muslim) religion (voting for BJP)
A comment, with a news extract, on clerics’ conflicting advice to Muslims about voting for the BJP, which the poster reads as showing Shia-Sunni divisions that could help Modi in…
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Persiana
A recommendation of Sabrina Ghayour’s Persian cookbook Persiana for its simple, no-frills recipes, with an extract from a newspaper profile of her London kitchen.
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Politics
Problem solved: 500 rapists, 499 innocent
A comment, with a news extract, on French police DNA-testing over 500 students and staff after a rape, which the poster says gives no real choice and risks matches to…
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Nigeria
A bitter comment, with a news extract, on twin Boko Haram bombings at a bus station outside Abuja that killed 71 people, showing the group’s attacks have reached the Christian-majority…
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Politics
“Some can resist these pressures. Others succumb”
A post on PC Parakh’s book about the coal allocation scandal, which says Manmohan Singh overruled calls for auctions. The poster sees the book’s timing as a BJP-driven election ploy…
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Society
Burqa ban (the right path?)
Two Christian Science Monitor op-eds, for and against a burqa ban in the US and the West, with a remark on the writers’ backgrounds and the anti-sharia measures introduced in…
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Politics
Abdullah Abdullah leads in Afghan (early) vote
Early results in Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential vote put Abdullah Abdullah ahead of Ashraf Ghani, with a runoff likely. The poster asks whether Abdullah’s mixed Pashtun and Tajik parentage is a…
