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Category Archives: Social/Political issues

  • 28
    Jul 26
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Trump’s Tantrums Cost Global Peace As War Enters Sixth Month

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With the war against Iran entering its sixth month, the whole world is now faced with profound uncertainty and surging energy crisis for the sake of just one man’s eccentricities and idiosyncrasies.

On February 28, when the US and Israel had attacked Iran, a war which was absolutely unnecessary and illegal, President Donald Trump had told the world he would ‘finish the job’ fast either through negotiations or renewed military strikes. He even declared that “Iran was totally defeated and wants a deal”.

On June 16, President Trump had said he and vice president Vance had signed electronically a document with the Iranians to end the war formally. He had announced that Iran had agreed to open the Hormuz Strait, and that the US had won the war.

On June 20, Iran had warned that the “closure of the Strait of Hormuz would be the first step” if ‘aggression’ continued.

Iran’s top military command first announced the closure of the Strait on March 2, citing alleged US non-compliance with a peace agreement and continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon. Subsequently, Iran had enforced the Strait of Hormuz closure on April 18, June 20 and early July.

Cartoon by Suparno Chaudhuri

Meanwhile, in an interview with CGTN on March 14, renowned economist Prof Jeffrey Sachs had said that the US and Israel had ‘underestimated’ Iran. He also added that over the past 25 years the US military had attacked countries, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Venezuela.

After the initial ceasefire deal, the US economist had expressed doubt saying: “Is it a peace deal or tactical pause?” The deal, mediated by Pakistan, was extremely “fragile given that Israel was not a formal party to the agreement”, the professor and policy analyst added.

The agreement, Prof Sachs had said, seemed to call for an end of hostilities. The phrase that the Pakistani announcement used, Prof Sachs added, was “a permanent end to hostilities. It ostensibly comes in phases, and two broad phases. One is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and the international oil and gas traffic. And the second phase is about the nuclear issues….”

Prof Sachs also said: “It seemed that the agreement does not include other kinds of demands that the US had once upon a time put on the table about Iran’s missile system or its support for other groups in the region such as Hezbollah…”

How prophetic!

The war against Iran has triggered an unprecedented global energy crisis. Iran’s strategy of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital energy maritime choke point, has made Trump bewildered and baffled. What the entire world has been witnessing is that an intransigent Iran, a country of about 90 million people, has been fighting for survival.

For Iran, it’s not a war of choice — it’s a battle for existence — a battle for which the nation was preparing from the 1979 sanctions, largely spearheaded by the US and the UN. The sanctions had caused a significant economic strain on the Khomeini regime.

Military analysts and intelligence guys are stunned by Iran’s retaliatory resilience. Iran has already proved its ‘missile dominance’. It is intriguing to see how Iran’s drone threat is driving President Trump’s growing interest in Ukraine’s defense industry.

According to Central Command, which directs military operations in Middle-east, the US has hit more than 13,000 targets in Iran until airstrikes resumed in July. An estimated 17,000 civilians have been killed in Iran by the airstrikes and many more injured critically. Iran’s infrastructure suffered unimaginable damage.

Even though the Trump administration announced a pause in the airstrikes on July 25 after two weeks of bombardment, political analyst are far from optimistic.

With the President Trump’s popularity rating hitting a new low barely three months before the mid-term election in November, he is at his wit’s end and completely confused and is scrambling for an honorable exit route. He’s trapped between escalating military expenditure and rising domestic economic pressures.

With the surging energy costs triggering inflation spike and also causing gasoline price rise in the US, middle-class Americans are bearing the brunt of the relentless airstrikes in Iran.

The US President had thought what the Delta Force commandoes had done in Venezuela in January this year, he would do the same on Iran. Sadly enough, he is incapable of understanding the simple truth that he’s been waging a war against a country whose civilization is almost 5,000 years old.

Let’s recall what Mahatma Gandhi had said: “Humanity is like an ocean. If a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”

We have faith in humanity, Mr President. Please stop bombing and leave the Persian Gulf to ensure global peace and stability.

 

 

 

 

 

  • 03
    Apr 26
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Will Tagore’s ‘Hope from the East’ finally come true?

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President Donald Trump’s ‘Finish the Iran Job’ is a bizarre claim and the comment is an instance of what a ‘first class fool’ he is and who has been resorting to perpetual stream of lies and fleecing domestic audience since this illegal and Israel-sponsored war broke out on February 28.

There was absolutely no reason for this misadventure. He has fallen a prey to Israel’s gamble. The 86-year-old Ayatollah Khomeini was assassinated while the ailing man was ready to make concessions for its uranium enrichment program. The dialogue was underway in Muscat and Geneva in last week of February and which was mediated by Oman. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu finally succeeded in his gamble of bringing President Trump into a war which was essentially Israel’s.

Trump is a congenital liar and a ‘moron’ of the highest order. He’s impulsive and a ‘vile’ creature who unfortunately was elected for the second time by the US citizens.

His ‘Stop the Steal’ rally on 6 January, 2021 repeating the false election claims and instigating supporters to march toward Capitol Hill resulted in violent breach of rules. His supporters were protesting against the certification of the 2020 poll results. The incident betrayed a plain truth: Democracy died in America. He’s an autocrat, a dictator, who is only interested in grabbing power and accumulating wealth. One really wonders how this buffoon had been elected by the Americans twice. Sadly enough, the world is now paying a heavy price. Nothing can be more tragic than this!

Remember the US has about 350 million people and the world’s population (as of early 2026) has surpassed 8.3 billion with India being the most populous nation with 1.47 billion people, surpassing China (1.41 billion people)?

The ongoing conflict, the civilians’ deaths, the unspeakable horror and mindless mayhem remind me of Tagore’s Crisis in Civilization (1941), a scathing indictment of British imperialism and Western modernity. He was shocked and terribly upset by the raging WWII (1939-1945) and the death and destruction it had caused to humanity.  Kshitimohan Sen (the grandfather of Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen), Tagore’s disciple, a scholar and Sanskrit professor, had read out the final speech of Tagore, in which the poet had denounced the devastation wrought by the war and the predatory colonial rule. Tagore said he had lost faith in Western civilization.

He expressed profound shock at the moral decline and unbridled greed of European powers.  He blamed the relentless pursuit of power, loss of human values and the mindless destruction of Nature. The poet’s heart poured out in sadness and disbelief. However, he predicted a shift in humanity’s hope toward the East.

The war against Iran has already triggered an unprecedented global energy crisis. Iran’s strategy of blocking the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital energy maritime choke point, has made Trump bewildered and baffled. The duffer thought he would ‘finish the job’ fast. But, what the world is witnessing is exactly the opposite, a completely different scenario: an intransigent Iran, a country of about 90 million people, fighting for survival. For Iran, it’s not a war of choice — it’s a battle for existence, a battle for which the nation had been  preparing since the November 1979 sanctions, largely spearheaded by the US and the UN. Those sanctions have caused a significant economic strain on the Khomeini regime.

But, military analysts and intelligence guys are stunned by Iran’s retaliatory resilience . The country has declared its ‘missile dominance’, to utter surprise of the White House.

Trump is boxed in by his own delusionary images. He’s looking for an honorary exit strategy, which is well-nigh impossible at this point. Therefore, his delaying tactics aren’t working. He keeps delaying ceasefire ‘agreement’. His own advisors had insulted him calling him an ‘idiot’, ‘dope’ and ‘moron’. He was on the receiving end, including from people who work in his administration.

Hope lies only on the BRICS leadership.

Are the leaders listening?

  • 11
    Mar 26
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A war between 2500-yr-old civilization and 250-yr-old civilization

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The longer the war against Iran drags on, it will have disastrous impact and the global economy will sink. Now, the question is how long the US-Israeli joint military campaign known as ‘Operation Epic Fury’ lasts. It is increasingly becoming evident that the US-Israel lacks the exit strategy of the war that they only had begun unjustifiably on February 28.

With a determined Iran under the leadership of the slain supreme leader Ayatollh Khomeini’s son Mojtaba Khomeini ruling out ceasefire talks, and the US threatening “most intense day of strikes” on Tuesday, the Trump administration is now facing growing pressure from base to end war.

The US-Israeli strikes have plunged the entire Middle East into a sprawling war. The US has committed heinous crime by bombing a girls’ school in Minab, Tehran on March 5 killing as many as 168 to 180, most of whom were schoolchildren. The attack was the deadliest strike in terms of civilian casualties.

It is almost certain that President Donald Trump’s ‘Operation Epic Fury’ will backfire. Their ‘assassination’ and ‘decapitation’ of leadership strategy in the Middle East has proved disastrous. It may give, as has been rightly pointed out by the Palestinian journalist Daoud Kuttab, “a quick short-term political boost but it will lead to long-time disaster.”

Look at what the US had done during the Iraq war. The 2003 invasion of Iraq was justified by the US-led coalition claims that Saddam Hussein possessed and was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including chemical, biological and nuclear programs. Later it became abundantly clear that Saddam had no such weapons in his hands. While Iraq had a crash program in the early 1990s, no evidence of an active, post-1998, N-weapons programs were found. Ignoring the expert weapons inspectors 23 years ago proved to be a fatal mistake.

“Let me begin by saying, we were almost all wrong, and I certainly include myself here,” said David Kay, Head of the Iraq Survey Group, during testimony to the US Senate, 29 January 2004.

The invasion of Iran by the US-Israeli joint forces is also based on some crap and unreliable information. None of them will finally prove to be true. In the process, the entire world will be insecure, let alone the Gulf countries, and the US allies in the Middle East will be worst affected and they will have to bear the brunt.

Iran has already closed the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of global oil supplies are carried out. What will be the economic fallout of the ongoing war? Surging oil prices will lead to global energy crisis, the effect of which is already being felt across the world. On March 10, gas was sold at $3.40 per gallon in the US, which is quite high. Its ripple effect will now be felt by ordinary citizens across the world as transport costs keep rising.

When will the US leadership learn from the Vietnam War (1973), Afghanistan War (2001 to 2021, the longest in US history), Iraq war (2003) and the overthrow of Gaddafi in Libya (2011)?

North Vietnam and the communist Viet Cong won the Vietnam War after the US was forced to pull out their forces. Following the withdrawal of the US troops in 1973, North Vietnam forces had captured Saigon on April 30, 1975 and the conflict came to an end. The US hubris got a serious blow.

Now, while the cost of living in the US keeps spiraling and inflation a matter of serious concern and the domestic audience has no appetite for war, President Trump (‘Titanic’ pose sculpture of Trump-Jeffrey Epstein appeared on Nation Mall near US Capitol on March 10) has declared war against Iran when the slain Iranian supreme leader was willing to make concessions to their N-research.

While Oman was actively brokering peace and mediated between the US and Iran to avert a direct military clash and talks were being held in Muscat and Geneva, the Israeli-US joint operation began late night and the joint forces assassinated the 86-year-old ailing supreme leader.

Decimating the leadership (a wrong tactic fiercely followed by Washington) will not ensure peace in the Middle East but it will open doors to violence, upheaval, chaos and much more radical successors. The US allies (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Kuwait) in the Middle East are now feeling the hard truth.

With Iran saying on March 11 that it has launched its most ‘intense strikes’, and Israel saying “the war with Iran will continue until Israel and the US determine the time”, the war is not going to end anytime soon.

It’s an imposed war. It’s a war between the 2500-year-old civilization and 250-year-old civilization!

 

  • 25
    Feb 26
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Well-regulated, human and ethically-aligned AI systems are what we need

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In New Delhi where the India AI Impact Summit was held last week (Feb 16-21), the AI Guru and UC Berkley Professor Stuart Russell had emphasized on the ethical and safety side of the AI systems. He said the only way world leaders could be jolted to act on the safety side of the AI development would be a disaster whose scale is similar to the Chernobyl accident.

On 26 April 1986, reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (in the erstwhile Soviet Union, now in Ukraine) exploded killing 31 people and affecting about 340,000 people. Even though direct deaths were low, its long-term impact was lethal with estimates ranging from 4,000 (UN) to over 1 lakh (Greenpeace) people affected due to cancers and other radiation-related illnesses.

Prof Russell had said:”…all the leading CEOs have admitted there’s enormous risk to humanity. Privately they will say ‘I wish I could stop’. The one person who has said publicly is Dario Amodel, the CEO of Anthropic.”

Prof Russell, who is also the president of International Association for Safe and Ethical AL, said: “I’ve heard similar things in private from other CEOs, to the point where one of them said the scenarios are so grim that the best case would be a Chernobyl-scale disaster. Because that would get governments to regulate.”

Russell made a fervent appeal to all governments across the world to recognize in advance the AI’s huge risks and protect humanity. “Look at what the risks are and set acceptable levels of risk for each type of consequence that we might be considering.”

Yann LeCun, , one of the pioneering AI researchers who had received the Turing Award, often called “the Nobel Prize of computing”, last month warned the tech ‘herd’ would eventually hit a dead end in its development after years of work and hundreds of billions of dollars spent .

LeCun has been working on the technology for more than a decade that is now the foundation for modern AI. He also served as chief AI scientist at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

After quitting Meta last November, he has become increasingly vocal in his criticism of Silicon Valley’s relentless pursuit of building intelligent machines.

Godfather of AI and 2024 Nobel-prize winner Geoffrey Hinton had warned “people are misusing AI and there are huge risks as computers are becoming ‘super smart’.” His main mission was to warn people that AI will become more intelligent than humans. “When digital intelligence overtakes biological intelligence, it doesn’t augur well for humanity…they kept silencing me but I was trying to warn them,” the British-Canadian scientist had said.

He had suggested that a global agreement similar to the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention might be a good first step toward establishing international rules against weaponized AI.

The era of ‘move fast and break things’— the longtime mantra of Silicon Valley giants—is now facing a severe challenge from the AI technology.

Leading AI experts have urged companies to take a cautious approach and warned about the risks and dangers posed by this ground-breaking technology.

Tech firms, including Google and Microsoft, are pouring billions into the AI research.  Amazon has launched its own in-house AI model known as Titan.

The Adani Group in India recently announced that it would invest about $100 billion in the AI infrastructure by 2035.

“Humans are more important than money,” said Yoshua Bengio, one of the pioneers of AI technology. He had said he felt “lost” because of the direction that the AI is headed in.

Remember J. Robert Oppenheimer  had expressed deep remorse over the destruction caused by his creation, famously telling US President Truman “I feel I have blood on my hands.” He deeply regretted the ensuing arms race, the civilian deaths in Japan and the development of more powerful hydrogen.

With the AI now in the hands of world leaders like Trump and Putin, and rapacious and mercenary companies/ tech firms, whose one and only aim is profiteering and money-making, humanity is now at the mercy of a vast and uncaring universe.

 

  • 15
    Sep 25
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Trump’s tariffs trigger a shift toward multipolar world

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US President Donald Trump’s unilateral imposition of a series of sweeping new tariffs on August 7 have triggered a trade war and changed the world order with India, Russia pivoting toward China. The recent SCO summit in Tianjin marked a watershed in the history of geopolitics since the WWII. The unipolar world looks unsustainable now, looking at the complexity and diversity of emerging geopolitical realities. Multi-polarity is the new world order with China, India and Russia taking the lead and heralding the Asian century. The SCO 2025 played a critical role in forging this convergence where economic interests override ideology.

Robust economic ties among the partnering countries will enable them to exercise resilience against the US tariffs shock. The establishment of SCO Development Bank to accentuate multilateral projects was a major step in this direction.

According to World Economic Outlook Report released by the IMF in April, the combined GDP of the BRICS member countries is projected to exceed the global average in 2025. The data predicts that this Group will reach 3.4% in GDP, while the global average will reach just 2.8%. In 2024, BRICS collectively reached 4% GDP growth, while the worldwide growth stood at 3.3%.

The new axis formation, as visualized through the SCO 2025, will accentuate competition. This competition may create conflict in the beginning, but it will settle down in the long run and force the US to be more accommodating.

The ivory tower of unchallengeable eminence is set to get the reality bite soon.

‘Imperfect Presidents’

Historian Jim Cullen’s Imperfect Presidents in which he had examined key missteps of the US Presidents and taken 10 Presidents down from their pedestals is worth reading again. (Well, he had also explained how those Presidents had transcended their foibles during their presidency). Cullen’s insights were timely and hugely entertaining.

The current US President is a weird folk who only keeps making bizarre and suicidal decisions and no one, in their wildest imaginations, believes Trump would ever transcend his follies and foibles. Also, had Cullen decided to write a similar book now, Trump surely wouldn’t have found his name in the book.

Some of the controversial historical incidents examined by Cullen in Imperfect Presidents, include Abraham Lincoln smearing a preacher and rediscovering his religious vision by emancipating the slaves; Lyndon Johnson’s electoral fraud in his 1948 Senate race and his role in the signing of the Voting Rights Act and Ronald Reagan’s subversion of the Constitution in the Iran-Contra affair and later affirmation of world peace in helping bring about the end of the Cold War.

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 24
    Aug 25
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Stop killing journalists, Mr Netanyahu

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Israel’s constant targeting of journalists and Gaza offensive to silence truth continued as it bombed the main hospital in southern Gaza on August 25 again killing at least 20 people, including five journalists.

Earlier this month, the Israeli airstrike on a tent used by media near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City had killed five Al-Jazeera staff and two freelancers which had been the single deadliest attack since the Israel-Gaza war began in 1992.

The “targeted assassination” was “yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom”, said the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

Meanwhile, UN Human Rights Office OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territory) says it has verified the killing of 227 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since October 7, 2023. The UN office also says Israeli attacks had killed 18 journalists in May 2025 alone. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has described this as ‘journacide’.

Israel has long been accusing journalists of being terrorists without providing any credible proof.  “Israel is murdering the messengers,” said CPJ regional director Sara Qudah. “They’ve wiped out an entire news crew. That’s murder.”

Anas al-Sharif, who was among those killed on August 10, had been one of Al Jazeera’s best-known reporters in Gaza since October 2023, and was the “only voice” for the world to know what was happening in the Gaza Strip. He was one of several journalists whom Israel had previously alleged were members of Hamas, without providing any evidence.

There is growing evidence that journalists in Gaza have been targeted and killed by the Israeli army on the basis of unsubstantiated claims that they Hamas terrorists.

Directing attacks against protected persons such as journalists is a violation of international law and also constitutes a war crime. The apparent targeting of Palestinian journalists in Gaza, combined with Israel’s denial of access of foreign journalists to Gaza for over 18 months, except a few visits controlled by IDF, indicates a deliberate attempt by Israel to limit the flow of information to and from Gaza and prevent reporting on the impact of its attacks and denial of humanitarian assistance.

Cartoon by Suparno Chaudhuri

Remember Mr Netanyahu, you may unleash lethal force and keep killing journalists, but you won’t be able to destroy fearless journalism. Journalists will keep enduring deadly risks of reporting and truth will prevail.

Irish writer Oscar Wilde had said: “In America, the president reigns for four years, but journalism governs forever and ever.”

Meanwhile, Yuval Noah Harari, author of the best-selling book Sapiens, and the eminent Israeli historian and now a high-profile political activist in his home country, has opposed Netanyahu’s right-wing populist coalition. He also attacked the indifference of some American and European progressives to Hamas atrocities, and accused them of ‘extreme moral insensitivity’ and betraying left wing politics. He expressed dismay with “elements within the global left…until now our political partners” who had, on occasions, “justified Hamas’ actions”.

Harari has said he believes “the idea that Israel should just destroy Gaza is unacceptable….the only solution will come when not only is Hamas disarmed, but the Palestinian people have some kind of alternative future.”

Famous journalists who were brutally murdered:

Daniel Pearl (1963-2002), an American journalist who worked for The Wall Street Journal, was beheaded by jihadists in Pakistan in 2002.

James Foley (1973-2014), an American journalist and a freelance war correspondent, was abducted in Syria and decapitated by ISIS in 2014.

Steven Sotloff  (1983-2014), an American-Israeli journalist, was kidnapped in Aleppo, Syria and beheaded by ISIS in 2014.

 

 

 

  • 26
    Jul 24
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What’s Indian railways’ priority after the CRS report: Vande Bharat or rail safety?

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Last week, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) had slammed Indian Railways for Kanchanjunga Express-goods train collision on June 17 in which 10 people had died and 30 others injured. The goods train rammed into Kanchenjunga Express from behind near Rangapani station , close to New Jalpaiguri in North Bengal.

The loco pilot of the goods train was given incorrect authority document, the report had said. The initial probe, however, had blamed the goods train crew for the accident.

“It was an accident-in-waiting,” said the CRS report, adding that there were errors in multiple levels of the administration and station staff.

According to CRS, a wrong paper authority to pass (T/A 912) was issued to the crew of the goods train by the authorities. Loco pilot of the goods train was not given any speed guidelines while crossing the signal which made matters worse, the report said.

The accident in Darjeeling district had been classified under the “Error in train working” section. Due to improper authority and that too without adequate information, such an incident was an “accident-in-waiting”, the CRS report had said.

“It is really a matter of concern that if the teachers themselves (traffic inspector and chief loco inspector), are not aware of the subject, what knowledge will they impart to students (loco pilot and SS/SM)?” the report had said.
Citing the failure of automatic signaling, the report said: “There have been 275 failures in the auto section of the Katihar Division since the commissioning in January 2023 till 20th June 2024…the large number of signaling failures in the automatic section is defeating the very purpose of mobility enhancement and causing safety concerns,” the report said.

Last week, the Railway Board, had announced that the rail ministry had standardized the operating procedure for train crew in case of such failures. “To increase the reliability of signaling equipment, an action plan is being prepared with the zone, under the chairmanship of RDSO (Research designs and standards organization)” the Board had said.

The CRS report also mentioned that the implementation of the Kavach anti-collision system needs to be shown on ground to avoid collisions,

As a rail enthusiast, I’d like to raise a few points to the rail ministry.

Well, the government may go ahead with bullet trains or high-speed trains. But, equal emphasis, if not more, must be given on improving infrastructure of suburban rail network on which millions of common people depend every day. Since I grew up in a suburb named Naihati, near Kolkata and lived close to the rail station, I am familiar with the rail infrastructure over the years. I used to travel everyday from Naihati to Sealdah rail station during late 70’s and early 80’s and had seen and personally experienced daily commuters’ ordeal and woes. I had seen how common folks travel in coaches packed like sardines!

Isn’t the top brass of the Sealdah section aware of the pain and pathos of the daily passengers? Doesn’t he know the deplorable state of affairs?

Even now, while the government has been working zealously to modernise railways and build high-speed trains befitting Asia’s third largest economy, daily passengers’ agony continues: local trains perennially run late, lack of adequate trains, most of the coaches are old and decrepit. Rundown and shabby interior will stare at you as you step into the compartment. Windows are mostly non-functional. About the cleanliness, hygiene and floor of the compartment, the less said the better.

However, recently the authorities have introduced some new coaches. I wonder how long these new coaches will shine in the absence of public discipline and poor maintenance.

What needs to be done urgently is to improve basic infrastructure (including tracks upgrade with high strength rails) and ensure commuters’ safety. The Kanchanjunga Express accident has made it amply clear that the authorities had been lackadaisical and adequate action was not taken following the Balasore train accident.

Will the rail authorities wake up and take urgent action following the CRS report keeping in mind the passengers’ safety which should be top priority?

Vande Bharat is good, but running trains on time, tracks upgrade, keeping coaches clean and making rail journey safer is better!

Is the rail minister listening?

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