Afghanistan’s Taliban confirmed Monday they had freed several British men after holding them for about six months.

The confirmation came shortly after British officials announced that five of their citizens had been released from detention in Afghanistan.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a Twitter post that the men were detained for breaching Afghan laws and traditions. He said they were handed over to the United Kingdom on Sunday following a series of meetings between the Taliban and the U.K. government.

“They pledged to adhere to the laws of Afghanistan, the traditions and the culture of the people, and not to violate them again,” Mujahid added

The British Foreign Office welcomed the release and noted the five men had traveled to the South Asian nation against the advice of the U.K. government.

“This was a mistake,” the statement quoted a representative as saying.

“On behalf of the families of the British nationals, we express their apologies for any breach of Afghan culture, customs or laws, and offer their assurance of future good conduct. The U.K. government regrets this episode.”

British Foreign Secretary Elizabeth Truss wrote on Twitter that the freed prisoners “will soon be reunited with their families” and thanked British diplomats for their role in securing their release.

Neither the Taliban nor British officials immediately made public the names or other details about the freed Britons.

In February, family and friends of British-German dual national Peter Jouvenal reported that he was being held by the Taliban.

A family statement at the time noted that Jouvenal had traveled in Afghanistan for decades as a freelance BBC cameraman and was visiting the country to discuss investments in the Afghan mining industry and to conduct family business when he was taken into custody by the Taliban in December.

The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021 days before the last American, British and other Western coalition troops chaotically withdrew from the country later that month — after almost 20 years of war with the Islamist group.

The Taliban late last year launched a crackdown on foreigners and their Afghan partners, accusing them of working in the country without proper documentation. The hard-line group has also briefly arrested local journalists and rights activists critical of Taliban rule.

Mujahid has rejected charges that the Taliban’s security forces are threatening charity groups or targeting dissents.

“Afghanistan is now safe for all. Anyone can come to Afghanistan with confidence for charity work and tourism,” the Taliban spokesman claimed in his statement Monday.
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The U.N. mission to Afghanistan says that “scores” of people were killed and wounded in an attack on a market in eastern Nangarhar province Monday, according to a Reuters report.

The Taliban confirmed only that 10 people had been wounded, the news agency said.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) posted on Twitter that there were children among the killed and wounded.

“Continuing attacks targeting civilians across Afghanistan must cease immediately,” UNAMA said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group, Islamic State Khorasan Province, has recently increased attacks against minority Shiite Muslim Afghans and other religious minorities, killing scores of people.

At least two people were killed and seven others wounded in an early Saturday morning militant assault on a minority Sikh temple in the capital, Kabul.

IS-Khorasan Province claimed responsibility for that assault.

Information from Reuters was used in this report. Ayaz Gul contributed to this report.
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India canceled more than 500 trains nationwide Monday and disrupted internet service in 20 districts of eastern Bihar state following protests over a new military recruitment plan.

The protests erupted across the country last week when Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party-led government announced an Agnipath (“path of fire”) scheme to recruit men and women ages 17 to 21 for the armed forces on four-year contracts. Until now, new noncommissioned recruits have served for an average of 17 years.

India said Monday registration for recruitment will begin in July.

The protests against the recruitment scheme also saw youths set at least a dozen passenger trains ablaze, vandalize government offices, buses and police vehicles and burn tires on highways, blocking those roadways in many states.

Many of the protesters were young men who aspired to pursue military careers as a path out of poverty. They carried Indian flags and shouted, “Roll back Agnipath. We don’t want short-term jobs. We want permanent jobs.”

The protests rapidly spread after it was initially announced that recruitment would begin this month. Violence reached Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and other states.

The protesters fought pitched battles with security forces in many states and at least one youth was killed when police fired on demonstrators who set fire to a passenger train in the southern state of Telangana. While protesters across the country have mainly been young men, in New Delhi some women, mostly from leftist student organizations, also have taken part, demanding a rollback of the recruitment scheme.

A middle-aged passenger died, apparently of a stress-triggered heart attack, after protesters set a train ablaze in Bihar.

Short-term recruitment scheme

Under the plan, about 46,000 soldiers will be recruited annually, and at the end of the four-year tenure 25% of them will be retained for longer terms, while the rest will be forced to retire, the government announced. Those who lose their jobs after the four-year contract will be offered a lump sum of 1.1 million rupees ($14,100), but unlike other retired armed forces personnel, they will not receive any other pension benefit.

Many youths who are training in hopes of joining the armed forces said that if they join the military, they want to be in the job until they retire and do not want to be jobless again after four years. They are demanding that the government cancel the Agnipath scheme and resume recruitment through traditional methods.

With 1.4 million personnel, India’s armed forces make up the world’s second largest, after China. Every year, 50,000 to 60,000 young men join the forces in search of long-term jobs. There had been no army recruitment in the past two years because of the pandemic. Women are employed mostly in noncombatant roles in the armed forces and 3% to 6% of those joining are women.

In many locations, the protesters directed their anger at the BJP. In Bihar, which has witnessed the most widespread violence in recent days, protesters vandalized and burned BJP offices and the homes of senior party leaders, including state BJP chief Sanjay Jaiswal.

Protesters used stones to pelt police, who fired tear gas shells at them.

Images aired on television showed that in many places, police, who were far outnumbered by protesters, did not act against the youths and were even chased away by the stone-throwing demonstrators.

A police officer from Samastipur in Bihar told VOA that the situation was “beyond our control.”

“The protesting men are targeting public properties, and they are thousands in number. We are just a few hundred at the most. Their number seems to be swelling,” said the officer, who asked not to be identified because he is a junior officer and not allowed to speak to the media.

In addition to Bihar, authorities suspended internet service in Haryana to try to curb the spread of protests. Elsewhere, in the Aligarh district of northern Uttar Pradesh, a BJP-ruled state, protesting youths vandalized and torched a police outpost.

Opposing views

While announcing the Agnipath plan, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said it was designed “to strengthen the security of the country.”

“The Agnipath scheme is a truly transformative reform which will enhance the combat potential of the armed forces, with [a] younger profile and technologically adept soldiers,” Singh tweeted.

Opposition leaders, military veterans and even some leaders of Modi’s ruling BJP said the plan would lead to more unemployment in the country where joblessness is already a crisis. They have urged the government to review the scheme.

A youth from the Bettiah district in Bihar told VOA that the protesters would not rest until the government rolled back Agnipath.

“For the past three years, I have been training very hard to join the army. But I want a guarantee to be in the job for 20 or 30 years, if I succeed. I never want to be forced to retire after four years and be jobless again,” Pramod Kumar, 20, said.
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Floods in South Asia wreaking havoc Monday hindered authorities’ efforts to deliver food and drinking water to shelters across Assam in northeastern India and north and northeastern regions of Bangladesh.

More than a dozen people died across Bangladesh since the monsoon began last week, authorities said. The government called in soldiers Friday to help evacuate people, and Ekattor TV station said millions remained without electricity.

Enamur Rahman, junior minister for disaster and relief, said that up to 100,000 people have been evacuated in the worst-hit Sunamganj and Sylhet districts, and about 4 million people have been marooned in the area, the United News of Bangladesh agency said.

Flooding also continued to ravage India’s northeastern Assam where two policemen engaged in rescue operations were washed away by floodwaters Sunday, an official at the police control room in the state capital Gauhati said.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said Monday his administration was in the process of airlifting food and fuel by military helicopters to some parts of the state that were badly affected.

Officials said nearly 200,000 people were taking shelter in 700 relief camps. Water levels in all major rivers across the state were flowing above danger levels.

Assam has been reeling from massive floods after heavy torrential rains over the past few weeks made the Brahmaputra River break its banks, leaving millions of homes underwater and severing transport links.

The Brahmaputra flows from China’s Tibet through India and into Bangladesh on a nearly 800-kilometer (500-mile) journey through Assam.

Major roads in Bangladesh have been submerged, leaving people stranded. In the country that has a history of climate change-induced disasters, many expressed their frustration that authorities haven’t done more locally.

“There isn’t much to say about the situation. You can see the water with your own eyes. Water level inside the room has dropped a bit. It used to be up to my waist,” said Muhit Ahmed, owner of a grocery shop in Sylhet.

“All in all, we are in a great disaster. Neither the Sylhet City Corporation nor anyone else came here to inquire about us,” he said. “I am trying to save my belongings as much as I can. We don’t have the ability to do any more now.”

In the latest statement Sunday from the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center in the nation’s capital, Dhaka, said that flooding in the northeastern districts of Sunamganj and Sylhet could worsen further in next 24 hours. It said the Teesta, a major river in the northern Bangladesh, may flow above danger. The situation could also deteriorate in the country’s northern districts of Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Bogra, Jamalpur and Sirajganj, it said.

Officials said water has started receding already from the northeastern region but is posing a threat to the country’s central region, the pathway for flood waters to reach the Bay of Bengal in the south.

Media reports said those affected by flooding in remote areas are struggling to access drinking water and food.

Arinjoy Dhar, a senior director of the nonprofit developmental organization BRAC, asked for help ensuring food for the flood-affected in a video posted online.

Dhar said they opened a center Monday to prepare food items as part of a plan to feed 5,000 families in Sunamganj district, but the arrangement was not enough.

BRAC said they alone were trying to reach out to about 52,000 families with emergency supplies.

The latest floods have devastated Bangladesh since Friday amid heavy monsoon rains, just as the country began recovering from a flash flood.

Last month, a pre-monsoon flash flood triggered by a rush of water from upstream in India’s northeastern states hit Bangladesh’s northern and northeastern regions, destroying crops and damaging homes and roads.

Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is low-lying and faces threats from natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, made worse by climate change. According to the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 17% of people in Bangladesh would need to be relocated over the next decade or so if global warming persists at the present rate.
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The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul, Afghanistan, that killed at least one worshipper and wounded seven others.

IS made the claim in a statement on its Amaq website late Saturday. It said the assault on “the Sikh and Hindu temple” was in response to alleged insults made against the Prophet Muhammad, the central figure of the Islamic religion, by an Indian government official. It did not name the official.

Gunmen attacked the Sikh house of worship, known as a gurdwara, Saturday morning, and a firefight between the attackers and Taliban fighters seeking to protect the building ensued, Afghan officials said.

A vehicle filled with explosives was detonated outside the temple, but that resulted in no casualties. Before that, the gunmen threw a hand grenade that caused a fire near the temple’s gate, the officials said.

The IS said Abu Mohammed al-Tajiki, a member of the group, stormed the temple after killing the guard and then targeted the people inside with a machine gun and hand grenades. IS fighters outside the temple detonated four explosive devices and a car bomb targeting patrols of Taliban militia who tried to protect the temple. The battle ended after three hours, the Amaq report said.

‘Predictable and preventable’

The Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States, said the gurdwara was significantly damaged by the attack.

“The recurring tragic violence targeting the Afghan Sikh community is devastating, but also entirely predictable and preventable,” said Anisha Singh, the group’s executive director, in a statement late Saturday. “The international community, and in particular the United States, continues to fall short of urgently needed efforts to protect and safely resettle all Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.”

Videos posted on social media showed plumes of black smoke rising from the temple in Kabul’s Bagh-e Bala neighborhood, and gunfire could be heard.

Kabul police said the gunfight with the militants ended after the last attacker was killed several hours after the assault began. They said one Sikh was killed and seven others were wounded in the attack and a Taliban security force member was killed during the rescue operation. It was unclear how many IS militants were involved or how many were killed in the gunbattle with the Taliban.

Earlier this month, for the first time since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last year, Indian officials held talks with the Taliban in Kabul on the distribution of humanitarian aid. The Indian delegation was led by J.P. Singh, a secretary in the External Affairs Ministry.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether J.P. Singh was the “Hindu” the IS referred to in its statement or what comments he might have made that provoked the IS attack. It was also unclear why the extremist organization would target a Sikh temple in retaliation for comments made by an Indian official.

Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, tweeted late Saturday: “Shocked by the cowardly terrorist attack against the Karte Parwan Gurudwara in Kabul.”

Modi added, “I condemn this barbaric attack, and pray for the safety and well-being of the devotees.”

IS affiliate

An Islamic State group affiliate, known as Islamic State Khorasan Province or IS-K, has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014. It is seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country’s Taliban rulers, who seized power in Kabul and elsewhere in the country last August. They have launched a sweeping crackdown against the IS in eastern Afghanistan.

In March 2020, a lone IS gunman rampaged through a different Sikh temple in Kabul, killing 25 worshippers, including a child, and wounding eight others. As many as 80 worshippers were trapped inside the gurdwara as the gunman lobbed grenades and fired an automatic rifle into the crowd.

The Sikh Coalition has advocated for the resettlement of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus since the 2020 attack. During his presidential campaign, President Joe Biden supported resettlement for these families. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle in the House and Senate also advocated for resettlement. Despite these shows of support, however, little has been done to help Afghan Sikhs and Hindus to leave the country or assist those temporarily evacuated to nations including India.

There were fewer than 700 Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan at the time of the 2020 attack. Since then, dozens of families have left but many cannot financially afford to move and have remained in Afghanistan, mainly in Kabul, Jalalabad and Ghazni.
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Thousands of Rohingya refugees Sunday held peaceful rallies in Bangladesh, saying they wanted to return to Myanmar, which they fled amid waves of ethnic and religious persecution dating to 1978. 

Just a day before World Refugee Day, the Rohingya Muslims, who live in 34 crowded camps in Bangladesh’s southeastern district of Cox’s Bazar, staged demonstrations under the banner “Let’s go home.” 

Amid intermittent rain, they were seen marching on the dirt roads that meandered through the camps, chanting slogans and holding placards. 

The Rohingya handed out leaflets with a 19-point demand that includes their safe repatriation to Myanmar at the earliest opportunity and the cancellation of that country’s controversial 1982 law that does not recognize them as citizens. 

While some camps held small rallies, a much larger one involving about 10,000 people took place at Kutupalong. 

At the camp’s football field, Mohammad Zubair, a Rohingya leader, asked the crowd, “Do you want to go back to Arakan?” 

The crowd replied in unison, “Yes, we want to go back.” 

Arakan is another name for Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, where the military launched its crackdown on the ethnic Muslim Rohingya minority in 2017. An estimated 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border to the refugee camps in Bangladesh. Myanmar is predominantly Buddhist.  

Failed repatriations 

Even though the Rohingya expressed a desire to return to Myanmar, Bangladesh’s attempts to repatriate them have failed at least twice in the last five years. Since fleeing the military crackdown, which the United Nations said Myanmar conducted with “genocidal intent,” these Rohingya refugees have been living in the Bangladeshi camps with minimal facilities, no work and little access to education. 

In March, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that the military in Myanmar, also known as Burma, committed genocide and crimes against humanity against the Rohingya.  

Myanmar has faced sanctions from the United States and other countries over the treatment of the Rohingya as well as a military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Military officials claimed fraud in the November 2020 vote, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won in a landslide.

Myanmar’s electoral commission denies the allegations.

Zubair, who is a leader of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights  (ARSPH), a camp-based organization working for the rights and justice of Rohingya people, said the Rohingya want a change in the status quo.  

“We don’t want to live here in Bangladesh as refugees. We want the world to put pressure on Myanmar so that they create acceptable conditions for our return home,” he told VOA. 

“We have arranged these rallies to mark the World Refugee Day and remind the world that we have all the desire to go back to our homeland if our dignified return is ensured,” Zubair said. 

For that, the ARSPH leader said, the Myanmar government should first recognize them officially as “Rohingya.”  

“We also want our properties in Arakan state back. We simply want basic rights and freedoms enjoyed by other communities of the nation,” Zubair added. 

Nur Mohammad, another Rohingya leader, said the message from Sunday’s rally was simple. 

“We wanted to tell the world that the Rohingya are citizens of Myanmar. The state of Arakan is our birthplace. And we want to return to our homeland,” he said. 

Not a new campaign 

The campaign by the refugees was started in 2019 by Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah. He was shot and killed in the Kutupalong camp in September.  

Last week, Bangladesh police arrested 15 Rohingya in connection with his death and are searching for 14 others.    

Ullah was the former chair of ARSPH and rose to prominence in 2019 for organizing a 100,000-strong rally in the Kutupalong camp, where he demanded justice for “Rohingya genocide” and a “dignified return” to Myanmar. 

Since that massive rally, the Rohingya were banned from organizing large-scale gatherings inside the camp.

Shamsud Douza, a Bangladesh refugee relief and repatriation commissioner, told VOA that they allowed the Rohingya to organize Sunday’s rallies to mark World Refugee Day. 

“Rohingyas from different camps were rallying independently to demand repatriation. The largest one was organized from the Kutupalong camp. Our law enforcement forces closely monitored the whole situation,” he said, adding that the rallies were peaceful. 

About the possibilities of their repatriation, Douza said, “It’s a complex matter. Rohingyas have expressed their desire to go back — that much, I can say.” 

Maung Zarni, a Britain-based Burmese human rights activist, told VOA that as long as the military, which has “institutionalized the intentional destruction of Rohingyas,” is in power, “the repatriation has zero chance.” 

Zarni, co-founder of the Free Rohingya Coalition, said Bangladesh needs to realize that its policy of “focusing 100% on repatriation has proven to be a complete failure.” 

“Repatriation has been tried in every single wave since 1978 but look at the greatest number of Rohingyas who came back to Bangladesh to seek refuge from the genocidal violence and destruction in [the] 2016 and 2017 waves,” he said. 

Zarni said Bangladesh needed to stop viewing the Rohingya as a “burden” dumped on them by Myanmar and instead consider them as a “persecuted people who need to be empowered and supported.”

Abdul Aziz from Cox’s Bazar contributed to this report.
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At least 25 people were killed by lightning or landslides over the weekend in Bangladesh while millions were left marooned or homeless in low-lying northeastern parts as the country faces the worst monsoon floods in its recent history, officials said.

In the neighboring Indian state of Assam, at least 17 people were killed during the wave of flooding that began this month, police officials said on Sunday.

Many of Bangladesh’s rivers have risen to dangerous levels and the runoff from heavy rain from across Indian mountains exacerbated the situation, said Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the head of the state-run Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre.

Thousands of policemen, army personnel have been deployed to parts of the country to help search and rescue efforts.

About 105,000 people have been evacuated so far but police officials estimated that over four million were still stranded.

Syed Rafiqul Haque, a former lawmaker and ruling party politician in Sunamganj district, said the country was facing a humanitarian crisis if proper rescue operations were not conducted.

“Almost the entire Sylhet-Sunamganj belt is under water and millions of people are stranded,” he said, adding victims have no food, drinking water and communication networks were down.

Regional officials said about 3.1 million people were displaced, 200,000 of whom are staying in government run makeshift shelters on raised embankments or on other highlands.

Bangladesh and India have experienced increasing extreme weather in recent years, causing large-scale damage.

Environmentalists warn climate change could lead to more disasters, especially in low-lying and densely populated Bangladesh.
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Army troops were called in to rescue thousands of people stranded by massive floods that have ravaged northeastern India and Bangladesh, leaving millions of homes underwater and severing transport links, authorities said Saturday.

In India’s Assam state, at least nine people were killed in the floods and 2 million saw their homes submerged, according to the state disaster management agency. Lightning strikes in parts of neighboring Bangladesh have left at least nine dead since Friday.

Both countries have asked their militaries for help as more flooding looms with rain expected to continue over the weekend.

In Sylhet in northeastern Bangladesh, on the banks of the Surma River, children sat on a window of an inundated house while other family members gathered on a bed inside their flooded home, some wondering how to make it through the ordeal.

“How can we eat (in this condition)?” said Anjuman Ara Begum, standing in the water inside her kitchen. “We are living on muri (puffed rice) and chira (flattened rice) and other things given by people. What else can we do? We can’t cook.”

Flights at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet were suspended for three days as floodwaters almost reached the runway, according to Hafiz Ahmed, the airport manager. The Sylhet-Sunamganj highway was flooded but motorbikes were moving along.

Water levels in all major rivers across the country were rising, according to the flood forecasting and warning center in Dhaka, the capital. The country has about 130 rivers.

The center said the flood situation is likely to deteriorate in the worst-hit Sunamganj and Sylhet districts in the northeastern region as well as in Lalmonirhat, Kurigram, Nilphamari and Rangpur districts in northern Bangladesh.

The Brahmaputra, one of Asia’s largest rivers, breached its mud embankments, inundating 3,000 villages and croplands in 28 of Assam’s 33 districts across the border in India.

“We expect moderate to heavy rainfall in several parts of Assam till Sunday. The volume of rainfall has been unprecedented,” said Sanjay O’Neil, an official at the meteorological station in Gauhati, Assam’s capital.

Several train services were canceled in India amid the incessant downpour over the past five days. In southern Assam’s Haflong town, the railway station was underwater and flooded rivers deposited mud and silt along the rail tracks.

India’s army has been mobilized to assist disaster response agencies in rescuing stranded people and providing food and other essentials. Soldiers used speedboats and inflatable rafts to navigate through submerged areas.

Last month, a pre-monsoon flash flood, triggered by a rush of water from upstream in India’s northeastern states, hit Bangladesh’s northern and northeastern regions, destroying crops and damaging homes and roads. The country was just starting to recover when fresh rains flooded the same areas again this week.

Bangladesh, a nation of 160 million people, is low-lying and faces threats from natural disasters such as floods and cyclones, made worse by climate change. According to the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, about 17% of people in Bangladesh would need to be relocated over the next decade or so if global warming persists at the present rate.
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Militants attacked a road construction labor camp in southwestern Baluchistan province overnight killing three workers and wounding five others, officials said Saturday.

The assailants late Friday opened fire on the camp, burned vehicles and destroyed machinery in a mountainous part of the district of Harnai, said Farah Azeem Shah, spokesperson for the Baluchistan provincial government. She said the camp was part of a local company working on a road construction project.

Five workers were missing from the camp after the attack, said Rafiq Tareen, district deputy commissioner. He said security forces started a search operation, but the terrain was difficult.

Later, he said two of the five workers were found nearby.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but separatist groups involved in a low-level insurgency in Baluchistan have staged similar attacks targeting non-local workers they accuse of taking jobs in the province. Separatist groups in the mineral and gas rich province like the Baluchistan Nationalist Army want independence from Islamabad.

Separately, a militant and a soldier were killed in a shootout in the northwestern North Waziristan district Saturday. A military statement said security forces recovered arms and ammunition at the spot where the militant was killed. It said an intense exchange of fire was triggered during a raid in Miran Shah, the district’s main town. The area served as a sanctuary for militants for years until 2014, when the military carried out massive operations to clear the region of militants.
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Afghanistan’s Taliban have alleged the United States is blocking their way to securing international recognition for the Islamist group’s new government in Kabul.  

The insurgent-turned-ruling group seized power last August and installed an all-male interim administration following the end of almost 20 years of U.S.-led foreign military intervention in the war-torn South Asian country.  

“As far as recognition by foreign countries is concerned, I think the United States is the biggest obstacle,” chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said when asked to explain whether his group’s policies or any country was responsible for the delay in winning the legitimacy.

“It [America] does not allow other countries to move in this direction and has itself not taken any step on this count either,” he said, while responding to reporters’ questions via a Taliban-run WhatsApp group for reporters.

Mujahid claimed that the Taliban had met “all the requirements” for their government to be given diplomatic recognition.  

He asserted all countries, including the United States, need to realize that political engagement with the Taliban is in “everyone’s interest.” It would allow the world to formally discuss “the grievances” they have with the Taliban.

Mujahid insisted Taliban leaders “want better” bilateral ties with the U.S. in line with the agreement the two countries signed in Doha, Qatar, in February 2020. Washington also needs to move toward establishing better ties with Kabul, he said.  

“We were enemies and fighting the United States so long as it had occupied Afghanistan. That war has ended now.”

No recognition

No country has yet recognized the Taliban as legitimate rulers of the country, mainly over their harsh treatment of Afghan women and girls. The group is also being pressed to govern the country through a broad-based political system where all Afghan groups have their representation to ensure long-term national stability.

Since taking control of Afghanistan 10 months ago, the Taliban have suspended secondary education for most teenage girls and prevented female staff in certain government departments from returning to their duties.

The Ministry for Vice and Virtue, tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Taliban’s version of Islam, has ordered women to wear face coverings in public. Women are barred from traveling beyond 70 kilometers unless accompanied by a male relative.

The Taliban have rejected calls for removing the curbs on women and Mujahid also defended them. “The orders… regarding women are in accordance with [Islamic]  Shariah, and these are the rules of Shariah,” he asserted.  

The Taliban are “religiously” obliged to implement Islamic Sharia to counter practices that Islam prohibits, Mujahid said, without elaborating.  

“Hopefully Afghan women will also not make demands for things that are against the principles of Islam.”

Afghanistan’s immediate neighbors and regional countries also have urged Taliban authorities to ease their restrictions on women before they could consider opening formal ties with Kabul.  

“[An] inclusive ethnopolitical government should be the first step toward this. We make no secret of this, and we say so outright to our Afghan partners,” Zamir Kabulov, Russian special envoy for Afghanistan, said earlier this week, when asked whether Moscow was close to giving the Taliban legitimacy.

Additionally, scholars in many Islamic countries have disapproved of the Taliban’s ban on female education and other policies limiting women’s access to public life.  

Al-Qaida presence

Mujahid claimed neither al-Qaida nor any of its members are present in the country, saying they all left Afghanistan for their native countries after the October 2001 U.S.-led military invasion.

Washington blames leaders of the terrorist network for plotting the September 11, 2001, attacks on America from the then-Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.  

At the time, only three countries — Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — had recognized the Taliban. During their rule from 1996-2001, the group had completely banned women from public life and girls from receiving an education, leading to Afghanistan’s diplomatic isolation.

Mujahid reiterated Kabul’s resolve that it will not allow anyone to threaten the U.S. and its allies by using Afghan soil. “We are ready for this, but only if further steps are taken to build mutual trust and strengthen political ties.”

A United Nations report said last month the Taliban continued to maintain close ties with al-Qaida, pointing to the reported presence of the network’s “core leadership” in eastern Afghanistan, including its leader, Ayman al-Zawahri.

The report noted, however, that neither al-Qaida nor the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) “is believed to be capable of mounting international attacks before 2023 at the earliest, regardless of their intent or of whether the Taliban acts to restrain them.”
…

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet this week accused Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban of stripping women and girls of their fundamental rights and freedoms and rendering them invisible in public life.  Her report was submitted Wednesday to the U.N. Human Rights Council. 

Bachelet told the council that Afghans are experiencing some of the darkest moments in a generation.  Since the Taliban authorities took control in August, she said, the country has been plunged into a deep economic, social, humanitarian, and human rights crisis.

She pointed to a dramatic erosion of women’s rights and freedoms since the Taliban assumed power.  She said secondary school for girls has been banned, depriving more than a million of an education and a future.  

She said women are forced to wear a hijab in all public places, are barred from employment, and cannot participate in public and political life.  She said women’s freedom of movement has been severely restricted.

“Let me be clear: what we are witnessing today in Afghanistan is the institutionalized systematic oppression of women,” Bachelet said. “… Afghan women are rapidly facing the worst-case scenario many feared.  While Afghanistan has ratified a number of international treaties … the de facto authorities remain far from complying with those international obligations, in both policy and practice, to respect and protect the rights of women and girls.”

In the wake of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, conflict in the country dropped significantly and security improved.  However, this positive effect has faded.  Bachelet said attacks against dissident groups and ethnic and religious minorities have increased.  She said civilians have been killed and injured at schools, places of worship, marketplaces, and on public transport. 

She said human rights violations have increased.

“There are serious allegations, which require verification, that civilians have been exposed to violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law, including arbitrary arrests, extrajudicial killings and torture,” Bachelet said.

The Taliban could not respond to Bachelet’s charges because the United Nations does not recognize the legitimacy of its rule.  However, Nasir Ahmad Andisha, the previous Afghan government’s ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva was allowed to speak and corroborated the information contained in Bachelet’s report.  

He meanwhile called on the outside world not to abandon Afghans, saying millions are suffering from acute hunger, lack of basic services, malnutrition, and disease. 
…

Many Afghans now living as refugees in Pakistan have left their previous lives behind. Others have created new ones that are made more difficult by their refugee status. For VOA, Muska Safi spoke to an Afghan boxer in Peshawar, Pakistan, in a report narrated by Nazrana Yousufzai.
…

Several explosions and gunfire ripped through a Sikh temple in Afghanistan’s capital on Saturday morning, a Taliban official said.

Abdul Nafi Takor, a Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, confirmed the attack but did not provide further details or say whether there were casualties.

Videos posted on social media show plumes of black smoke rising from the temple, known as a gurdwara, in Kabul’s Bagh-e Bala neighborhood while gunfire can also be heard.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. A regional affiliate of the Islamic State group known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province has lately increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country.

The IS affiliate, which has been operating in Afghanistan since 2014, is seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country’s Taliban rulers. Since seizing power in Kabul and elsewhere in the country last August, the Taliban have launched a sweeping crackdown against the IS in eastern Afghanistan.

In March 2020, a lone Islamic State gunman rampaged through a Sikh temple in Kabul, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight others. The gunman held many worshippers hostage for several hours, and among the dead was a child.

As many as 80 worshippers were trapped inside the gurdwara as the gunman lobbed grenades and fired an automatic rifle into the crowd.
…

Days of heavy rain at the beginning of monsoon season have caused widespread flooding in northeastern Bangladesh, leaving millions stranded and vast areas inundated, officials said Friday.

Major rivers in the two northeastern districts of Sylhet and Sunamganj have swollen to dangerously high levels because of heavy downpours, according to data from the country’s Flood Forecasting and Warning Center.

The whole region is facing power outages, and almost all schools have been converted to makeshift flood shelters. State officials said flights at Osmani International Airport in Sylhet, the region’s only airport, had been suspended because of floodwater approaching the runway.

The government has deployed members of the armed forces across the region to speed up flood rescue and relief efforts, while education officials indefinitely suspended the nation’s largest secondary school exam, which was slated for Sunday.

The deluge has come on the heels of a pre-monsoon flood that ravaged the same northeastern region just a month ago, submerging 70% of Sylhet and 60% of neighboring Sunamganj, leaving at least 10 people dead and more than 2 million stranded.

Records surpassed

Jahangir Hossain, deputy commissioner of Sunamganj district, told VOA the latest flooding had submerged a large part of the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway, thwarting relief and rescue operations.

“The severity of the flood in my district has surpassed all the past records,” he said. “Sunamganj is practically cut off from the rest of the country.”

According to the flood warning center, water in the Sunamganj region’s main Surma River was flowing 120 centimeters above the danger mark on Friday.

Sirajul Islam, who heads a trade association in the regional capital of Sunamganj town, called the floods the worst he’d seen in 20 years.

“We have to shut down all of our stores as floodwater has entered there. Besides, there is no electricity. The mobile network is also not working,” Islam told VOA, adding that shop closures exacerbated the problem of dispensing basic goods and medicine.

In Sylhet, the Surma River was flowing 70 centimeters above the danger level on Friday, according to the flood warning center.

A large part of Sylhet city, an administrative seat, was inundated, with at least 10 neighborhoods covered with knee-deep water.

Sylhet city resident Pradip Chandra Das, 47, said floodwater had been entering his house since Thursday morning.

“At one point it became waist-deep and all of our household things, including furniture, fridge, got submerged and destroyed,” said Das. “We left the house and moved to my relative’s house at Haldarpara.”

Sylhet Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Mojibur Rahman told VOA that Companyganj and Gowainghat with the two hardest-hit subdistricts of Sylhet.

“Those two areas got detached with other parts of the country because of floodwater,” he said. “Armies are deployed there to airlift or ferry relief material through boats. We are trying everything from our administration to help the flood-affected people.”

Possible causes

Flood center chief engineer Arifuzzaman Bhuiyah said that although some flooding is normal at the outset of monsoon season in Bangladesh, this year is different.

“This year, the situation is more severe as there was a massive and unprecedented pre-monsoon flood just a month ago, and it had taken place in the same northeast region, so people were already affected there,” he said.

Bhuiyah said 2,500 millimeters — 2.5 meters or 8.2 feet — of rain had been recorded in the upstream Indian region of Assam and Meghalaya over the last three days alone.

“This is the highest amount of rain recorded in that region in the last 122 years,” he said. “The runoff water from that heavy rain flowed down the Himalayan hills to Bangladesh’s northeastern plains and caused this flood.”

Bhuiyah estimated that almost 80% of the northeastern region was under floodwater.

“The weather forecast says the heavy rain will continue for the next 72 hours, which means the situation will only get worsened,” he added.

Md Serajul Islam and Mohammad Mohsin contributed to this report from Sylhet and Sunamganj districts.
…

A global agency combating illicit financing said Friday that Pakistan had “substantially completed” internationally agreed upon action plans to address their deficiencies to counter money laundering and funding to terrorist groups. 

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in 2018 placed the South Asian nation on its “gray list” of countries with weak mechanisms, and Pakistan agreed to work with the agency to strengthen them. The placement made foreign firms more cautious about investing in Pakistan, which is dealing with a struggling economy and a balance-of-payment crisis. 

FATF President Marcus Pleyer told a news briefing Friday after its decision-making plenary session in Berlin that they reviewed Islamabad’s progress and concluded it had “largely addressed” two action plans, covering 34 items. 

“The FATF has now recommended an on-site visit to check that Pakistan’s reforms are in place and can be sustained into the future,” Pleyer said. “Pakistan is not being removed from the gray list today. The country will be removed from the list if it successfully passes the on-site visit.” 

Pleyer declined to discuss a date for the on-site visit but said it would take place before the next plenary session in October to enable FATF members to “make an informed decision whether to remove Pakistan from the list. 

“Pakistan has demonstrated that it is now pursuing terrorist financing investigations and prosecutions against senior leaders of U.N.-designated terrorist groups and pursuing money laundering investigations and prosecutions in line with its risk profile,” the outgoing FATF president noted. 

Pleyer hailed the reforms as “good for the stability and security” of Pakistan and the region. They would ensure that authorities in Pakistan “can more effectively” tackle money laundering and funding of terrorist groups, he added. 

Pakistan welcomed Friday’s announcement by the global agency and hailed the authorization of the on-site visit “as a final step” for the country “to exit from the FATF’s gray list.” 

A Foreign Ministry statement said Pakistan had covered a lot of ground in the anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) regime during implementation of FATF action plans. 

“The engagement with FATF has led to the development of a strong AML/CFT framework in Pakistan and resulted in improving of our systems to cope with future challenges.” 

Pakistan’s deposed prime minister Imran Khan, while responding to the outcome of FATF’s plenary session, said it was his government that had set the stage for his country’s possible exit from the gray list. 

“We not only averted blacklisting, but also completed 32 out of 34 action items. We submitted compliance report on remaining 2 items in April based on which FATF now declared Pak’s Action Plan as completed,” Khan wrote on Twitter. 

“I am confident that prerequisite on-site visit of FATF team to confirm completed work on our action plan will pass successfully too,” he added. 

An opposition-led parliamentary no-confidence vote ousted Khan’s nearly 4-year-old government in April, a move the former prime minister condemned as illegal and an outcome of a U.S.-instigated plot against him, charges Washington rejects. 

Pakistan actions 

In a significant move in April, a Pakistani court sentenced an anti-India Islamist cleric, Hafiz Saeed, to 33 years in prison after he was tried in two cases of terror financing. 

Saeed, the founder of the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group and the head of its banned charity wing, Jamaat-ud-Dawa, has been designated as a global terrorist by the United States for allegedly playing a role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed more than 170 people.   

“The sentencing of Hafiz Saeed is just one example of significant actions taken to curb terrorism,” said Adam Weinstein, a research fellow at the U.S.-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. 

“Pakistan passed legislation to counter terrorism and most importantly enforced it,” Weinstein told VOA. “This is why the FATF determined that Pakistan completed its action plans.”   

Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asian affairs at Washington’s Wilson Center, described FATF’s approval of Pakistani efforts as a “giant leap forward” in its bid to exit the gray list.  

“Facing a worsening economic crisis and having been stuck on the list for four years, a status that has some reputational costs and may deter some investors, this couldn’t come at a better time for Pakistan.” 

A FATF “blacklist” comprises countries considered noncooperative and supportive of terror financing as well as money laundering activities. Placement on that list triggers international economic sanctions and restrictions in the nations’ dealings with foreign lending institutions. 

Iran and North Korea are the only two currently blacklisted countries. 

 
…

The United Nations envoy for Afghanistan in her farewell message Thursday expressed sorrow over the Islamist Taliban’s “extreme policies” curtailing women’s rights, press freedoms and inclusive political representation.

“I could not have imagined, when I accepted this job, the Afghanistan that I am now leaving,” said Deborah Lyons, the head of the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

The outgoing UNAMA chief arrived in the Afghan capital, Kabul, two years ago, starting her stint when the now-defunct Western-backed government was running the country and struggling to contain the deadly Taliban insurgency.

“My heart breaks in particular for the millions of Afghan girls who are denied their right to education, and the many Afghan women full of talent who are being told to stay at home instead of using those talents to rebuild a society that now experiences far less conflict but in some ways as much fear as before,” she lamented.

The Taliban seized control of war-ravaged Afghanistan last August and installed an all-male interim administration following the end of almost 20 years of U.S.-led foreign military intervention in the South Asian country.

The Islamist group has suspended secondary education for most teenage girls and prevented female staff in certain government departments from returning to their duties.

The Ministry for Vice and Virtue, tasked with interpreting and enforcing the Taliban’s version of Islam, has ordered women to cover up fully, including their faces, in public, and it has strongly advised them not to leave their homes “to wander around aimlessly,” barring them from traveling beyond 70 kilometers unless accompanied by a male relative.

“It is that much more painful as a woman to leave my Afghan sisters in the condition they are in,” Lyons said. “It is an irony that now that there is space for everyone to help rebuild the country, half of the population is confined and prevented from doing so.”

The Taliban had excluded women from public life and girls from receiving an education when they previously ruled the country from 1996 to 2001. Only three countries, including neighboring Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, had recognized the Taliban government at the time.

Lyons cautioned the fundamentalist group that a “system that excludes women, minorities and talented people will not endure.” She advocated for the international community to remain engaged with what she referred to as Afghanistan’s de facto authorities.

The U.N. envoy pledged, however, that the world body will not abandon millions of Afghans in need of urgent assistance in the wake of years of war and persistent drought in the country.

No country has yet granted the new Taliban government diplomatic recognition because of its harsh treatment of women and terrorism-related concerns.

An already bad humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has worsened since the return to power of the Taliban in the wake of international financial sanctions on many senior leaders of the ruling group, pushing the national economy to the brink of collapse.

The United Nations estimates that more than half of Afghanistan’s 40 million people are suffering from acute hunger and urgently need humanitarian aid. Some 1.1 million Afghan children are suffering from malnutrition.

The Taliban have rejected repeated international calls for reversing their women-related edicts, insisting they are in line with Afghan culture and Islamic tradition. They also defend their administration as fully representative of all Afghans.
…

Two-day talks between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) foreign ministers opened Thursday in New Delhi with calls for stronger ties between India and the regional bloc.

The talks come amid a heightened rivalry between China and the United States, which Singapore said threatens peace in the region.

India and Singapore, the event co-chair, also underscored geopolitical challenges sparked by the war in Ukraine.

In his opening remarks to the 10-member group of Southeast Asian foreign ministers, Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “upended the international system of rules and norms.” He also said the “sharpening superpower rivalry” between China and the U.S. has direct implications for all of Asia.

“So, these developments, if unchecked, can threaten the sole system of peace and stability which we have depended on for the basis of our growth, our development and prosperity over many decades,” Balakrishnan said, marking the 30th anniversary of relations between New Delhi and ASEAN.

In discussing the challenges, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the “developments in Ukraine” and their effects on food and energy security, fertilizer and commodities prices, and logistics and supply chain disruptions had made the task of recovery from the pandemic more arduous.

He said the role of ASEAN would be critical given the new geopolitical challenges and emphasized the need to improve land and sea connectivity between India and ASEAN countries.

“A better-connected India and ASEAN would be well-positioned to promote decentralized globalization and reliable supply chains,” Jaishankar said. “India fully supports a strong, unified, prosperous ASEAN whose centrality in the Indo-Pacific is fully realized.”

The foreign ministers also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Strengthening strategic, political and economic ties with ASEAN has become a priority for India and the U.S. as both countries seek to push back against growing Chinese influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Last month, U.S. President Joe Biden held a first summit with ASEAN leaders in Washington and said it marked the launch of a “new era” in ties between Washington and the bloc.

Several ASEAN countries have maritime disputes with Beijing, which has built islands in waters claimed by several countries in East Asia, raising worries about Chinese expansionism in the region.

Analysts, however, say with China remaining the primary trading partner for ASEAN nations, the bloc will be careful to balance ties between both sides. Despite efforts, trade between ASEAN and India has remained modest — up to $78 billion in 2021.
…

Thousands of people marched in Bangladesh’s capital on Thursday to demand the governments of Bangladesh and India officially condemn comments by two Indian governing party officials deemed derogatory to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.

The march began at the country’s main Baitul Mukarram Mosque but was blocked by police as it headed toward India’s Embassy, a few kilometers (miles) away.

The protesters demanded that Muslim-majority nations boycott Indian products and cut off ties with New Delhi, and that Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina publicly condemn the comments made earlier by the two officials in Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Hasina has maintained warm relations with India. Information and Broadcast Minister Hasan Mahmud told a group of Indian journalists that the dispute is an internal Indian matter, according to reports by Indian media.

As they marched, the protesters chanted “Down with Modi” and “Insult to Islam, will not tolerate.” Many carried placards reading “We love Muhammad.”

After police stopped the march, a group of five people was allowed to head toward the Indian Embassy, according to Shahidul Islam Kabir, a spokesperson for the sponsors of the protest, Islami Andolon Bangladesh. The group vowed to continue its demonstrations.

India’s governing party has suspended one of the officials and expelled the other, but protesters say the actions are not enough.

At least five Arab nations have condemned the remarks and lodged official protests against India. Pakistan and Afghanistan also reacted strongly to the comments by the two party officials. They follow increasing violence against India’s Muslim minority by Hindu nationalists who have been emboldened by Modi’s silence about such attacks since he was elected in 2014.
…

Chinese state media says President Xi Jinping reaffirmed his country’s close ties to Russia during a phone call Wednesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. 

Xi told his Russian counterpart that it supports a negotiated solution to the crisis in Ukraine, according to both Xinhua News Agency and state broadcaster CCTV. 

A statement by the Kremlin said that the Chinese leader “noted the legitimacy” of Russia’s actions to protect its “fundamental national interests in the face of challenges to its security created by external forces.” 

Xi and Putin signed a wide-ranging cooperation pact in February on the sidelines of the Beijing Winter Olympics under which the two sides pledged there would be “no limits” on their partnership. 

The pact was signed weeks before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. China has refused to criticize Russia over its actions in Ukraine, even so far as not to describe it as an invasion. 

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department criticized China’s stance when asked by VOA’s East Asia Pacific division Wednesday. The spokesperson said while China claims to be neutral, “its behavior makes clear that it is still investing in close ties to Russia.” The spokesperson said Beijing continues to echo Russian propaganda around the world, shield Moscow in international organizations, and continues to deny evidence of Russia’s atrocities in Ukraine “by suggesting instead that they were staged.” 

“The world is watching to see which nations stand up for the basic principles of freedom, self-determination and sovereignty, and who stands by or tacitly supports Russia in its premeditated and unprovoked war of choice,” the spokesman said. 

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters.
…

A package of constitutional reforms billed as strengthening Kazakhstan’s parliament and reining in presidential powers is getting mixed reviews from analysts and opposition members, who say the changes are welcome but fall far short of bringing real democracy to the oil-rich Central Asian nation.

President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and his administration insist that the changes, approved in a June 5 national referendum, are just the beginning of a steady, long-term process that will usher in a “New Kazakhstan.”

“Amendments have now been made to 33 articles that make up more than a third of the Constitution,” said Roman Vassilenko, deputy foreign minister.

Speaking at a recent George Washington University forum, Vassilenko confirmed that the amendments, approved with 77% of the vote, went into force on June 8.

“Changes include reducing the powers of the presidency with the aim of establishing an influential parliament and accountable government,” he said. “The president will no longer be a member of any political party and will no longer have the authority to overrule the acts of local leaders.”

Vassilenko said the president’s immediate family are now barred from holding political posts and top managerial positions in quasi-public companies. The provision will apply retroactively to former President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his family, who acquired vast financial assets during his time in office.

Better checks and balances

“The reforms will enhance checks and balances, strengthen parliament and the independence of governors and mayors, and create the legal basis to tackle corruption and nepotism,” Vassilenko said.

The amendments should also make it easier for political parties to register, though opposition leaders doubt they will now be able to challenge the ruling party in any meaningful way. 

Other reforms promised by Tokayev include a pledge to protect human rights while strengthening national security, the restoration of a constitutional court, and the abolition of the death penalty.

The reforms come in response to a wave of anti-government protests in January sparked by a sharp spike in fuel prices after government controls were lifted. Officials acknowledged more than 230 people were killed and thousands were arrested as the violence spread and other long-standing grievances were aired.

The protests “were a major shock and major test for Kazakhstan, and relevant lessons were learned and are being learned,” Vassilenko said.

Defending the gradual nature of the reforms, he said what Kazakhstan needs “is not a revolution but evolution of the country’s political processes and governance. And due to our geographical and historical background, as well as the challenging geopolitical situation in the world today, overhauling our political system too rapidly … could actually undermine our efforts and potentially lead to destabilization.”

Independent analysts, however, are taking a wait-and-see approach, noting that other post-Soviet political systems have proven very resistant to change.

“The most regressive forces in these countries are very often the security services. We see allegations about their role in the January events in Kazakhstan,” said Svante Cornell, director of the Central Asia-Caucasus Institute (CACI).

Cornell argues that revolutionary changes in Georgia, Kyrgyzstan and elsewhere “did not turn out the way people expected. They were not the gateway to functioning sustainable democracies.”

Similar situation

Cornell compares Kazakhstan to neighboring Uzbekistan, which its reform-promising government also calls “New Uzbekistan.” Both fear revolutionary changes that could lead to instability.

Still, Cornell sees Kazakhs as more demanding than Uzbeks and believes Kazakhstan’s elite realize that economic development requires systemic transformation.

“But Kazakhstan is not going to turn into a parliamentary democracy,” he said at a CACI forum, asserting that the latest reforms “are designed to make the government more effective and to provide some degree of greater openness without losing control of the political system.”

Nargis Kassenova, a senior fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, sees the reforms as a bid by Tokayev to legitimize himself three years after succeeding Nazarbayev in a 2019 election that few believe was democratic.

Kassenova said some Kazakhs give Tokayev the benefit of the doubt. “They appreciate the intentions and recognize the lack of better alternatives and actually the presence of much worse alternatives.”

Beyond that, she said, “removing Nazarbayev, his family and closest associates from the core of the system, stripping them of assets is a big deal. And that’s an area to watch: What is going to happen to the assets? Will they just change hands, or will there be more equitable redistribution in the country?

“Politics as public engagement is back and people do pay attention to what the government is saying and doing,” she said. “I think there is a genuine opening. And being fully skeptical and disengaged would be a wasting a good opportunity.”

Domestic critics of the government, however, say the Tokayev administration is unlikely to allow any space for real political challengers.

Kazakh activist Assem Zhapisheva, co-founder of Masa.media and “Til Kespek Joq,” a social media platform, is among those who say the constitutional amendments “do not change the super-presidential form of government in any way.”

Zhapisheva argued that the referendum was neither free nor fair, nor was it the beginning of real reforms. She believes Tokayev is merely testing the public to prepare for re-election in 2024.

“Despite claims that Tokayev wants an independent parliament or independent parties to join the parliament, we’ve seen over the years —and it’s still happening — independent politicians who want to create their own parties are under much pressure.”

No accounting for excesses

Kazakh journalist Aigerim Toleukhanova said there has still been no legal accounting for government excesses, specifically on the January events. “Some lost their loved ones. Some were injured or tortured.”

Toleukhanova puts no stock in official claims that regional geopolitics require Kazakhstan to be vigilant. She urges the government to build trust with society instead of prioritizing its international image.

Vassilenko said Tokayev is committed to ensuring a thorough investigation of the January events, including allegations of torture. Human rights groups have called for an independent inquiry.

But Zhapisheva argued that Tokayev can’t build a new Kazakhstan using old methods of governance and control. “Our officials need to understand that people who ask for justice are actually asking for real reforms and are not the enemies of the state.”

She challenged the government to return “all the stolen money to Kazakhstan” and hold Nazarbayev and his network accountable for illegal actions and offshore assets. Only then, she said, can Kazakhstan’s people start seeing real change. 
…

Russia said Wednesday it was not considering granting legitimacy to Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities but maintained that humanitarian problems facing the conflict-torn nation oblige many countries to “enter into contacts” with the new rulers in Kabul.

“It’s not being discussed at the moment; we have said this many times. It is useless now to predict when this will happen,” Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in Moscow when asked about the possibility of recognizing the Taliban regime.

The insurgent-turned-Islamist group took over Afghanistan last August and installed an interim administration following the end of almost 20 years of U.S.-led foreign military intervention in the South Asian country.

No country has yet recognized the Taliban government, citing concerns the Islamist group has reneged on pledges to respect the rights of all Afghans and prevent terrorist groups, including al-Qaida, from using Afghanistan for international attacks.

The all-male Taliban Cabinet is being criticized for not having representation of all Afghan ethnic and political groups.

Zamir Kabulov, the Russian special presidential envoy for Afghan affairs, on Tuesday outlined Moscow’s conditions for recognizing the Taliban.

“[An] inclusive ethnopolitical government should be the first step towards this. We make no secret of this and we say so outright to our Afghan partners,” Kabulov told Russian state-run television.

“As soon as this happens, there will be the basis for a serious discussion. We will act regardless of what the United States and everybody else may think.”

The Taliban reject criticism of their government, saying it represents all Afghan ethnic and political groups. The hardline ruling movement strongly defends restrictions on women, saying the conditions are in line with Afghan culture and Islamic tradition.

Since the Islamist group took control of Afghanistan on August 15 of last year, it has not allowed most teenage schoolgirls to resume classes.

“It’s still unclear today, as it was 10 months ago, how the Taliban want to run this country. The clouds of uncertainties are larger & darker. The international community exacerbated the crisis with sanctions & halting development projects,” tweeted Mohsin Amin, an Afghan policy analyst and researcher. He estimated in a separate tweet that the education ban has prevented 2 million Afghan girls from going to school.

China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Turkey are among several countries which have kept their embassies in Kabul open even after the exit of the United States and its NATO-led partners from Afghanistan.

The Russian Foreign Ministry recently accredited the Taliban-appointed Afghan chargé d’affaires to allow him to run the Afghan Embassy in Moscow, calling it “a step toward resuming full-fledged bilateral diplomatic contacts” with Kabul.

An already bad humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan has worsened since the return of the Taliban to power in the wake of international financial sanctions on the group, pushing the national economy to the brink of collapse.

The United Nations estimates that more than half of Afghanistan’s estimated 40 million population are suffering from acute hunger and urgently need humanitarian aid. Some 1.1 million Afghan children are suffering malnutrition.
…

Four years ago, India hosted the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at its annual Republic Day Parade — a symbolic gesture by New Delhi to give momentum to its partnerships with the10-member grouping.

That effort is gathering pace as India and other countries like the United States seek to push back against China’s growing clout in the Indo Pacific region.

Starting Thursday, New Delhi will hold a two-day meet of foreign ministers of ASEAN to mark the 30th anniversary of relations with the group and to discuss ways to boost cooperation — 2022 has been designated the India-ASEAN friendship year.

Speaking at a June 10 news briefing, India foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the ASEAN-India strategic partnership stands on a strong foundation. “The ASEAN is central to India’s Act East Policy and its vision for the wider Indo-Pacific,” he said.

The ten ASEAN countries are Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines.

Although Indian and ASEAN foreign ministers meet annually, the New Delhi event has been billed as a special meeting.

It is being held three weeks after a summit of the Quad in Tokyo, where U.S. President Joe Biden launched the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) to increase engagement in the Asian region. Besides the Quad members — India, Japan and Australia, seven ASEAN members signed on to the treaty — Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Vietnam.

“Everyone is trying to woo the ASEAN, because of its centrality to the Indo-Pacific. These countries are crucial if you want to have a viable policy for this region,” said Manoj Joshi, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank based in New Delhi. “For India also, ASEAN is important.”

Analysts however point out that as Beijing has been the grouping’s biggest trading partner since 2009, ASEAN countries are careful to balance their ties with both sides. Trade with China, which remains a big market for their exports, touched around $ 878 billion in 2021, according to the Chinese state-controlled news website Global Times.

At the same time though, some of these countries are locked in maritime disputes with China, which has built man-made islands in waters claimed by several countries in East Asia.

“ASEAN countries are very pragmatic. They are looking to see how to gain from building ties with both sides,” said Joshi pointing out that these countries want strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific as China becomes increasingly assertive.

However, analysts say that India will need to increase economic engagement with ASEAN countries to rachet up its influence. But it remains at a disadvantage because it did not join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Pact (RCEP), the world’s largest trade pact that went into effect this January. Besides the ASEAN countries, the trade pact includes China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.

India backed out of the RCEP due to concerns that lower-cost imports, particularly from China, would impact its local industries.

“India has not been able to improve its exports to the ASEAN region because our manufacturing industries are not competitive,” points out Biswajit Dhar, a professor at the Centre for Economic Studies and Planning at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University. “Their markets are open, but you need to have the capabilities to access them.”

Although there is no official confirmation, Myanmar’s foreign minister may not be present at the meeting that starts Thursday. Since the military coup in Myanmar last year, ASEAN, which has pushed for the restoration of democracy and an end to the crackdown on political leaders and activists, only allows non-political representation in high level meetings of the grouping.

The coup has been condemned by the international community.
…

Religious tensions in India have prompted some activists, both inside and outside the world’s second most populous country, to call for a boycott of Indian products and of Qatar Airways.

On Friday, thousands of Muslims marched in Bangladesh and Pakistan chanting slogans, among other things, to boycott all Indian products in Muslim countries.

“The global Muslim community has been united. We ask the whole world to boycott Indian products,” Moulana Imtiaz Alam, leader of a Bangladeshi Islamist party, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.

Separately, some Hindu activists have used the hashtag #boycottqatarairways to voice anger against Qatar’s strong diplomatic protest recently of allegedly Islamophobic remarks by members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Inside India, police arrested hundreds on Saturday after two Muslim teenagers died from gunshots and several others were injured in the weeks-long protests by Muslims in different parts of the country.

Since his ascent to power, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP’s leader, has been accused of stoking Hindu-Muslim tensions, a charge he and his supporters have repeatedly rejected.

About 14.2% of India’s 1.3 billion population are Muslim.

Strong ties

Experts say calls for boycotts and the strong reaction by Muslim nations to India’s latest religious tensions are unlikely to affect New Delhi’s trade and economic relations with the Muslim world.

India has maintained strong economic ties with Muslim countries, particularly the oil-rich nations of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

Despite a major slump in India-GCC trade volume in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, GCC exports to India quickly jumped to $98 billion and imports hit $40 billion in 2021, according to the International Institute of Finance (IIF).

More than 8 million Indian laborers and expatriates work in the GCC region, accounting for upwards of $26 billion in annual remittances.

“Expats account for more than half of the total foreign workers in the GCC,” Garbis Iradian, an economist at IIF, told VOA. “The rapid development of the GCC countries in the past two decades, including infrastructures, owes to foreign workers, particularly from India.”

Strong economic ties will likely weather the current religious and political tensions between India and GCC nations, experts say.

“Going forward there will likely be a new framework for relations focusing on investment, political dynamics, and defense and security as growing areas of India-Gulf relations, working to enhance the levels of trust between the two sides,” Viraj Solanki, a South-Asia expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told VOA.

Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, two GCC members, have pledged to invest about $200 billion in India in the coming years.

India also maintains robust trade and economic ties with Turkey, Indonesia and majority Muslim countries elsewhere in Asia as well as in Africa.

Homes razed

On Sunday, local authorities in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh reportedly demolished the homes of several Muslim activists who were allegedly behind the recent protests.

One of homes belonged to the parents of Afreen Fatima, a Muslim rights activist and university student.

Fatima has blamed local authorities for razing the house in retaliation for her father’s alleged involvement in recent protests by Muslims.

While some local officials were quoted in the media saying Fatima’s house was bulldozed because it was built illegally, an adviser to Uttar Pradesh’s chief minister tweeted a photo of the house saying, “Unruly elements remember, every Friday is followed by a Saturday.”

Human rights groups and Indian Muslims say Islamophobia has reached dangerous levels in the world’s largest democracy.

Earlier this year, BJP political rallies included threats of mass violence against Muslims, and some party leaders labeled Muslims as terrorists.

Last week, a report from the U.S. State Department named India, among countries like China, Russia, Myanmar and Pakistan, a violator of religious freedoms and cited numerous reports of attacks on and discrimination against Indian Muslims.

The Indian government condemned the U.S. report calling it “ill-informed and biased.”
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Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province has decided to allow public sector employees to work from home on Fridays in a bid to conserve fuel and electricity amid a deepening energy crisis facing the country.

“The work-from-home policy was inspired by the rising prices of electricity and oil,” Taimur Khan Jhagra, the provincial finance minister, told VOA on Tuesday. He spoke a day after presenting the budget to the regional legislature in Peshawar, the provincial capital.

He argued that various private sectors across the world are incorporating work-from-home in their own respective ways, and his government has taken the initiative to introduce the policy in the public sector to deal with growing financial and energy challenges.

“In a government of 600,000 people, if half of them can actually work from home, the fuel savings and the electricity savings we believe will amount to between 2 and 5 billion rupees ($1=205 rupees) a year, which for a government like ours is a huge savings,” Jhagra noted.

The provincial minister explained government departments will identify staff that actually do need to work on Friday, but crucial services such as the police, schools and hospitals will continue to run beyond four days a week.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which borders Afghanistan, is Pakistan’s third most populous province. It is being governed by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The energy conservation measure follows a similar decision by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s fiscally constrained government earlier this month to eliminate Saturday as a workday and cut the volume of fuel allocated to its employees by about 40%, while considering the option of work-from-home on Fridays.

Pakistan is facing a shortfall of 7,000 megawatts in its electricity generation. The country has an installed capacity of 35,000 megawatts, and demand during summer season peaks at 27,000 megawatts.

But officials said only about 20,000 megawatts of electricity is currently being produced because independently operated power plants that rely on imported fuel have sharply reduced production as a result of rising oil prices amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. They noted that hydropower generation also has been far below capacity because of a lack of rain in Pakistan.

The power crisis has led to hours of daily planned blackouts across Pakistan, undermining business activities and life routines. Parts of the country experience temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius (118 Fahrenheit) in summer.

Officials cautioned that the supply-and-demand crisis will persist throughout the summer season until imported fuel prices drop. The energy crisis has drawn strong criticism from Sharif’s unity government, which came to office in April.

Cash-strapped Pakistan urgently needs the International Monetary Fund to restart a bailout package amid rising global oil prices. Islamabad’s foreign exchange reserves are also rapidly depleting and stood at about $9 billion as of Monday, barely enough to subsidize several weeks of imports.

The delay in securing the IMF deal has worsened Pakistan’s energy crisis. The government unveiled a $47 billion budget Friday for 2022-23, which is aimed at tight fiscal consolidation in a bid to convince the IMF to restart much-needed bailout payments.

The international lender wants Islamabad to bring its budget for the new fiscal year starting next month in line with the objectives of the $6 billion bailout program.

“Our preliminary estimate is that additional measures will be needed to strengthen the budget and bring it in line with key program objectives,” said Esther Perez Ruiz, the IMF country representative.

Pakistan’s finance minister said Saturday the IMF had expressed concerns about the budget numbers, including fuel subsidies, a widening current account deficit, and the need to raise more direct taxes.

Some information in this report came from Reuters.
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