India and Pakistan are engaged in verbal warfare once again, exchanging increasingly provocative jibes at one other's perfidy. It would be a miracle – and a blessing – if the aggression between the nuclear-armed neighbours stayed at this level. Last Thursday, a suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives struck a paramilitary convoy in Indian-administered Kashmir, killing 44 soldiers. The attack in Pulwama, the single deadliest against Indian security forces in Kashmir in decades, was quickly claimed by the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), a group designated a terrorist entity by the United Nations and the US in 2001. It was followed in Pulwama yesterday by a gun battle involving suspected JeM militants, in which nine people – including four soldiers and a policeman – died. JeM's claim to be behind the attack led India to accuse its neighbour of an attempt to "destabilise". Even as Pakistan denied state complicity, Indian prime minister Narendra Modi promised a "befitting…jaw-breaking response" and both countries recalled their ambassadors.
Over the past few days, the Indian public's grief over its dead has solidified into cold, hard anger. As coffins arrived in villages and towns across the country, funerals drew many thousands of mourners and political activists, who orchestrated chants against Pakistan. Television anchors positioned themselves as the most patriotic Indians of all, leading emotionally charged discussions about the pending "crushing" riposte to Pakistan. Senior retired Indian army officers took to the airwaves to call for a "permanent or semi-permanent" solution to India's problem with Pakistan. Social media, awash with patriotic tributes to the "martyrs", expressed impatience for the Indian authorities to "act". Irate Facebook posts demanded India show "guts… the guts of Israel which dealt with Hamas; or the guts of Sri Lanka which eliminated LTTE; or Myanmar when it dealt with Rohingyas".
It has started to look a bit like life imitating art, or at least like contemporary cinema. A new Indian film, titled Uri – The Surgical Strike, dramatises the aftermath of the 2016 attack on an army base in Kashmir, which killed 17 Indian soldiers. Although no group claimed the assault, India blamed Pakistan and crossed the line of control to launch a series of attacks on Pakistani posts. The film has become a hit in India, its jingoistic depiction of events resonating after Pulwama. Mr Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party has seized on a question posed by the film's hero to Indian military recruits: "How's the josh?", which refers to zeal or enthusiasm for battle. This has stoked expectations of more hardline actions against Pakistan. After Pulwama, it has become an anthem, a slogan of intent.
As coffins arrived in villages and towns across the country, funerals drew many thousands of mourners and political activists, who orchestrated chants against Pakistan
The militaristic fervour, ahead of Indian elections scheduled for April and May, suggests that relations between India and Pakistan are set to return to a level of hostility not seen for decades. Already, India has withdrawn Most Favoured Nation trade privileges from Pakistan and imposed 200 per cent customs duties on all imports. Although the impact is likely to be limited – bilateral trade is minimal on account of accreted animosity – the action was a reminder of how much more dysfunctional the relationship can get.
And Pulwama seems to be driving a stake into the heart of the broader relationship between the people of both countries. This has often centred on cricket, a shared passion. But soon after Pulwama, the Cricket Club of India covered over a portrait of Imran Khan, now Pakistan's prime minister but formerly a greatly admired sportsman in cricket-mad India. A major Indian broadcast production company withdrew from Pakistan's ongoing marquee cricket event, the Super League. And as a tweet crowed this week, the popular news website Cricbuzz "has stopped covering the PSL and has deleted all Pakistan-related content on its site following Pulwama attack".
The message of such small acts of celebration over perceived Pakistani humiliation is not edifying. Nor is it conducive to peace breaking out any time soon. Indeed, the militaristic intensity of India’s justifiable anger and pain at the tragic loss of lives is making it hard to focus on ground realities, or even to hear calmer Indian voices.
What they’re saying is unambiguous. For instance, retired army commander, General DS Hooda, who oversaw the 2016 strike against Pakistan after Uri, urged “some introspection, some deep thinking and engagement to do everything afresh”. And Happymon Jacob, an academic who specialises in the Kashmiri conflict at Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, has drawn attention to the larger numbers of educated, aspirational Kashmiri youths joining the insurgency compared to 2013, the year before Mr Modi came to power. By extrapolation, Mr Modi’s hardline policing strategy with respect to Kashmir has created a new indigenous resistance, one that draws on a broader swathe of society.
What this means is obvious. More people in Indian-administered Kashmir are resentful of Indian attempts to control and direct their energies. More Kashmiris are angry with India. Clearly, New Delhi needs to pursue a more empathetic, hearts-and-minds strategy for Indian-administered Kashmir.
Of course, none of this is to discount Pakistan’s role in feeding the insurgency in Kashmir. Indeed, Islamabad has been manifestly unwilling to clamp down on extremist groups such as JeM, Jaish al-Adl (Army of Justice) or the Pakistani Taliban. In theory, this should be enough leverage for India to push for wider international condemnation of – and action against – Pakistan for apparently providing safe harbour to entities espousing a violent agenda in several countries.
But “how’s the josh?” works best in a film script. In real life, what’s needed is the hard graft of building peace in a difficult space.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
UAE squad
Ali Kashief, Salem Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdelrahman, Mohammed Al Attas (Al Jazira), Mohmmed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammad Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Eisa, Mohammed Shakir, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Adel Al Hosani, Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah), Waleed Abbas, Ismail Al Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli Dubai) Habib Fardan, Tariq Ahmed, Mohammed Al Akbari (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Mahrami (Baniyas)
What is graphene?
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.
It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.
Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.
By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.
At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.
It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.
But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.
In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.
Australia (15-1): Israel Folau; Dane Haylett-Petty, Reece Hodge, Kurtley Beale, Marika Koroibete; Bernard Foley, Will Genia; David Pocock, Michael Hooper (capt), Lukhan Tui; Adam Coleman, Izack Rodda; Sekope Kepu, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Tom Robertson.
Replacements: Tolu Latu, Allan Alaalatoa, Taniela Tupou, Rob Simmons, Pete Samu, Nick Phipps, Matt Toomua, Jack Maddocks.
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Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
Kamindu Mendis bio
Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis
Born: September 30, 1998
Age: 20 years and 26 days
Nationality: Sri Lankan
Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team
Batting style: Left-hander
Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
Squads
Australia: Finch (c), Agar, Behrendorff, Carey, Coulter-Nile, Lynn, McDermott, Maxwell, Short, Stanlake, Stoinis, Tye, Zampa
India: Kohli (c), Khaleel, Bumrah, Chahal, Dhawan, Shreyas, Karthik, Kuldeep, Bhuvneshwar, Pandey, Krunal, Pant, Rahul, Sundar, Umesh
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
Company%20profile
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Copa del Rey
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
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