There has been much written and an outpouring of protests throughout 2019 against the Chinese internment of more than one million Uighur Muslims in the western Xinjiang region of China. In response, China has continuously rationalized its horrific treatment of the Uighur Muslims as an effort to contain and stop Islamic terrorism. It has also claimed that the internment camps are vocational skill retraining centres. The evidence clearly shows these are falsehoods. In a stunning November … [Read more...]
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Frank blogs regularly for the Huffington Post and writes occasional columns and articles for publications such as the International Business Times and The Economic Times of India.
Frank writes on a wide variety of topics that are critical to shaping the future of America and the American dream and to making the United States and the world a better place. These include: Business; education; poverty and inequality; politics and public policy; immigration; manufacturing; innovation; leadership; citizenship; and social commentary.
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Preserving Our American Democracy Through Civics Education
Our American democracy is not dead. Nor is it on life support. But it is definitely ailing. As discussed in detail in our August 14 blog, a major source of that ailment is us — the American citizenry. In that blog, we stated, “At the heart of what is needed is increased civic engagement and citizens to step forward and take the lead in initiating and participating in a change management process.” Over the past few years, the New York Times has published several articles on … [Read more...]
Bold moves needed to right India’s economic ship
Only six months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi won his re-election with a resounding mandate, the economic outlook in the country looks somewhat bleak. The overall state of the economy was not a primary focal point during the recent Lok Sabha election. Still, it was no secret in the run-up to the polls that sectors such as real estate, manufacturing, banking and finance were troubled. Nevertheless, at the beginning of Modis second term, many hoped that the Prime … [Read more...]
Why India should close a trade deal with the US
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States (US) in September, in which President Donald Trump made a cameo appearance at the “Howdy Modi” event in Houston, the two leaders were expected to announce a trade deal. But, the two sides could not agree on the contours of such a deal before that landmark trip ended. Media accounts suggested that, over subsequent weeks, New Delhi and Washington appeared to be near a trade deal several times. Nonetheless, as 2019 draws … [Read more...]
Opening the Kartarpur Corridor, opening hearts and minds
On November 9, 2019, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Kartarpur Corridor in a ceremony at the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib. This Corridor will allow Indian Sikh pilgrims without a visa to visit the Gurdwara which is the last resting place of Nanak Dev, the founding guru of the Sikh religion. At the inauguration of the Corridor, Prime Minister Khan stated, “Pakistan believes that the road to prosperity for the region and bright future of our coming generation lies in … [Read more...]
MODERNIZING THE PLAYING FIELD
Providing civic learning and engagement opportunities is critical at all points along the educational continuum from middle school — and perhaps even earlier — through high school to college. There are three primary reasons, however, to start in middle school. First, educational research suggests that the formation of a positive orientation toward an area early in a student’s schooling increases the potential for sustained interest and participation. Second, middle school students have … [Read more...]
Message from Aligarh: Celebrating diversity essential for India’s future as a world leader
In the 19th century, Sir Syed Ahmad Khan, the founder of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in India, sent a message that is as relevant and important today as it was back then. His message was a straightforward and simple one: it was to love all mankind. Sir Syed had a vision not only of peaceful co-existence in a pluralistic society but moreover of collaboration and communal harmony in that society. Why did Sir Syed have such vision and foresight? It was partly … [Read more...]
Elevating The Student Voice
It’s no secret that civic education in middle school has virtually disappeared in this 21st century as STEM has taken precedence. It is a secret though that there are still thousands of middle school teachers across the country who are investing their time, talents and energy to cultivate 21st century citizens in the classroom and beyond. This should be a secret no more. That is why, on October 18, the Frank Islam Institute for 21st Century Citizenship (FII), in collaboration with … [Read more...]
Growing the Indian economy would need bold reforms
Before returning to New Delhi recently after attending the annual IMF-World fall meeting, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman provided an upbeat perspective on the Indian economy. She asserted that its fundamentals are strong and attributed the majority of the problems ailing the Indian economy to a global slowdown. In the same time period, the World Bank announced that India had jumped 14 spots from 77th to 63rd on its Ease of Doing Business ranking. Together, these indicators might … [Read more...]
Why the US-China trade war has not helped India | Analysis
The long-standing trade disputes between the United States (US) and China turned into a full-blown war last year, with each country slapping tit-for-tat tariffs on goods imported from the other. Predictably, economic hostilities between the world’s two largest economies rattled global markets. However, a few countries in China’s neighbourhood saw opportunities in the trade war between the two giants, with India being one of them. Several economists and analysts predicted that India … [Read more...]