The planned deployment of 20,000 more paramilitary forces in occupied Kashmir has raised serious concern among the locals that India is preparing to rescind Article 35A ahead of the country’s upcoming independence day celebrations next month, which would allow non-residents …

Indian media reported that New Delhi has given eight states the authority to utilize the so-called “Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act” in order to counteract the influence that the Sikhs For Justice’s Referendum 2020 campaign is having on their Sikh communities, …

The Chief Minister of Indian Punjab recently requested the deployment of more national military forces to suppress the peaceful Referendum 2020 campaign that aims to hold a forthcoming plebiscite on the region’s independence, which indicates that previous claims by Indian …

Lush mangroves, the spray of emerald water from the Timor Sea, the sense of the untainted: the journey to the Tiwi Islands, some 80 kilometres north of Darwin, was crudely advertised as one of the Things to Do in the …

Last Sunday’s Japanese elections saw Prime Minister Abe’s ruling bloc lose its two-thirds parliamentary supermajority needed to change the country’s pacifist constitution, which could seriously slow down the US’ “Indo-Pacific” strategy, especially regarding the formation of an anti-Iranian naval coalition …

The Khalistani quest to create an independent country out of India’s majority-Sikh state of Punjab isn’t about “Sikh supremacy”, but about sustainably ensuring the community’s fundamental human rights in the face of the national government’s decades-long policy of Hindu supremacy …

The Khalistan national liberation movement should emphasize the 1973 Anandpur Sahib Resolution’s decentralizing and democratic principles in order to become the core of a new nationwide opposition movement that inspires India’s diverse population to unite in challenging the centralizing and …

Introduction

Following the Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster of 11 March 2011, in 2012 the Japanese government began constructing a series of 440 seawalls along the north-eastern coast of Honshu. Cumulatively measuring 394.2 km (Table 1), they …

Australian society relishes secrecy and surveillance.  Forget the laid-back, relaxed demeanour that remains the great fiction of a confected identity; like all such creations, the trace should not be mistaken as the tendency.  The political culture of Australia remains shaped …

Let’s assume that the Australian Medical Board and AHPRA are acting in good faith with their public consultation process on the future of complementary medicine, found here. Unfortunately, even in such a best-case-scenario, the process seems to stem from …

The Adani conglomerate should be best described as a bloated gangster, promising the earth even as it mines it.  Like other corporate thugs of such disposition, it will do things within, and if necessary outside, the regulatory framework it encounters.  …

This article was originally published in December 2018.

Peera Ram Bishnoi is a mechanic who earns his livelihood working at his small puncture repair shop near National Highway-65. But there’s something extraordinary about the story of this ordinary man.

In …

The confluence of environmental factors and economic policies will probably trigger the large-scale migration of India’s hundreds of millions of mostly small-scale farmers and their families to the cities, completely upending the country’s social fabric and presenting the unique opportunity …

Central banks have invariably been used by their governments to create money for war funding. Britain, in fact, was able to maintain its edge over its rivals like France in the 17^th – 18^th Century because it had …

You will never read about it, but Dayak people, the “First Nation” of the enormous island of Borneo, are broken, robbed and brainwashed.

“Unity in diversity” it says; the motto of Indonesia. But it could be argued that the opposite …

It has been a history of turns and the occasional betrayal, but Hong Kong’s experiment with democracy, incubated within the Special Administrative Region, was always going to be contingent on some level.  Its colonial past is a poke, a reminder …

It has been almost twenty years since allegations of war crimes committed by South Korean troops during the Vietnam War were first featured in South Korean media in the 1990s.¹ The public discussion that followed decades later was formed …

“When a company wields such power that it can cause a Minister to rush an approval process, cut corners and make significant errors, it is cause for serious concern.” — Kelly O’Shanassy, Australian Conservation Foundation, June 12, 2019…

In February 2010, the Indian government placed an indefinite moratorium on the commercial release of Bt brinjal. Prior to this decision, numerous independent scientific experts from India and abroad had pointed out safety concerns regarding Bt (insecticidal) brinjal based on …

Whether it’s through its recent anti-satellite missile test, its newly created de-facto “Space Force”, or its plans to build a space station around 2030, India’s stepping up the pace of the South Asian space race and greatly destabilizing the region …

The Secretary of State told the audience at the US-India Business Council meeting earlier this week that he “didn’t want to spoil the surprise” by spilling all the details of what he plans to talk about during his upcoming trip …

Indian Prime Minister Modi will pay his first foreign trip since re-election to the Indian Ocean island states of the Maldives and Sri Lanka from 8-9 June in showcasing the geostrategic importance that these two countries have for India’s foreign …

Introduction

In the face of a resurgent China, many perceive Japan as a spent force. Its military is stretched, relying heavily on increasingly obsolete American equipment in the face of assertive neighbours¹. The Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) …

It truly looked grand, impressive – the fourth most populous country on earth voted in general elections, which were held on 17 April 2019. Hundreds of positions were for grab: that of the president, the vice president, members of the …

Australia’s voters have defeated a Labour Party that had a clear and comprehensive platform for addressing the climate change crisis and instead re-elected a Liberal Party that virtually had no clear solutions to address the climate crisis other than allow …

What a cheeky way of going.  Death is rarely a matter of good timing but it can be part of a good career move or, as Robert J. Hawke’s passing might prove, the perfect conclusion to his political party’s …

Australian politics since the 1990s has been marked by a dedicated loathing of the “vision thing”.  For those keen to see policies lasting beyond the life of the May fly, disappointment lies.  Federal governments, at best, have shelf lives of …

The session is on Radio National, Australia’s effort at highbrow airings on the wireless.  And, to be fair, it often does not disappoint. But on this occasion, there was a general sense of bonhomie amongst the participants on the Big …

What is the point in central government orders and carefully thought out regulatory norms if government officials and regulators act with blatant disregard? This is precisely what we now see happening in India where genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are concerned.…

Such companies advertise themselves as slick and professional, the best in the business, all things to men, women and everyone in between. They insist that we can all have that vast cake of wealth and eat it too.  Equinor, a …

Confucius Institutes, the language and culture programs funded by the Chinese government, have been established in more than 1,500 high schools and colleges worldwide since their debut in 2004. A centerpiece of China’s soft power policy, they represent an effort …

Introduction

On 30 April 2019, 86-year-old Emperor Akihito 明仁made history. He became the first modern emperor to abdicate. Indeed, his was the first abdication since that of Emperor Kōkaku 光格over two centuries before in 1817. By the same token, the …

The original Japanese letter is here.

This is the English translation of the original Japanese letter to Emperor Akihito written by Yuki Tanaka. The letter was sent to Emperor Akihito on January 6, 2019 under two names – Yuki …

In Indonesia, both presidential candidates have declared victory, just a few days after the elections that were held on 17^thApril, 2019. Both of them are pro-business, both Muslim, and both insist that the Communist Party should continue to …

BJP President Amit Shah was stumping on the campaign trail when he decided that the best way to inspire his party’s base to go out and vote was to proudly compare India’s “anti-terror” strikes to “Israel’s” and the US’, proving …

On 21st April 2019 Sri Lanka experienced 9 multiple terror attacks killing over 250 innocent people. The actions & reactions of the government is leaving citizens seriously anxious. The frightful prospect of a government neglecting the national sovereignty & security …

The Sri Lanka Easter bombings that killed more than 350 people including foreign nationals raise several pertinent questions

1. Why did the bombings receive far less foreign media coverage than the Christchurch (NZ) terrorist attack and the Notre Dame (Paris) fire?

The number of dead is bound to rise, already standing at more than three hundred.  The bombs, worn by seven suicide bombers, struck at three churches during the period of Easter Sunday worship, and three hotels.  As the dead were …

The Malaysian government last year expressed a surprise change of heart on a policy long held dear; it would reconsider the death penalty. The case of Muhammad Lukman, sentenced to death in August for the purchase and sharing of medicinal …

His visit struck a sour note.  The Australian prime minister Scott Morrison was making an effort to show he cared: about those intangible things called borders, secure firm and shut to the unwanted human matter coming by sea.  The distant …

India has cut the royalties that local seed companies pay to German drugmaker Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit for the third time in four years.

India’s government has decided to reduce royalties paid by Indian seed companies to Monsanto for its …

Whatever may be the conclusion of the strike, there is little doubt that the practice of contractualization, which has done so much damage to labor in this country, is facing a mortal challenge from its victims

***

The lesson of …

During the recent years the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has rapidly advanced to the rank of a nuclear power, drawing simultaneously lots of attention on itself both by other states and the media. We argue that this means …

The passage of amendments to the Migration Act 1958 (Cth) by the Australian House of Representatives and the Senate this week was less a case of celebration than necessitous deliverance.  The mental wellbeing of asylum-seekers on Manus Island and Nauru, …

Introduction

On December 26, 2018, following a cabinet meeting, the Japanese government confirmed what had been rumored for days: Japan would withdraw from the International Whaling Commission (IWC) and resume commercial whaling in July 2019. The Abe cabinet justified the …

Caught in the backwater of the world’s existence, Australia struggles for relevance in various ways.  It might show itself a leader in creating a sovereign fund (too late for that now); it might demonstrate, in various ways, a singular approach …

It is over seventy years since the issue of systematized sexual abuse in the Asia-Pacific War came to light in interrogations leading up to the post-Second World War Military Tribunals. There was also widespread vernacular knowledge of the system in …

Recovering the history of in-service dissent during the war in Vietnam is of utmost importance. Recognition of that dissent is essential to our documentation of the war and anti-war movement. The inclusion of those voices in our accounts honors them …

The 71st anniversary of Sri Lanka’s independence from British rule was celebrated on February 4 in a “gallant ceremony” at the Galle Face Green in Colombo. Geopolitical rivalry, foreign intervention and constitutional reform for political devolution, however, are …

Over 30,000 have been slaughtered for Duterte’s drug war but none of them comes from comprador drug lords. Now, even 9 year olds have to be criminalized.

While the festivity of the Holy Child was celebrated here in Cebu City …

Tens of millions of workers throughout India yesterday joined the second day of a 48-hour national protest strike against the hated pro-investor economic “reforms” of the Hindu supremacist Bharatiya Janatha Party (BJP)-led government.

While the capitalist media largely tried to …

First, are the dualities. Duterte called for peace and the left sat in the peace process.  But the country’s armed forces continue to attack poor peasant communities.

Anti-corruption campaigns turned sour when Duterte ordered a hero’s burial for dictator President …

As workers prepare to begin construction of a new U.S. military base in Henoko Bay in Okinawa, Japan, U.S. environmentalists are gearing up for legal action and blasting the destructive project. The planned base could wipe out the Okinawa dugong…

In a crucial election to five assemblies in what is billed as a semi final before the 2019 general elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ultra Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party drew a blank. It lost massively in Chattisgarh, a …

The Henoko base construction is framed by the history of colonization and racism against Okinawans, as well as by our ongoing resistance as we attempt to end the long era of U.S. occupation.

***

“Don’t cry here,” an 86-year-old Okinawan …

The Kisan Mukti March in India is a powerful example of Huey P. Newton’s idea of revolutionary suicide. On November 29-30, tens of thousands of farmers and rural people from across India marched on New Delhi flying communist flags and …

Author’s Note

This is a slightly expanded version of the talk delivered by the author upon the occasion of the launch of his The State of the Japanese State at Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), Tokyo, on 17 October …

Opening remarks

The year 2018 has witnessed extraordinary changes in the Korean peninsula.¹ So many, in fact, that the initial amazement may have worn off a little, and discontent with the pace of change may have set in. But …

Genetically modified (GM) cotton in India is a failure. India should reject GM mustard. And like the Green Revolution, GM agriculture poses risks and is unsustainable. Regulatory bodies are dogged by incompetency and conflicts of interest. GM crops should therefore …

Soft power was always a term best suited for eunuchs.  It relies on persuasion, counsel and an air of seduction.  It does not imply actual force as such (often, that side of the bargain is hidden).  At its core are …

The disgruntled former prime minister is a rather large, and growing club, on the Australian scene.  The country has become known for its killing seasons, those occasions when spear wielding apparatchiks within respective political parties feel the need to execute …

“A funny thing happened in Australia. I made one mistake. I got off the plane.” — Frank Sinatra on his 1974 visit to Australia

The demigods are rarely tempered, and Frank Sinatra, who considered himself one, along with a …

It begins with a gruesome account: a tourist, paddleboarding and swimming in an idyllic setting baked by sun – in this case, Cid Harbour in the Whitsundays, Queensland – attacked by a shark.  He suffers a massive loss of blood; …

You could not make these landscapes up and have people believe it. Even as fiction, no one would believe it. That is why, for over sixty years, I kept what I saw to myself… until the day others [who] spoke …

A sign of desperation before the firing squad is jitteriness and the desperate sense that history needs revision.  You were not the one responsible for the debacles and the cockups; everybody and everything else was.  You knew who was guilty, …

With over 800 million people, rural India is arguably the most interesting and complex place on the planet. And yet it is also one of the most neglected in terms of both investment and media coverage. Veteran journalist and founder …

Part of the ongoing civil lawsuit involving former Asahi reporter Uemura Takashi and Nishioka Tsutomu (formerly a professor of history at Tokyo Christian University), included the September 5, 2018 cross examination of Nishioka. Uemura initiated the lawsuit in part to …

As I was reading, on board an Air Canada flight from Mexico City to Vancouver, The Globe and Mail coverage of the horrors that have been unraveling for several days on the island of Sulawesi, I felt two powerful and …