International donors stepped up Thursday with more than $2.4 billion to keep Afghanistan from a humanitarian collapse, despite misgivings about the country’s Taliban government.

“Without immediate action, we face a starvation and malnutrition crisis in Afghanistan,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told a virtual pledging conference. “People are already selling their children and their body parts, in order to feed their families. Afghanistan’s economy has effectively collapsed.”

With Afghanistan suffering from the effects of decades of war, successive severe droughts and COVID-19, the United Nations has appealed for $4.4 billion to assist 20 million Afghans with food, shelter, medical care and other essentials — its largest-ever single appeal.

Among the major donors were Britain with $374 million; the United States, which announced nearly $204 million in new assistance; Germany with $218 million and Japan with $109 million. In all, the U.N. said 41 donors pledged new funding.

With more than 24 million Afghans — 60% of the population — needing humanitarian assistance, and 9 million people at risk of famine, it is one of the most severe humanitarian crises in the world.

This week, U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths briefly visited the capital, Kabul, and Bamiyan in central Afghanistan.

“I saw human suffering during those three days that left me quite speechless,” Griffiths said from Doha, Qatar, where he had just arrived. Qatar, along with the United Nations, Britain and Germany, are co-hosting the pledging conference.

Griffiths visited a children’s hospital and was deeply shaken by the sight of tiny babies too weak to even cry.

“In Kabul, I visited the Indira Gandhi hospital and saw severely malnourished children and newborns — newborns — clinging to life, sharing run-down, rickety incubators,” he said. “These babies were emaciated, listless and far too small. Mind you, this is downtown Kabul, not out in the rural, poorer areas of the country.”

Griffiths said humanitarians are just managing to stave off extreme food insecurity, preserve some basic services and are “barely preventing a complete meltdown of the country.”

Since the Taliban takeover in August, Afghanistan’s economy has gone into free fall.

Billions of dollars in international assistance that propped up the economy has dried up, and $9 billion in Afghan central bank reserves have been frozen abroad, leading to a severe financial crisis.

Western donors have reservations about their funding being appropriated or misused by the Taliban. The Taliban’s decision last week to renege on a pledge to resume education on March 23 for girls from secondary school up has confirmed a deep mistrust of them and the belief that they have not changed from their previous time in control of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, when they repressed human rights.

U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that decision was “inexcusable.”

“It is impossible not to feel a sense of profound outrage when we see girls and young women across Afghanistan wracked with tears as they learn they will have to leave their classrooms after all,” she said in a video message to the conference.

Thomas-Greenfield and many others called for the reversal of this decision, emphasizing that education is a fundamental human right and essential to the country’s economic recovery and stability.

While there is a lack of confidence in the Taliban, there was strong international support for the Afghan people and a recognition of the need to help stabilize the country and its economy.

Next month during the spring meetings of the international financial institutions, there will be a ministerial meeting to further discuss the Afghan financial crisis.

 
…

Embattled Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan on Thursday rejected opposition calls to resign and accused the United States of trying to topple his government as he faces a parliamentary no-confidence vote Sunday.

Opposition parties in the legislative National Assembly, or lower house of parliament, jointly submitted the no-trust motion earlier this month, seeking Khan’s ouster for allegedly mismanaging Pakistan’s economic and foreign policies.

The 69-year-old former cricket star said Thursday night in an address to the nation that he would not resign and would stand up to foreign intervention, rejecting the misrule charges by his opponents.

“The vote will take place on Sunday. Whatever the outcome may be, I will emerge stronger. I will not let this conspiracy succeed at any cost,” Khan said in his address.

In what appeared to be a slip of tongue, the Pakistani leader named the U.S. as the origin of a “memo” that Khan said confirmed a “foreign conspiracy” prompted by his visit to Russia on the day President Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine.

“We got a message from America — oh, not America, I mean a foreign country I can’t name,” Khan said in the live televised address.

“They say they are angry with Pakistan. … They say they will forgive Pakistan if Imran Khan loses a no-trust motion. But if the vote fails, Pakistan will have to face serious consequences,” Khan said, citing the text of the memo.

Journalists working for mainstream news channels in Pakistan have reported that the message in question was delivered to Islamabad’s outgoing ambassador to Washington on March 7, a day before the opposition moved the no-trust vote in parliament.

“They [foreigners] were aware of the no-confidence motion before it was tabled [in parliament]. It means they [the opposition] were in touch with outsiders,” Khan asserted, confirming the date on which the message was delivered to the Pakistani ambassador. He added that the alleged conspiracy was meant to punish him for pursuing an independent foreign policy for Pakistan.

‘No truth’

Opposition leaders swiftly rejected Khan’s allegations as baseless and said they stemmed from his frustration over what they insist will be certain defeat. Washington also dismissed the charges.

“When it comes to these allegations, there is no truth to them,” State Department spokesman Ned Price told reporters during a regular briefing.

“We are closely following developments in Pakistan. We respect [and] we support Pakistan’s constitutional process and the rule of law,” Price added.

Khan addressed the nation after chairing an emergency meeting of the national security committee, which comprises the top civilian and military leadership of Pakistan, to discuss the “threatening” memo.

“The committee expressed grave concern at the communication, terming the language used by the foreign official as undiplomatic,” said a post-meeting statement issued by the prime minister’s office.

The meeting concluded that the communication “amounted to blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan by the country in question, which was unacceptable under any circumstances.”

The statement said that Pakistan “will issue a strong demarche to the country in question both in Islamabad and in the country’s capital through proper channels in keeping with diplomatic norms.”

In a late-night statement, the Pakistani Foreign Ministry said, “The requisite demarches have been made through diplomatic channels.” It did not name the country.

Analysts say the development is likely to strain an already fragile relationship between Pakistan and the U.S.

“The U.S.-Pakistan relationship will take a hit from events of the last few days,” said Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asian affairs at the Washington-based Wilson Center, in a tweet. “Relations haven’t been bad of late — uncertain and unsettled — but not in crisis. The revelations, rhetoric & accusations injected into the public space over the last few days will set things back a bit.”

Khan’s political troubles

About two dozen of Khan’s ruling party lawmakers have defected, and key coalition partners also have abandoned the government and joined the opposition, leaving the prime minister without 172 votes. That is the majority he needs to survive the no-confidence motion in the 342-member legislative assembly.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won the 2018 general election but fell short of receiving a majority, forcing him to form a coalition government with the help of political allies.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a five-year term because of what critics cite as direct and indirect military intervention. The military has staged several coups in Pakistan, leading to long dictatorial rules.

Khan’s ouster would come more than a year before the country’s next general election. It would mark the first time that an elected chief executive would be forced from office through a no-confidence vote.

The Pakistani leader has long criticized the U.S. war on terrorism launched in neighboring Afghanistan 20 years ago to pursue the planners of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on American cities.

Khan renewed his criticism in his speech, saying Pakistan joined the U.S. war at a cost of tens of thousands of casualties and billions of dollars in economic losses but received no praise from Washington for the sacrifices.

“Has anyone said, ‘Thank you, Pakistan,’ for what we did?” Khan asked in Thursday’s address.

He has defended his visit to Putin, saying it was planned well before the invasion of Ukraine.

“Even European leaders went to Russia. But Pakistan in particular is asked, ‘Why did you go?’ as if we are their servants,” he said.

The main opposition parties leading the campaign to bring down the government are the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N), led by self-exiled Nawaz Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, headed jointly by former President Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

VOA’s Cindy Saine contributed to this report.
…

Foreign ministers from Afghanistan’s neighbors met in China on Thursday to reaffirm support for the war-torn country and stress how important it is for Taliban rulers to protect rights of all Afghans, including women’s rights to an education.

Pakistan, Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and host China attended the meeting in the central Chinese city of Tunxi. Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov were also among the participants.

A post-meeting statement noted “the importance of taking necessary, continuing steps in Afghanistan on ensuring women’s rights and children’s education, among others … safeguard the fundamental rights of all Afghans, including ethnic groups, women and children.”

It also noted Taliban commitments and pledges made to the global community that Afghan soil would not pose “any threats to the neighboring countries” nor will it give space to terrorist groups.

China has not yet recognized the Taliban government nor has the world at large. 

Analysts say the regional conference and multilateral sideline huddles underscore ramped up Chinese diplomatic engagement with de facto Afghan authorities to shore up bilateral relations 20 years after the United States and NATO-led troops withdrew from Afghanistan last August.

Chinese and other regional officials fear that continued instability in the troubled neighboring country could encourage terrorist groups to use Afghan soil for cross-border attacks.

Earlier, in a message to the regional huddle, Chinese President Xi Jinping reaffirmed support for Afghanistan, calling for coordinated efforts to build a “brighter future” and promote “the steady transition” there.

“China always respects Afghanistan’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, and has committed to supporting its pursuit of peace, stability and development,” Xi said.

“The country has come to a critical point of transition from chaos to order,” he said in the statement that Chinese Embassy officials in Islamabad shared with reporters.

Xi stressed that “a peaceful, stable, developing and prosperous Afghanistan” is what all Afghans aspire to. “It is also in the common interests of regional countries and the international community.”

However, the Chinese leader made no mention of human rights abuses the Taliban have allegedly committed against Afghans since the Islamist group seized power and established an interim government in Kabul seven months ago.

The China-hosted talks come just days after the male-only hardline Taliban leadership enacted a series of edicts, raising concerns the group is reintroducing the harsh Islamist rule it employed from 1996 to 2001, when human rights abuses such as the barring of women from education and work led to the country’s international isolation.

The Taliban have banned girls and women from attending school beyond the sixth grade. Women are not allowed to board planes or taxis unless accompanied by a male relative.

Men and women must visit public parks on separate days, and the use of mobile telephones in universities is prohibited. Male government employees have been instructed to wear a beard and adhere to a Taliban-authorized traditional Afghan dress code.

The de facto Afghan authorities have blocked international media broadcasts, including VOA and the BBC’s Pashto and Dari news programming. They have also banned foreign drama series on Afghan television channels.

The controversial actions have drawn global condemnation and demands that the Taliban immediately reverse them, warning it would undermine the group’s attempts to develop ties with the international community.

The Taliban’s Muttaqi told Thursday’s meeting that the group is working to make their government more inclusive, saying they have also effectively reduced the threat of Islamic State through military actions, claiming the terrorist group “exists in the country only symbolically.”

The Taliban official added that his government is ready to address concerns of other nations seeking increased foreign cooperation with Kabul.

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov told the conference in China that Moscow has accredited a Taliban-appointed diplomat to engage with Kabul. Other regional countries also have accredited Taliban envoys, including Beijing, Islamabad, Turkey, Tehran, Tashkent and Turkmenistan.

Lavrov reiterated concerns about the threat of terrorism from groups such as Islamic State spilling over into Russia through Central Asian countries. 

The Russian foreign minister noted growing trade and economic ties between Afghanistan and regional countries were contributing to the potential international recognition of the Taliban administration.

“I would like to note that the first Afghan diplomat who arrived in Moscow last month and was sent by the new authorities has received accreditation at the Russian Foreign Ministry,” he said.

“The plans of the Islamic State and its supporters to destabilize Central Asian states and export instability to Russia are of particular concern,” Lavrov said.

Participants at the regional conference called for unfreezing billions of dollars in Afghanistan’s foreign currency reserves, mostly held in the United States, to enable the country to deal with humanitarian and economic upheavals. The United Nations says more than half of Afghanistan’s estimated 40 million population face acute food shortages.
…

The United Nations said Thursday it is asking for a record $4.4 billion for assistance for millions of Afghans who need food, shelter, medical care, and other essentials, its biggest-ever appeal.

With more than 24 million Afghans, 60% of the population, needing humanitarian assistance, the United Nations calls Afghanistan one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world.

The U.N.’s humanitarian chief and emergency relief coordinator, Martin Griffiths, has been in Kabul for several days.  He says the lives of tens of millions of people are hanging by a thread.  He says he visited a children’s hospital soon after he arrived and was deeply shaken by what he saw.

“Tiny, listless newborn babies. Two to an incubator, suffering from acute, and sometimes severe, acute malnutrition. A mother caring for her severely malnourished baby after having already lost two children before,” Griffiths said.

Since the Taliban takeover in August, Afghanistan’s economy has gone into freefall. Billions of dollars in international aid have dried up, leading to the collapse of government services. People with no access to work have been forced to take out loans to survive, leading to a debt spike.

In addition, Afghanistan is suffering from its worst drought in 30 years.  

The U.N. is urgently appealing to international donors for support for the Afghan people. This is a hard sell, though, as few countries have confidence in the intention of the Taliban, Afghanistan’s de facto rulers. This trust was recently tested when the Taliban reversed its pledge to allow girls a secondary school education.

Qatar is a co-host of Thursday’s pledging conference and long-time facilitator in the political and humanitarian affairs of the people of Afghanistan. Adviser to Qatar’s deputy prime minister Majed Mohammed Al-Ansari says his government condemns the Taliban decision and hopes it will reconsider that position very soon.

“We have stressed that this decision will have ramifications on the human rights of Afghani people and on the economy of Afghanistan. And we stressed the importance of talking to the Taliban government and making it very clear to them that this is unacceptable, and it needs to be settled as soon as possible,” Al-Ansari said.

U.N. officials urge donors to swallow their political differences with the Taliban.  They say the core of the pledging conference is to save lives and to give Afghans hope for the future.
…

Georgia on Thursday denounced as “unacceptable” plans announced by pro-Moscow separatists in the breakaway South Ossetia region to hold a referendum on joining Russia.

South Ossetia was in the center of the Russian-Georgian war in 2008 after which the Kremlin recognized the territory — along with another separatist region, Abkhazia — as an independent state and stationed military bases there.

On Wednesday, South Ossetian separatist leader Anatoly Bibilov said the statelet would hold a referendum on joining Russia shortly after the April 10 “presidential election” there.

Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said Thursday “it is unacceptable to speak of any referendums while the territory is occupied by Russia.”

“Such a referendum will have no legal force,” he told journalists. “The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the Georgian region is occupied by Russia.”

Also on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow hasn’t taken any “legal” steps on the matter.

“But at the same time, we are talking about people of South Osseita expressing their opinion and we treat it with respect,” Peskov told reporters.

Bibilov’s spokeswoman Dina Gassiyeva told Thursday Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that the decision to hold the referendum was “linked with the window of opportunity that opened in the current situation”, referring to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, Bibilov said that South Ossetia had sent troops to fight alongside the invading Russian troops in Ukraine, where thousands of people were killed and more than 10 million displaced.

In August 2008, Russia launched an assault against Georgia which was battling pro-Russian militia in South Ossetia, after they shelled Georgian villages.

The fighting ended after five days with a European Union-mediated ceasefire but claimed more than 700 lives and displaced tens of thousands of ethnic Georgians.
…

Two suspected rebels were killed in a shootout with government forces in Indian-controlled Kashmir’s main city early Wednesday, police said, describing one of them as a former journalist.

The exchange of gunfire erupted after police and paramilitary soldiers established a cordon in a neighborhood in the old quarters of Srinagar on Tuesday night following a tip that two militants were hiding there, Inspector-General Vijay Kumar told reporters.

Kumar said two militants were killed in the ensuing shootout early Wednesday. He said one of them had been a journalist running a news portal in southern Kashmir and joined militant ranks last year. Police identified him as Rayees Ahmad Bhat.

Kumar said that Bhat was involved in several killings of civilians.

Police tweeted a photo of a press ID card they said was found on Bhat’s body and said the incident “indicates a clear case of misuse of media.”

Kumar asked journalists to follow the Press Council of India guidelines and warned, “Else, police will act.”

There was no independent confirmation of the police claim.

The incident comes as journalists have faced relentless pressure since India revoked the region’s semi-autonomy in 2019. Dozens have been arrested, interrogated and investigated under harsh anti-terror laws. Fearing reprisals, the local press has largely wilted under pressure.

India and Pakistan each claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety.

Rebels in the Indian-controlled portion of Kashmir have been fighting New Delhi’s rule since 1989. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country.

India insists the Kashmir militancy is Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. Pakistan denies the charge, and most Kashmiris consider it a legitimate freedom struggle. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict.
…

Pakistan’s embattled prime minister, Imran Khan, received a serious political blow to his government Wednesday when another main coalition partner decided to join opposition groups seeking to oust him through a no-confidence vote due early next week.

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) party, Khan’s largest ally in the legislative National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, announced Wednesday it had resigned from the federal cabinet after reaching a deal with the united opposition.

Political opponents accuse the 69-year-old former cricket star of misruling the country and mismanaging the economy and foreign affairs, charges Khan vehemently rejects.  

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the 2018 general election but fell short of receiving a simple majority in the 342-member house, forcing him to form a coalition government with the help of political allies, including the MQM. Earlier in the week, the PTI lost the support of another regional ally, the Balochistan Awami Party (BAP).

At least a dozen PTI lawmakers have already defected to the opposition and more are expected to do so ahead of the crucial no confidence vote, leaving the prime minister well short of 172 votes, a simple majority he needs to stay in office.

Opposition parities have consistently accused the powerful military, which has ruled Pakistan for almost half of its existence and allegedly continues to pressure elected governments from behind the scenes in policy making affairs, of manipulating the 2018 election to pave the way for Khan to rise to power.  

However, opposition leaders and analysts lately have said that Khan lost the support of the military chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, over key security appointments and foreign policy matters, encouraging opponents to launch the no confidence proceedings against the prime minister.  

The military denies any interference in the country’s political affairs and has publicly stated it has nothing to do with the current political turmoil.  

On Wednesday Khan again alleged in a nationally televised speech at a ceremony in Islamabad that the opposition’s no confidence vote had stemmed from a “foreign-funded conspiracy” to dislodge his government.  

“People do lose confidence in their party and a no confidence motion is part of the democratic process,” the prime minister said.

“But this is a foreign imported conspiracy and it started when people from abroad started controlling Pakistan through telephone calls. They cannot tolerate a (Pakistani) leadership that works in the people’s interest,” Khan asserted without elaborating.

Without naming the United States, he reiterated his criticism of the U.S.-led war in neighboring Afghanistan, saying Pakistan had to pay a “heavy price” for participating in it.

“We sacrificed our interests for those abroad and they never even appreciated it,” Khan said. He went on to announce that he would show to senior journalists later on Wednesday a “letter” Khan brandished at a recent public rally in Islamabad, purportedly containing “evidence of the foreign conspiracy” against his government.

“We want to protect the nation and can’t divulge the details in public. People think this is a joke and I have decided to share it with top journalists,” the prime minister said.

No Pakistani prime minister has ever completed a five-year term because of what critics cite as direct and indirect military intervention. The removal of Khan’s government would come more than a year before the country’s next general election. It would also mark the first time ever that an elected chief executive would be forced from office through a no confidence vote.  

The National Assembly will start a debate on the no-confidence motion Thursday and a vote is expected by Monday. Khan also convened a cabinet meeting Wednesday. His interior minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, said the prime minister was planning to deliver a late evening address to the nation.

The main opposition parties leading the campaign to bring down the government are the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) led by self-exiled Nawaz Sharif, who has been prime minister three times, and the Pakistan Peoples Party, headed jointly by former president Asif Ali Zardari and his son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

Addressing a joint news conference in Islamabad on Wednesday, Bilawal Zardari announced that Shehbaz Sharif, the president of the PML-N and leader of the joint opposition, “will soon take over as the next prime minister of Pakistan.” He also demanded Khan immediately step down from office for losing support from the majority of lawmakers.  

Pakistan’s latest political turmoil comes amid rising inflation and deepening economic troubles, which Khan blames on rampant corruption under previous administrations and repeated pandemic-related lockdowns over the past couple of years.  

Khan’s government is working with the International Monetary Fund to secure the next tranche of a $6 billion bailout package to shore up the country’s dwindling foreign currency reserves. 
…

For Mumbai resident Shailesh Kambli a childhood dream is about to translate into reality. The 40-year-old is the third generation of his family living in a cramped, 15-square meter room along with his parents, brother and sister-in-law.

These tenements are housed in dilapidated buildings that stretch across about 37 hectares in the heart of India’s financial capital, where real estate is among the most expensive in the world.

All around the BDD Chawls, as they are called, prime commercial and residential buildings have mushroomed in recent decades as India’s financial capital, home to more than 20 million people, developed at a frenetic pace.

“Whenever I went out, I wanted to own a house, however tiny, in one these buildings,” Kambli recalls. “I even told my uncle that one day I will live in such a place.”

Now that aspiration is within his grasp.

Under a massive $2 billion redevelopment project, the 16,000 dingy settlements built over four floors will be pulled down to make way for high rise buildings in which the occupants will swap their living quarters for a 46-square meter apartment.

It is part of ambitious plans that space-starved Mumbai has long pursued with limited success — clearing up prime land on which old structures, shanties and slums sit to replace them with tall buildings that besides residential units, include office blocks and shopping malls.

Some urban planners however have raised concerns that the project will add enormous pressure in an already crowded city that is short on infrastructure.

The BDD Chawls, where the rooms built by the British a century ago for migrant cotton mill workers stretch on both sides of a corridor, are in urgent need of a revamp.

Inside most homes, a curtain separates the counter at one end that serves as a kitchen from the rest of the space that doubles as a bedroom and a living room. Televisions are mounted over the bed or in a corner. Two bathrooms serve the 20 rooms in each block. The occupants pay a meager rent to the government.

The elderly often spend their day in the corridor between the rooms where clothes hang for drying, or in a courtyard outside as they chat or look after small children, while the young go out to work.

These days, residents sometimes stop by at a sample flat that is showcased opposite one of the blocks to take a peek into what the future may hold.

“I don’t know when my turn will come. It may still take years. But it will be great to have a modern flat,” said 55-year-old Bhagwan Sawant as he proudly points to the neat kitchen, the two bedrooms and two attached toilets.

The new complexes will also have a hospital, hostels, schools, and gyms. “The work has started on the first building and it will be ready in three years,” said Prashant Dhatrak, the executive engineer of the project. “But the entire development will take seven years.”

The redevelopment project took more than two decades to get off the ground after it was first proposed.

However, some urban planners point out that Central Mumbai, where the project is coming up, is already congested with high rise buildings and question how it will bear the additional pressure of more such complexes. They say that in a city with the highest population density in the country, too much of the land is often handed over to developers for residential and commercial complexes instead of making public parks.

“Cities cannot be transformed in this way. Redevelopment is necessary but rebuilding has to be done in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner,” said Sulakshana Mahajan, who as a member of the Mumbai Transformation Support Unit, a state government think-tank set up in 2005, was involved in initial proposals for the redevelopment of the tenements. The think tank was shut down in 2019.

“Our initial idea was not to increase density in the area and to restrict the development for existing residents. But under the new plan, there are too many buildings being constructed,” said Mahajan. “Open spaces available per person will be drastically shrunk and the distance between buildings is too little. It will also create a huge strain on services such as water supply, sanitation and transportation.”

In an island city with little space to grow except vertically, the search for land has intensified in the last two decades. Authorities have also proposed clearing out Asia’s biggest slum, Dharavi, that sits on two square kilometers of prime space to replace it with skyscrapers and shopping malls, but the plan has made little headway so far.

In the BDD Chawls, however the larger question of sustainability is not on the minds of those who have long lived with shared toilets, but only a sense of anticipation. At the same time, there is a creeping sense that a way of life that revolved around the community will end when they eventually move out.

“Here, I never have to worry about my mother. All of us work, but we know that someone will look after her if she is unwell,” said Kambli. “But when we shut the door in the new flat, no one will know what is happening inside.”

“You just give one shout here and everyone gathers,” laughs Ranjana Gurav. “When there are marriages or celebrations or a problem, we are all there to help each other.”
…

A free and prosperous Indo-Pacific is more important than ever, President Joe Biden said while meeting with his Singaporean counterpart against the backdrop of a raging conflict in Ukraine, which Biden has painted as a global struggle between liberal democracy and autocracy. Singapore’s leader said this is a battle for a rules-based global order. VOA’s Anita Powell reports from the White House.
…

The phenomenal box-office success of a new film set in 1990s Kashmir has sharpened political divisions in India and prompted a re-examination of a violent campaign against Hindus in the Muslim-majority region three decades ago.

“The Kashmir Files,” directed by Vivek Ranjan Agnihotri, depicts the flight of Kashmiri Hindus, known as “Pandits,” from the region in early 1990s. It is a fictional narrative about a college student who learns that his Kashmiri Hindu parents were killed by Islamist militants, not in an accident as he was told by his grandfather.

The film is being enthusiastically promoted by India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which pursues a Hindu nationalist agenda and has been accused of fomenting animus toward the nation’s 200 million Muslims as an electoral strategy.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally met with the director and producer of the film immediately after its release and expressed his appreciation.

Celebrities and political leaders also have urged people to see the film. The Union minister for Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, tweeted, “Watch … so that this history soaked in the blood of innocents may never repeat itself #TheKashmirFiles.”

A goods and services tax that boosts the price of movie tickets has been waived in most BJP-ruled states including some of India’s most populous. In the central state of Madhya Pradesh, police have been offered a day off work to watch the film. In the national capital territory of Delhi, however, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal rejected a demand from BJP legislators to declare the film tax-free, saying, “Well, put it on YouTube, it will be free.”

Sushil Chaudhary, the founder and chairman of the digital movie theater chain Picture Time DigiPlex, told VOA he was pleased that the controversial subject had been addressed in a film.

“And the storytelling was very different compared to other Indian films. The way the director handled the film — it was quite amazing, at the same time very sensitive. This film has huge impact and reminded me of the much-celebrated ‘Schindler’s List,’” a 1993 film about a German businessman who rescued more than 1,000 Jews from the Nazi Holocaust.

On social media, commenters have described the movie as “the most hard-hitting film” about Kashmir made to date.

BJP’s support of ‘The Kashmir Files’

The film also has detractors, many of them in the conflict-torn region of Jammu and Kashmir itself. While expressing appreciation for the movie’s dramatic qualities, these critics say it oversimplifies the complex history of the conflict, and that it offers a clichéd representation of Kashmiri Muslims.

“Hindu supremacists in India have weaponized the Kashmiri Pandit exodus” wrote Nitasha Kaul, a Kashmiri Pandit and novelist based in London.

“The movie dwells on Kashmiri Pandit suffering alone and makes ample use of Islamophobic tropes – all Muslims in the movie are violent, barbaric or lecherous,” she wrote.

She argued that the movie “feeds into cycles of hate and revenge. It collapses Kashmir’s history and politics into an Islamophobic morality tale that is palatable and profitable to Hindutva India.”

Ashok Swain, the head of the department of peace and conflict research at Sweden’s Uppsala University, told VOA he believes the film was made purely for political purposes by a Hindu right-wing filmmaker with support from the ruling authorities.

The purpose of the movie is not to tell the history or support the cause of displaced Kashmir pundits, Swain maintained, “but to make economic gains for the filmmaker and political gains for the ruling regime by selling Muslim hate in the country.”

Regional take

The movie also has been met with criticism by Muslim leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party, a Kashmir-based regional political bloc. PDP leader and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti has accused the BJP of doing nothing for the Kashmiri Pandits who remained in Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier, she said the move is “ill-intentioned” and will not contribute to healing old wounds.

Mufti also argued that while the filmmakers were mainly interested in profits, Modi and the BJP were supporting the film in order to instigate people along religious lines.

Kashmir resident Sameer Kaul told VOA that some of the gory incidents portrayed in the documentary-style film actually occurred, but that the movie falsely suggests the entire Kashmiri Muslim community played a part in the violence. In fact, he said, some Muslims opposed the violence and others were simply frightened.

Kaul said the impact of the movie will be to increase religious polarization and potential intercommunal discord. “Never before has the justification for institution of an unbiased judicial probe by central government seemed as convincing. Truth should hopefully pave the way for closure, reconciliation and desperate peace.”

A similar view has been expressed by one Kashmiri Pandit girl, Sagrika Kissu. “Not every Muslim is a terrorist/militant or a terrorist sympathizer,” she posted on social media. “We should be very sensitive when we paint all of them in one color. This movie sets in a very bitter emotion for Kashmiri Muslims as whole.”

Real-life impact

Meanwhile, the impact from the movie is being felt in real life. A hotel in Delhi recently refused to accommodate a Kashmiri man even after he provided appropriate identification and other credentials.

The hotel’s receptionist said the Delhi Police had told the hotel not to accept reservations from guests from Jammu and Kashmir. A video of the incident went viral, prompting Delhi Police to deny having issued any such order.

In an immediate reaction, the hotel chain Oyo Rooms removed the hotel from its platform.

Nevertheless, the film is doing blockbuster business despite a lack of promotion and marketing, appearing on 700 screens across India and grossing $3 million since its release on March 11. It is also being shown in the United States, Britain, Canada and Australia, taking in $1.38 million in its first week on international screens.
…

For more than two months, Muska, a 35-year-old Afghan woman who preferred not to reveal her last name for security concerns, has gone to various Taliban government offices in Kabul literally begging officials for a new passport.

“I’ve been beaten by Taliban guards, insulted verbally and have been turned away and told that there is no passport for me,” Muska told VOA by phone.

A former government official with a master’s degree, Muska was fired from her job after the Taliban took power last August. The Taliban government has fired women from all public jobs with some exceptions in health and education sectors.

Terrified for her future under Taliban leadership, Muska applied for graduate programs at universities abroad and received a generous scholarship at a university in the U.S.

“I have to fill out my I-20 form and submit a visa application on time in order for me to be able to start the program in the fall, but without a passport I can do nothing.”

Two other Afghan women also told VOA their applications for a passport were rejected without explanation.

“When we go to the passport department, [Taliban guards] order us to go away and don’t let us in as if we’re some kind of a virus,” said Nasreen Ahmadi, adding that she had received a research fellowship in the U.S.

The passport ban also impacts Afghan women who live and work outside Afghanistan but need valid passports in order to travel internationally.

“When my passport expires next year in May, I have no idea what I will do,” Pashtana Dorani, director of an Afghan educational organization and a fellow at Wellesley College, told VOA.

Taliban authorities have not officially announced a ban on women’s passports, but an announcement on the passport department’s website states that “new passport registration is suspended until further notice.”

A spokesman for the passport department told reporters in Kabul on March 29 that issuance of new passports “will resume soon,” but he did not clarify whether women, especially those without a male chaperone, will be given passports.

Discriminatory

Even if women and girls have valid passports, they cannot travel outside the country unless they are accompanied by a religiously-approved male chaperone (father, brother, husband, son), according to new restrictions the Taliban enforced.

“It is obviously a manifestation of gender-based discrimination that also affects their fundamental right of freedom of movement and education,” Reem Alsalem, U.N. special rapporteur on violence against women, told VOA.

While the passport and travel restrictions deprive Afghan women and girls from work and education outside the country, Taliban authorities have also enforced a series of restrictions on women’s work and education inside Afghanistan.

Despite previous assurances about the resumption of secondary education for girls in March, last week Taliban authorities announced middle and high schools will remain closed for female students.

The announcement was met with widespread international condemnation and led to a cancellation of scheduled U.S.-Taliban talks in Qatar last week.

“Denying girls secondary education is one of the many manifestations of structural discrimination that women and girls are subjected to and a reminder that the de facto authorities are continuing with their policies to erase women from public life and to stunt their ability to enjoy their fundamental human rights,” said Alsalem.

Taliban officials have said the ban on girls’ post-elementary education is temporary, until appropriate religious arrangements are made — an assertion experts repudiate.

“It is incomprehensible to me that the Taliban justify their actions citing religious doctrine as countries across the Organization of Islamic Conference have achieved or are actively pursuing gender equality in education,” the U.N. special rapporteur said.

Women’s rights activists say the international community should do more to hold the Taliban accountable for their repressive policies.

“Put the Taliban on travel sanction list,” said Dorani of Wellesley College. “I find it ironic how the U.S. and any other country can tweet but won’t lift a finger for women’s rights.”

Waiver sought

The U.S. Embassy in Kabul is closed, forcing all Afghan passport holders to travel out of the country to apply for U.S. visas.

That further complicates the ability of women like Muska to obtain an education and receive work opportunities outside Afghanistan.

“I cannot travel because I don’t have a passport and even if I get a passport I cannot travel without a male guardian,” she said. “It’s a double whammy made to ensure women like me remain trapped in a cycle of denials.”

Both Nasreen and Muska said they are calling on the U.S. government to grant women like themselves waivers to travel to the U.S. and start their education without a Taliban passport.

“It’s not enough just condemning the Taliban for their brutal misogynistic policies, the world needs to help us achieve what Taliban denies us,” said Nasreen.

The U.S. government has evacuated tens of thousands of Afghans over the past seven months and has offered humanitarian parole to those who have entered the U.S. without travel documents.

“We will continue to engage diplomatically to resolve any issues and to hold the Taliban to their public pledge to let all foreign nationals and any Afghan citizen with travel authorization from other countries freely depart Afghanistan,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA, adding that there are no U.S. consular services available inside Afghanistan and visa applicants had to seek appointments in third countries.

Senior Diplomatic Correspondent Cindy Saine contributed to this report.
…

A move by the Taliban to prevent local media airing broadcasts from international outlets, including the Voice of America, has resulted in international condemnation.

U.S. lawmakers and rights groups condemned the decision, saying the media bans and a block on girls’ education show the Taliban are moving Afghanistan in the “wrong direction.”

On Sunday, the Taliban ordered local broadcasters to stop carrying news programs produced by VOA, Britain’s BBC and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. 

A Taliban spokesperson on Monday defended the ban, telling a local news outlet, “We did not have any control over the content.”

The spokesperson, Enamullah Samangani, said that foreign networks did not follow Taliban law. “Their presenters wear dresses that are against Islamic guidelines and sometimes they air programs that are against our national interest and security,” he told 1TV. 

The order blocking local media from broadcasting foreign news content came in a week when the Taliban detained at least seven journalists who defied a ban on airing entertainment, or who reported on the Taliban denying girls access to education.

The Taliban last week backtracked on an announcement that high schools would open for all girls, saying they would be preventing from attending classes until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen.

Michael McCaul, the Republican ranking member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the media ban was not unexpected.

“The Taliban’s censorship of the media is appalling but unfortunately, not surprising,” McCaul told VOA Monday. 

“We are once again seeing the Taliban show their true colors. The U.S. must continue to support independent media to counter the Taliban’s media suppression and human rights violations,” the Republican representative from Texas added.

The U.S. State Department on Monday issued a statement condemning both the media ban and the decision to deny education to Afghan girls. 

“Each of these actions alone is alarming, but combined, they make clear the Taliban are not living up to the essential commitments they made to the Afghan people and the international community,” the statement read.  

“Education and freedom of expression are human rights held by every person in Afghanistan. These are not Western values or concessions to the international community; they are human rights and essential to a peaceful and prosperous Afghan society, which is something the Taliban claim to desire.”

McCaul also commented on the education ban during an interview with CNN on Sunday, saying “It is one of the saddest things I’ve had to witness.”

Broadcast commitment

VOA and the other broadcasters affected by the content ban have called on the Taliban to change course. 

“The content restrictions that the Taliban are attempting to impose are antithetical to freedom of expression that the people of Afghanistan deserve,” said VOA Acting Director Yolanda Lόpez.

VOA produces a half-hour news bulletin in Pashto and Dari, the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan, five days a week for its Afghan partners, TOLO news and Shamshad TV.

“While we are disappointed and saddened by the Taliban’s orders to our television affiliate partners in the country, our commitment to providing factual information to the people of Afghanistan is one that the Voice of America will continue,” Lόpez added.

VOA continues to broadcast to Afghanistan via satellite, radio, internet and social media.  

On Tuesday it announced a new 24/7 direct-to-home satellite-delivered television channel for Afghanistan. The channel, which has been in development since August, will proved news in Dari and Pashto. 

It will broadcast content including VOA’s “TV Ashna” newscasts and the women’s show “Etesal,” and with local stations unable to carry music programs, VOA also plans to broadcast entertainment shows.

“Despite the Taliban’s attempt to end press freedom, VOA News stands by its Afghan audience with credible and authoritative news and information,” Lopez said in a statement, announcing the new channel Tuesday.

Peter Limbourg, director general of German public broadcaster DW, also condemned the Taliban’s move.  

“The fact that the Taliban are now criminalizing the distribution of DW programs by our media partners is hindering positive developments in Afghanistan,” Limbourg said in a statement.

“Free media is essential for this, and we will do everything we can to continue to provide the people of Afghanistan with independent information via the internet and social media,” he added.

The BBC said Sunday that its newscasts shared by Afghan partners in Pashto, Uzbek and Persian language had been taken off air.

“This is a worrying development at a time of uncertainty and turbulence for the people of Afghanistan,” said Tarik Kafala, head of languages at BBC World Service, in a statement.

When they took power in August 2021, the Taliban said they would respect media freedom. 

But international media rights groups say their actions since have belied that pledge, issuing restrictive media guidelines and detaining journalists. 

“Despite making initial promises to respect press freedom, the Taliban have done the exact opposite,” said Amy Brouillette, director of advocacy for the Vienna-based International Press Institute. 

“The regime has instead sought to control the press and to silence independent media through a mix of restrictive laws — including requirements regarding religious content and bans on foreign news and films — as well as through arbitrary arrests, detentions, assaults, and other forms of intimidation and violence.”
…

Pakistan’s parliament Monday began a no-confidence vote process aimed at ousting Prime Minister Imran Khan for allegedly misruling the country.  

Opposition parties have jointly moved the no-confidence resolution in the legislative lower House of Parliament, known as the National Assembly. The 342-member house will begin a debate on the motion Thursday and a vote is expected to be held in the following days.  

“The prime minister ceases to hold his office after he has lost the confidence of this house,” opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif said, reading from the no-confidence motion broadcast live on television. 

Khan, who formed a coalition government with a thin majority after his party won the 2018 general elections, is facing what analysts say is the most serious political challenge to his rule. He has rejected allegations of misrule and vowed to defeat the no-confidence move.  

The 69-year-old former cricket star says his government continues to enjoy the support of a majority of lawmakers despite recent defections in his ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party.  

But several PTI lawmakers have switched sides ahead of the crucial vote while coalition partners also have threatened to part ways over policy disputes, leaving Khan short of 172 votes, a simple majority he needs to hold on to power. 

Opposition leaders and independent analysts said Khan has lost the support of the country’s powerful military, which allegedly orchestrated his election victory, encouraging his political opponents to launch the no-confidence proceedings. 

However, the government late Monday struck a deal with one of its key estranged partners, the Pakistan Muslim League-Q, and agreed to give it the post of chief minister of the country’s most populous Punjab province. Analysts described the deal as a major blow to supporters of the no-confidence vote.   

The opposition, which collectively has 163 seats, responded by saying it can still get a simple majority to topple the government, although no prime minister in Pakistan has ever been removed from office by such a vote. 

The political turmoil comes amid rising inflation and Pakistan’s deepening economic troubles, which the government blames on rampant corruption under previous administrations and repeated pandemic-related lockdowns over the past couple of years.  

Khan’s government is working with the International Monetary Fund to secure the next tranche of a $6 billion bailout package to shore up the country’s dwindling foreign currency reserves.  

On Sunday, Khan addressed a massive rally of his supporters in the capital, Islamabad, where he alleged that the opposition’s no-confidence motion had stemmed from a “foreign conspiracy” aimed at dislodging his government. 

“Funding is being channeled into Pakistan from abroad in an attempt to change the government. Our own people are being used,” Khan claimed without elaborating. 

Sharif denied the allegations while talking to reporters Monday and demanded the prime minister bring proof to the parliament to substantiate what he said were baseless claims. 

Some Pakistani political commentators and politicians in local media talk shows have suggested the military could be behind the no-confidence move against Khan. They have cited differences over the recent appointment of the intelligence chief and an increasingly anti-West stance by the prime minister.  

“The forces who set this stage, it seems, are unable to control the situation anymore. This, overall, is better for Pakistan’s democratic evolution,” observed Ayaz Amir, in his prime time talk show on Dunya news channel. Amir did not name the military. 

The military, which has staged several coups against elected governments that led to prolonged dictatorial rules in Pakistan, has denied it is behind the political turmoil. 

Pakistan has traditionally sided with the West and it is a major non-NATO ally. 

The Khan government, however, abstained from voting earlier this month as the United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly condemned Russia for invading Ukraine.  

The prime minister has since routinely addressed public rallies where he has criticized Western diplomats in Islamabad for writing an open letter to his administration to demand Islamabad condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Khan visited President Vladimir Putin on February 24 shortly after the Russian leader ordered his forces to attack Ukraine. Khan defended his trip, saying it was planned months before the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out. 
…

The United Nations Security Council has expressed deep concern over a decision by Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to deny girls access to high school education and called on the group to reopen schools for female students without delay. 

“The members of the Security Council … reaffirmed the right to education for all Afghans, including girls,” a statement from the United Nations on Sunday said. 

Last week, the Taliban backtracked on an announcement that high schools would open for girls, saying they would remain closed until a plan was drawn up in accordance with Islamic law for them to reopen. 

The United States abruptly cancelled meetings with the Taliban in Doha that were set to address key economic issues because of the decision, U.S. officials said on Friday. 

The Security Council asked Deborah Lyons, the U.N. Special Representative for Afghanistan, to engage with relevant Afghan authorities and stakeholders on the issue and report back on progress. 
…

Tens of thousands of supporters of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan gathered in the capital, Islamabad, Sunday to rally behind the embattled leader who faces a no-confidence vote in parliament, which is likely to take place by April 4.

Opposition parties have jointly moved the no-confidence motion in the legislative lower house or the National Assembly, to try to oust the former cricketing star, accusing him of misruling the country and mismanaging the economy and foreign policy. 

While addressing Sunday’s massive rally, which his ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had organized to demonstrate a show of political strength, Khan strongly rejected the allegations and vowed to win the vote in what analysts said might be the most serious challenge to his leadership since he came to power in 2018.

The prime minister claimed that the opposition’s no-trust motion had stemmed from a “foreign conspiracy” aimed at dislodging his government.

”Funding is being channeled into Pakistan from abroad in an attempt to change the government. Our own people are being used,” Khan alleged. 

“We have been threatened in writing, but we will not compromise on national interests,” he told the crowd. “I am not levelling mere accusations, I have this letter as proof,” Khan said showing to his audience what he said was a copy of the letter.

The Pakistani leader said some “foreign forces” don’t want his government to pursue an independent foreign policy. He did not elaborate. 

“The times have changed now. … We will make everyone our friends (but) will not be their slaves,” Khan said.

Opposition leaders and independent analysts said Khan has lost the support of the country’s powerful military, which allegedly orchestrated his election victory, encouraging the opposition to bring the no-confidence vote against him.

Several PTI lawyers have switched sides ahead of the crucial vote while coalition partners also have threatened to part ways over policy disputes, raising questions about the fate of the Khan government, which has a thin majority in parliament. 

The National Assembly is expected to open a debate on the no-confidence motion Monday that may last several days before the house speaker sets the date for the vote.

Until the submission of the no-trust motion earlier this month, Khan’s party, along with coalition partners, held 179 seats in the 342-member house. 

The opposition, which collectively has just over 160 seats, requires a simple majority or 172 votes to topple the prime minister. The next general elections are due in Pakistan in 2023.

The government has also petitioned the Supreme Court, seeking a ruling on whether the defecting lawmakers are eligible to retain their seats and cast a vote after switching sides. Pakistan’s floor-crossing law states that parliamentarians who vote against their party could lose their seats.

Khan has routinely addressed public rallies in recent days where he has criticized Western diplomats for writing an open letter to his administration to demand Islamabad condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

Pakistan has avoided criticism of Moscow and instead urged both warring sides to find a negotiated settlement to the conflict. 

Khan visited President Vladimir Putin on February 24 shortly after the Russian leader ordered his forces to attack Ukraine. The Pakistani leader defended his trip, saying it was planned months before the Ukraine conflict broke out.

While Pakistan has cemented ties with China and seeks to improve relations with Russia, its fragile relations with the U.S. have been strained over allegations the Taliban toppled the now-defunct Western-backed government in neighboring Afghanistan with covert support from the Pakistani military. 

Khan, 69, has repeatedly and publicly criticized Washington for blaming his country for what he claims was an outcome of flawed U.S. military policies in dealing with Afghan security challenges.

The Pakistani leader was elected after promising to end corruption and carry out key reforms to address long-running economic challenges facing his country. His government has brought corruption cases against political opponents but has not succeeded in securing convictions. 

Michael Kugelman of the Washington-based Wilson Center saw Khan’s speech on Sunday as a campaign rally. 

“Khan and his party are now taking the long view. They wanted to hold a large rally to showcase the public will in advance of the no-confidence vote, but also to highlight Khan’s clout in advance of Pakistan’s next election, whenever that may be,” Kugelman said. 

“And he hit all the right notes for his support base: He highlighted his government’s achievements and resorted to the populist rhetoric that fires up his support base,” he noted. 

“It made for a strong speech by a leader who is fighting for his political life now but intends to keep fighting even if he loses the no confidence vote,” Kugelman said.
…

The ancient Buddha statues sit in serene meditation in the caves carved into the russet cliffs of rural Afghanistan. Hundreds of meters below lies what is believed to be the world’s largest deposit of copper.

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers are pinning their hopes on Beijing to turn that rich vein into revenue to salvage the cash-starved country amid crippling international sanctions.

The fighters standing guard by the rocky hillside may once have considered destroying the terracotta Buddhas. Two decades ago when the Islamic hard-line Taliban were first in power, they sparked world outrage by blowing up gigantic Buddha statues in another part of the country, calling them pagan symbols that must be purged.

But now they are intent on preserving the relics of the Mes Aynak copper mine. Doing so is key to unlocking billions in Chinese investment, said Hakumullah Mubariz, the Taliban head of security at the site, peering into the remnants of a monastery built by first-century Buddhist monks.

“Protecting them is very important to us and the Chinese,” he said.

Previously, Mubariz commanded a Taliban combat unit in the surrounding mountains battling with U.S.-backed Afghan forces.

The Taliban’s spectacular reversal illustrates the powerful allure of Afghanistan’s untapped mining sector. Successive authorities have seen the country’s mineral riches, estimated to be worth $1 trillion, as the key to a prosperous future.

Now, multiple countries, including Iran, Russia and Turkey are looking to invest, filling the vacuum left in the wake of the chaotic U.S. withdrawal.

But Beijing is the most assertive. At Mes Aynak, it could become the first major power to take on a large-scale project in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan, potentially redrawing Asia’s geopolitical map.

Top priority

In 2008, the administration of Hamid Karzai signed a 30-year contract with a Chinese joint venture called MCC to extract high-grade copper from Mes Aynak.

But the project got tied up in logistical and contract problems, and it never got past some initial test shafts before it ground to a halt when Chinese staff left in 2014 because of continued violence.

Mere months after the Taliban seized Kabul in August, consolidating power over the country, the group’s newly installed acting Minister for Mining and Petroleum Shahbuddin Dilawar urged his staff to reengage Chinese state-run companies.

Ziad Rashidi, the ministry’s director of foreign relations, approached the consortium made up by MCC, China Metallurgical Group Corporation and Jiangxi Copper Ltd. Dilawar has had two virtual meetings with MCC in the last six months, according to company and ministry officials.

A technical committee from MCC is due in Kabul in the coming weeks to address the remaining obstacles. Relocating the artifacts is key.

“Chinese companies see the current situation as ideal for them. There is a lack of international competitors and a lot of support from the government side,” Rashidi said.

China’s ambassador to Afghanistan has said talks are ongoing, but nothing more.

Acquiring rare minerals is key for Beijing to maintain its standing as a global manufacturing powerhouse. While stopping short of recognizing the Taliban government, China has stood out from the international community by calling for the unfreezing of Afghan assets and has kept its diplomatic mission running in Kabul.

For Afghanistan, the contract at Mes Aynak could bring in $250-300 million per year to state revenues, a 17% increase, as well as $800 million in fees over the contract’s length, according to government and company officials. That’s a significant sum as the country grapples with widespread poverty, exacerbated by financial shortfalls after the Biden administration froze Afghan assets and international organizations halted donor funds.

Graveyard of empires

At Mes Aynak, a 2,000-year-old Buddhist city sits uncomfortably alongside a potential economic engine.

Discovered in the 1960s by French geologists, the site was believed to have been an important stop along the Silk Road from the early centuries AD.

After the Soviet invasion in the late 1970s, Russians dug tunnels to investigate the copper deposit; the cavernous bore holes are still visible. These were later used as an al-Qaida hideout, and at least one was bombed by the U.S. in 2001.

Looters then pillaged many antiquities from the site. Still, archaeologists who came in 2004 managed a partial excavation, uncovering remnants of a vast complex, including four monasteries, ancient copper workshops and a citadel. It became clear the area had been a major Buddhist settlement, a crossroads for traders coming from the west, and pilgrims from afar, even China.

To the shock of the non-Taliban technocrats in his own ministry, Dilawar is committed to saving the site and told MCC’s director in Beijing it was an important part of Afghanistan’s history, according to two officials present in one virtual meeting.

While the ministry is optimistic a deal can be reached, MCC officials are cautious and pragmatic.

Open for business

In the ministry’s labyrinthine halls, hopeful investors stand in line, documents ready to stake their claim of Afghanistan’s untapped mineral riches, including large iron deposits, precious stones and — potentially — lithium.

Knocking on Rashidi’s office door these days are Russians, Iranians, Turks and of course, the Chinese.

All are “in a great hurry to invest,” he said. Chinese interest is “extraordinary,” he said.

Ministry revenues have increased exponentially, from 110 million afghanis ($1.2 million) in the year preceding the Taliban takeover, to $6 billion afghanis ($67 million) in the six months since the Taliban assumed power, according to documents seen by the AP.

Ironically, it was the Taliban that hindered work in Mes Aynak for over a decade.

A MCC official recalled how the road leading to the mine was laden with IEDs targeting Afghan forces and NATO allies. An entire Afghan regiment guarded Chinese engineers at the site compound. Mubariz, now the security chief, said he remembered watching them from the mountains where he plotted attacks.

 
…

The Taliban have barred private television stations in Afghanistan from airing Voice of America (VOA) and British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) news programs.

The ban is the latest in a series of restrictions the Islamist group has imposed on Afghan media to stifle freedom of expression since taking control of the country last August.

VOA, which is headquartered in Washington, has swiftly denounced the Taliban for taking its programs off air.  

“We ask the Taliban to reconsider this troubling and unfortunate decision,” Acting VOA Director Yolanda Lόpez said in a statement Sunday.  “The content restrictions that the Taliban are attempting to impose are antithetical to freedom of expression that the people of Afghanistan deserve,” said Lόpez.  

The American broadcaster produces a half-hour news bulletin in Pashto and Dari, the two main languages spoken in Afghanistan, five days a week for its Afghan partners, TOLO news and Shamshad TV.

Lόpez added “while we are disappointed and saddened by the Taliban’s orders to our television affiliate partners in the country, our commitment to providing factual information to the people of Afghanistan is one that the Voice of America will continue on television, radio, and the internet on www.pashtovoa.com and www.darivoa.com, as well as on social media.”

The head of languages at BBC World Service also called on the Taliban to immediately remove the ban on its news bulletins.

“The BBC’s TV news bulletins in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek have been taken off air in Afghanistan, after the Taliban ordered our TV partners to remove international broadcasters from their airwaves,” Tarik Kafala confirmed in a statement Sunday.  

“This is a worrying development at a time of uncertainty and turbulence for the people of Afghanistan,” Kafala said.  

He noted that “more than six million Afghans consume the BBC’s independent and impartial journalism on TV every week and it is crucial they are not denied access to it in the future.”  

A Taliban information ministry spokesman, when asked for his comments on whether they have ordered Afghan channels to remove the international broadcasters from their airways, told VOA he would collect information and get back.  

Domestic and international critics say media and freedom of speech have worsened under Taliban rule in Afghanistan.  

Afghan journalists have been repeatedly detained and subjected to violence by security forces. The interim Taliban government has issued a set of “journalism rules,” including media compliance with the group’s interpretation of Islamic doctrine on “enjoying good and forbidding wrong.”

In December, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) released a survey, showing that at least 40% of Afghan media outlets have disappeared and more than 80% of women journalists lost their jobs since the Taliban takeover of the country.  

The research found that the environment for journalists in the capital, Kabul, and the rest of the country has become “extremely fraught.” Critics say conditions for local journalists to work freely have since further deteriorated.

Hundreds of journalists have also left Afghanistan since August for fear of Taliban reprisals or because of problems associated with practicing their profession under the new rulers.

More than 6,400 journalists and media employees have lost their jobs since August 15 when the Taliban seized control of the Afghan capital, Kabul, according to the RSF survey.  

The ban on VOA and BBC programs comes as the Taliban are under increased international pressure and condemnation for keeping schools shuttered for teenage Afghan girls.

The Taliban reopened secondary schools after the winter break Wednesday, March 23, which also marks the start of the school year for most Afghan provinces.  

But the de facto authorities at the last minute decided against allowing girls above the sixth grade to return to the classroom, citing a lack of arrangements for them, including school uniforms, in accordance with Sharia or Islamic law.

Afghan women’s rights activists and girls took to the streets Saturday to demand the Taliban reopen schools to girls. They have pledged to launch a wave of countrywide protests if authorities fail to open girls’ schools within a week.

The international community has not yet recognized the Taliban as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan, citing continued concerns over human rights, terrorism and a lack of inclusivity in the male-only government in Kabul. 
…

Ahead of a serious challenge brewing in Pakistan’s lower house, the National Assembly, embattled Prime Minister Imran Khan, a former cricket celebrity, has distanced his country from the United States and strained a fragile domestic political culture with verbal salvos against political rivals.

The opposition, made up of former adversaries, claims to have enough votes to overthrow Khan’s government through a vote of no confidence.

Over a dozen elected members of his own Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party have officially backed the opposition’s motion of no confidence, citing the government’s failure to manage inflation and to govern properly. Some ruling coalition partners have joined forces with the opposition, while others have condemned what they call Khan’s revenge politics.

“Khan had been very harsh on opposition. His language and actions both were very harsh. He was telling opposition would be thrown into the prison, would teach them a lesson, and there are signs that NAB (National Accountability Bureau) was also used for that purpose,” Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, president of the Islamabad-based think tank Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency, said.

Mehboob added, “Opposition was pushed against the wall, and it was a question of their survival.”

The no-confidence vote was set for Friday, March 25, which happened to be the 30th anniversary of Pakistan’s Cricket World Cup victory, which Khan captained in 1992. The proceedings, however, were postponed until Monday.

Rise to power

Khan’s political legacy will persist, whether he stays on the crease and keeps his job or is shown the door before his five-year term is up.

He enchanted a generation of Pakistanis with his cricket achievements, including winning the coveted World Cup; his celebrity stature in London; and, most recently, his love for Islam. Combining this with his anti-Western rhetoric, Khan transformed himself into a radical political celebrity among Pakistan’s overwhelmingly religious youth.

“They (the West) were able to vilify our religion, and yet there was no coherent response from the Muslim world,” Khan told the audience at the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s 48th Council of Foreign Ministers Tuesday in Islamabad. He questioned why Islam was equated with terrorism, adding that it was unfortunate that the Muslim world was not able to combat this image.

Khan is sensing that he may lose the upcoming no-confidence vote, and it appears that he is focusing on the next election, said Owais Tohid, a Pakistani journalist who has written for U.S. and European media outlets.

“Addressing huge rallies, Khan is lashing out at America and the European Union, presenting himself as a born leader of the Islamic world, probably like Turkey’s (President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan,” Tohid said.

Amir Mateen, a Pakistani political analyst and TV talk show host, said, “I think the target of his rhetoric against America is largely (the) domestic audience.”

Mateen added, “It’s not just the America. He also talked about EU and, as you know, kind of reprimanded local ambassadors who wrote a letter to the (Pakistani) foreign office. He is in a very precarious situation, and it’s all the outcome of that political vulnerability.”

The letter from Islamabad-based envoys of 22 countries, including EU member states, urged Pakistan to condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the U.N.

Stance on Russian invasion, China

On the day Russian President Vladimir Putin launched the attack on Ukraine, Khan was in the Kremlin. Pakistan afterward refrained from participating in a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution denouncing Russian aggression toward Ukraine.

Khan chastised the 22 envoys for urging Pakistan to denounce Russia. The prime minister was quoted as asking the envoys, “Are we slaves and act according to your wishes?”

Khan attended the Feb. 4 opening ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Many Western countries, including the U.S., boycotted the ceremony in protest of China’s alleged abuses of Uyghur Muslims in its Xinjiang territory. Khan has stated publicly that he is unaware of human rights atrocities against Muslims in China.

China is Pakistan’s largest investor, with over $60 billion in projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China and Pakistan both frequently brag about their relationship.

Following a meeting of the two countries’ foreign ministers in Islamabad, the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement Tuesday in which both countries expressed concern about the spillover effects of unilateral sanctions imposed on Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine. Pakistan has not refuted the Chinese statement’s language, but its Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a second statement that calls for a cease-fire and does not address concerns about sanctions against Moscow.

Pleasing home base

On March 20, the prime minister repeated his wish of establishing a “Medina state” for the home audience, a reference to the Muslims’ first caliphate in the seventh century, which Khan, his followers and many Muslims consider a model state.

Some of the nation’s most popular religious figures endorsed the plan. In a video message, famous Islamic TV preacher Tariq Jameel thanked Allah for giving Pakistan a leader who dreams of the “Medina state.”

Ironically, the country’s Human Rights Ministry told parliament in December that more than 14,000 rape cases had been registered across the country since Khan became prime minister in 2018. Sahil, a Pakistan-based non-government organization that tracks sexual assault cases, noted an 11% increase in child rape cases in 2018 compared to the previous year.

Women’s rights groups have criticized Khan for “victim blaming” when he apparently attributed the rise in sexual assaults to how women dressed.  Khan later backtracked, telling PBS “anyone who commits rape… solely, that person is responsible.”

Khan’s “U-turn,” as his political opponents call it, from his lavish celebrity lifestyle in London to his deep dive into religion is reflected in his political narrative. He quotes the Quran, Islam’s holy book, to portray himself as right and others as wrong. At a rally on Sunday, he said that the Quran commands Muslims to support the good and oppose the evil, referring to his opposition.

“God doesn’t say to be neutral,” Khan said.

Political analysts have seen it as a dig at Pakistan’s army generals, who have adopted a neutral stance since Khan’s political troubles began earlier this month. The opposition has long accused the military of aiding Khan, accusations that both the prime minister’s office and the military have denied.

Dealing with inflation

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Khan’s tenure as prime minister is in jeopardy not only because of his rift with the military but also because of rising inflation.

In Pakistan, inflation was recorded at more than 12%. The price spike, the lack of measures to improve the economy, the reported distance between Khan and army generals — and the prime minister’s accountability for rousing the masses — have all been targeted by the opposition. To rub salt in the wounds of the public, Khan delivered a “no ball,” an unforgivable error in cricket, at a massive gathering in Punjab province where he said, “I didn’t join politics to know the prices of ‘aloo’ and ‘tamatar’ (potatoes and tomatoes). I joined it for the sake of the country’s youth.”

Khan’s ambitions are lofty, but his methods have frequently sparked ridicule from the media. He launched a “Murghi Paal” campaign, an Urdu word for “poultry business,” in which he handed tens of thousands of hens to families and youth to stimulate what he dubbed “domestic economy.” That program was implemented to help people out of poverty, but it was met with mockery on social media.

His critics said they did not believe the campaign was a viable solution to Pakistan’s issues in the 21st century.

This story originated in VOA’s Deewa Service. 
…

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers refused to allow dozens of women to board several flights, including some overseas, because they were traveling without a male guardian, two Afghan airline officials said Saturday.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions from the Taliban, said dozens of women who arrived at Kabul’s international airport Friday to board domestic and international flights were told they couldn’t do so without a male guardian.

Some of the women were dual nationals returning to their homes overseas, including some from Canada, according to one of the officials. Women were denied boarding on flights to Islamabad, Dubai and Turkey on Kam Air and the state-owned Ariana Airline, said the officials.

The order came from the Taliban leadership, said one official.

By Saturday, some women traveling alone were given permission to board an Ariana Airlines flight to western Herat province, the official said. However, by the time the permission was granted they had missed their flight, he said.

The airport’s president and police chief, both from the Taliban movement and both Islamic clerics, were meeting Saturday with airline officials.

“They are trying to solve it,” the official said.

It was still unclear whether the Taliban would exempt air travel from an order issued months ago requiring women traveling more than 45 miles (72 kilometers) to be accompanied by a male relative.

Taliban officials contacted by The Associated Press did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Since taking power last August, the Taliban leadership have been squabbling among themselves as they struggle to transition from war to governing. It has pit hard-liners — like acting Prime Minister Mullah Hasan Akhund, who is deeply rooted in the old guard — against the more pragmatic among them, like Sirajuddin Haqqani. He took over leadership of the powerful Haqqani network from his father Jalaluddin Haqqani. The elder Haqqani, who died several years ago, is from Akhund’s generation, who ruled Afghanistan under the strict and unchallenged leadership of Mullah Mohammad Omar.

Infuriating many Afghans is the knowledge that many of the Taliban of the younger generation, like Sirajuddin Haqqani, are educating their girls in Pakistan, while in Afghanistan women and girls have been targeted by their repressive edicts since taking power.

This latest assault on women’s rights in Taliban-run Afghanistan denying women air travel, comes just days after the all-male religiously driven government broke its promise to allow girls to return to school after the sixth grade.

The move enraged the international community, which has been reluctant to recognize the Taliban-run government since the Taliban swept into power in August, fearing they would revert to their harsh rule of the 1990s. The Taliban’s refusal to open education to all Afghan children also infuriated large swaths of the Afghan population. On Saturday, dozens of girls demonstrated in the Afghan capital demanding the right to go to school.

After the Taliban’s ban on girls’ education beyond the sixth grade, women’s rights activist Mahbouba Seraj went on Afghanistan’s TOLO TV to ask: “How do we as a nation trust you with your words anymore? What should we do to please you? Should we all die?”

An Afghan charity called PenPath, which runs dozens of ‘secret’ schools with thousands of volunteers, is planning to stage countrywide protests to demand the Taliban reverse its order, said Matiullah Wesa, PenPath founder.

On Saturday at the Doha Forum 2022 in Qatar, Roya Mahboob, an Afghan businesswoman who founded an all-girl robotics team in Afghanistan, was given the Forum Award for her work and commitment to girls’ education.

U.S. special representative for Afghanistan Tom West canceled meetings with the Taliban at the Doha Forum after classes for older girls were halted.

Deputy U.S. State Department spokesperson Jalina Porter said in a statement that “We have canceled some of our engagements, including planned meetings in Doha and around the Doha Forum, and have made clear that we see this decision as a potential turning point in our engagement.

“The decision by the Taliban, if it is not swiftly reversed, will profoundly harm the Afghan people, the country’s prospects for economic growth, and the Taliban’s ambition to improve their relations with the international community,” she said.

West acknowledged that the Taliban had made promises since their takeover to allow girls and women to go to school. He said that both the U.S. and the international community received “the necessary assurances” that was going to happen.

“I was surprised at the turnaround this past Wednesday and I think you’ve seen the world react in condemning this move,” West said. “It is a breach, first and foremost, of the Afghan people’s trust because they made the commitment.”

He added: “I believe hope is not lost. I’ve talked to a lot of Afghans here who also believe that. I’m hopeful that we will see a reversal of this decision in the coming days.”

In an interview after receiving the Doha Forum award, Mahboob called on the many global leaders and policy makers attending the forum to press the Taliban to open schools for all Afghan children.

The robotics team fled Afghanistan when the Taliban returned to power but Mahboob said she still hoped a science and technology center she had hoped to build in Afghanistan for girls could still be constructed.

“I hope that the international community, the Muslim communities (have not) forgotten about Afghanistan and (will) not abandon us,” she said. “Afghanistan is a poor country. It doesn’t have enough resources. And if you take (away) our knowledge, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
…

Dozens of Afghan women, including students, teachers, parents and civil society activists, demonstrated in Kabul Saturday against the Taliban’s decision to keep schools shuttered for teenage girls.

The protesters were carrying books and chanting, “Open the schools! Justice, justice,” as they marched through the streets of the capital of Afghanistan. “Education is our fundamental right, not a political plan,” read banners held by rally participants.

The Islamist Taliban reopened secondary schools after the winter break on March 23, which also marks the start of the school year for most Afghan provinces. 

But the hardline group abruptly reneged on its decision to allow girls above the sixth grade to return to the classroom, citing a lack of arrangements for them, including school uniforms, in accordance with Sharia or Islamic law.

Secondary schools for girls across most of Afghanistan have been closed since August when the Taliban seized power from the now-defunct Western-backed Afghan government.

The move swiftly drew international condemnation of the Taliban for backtracking on their commitment that all Afghan girls around the country would be allowed to resume their education. 

The United States condemned the Taliban for reneging on the commitment and called off planned talks with the Islamist group that were to be hosted by Doha, the capital of Qatar. 

“We have canceled some of our engagements, including planned meetings in Doha around the Doha Forum, and have made clear that we see this decision as a potential turning point in our engagement,” State Department deputy spokeswoman Jalina Porter told reporters Friday in Washington.

“This decision by the Taliban, if it is not swiftly reversed, will profoundly harm the Afghan people, the country’s prospects for economic growth, and the Taliban’s ambition to improve their relations with the international community,” Porter said. 

The U.S. and other Western donor countries have made girls’ education a key demand before directly engaging with the Taliban or even considering whether to grant recognition to their interim government in Kabul.

In a joint statement Thursday, the foreign ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, the United States, and the European Union, said the Taliban’s decision will harm the group’s prospects for legitimacy.

The 57-nation Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement about the Taliban’s decision, expressing “deep disappointment” and “deep frustration.” 

“Afghan people, boys and girls, need to see their fundamental rights, including but not limited to education, fully respected in a bid to ensure that Afghanistan wades its way toward stability and economic prosperity,” the OIC said in its statement.

When the Taliban returned to power, they promised a softer rule compared with their first regime from 1996 to 2001, which became notorious for banning women from education and work among other human rights abuses.  

The Taliban have recently reopened universities to all male and female students under a newly introduced gender-segregated system in line with their strict interpretation of Islam, making it compulsory for women to wear hijabs. 

The Taliban have rolled back nearly 20 years of gains made by the women in Afghanistan, barring most of them from returning to government duties and ordering them not to undertake long road trips unless accompanied by a close male relative.

Some female Afghan activists initially pushed back against the curbs and held small protests, but the Taliban rounded up the leaders of those rallies and detained them for weeks before setting them free under international pressure. Taliban officials, however, denied security forces had detained the activists.
…

India has underlined that restoration of normal ties with China is contingent on restoring peace along their borders during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in New Delhi, while China said the two countries should work together to promote peace and stability in the region and the world.

After three hours of discussions on Friday, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters that he had conveyed to his Chinese counterpart that “the frictions and tensions that arise from China’s deployment since April 2020 cannot be reconciled with a normal relationship between two neighbors.”

Wang’s visit to India is the first high-profile stop by a senior Chinese official to New Delhi since a two-year-old border standoff led to a sharp downturn in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbors. It is being seen as an effort to put relations back on track.

The Chinese foreign minister arrived in the Indian capital following a surprise trip to Afghanistan in a visit that was not officially announced in advance by either Beijing or New Delhi.

Jaishankar said discussions had focused on the need to expedite the process of disengaging the tens of thousands of troops deployed along their Himalayan borders. 

“Surely the presence of a large number of troops in contravention of agreements is an abnormality,” Jaishankar told reporters after the meeting. “I would describe our current situation as a work in progress, obviously a slower pace than desirable.”

In a statement released after Wang’s visit to New Delhi, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the two sides should put their differences on the border issue in an “appropriate position” in bilateral relations. It said that China does not pursue a “unipolar Asia” and respects India’s traditional role in the region.

In the last two years, Beijing has reiterated that the border standoff does not represent the entire spectrum of the relationship between the two countries, while New Delhi has kept the focus on the need to end the friction that erupted after a bloody clash two years ago killed 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers.

India accuses Chinese troops of having intruded into its territory along several stretches of their Himalayan frontier known as the Line of Actual Control. Beijing denies the allegation.

Although soldiers from the two sides have withdrawn from some areas following 15 rounds of talks between military officials, they have failed to resolve their differences along key stretches that both consider strategic.  India’s “effort is to sort out the issue in entirety and deal with disengagement so that it then allows us to look to de-escalation,” according to Jaishankar.

Concerns about the border standoff run high in New Delhi because China has strengthened its presence along the frontier by building roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

In their discussions on the Ukraine crisis, India’s foreign minister said the two sides had agreed on the need for an immediate cease-fire and that diplomacy and dialogue must be the priority. China and India have close ties with Russia and have rejected Western calls to condemn Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine.

India also said China’s policies on New Delhi should not be influenced by those of other countries with reference to remarks Wang made concerning the disputed Kashmir region earlier this week. Attending a meeting in Pakistan of the Organization of Islamic countries, which advocates self-determination for Kashmir, he had said “China shares the same hope.”

From New Delhi, Wang is due to travel to Nepal, where Beijing has been increasing its influence. Besides the border tensions, India’s mistrust of Beijing also stems from its close ties with its archrival Pakistan and China’s efforts to increase its influence in other neighboring countries, like Nepal, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
…

Many Southeast Asian fruit farmers and those who deliver tropical fruits to China have found it hard to make a living during the pandemic. A recent uptick in COVID-19 outbreaks in China has prompted sporadic border closures, making life uncertain for those who depend on exports to the country. VOA’s Elizabeth Lee explains. VOA’s Vietnamese, Khmer services and videographer Narin Sun contributed to this report.
…

All reporters in Myanmar are at risk of being jailed just for doing their job, says a veteran journalist now in exile.

The comments from Ye Wint Thu come after a military-run court in Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw sentenced two more journalists to prison this week.

Han Thar Nyein, the co-founder of Kamayut Media, and Than Htike Aung, a correspondent for Mizzima, were each sentenced to two years in prison for violating Section 505(a) of Myanmar’s Penal Code law, which penalizes false news and incitement.

After seizing power, the ruling military government amended the penal code to criminalize comments questioning their legitimacy or that could cause fear or spread “false news.”

A lawyer for Han Thar Nyein told local news website Myanmar Now that his client was accused of inciting riots, something the journalist denies.

Both Han Thar Nyein and Than Htike Aung, who also denied the charge, have been in custody since March 2021.

Nathan Maung, an American-Burmese journalist who worked with Han Thar Nyein at Kamayut Media, told VOA there is no justice to the junta’s decision.

Maung himself was detained for 98 days and tortured inside Yangon’s Insein prison after the military coup in February 2021.

“Like other political detainees, Han Thar was sentenced with an unjustified charge. I [was] not surprised by what the junta does. There is no justice at all while they are in power,” Maung said.

“He loves working and engaging with people. People who know him well remember that Han Thar is sweet-talking about everything, and his big smile. I always remember him as he is a workaholic,” Maung added.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists in a statement Thursday called on the junta to “immediately” and “unconditionally” release both reporters, and to put an end to jailing journalists for their work.

Since the military seized power, 122 journalists have been arrested in Myanmar, which is also known as Burma. As of March 25, 48 remain in custody, 20 have been convicted, and one has died in custody, according to Reporting ASEAN, a monitoring group in Southeast Asia.

Ye Wint Thu, a producer and TV host for Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), said most journalists are unable to work without the risk of being arrested.

“Most of the journalists can’t do their job at all inside Burma. They can’t survive. At least, they have to flee their country, cross the border,” he said in a phone call with VOA.

Ye Wint Thu is living in exile in the United States. He fled Myanmar last year after the junta revoked the licences of several media outlets, including DVB.

The junta later announced that Ye Wint Thu is wanted for allegedly violating section 505a of the penal code.

“All the journalists in Burma … already understand, since they became journalists, they’re ‘walking on the wall of prison.’ That is a Burmese saying: ‘They could be in jail for any reason’,” Ye Wint Thu said. “Press freedom is dead already in Burma.”

Restrictive environment

Political analyst Aung Thu Nyein believes coordinated attacks are being carried out on journalists seen as supportive of jailed democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party.

“At the beginning of the coup, the junta harassed and restricted all kinds of media and journalists. Since then, there is a very restricted environment to work for independent media in the country. Many media groups have stopped their production,” he said.

But the tactics are changing, Aung Thu Nyein said, with targeting of media seen as supportive of the National League for Democracy party.

Military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun has repeatedly denied journalists are targeted for their coverage. He told VOA earlier, “There is no reason to arrest, charge or jail media personnel if they do their media job.”

Freedom of the press has always been challenging in Myanmar but since the military coup the junta have cracked down further. Journalists have been harassed, arrested and jailed, media outlets have closed and access to internet blocked.

Nearly fourteen months into the military takeover, the country is experiencing violent clashes and the media struggle to operate.

While the world’s attention is largely diverted by Russia’s invasion in Ukraine, a lack of outside interest is not a concern in Myanmar because the people have little hope for international help, says Ye Wint Thu.

“You know, 99 percent of Burmese people don’t believe in international aid or help. Nothing changed. Even if the international hot news is all about Burma, it doesn’t affect anything,” he said.

Myanmar spent most of its modern history under military rule, until its first free elections in 2015.

After general elections in November 2020, the military contested the results, claiming widespread electoral fraud, without evidence.

Armed forces later removed the democratically elected government and detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. Both were later sentenced to prison.

The coup has sparked a nationwide uprising and armed conflict between the military and civilian anti-coup defense forces. In October, the outgoing United Nations special envoy said Myanmar is in a state of civil war.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a Myanmar watchdog based in Thailand, more than 1,700 people have been killed since the coup.
…

Tens of thousands of Afghan girls had their hopes dashed Wednesday when the Taliban government abruptly reversed its decision to allow them to attend secondary school. They were sent home after just a few hours in class, as VOA’s Waheed Faizi reports. 
Camera: Waheed Faizi 
…