|
|
|
See also A timeline of the Middle East
1800: The British employ Indian soldiers in Egypt 1801: the Sikh maharaja Ranjit Singh establishes the Sikh kingdom in Punjab, Kashmir and Jammu with political capital in Lahore and religious capital in Amritsar 1803: Britain takes Delhi from the Marathas 1803: British governor Wellesley builds an opulent government house in Kolkata/Calcutta 1806: Indians led by Tipu's sons revolt against the British in Vellore 1815: Britain annexes the kingdom of Kandy and unifies the whole of Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and begins ferrying Tamil workers from India 1816: Nepal becomes a British protectorate 1819: Dost Muhammad founds new branch of the Durrani dynasty in Afghanistan 1820: China and India account for about half of the world's GDP 1830: Shah Shuja, the deposed ruler of Afghanistan, flees with the Koh-i-noor diamond and gives it to the Sikh ruler of Punjab, Ranjit Singh, in exchange for his alliance 1832: Four men who were planning to murder Europeans in Bangalore are brutally executed by Britain 1834: The Sikh empire captures Peshawar from Afghanistan Dec 1838: Britain invades Afghanistan in theory to expel Iran that has taken Herat 1839: Opium represents 40% of India's exports 1839: Britain invades the Durrani kingdom (Afghanistan) and installs a new ruler 1840: India produces 20 times more opium than it did in 1783 Oct 1842: Britain withdraws from Afghanistan and Dost Muhammad is restored to power 1843: British general Charles Napier invades and annexes Sind 1843: Britain withdraws from Afghanistan and Dost Muhammad regains his throne 1845: Britain fights a campaign against the Sikhs in India 1847: Roorkee is established as the first engineering college of the British Empire 1848: Britain fights a second campaign against the Sikhs in India 1849: Britain annexes the Sikh kingdom of Punjab and seizes the Koh-i-noor 1853: the British build the first Indian railway May 1857: Bengali soldiers launch the "Indian Mutiny", the first war of independence, and conquer Delhi Jun 1857: Nana Sahib, aiming at restoring the Maratha confederacy under the Peshwa tradition, attacks the British at Cawnpore and kills more than 100 civilians ("Bibighar massacre") Sep 1857: The British reconquer Delhi killing thousands of Indian civilians Jun 1858: The last Moghul/Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar, is deposed by the British Aug 1858: The East India Company is dissolved and power on the Indian colony is transferred to the British government under a viceroy, Charles Canning 1860: Indenture is abolished in British India 1862: Bahadur Shah II dies, the Mogul dynasty ends and India becomes a British colony Mar 1862: James Elgin succeeds Canning as viceroy of India Nov 1863: Robert Napier succeeds Elgin as viceroy of India Jan 1864: John Lawrence is appointed viceroy of India 1866: A group of Muslim scholars from Delhi sets up the Deoband School, a Wahhabi-like madrasa at Deoband, north of the former Mughal capital 1868: Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata establishes a trading company dealing in cotton in Bombay/ Mumbai Jan 1869: Richard Mayo succeeds John Lawrence as viceroy of India Feb 1872: Richard Mayo is assassinated and John Strachey becomes viceroy of India May 1872: Thomas Northbrook is appointed viceroy of India Apr 1876: Robert Bulwer-Lytton becomes viceroy of India Sep 1876: Queen Victoria proclaims herself empress of India and takes the Koh-i-noor at the Imperial Assemblage in Delhi while millions of Indians are starving to death Sep 1878: Britain invades Afghanistan to repel Russian expansionism Sep 1879: Afghanistan cedes Balochistan including Quetta and the eastern Pashtun lands (the future Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, or FATA) to Britain 1879: Britain invades Afghanistan which becomes, de facto, a British colony 1880: Afghan king Abdul Rehman creates the country's first standing army and brutally puts down rebellions by ethnic minorities Jun 1880: George Ripon becomes viceroy of India 1881: Britain withdraws from Afghanistan having obtained control of Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection 1882: Mirza Ghulam Ahmed founds in Punjab the Islamic missionary movement of the Ahmedis who oppose jihad, believe that Jesus died in Srinagar and call for a non-violent Islam 1883: Ripon allows Indian judges to try Europeans (Ilbert Bill) Dec 1884: Fred Dufferin becomes viceroy of India while Indians replacing the much beloved Ripon Mar 1885: The Indian National Congress is founded by Allan Hume Mar 1889: Mirza Ghulam founds the Ahmadiyya religious movement in Pakistan 1893: Gandhi moves to South Africa 1893: Afghanistan and British India agree on a border splitting the Pashtun territories between them (the "Durand Line") Oct 1894: James Elgin succeeds Dufferin as viceroy of India Jan 1899: George Curzon succeeds Elgin as viceroy of India 1902: Pramath Nath Mitra founds the independence movement Anushilan Samity in Kolkata 1905: Curzon partitions Bengal into a Hindu and a Muslim regions, causing agitation by the Hindus and a split of the National Congress between Bal Tilak's violent wing and Gopal Gokhale's peaceful wing 1906: The All-India Muslim League is founded by Mohammed Ali Jinnah Apr 1906: Barin Ghosh forms the Jugantar party advocating violent struggle for independence Jul 1908: Tilak is arrested by the British Dec 1911: A new city built by the British, New Delhi, replaces Calcutta as capital of British India 1911: Bengal is reunited, causing agitation among the Muslims 1912: A Muslim bomb almost kills the British viceroy 1913: Tagore becomes the first Nobel laureate of Asia 1914: Gandhi returns from South Africa 1915: Gokhale dies and Gandhi succeeds him as the leader of the National Congress 1916: The Lucknow Pact unites the Congress and the League in their fight for independence from Britain 1917: Edwin-Samuel Montagu is appointed secretary of state for India and champions India's independence Apr 1919: British troops massacre 379 peaceful demonstrators in Amritsar (Punjab), the beginning of large-scale riots in India 1919: Afghanistan gains independence from Britain under Khan Amanullah 1920: Mahatma Gandhi founds the non-violent liberation movement Satyagraha 1921: Jawaharlal Nehru is arrested for civil disobedience 1921: The population of India is 306 million 1921: The Soviet Union, Iran, Turkey and Britain sign treaties with Afghanistan accepting its independence 1921: only 13% of Indian men and 1.8% of Indian women can read and write 1921: 156,000 British citizens rule over 306 million Indian subjects 1921: Muslims riot in India and more than 300 people die 1922: Gandhi is imprisoned following terrorist acts against the British 1923: Britain recognises Nepal's independence 1923: Afghanistan adopts its first constitution under Khan Amanullah who introduces antireligious and pro-western laws 1927: Maulana Muhammad Ilyas founds in India the Tablighi, up a missionary movement to spread orthodox Islam worldwide 1928: Subhash Chandra Bose founds the Bengal Volunteers to fight the British 1929: Ten days of riots between Hindus and Muslims in Dacca 1929: Afghanistan's Amanullah is deposed in a coup and Nadir replaces him 1930: Allama Iqbal calls for a separate homeland for the Muslims 1930: Gandhi unleashes "civil disobedience" against the British 1931: New Delhi is formally inaugurated 1931: Nadir conquers Herat and unifies Afghanistan 1933: The term Pakistan is coined to denote the country of Punjabi, Afghani, Kashmiri, Sini and Balochistani people 1933: Nadir Shah is assassinated and his son Zahir Shah becomes king of Afghanistan 1935: Britain makes Burma a separate colony from India 1937: First elections are held in India, won by Congress 1937: Afghanistan adopts Pashto as its official language instead of Farsi 1939: 15% of India's population is literate 1939: Britain enters World War II but this time Indians do not join the war effort 1940: The population of British India is 280 million Mar 1940: Jinnah proclaims at the Muslim League Conference in Lahore that Muslims constitute a separate nation in India 1941: Syed Abul A'ala Maududi founds Jamaat-e-Islami, an Islamic party Aug 1942: Congress organizes a "Quit India" campaign against the British that leaves 300 people dead, and Nehru is arrested 1942: Nehru replaced Gandhi as the recognized leader of the National Congress party 1943: 3.5 million people die of starvation in India's Bengal 1944: Gandhi is released from prison 1945: Tata Motors is established in Mumbai to build locomotives for India Jun 1945: Nehru is released from jail Feb 1946: Units of the Royal Indian Navy mutiny against the British (223 people are killed) Aug 1946: Riots between Muslims and Hindus or between Muslims and Sikhs kill 4,000 people in Calcutta and 1,000 in Mumbai and thousands in Punjab Nov 1946: Hindus kill 150 Muslims in Bihar, India 1947: Lord Mountbatten announces the partition of the colony in two independent countries, India and Pakistan 1947: The population of India is 400 million 1947: One million people die in communal violence due to the partition that also causes an exodus of more than 14 million people 1947: Following rioting by the Muslim majority in Kashmir, Pakistani troops attack India and occupy part of Kashmir 1947: Jawaharlal Nehru becomes the first prime minister of India 1947: The population of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, is 450,000 1948: Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated by a Hindu extremist 1948: Muhammed Ali Jinnah, the prime minister of Pakistan (a shiite), dies and is succeeded by Liaquat Ali Khan 1948: India refuses to allow the plebiscite in Kashmir and Kashmir separatism is born (40,000 people will die in 55 years) 1948: Ceylon becomes independent and the government of Don Stephen Senanayake revokes the citizenship of the Tamil minority 1949: To quell an uprising, India invades the independent country of Sikkim 1949: India signs a treaty with Bhutan to conduct its foreign policy 1950: The first Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) is founded in Kharagpur 1951: Pakistan's leader Liaquat Ali Khan is assassinated by an Afghan, while general Muhammad Ayub Khan is appointed chief of the army 1952: India holds the first general elections, won by the Congress Party 1952: Mother Theresa (Yugoslavia-born missionary nun Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) founds the Nirmal Hriday Home for the Dying in Calcutta, India 1952: Mohan Mittal founds a steel business (later Ispat) in Kolkata, India 1953: Nepalese sherpa Tenzing Norgaj is the first person to climb Mt Everest (guiding New Zealand's tourist Edmund Hillary) 1953: Mohammed Daoud is appointed prime minister of Afghanistan 1954: The USA becomes the main provider of military goods and training for Pakistan 1955: Polygamy is abolished in India 1955: The Indian government commits to a socialist society 1955: Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar founds the Bharatiya Bauddha Mahasabha (Buddhist Society of India), also known as neo-Buddhism 1956: Pakistan enacts a new constitution and becomes an Islamic republic 1956: Prime minister Nehru of India fosters a neutral stance between communism and capitalism and founds the Non-Aligned Movement 1956: The Sinhalese nationalist (and buddhist) party gains power and Solomon Bandaranaike becomes prime minister 1956: Nand Kishore Ruia founds the iron-ore export company Essar in Chennai, India 1957: India annexes Kashmir 1958: General Ayyub Khan takes over Pakistan's government in a coup 1958: Oman surrenders Gawdar to Pakistan 1958: Baloch nationalists stage an uprising against Pakistan 1958: Pakistani general Ayub Khan, to stop the United Party of East Pakistan from winning elections, seizes power and dissolvesparliament 1959: An Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) is founded in Kanpur and affiliated with nine USA universities 1959: Solomon Bandaranaike is assassinated by a Buddhist monk and is succeeded by his widow, Sirimavo 1960: King Mahendra seizes power in Nepal 1961: Pakistani president Ayub Khan signs a cooperation pact with the USA to counterbalance Soviet influence in India Dec 1961: India invades the Portuguese colonies of Goa, Daman and Diu 1962: Pakistan signs a border treaty with China 1962: Baloch nationalists stage another uprising against Pakistan 1962: India fights and loses a border war with China in Assam 1962: Ayub Khan enacts a new constitution for Pakistan, opposed by Mujibur Rahman's Awami League in East Pakistan and by and by Ali Bhutto's People's Party in West Pakistan 1963: Kumar Patel invents the laser 1963: Mohammed Daoud is removed as prime minister of Afghanistan by king Zahir Shah 1964: Indian prime minister Nehru dies 1965: India and Pakistan fight another war over Kashmir 1965: East Pakistan enacts the "Enemy Property" law aimed at confiscating assetts from non-Muslim minorities 1965: During a wave of political and economic reforms, king Zahir Shah of Afghanistan grants free elections January 1965: the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan is founded (the Communist Party) 1966: Indira Gandhi, daughter of Nehru, becomes prime minister of India 1967: Maoists (Naxalites) begin a guerrilla in West Bengal 1969: Pakistani leader Ayyub Khan is succeeded by another general, Yahya Khan 1969: India's Tata appoints Faqir Chand Kohli in charge of computer services 1970: The secular and democratic Pakistan Peoples Party of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (a Shiite) wins the majority of votes in West Pakistan, while the secessionist Awami League of Mujibur Rahman wins the elections in East Pakistan Dec 1970: General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan seizes power in Pakistan following Ayub's resignations 1970: Om Prakash Jindal opens a steel plant at Hisar, India 1971: The Pakistani army under general Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan massacres more than one million East Pakistani intellectuals, hindus and assorted civilians, and rapes tens of thousands of women 1971: Defended by India, East Pakistan separates from West Pakistan and becomes the independent country of Bangladesh under the rule of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman 1971: The Sinhalese Maoist Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) movement foments political riots Dec 1971: Following Pakistan's debacle in Bangladesh, Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto becomes prime minister of Pakistan after the resignation of Yahya Khan 1972: King Mahendra of Nepal dies and is succeeded by Birendra 1972: Pakistan begins a covert nuclear program 1972: Indian-born MIT-graduate Narendra Patni founds Data Conversion (later Patni) in the USA with back-office operations in Pune 1972: Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka and becomes a socialist republic 1972: MIT-graduate Narendra Patni founds Data Conversion (later renamed Patni Computer Systems) with offices both in Boston (USA) and Pune (India) 1972: Sibghatullah Mujaddedi founds the Islamic movement Jamiat-e-Ulamae Mohammadi in Afghanistan 1973: Sardar Daud, the king's cousin, stages a coup that ends the monarchy of Afghanistan 1973: Mohammed Daoud seizes power in Afghanistan with a coup with help from the communists 1973: Baloch nationalists stage a third uprising against Pakistan 1973: Balochistan rebels against Pakistan 1974: 28,000 people die in floods in Bangladesh 1974: Pakistan recognizes Bangladesh 1974: Tata obtains a software contract from BUrroughs, the first major software project offsources by the USA to India May 1974: India detonates an underground nuclear weapon 1974: Sikkim votes overwhelmingly to join India 1975: Bangladesh's president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is assassinated in a military coup led by general Zia Rahman 1975: Mohammed Daoud removes the communists from the Afghan government 1975: Persecuted by Afghan's dictator Sardar Daud, Islamic fundamentalists affiliated to the Muslim Brotherhood such as Gulbuddin Hikmetyar and Ahmad Shah Masud flee to Pakistan where they are protected by Jamiat-e-Islami and armed by the paramilitary Frontier Corps of Naseerullah Babar 1975: India annexes Sikkim 1975: Embroiled in scandals, Indira Gandhi declares a state of emergency, under which her political foes are imprisoned, constitutional rights abrogated, and the press placed under censorship 1975: Azim Premji's Bangalore-based Wipro starts selling the first computer made in India 1976: To curb population growth, Indira Gandhi initiates a program of forced sterilization 1976: Pakistan founds the Engineering Research Laboratory (ERL) presided by Abdul Wadeer Khan (later renamed KRL) 1976: India's prime minister Indira Gandhi signs a cooperation pact with the Soviet Union 1976: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is founded to protect the rights of the Tamil minority and wins the elections in Tamil-dominated regions 1977: Bangladesh enacts a new constitution and becomes an Islamic republic 1977: Pakistan quells the rebellion in Balochistan (after 8,000 people died) 1977: Pakistan puts down the Baloch uprising TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. 1977: The corrupt but secular government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto (a Shiite) is overthrown by a military coup led by general Zia ul-Haq, a Sunni fundamentalist who reinstates public hangings, death by stoning and public beatings according to Islamic law 1977: 57 foreign firms, including IBM, dclose down their Indian plants rather than meet Indian demands for some degree of Indian ownership 1978: The Karakoram Highway linking Pakistan and China is opened, thereby increasing trade and military cooperation between the two countries 1978: Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is appointed president in the Maldives 1978: The exiled Islamist leader Sibghatullah Mujaddedi founds Afghanistan's National Liberation Front in Pakistan (Jabhai Milli Nejate Afghanistan) and the Afghani government retaliates by killing more than 70 members of his family 1978: Karnataka State's agency Keonics establishes Electronics City in Bangalore, India 1978: The "Electronic City" is founded in Bangalore, India 1978: Sri Lanka becomes a presidential republic and Junius Richard Jayawardene is appointed president replacing prime minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike with Ranasinghe Premadasa 1978: Youstol Dispage 1978: the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conducts the first terrorist attack in Sri Lanka Apr 1978: the Communist Party of Afghanistan stages a coup and removes Daud from power April 1978: Mohammed Daoud is toppled by a communist coup in Afghanistan and the leader of the Communist Party, Nur-Mohammed Taraki, is appointed president with vice-presidents Babrak Karmal and Hafizullah Amin, and political purges kill more than 10,000 people in 18 months March 1979: The Soviet Union bombs pro-democracy rebels in Afghanistan, killing more than 10,000 people 1979: The communist government of West Bengal in India kills thousands of Dalit refugees from Bangladesh of the Namashudra community in Marichjhapi September 1979: Amin overthrows Taraki in Afghanistan December 1979: Soviet troops invade Afghanistan, kill Amin and install Babrak Karmal as president 1979: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto is hanged in Pakistan, a Shiite leader hanged by a Sunni leader (Muhammad Zia ul-Haq) Mar 1979: Sibghatullah Mujaddedi calls for a popular uprising against the Soviet Union in Afghanistan 1979: The United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) is founded in Assam to fight against Indian rule Dec 1979: The Soviet Union invades Afghanistan, murders the president and installs Babrak Karmal as president 1980: the USA uses Pakistan to help rebels fighting the Soviet Union in Afghanistan 1980: Mohammad Najibullah becomes the head of the Afghan secret police (KHAD) that creates concentration camps and liquidates thousands of political enemies 1980: Wipro, to fill a gap after IBM left India, hires Sridhar Mitta who sets up offices in Bangalore to make computers 1980: "mujaheddin" and volunteers from the Arab world, led by Saudi scion Osama bin Laden, organize the resistance against the Soviet Union's occupation of Afghanistan 1981: Bangladesh's leader Rahman Zia is assassinated in a military coup 1981: The USA and Pakistan sign a treaty of alliance that includes military aid to Pakistan 1981: Infosys is founded in Bangalore by Patni employee Narayana Murthy 1981: Mukesh Ambani joins his family's business Reliance in India 1981: East Asia has the highest poverty rate in the world 1982: Bangladesh is ruled by general Ershad, an Islamic fundamentalist who eventually declares Islam as the state religion 1982: Pakistan recruits, trains and arms Islamic fighters from more than 40 countries with funds from the USA and Saudi Arabia to fight the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, the first "global jihad" 1982: China provides Pakistan with the design of a nuclear bomb and weapons-grade uranium 1983: the Tamil issue becomes a military issue after confrontation between Tamil tigers and the army leaves hundreds dead 1983: Hamid Karzai moves from India to Pakistan and joins Sibghatullah Mujaddedi's National Liberation Front of Afghanistan 1983: Anil Ambani joins his family's business Reliance in India Feb 1983: Lalung tribespeople in the Indian state of Assam massacre more than two thousand people during a six-hour period, mainly Bangladeshi Muslims ("Nellie massacre") 1984: While fighting the Sikh secessionist movement of Jarnail Singh Bindranwale, Indian troops destroy the holy Sikh shrine of the "Golden Temple" 1984: Indira Gandhi is assassinated by Sikh bodyguards and is succeeded by her son Rajiv 1984: A leak at the Union Carbide pesticides plant in Bhopal causes 14,000 deaths 1984: Pakistan enacts laws that bar the Ahmadis from calling themselves or behaving as Muslims, preaching their faith and using Islamic terms for their places of worship and religious rituals. 1985: Sikh militants plant a bomb on an Air India flight out of Canada killing all 329 passengers Sep 1985: Haq Nawaz Jhangvi founds Sipah-e-Sahaba, a Wahabi organization that aims at turning Pakistan into a purely Sunni nation by expelling or exterminating all Shiites 1985: Hafiz Saeed and Zaffar Iqbal, two teachers of Islamic Studies at University of Engineering and Technology in Pakistan, form the Islamic missionary movement Jamaat-ud-Dawa 1986: India rigs Kashmir elections and Kashmir separatists takes up arms 1986: India begins to build a 3000-km border fence around Bangladesh May 1986: Babrak Karmal is replaced as president of Afghanistan by Mohammad Najibullah, appointed by the Soviet Union 1986: Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir returns to Pakistan from exile 1986: Patni obtains the first contract from a USA company (Data General) for offsourcing software to India 1986: Sunil Mittal founds the telecom company Bharti Telecom Limited in India 1986: Pakistan introduces the death penalty for "blasphemy" against the Islamic religion 1987: first suicide bombing by a Tiger in Sri Lanka 1987: India deploys troops in Sri Lanka in a peacekeeping mission 1987: India sends a peace-keeping force to broker a truce between the army and the Tamil tigers (1,200 Indian soldiers will die) 1987: the Tamil Tigers start using suicide bombers 1987: Abdul Wadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's Atomic bomb, begins contacts with Iran to sell nuclear secrets 1988: Political violence claims the lives of thousands in Sri Lanka before and after national elections 1988: Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)'s general Hamid Gul forms IJI(Islami Jamhuri Ittehad-Islamic democratic front), an anti-USA group of religious organizations 1988: an Indian ferry capsizes on the Ganges River, killing over 400 people 1988: Zia, the US ambassador and top Pakistan army officials die in a mysterious air crash 1988: Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto's daughter Benazir wins the general elections in Pakistan, but real power rests with general Mirza Aslam Beg and the military's protege, Nawaz Sharif, who is assigned the state of Punjab 1988: Millions of people in India are left homeless during massive floods 1988: Gautam Adani opens a trading house in India 1988: Akbar Bugti is appointed chief minister of Balochistan in Pakistan 1988: Osama bin Laden, in Afghanistan, creates Al Qaeda, a worldwide alliance of (mainly Arab) fundamentalist militants, based on the teachings of Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahab February 1989: the Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan (1.3 million Afghans and 12 thousand Soviet soldiers have died, five million Afghans have fled the country) 1989: Ranasinghe Premadasa is elected president of Sri Lanka 1989: Rajiv Gandhi is the first Indian prime minister to visit Pakistan 1989: Tens of thousands of people are killed by India over two years in a Pakistan-sponsored insurrection in Kashmir, and the separatist group Hizbul Mujahideen is founded in India-controlled Kashmir Oct 1989: Benazir Bhutto fires Hamid Gul, the main architect of Pakistan's involvement in the anti-India insurrection in Kashmir 1989: Pakistan inaugurates the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture in Karachi 1989: The Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan and Sibghatullah Mujaddedi becomes Afghanistan's new president 1990: Indian troops withdrawn from Sri Lanka 1990: After the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, the USA imposes sanctions on Pakistan as punishment for its nuclear program Aug 1990: Benazir Bhutto is removed from prime minister of Pakistan, on charges of incompetence and corruption 1990: Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League wins elections in Pakistan and Sharif becomes its new prime minister 1990: Islamic militancy in Kashmir increases against the Indian occupying troops 1990: Indian troops leave Sri Lanka 1990: the All Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) is founded by Lalit Debbarma to fight for Tripura's secession from India 1990: Pakistan passes a law (based on the holy book of the Muslims, the Quran) that a criminal can settle his crime with the victim by paying money, a law that helps many wealthy criminals to avoid trial 1990: Shiite militants assassinate the founder of Sipah-e-Sahaba, Haq Nawaz Jhangvi 1990: Islamic militants of Pakistan led by Hafiz Saeed form the Islamist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba to fight India, basically the military wing of Jamaat-ud-Dawa Dec 1990: Riaz Basra of Sipah-e-Sahaba kills the Iranian consul in Lahore, Sadiq Ganji, whom they consider a Shiite agitator 1991: Nepal holds its first democratic elections that herald an age of political instability (eleven governments in eleven years) 1991: The Indian army attacks Sikh strongholds in Punjab killing more than 3,300 civilians 1991: Rajiv Gandhi is assassinated by Tamil separatists and succeeded by Narasimha Rao, who hires Manmohan Singh as finance minister to liberalize India's economy 1991: In Bangladesh, president Ershad is sentenced to jail for corruption and Begum Khaleda Zia, widow of Zia Rahman, becomes prime minister 1991: A tsunami kills 138,000 people in Bangladesh 1991: The Indian government sets up the Software Technology Parks of India (STPI) to promote software exports and opens the first park in the Electronics City of Bangalore 1991: Om Prakash Jindal splits between his children the steel and power conglomerate that he built in India 1991: Wipro wins a software contract from a US customer that interacts via the Internet 1991: India abandons socialism and liberalizes its economy 1992: Hindu extremists destroy a 16th century mosque in Ayodhya, causing riots that kill 800 people 1992: Tamil tigers kill dozens of Muslims in Sri Lanka 1992: Burhanuddin Rabbani is elected president of Afghanistan but civil war erupts between Tajik commander Ahmad Shah Masud, Rabbani's defense minister, and Pakistan-supported Gulbuddin Hikmetyar's militias 1992: Pakistan begins missile cooperation with North Korea 1993: American outsources the management of its credit-card business to its Indian office led by Roman Roy, the first major project of business-process outsourcing to India 1993: Muslims and Hindus riot in Mumbai (800 people died) 1993: The USA adds Pakistan to the list of countries sponsoring terrorism Jan 1993: Hikmetyar's militias, supported by Pakistan, lay siege to Afghanistan's capital Kabul 1993: Muslim terrorists detonate several bombs in Mumbai killing 250 people 1993: Benazir Bhutto wins national elections again in Pakistan 1993: A bombing campaign by Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka kills even president Premadasa 1993: Bombs set by Islamic fundamentalists destroys the Mumbai stock exchange and other buildings, killing 257 people, in retaliation for the demolition of a 16th-century mosque in Ayodhya by Hindu fundamentalists 1994: Muslim separatists plant bombs in Kashmir, killing dozens 1994: ICICI Bank is established 1994: India liberalizes its telecom industry 1994: Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is elected (female) president of Sri Lanka and appoints her mother Sirimavo Bandaranaike as prime minister 1994: Pakistan helps the Taliban, Afghan fighters bred in the madrassas of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, launch an invasion of Kandahar in Afghanistan from Pakistan 1995: Abdul Wadeer Khan, the father of Pakistan's Atomic bomb, begins contacts with North Korea to sell nuclear secrets 1995: The Nepal Communist Party begins an armed insurrection in Nepal 1995: Azam Tariq, a Pakistani Sunny cleric leader of the Islamist party Sipah-i-Sahaba, publicly calls for attacks on Shiites in Pakistan 1995: Youstol Dispage 1995: Bhutto's husband Asif Ali Zardari profits from a sale of Mirages by French aerospace company Dassault to Pakistan, the most visible of the bribes he received while his wife was in power 1995: A suicide bomber (the first one in Pakistan's history) kills 15 people at the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad 1995: The Essar Group run by Nand Kishore Ruia's sons Shashi and Ravi Ruia is an Indian conglomerate that extends from shipping to steel, oil, power and telecommunications 1995: Lakshmi Mittal, the son of Mohan Mittal, founds his own steel business, LNM Group (later Mittal Steel) 1996: Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto grants universal adult suffrage in Pakistan, but the FATA remains off-limits to political parties September 1996: with help from Osama bin Laden, the Taliban militia, inspired by the writings of Sayyid Qutb and the teachings of Mohammad ibn Abd al-Wahab, dislodges the mujahedin government from Afghanistan, executes Mohammad Najibullah (first castrated and then hanged) and installs one of the most fundamentalistic Muslim governments in the world 1996: Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is removed again on charges of corruption 1996: Riaz Basra breaks away from Sipah-e-Sahaba and founds the radical Sunni movement Lashkar-e-Jhangvi 1996: The Pakistani-backed Taliban capture Afghanistan's capital Kabul, opposed by the Northern Alliance of Masud 1996: Hikmetyar is defeated by the Taliban and goes into exile in Iran 1996: Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, wins the elections in Bangladesh 1996: Tamil rebels bomb the capital of Sri Lanka 1996: the Nationalist Party wins the election and Atal Behari Vajpayee becomes prime minister 1996: Malik Ishaq and others found the Sunni movement Lashkar-e-Jhangvi in Pakistan Sep 1996: More than 200 people are killed in fighting between Shiites and Sunnis in Kurram, Pakistan 1997: The Muslim League wins general elections in Pakistan and Nawaz Sharif is elected prime minister of Pakistan 1997: Pakistan arrests Malik Ishaq, founder of the Islamist movement Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, for the murder of 70 people 1997: Mother Theresa (Yugoslavia-born missionary nun Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu) dies in India 1997: Sunni extremists assassinate 75 Shiite leaders in Pakistan 1998: Pakistan's top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan provides North Korea with nuclear technology in exchange for missile technology 1998: The Talibam, under the command of Abdullah Dadullah, massacre Shiites in Afghanistan 1998: India launches the "National Highways Development Project" May 1998: India and Pakistan conduct nuclear tests 1998: Massive floods in Bangladesh 1998: 211 die in a train collision in the Punjab 1998: a Muslim fundamentalist, Tablighi Muslim Rafiq Tarar, is elected president of Pakistan 1998: Tata introduces India's first passenger car 1998: Gautam Adani buys India's port of Mundra and creates a "special economic zone" of 100 sqkm for his diversified financial empire 1999: The Taliban assassinate Pashtun leader Abdul Ahad Karzai in Pakistan and several other Afghan exiles with complicity from Pakistan's secret services 1999: Azim Premji is the richest person in India and Wipro has the highest market capitalization in India 1999: Benazir Bhutto is sentenced to jail in absentia 1999: Escalation of violence in Kashmir between Indian troops and freedom fighters backed by Pakistan May 1999: Pakistan's general Pervez Musharraf attacks Kashmir but is repelled by India Oct 1999: Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif is overthrown in a military coup led by general Pervez Musharraf 1999: A cyclone devastates the Indian state of Orissa killing 10,000 people 1999: 285 die in a train collision near Calcutta Dec 1999: Kashmiri militants supported by Pakistan's secret services hijack an Indian airplane and hold 160 passengers hostages until India releases Harkat's leaders Maulana Masood Azhar and Sajjad Afghani 2000: The population of India is one billion 2000: The Tamil leader Velupillai Prabhakaran offers peace talks to the Sri Lankan government 2000: 62% of India's exports of software go to the USA Apr 2000: Former Pakistani prime minister Sharif is jailed for treason Sep 2000: The Afghan Taliban capture Masud's stronghold in the north thanks to an army that includes many foreigners (Pakistanis, Kashmiris, Chechens, Arabs, Filipinos) 2000: Musharraf appoints Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court 2001: King Birendra of Nepal and his entire family are killed by a crown prince, and Gyanendra becomes the new king Mar 2001: the Islamic government of Afghanistan destroys the 1500 year-old Buddha statues of Bamiyan 2001: in retaliation for Osama bin Laden's terrorism, the USA invades Afghanistan, removes both the Taliban and Al Qaeda from power, and installs Hamid Karzai as president 2004: Hamid Karzai wins free democratic elections in Afghanistan 2001: King Gyanendra declares a state of emergency in Nepal after dozens are killed by Maoists 2001: An earthquakes kills 30,000 people in the Indian state of Gujarat 2001: Skirmishes between the Indian and Bangladeshi armies leave 20 soldiers dead Mar 2001: The Taliban of Afghanistan destroy the century-old Buddha statues of Bamiyan May 2001: More than 80 people are killed in Kashmir while the president of Pakistan and the prime minister of India to discuss peace Sep 2001: Two Tunisian terrorists of Al Qaeda, coming from Pakistan, kill Masud in Afghanistan Sep 2001: Terrorists of Al Qaeda based in Afghanistan carry out attacks against the USA Oct 2001: The USA begins a bombing campaign against the Taliban in Afghanistan Oct 2001: Kashmiri militants explode a car bomb in Srinagar that kills 29 people Dec 2001: The Northern Alliance under general Dostum massacres thousands of Taliban prisoners at Qala Jangi, Afghanistan, while Pakistani agents and Arab terrorists who were fighting alongside the Taliban are airlifted out of the country by Pakistan Dec 2001: The USA expels the last Taliban from Afghanistan and appoints Hamid Karzai as new president (12,000 Taliban have been killed and 4,000 Afghan civilians versus only 1 US casualty) 2001: Muslim separatists attack the Parliament in New Delhi 2001: Pakistan has 6,870 madrassas (up from 245 at the time of independence) 2001: Several bombs kill more than 30 people in Bangladesh 2001: Khaleda Zia wins the election in Bangladesh but her government soon become mired in corruption scandals 2001: Ranil Wickremesinghe wins Sri Lanka's elections and becomes prime minister after campaigning on a peace platform 2001: the Kumbh Mela pilgrimage at Allahabad draws at least 20 million pilgrims 2001: Sri Lanka's Tamil Tiger rebels attack the Colombo airport, killing 18 people and destroying half of the national airline fleet 2001: More than one thousand people are killed by political violence in northeast India 2002: Raids by Maoist rebels leave 127 people dead in Nepal 2002: Iran expels Gulbuddin Hikmetyar who settles in Peshawar, northwestern Pakistan, where he becomes an ally of the Taliban 2002: Following the burning of a train by Muslim cleric Maulana Hussain Umarij, ethnic rioting erupts in Gujarat that kills 1,000 people, mainly Muslims 2002: Peace talks begin between Sri Lanka's prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and the Tamil rebels (the civil war has killed over 64,000 people) 2002: Islamic militants increase attacks on Kashmir and other Indian states Oct 2002: Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam wins elections in the northwestern provinces and in Balochistan of Pakistan, and becomes a protector of the Taliban in Balochistan and of the Haqqani fighters in the northwest 2002: Baloch nationalists launch a fourth uprising against Pakistan Apr 2002: In the first four months of 2002 Sunni Pakistani militias kill 17 doctors, 4 lawyers, 5 journalists, 4 teachers and 16 government officials of the Shiite minority in Karachi alone 2002: Pakistan bans Lashkar-e-Taiba but the organization continues to raise funds through its charity arm, Jamaat-ud-Dawa Jun 2002: In retaliation for a perceived clan offence, three men sodomize the 12-year old Shaqoor Bib and six men rape his sister Mukhataran Mai in the village of Meerwala, Pakistan, and then parade the woman naked in front of hundreds of onlookers 2002: the first democratic elections are held in Pakistan since 1999 and Zafarullah Khan Jamali becomes prime minister but Musharraf retains real power Jan 2003: The Taliban fight a battle with US troops, the first battle since the Taliban regrouped in Pakistan 2003: Islamic terrorists execute 24 Hindu civilians in Kashmir 2003: Pakistani politician Javed Piracha from Peshawar wins the release from jail of 300 suspected Arab teerrorists and facilitates the repatriation to their countries 2003: India vaccinates 165 million children to eradicate polio 2003: Tripura separatist rebels kill 22 Bengali villagers 2003: Members of the Sunni terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi kill eleven police officers of the Shia community in Balochistan, Pakistan 2003: A ferry capzised in Bangladesh killing over 400 people 2003: 34 people are killed by separatists in northeastern India 2003: more than 50 people are killed in two bomb attacks in Mumbai by the Islamic group "Students Islamic Movement of India" (SIMI) affiliated with Lashkar-e-Taiba 2003: Azam Tariq, a Pakistani Sunny cleric leader of the pro-Taliban party Sipah-i-Sahaba, is killed 2003: Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf survives two assassination attempts by Al Qaeda and organized by Amjad Hussain Farooqi of Jaish-e-Muhammed 2004: Pakistan's top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, confesses on tv that he helped Iran, Libya and North Korea acquire nuclear technology Mar 2004: Pakistan's Frontier Corps are defeated by Al Qaeda in a battle inside northwestern Pakistan's FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas) may 2004: Pakistani militants start using suicide attacks in a co-ordinated manner with the attacks on Karachi that kill 100 people 2004: the war between Maoist rebels and the Nepalese army leaves hundreds of people dead 2004: the party of Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga wins elections in Sri Lanka against the party of prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe and Mahinda Rajapakse is appointed prime minister 2004: Pakistan carries out a 12-day military offensive in South Waziristan on the border with Afghanistan to dislodge Al Waeda and Taliban fighters 2004: despite an economic boom, a third of Indians live on less than a dollar a day TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. 2004: the Congress Party wins national elections but its leader, Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, lets Manmohan Singh, a Sikh, become India's new prime minister in a coalition with the Communist Party 2004: Bangalore has 150,000 software engineers, more than the Silicon Valley in California 2004: 29 Indians are killed in Kashmir by a bomb planted by Islamic separatists 2004: a ferry sinks in Bangladesh killing about 160 people 2004: Maoist rebels control 68 of Nepal's 75 districts 2004: ten people are killed in a bomb blast in Quetta, Pakistan 2004: tsunamis caused by one of the strongest earthquakes in history (9.0 magnitude) kill thousands in Southeast Asia 2004: India becomes the largest recipient of Japanese aid 2004: Bangladesh sets up a paramilitary unit, the Rapid Action Battalion TM, ®, Copyright © 2005 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved. Jan 2005: Balochis fight the army in Pakistan 2005: Newsweek magazine reports that guards at Guantanamo desecrated the Quran, a news that sparks deadly riots in Afghanistan and anti-USA protests in many Islamic countries 2005: a suicide bombing kills more than 20 people in an Afghan mosque Dec 2005: Balochis try to assassinate Pakistan's president Musharraf, who retaliates with a campaign that kills hundreds of Balochis 2005: more than 30 people are killed in a bomb blast at the Fatehpu shrine in Pakistan 2005: More than 50% of all jobs outsourced by Silicon Valley companies go to India 2005: China and India sign a treaty in which China gives up any claim on the state of Sikkim 2005: A bomb blast at a Muslim shrine in Pakistan's capital Islamabad kills at least 20 people 2005: rebels throw rockets at president Musharraf in Balochistan 2005: an bomb by Hizbul Mujahideen kills nine Indian soldiers in Kashmir 2005: An earthquake in Kashmir causes 80,500 dead, mostly in Pakistan 2005: Pakistan expels foreign Islamic students, who frequently support terrorism 2005: Pakistan launches its first long-range nuclear-capable missile and its first cruise missile 2005: Sri Lankan foreign minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is assassinated by members of the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) 2005: 350 bombs planted by Islamic fundamentalists of Jamayetul Mujahedin detonate in Bangladesh 2005: Tamil Tiger rebels in Sri Lanka agree to hold direct talks with the government 2005: Asif Chotto, head of the terrorist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that killed hundreds of Pakistani shiites, is arrested 2005: bombs set by Kashmiri militants of Lashkar-e-Toiba kill 59 people in New Delhi 2005: Maoists (Naxalites) kill 24 police officers in India 2005: Muslims in Sangla Hill (Punjab) destroy two Catholic churches and two schools because they think that someone has burned a copy of the Quran 2005: Sri Lanka's prime minister Mahinda Rajapakse wins presidential elections 2005: Seven people are killed by Islamic terrorists of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Bangladesh, the first suicide bombing in the country's history 2005: 669 people are killed in 2005 in violence related to the Maoist insurgency of the Naxalites 2005: the USA and India sign a nuclear agreement 2005: 33.6% of India's population (370 million people) makes less than $1 a day 2005: The Ambani brothers of India split their business empire 2005: More than 1,400 people are killed in Afghanistan, the worst toll since the USA ousted the Taliban 2006: 21 people die in a car bomb attack on a market in southern Afghanistan 2006: 23 shiites are killed by a suicide bomber in Pakistan Jan 2006: a US drone kills five Al Qaeda members inside Pakistan May 2006: The Taliban, led by Abdullah Dadullah, launch an offensive in Afghanistan that will kill more than 400 police officers 2006: The Pakistani army kills the leader of Balochistan's resistance, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti 2006: Maoists (Naxalites) kill 25 people in India 2006: Bangladesh arrests Abdur Rahman, leader of terrorist organization Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Aug 2006: Balochistan's separatist leader Akbar Bugti is killed by Pakistan, causing riots in Balochistan 2006: Lakshmi Mittal's Luxembourg-based ArcelorMittal is world's largest steel-maker 2006: bombs kill more than 20 people in Varanasi 2006: 25 Muslims are killed in Pakistan during fights between rival factions 2006: 47 people are killed in a suspected suicide bomb attack at a Sunni religious gathering in Karachi, Pakistan 2006: massive pro-democracy protests in Nepal 2006: Islamists kill 35 hindus in Kashmir 2006: Tamil Tiger rebels sink a Sri Lanka navy gunboat in a sea battle that leaves at least 45 people dead 2006: 58 people die when a bus hits a landmine in Sri Lanka Aug 2006: Pakistan kills 33 Baloch rebels including Nawab Akbar Bugti, but his grandson Brahumdagh Bugti flees to Afghanistan 2006: Multiple terrorist bombs in Mumbai kill 186 people, and India accuses Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI of planning the attacks and the Islamist militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba of carrying them out 2006: Government troops and Tamil Tiger rebels fight on three fronts in Sri Lanka despite the 2002 ceasefire agreement 2006: Government troops kill 17 aid workers in Sri Lanka 2006: Bombs kill 37 people in a Muslim town of western India, Malegaon 2006: at least 99 soldiers are killed by a suicide attack in northern Sri Lanka 2006: Bangladeshi President Iajuddin Ahmed is sworn in as head of an interim government after the political parties cannot resolve a national crisis 2006: A Pakistani air raid kills 80 taleban in a madrasa 2006: more than 4,000 people are killed in Afghanistan, both insurgents, soldiers and civilians Sep 2006: Pakistan and the Taliban based in the FATA sign a peace treaty that allows the Taliban to expand their operations inside Pakistan 2006: Taliban militants adopt the suicide attacks used by insurgents in Iraq and launch 78 suicide bombings across Afghanistan in the first nine months, killing close to 200 people 2007: More than 2,300 people die in insurgency-related violence in Afghanistan in the first five months of 2007 2007: more than 100 NATO soldiers are killed by Taliban in Afghanistan during the first seven months of 2007 2007: the Taliban unleash a campaign against schools in Afghanistan that kills 147 students and teachers, and closes 590 schools out of the 680 that the USA has built 2007: Bangladesh's interim government bans both Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina Wajed from the country, blaming them for the country's political chaos 2007: A Chinese-built port opens in Gawdar, Pakistan 2007: A suicide bomber kills 15 people at a Shiite mosque in Peshawar, Pakistan 2007: Indian paramilitary troops are killed by separatist rebels in India's state of Manipur 2007: bombs kill at least 64 people on a Pakistan-bound train in northern India Jun 2007: A USA strike kills more than 80 civilians in Chora, Afghanistan 2007: a bomb by Balochistan rebels kills at least 15 people in Qetta 2007: Maoist rebels ("Naxalites") kill 50 police officers in India's state Chhattisgarh, bringing the total victims of the Naxalites to 6,000 since their insurgency started in the late 1960s 2007: 16 civilians are killed in a bus explosion in Sri Lanka 2007: Pakistani cleric Maulana Abdul Aziz calls for suicide bombings against the government of general Musharraf 2007: Pakistan experiences 56 suicide bombings in 2007 up from 6 the previous year 2007: suicide bombers strike repeatedly in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan, some targeting Chinese workers in Pakistan 2007: 73 students and clerics are killed in clashes between security forces and militants (led by cleric Abdul Aziz) holed in the Lal Masjid/ Red Mosque of Islamabad, Pakistan (after they take eight Chinese women hostage), and hundreds of people are killed in subsequent bombings by Islamists 2007: more than 1,000 people are killed in Afghanistan in june alone, including at least 700 insurgents and 200 civilians Jul 2007: Pakistan cancels the treaty with the Taliban and launches an offensive in the FATA 2007: train service between India and Bangladesh is resumed after 42 years 2007: Pratibha Patil becomes India's first female president 2007: 42 people are killed in Hyderabad (India) by two twin bombings credited to the Islamic fundamentalist Indian Mujahideen 2007: 25 people are killed near Islamabad (Pakistan) by two suicide bombers 2007: Pakistan is rocked by demonstrations led by the lawyers' movement and by supporters of former leaders Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto, all demanding a return to democratic rule 2007: Pakistan's literacy rate is 54%, with female literacy at less than 30%, but Pakistan has 12,000 Islamic schools (madrasas) 2007: A bomb kills 16 people in Sri Lanka's capital Colombo Dec 2007: Suicide bombers of Baitullah Meshud's Pakistani Taliban kill more than 140 people at Benazir Bhutto's welcome event in Karachi and weeks later kill her (Pakistan) 2007: India's per-capita GDP is $800 2007: India's GDP grows by 9.4% December 2007: a Taliban suicide bomber kills 70 people in north Afghanistan including six members of Parliament 2007: 480 people are killed in 129 suicide bombings in Afghanistan during 2007 Mar 2007: Musharraf fires chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry causing nationwide protests by judges 2007: For the first time more civilians are killed in Pakistan than in Afghanistan by Islamic militants Sep 2007: 26 police officers are killed near Islamabad (Pakistan) by two suicide bombers and an entire convoy of Frontier Corps is kidnapped by the Taliban of Baitullah Mahsud Jan 2008: A suicide bomber in the Pakistani city of Lahore kills 19 police officers 2008: Tamil Tigers blow up a bus in Sri Lanka killing 23 people after the government ends the truce with the rebels 2008: the PPP of the late Benazir Bhutto and the PML-N of Nawaz Sharif win parliamentary elections in Pakistan and nominate Yousaf Raza Gilani to be the new prime minister 2008: 11 Maoist rebels die in a battle with Indian troops in the state of Chhattisgarh 2008: Baitullah Mahsud, the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, has de facto created an independent Islamic republic at the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan, 2008: The USA carries out more than 20 bombins inside Pakistani territory to kill Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders Feb 2008: three suicide bombings in three days rock Pakistan Mar 2008: Bhutan holds its first democratic elections and Jigmi Kinley is elected prime minister Mar 2008: Indian car manufacturer Tata buys Jaguar Apr 2008: Nepal holds its first free elections with representation from the Maoists Apr 2008: Maoist rebels led by Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) win parliamentary elections in Nepal, enact a new constitution that ends the monarchy and appoint Ram Baran Yadavcalled as president Apr 2008: A bomb on a bus in Sri Lanka kills 26 people Apr 2008: Pakistan's secret services try to assassinate Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai at a parade in Kabul May 2008: 63 people are killed by bombs set by Indian Mujahideen in Jaipur, India June 2008: a USA air strike kills 11 Pakistani soldiers July 2008: A suicide bomber of Sirajuddin Haqqani's Taliban kills 54 people in an attack on the Indian embassy in Afghanistan July 2008: Indian inflation hits 12% July 2008: Dozens of bombs by the Indian Mujahideen kill 49 people in Ahmedabad, an attack blamed by India on Mohammed Arif Sheikh's Indian Mujahideen movement August 2008: Two suicide bombers kill 64 workers of an arms factory in Pakistan August 2008: Following the killing of Hindu preacher Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati (by Maoists), Hindu extremists launch a campaign against Christians in Eastern India (30 people killed, 3,000 homes burned and over 130 churches destroyed in Kandhamal alone) August 2008: A USA airstrike in Azizabad (western Afghanistan) kills 92 civilians August 2008: Maoist rebels kill seven police officers in East India August 2008: Protests by lawyers force general Musharraf to resign as president of Pakistan September 2008: Asif Ali Zardari, widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, wins Pakistan's presidential election September 2008: Five bombs set by Indian Mujahideen in shopping areas of New Delhi kill 26 people September 2008: A suicide bomber kills 53 people at the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital Islamabad September 2008: Suicide attacks kill 1,188 in Pakistan between july 2007 and september 2008 September 2008: 168 people die in a stampede at a Hindu temple in Jodhpur, India September 2008: Pakistan appoints a new head of the ISI (intelligence services), Ahmed Shujaa Pasha October 2008: A suicide bomber kills more than 25 people in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka October 2008: Collapse of the stock market both in India and Pakistan September 2008: 54 people are killed in an attack on the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan September 2008: Suicide attacks kill 1,188 people in Pakistan between july 2007 and september 2008 October 2008: More than 70 people are killed in a series of bomb explosions in Assam, India, blamed on the separatist United Liberation Front of Assam November 2008: Maldives' first democratically elected Mohamed Nasheed, a former political prisoner, takes office, replacing Gayoom, the longest-ruling head of government in Asia November 2008: Pakistani-based Islamic extremists of Lashkar-e-Taiba reporting to Zaki Urman Lakhvi kill 164 people in several coordinated attacks in Mumbai, plus nine of the terrorists (only Mohammad Ajmal Amir Qasab survives) December 2008: More than 30 people are killed by a Taliban suicide bomber in a Pakistani border town that fought the Taliban December 2008: A Taliban suicide bomber kills 16 people including 13 schoolchildren in a town at the border with Pakistan December 2008: The party of Sheikh Hasina Wajed wins a huge majority in Bangladesh's elections aimed at restoring civilian rule while the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami loses all its seats 2008: Mumbai generates 5% of India's GDP 2008: Pakistan overtakes Iraq and Afghanistan in suicide-bomb deaths after 61 attacks in one year that killed 889 people, up from 56 suicide attacks in 2007, bringing the total since 2002 to 140 august 2008: more then 3,700 people are killed in fighting in Afghanistan in the first eight months of 2008 sep 2008: NATO killed 3,200 civilians in Afghanistan from 2005 to mid 2008 Dec 2008: 2,000 civilians are killed in Afghanistan during 2008, 39% killed by NATO Mar 2009: Pakistan' government reappoints Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as chief justice of the Supreme Court May 2009: A USA air strike on Granai (in the western district of Bala Baluk) kills 147 Afghan civilians Oct 2009: There are more than 100,000 NATO troops (including about 68,000 USA soldiers) in Afghanistan alongside 200,000 Afghan soldiers fighting less than 25,000 Taliban Jan 2009: The Sri Lankan army takes Jaffna, the capital of the Tamil separatists Jan 2009: Under new president Obama the USA continues missile strikes against Baitullah Meshud's Pakistani Taliban Feb 2009: The government of Pakistan surrenders the border region of the Swat Valley to the Taliban who impose Islamic law Feb 2009: Bangladesh's border security force, the Bangladesh Rifles (BDR), staged a mutiny to protest low salaries that results in the killing of more than 100 people Feb 2009: A suicide bomber kills more than 25 people at a funeral procession in Dera Ismail Khan in north-west Pakistan Mar 2009: A suicide bomber kills more than 50 people at a mosque near Jamrud in north-west Pakistan Apr 2009: Three suicide bombs in 24 hours in Pakistan, including an attack on a Shiite mosque in Islamabad that kills 26 people Apr 2009: Islamic law is enacted over Swat Valley, a region of Pakistan controlled by the Taliban of Maulana Fazlullah May 2009: A USA air strike on Granai (in the western district of Bala Baluk) kills 147 Afghan civilians May 2009: The Pakistani army begins an offensive against the Taliban of Maulana Fazlullah that sends more than one million people fleeing to refugee camps May 2009: Tamil Tigers' leader Velupillai Prabhakaran is killed by the army in Sri Lanka May 2009: 23 people are killed and 200 injured by a suicide bombing in Lahore, Pakistan Jun 2009: A suicide bomber kills 38 people at a mosque near Upper Dir in north-west Pakistan, and a suicide attack on a luxury hotel in Peshawar kills 12 people, causing Pakistani villagers to take up arms against the Taliban June 2009: Pakistan releases from jail the founder and spiritual leader of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, that India accuses of orchestrating the 2008 Mumbai attacks Jul 2009: Maoists kill 27 police officers in the state of Chhattisgarh Jul 2009: Muslim mobs attack the Christian minority in Pakistan Aug 2009: Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan orchestrates riots in Gorja against against Pakistan's Christians Aug 2009: A USA drone kills Pakistani Taliban's chief Baitullah Mahsud Aug 2009: Maulana Ali Sher Hyderi, chief of Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan, is assassinated Sep 2009: More than 30 Shiites are killed by a suicide bomber in Astarzai (Pakistan) claimed by Lahskar-e-Jhangvi Oct 2009: The Taliban bomb a market in Peshawar (Pakistan) Killing 52 people Oct 2009: Maoists kill 17 police officers in Maharashtra state of India Oct 2009: Taliban suicide bombers kill more than 350 people in Pakistan in the first three weeks of october, and the Pakistani army begins an offensive in South Waziristan Oct 2009: There are more than 100,000 NATO troops (including about 68,000 USA soldiers) in Afghanistan alongside 200,000 Afghan soldiers fighting less than 25,000 Taliban Oct 2009: About 400 civilians have been killed between january and october by NATO operations in Afghanistan Dec 2009: Bombs kill 36 people at a market in Lahore, Pakistan Dec 2009: 22 people are killed in a bomb attack in the central Pakistani town of Dera Ghazi Khan Dec 2009: 43 Shiites are killed in a suicide bomb attack by the Pakistani Taliban of Asmatullah Bhittani in Karachi, Pakistani Dec 2009: NATO bombings kill eight schoolchildren in Kunar and seven civilians in Helmand province while a suicide bombing kills seven C.I.A. officers in Khost province, Afghanistan Dec 2009: A suicide bomb attack at a volleyball pitch kills 93 people in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan Dec 2009: 2412 civilians are killed in Afghanistan and 3021 in Pakistan during 2009 2009: Anil Ambani and Mukesh Ambani of India are the 6th and 7th richest persons in the world, having built Reliance into a business conglomerate 2009: India's Infosys sets up the largest corporate university in the world at Mysore 2009: USA drones carry out 53 strikes inside Pakistan, killing 520 people Jan 2010: Sri Lanka holds the first nationwide election since the end of the civil war, won by Mahinda Rajapakse, who then proceeds to jail his rival Sarath Fonseka 2010: Bangladesh's death squad Rapid Action Battalion is suspected in the extra-judician executions of more than 500 people, notably members of the Islamist movement Jumatul Mujahideen Bangladesh Jan 2010: Three USA soldiers are killed in Pakistan by the Pakistani Taliban, the first USA casualties inside Pakistan Feb 2010: A bomb by Indian Mujaheddin at the German Bakery in Pune kills 17 people Mar 2010: A Taliban suicide attack kills more than 40 supporters of the secular Awami National Party in Northwestern Pakistan Apr 2010: Naxalites kill 75 police officers in Chhattisgarh May 2010: Naxalites blow up a bus killing 23 people in Chhattisgarh May 2010: The Pakistani Taliban attack two mosques of the Ahmadi sect in Lahore, killing about 70 people May 2010: The Calcutta-Mumbai train is derailed in West Bengal by Maoist terrorists causing a crash that kills 71 people Jun 2010: The USA discovers $1 trillion of minerals in Afghanistan Jun 2010: Maoists kill 26 policemen in Chhattisgarh Jun 2010: More than 1,250 civilians are killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of 2010, 76% by the insurgents Jun 2010: Nepal's prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal is forced to resign by the Maoist opposition, leaving the country in a political deadlock Jul 2010: A suicide attack on a Sufi shrine in Lahore, Pakistan, kills 40 people Jul 2010: More than 100 people are killed by a suicide bombing at an anti-Taliban meeting in Yakaghund, Pakistan Jul 2010: A USA strike kills 52 civilians in Afghanistan Jul 2010: More than 90,000 secret USA military records about the Afghanistan war are leaked to a website Aug 2010: Indian troops kill seven protesters in Indian-controlled Kashmir Aug 2010: Monsoon floods kill 1,500 people in Pakistan and leave 7 million people homeless Aug 2010: The Taliban sentence to death a couple guilty of loving each other in Afghanistan and hundreds of Muslims carry out the execution Sep 2010: Indian police kill 15 Muslims rioting in Kashmir Oct 2010: Russia and USA conduct their first joint operation in Afghanistan to destroy drug laboratories Oct 2010: Balochi leader Brahumdagh Bugti, hunted by Pakistan, flees Afghanistan to Europe Nov 2010: 67 people are killed by a suicide bomb attack on a mosque in north-west Pakistan and 15 people are killed by a bomb in Karachi against an anti-terrorist agency Nov 2010: A Christian, Asia Bibi, is sentenced to death in Pakistan for insulting the founder of the Islamic religion Dec 2010: Two Taliban suicide bombers kill 50 people in Ghalanai, northwest Pakistan Dec 2010: A suicide car bomber of a Sunni militant group kills 11 people in Hangu, north-west Pakistan Dec 2010: Dozens die in a battle between Pakistani soldiers and Taliban rebels near Pakistan's frontier with Afghanista Dec 2010: A female suicide bomber kills more than 40 people from a tribe opposed to the Taliban in Khar, northwestern Pakistan 2010: In 2010 the USA launches more than 100 drone attacks in Pakistani territories, the highest number ever, up from 22 in 2009 2010: Between 2008 and 2010 more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Pakistan by Islamic militants 2010: Between 2008 and 2010 more than 10,000 civilians and police officers have been killed in Afghanistan by Taliban 2010: India's Bharti Airtel is the 5th largest telecom operator in the world 2010: The population of Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, is 18 million 2010: Lakshmi Mittal is the richest person in Europe Jan 2011: Pakistan's religious organizations applaude the killing of Punjab's governor Salman Taseer, who campaigned against the blasphemy law, and 1,000 young lawyers offer to represent the killer 2011: Since 2000 Indian border guards have killed nearly 1,000 Bangladeshi trying to enter India illegally Feb 2011: NATO strike kills 65 civilians in Afghanistan Mar 2011: Pakistan's only Christian minister Shahbaz Bhatti is assassinated Mar 2011: Several people are killed by fanatical Muslims in Afghanistan protesting against the burning of a religious book in the USA Mar 2011: A USA drone kills 40 people in Pakistan Indian exports of goods are double exports of services at about $250 billion Apr 2011: Five of the six men who raped Mukhataran Mai are released in Pakistan Apr 2011: Despite India's economic boom, 22% babies are born with low birth weight, 42.5% of children under five are underweight, 48% are stunted, 19.8% wasted and 69.5% (between 6 months-5 years) are anemic, more than 1.4 million babies die before their first birthday and about 0.6 million children die in the next 4 years Apr 2011: US forces kill Osama bin Laden in Pakistan May 2011: Pakistan's investigative journalist Saleem Shahzad is murdered after disclosing infiltrations by Islamic terrorists into the military Jun 2011: The leader of Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami, Ilyas Kashmiri, is killed by a USA drone in Pakistan 2011: Hundreds of people are killed by Taliban terrorists and their allies in Pakistan Jul 2011: Afghan president's brother Ahmad Wali Karzai is assassinated, the latest in a series of assassinations of senior politicians and security commanders Jul 2011: Three bombs by the Indian Mujahideen kill more than 20 people in Mumbai 2011: The USA has 413 billionaires, China has 115 billionaires, Russia 101, India 55, Germany 52, Britain 32, Brazil 30, and Japan 26 2011: India's exports of goods are double the exports of services (textiles and agricultural products account for less than 20%) Jul 2011: More than 300 people are killed in Karachi (Pakistan) in july alone, mostly by ethnic violence Aug 2011: The Taliban down a US helicopter killing 30 US soldiers Aug 2011: Anna Hazare leads protests against corruption in India Aug 2011: A suicide bomber from the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) kills 52 people at the Jamrud mosque over a tribal conflict in the Tirah valley Aug 2011: Taliban from Afghanistan kill 25 police and soldiers in Pakistan Aug 2011: Al-Qaeda's operations chief Atiyah Abd al-Rahman is killed in Pakistan by a USA drone strike Aug 2011: Nepal's parliament elects Baburam Bhattarai of the Maoist party as prime minister Aug 2011: Pakistan has had almost 300 suicide bombings since september 2011, killing more than 4,600 people Sep 2011: Harkat-ul-Jihad Islami claims responsibility for a bomb at a courthouse in New Delhi, India Sep 2011: Following the arrest in Quetta of senior Al Qaeda leader Younis al-Mauritani, a suicide bomber targets Pakistan's Frontier Corps, killing 30 people Sep 2011: Fighters of Sirajuddin Haqqani's Taliban supported by Pakistan's spy agency stage an attack on the USA embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan Sep 2011: A suicide attack on a funeral in northwest Pakistan kills 45 members an anti-Taliban militia Sep 2011: A Taliban suicide bomber kills former Afghan president Burhanuddin Rabbani, now in charge of peace talks with the Taliban Oct 2011: The world's population is 7 billion up from 1 billion in 1850 and less than 3 billion in 1950. Oct 2011: Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan leads a massive anti-USA rally in Lahore Dec 2011: Inspired by Lashkar-e-Taiba's leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, Hamid Gul, a former head of Pakistan's ISI, and Pakistani cricket hero Imran Khan a new political front, Difa-e-Pakistan (Defence of Pakistan Council), organizes anti-USA protests in Pakistan Nov 2011: The USA strikes a Pakistani army checkpoint killing 26 soldiers Nov 2011: Australia, that already exports to mainland China, votes to overturn its long-standing ban on exporting uranium to India Dec 2011: At least 58 people, mostly Shiites, are killed by Sunni terrorists in Afghanistan Dec 2011: Almost 100 people die in a fire at a hospital in Kolkata, India Jan 2012: A bomb targeting a militia opposed to the Pakistani Taliban kills 30 people in Jamrud in the Khyber tribal region of Pakistan Jan 2012: A bomb targeting Shiites kills 17 people in Khanpur, Pakistan Feb 2012: Maldives' president Mohamed Nasheed is forced to resign by street demonstrations Feb 2012: A suicide bomber kills 34 people in Parachinar in northwest Pakistan Mar 2012: A USA soldier kills 16 Afghanistan civilians, including nine children and three women Mar 2012: A suicide bomber targeting anti-Taliban politician Khushdil Khan kills 15 people in Peshawar, Pakistan in retaliation for Pakistan's killing of 39 militants Apr 2012: The USA offers a $10 million reward for the capture of Lashkar-e-Taiba's leader Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, who lives freely in Pakistan Apr 2012: More than 117 soldiers are buried by an avalanche near the Siachen glacier (the world's highest battlefield) in the disputed Kashmir region Apr 2012: Labor activist Aminul Islam is killed in Bangladesh, while the country has become the second largest exporter of textiles in the world after China Apr 2012: India launches a long-range missile and joins the ICBM club with the USA, Russia, China, France, Britain and Israel Apr 2012: A ferry in north-eastern India's Assam state capsizes in bad weather killing more than 100 passengers May 2012: A NATO strike kills 18 civilians in Afghanistan May 2012: A Taliban bomb kills 18 people on a bus carrying government officials in Peshawar Jun 2012: Afghan Taliban kill 13 Pakistani soldiers inside Pakistan Jul 2012: Hundreds of people burn a man alive for blasphemy in Pakistan Jul 2012: The world's largest blackout ever leaves 22 of India's 28 states, an area whose population is nearly 700 million, without power Aug 2012: Badruddin Haqqani is killed in a US drone strike Aug 2012: Fearing violence against ethnic minorities, scared by social networking sites, thousands of migrants flee the cities of Bangalore and Pune Sep 2012: More than 240 people are killed in a factory fire in Karachi, Pakistan Sep 2012: Dozens of people are killed in Pakistan during violent protests against an anti-Islamic amateur video posted online in the USA and Pakistan's railways minister Ghulam Ahmad Bilour offers a bounty for killing the filmmaker Nov 2012: A suicide bomber kills more than 40 people at a mosque in the northern Afghanistani city of Maymana Nov 2012: A suicide bomber kills 23 people at a Shia Muslim procession in the Pakistani city of Rawalpindi Nov 2012: More than 100 people die in a fire at a garment factory in Bangladesh Nov 2012: Two bombs by the Taliban kill 12 Shiites in the Pakistani city of Dera Ismail Khan Nov 2012: Seven students and a prominent cleric from the Maulana Ismail seminary are killed by Sunni extremists in Karachi, Pakistan Dec 2012: 16 people are killed in a car bomb explosion at a market in the Khyber tribal region of north-west Pakistan Dec 2012: A bomb targeting buses carrying Shia Muslim pilgrims in southwest Pakistan kills at least 19 people Dec 2012: Seven charity workers, six of them women, are killed by Islamists in Northwestern Pakistan near a children's community centre Dec 2012: The death of an Indian student after being gang-raped and tortured on a private bus in New Delhi, nicknamed India's 'rape capital' prompts street protests across the country Dec 2012: Jyoti Singh Pandey is gang-raped and killed in Delhi, causing widespread protests around India Jan 2013: Attacks by Pakistan's group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi kill more than 90 Shiites in the provincial capital Quetta of Balochistan Feb 2013: 21 people are killed by a suicide bomb attack outside a Shiite mosque in the north-western Pakistani town of Hangu, while the Pakistan Taliban attack an army checkpoint in in the northwestern town of Serai Naurang killing 13 soldiers and 10 civilians, and a bomb targeting Shiites in Quetta kills at least 78 people Feb 2013: Bombs kill 16 people in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad Mar 2013: Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, a leader the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami, is sentenced to death on charges including murder, rape and torture during the war of independence in 1971, triggering a national strike and violent protests in Bangladesh Mar 2013: A bomb in a Shiite area of the Pakistani city of Karachi kills about 40 people Mar 2013: Five Indian soldiers are killed in Kashmir by Hizb-ul Mujahideen Apr 2013: A man kills nine women with an axe in the village of Balrampur in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh Apr 2013: 72 people die when a eight-story building constructed illegally in the Mumbai suburb of Thane collapses Apr 2013: The Pakistani army and Ansar-e-Islam, which is allied with pro-government tribesmen, fight the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Islam in the Tirah Valley of northwestern Pakistan Apr 2013: The collapse of a garment factory kills 1,127 people in Dhaka, Bangladesh May 2013: At least seven people are killed in clashes between police and the Islamists of Hefazat-e Islam in Dhaka, Bangladesh May 2013: Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League wins national elections, marking the country's first transition from one elected government to another |
Main prime ministers of India1947: Jawaharlal Nehru 1964: Lal Bahadur Shastri 1966: Indira Gandhi 1984: Rajiv Gandhi 1991: Narasimha Rao 1996: Atal Behari Vajpayee 2004: Manmohan Singh |
| (Copyright © 1999 Piero Scaruffi) |