It has been a double whammy for the American war effort in the Afpak region: not only have the Americans been made to eat humble pie and ‘apologise’ to the Pakistanis for the helicopter attack on a Frontier Corps (FC) border post in Kurram agency, they have also had to suffer an ill-disguised blockade by the Pakistan army of NATO logistic supply lines that run through Pakistan.

Since June, the stone-pelting in Kashmir seems to have left the Indian establishment stupefied. The government, both in the state and at the centre, has been reduced to a state of paralysis, almost as though they have been ‘stoned’ by the stones. To add to the confoundedness of the government, parachute journalists, with little sense of history and even less sense of reality, have been indulging in needless breast-beating about the situation in Kashmir and making recommendations, not to mention analyses, which are not just downright stupid but also dangerous, if not treasonous.

Liang Heng, a renouned journalist of the People’s Daily has recently discussed common man’s notion about politics in the people’s forum of the daily. The author writes on politics and knows the difficulties of publishing political articles in an authoritarian state structure governed by a Leninist party. In 2006, Liang wrote an article on how “three difficulties” and “two specially” influence the writings of political stories (possibly the journalists of socialist countries are not allowed to write stories, they are supposed to report truth emanated from the supreme party leadership).