Rezaul H Laskar is the Foreign Affairs Editor at Hindustan Times. His interests include movies and music.
Articles by Rezaul H Laskar
There is regret whenever anything is cancelled: Ghulam Ali
The soft-spoken ghazal singer Ghulam Ali acknowledges the cancellation of Friday’s concert scheduled in Mumbai is something he regrets. The disappointment is strong because the event was meant to commemorate the late Jagjit Singh.
Updated on Oct 08, 2015 10:08 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Must watch: Let Prophet Muhammad movie speak for itself
One also wonders whether the real reason why the Raza Academy, a Sunni Muslim group, is objecting to the film is because Majidi is a Shia Muslim and “Muhammad: The Messenger Of God” was backed by the government of Iran, the country with the world’s largest Shia population.
Updated on Mar 01, 2017 03:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Sheena and Rahul were in love, they wanted to marry: Friends
Sheena Bora, who was allegedly murdered by her mother Indrani Mukerjea three years ago, had told close friends she planned to marry former Star TV CEO Peter Mukerjea’s son Rahul by the end of 2012.
Updated on Aug 27, 2015 04:52 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
India, Pakistan struggle to climb out of talks crater
The agonising, bit-by-bit disintegration of their planned talks over the weekend has reduced India and Pakistan to planning low-level official exchanges and precluded the possibility of a broader engagement any time soon.
Updated on Aug 25, 2015 07:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Five key takeaways from collapsed India-Pak NSA talks
A meeting of the national security advisors of India and Pakistan collapsed amid a welter of acrimony, leaving several questions about the future of the bilateral peace process that has been dogged by problems since the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Updated on Aug 23, 2015 10:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Failed diplomacy: Why Indo-Pak NSA talks collapsed
Diplomacy is all about nuance and the art of the possible. The handling of the planned meeting of the National Security Advisors by India and Pakistan has been anything but.
Updated on Aug 23, 2015 01:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
NSA talks: India, Pak lack clarity on taking peace process forward
While the Modi government has clearly enunciated what it won’t tolerate during its engagements with Pakistan, there is less clarity on how it intends to take the stalled peace process forward.
Updated on Aug 22, 2015 07:24 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Naveed trained at same LeT camp where Lakhvi was captured
Mohammad Naveed, the Pakistani terrorist captured after a deadly ambush on a BSF convoy, trained at the Lashkar-e-Taiba camp in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir from which operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi was arrested after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Updated on Aug 10, 2015 01:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Pak says no Naved in national database, India rejects claim
Indian authorities on Thursday dismissed Pakistan's claim that a terrorist captured during an attack in Jammu and Kashmir was not a Pakistani national because his name did not figure in the neighbouring country's national database.
Updated on Aug 08, 2015 01:40 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Ex-Pakistani cricketer Wasim Akram unhurt after attack in Karachi
Former Pakistan cricket captain Wasim Akram had a narrow escape on Wednesday when an unidentified armed man fired at his car after a road accident in the port city of Karachi, according to media reports.
Updated on Aug 05, 2015 09:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Naga accord: Will the 'framework agreement' end insurgency?
The historic peace accord signed by the government and the NSCN-IM on Monday came nearly 40 years after another similar treaty inked in Shillong failed to establish peace and led to a fracturing of the Naga rebel movement.
Updated on Aug 04, 2015 02:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Naga accord a 'framework agreement', Nagalim issue set aside
The landmark peace accord signed on Monday by the government and the NSCN-IM, the dominant rebel group in Nagaland, is a “framework agreement” that will pave the way for a final and lasting solution to one of the longest running insurgencies in Asia, rebel and government sources said.
Updated on Aug 04, 2015 02:13 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
A history of accords but peace has eluded Nagaland
The landmark peace accord signed by the government and the NSCN-IM on Monday comes nearly 40 years after another similar treaty inked in Shillong that failed to establish peace and led to a fracturing of the Naga rebel movement.
Updated on Aug 04, 2015 02:08 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar
Real life Bajrangi Bhaijaan: Indian envoy to meet woman stuck in Pak
External affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has directed the Indian envoy in Pakistan to look into the case of a hearing and speech impaired Indian woman who has been stranded in the neighbouring country for at least 15 years.
Updated on Aug 03, 2015 06:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Bajrangi Bhaijaans from Pak want to reunite Indian woman with family
The Pakistani activists are trying to unite the woman Geeta, who was stranded in Pakistan 15 years ago, with her parents. This renewed attempt is clearly inspired by the success of the Bollywood film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which features Salman Khan overcoming all odds to take a deaf and mute girl back to her relatives in Pakistan
Updated on Aug 02, 2015 01:45 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
'Missile Man': Ex-president APJ Abdul Kalam passes away
Former president APJ Abdul Kalam passed away in Shillong on Monday. Kalam (83) collapsed during a speech at the IIM Shillong and was rushed to the nearby Bethany Hospital where doctors said he died of cardiac arrest.
Updated on Jul 28, 2015 01:07 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rahul Karmakar and Rezaul H Laskar, Guwahati/ New Delhi
Now, Chand Nawab hopes Salman will pay him for Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Pakistani television journalist Chand Nawab is hoping director Kabir Khan and Bollywood star Salman Khan will compensate him for inspiring the character played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
Updated on Jul 25, 2015 02:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Ageing rockers David Gilmour, Keith Richards set for a comeback
'Tis the season of ageing rockers. Three members of classic rock bands - David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones and Don Henley of Eagles - are set to unleash new albums over the next few months.
Updated on Jul 23, 2015 09:04 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
At Pakistan's Eid Milan, Hurriyat leaders to rake up Kashmir issue
All eyes will be on the Pakistan mission in New Delhi when high commissioner Abdul Basit hosts an Eid Milan on Tuesday evening, with the Hurriyat gearing up to protest the absence of the Kashmir issue in the official statement issued after the recent meeting of the Indian and Pakistani Prime Ministers in Russia.
Updated on Jul 21, 2015 01:33 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar and Peerzada Ashiq, New Delhi/srinagar
Thanks to Bajrangi Bhaijaan, I've been offered roles in TV ads: Chand Nawab
Pakistani television journalist Chand Nawab is over the moon that he inspired a character in the hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan, which features Salman Khan as an Indian who sneaks into Pakistan to reunite a speech-impaired girl with her family.
Updated on Jul 23, 2015 02:47 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Experts reject Pakistan's demand for more evidence on 26/11 attacks
Pakistan’s demand for more evidence to expedite and complete the trial of seven men charged with involvement in the 2008 Mumbai attacks flies in the face of the voluminous proof provided by India to link the attackers to their Pakistan-based handlers, experts say.
Updated on Jul 14, 2015 05:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Need more 26/11 trial evidence, Kashmir on talks agenda: Pakistan
Pakistan said on Monday there can be no talks with India if the Kashmir issue is not part of the agenda even as it called on the Indian side to provide more evidence to conclude the trial of Pakistani suspects charged with involvement in the Mumbai attacks.
Updated on Jul 14, 2015 01:46 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
RD Burman: The man who made music with bottles and matkas
As Jay and Veeru sneaked up to Gabbar Singh’s camp for what should have been a thrilling attack, things were suddenly interrupted by a song. As a young kid watching Sholay for the first time on the big screen, I thought to myself: “Oh no, another kabilas-in-the-camp song.”
Updated on Jun 27, 2015 02:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Afghan spy agency says ISI planned attack on parliament
Afghanistan's spy service claims that the recent attack on its Parliament was planned by an officer of Pakistan's ISI.
Updated on Jun 25, 2015 01:24 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
An Indian question: Why Ramzan is becoming Ramadan?
Growing up in a deeply religious family, I never once heard the word Ramadan used to refer to the holy Islamic month of fasting and penance.
Updated on Jun 25, 2015 02:11 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar
Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi: Five things about the 26/11 mastermind
LeT operations commander Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, the alleged mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai attacks, is at the centre of a fresh diplomatic row involving India, Pakistan and China following his release from prison on bail. Here are five things you need to know about the 26/11 mastermind.
Updated on Jun 24, 2015 03:00 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Indus Basin is world's second most 'overstressed' aquifier
The Indus Basin aquifer shared by Northwestern India and Pakistan is the second-most “overstressed” underground water reserve, two new studies have found, as human activity rapidly drains about one-third of the world’s largest aquifers.
Updated on Jun 18, 2015 04:40 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Sushma Swaraj: A foreign minister with the lowest profile
Sushma Swaraj will flag off a batch of pilgrims bound for Mansarovar on Tuesday, the latest in a series of low-profile events that underscores how the 63-year-old foreign minister has remained on the margins of policy making.
Updated on Jun 16, 2015 11:41 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
Led Zeppelin to release four decade-old tracks recorded in Mumbai
Tracks recorded by Led Zeppelin members Robert Plant and Jimmy Page with Indian musicians, including Ustad Sultan Khan, during a visit to Mumbai more than four decades ago will finally be released next month.
Updated on Jun 04, 2015 08:45 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi
If you knock at midnight, I will respond: PM Modi to Muslim leaders
Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured a delegation of Mulsim leaders that he doesn’t believe in politics that divide people on communal lines, reportedly saying he would be available to address their issues even at midnight.
Updated on Jun 03, 2015 05:26 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi