Word: punjab
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 2000-2009
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Still, the 850 soldiers of UNIFIL's Indian contingent may be just the chaps for the job. At home, they are known as the 15th Punjab Infantry Battalion-the oldest, most decorated and, according to them, the most admired unit in the Indian army. Founded in 1705 by the Mahraja of Patiala, they earned their stripes fighting wherever the British Empire needed them, including the Middle East. During World War I, they fought in Gallipoli, Sinai, Gaza, and Jerusalem, and formed a major part of the British force occupying Iraq during the 1920s. Since India's independence from Britain, they...
...Most of the rank-and-file soldiers in the unit are Sikhs, members of a religious group native to the plains of Punjab, who wear their long hair covered at all times, usually with a turban. Sikh soldiers are renowned in British Empire military lore for their bravery and fighting skills, although so far in South Lebanon, those attributes have not been tested. The 15th Punjab reports that it hasn't had a single encounter with armed Hizballah elements, despite constant patrols in the 12-village area for which it is responsible. Does this mean Hizballah has given up southern...
...unfairly blamed for Afghanistan's failures, and resentment often colors government statements on Pakistani, U.S. and Afghan relations. Following Cheney's visit, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry angrily retorted in a press statement: "Pakistan does not accept dictation from any side or any source." That may play well in the Punjab, but Pakistan might want to start learning how to take notes. Democrats in the U.S. are promoting legislation in Congress that would withhold military aid to Pakistan unless President George Bush can certify that the Pakistani government is doing everything it can to halt Taliban and al-Qaeda activity. While...
Gandhi moved decisively to quell the crisis, pressuring Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala to arrest an estimated 200 Sikh political leaders and extremist figures in predawn sweeps. Chief among them: Prakash Singh Badal, leader of a breakaway faction of the Akali Dal party, which rules Punjab state, and Gurcharan Singh Tohra, the powerful head of the state committee that manages Sikh temples. Tohra, who has been accused of appeasing terrorists, was detained after he announced he would abolish the special security force that since last summer has prevented the use of the Golden Temple as a haven for terrorists...
...Sikh leaders closer to terrorist elements. Gandhi vigorously defended the arrests, saying the "toughest and most aggressive" measures were needed. But by jailing moderate and militant alike, the Prime Minister seemed for the moment to have abandoned his 25-month search for a political solution to the Punjab problem...