An Indian government-controlled arms maker with high-profile U.S. and European shareholders has been supplying Myanmar, even after the country’s military toppled a democratically elected government on February 1 and killed hundreds of civilians in a bid to crush any resistance, a local rights group has said.

The group, Justice for Myanmar, said in a report earlier this month that data obtained from global trade tracking service Panjiva shows that India’s Bharat Electronics Ltd. shipped several parts for a “remote-controlled weapons station” to Mega Hill General Trading Co. Ltd., a known broker for Myanmar’s military, in July.

Panjiva is a U.S.-based firm that gathers and shares commercial shipping data using government-issued records from 19 countries, including India. VOA was able to confirm the information from Justice for Myanmar independently.

Multiple online company records and stock tracking sites show a number of big-name foreign firms holding shares in Bharat Electronics, which is 51.1% owned by the government of India. They include Goldman Sachs Asset Management and The Vanguard Group in the United States, French banking giant BNP Paribas, and an Indian subsidiary of Japanese insurer Nippon Life.

“BEL’s continued business with the junta shows the urgency for targeted sanctions against the junta’s arms suppliers and brokers and a global arms embargo,” Justice for Myanmar’s Yadanar Maung told VOA.

The spokesperson also urged the United States to add Bharat Electronics to the entities list of the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Industry and Security, which would place additional conditions on certain U.S. exports to the Indian arms maker.

The United States, Britain and others have already announced a series of sanctions since the coup, targeting Myanmar’s senior military leaders and companies under their direct control.

Some Western companies have taken action on their own. Finland’s Nordea Bank, which also held shares in Bharat Electronics, placed the company on its blacklist ((https://www.nordea.com/en/doc/nordea-exclusion-list0.pdf-0)) in July for exporting to Myanmar. Yadanar Maung called on the arms maker’s other investors “to follow and immediately divest.”  

BNP Paribas and Dimensional Fund Advisors, another U.S. firm with shares in Bharat Electronics, told VOA they would not discuss individual stocks. The other shareholders highlighted by Justice for Myanmar did not reply to VOA’s requests for comment. Bharat Electronics did not reply either. Contact information provided by Mega Hill General Trading on its website was not working.

In June, the U.N. General Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution calling on member states “to prevent the flow of arms” to Myanmar. India was among the 36 countries that abstained. China and Russia, Myanmar’s largest arms suppliers by far, abstained as well.

‘Helping the military’

Kyaw Win, who heads the U.K.-based Burma Human Rights Network, which uses another name of Myanmar, denounced any and all sales to the country’s military.

“It is a crime to sell even one needle to the military that commits genocide. That’s not what any ethical government will do,” he told VOA.

A U.N.-appointed panel accused the military of “genocidal intent” in 2019 after investigating security operations in western Myanmar two years earlier that drove some 700,000 ethnic minority Rohingya into neighboring Bangladesh, where they remain. The military claims it was conducting legitimate counterinsurgency against violent separatists.

Since the coup, rights groups say security forces have killed well over 1,000 civilians to put down protests and pockets of armed resistance against the junta. 

On Friday, the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said the military had been ramping up attacks in western Myanmar over the past month, “including killings, raiding of villages and burning of houses.” It also relayed recent reports of mass arrests, torture and summary executions.

By owning shares in Bharat Electronics, Kyaw Win said foreign firms were in effect supporting the military’s operations.

“They might not directly wish to help the military, but their actions with the investment and this engagement, it’s helping the military,” he said.

“The question is, is this company happy to get profit from a genocidal government, genocidal military? The question is upon the investors,” he added.

Rather than pulling out of Bharat Electronics right away, though, Kyaw Win suggested Western and Asian investment firms — and their shareholders — use their leverage to convince the Indian arms maker itself to break with the junta.

“That would be better,” he said, “rather than selling away and let this continue. So, they need to pressure the Indian company … to stop investing or dealing with the Burmese military, otherwise they will withdraw their shares.”

‘Maximum leverage’

According to a 2017 press release from Bharat Electronics, the weapon system it recently shipped to Myanmar is an improved model of its 12.7 mm air defense gun for mounting on tanks or boats. It adds that the system can track both “air and ground targets.”

The Panjiva records list the price of the delivery at $612,000. Justice for Myanmar said it was likely a single unit for the military to put through a trial and that a larger order could follow.

Bharat Electronics’ business with the Myanmar military goes back years.

In June, Justice for Myanmar reported on Indian export data showing seven shipments from Bharat Electronics to Myanmar in February and March, mainly radar parts, and more in December and January.

In 2019, the same U.N.-appointed panel that accused the military of genocidal intent reported on a 2017 deal the military struck with Bharat Electronics for 10 torpedoes. The panel also reported various weapons transfers to Myanmar from Israel, North Korea, the Philippines, Singapore and Ukraine, in addition to China and Russia.

Tom Andrews, the U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, would not comment to VOA on Bharat specifically. However, he said he “urged any company doing business in Myanmar to exert maximum leverage on the Myanmar military to stop its widespread human rights violations and that they follow the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.” 

He said these U.N. guidelines oblige those companies to try to prevent human rights abuses linked to their operations even if they have not added to the abuse themselves.
…

The Qatar foreign minister said Wednesday the issue of recognizing the Taliban government in Afghanistan is currently not a priority, but the global community “now is inline” with helping the war-ravaged country deal with growing humanitarian and economic challenges.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told an international conference in the Qatari capital, Doha, the Taliban “is a de facto power” in Afghanistan and isolating the country would be a “big mistake” because it would mean punishing the Afghan people for something they didn’t commit.   

“We cannot just wait for steps to be taken by the Taliban, and then we react to these steps,” Al Thani said while speaking at the Global Security Forum. “I believe the international community has a responsibility to direct those steps and to have a clear roadmap in dealing with the situation,” he added. 

Heads of government and foreign ministers from the world’s 20 leading economies, the G-20, agreed Tuesday at a video gathering hosted by Italy to look at ways to inject more cash into Afghanistan to help tackle the humanitarian crisis there. 

The United Nations has warned that the economy of the war-ravaged country is approaching a humanitarian disaster unless urgent action is taken. 

“We need to find a way forward, not to abandon this country and I think everyone now is in line with that and we are moving forward without talking about the recognition at this stage but may be on the way forward,” Al Thani said in his talk Wednesday.  

Doha hosts the Taliban’s political office, and the Qatari government has been facilitating the Islamist group’s negotiations with the United States and Western governments.  

Al Thani noted the new rulers in Kabul are facing critical economic challenges and there is no clear path for unfreezing about $10 billion in Afghan government funds, mostly parked in the U.S. federal reserve.

“The financial system is totally closed, public servants are not paid, the government’s assets have been frozen without also a clear path forward,” he said, adding that without access to those funds the Taliban would not be able to pay salaries to teachers, doctors and employees in other key social sectors.  

The Qatari official spoke a day after Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi renewed his demand for ending the ban on Afghan assets.  

Muttaqi warned Tuesday’s meeting with American and European envoys in Doha that attempts to pressure his government through sanctions would undermine the security of not only Afghanistan but the world in general.

“[The] weakening [of] the Afghan government is not in the interest of anyone because its negative effects will directly affect the world in [the] security sector and economic migration from the country,” the Taliban foreign ministry quoted Muttaqi as saying.  

The Islamist group ousted the U.S.-backed government in Kabul nearly two months ago to regain power after waging a 20-year-long insurgency against American and allied troops.

Washington and other Western countries have been pressing the Taliban to keep promises they will form an inclusive Afghan government, protect human rights, especially those of women, fight terrorism and would not place restrictions on freedom of expression.

“We urge world countries to end existing sanctions and let banks operate normally, so that charity groups, organizations and the government can pay salaries to their staff with their own reserves and international financial assistance,” Muttaqi said.  

Saad Mohseni, an Afghan Australian owner of a company that runs Afghanistan’s top 24-hour television network, TOLO News, told Wednesday’s conference in Doha the Taliban so far have not hampered their work.

“Surprisingly, if the situation is as it is today in six months, I would be very pleased. So, so far, it’s good,” Mohseni said.  

“But you know, the Taliban haven’t had the bandwidth to deal with the media to deal with civil society, and I foresee a more restrictive environment. Will we still be able to operate as we are today? I am not sure.”

U.S. State Department spokesman Ned Price reiterated Tuesday that Washington’s current engagement with the Taliban does not mean it is moving to grant “any sort of recognition or conferral of legitimacy” on the group. He told reporters that will be determined by the conduct of the Taliban in any future Afghan government.

“The Taliban will ultimately be judged not only on its words, but solely on its actions. And in the context of that discussion, we engaged on a practical and pragmatic basis with the Taliban, as we have done in recent weeks, focusing on security and terrorism concerns,” Price said. 
…

A congressman from California has introduced legislation that would give Afghan Fulbright scholars special immigrant visas.  

The legislation would automatically issue a special immigrant visa to any Afghan who lived in the United States as a Fulbright scholar and to their immediate family members to help them “escape persecution by the Taliban and relocate safely to the United States,” according to a statement from the office of U.S. Representative John Garamendi, a Democrat.

“Fulbright Scholarships are one of the most vital U.S. cultural exchange programs that help to improve intercultural relations, diplomacy, and coordination between the United States and other countries,” Garamendi’s statement read.

“This is the right thing to do for our Afghan allies who stood with the United States against the Taliban and the terrorists responsible for the 9/11 attacks.” 

The proposed legislation is called the Special Immigrant Visas for Afghan Fulbright Scholars Act of 2021, or House Resolution 5482.

It would issue a special immigrant visa to any citizen or national of Afghanistan, and their legal spouse or children, selected on or after October 7, 2001, for the following State Department-sponsored educational and cultural exchange programs: 

Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Exchange Programs, including the Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Grant Program, the Fulbright Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program.



International Visitor Leadership Program. 



Any other similar educational or cultural exchange program administered by the State Department involving travel to the United States and spending significant time living, working or studying therein. 

Last month, the Institute of International Education (IIE) announced plans to award scholarships to 10 former American University of Afghanistan (AUAF) students so they could “safely reconnect to their studies at a college campus abroad.” AUAF was shut down by the Taliban-led government after the U.S. withdrew forces in mid-August.

IIE also announced other programs Afghan students could explore for financial assistance, including the Scholar Rescue Fund, which funds fellowships for “threatened and displaced” students at partnering colleges and universities around the globe. Eighteen emergency scholarships have been awarded, and future scholars are being identified. 

Other programs available to help Afghan scholars and refugees are as follows:  

The Emergency Student Fund (ESF), which provides grants to international students enrolled at colleges and universities in the U.S. "when natural disasters, war or other crises in their home countries threaten their education," according to IIE. Since September 20, the ESF has funded 80 Afghan students on U.S. campuses who were experiencing financial difficulties.  



The Platform for Education in Emergencies Response, an online clearinghouse that connects refugees and displaced students with scholarships and online learning. Students from Afghanistan are eligible. 



The Artist Protection Fund (APF), which will award fellowships to two threatened Afghan artists from any field of practice and place them "at host institutions in safe countries where they can continue their work and plan for their futures."  



The Odyssey Scholarship, which was awarded to 10 Afghan students to allow them to study "in the safety of a college campus abroad." It enables "motivated and qualified refugees or displaced persons to pursue fully funded undergraduate or graduate programs throughout the world."

Columbia University in New York offers full scholarships every year for refugees and other displaced students. The Columbia University Scholarship for Displaced Students (CUSDS) was launched in December 2019 and has committed up to $6 million in scholarship money for up to 30 students so far.

To be eligible for the CUSDS, applicants must apply to and be accepted by one of the degree programs listed on the website. Acceptance requirements and application deadlines differ depending on the school and degree program. 
…

Members of the G-20 group of industrialized nations have pledged billions of dollars in aid to prevent a catastrophe in Afghanistan, following an emergency meeting Tuesday. Henry Ridgwell reports.
…

U.S. President Joe Biden held a virtual meeting with leaders of the world’s richest nations to push top priorities in Afghanistan, the White House said Tuesday, as the impoverished nation stares down a humanitarian crisis after the U.S. withdrawal and the Taliban’s subsequent takeover.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki described Tuesday’s call with leaders of the G-20 as “an opportunity — and a constructive opportunity — to discuss counterterrorism efforts and efforts to provide international humanitarian assistance.”

This is the first such meeting of international leaders since the U.S. withdrawal in late August. Also in the past week, top U.S. officials went to Doha, Qatar, for the first round of face-to-face negotiations with the new Taliban regime. Neither party said whether any agreements were reached, though the U.S. continued to refrain from officially recognizing the Taliban’s legitimacy as the government of Afghanistan.

In a statement after Tuesday’s meeting, the White House said the U.S. “remains committed to working closely with the international community and using diplomatic, humanitarian, and economic means to address the situation in Afghanistan and support the Afghan people.” 

The U.S. did not announce any new funding for Afghanistan on Tuesday or provide concrete details on how it will meet those commitments. But, Psaki stressed, the U.S. is already the largest single humanitarian donor to Afghanistan, having provided more than $330 million dollars this year. 

“And we will continue to take steps to alleviate the suffering of the Afghan people and call on other donors to step up their contributions to help deliver critical assistance,” she said.

‘A make-or-break moment’ 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that Afghanistan is facing “a make-or-break moment.” 

“If we do not act and help Afghans weather this storm, and do it soon, not only they but all the world will pay a heavy price,” he said before the leaders gathered on Tuesday.

Before the Taliban takeover, international aid accounted for 75% of Afghanistan’s state spending, but governments and international organizations have cut off such funding and frozen Afghanistan’s assets.

Now, the U.N.’s humanitarian agency says, about half of the population needs humanitarian or protection assistance. One-third of Afghans are currently facing “emergency” or “crisis” levels of food insecurity.

All that, Guterres warned Tuesday, could have dire consequences. 

“Without food, without jobs, without their rights protected, we will see more and more Afghans fleeing their homes in search of a better life. The flow of illicit drugs, criminal and terrorist networks will also likely increase,” he said.

Notable absences 

Conspicuously absent from Tuesday’s virtual meeting were the leaders of China and Russia, top U.S. adversaries who are geographically closer to the landlocked Central Asian nation. Both have had a long and complicated relationship with Afghanistan and oppose putting conditions on aid. 

Psaki brushed aside concerns over the absence of those two countries. The meeting was hosted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. 

“It was a meeting organized by the Italians,” she said. “So I would certainly point you to them for confirmation of who may or may not have attended. But I would note that it is still fruitful, of course, to have an opportunity — or this is how the president views it — to discuss the efforts to work together on counterterrorism work, including against threats from ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan), to ensure safe passage for those foreign nationals and Afghan partners with documentation seeking to depart Afghanistan.” 

To that end, on Tuesday, the U.S. State Department announced it was naming a new coordinator for Afghan relocation efforts. That official, Ambassador A. Elizabeth Jones, will help eligible Afghans depart the country and transition to their resettlement in the United States. 

 
…

Eight months after Myanmar’s military coup, life for the country’s journalists is getting “harder and harder,” local reporters say.

From the moment it seized power and ousted the democratically elected government, the military has sought to control coverage.

Access to social media and the internet was blocked, at least five local media outlets had licenses revoked, and authorities detained dozens of journalists covering nationwide protests against the junta. 

In the months that followed, media outlets have been forced to restructure their operations by working online or from self-imposed exile.  

Win Zaw Naing, a journalist at the Yangon-based Red News Agency, says he has been stuck inside his house for seven months, having to work almost entirely online. 

“It is almost impossible to report on the ground now. I did not leave the house and I did not see anyone. I do it online, I make phone calls,” he told VOA. 

From February 1 to September 27 at least 102 journalists have been arrested and at least 48 are still in custody, according to the Detained Journalist Information Facebook group and Reporting ASEAN, an organization documenting the crackdown. 

Most are held under Section 505(a) of the penal code, which criminalizes content deemed to cause fear or spread false news against the government. Those convicted face up to three years in prison. 

Myanmar’s military has denied restricting journalists. Spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said in March that the military “respects and values media freedom.” In a statement last week about American journalist Danny Fenster, the spokesperson said, “As for journalists, if they do only journalist’s work, there is no reason to arrest them.” 

Fenster, the managing editor of Frontier Myanmar, has been detained since May 24.

Risk factor 

The increased risk of arrest has resulted in some journalists giving in, Win Zaw Naing said. 

“Mainly, there is no security for journalists in Myanmar. Reporters are now prepared to say when they are arrested that they are no longer reporting,” he said. 

Aye Chan Naing, chief editor of Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), told VOA in July that reporting is a “ticket to arrest.” The independent broadcaster is among the outlets to have its licence revoked.

[[ https://www.voanews.com/a/east-asia-pacific_myanmar-military-strips-five-media-companies-licenses/6203033.html ]] 

Advances in technology have made it possible for Myanmar’s media to keep reporting, but even that brings risk. 

Aung Htut, a journalist who uses an assumed name to protect his identity, told VOA the spread of technology and mobile phone use has allowed journalists to capture more footage of atrocities than they were able to after a 2007 uprising.

He works with Burma VJ Media, a multimedia network that formed a year before the 2007 Saffron Revolution, marked by mass protests against the military government. After years of inactivity, the news organization relaunched to report on the coup. 

But it’s a double-edged sword, as soldiers conduct regular checks on reporters, Aung Htut said. 

“They threatened the people not to take or record any pictures and if they found the evidence, those people would be punished severely,” the video journalist said. 

“They do random and routine checks on the mobiles from the users on the streets so that it even becomes a trend among the people that everyone keeps a spare phone when going out, to avoid the potential harassment,” Aung Htut said. 

The journalist said the risk factor differs depending on a reporter’s location. 

“For the active working journalists who remain inside Burma, they have to stay completely anonymous and must not let the neighborhood know about the works,” Aung Htut said. “Illegal or underground media are in the primary target list of the junta. 

“For those who fled to the border area, which we call it ‘liberated area’ – in short, ‘LA’ – can work with the ease of mind in their daily lives,” the journalist said. 

A Myanmar journalist who goes by the name Cape Diamond told VOA that despite the difficulties, reporters are determined to keep going. 

“Things are getting harder and harder. Many of the journalists I know and my colleagues believe they are going to be here as long as they can be here. They want to witness what is really happening,” he said. 

But he admitted some are trying desperately to evade being targeted. 

“They try to publish the story, then try to leave the country, they monitor the situation, [if] the response from the government or military is OK, then they come back,” he told VOA. 

It has become the norm for military to “hassle” media in Myanmar today, Cape Diamond said. In addition to searching phones and cameras, soldiers threaten reporters and have informants follow them, he said.

“They don’t really arrest you, but they hassle you. They are trying to make you feel scared,” he said. “If you want to continue what you’re doing, you cannot be too frightened.”

Media rights groups including Reporters Without Borders say the coup has set press freedom back a decade.

Until 2011 the country, formerly known as Burma, spent most of its modern history under military rule. Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy party won enough votes in 2015 to take power. 

But after the latest elections in November 2020, the military claimed unsubstantiated electoral fraud and on February 1, removed the democratically elected government and detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

Cape Diamond says Myanmar never had “press freedom” even under Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration. 

The coup has renewed focus on the power of media, he said.

“People have come to understand that journalism is really important, and they now understand that journalists are the ones who bring the voice, help raise the voice,” Cape Diamond said. 

“[At] the same time the junta know how important the journalism is, that’s why they are oppressing the journalists as much as they can.” 

Even though some businesses have returned to normal in Myanmar’s cities, security forces patrol in vans and trucks while soldiers are stationed at schools and religious buildings. 

Although the journalist knows the risks, Cape Diamond told VOA he will keep reporting as long as he can. 

“You will have a feeling you are in a war zone. When they are patrolling, they are holding their guns, pointing out in a ready position, ready to shoot. 

“I will be here as long as they don’t come and shoot me in the street,” he said. 
…

Heads of government and foreign ministers from the world’s 20 leading economies — the G-20 — agreed at a video gathering Tuesday to look at ways to inject more cash into Afghanistan. The talks came after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the economy of the war-ravaged country, now under the control of the Taliban, is approaching humanitarian disaster.

“If we do not act and help Afghans weather this storm, and do it soon, not only they but all the world will pay a heavy price,” Guterres said in New York hours before G-20 leaders held an extraordinary meeting on Afghanistan, hosted by Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

The meeting marked the first time the world’s richest nations had met to discuss the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Taliban takeover in August.

“Without food, without jobs, without their rights protected, we will see more and more Afghans fleeing their homes in search of a better life. The flow of illicit drugs, criminal and terrorist networks will also likely increase,” Guterres said.

As the G-20 meeting started, the secretary general tweeted: “Banks are closing and essential services, such as healthcare, have been suspended in many places. I urge the world to take action and inject liquidity into the Afghan economy to avoid collapse.”

His make-or-break warning was echoed by Draghi and other G-20 leaders during the summit. Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said, “We must ensure that the state does not collapse.”

The European Union announced during the summit a $1.15 billion aid package for Afghanistan “to avert a major humanitarian and socioeconomic collapse.”

Leaders emphasized how precarious life is for the majority of Afghans. In addition to exploring how to provide urgent humanitarian support for the Afghan population, the leaders discussed the fight against terrorism and how to encourage the Taliban to allow freedom of movement inside the country and free passage for Afghans who want to leave.

The latest U.N. figures suggest that more than half a million Afghans have been displaced by fighting this year alone; almost 17 million are facing crisis levels of food insecurity; and nearly half of all children under five are malnourished as a consequence of conflict, drought and the coronavirus pandemic.

Aid halted, funds frozen

Before the Taliban seized control of the country on August 15, three-fourths of Afghanistan’s public expenditure came from other countries and international aid agencies. International aid accounted for 43 percent of Afghanistan’s gross domestic product, and has done so for the past two decades.

But countries around the world have refrained from recognizing the Taliban government and international funds have been frozen as a result. The U.S. froze Afghanistan’s $9.5 billion dollars in reserves held in American banks after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul.

Until funds, and reserves, are unfrozen, it will be impossible to avert an economic disaster in Afghanistan. And that in turn will worsen the humanitarian crisis that’s unfolding and make for further misery for a population which has endured decades of violence and poverty, U.N. agencies and independent analysts have warned.

Last month, the World Health Organization estimated that less than one-fifth of the country’s public health facilities were functioning.

“We have to solve the humanitarian crisis, that’s the very first thing,” Draghi said at a press inference after the summit was over. He said the crisis was “enormous.”

“We need to keep the economy from collapse and to keep the banking system alive,” he said. He went through a list of what had been discussed, including how to provide relief for Afghan migrants and how to ensure Afghanistan doesn’t again “become a haven for international terrorists.”

The Italian leader told reporters human rights had been a key topic of discussion among the G-20 leaders. “Pretty much everyone focused on the rights of women. We have to make sure they have access to education. We mustn’t go back 20 years,” he said.

Caught in a dilemma

The international community is caught in a dilemma. “To recognize the Taliban risks condemning tens of thousands of Afghan women, children, and men to brutal repression and, for some, potential death, as well as mocking the human rights and rule of law which the U.S. and its allies sought to promote in Afghanistan, and globally, as cornerstones of values-based foreign policies,” says Renata Dwan, deputy director of Britain’s Chatham House research group.

“Formal recognition of a Taliban-led government is simply not an option, even for those maintaining a diplomatic presence in Kabul such as China, Iran, Pakistan, and Russia,” she says.

But not to inject cash into Afghanistan will push the reeling country into catastrophe.

In effect, the G-20 leaders Tuesday discussed how best to deal with the Taliban and find a way out of the dilemma — in short, how to pump money into Afghanistan while trying to cajole the Taliban to adhere to human rights obligations and not seem to be colluding in Islamist repression or endorsing the Taliban in any way.

One fundamental challenge, G-20 leaders debated, is how they can deliver aid without assisting the Taliban or allowing the group to manipulate it to serve their political purposes or to channel assistance to loyalists and deny it to minorities or opponents. G-20 leaders say the Taliban has done little to suggest they have changed or moderated their views toward women or dissent since they ruled most of the county in the second half of the 1990s.

As the leaders wrapped up the summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted on Twitter: “Participated in the G-20 Summit on Afghanistan. Stressed on preventing Afghan territory from becoming the source of radicalization and terrorism. Also called for urgent and unhindered humanitarian assistance to Afghan citizens and an inclusive administration.”

And in a tweet, Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said, “Just took part in a digital G-20 meeting, organized by Italy, on the situation in Afghanistan. We discussed a number of urgent issues, including the importance of free passage into and out of the country, unfettered humanitarian aid, security and human rights.”

Italy’s Di Maio told RAI Television that he had “asked for an increase in funds for international cooperation in aid of Afghan civilians.” He added, “We must ensure that the state does not collapse, because if Afghanistan collapses, we will see uncontrolled migratory flows toward neighboring countries, with consequent destabilization.”

He said, “We must find a mechanism to finance the state without giving money to the Taliban, to prevent it from having an economic meltdown.” Di Maio added he does “not believe that there is the possibility of recognition of this government” while “there is a government in Afghanistan that has about 17 members who appear on terrorist lists.”

“What the international community is asking the Taliban is to allow aid to be delivered without it going through the Taliban authorities,” according to Haroun Rahimi of the American University of Afghanistan. He says the Taliban have indicated they are interested in observing that condition.

But it wasn’t clear Tuesday, as the G-20 meeting concluded, whether any formal and detailed agreement about aid delivery has been reached with the Taliban. U.N. officials say cash could be injected into Afghanistan via U.N. trust funds and overseen by the international organization.

In Berlin, caretaker Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany is not yet prepared to recognize the Taliban as Afghanistan’s government since they have not met the inclusiveness standards demanded of them. But she reaffirmed Berlin’s promise of $694 million in aid to the country.

America and the Taliban

U.S. diplomats met bilaterally with the Taliban Saturday in Doha, the first face-to-face talks with American officials since the Taliban took over Afghanistan. U.S. officials described the talks in the Qatari capital as “candid and professional,” with the American side focusing on security issues, including ensuring Afghanistan is not again used as a base by international jihadists, women’s rights and safe passage for all Afghans and internationals wanting to leave the country.

The Taliban called for international recognition of their government and an end to economic sanctions.

Speaking in Doha publicly, the Taliban’s foreign minister, Amir Khan Muttaqi, appealed to the world for good relations but avoided making any firm commitments on girls’ education despite international demands to allow all Afghan children to go back to school.

“The international community needs to start cooperating with us,” he said at an event sponsored by the Center for Conflict and Humanitarian Studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies.

Kremlin conference

Draghi, whose country holds the rotating G-20 chair, struggled to bring the G-20 countries together for Tuesday’s extraordinary summit. Both Russia and China oppose Western plans to impose conditions on aid to Afghanistan. Neither Russian President Vladimir Putin nor Chinese leader Xi Jinping participated in Tuesday’s virtual meeting.

And breaking international ranks, the Kremlin has arranged a rival summit on Afghanistan scheduled for October 20. Pakistan, India and Iran have been invited to attend the Moscow conference.
…

U.N. agencies warn the window for providing humanitarian assistance for millions of needy Afghans is rapidly closing as winter approaches and access to remote, snowed-in areas will be cut off. 

Relief officials say temperatures have dipped below zero Celsius at night, and snow has been known to fall in October in Afghanistan. 

Speaking on Zoom from the capital of Kabul, U.N. refugee agency spokesman Babar Baloch said far too many people have not been reached. 

“Let us not forget winter in Afghanistan is harsh. Winter in Afghanistan can kill if people do not have the resources and if you end up being under the open skies,” Baloch said. “So, it is really merciless. … It is very important to get that support to reach more and more Afghans as soon as possible.” 

Afghanistan is one of the world’s worst emergencies. Nearly half of Afghanistan’s population of 40 million people required international aid before the Taliban took control of the country in mid-August. 

Baloch said those numbers are growing and include some 3.5 million people displaced by conflict. With needs increasing, he said humanitarian operations must be scaled up quickly. He said the UNHCR is in regular contact with the ruling Taliban to help this effort go forward. 

“We rely on them in terms of access to areas,” he said. “We rely on them for our security. There are encouraging signs in that sense, and they have been kind of highlighting to us the needs of the people on the ground as we go and do more assessments and bring in more supplies.” 

Baloch said it is difficult for people not on the ground to know how dire and desperate conditions are for the Afghan people, and winter will only add to their miseries. 

 
…

With Afghanistan facing humanitarian and economic crises, G-20 leaders are set to meet virtually Tuesday to discuss ways to meet aid needs and address security concerns following the Taliban’s August takeover. 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi is hosting the summit, with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, U.S. President Joe Biden, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and leaders from European G-20 nations among those expected to participate. 

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell pledged help Monday, saying at an EU ministerial meeting that the “humanitarian and socioeconomic situation in Afghanistan is on the verge of collapse.” 

“Today we agreed on having a calibrated approach to give direct support to the Afghan population in order to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, while certainly not recognizing the Taliban,” Borrell said. “We will deliver the aid through our multilateral partners while respecting our agreed principles of engagement.” 

Guterres said Monday that Afghanistan is facing “a make-or-break moment” as he called on the world to act. 

Before the Taliban takeover, international aid accounted for 75% of Afghanistan’s state spending, but governments and international organizations have cut off such funding and frozen Afghanistan’s assets. 

Guterres said Monday that banks in Afghanistan are closing and that health care and other essential services have been suspended in many places. He warned the humanitarian crisis, which is affecting half the country’s population, is growing. 

“The Afghan people cannot suffer a collective punishment because the Taliban misbehave,” Guterres said. 

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

Five Indian soldiers were killed in a fierce gunbattle with militants fighting against Indian rule in the Himalayan region of Kashmir on Monday, officials said, as violence in the disputed region has increased in recent weeks. 

Police and soldiers cordoned off a forested area in southern Surankote area following an intelligence report that militants were present there, said Lt. Col. Devender Anand, an Indian army spokesman.

As troops launched a search operation, militants opened heavy gunfire that critically wounded an army officer and four soldiers, Anand said. They were evacuated to a nearest medical facility but died there, he said. 

A reinforcement of soldiers and police was sent to the area, Anand said, adding that the fighting was ongoing. 

No rebel group has immediately issued any statement.

India and Pakistan claim the divided territory of Kashmir in its entirety. Most Muslim Kashmiris support the rebel goal of uniting the territory, either under Pakistani rule or as an independent country. Tens of thousands of civilians, rebels and government forces have been killed in the conflict since 1989. 

Monday’s fighting comes amid a sweeping crackdown by government forces in the Kashmir Valley following a string of targeted killings in the region’s main city of Srinagar last week. Police detained over 500 people for questioning after suspected militants shot and killed a prominent Kashmiri Hindu chemist, two schoolteachers of the Hindu and Sikh faiths, and a Hindu street food vendor from India’s eastern state of Bihar. 

The killings appeared to have triggered widespread fear among minority communities, with many Hindu families opting to leave the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. 
…

On their trek north toward the United States, some 19,000 migrant children have crossed the dangerous jungle sprawling the border between Panama and Colombia so far this year, UNICEF said Monday.   

The number of children who crossed the Darien Gap is almost three times higher than the total for the previous five years, it said in a statement, adding that one-fifth of migrants crossing the border are children, and half of them are under 5 years old.   

In 2021, at least five children were found dead in the jungle, the agency said, adding that “more than 150 children arrived in Panama without their parents, some of them are newborn babies — a nearly 20-time increase compared to last year.” 

Migrant children sometimes travel with relatives or in the hands of human smugglers.   

Jean Gough, UNICEF regional director, said, “Deep in the jungle, robbery, rape and human trafficking are as dangerous as wild animals, insects and the absolute lack of safe drinking water. Week after week, more children are dying, losing their parents or getting separated from their relatives while on this perilous journey.” 

UNICEF said migrants of more than 50 nationalities — from Africa, South Asia and South America — have crossed the area. 

In early 2021, Panamanian authorities had warned of a possible crisis after opening the borders that had for months been closed because of the pandemic.   

By September, the immigration authorities of the Central American nation reported a record 91,305 migrants entered from neighboring Colombia. Of these, 56,676 were Haitians and 12,870 Cubans. 

The Darien Gap, an extensive and inhospitable strip of tropical forest that divides Panama and Colombia, is considered one of the world’s most dangerous journeys. 

Migrants move along trails, vulnerable to drug gangs and assailants, wildlife, and rivers. 
…

The U.N. secretary-general appealed Monday for urgent international support to prevent the collapse of Afghanistan’s economy, a day ahead of a summit of G20 leaders on the situation in that country.

“This is a make-or-break moment,” Antonio Guterres told reporters at U.N. headquarters.

He said that while the United Nations is working to assist the 18 million Afghans in need of humanitarian assistance, it will not be enough to prevent a bigger crisis if the economy fails.

“I urge the world to take action and inject liquidity into the Afghan economy to avoid collapse,” he said.

He said the international community is moving too slowly on this issue, and that cash can be injected without violating international laws or compromising principles, including through non-governmental organizations and the United Nations – bypassing the Taliban.

“One thing that for me is clear: the Afghan people cannot suffer a collective punishment because the Taliban misbehaved,” he said. “People should not die of hunger in any circumstance.”

Afghanistan’s economy was already in trouble before the Taliban took over the government on August 15, but their arrival has further strained it, as nations hesitant to deal with them have halted development aid and frozen the government’s foreign assets.

The secretary-general underscored that it is now the Taliban’s responsibility to find “a way back from the abyss”, but in the meantime, the economy has to be able to “breathe again.”

The G20, under the chairmanship of Italy, will convene virtually on Tuesday for a special session to discuss political and humanitarian issues related to the country. Guterres is scheduled to address the summit.

He warned that without economic action, desperation could lead to a new migration crisis.

“Without food, without jobs, without their rights protected, we will see more and more Afghans fleeing their homes in search of a better life,” he warned.

He said the export of illicit drugs – Afghanistan is the world’s top cultivator of opium poppy — as well as criminal and terrorist networks, would likely increase in such a scenario.

“This will not only badly affect Afghanistan itself, but also the region and the rest of the world,” he warned.

The U.N. chief said the world body continues to engage with the Taliban in order to gain humanitarian access. Guterres said they have been cooperative and “progressively granted access” to areas, as well as provide security to aid workers when needed.

But he expressed concern that the group has broken commitments on respecting the rights of women and girls.

“Broken promises lead to broken dreams for the women and girls of Afghanistan,” he said. “I strongly appeal to the Taliban to keep their promises to women and girls and fulfill their obligations under international human rights and humanitarian law.”

He said results have been slow.

“Engagement is daily work,” he said of U.N. discussions with the Taliban on this issue. “We might have difficulties, we might fail here and there, but one thing I can promise is we will not give up.”
…

In India, as in other countries, the COVID-19 pandemic had a devastating impact on many restaurants forcing hundreds to shut down. But some entrepreneurs were not disheartened and launched new food businesses during the pandemic. Anjana Pasricha reports from New Delhi.
Camera: Rakesh Kumar
…

The mynah bird squawks from a new cage in the French ambassador’s sunlit living room in Abu Dhabi, a far cry from its life as the pet of a young Afghan woman who has since found refuge in France. 

Talkative, yellow-beaked “Juji” had a brief star turn on social media, its story of survival amid the frenzied evacuations from Taliban-run Afghanistan striking a chord with a global audience. 

While scenes from the American-led airlift from Kabul after 20 years of war — such as Afghans falling to their deaths after trying to cling to the wheels of a military transport jet — gripped the world, France also was intensely involved in evacuating those who had risked their lives to cooperate with its government over the years.

French Ambassador Xavier Chatel was scrambling to support the efforts at Al-Dhafra air base in the United Arab Emirates. Thousands of Afghan evacuees flooded the base near the UAE capital, along with military bases across the region, to be screened by American, French and other authorities over 12 sweltering days in August.

“There were many exhilarating stories because there were artists, there were musicians, there were people who were so relieved that they could be evacuated,” Chatel told The Associated Press Sunday from his residence overlooking the waters of the Persian Gulf. “But at the same time there was also an outpouring of distress.”

About 2,600 Afghan interpreters, artists, journalists, activists and military contractors squeezed onto flights out of Kabul to Abu Dhabi on their way to Paris with barely enough time to consider all they’d left behind. French authorities had started evacuations around a year ago, with 2,400 people airlifted from Kabul in the months before the fall, Chatel said. 

Amid the chaos at Al-Dhafra, Chatel received a security alert. Officers, on the lookout for al-Qaida and Islamic State extremist threats, had discovered illegal cargo on board. 

A woman no older than 20 appeared, clutching a mystery cardboard box. Packed inside was her beloved pet with clipped wings — the famously chatty mynah, common in its range across Southeast Asia.

But because of sanitary concerns, there was no way she could take the small bird with her to Paris. 

She was in tears, Chatel said. He declined to disclose details about the young woman and her circumstances for privacy reasons, except to say that “she had lost everything. She had lost her country. She had lost her house, she had lost her life.” 

Chatel’s story of what happened next took hold on Twitter last week and turned Juji into a minor sensation, providing an uplifting counterpoint to the economic and humanitarian crises afflicting Afghanistan amid the Taliban takeover. 

After receiving detailed instructions about Juji’s dietary preferences — cucumbers, grapes, bread slices and the occasional potato — Chatel decided to adopt the bird, promising he’d take good care of it.

The young woman found the ambassador on Twitter soon after landing in France. Top of her mind upon starting a new life as a refugee was her pet stranded on the Arabian Peninsula.

Chatel replied with videos of Juji snacking on fruit, flitting around its white cage and even learning French from his marble-floored living room. After chirping in Pashto for its first few days in Abu Dhabi, Juji had managed to utter something akin to “Bonjour.” 

“[The young woman] told me something which still remains with me,” Chatel said. “The fact that the bird was still alive and that he was well looked after gave her faith and hope to start again.” 

Exactly why the story was so avidly embraced on social media remains a mystery, Chatel said. But there were no good news days out of Afghanistan during the anguished withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces.

A suicide bomber blew himself up at Kabul airport in late August, killing scores of Afghans and 13 U.S. service members, and those who managed to escape their homes for new lives abroad were grappling with feelings of bewilderment and guilt. With the country’s economy in free fall, ordinary people have struggled to survive.

At Al-Dhafra air base in August, you could see the fear in people’s faces, Chatel said. Children cried at the sound of popping balloons. One woman said she had “forgotten” her parents in a traumatic haze at Kabul airport. Parents arrived with stories of children they’d abandoned. 

Until Chatel can devise a way to reunite Juji with its former owner, he said the black-winged bird remains a reminder to France of those frantic days, and the courage of those embarking on new lives and the emotional toll of so many left behind. 

“In the middle of this,” Chatel said, “in the middle of these hundreds of people arriving here, there was this girl and there was this bird.” 
…

Talks between Indian and Chinese army commanders to disengage troops from key friction areas along their border have ended in a stalemate and failed to ease a 17-month standoff that has sometimes led to deadly clashes, the two sides said Monday. 

The continuing standoff means the two nations will keep troops in the forward areas of Ladakh for a second consecutive winter in dangerously freezing temperatures. 

India’s defense ministry, in a statement, said it gave “constructive suggestions” but the Chinese side was “not agreeable” and “could not provide any forward-looking proposals.” A statement from a Chinese military spokesperson said “the Indian side sticks to unreasonable and unrealistic demands, adding difficulties to the negotiations.” 

The commanders from both armies met for the talks Sunday after a gap of two months at Moldo on the Chinese side in the Ladakh area. 

Since February, both India and China have withdrawn troops from some faceoff sites on the northern and southern banks of Pangong Tso, Gogra and Galwan Valley, but they continue to maintain extra troops as part of a multi-tier deployment.  

Troops have been added at Demchok and Depsang Plains, Indian media reports say.  

Sunday’s talks came amid frustration expressed by the Indian army chief at what he called the massive deployment of troops and weaponry by the Chinese side. 

“Yes, it is a matter of concern that the large-scale buildup has occurred and continues to be in place, and to sustain that kind of a buildup, there has been an equal amount of infrastructure development on the Chinese side,” Gen. M.M. Naravane said on Saturday. 

“So, it means that they (China) are there to stay. We are keeping a close watch on all these developments, but if they are there to stay, we are there to stay, too,” he said. 

The Chinese statement from Senior Col. Long Shaohua of the Western Theater Command said “China’s determination to safeguard its sovereignty is unwavering, and China hopes India will not misjudge the situation.” 

Temperatures in the forward areas in Ladakh drop to 30 below zero Celsius (22 below zero Fahrenheit) around January. The troops from both sides used to retreat to their traditional summer holding positions around this time, but since the faceoff started in May 2020 have continued to remain close to the disputed border. 

Both countries have stationed tens of thousands of soldiers backed by artillery, tanks and fighter jets along the de facto border called the Line of Actual Control. Last year, 20 Indian troops were killed in a clash with Chinese soldiers involving clubs, stones and fists along the disputed border. China said it lost four soldiers. 

The Line of Actual Control separates Chinese and Indian-held territories from Ladakh in the west to India’s eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims in its entirety. India and China fought a deadly war over the border in 1962. 

Since the standoff began last year, the Chinese have been building build dozens of large weather-proof structures along the LAC in eastern Ladakh for their troops to stay in during the winter. New helipads, widening of airstrips, new barracks, new surface-to-air missile sites and radar locations have also been reported by Indian media. 
…

The United States and Britain warned their citizens on Monday to avoid hotels in Afghanistan, days after dozens were killed at a mosque in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group active in Afghanistan, Islamic State Khorasan. 

The Taliban, which seized power in August and declared an Islamic emirate, are seeking international recognition and assistance to avoid a humanitarian disaster and ease Afghanistan’s economic crisis. 

But, as the hard-line Islamist group transitions from a rebel army to a governing power, they are struggling to contain the threat from the Afghanistan chapter of IS.  

“U.S. citizens who are at or near the Serena Hotel should leave immediately,” the U.S. State Department said, citing “security threats” in the area. 

“In light of the increased risks you are advised not to stay in hotels, particularly in Kabul (such as the Serena Hotel),” Britain’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office added. 

Since the Taliban takeover, many foreigners have left Afghanistan, but some journalists and aid workers remain in the capital. 

The well-known Serena, a luxury hotel popular with business travelers and foreign guests, has twice been the target of attacks by the Taliban. 

In 2014, just weeks before the presidential election, four teenage gunmen with pistols hidden in their socks managed to penetrate several layers of security, killing nine people, including an AFP journalist and members of his family. 

In 2008, a suicide bombing left six dead. 

In August, during a chaotic evacuation of foreign nationals and at-risk Afghans, NATO countries issued a chorus of warnings about an imminent threat, telling people to stay away from Kabul airport.  

Hours later, a suicide bomber detonated in a crowd gathered around one of the airport gates, killing scores of civilians and 13 American service members.  

The attack was claimed by IS Khorasan, which has since targeted several Taliban guards and claimed a devastating bomb attack in Kunduz city on Friday that ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers, the bloodiest assault since US forces left the country in August. 
…

The United Nations and the government of Bangladesh on Saturday signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in aiding protection and management of Rohingya refugees on an island in the Bay of Bengal where thousands have been relocated from crammed camps near the border with Myanmar, the U.N. said in a statement.

More than 19,000 out of the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh have already been moved to the Bhasan Char island by the government, and the U.N. said one of the key reasons to sign the memorandum was to start serving that population.

The government had earlier said that it has a plan to relocate 100,000 refugees to the island in phases from the camps in Cox’s Bazar district in southeastern Bangladesh.

The new agreement represents a shift. The U.N. and other humanitarian groups had criticized the relocation, saying the 30-year-old island in the country’s Noakhali district was not fit for habitation. But the government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been insisting that the island was developed by spending more than $112 million. It used to be regularly submerged by monsoon rains. The island now has sea walls, hospitals, schools and mosques, the government says.

After Saturday’s agreement, authorities said another 81,000 refugees would be relocated to the island over the next three months. 

In a statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said that the new agreement was a further expression of the Bangladesh’s “generosity and support toward the Rohingya population until they can return safely and sustainably to Myanmar.” 

The agreement also allows for close cooperation between the government and the U.N. for services and activities to benefit the increasing numbers of Rohingya refugees living on the island. 

The statement said that the U.N. has held discussions with the Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, as well as those already on the island, prior to signing of the agreement.

“These cover key areas of protection, education, skills-training, livelihoods and health, which will help support the refugees to lead decent lives on the island and better prepare them for sustainable return to Myanmar in the future,” according to the statement.

Johannes Van Der Klaauw, representative at the UNHCR, said the organization has seen the island and believes “significant infrastructure” has been put in place by the Bangladesh government to offset environmental hazards.

Klaauw also said the memorandum states that movement of refugees back and forth from the island to the main camps in southern Bangladesh will be permitted on a conditional basis.

Refugees will also have a chance to earn a living through odd jobs that will be accessible once aid organizations set up on the island.

“If ever future refugees move to Bhasan Char, it is on an informed and voluntary basis, and they have freedom of movement around on the Char (island),” he said.

But some Rohingya refugees say they do not want to relocate.

A woman who had moved to the island with her family earlier this year aboard a navy ship that carried batches of refugees to the island said many like her have escaped on boats back to the camp because life on the island is hard for the refugees.

“If people stay there for a couple of years, all of them might start having mental issues,” she said adding that medical and other aid facilities were not very well set up on the island. She was unwilling to be named, fearing retribution. 

Amir Hamza, 63, another refugee said he will not relocate to the island.

“I will go to the country where I was born, my father and grandfather were born. I have love for that country, and I agree to go to that country. I don’t agree to go to another country, island, or any place, even if I am offered milk and rice on a golden plate. I am ready and happy to go to my country, land, and to my home.”

More than 700,000 Rohingya have fled to refugee camps in Bangladesh since August 2017, when the military in Buddhist-majority Myanmar began a harsh crackdown on the Muslim ethnic group following an attack by insurgents. They joined hundreds of thousands of others who have fled to Bangladesh over decades.

While Bangladesh has attempted to start sending refugees back to Myanmar under a bilateral framework in recent years, no one has been willing to go. Hasina repeatedly told the U.N. and other international partners that her administration would not force any refugees to return to Myanmar but urged them to put pressure on Myanmar for creating a safe environment to facilitate their voluntary return. 

The Rohingya are not recognized as citizens in Myanmar, rendering them stateless, and vulnerable to other forms of state-sanctioned discrimination.

A U.N.-sponsored investigation in 2018 recommended the prosecution of Myanmar’s top military commanders on charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity for the violence against the Rohingya.
…

Bangladesh police arrested at least 16 Rohingya refugees in a series of raids on camps in Dhaka after the murder of a top Rohingya community leader last week, officials said Sunday.

Rights advocate Mohib Ullah was gunned down 10 days ago by unidentified assailants outside his office at Kutupalong, the world’s largest refugee settlement in Bangladesh’s southeast.

His family and fellow community leaders have blamed the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) — a militant outfit behind a series of attacks on Myanmar security posts — saying Mohib Ullah’s growing popularity had enraged the group. ARSA has denied any involvement in the murder.

The 48-year-old had become one the most respected moderate voices advocating for Rohingya refugees after nearly 800,000 people fled Myanmar for Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district following military crackdowns on their villages in 2017.  

“We have arrested 16 people in the past three days as part of a special drive we have launched after the murder of Mohib Ullah,” said Naimul Huq, the police official in charge of the raids.  

But Huq added that those arrested were not “involved in the murder of Mohib Ullah” and ARSA does not operate in the camps. 

The arrests signal a wider law enforcement crackdown on the camps, coming a week after five others were apprehended in connection with the murder and local media reported that one of the men had confessed. 

Rohingya community leaders and rights activists have repeatedly said members of the militant outfit are active in the refugee settlement and Mohib Ullah’s family had told AFP last week that they were afraid of leaving their homes. 

“ARSA has created a reign of terror in the camps,” a senior leader of the slain leader’s rights group told AFP, asking to remain unnamed. 

“Since Mohib Ullah’s murder, I haven’t been able to go to my home. I’ve been hiding since the murder. ARSA members are following us and threatening us. I am helpless.” 

Another community leader said, “ARSA militants tried to kidnap one of my relatives and the son of one of our members. Now we are all scared of our life. They want to kill me.”
…

Government forces have detained at least 500 people in a sweeping crackdown in Indian-controlled Kashmir, local officials said Sunday, following a string of suspected militant attacks and targeted killings in the disputed region.

Assailants fatally shot three Hindus and a Sikh person in the region’s main city of Srinagar this week in a sudden rise in violence against civilians that both pro- and anti-India Kashmiri politicians widely condemned.

Local police blamed the spate of killings on militants fighting against Indian rule in the region for decades. Officials said they had detained in the last three days over 500 people across the Kashmir Valley for questioning, with the majority of detainees from the main city of Srinagar.

Police say militants belonging to The Resistance Front, or TRF, rebel group have shot and killed seven people since last week, pushing up the death toll from such attacks this year to 28 people. While 21 of those slain were Muslims, seven of them belonged to Hindu and Sikh minority communities.

Speaking with reporters recently, the region’s top police officer Dilbag Singh described the killings as a “conspiracy to create terror and communal rift.” 

On Thursday, TRF in a statement on social media claimed the group was targeting those working for Indian authorities and was not picking targets based on faith. The rebel group’s statement could not be independently verified.

Indian officials say TRF is the local front for Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group that is based in Pakistan. The cell was formed after India stripped in 2019 the region of its semi-autonomous status, scrapped its statehood, and undertook a massive security and communications lockdown for months. Kashmir has remained on edge ever since as authorities also put in place a slew of new laws, which critics and many Kashmiris fear could change the region’s demographics.

This last week’s killings appeared to trigger widespread fear among minority communities, with many Hindu families opting to leave the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. Those killed included a prominent Kashmiri Hindu chemist, two schoolteachers of the Hindu and Sikh faiths, and a Hindu street food vendor from India’s eastern state of Bihar.

According to police, those detained in the ensuing crackdown include members of religious groups, anti-India activists and “overground workers,” a term Indian authorities use for militant sympathizers and collaborationists.

The Himalayan territory of Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. Both the nuclear-armed arch-rival powers claim it 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. 
…

Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, has died at 85, state-run broadcaster PTV reported Sunday.

The Pakistani atomic scientist, hailed as a national hero for making his country the world’s first Islamic nuclear power but regarded by the West as a dangerous renegade responsible for smuggling technology to rogue states, died after being transferred to hospital with lung problems, PTV said. 
…

Indian police on Saturday arrested the son of a junior minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government as a suspect days after nine people were killed in a deadly escalation of yearlong demonstrations by tens of thousands of farmers against agriculture laws in northern India, a police officer said.

Four farmers died Sunday when a car owned by Junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra ran over a group of protesting farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, a town in Uttar Pradesh state, officials and farm leaders said.

Farm leaders alleged that Mishra’s son was in the car when it ran over the protesters, which Mishra denied. His driver and three members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, who were in a car, were all killed by the protesters in the violence that broke out after the incident.

Police also said they recovered the body of a local journalist but did not provide further details on how he was killed.

Police officer Upendra Agarwal said on Saturday that Ashish Misra was arrested following daylong questioning in the town after “he failed to furnish any supportive evidence to prove that he was not present in any of the three vehicles that plowed through a crowd of farmers killing four of them.”

His father said that his son was innocent and that he was not present.

Criticism from court

The arrest came a day after India’s top court criticized the state government for not arresting Ashish Mishra, against whom a criminal case of murder is being investigated by the police. On Friday, Mishra made the police wait hours to question him before sending a message that he was unwell and couldn’t make it.

Darshan Pal, a farmers’ leader, and Akhilesh Singh, an opposition Congress party leader, demanded the removal of his father from Modi’s government.

Police earlier this week said they had so far arrested six people and filed a criminal complaint against 14 more, including the minister’s son, in connection with the deaths of the four farmers. The BJP also lodged a criminal complaint against the farmers over the deaths of its members and the car driver, said Arvind Chaurasia, a senior official in charge of the district.

The violence marked an escalation in protests against agriculture laws that farmers say will shatter their livelihoods. The protests have lasted since the government passed the laws last September and have been one of the biggest challenges to Modi. Last week, thousands of farmers gathered at the edges of the capital New Delhi to mark one year of demonstrations.

The government says the changes in the laws were needed to modernize agriculture and boost production through private investment. But the farmers say the laws will devastate their earnings by ending guaranteed pricing and will force them to sell their crops to corporations at cheaper prices.
…

The road leading toward a cremation ground in the Batamaloo neighborhood of Srinagar in Indian-administered Kashmir on Friday reverberated with chants of “Great is the God” and “We Want Justice” as thousands of Sikh mourners carried a body at shoulder height to fulfill its last rites.

The deceased, 40-year-old Supinder Kour, principal of Government Boys Higher Secondary School in downtown Srinagar, was assassinated by anti-India militants along with her colleague Deepak Chand, a teacher, Thursday morning inside the school.

“The incident took place around 11 o’clock,” Jay Singh, a relative of Kour, told VOA at her funeral. “Militants, after entering the school premises, checked the identity of the staff and then killed two people belonging to Sikh and Hindu communities.

“To kill a woman is an act of cowardice,” Singh added, insisting that the targeting of religious minorities sends an unequivocal message to Kashmiri Sikhs and Hindus: Leave Kashmir.

“But we are not going anywhere because we are part and parcel of Kashmiri society,” Singh said. “We were born in Kashmir, and we will die in Kashmir.”

Spate of attacks

The disputed territory along the foothills of the Himalayas has witnessed back-to-back civilian killings since October 2, leaving the region in a state of shock.

The Resistance Front, or TRF, a lesser-known militant organization believed to be an offshoot of the Pakistan-based militant outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, claimed responsibility for six of seven civilian killings in a five-day period.

“These teachers had on 15 August (India’s Independence Day) harassed and threatened parents with dire consequences if any student didn’t attend the occupier regime’s 15th of August filthy function at their school,” TRF said in an October 7 statement explaining why it had carried out the targeted killings.

“We target only occupier mercenary forces and occupier stooges, collaborators and traitors,” the statement said.

But relatives of Kour say the principal was on leave in mid-August and couldn’t have been involved in Independence Day events.

Twin shootings

On the evening of October 2, two men were shot just hours apart at two different locations in Srinagar. Both victims — Mohammad Shafi Dar, 50, and Majid Ahmad Gojri, 25 — had been whisked from the respective crime scenes only to be declared dead on arrival at Srinagar’s Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital.

Dar, according to a subsequent TRF statement, was killed because he was close to India’s domestic intelligence agency, while Gojri was an alleged counterinsurgency “informer” for Jammu and Kashmir police.

Gojri’s family could not be reached for comment. But approaching a three-story home in Srinagar’s densely populated Batamaloo neighborhood, one could feel the weight of mourning as members of Dar’s family received guests to pay homage to his memory.

“He was innocent and worked only for the Power Development Department of Jammu and Kashmir, unlike what is being claimed by militants,” Mehraj Ud Din Dar, the deceased’s elder brother, told VOA, with tears in his eyes. “He had a limited friend circle and used to spend most of his time at home.”

Dar, according to his brother, was parking his motorcycle outside his home when family members heard gunshots followed by his screams, “God … they are going to kill me!”

“I have been shot! Three bullets!”

The day of the shooting, Dar had spent most of his time with family, leaving home only after evening prayers to venture around bustling Lal Chowk square in the city center.

“Had he been working for [Indian intelligence], would he have roamed freely?” asks Dar’s elder brother. No, “he would have taken precautions while moving about.”

One of Dar’s nieces, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of repercussions, said no family members suspected Dar of having ties to Indian intelligence, especially as Dar, to the best of their knowledge, had never been the target of militant threats or intimidation.

“Never! He never showed signs of being threatened,” she told VOA. “Why would he have pledged alliance with [Indian intelligence]? He was a divorced person and was planning to get remarried and was supposed to go with a matchmaker to see a girl for himself on Sunday.”

Prominent pharmacist gunned down

On Tuesday, as pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo attended to customers at his drugstore in a high-security zone of Srinagar’s Iqbal Park neighborhood, assassins arrived and shot the elderly minority Hindu pandit at point-blank range.

A prominent member of Srinagar’s Hindu community, Bindroo was known as a vocal humanist who chose to stay in the scenic Kashmir territory with his family when the armed insurgency was at its peak in the early 1990s, even as fellow Hindus fled by the thousands, abandoning ancestral homes and scattering to different parts of India.

“People of all faiths are mourning his death,” said his son, Dr. Sidharth Bindroo, explaining that his father “raised the standard of his profession.”

“He was an uncontroversial and secular man who in the ’90s worked day and night to deliver life-saving drugs in Kashmir valley,” he said.

Bindroo’s death, which came as a shock not only to his family but to the entire Kashmir valley, drew condemnation from high-level officials.

“It is not just another brutal murder of one more member of minority Hindu community in Kashmir. It is brutal assassination and is the murder of trust, love, affection, faith and hope,” said Girdhari Lal Raina, spokesperson for the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.

A statement released by TRF called Bindroo a “stooge” for Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, an Indian right-wing Hindu nationalist paramilitary volunteer organization that has aimed to alter regional demographics since India stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its semiautonomous status in August 2019.

The day Bindroo was gunned down, militants also killed two other people — Mohammad Shafi Lone, a taxi operators’ union president, and Virendra Paswan, a nonlocal street vendor — for supposedly acting as police informants. TRF claimed responsibility for Lone’s murder, while Islamic State Wilayat-e-Hind, an Islamic State offshoot, said it carried out Paswan’s assassination.

Speaking with VOA, Dr. Sidharth Bindroo said that although his father was a household name in the Kashmir Valley before his death, his murder — alongside those of the other victims, whom he would have supported regardless of ethnic or religious differences — has now become a global call for the majority population to protect its minorities.

“My father’s killing is imperative among every majority population in every part of the world to protect their minorities,” he said.

Police following leads

According to Kashmir police, 28 civilians have been killed in India-administrated Kashmir in 2021. Among the victims, 20 were Muslim, five belonged to the Hindu pandit caste, one was Sikh and two others were non-local laborers.

“Police are working hard, and we are identifying all such part-time/hybrid militants, and strictest action shall be taken against them,” said Inspector General K Vijay Kumar at a recent press conference, adding that Kashmir police have received several leads.

“We have also been launching operations along with other security forces. We appeal to the general public, especially minority communities, not to panic. We have been maintaining peace and a secured environment and will continue to do so,” he said.
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Senior U.S. officials will hold in-person talks beginning Saturday with representatives of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban for the first time since the U.S. withdrawal from the country.

U.S. State Department officials said the U.S. delegation will meet Saturday and Sunday in Doha, Qatar, with senior Taliban representatives.

Reuters news agency, which first reported the talks, said the U.S. delegation will include officials from the State Department, USAID and the U.S. intelligence community.

A senior Taliban official based in the group’s political office confirmed their leaders are set to meet with a U.S. delegation Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier Friday, the Taliban announced that Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, along with several top officials, left Kabul for Doha.

“The delegation will hold discussions with Qatari officials as well as representatives of other countries about current political situation and relations,” tweeted Taliban Foreign Ministry spokesperson Abdul Qahar Balkhi.He did not name any country and said the Taliban intelligence chief is also part of the delegation.

This will be the first face-to-face meeting at a senior level since the United States withdrew its troops from Afghanistan in late August and the Islamist Taliban took over the country.

The high-level U.S. team will press the Taliban to ensure continued safe passage out of Afghanistan for U.S. citizens as well as Afghan allies from the nearly 20-year military conflict, according to Reuters.

The U.S. delegation will also reportedly hold the Taliban accountable to their commitment that they will not allow Afghan soil to become a sanctuary for al-Qaida or other terrorists and improve access for relief aid as Afghanistan faces a growing humanitarian crisis and an economic meltdown.

U.S. officials told Reuters the meeting does not mean Washington is moving to give recognition to the Taliban government. They said that would depend on whether the Taliban live up to their commitments to form an inclusive government, protect rights of women to work and allow girls to receive an education, among other issues.

Some information in this report came from Reuters news agency. 
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Afghan girls are unable to attend school because the Taliban have imposed stringent restrictions on women in the country. Several million girls are affected, as Yalda Baktash reports.
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