Afghan Journalist Nasima Rawnaq’s visa extension in Pakistan was rejected for the second time, and “no reasons [were] given for it,” she said.

“Now, I do not know what to do,” said Rawnaq, who fled to Pakistan in June. “I can’t return to Afghanistan, as my life is in danger … and no relocation to a third country in sight.”

Rawnaq is one of the hundreds of Afghan journalists who have escaped to Pakistan since the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021, hoping to be relocated to a third country.

Now she and other Afghan journalists face deportation as the Pakistani government plans to begin deporting 1.7 million undocumented Afghans, including those “overstaying their visa validity periods.”

On Oct. 3, Pakistani Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti announced that all undocumented immigrants had until Nov. 1 to leave the country or face deportation. 

Rawnaq said she will be considered “illegal” with no valid visa. 

“I am afraid here as I was in Afghanistan. It is possible that I [will] get arrested and deported,” said Rawnaq, who lives with her husband and child in Islamabad.

After Kabul fell to the Taliban, Rawnaq continued to work underground as a journalist, working nearly two years in Afghanistan at various media outlets.

“I was afraid whenever the door was knocked. I was thinking the Taliban were coming after me,” she said. She finally decided earlier this year that she had to leave. 

About 700,000 Afghans fled to Pakistan after the Taliban’s takeover, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

UNHCR stated that 3.7 million Afghans live in Pakistan, of whom 1.7 million are deemed to be in the country illegally, with little or no protection or opportunity to apply for asylum.

‘Very worried’

“All Afghans here in Pakistan are very worried, particularly those Afghans whose lives were in danger,” said an Afghan journalist who requested anonymity for safety reasons.

He said about 200 Afghan journalists who fled the Taliban are currently in Pakistan and that most of them are hoping to be relocated to a third country.

He added that the exact number is not known “since they continue to flee to Pakistan and leave the country for relocation to other countries.”

Since the Taliban takeover, journalists in Afghanistan face numerous challenges including censorship, violence and economic hardship, with women’s voices silenced.

The journalist, who fled Afghanistan in recent months, told VOA that the international community should help in the relocation of these journalists, as “deporting them to Afghanistan could put them at great risk.”

“The best way ahead would be to speed up the relocation processes,” the journalist said.

Dozens of former U.S. officials and representatives of organizations who resettle Afghan refugees called on Pakistan to stop deporting those who fled the Taliban. 

‘Becoming difficult’

Afghan journalist Marzia Hafizi, who was evacuated alongside her mother and five sisters to Pakistan in 2022, told VOA that they face uncertainty as there is “no progress” in their cases.

“I am losing hope, and I do not know whether we would be relocated to a third country or not,” said Hafizi, who said she fled Afghanistan because of threats. 

Hafizi, who now works in Pakistan with a transborder TV station, told VOA that the decision to deport Afghan refugees is making their lives “even more difficult.”

Hafizi said that because of her 13 years of media work, including with TOLOnews, she faces threats in Afghanistan if she returns.

But she said it is becoming difficult to live in Pakistan, and she had to curtail her outdoor activities.

“I was going to the nearby park daily to walk, but for the last two to three months, I stopped going there, as I am afraid that the police might arrest me,” Hafizi said.

She said the owners of the house where she lives have been told not to rent their houses to Afghan refugees who do not have documents or valid visas. 

“A few days ago, the owner of the house where we live on rent called and told me that you should have valid visas or else you should vacate the place,” Hafizi said.

In a statement released on Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said, “The Pakistani government is using threats, abuse and detention to coerce Afghan asylum-seekers without legal status to return to Afghanistan or face deportation.”

The Pakistani government has rejected calls for it to suspend the deportation plan.
…

As Afghans residing illegally in Pakistan leave on Islamabad’s orders, many local business owners are seeing labor shortages and a decline in business activity. VOA Pakistan Bureau Chief Sarah Zaman reports from the bulk produce market in Islamabad, where Afghans make up the majority of traders, vendors and manual labor. VOA footage by Malik Waqar Ahmed.
…

Tens of thousands of Afghan migrants on trucks and other vehicles rushed to the border Tuesday, the last day of an official deadline for all foreigners without legal status to depart Pakistan voluntarily or face arrest and forcible expulsion.

Pakistani officials have reported that refugee families, many of them poverty-stricken, were returning to Afghanistan through Torkham and Chaman border crossings in the provinces of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Baluchistan. Both Pakistani provinces host the majority of Afghan refugees.

Authorities unleashed a crackdown on foreigners residing illegally in the country two months ago in the wake of a dramatic surge in deadly militant attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan, with some blamed on Afghan nationals.

Amid the ongoing crackdown, Pakistan’s Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti announced on October 3 that all migrants without legal status had until November 1 to leave or face deportation. He said at the time that an estimated 1.7 million Afghans were among those illegally residing in the country.

Since then, convoys of Afghan migrant families have been seen departing Pakistani cities, including Karachi, Quetta, Peshawar and the capital of Islamabad with whatever belongings they could take on the back of trucks.

In a video statement released Tuesday, Bugti said that authorities would begin rounding up and deporting foreigners without lawful status in what he stressed would be a “long and gradual” operation

Bugti told reporters on Monday that more than 200,000 migrants had left Pakistan and returned to Afghanistan over the past two months. He said that individuals who remain in the country past the deadline would be detained and held in designated “holding centers” before being transported to the nearest Afghan border crossing and repatriated.

On Tuesday, police in parts of the capital used mosque loudspeakers in residential areas housing Afghan asylum seekers to urge them to leave by the deadline to avoid being arrested.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban have called on Pakistan to reconsider its deportation plan, decrying it as “inhumane” and “unacceptable.” They also rejected allegations Afghan refugees were responsible for Pakistan’s security challenges.

The United Nations and human rights groups have warned Islamabad against forcing Afghans out and said it could expose them to retribution and abuses by the hardline Taliban.

“The Pakistani government is using threats, abuse and detention to coerce Afghan asylum seekers without legal status to return to Afghanistan or face deportation,” Human Rights Watch said Tuesday.

The U.S.-based rights defender said that broad calls by Pakistani officials for mass deportation had instigated increased police abuse against Afghans, including harassment, assault and arbitrary detention.

“The situation in Afghanistan remains dangerous for many who fled, and deportation will expose them to significant security risks, including threats to their lives and well-being,” the watchdog warned.

Pakistani officials have rejected calls for suspending the deportation plan.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zohra Baloch reiterated on Monday that the plan applies to all foreigners without legal status, irrespective of their nationality and country of origin. “The decision is in the exercise of Pakistan’s sovereign domestic laws and compliant with applicable international norms and principles,” she said.

Pakistan has repeatedly stated that 1.4 million legally registered Afghan refugees and hundreds of thousands of documented economic migrants from Afghanistan are not subject to the crackdown.

Islamabad estimates that more than 700,000 Afghan men, women and children arrived in Pakistan after the Taliban takeover of their country two years ago, and a majority of them have either overstayed their visas or lack legal status.

However, officials stressed that Afghans who fled the country for their association with the United States-led foreign troops and are currently waiting for relocation to third countries do not need to worry about deportation.

On Tuesday, U.S. ambassador Donald Blome met with Pakistani caretaker foreign minister, Jalil Abbas Jilani, and discussed, among other issues, the “safety and efficient processing” of Afghans eligible for relocation or resettlement in the United States.

“The ambassador highlighted the two countries’ mutual interest in ensuring the safety and security of refugees and asylum seekers, and the importance of putting in place appropriate screening mechanisms so that individuals with legitimate claims of credible fear are not placed in harm’s way,” a U.S. embassy spokesman said in a post-meeting statement.

U.S. officials have shared with Pakistan a list of about 25,000 Afghan individuals who could be eligible for immigration to or resettlement in the United States.

Pakistan has hosted millions of Afghan refugees fleeing decades of conflict and persecution back home, making it the host of one of the world’s largest refugee populations.

Pakistani officials maintain that the deportations are in line with their responsibility to ensure security of the country’s population of 241 million, where anti-Afghan sentiment has lately been growing amid an economic crisis and historic levels of inflation.

Taliban authorities say they have put in place emergency arrangements on the Afghan side of the border to provide temporary shelter, health care, food and other services to families returning voluntarily or are expected to be forced out of Pakistan after the November 1 deadline.

The U.S. and allied troops withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021 when the Taliban seized power from an American-backed government in Kabul and established their men-only administration.

The Taliban have since imposed their harsh interpretation of Islamic law to govern the conflict-torn, impoverished South Asian nation. They have banned teenage girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade and most women from workplaces in government and private sectors.

No foreign government has recognized the Taliban over human rights concerns, especially their treatment of Afghan women.
…

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made an impassioned plea for peace on Tuesday from a Nepalese site venerated as Buddha’s birthplace, against a backdrop of conflict, including in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.

While on his visit to Nepal, Guterres has spoken of the urgent need for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas to end the “nightmare” of bloodshed.

“In the Middle East, Ukraine, the Sahel, Sudan and many other places around the world, conflict is raging,” Guterres said.

“Global rules and institutions are being undermined as human rights and international law are trampled.”

Guterres held prayers at Lumbini in the south of the Himalayan nation, a site he called a place of “spirituality, serenity, and peace”.

The Buddha — who renounced material wealth to embrace and preach a life of non-attachment —founded a religion that now counts more than 500 million adherents.

“This is a place to reflect on the teachings of Lord Buddha. And to consider what his message of peace, interdependence, and compassion, means in today’s troubled world,” Guterres said.

“In these troubled times, my message to the world from the tranquil gardens of Lumbini is simple: Humanity has a choice. The path to peace is ours to take.”

Guterres on Monday visited the Everest region, which is struggling from rapidly melting glaciers, and on Tuesday warned that the “impacts of the climate crisis are mounting.”

“Humanity is at war with nature and at war with itself,” he said.

The Buddha’s birthplace was lost and overgrown by jungle before its rediscovery in 1896, when the presence of a third-century BC pillar bearing inscriptions allowed historians to identify it as Lumbini.

Since then, it has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage site and is visited by millions of Buddhists every year.
…

Two people were killed and dozens injured in clashes in Bangladesh on Tuesday between anti-government protesters and police on the first day of a three-day protest to push for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) called for the blockade of roads for three days in response to clashes between party supporters and police on Sunday in which one policeman was killed and more than 100 people were injured.

The party has been calling on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign to allow elections scheduled for January to be held under a neutral caretaker government. Her government has rejected the demand.

A police official in the central district of Kishoreganj, where the clashes took place, said two protesters were killed and dozens of people, including 15 policemen, were injured.

“Clashes erupted when they attacked us,” said the police official, who declined to be identified, adding it was not clear how the two were killed.

“We had to fire rubber bullets to bring the situation under control,” he said. 

A BNP leader condemned the police saying they were acting at the behest of the government.

“This brutal killing by the police is cowardly. Sheikh Hasina has given license to the police to kill indiscriminately to stop the movement to restore democracy,” said BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

Hasina came to power in 2009 and oversaw years of strong economic growth but she has been accused of rights violations, cracking down on free speech and suppressing dissent with the jailing of critics.

The government denies the accusations but it is under pressure from Western countries to hold free and fair elections. The United States has said it will restrict visas for Bangladeshis who undermine the democratic process.

Accusations of vote-rigging and the suppression of the opposition, denied by the government, marred elections in 2014 and 2018.
…

India’s financial capital, Mumbai, is grappling with surging levels of air pollution, a relatively new phenomenon in a city whose location along the Arabian Sea had long protected it from the dirty air that engulfs much of North India in winter.

It is the second Indian mega city whose skies have turned grey and where buildings are shrouded in haze after the capital New Delhi that has battled air pollution in winter for years. Each of the two cities is home to about 20 million people.

This is the second year that air pollution levels have soared in Mumbai, say experts. “The pollution levels recorded earlier this month were much higher compared to the same time last year. So, the problem is becoming big,” according to Anumita Roy Chowdhury, Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, at the Center for Science and Environment. “It’s a wake-up call for the city.”

Swiss group IQAir ranked Mumbai as the world’s sixth most polluted city in mid-October. Its air, however, is still not as toxic as that in Delhi, which was ranked number three.

A construction boom that followed a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic and changing weather patterns are being blamed for Mumbai’s smog.

“Construction is currently underway at 6,000 locations in Mumbai. Climate change is adversely affecting the air quality of the Mumbai metropolitan area,” the city municipal corporation said in a statement on October 20.

In the city’s sprawling suburbs, old buildings are being pulled down to make way for tall new residential and commercial towers. Mega infrastructure projects that include a new coastal road and metro lines are under construction to ease congestion in a city whose roads are routinely choked with traffic.

As India’s economy bucks the global trend of a slowdown and posts brisk growth, the government is racing to improve the country’s inadequate infrastructure.

Mumbai city authorities have ordered builders to erect 11-meter-high barricades at construction sites and issued other guidelines to control dust. They also said anti-smog machines will be deployed to spray water to weigh down dust particles along major roads. Burning of garbage has been banned in open grounds.

But as the Air Quality Index in the city rose above 200 on several days this month – more than three times the safe limit, the pollution sparked health concerns.

“I have observed that for the last one and a half month or two months, 70% of the patients who come to the outpatient department of our hospital are suffering from cough, cold, fever, body ache or breathlessness,” said Jalil Parkar, a pulmonologist at the city’s Lilavati Hospital. He links these health issues to both the high air pollution and changing weather patterns. “The numbers suffering from upper respiratory infections used to be much lesser earlier.”

Rising air pollution can cut the life expectancy of people in South Asia, including India, by more than five years according to a study by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute published in August. It said that India is responsible for about 59% of the world’s increase in air pollution since 2013.

Experts pointed out that in India, which is now the world’s most populous nation, cities will continue to see an influx of migrants from rural areas seeking livelihoods.

“Cities will grow, they will become home to more people, and develop infrastructure, but it is important to ensure that construction, waste management and other sources that cause air pollution are controlled with very stringent action plans,” according to Chowdhury. “Those strategies are well known and in place, but the point is how strictly they are implemented,” she pointed out.

Experts have long stressed the need for massive scaling up of public transport in cities like Delhi and Mumbai to reduce the emissions from the huge number of private vehicles. Construction sites also must be brought under very strict dust control measures they say.

Mumbai authorities say they are taking proactive measures to clean up the air. But for city residents, long accustomed to strong sea breezes blowing away dust and other suspended particles, the pollution presents a new hazard.

“It started getting bad last year, but this year is really bad. When I drive past the sea bridge, I can barely see the Mumbai skyline,” says Angita Thomas, who has lived in the city for 15 years. “This is not the city I know. Mumbai was always crowded, but the air was never toxic as it is now.”
…

Pakistan said Monday that almost 200,000 Afghan nationals voluntarily returned to Afghanistan over the past two months ahead of an official deadline for all illegally residing foreigners to leave or face deportation.

The Pakistani government has ordered “illegal/unregistered foreigners” and those “overstaying their visa validity periods” to return to their countries of origin by November 1.

Interior Minister Sarfaraz Bugti told a news conference Monday that individuals who remain in the country past the deadline will be detained and held in designated “holding centers” before being transported to the nearest Afghan border crossing and repatriated.

He reiterated that the crackdown was not aimed at any specific nationality, though he said the targeted community primarily comprises people from Afghanistan.

Bugti, when announcing the deadline in early October, said that an estimated 1.7 million Afghans are among those facing forcible return.

The U.N. refugee agency, UNHCR, reports Pakistan currently is hosting about 1.4 legally registered Afghan refugees and nearly 900,000 Afghans documented as economic migrants. Another 700,000 fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover in August 2021 and took refuge in the neighboring country.

“We have appealed to Pakistan to continue its protection of all vulnerable Afghans who have sought safety in the country and could be at imminent risk if forced to return,” said Matthew Saltmarsh, UNHCR spokesperson.

“UNHCR appreciates the announcements by Pakistan to exclude registered refugees and other categories of vulnerable Afghans from this exercise,” he said but noted that Afghanistan was going through a severe humanitarian crisis with several human rights challenges, particularly for women and girls.

Pakistan, while responding to UNHCR concerns, said Monday that its deportation plan applies to all illegal foreigners residing in the country, irrespective of their nationality and country of origin.

“The decision is in the exercise of Pakistan’s sovereign domestic laws and compliant with applicable international norms and principles,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mumtaz Zohra Baloch said in a statement. She emphasized again that legally registered Afghan refugees “are beyond the purview of this plan,” and government security agencies are directed to ensure their safety.

“The international community must scale up collective efforts to address protracted refugee situations through advancing durable solutions as a matter of priority. Pakistan will continue to work with our international partners to this end,” Baloch stated.

Pakistani officials defend their crackdown, citing a dramatic surge in deadly attacks in the country they say are being orchestrated by Taliban-allied fugitive militants out of Afghan sanctuaries. Islamabad maintains that Afghan nationals carried out several recent suicide bombings in Pakistan.

Taliban authorities rejected the charges and called on Pakistan to “reconsider its plan” of expelling Afghans. However, they have lately made emergency arrangements on the Afghan side to provide shelter, health care, food and other services to families returning voluntarily or are expected to be forced out of Pakistan after the November 1 deadline.

U.N. officials warn Pakistan’s deportation of “undocumented” foreign nationals risks triggering a human rights catastrophe.

“We are very worried that those who are deported face a whole host of human rights violations, including torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, severe discrimination, and lack of access to basic economic and social needs,” said Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the U.N. high commissioner for human rights.

Shamdasani said women are of particular concern as the de facto Taliban rulers “have attempted to completely erase them from any public presence in society — from the workplace, from schools, from even public parks.”

Lisa Schlein contributed to this report from Geneva.
…

Canada has accepted at least 40,000 Afghan refugees who fled the Taliban takeover of their homeland since 2021, helping Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government meet its commitment, the country’s immigration minister said on Monday.

Since the Taliban retook control of Afghanistan, millions of Afghan refugees fled to neighboring countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Uzbekistan. Many refugees were also evacuated to Western countries, including Canada, according to the UNHCR, the U.N. Refugee Agency.

Canada’s Afghanistan resettlement commitment is second only to that of the United States in overall numbers, according to a Canadian government statement. Canada, which is a signatory to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, regularly resettles asylum-seekers and respects their individual right to claim asylum.

Canadian has expedited the processing of eligible applications submitted under the Afghan special measures.

“The horrors faced in Afghanistan at the hands of the Taliban are ongoing, and the impacts to the rights and freedoms of the Afghan people, specifically women and girls, knows no bounds,” Marc Miller, minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, said in a statement.

Canada passed legislation this year that removes a significant hurdle in ensuring the safe transit of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada-IRCC applicants from Afghanistan to third countries.
…

In India’s financial capital, Mumbai, plans to revamp one of the world’s largest slums into a modern city hub has raised concerns about how the redevelopment will impact the livelihoods of tens of thousands of people. But there is also optimism about improving conditions for those living here. Anjana Pasricha spoke to residents in Dharavi, the Mumbai slum that was featured in the movie Slum Dog Millionaire. VOA footage by P. Pallavi.
…

A former Jehovah’s Witness has been detained on suspicion of setting off an explosive device that killed three people and wounded 50 others at a denomination gathering in southern India, authorities said Monday.

Hundreds of Witnesses were at a local prayer session Sunday at the Zamra International Convention Center in the town of Kalamassery in Kerala state when the explosion took place. An improvised explosive device placed inside a tiffin box was believed responsible, the state’s top police officer, Sheik Darvesh Saheb, said.

The suspect was identified by police as Dominic Martin, a former member of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who posted a video on Facebook claiming responsibility for the blast before surrendering to the police. Martin, a local, said in the video he decided to carry out the blast because he feels the Jehovah’s Witness theology is wrong.

“They teach that all people of the world would perish and only they will live. What should we do with people who long for the ruin of the entire people in the world. I could not find a solution. I took the decision realizing that this idea is dangerous to the country,” Martin said in the video.

Police said they were still trying to verify Martin’s claims of responsibility for the blast.

Jehovah’s Witnesses identify as Christians but are guided by distinctive beliefs and practices. They are known for their door-to-door proselytism.

India, with a population of more than 1.4 billion people, has about 60,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses followers, according to its adherents.
…

India’s foreign minister on Monday said the country would “make all efforts” to secure the release of eight ex-navy personnel sentenced to death by a court in Qatar, reportedly for spying for Israel.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he had met the families of the detained Indians and told them the government “attaches the highest importance” to their case.

Indian media report the eight — among them former high-ranking and decorated officers, including captains who once commanded warships — were arrested in Doha in August 2022.

In a post on social media, Jaishankar said that he fully shared “the concerns and pain of the families,” and that the “government will continue to make all efforts to secure their release.”

Qatar has not commented on the case and the charges have not been made public.

India’s navy chief, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, told reporters on Monday that “every effort” was being made by the government to “get relief for our personnel.”

The sentences were only revealed last week when India’s foreign ministry said it was “shocked” at the case.

The eight men were employees of Al Dahra, a Gulf-based company that offers “complete support solutions” to the aerospace, security and defence sectors, according to its website.

The Hindu newspaper reported the men were spying for a “third country”, while the Times of India has said that “various reports claimed they were accused of spying for Israel.”

Israel’s government has not commented on the case.

Meetu Bhargava, the sister of one of the men, dismissed the allegations.

“My brother is 63 years old… Why would he spy for Israel? Why would he do anything like this at his age?” Bhargava was quoted as saying by the Indian Express daily.

She said she would seek the “personal intervention” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Last week, the Indian foreign ministry had said it would take up the verdict with Qatari authorities and would continue to “extend all consular and legal assistance” to the prisoners.

Qatar rarely carries out executions, and the Gulf state has previously said a death sentence is equivalent to a life sentence.

According to Amnesty International, the country executed one condemned Nepali migrant worker in 2020, after a 20-year hiatus.

New Delhi shares historically friendly ties with Doha, a key supplier of natural gas to India. More than two-thirds of Qatar’s 2.8 million population are migrant workers, and many of them are Indian citizens.

Qatar, which hosts a political bureau for Hamas and has provided financial aid to Gaza, has been linked to mediation efforts for a prisoner exchange between the Palestinian armed group and Israel.
…

In a narrow alley in Dharavi slum in Mumbai, sewing machines hum as workers in Abdul Kadir Ansari’s small tailoring workshop turn out garments for women. Ansari aspires to develop his four-year-old shop into a bigger business.

But an ambitious $3 billion plan to redevelop one of the world’s largest slums worries him. “My workshop here will have to close when buildings come up. I don’t know if I will be given a place to run my business,” said Ansari.

The government, which has been planning to overhaul Dharavi for decades, has awarded a contract to the Adani Group to pull down the rickety shanties that sprawl over 250 hectares in the heart of Mumbai and develop modern buildings. The slum that featured in the movie Slumdog Millionaire is home to a million people, many of them migrants who over decades came to India’s financial capital to make a living in the city.

After resettling eligible residents, commercial and residential complexes are expected to be developed on the prime real estate that would be freed up in a city starved of space.

There is optimism about exchanging their dismal living conditions for flats in modern buildings. Open drains, shared toilets, and paucity of water are daily challenges that residents like Pramod Khade cope with.

My father, my grandfather, and my great grandfather all stayed here. At least our generation should live in a building. That is what many of us dream about,” said Khade as he glanced at the tall buildings in the neigborhood that tower over the slum.

Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, wrote in a blog post on the company’s website in July that the redevelopment will create a modern city hub and provide gas, water, drainage, healthcare and other facilities to residents.

However, there are fears among Dharavi residents that the slum’s makeover could cost them their livelihoods. Over decades hundreds of workshops have sprung up in its tangle of lanes. Some recycle plastic waste; others produce goods such as leather bags and garments. In courtyards, women craft pottery or roll out a crunchy Indian snack called ‘papad.’ These informal businesses have transformed Dharavi into an industrial hub that produces products worth an estimated one billion dollars.

“The entire ecosphere and business fabric of diverse and distinct trades thriving in Dharavi will be rehabilitated and rehoused,” Adani said on his website.

But the thought of displacement worries many like Jaya Behan whose family runs a pottery business. While she would be eligible to get a house, she points out that women who bake and paint clay pots in courtyards need unhindered access to kilns and open spaces, which buildings cannot provide.

She does not know how her family will manage if their pottery business has to shut down. “We cannot get jobs. Nobody will employ me at this age,” said 68-year-old Behan sitting in her shop on Dharavi’s main street. “We people are not educated and only the educated get jobs.”

Entrepreneur Megha Gupta, who works with leather craftsmen in Dharavi says the enterprise in the slum is immense, but earnings are meager. “People over here work to survive. They are not really thriving. It is because they work on very low margins,” said Gupta. Her online platform, Dharavimarket.com helps them access more customers.

Earlier this month, she handed certificates to those who had attended courses aimed at improving their skills. Among them is Satyawan Maruti Kamble, who learnt the craft of making leather products from his father. A rickety iron staircase leads to his work space above a shop selling goods such as handbags, wallets and laptop bags.

“There is a workshop on top of every house here. So the development should ensure that we have homes as well as places to work,” said Kamble.

Gupta is confident that Dharavi’s redevelopment will involve rehabilitating the small businesses.

“You cannot take one million people out of their place and tell them OK, just work somewhere else,” points out Gupta. “They are considering it, but it is going to be a difficult project. Nowhere in the world something like this has happened, whether in terms of the quantity of houses to be delivered, or workspaces to be delivered or the number of people to be rehabilitated.”

There is also apprehension among some residents about the project being handed to the Adani Group, which was accused of stock price manipulation and accounting fraud earlier this year by U.S. -based short seller Hindenburg Research. The group, which is involved in everything from ports to energy, has strongly denied allegations of corporate malpractice.

“Many in Dharavi don’t have trust in Adani because of the allegations made against it,” according to Khade. “People here too follow the news and they worry about the project getting stalled after their houses are pulled down. Then where will we all go?”

Residents say they have not been consulted so far about the proposed revamp, which would take several years. But their position is clear — they want to remain close to the city center.

“Dharavi is a very central place for my work. My main market is here and my rent is low,” said tailoring workshop owner Ansari. “I am tense because my costs will increase if I have to move.”

Those tensions will persist for many until they know how plans to transform Dharavi into a modern hub will impact their lives.
…

Bangladesh’s main opposition leader and more than 100 other top party members were charged on Sunday with the murder of a policeman killed in demonstrations that have erupted ahead of upcoming elections.

“At least 164 Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir were accused of murdering the police officer,” police official Salahuddin Mia said, adding that charges had been filed against them.

Those being charged make up the bulk of the BNP leadership, and potentially face up to a death penalty if they are found guilty.

Alamgir, 75, the BNP’s secretary-general, has led the party since BNP chairwoman and two-time former premier Khaleda Zia was arrested and jailed, and her son went into exile in Britain.

Dhaka police commissioner Habibur Rahman had earlier said Alamgir had been “detained for interrogation” for Saturday’s violence in which a police officer and a protester were killed, and at least 26 police ambulances were torched or damaged.

Police on Saturday said the officer had been hacked to death and accused BNP activists of the killing.

The resurgent opposition has been mounting demonstrations against Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her government for months, despite ailing leader Zia being effectively under house arrest since her release from prison after a conviction on corruption charges.

Saturday’s protests by BNP and the largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were among the biggest this year, and marked a new phase in their campaigning, with a general election due before the end of January. 

Protests continued on Sunday in multiple locations.

More than 100,000 supporters of the two major opposition parties rallied on Saturday to demand Prime Minister Hasina step down to allow a free and fair vote under a neutral government.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police said at least 1,480 opposition activists had been arrested and charged with violence since Oct. 21. 

They include nearly 700 people arrested during Saturday’s protests.

 
…

A passenger train derailed in eastern India late Wednesday, killing four passengers and injuring dozens, a government official said on Thursday.

All 21 coaches of the North-East Express train, on its way to Assam state from New Delhi, derailed near Raghunathpur railroad station in Buxar district of Bihar state, Magistrate Anshul Agarwal said. Two of them overturned and rested on their sides.

Local residents rushed to the scene and helped passengers exit the derailed coaches. Ambulances later arrived and hospitals were alerted to receive injured passengers, police officer Deepak Kumar said.

D.K. Pathak, a railroad official who was on the train when it derailed, said most injuries occurred in one of the derailed coaches.

The cause of the derailment is being investigated.

Early reports said 70 passengers were injured. Agarwal said 31 of the injured were hospitalized. Others were able to go home after medical attention.

The rescue work was over by Thursday morning with all passengers accounted for, he added. Cranes and gas cutters were used to clear badly damaged railroad tracks.

“The train was coming at a normal speed but suddenly we heard a loud sound and saw a plume of smoke rising from the train. We rushed to see what happened. We saw that the train had derailed,” the Press Trust of India cited Hari Pathak, a person living in the area, as saying.

In June, India had one of the country’s deadliest rail crashes involving two passenger trains that killed more than 280 people and injured 900 others. A malfunction with the signal system was found to have caused the accident.

Most train accidents in India are blamed on human error or outdated signaling equipment.

In August 1995, two trains collided near New Delhi, killing 358 people in one of the worst train accidents in the country.

In 2016, a passenger train slid off the tracks between the cities of Indore and Patna, killing 146 people.

More than 12 million people ride 14,000 trains daily across India, traveling on 64,000 kilometers (40,000 miles) of track.
…

Authorities in Bangladesh detained a key opposition figure from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which called for a nationwide strike Sunday following a day of violent clashes with security forces.

Media reports said at least three civilians died in the violence, which included an arson attack in the nation’s capital, Dhaka, on Sunday. Dozens of others were injured during the strike.

At least one police officer was killed and scores were injured Saturday when a massive rally by tens of thousands of opposition activists turned violent, police said. The opposition is demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the transfer of power to a non-partisan caretaker government to oversee general elections next year.

Police on Sunday detained Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgi, the secretary–general of the Nationalist Party led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, Hasina’s main rival, said Faruk Hossain, deputy commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police in charge of media.

The party denounced his detention and announced a three-day blockade of mainly roads and public transportation across the country starting on Tuesday.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Habibur Rahman said that Alamgir was detained for questioning. Under the law, he must appear in court within 24 hours.

Hossain also said that 1,300 people were being investigated for Saturday’s violence. Local reports said police had raided the homes of several opposition leaders overnight in Dhaka.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan told reporters that leaders of Zia’s party have to bear responsibility for their role in the violence, the United News of Bangladesh agency reported.

On Sunday, at least three vehicles were set on fire in the capital as police increased security.

The United News of Bangladesh agency reported that two people, including an opposition activist, were killed in Dhaka while a ruling party man died in the northern district of Lalmonirhat on Sunday. It said at least 42 vehicles were vandalized in Dhaka and two other cities in northern and northeastern Bangladesh.

The news agency said more than 100 people were injured in parts of Bangladesh while police arrested over 200 opposition supporters in Dhaka and in seven other districts across the country during the daylong strike.

The European Union and the United States urged all sides to maintain restraint as tensions soared ahead of the national elections, expected to be held in January.

The U.S. assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, Donald Lu, said Washington “will review all violent incidents for possible visa restrictions.”

The rivalry between Hasina and Zia has been ongoing for decades, and Hasina’s government has been under pressure for months as the opposition has held largely peaceful anti-government demonstrations.

Critics and rights groups have criticized Hasina’s administration for suppressing opposition voices, an allegation that authorities have denied.

Hasina, who has touted her development agenda, hopes to return to power for a fourth consecutive term. She says the election should be held under her government’s supervision as specified in the constitution. The opposition says the election won’t be free and fair, despite Hasina’s pledges.

The prime minister recently told parliament that the U.S. wants to remove her from power at any cost. The U.S. has threatened to deny visas to those it says were obstructing the election process. They include members of law enforcement agencies as well as the ruling and opposition parties.
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The death toll from a fire at a mine owned by ArcelorMittal in Kazakhstan rose to 42 people on Sunday as a search for four miners continued, the Ministry for Emergency Situations said.   

“The search operation is hampered by the presence of destroyed mining equipment, as well as rubble in some places”, the ministry said in a statement.   

Rescuers are searching for miners in two areas of the mine 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) apart, it said.   

On Saturday, operator ArcelorMittal Temirtau, the local unit of Luxembourg-based steelmaker ArcelorMittal MT.LU, said 206 of 252 people at the Kostenko mine had been evacuated after what appeared to be a methane blast.   

The Ministry for Emergency Situations said it was still monitoring the gas situation at the mine. 

 
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Indian officials say one person has died and at least 20 people were injured in a series of blasts Sunday morning at the Kalamassery Convention Center in Kerala, where a Jehovah’s Witness meeting was being held.

The Times of India reports that 10 people are in a burn unit and two of them are on ventilators.

One official said an IED device had been used in the explosions, according to the Times.

Authorities say a national security team has been dispatched to the site to conduct a probe. 
…

Isaac Namoura, a 21-year-old Palestinian student with friends in Gaza, has been anxiously following the war between Israel and Hamas from Dhaka, Bangladesh, where he is a student at Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College. 

Before mobile phone communications with Gaza were cut off on Friday, Namoura managed to speak several times with his friends in the besieged territory. In a conversation with VOA’s Bangla Service, he recounts what they have been telling him about their ordeal. 

The following has been edited for length and clarity. 

VOA: Do you have any relatives living in Gaza? 

Isaac Namoura, student: Well, most of my friends are from Gaza, and they live there. I used to have relatives there too, including a cousin. 

VOA: Have you heard from them? 

Namoura: I do not hear from them every day. I texted some of them like two weeks ago, and I still haven’t heard anything from some of them. I text daily, but I don’t know if they can or not. Obviously, there is no electricity there, so I don’t think they can charge their phones or contact anyone. 

VOA: Do you know if any of your relatives have been victims of the attacks in Gaza? 

Namoura: Not my relatives, but one of my friends. His cousin’s entire family was wiped out — 12 people in total. Twelve people were completely wiped out. One of my seniors, his entire family got wiped out. He’s the only one left. 

VOA: According to what you’re hearing from your friends and family over there, what’s the situation in Gaza now? 

Namoura: The situation there is horrific. I mean, during the day, there are still bombings, and there’s no electricity; the electricity has been cut off, and water supply too. There are no medical services. They have no electricity, no food and especially no clean water. They cannot access clean water, so it’s really horrific. I was on a call with one of my friends yesterday. I called him for a minute. In that minute itself, I heard around like 30 or 40 bombs around him, and I’m asking him, “Are you able to sleep?” He told me, “It’s been three days since I slept.” I asked him, “Have you been able to go to the washroom? Have you been able to shower? Have you been able to drink enough water?” He tells me, “No, we wait in lines for hours to use washrooms.” 

VOA: So, this friend of yours, he was able to charge his phone… 

Namoura: Yeah, he was. He was able to charge his phone, I think from a power bank or something. Basically, in the hospitals, they have fuel. They had some fuel reserve, and I think it ran out like two days ago. There were like 25 active hospitals, and since the beginning of the strike, 15 of them stopped their operations because they had no fuel reserve and there was no electricity. And now there are barely four or five active hospitals right now. The fuel reserves are done. They are finished now. 

VOA: Your friends, all the people of Gaza, are they under evacuation orders right now? If so, how are they coping with the situation? 

Namoura: My senior [older friend], whom I called yesterday, was from an area called Juhor ad-Dik. If I’m not mistaken, it’s from the northeastern side of Gaza. There were orders to evacuate the area. They evacuated to the south of Gaza, and they’re living in tents. They are living in U.N. schools, which, by the way, are not safe either. Some of them have been bombed. There were also bombings around the school. Their situation is bad. It’s really horrific. They are cut off from every basic need. 

VOA: Are you in touch with the Palestinian Embassy? Are you getting enough information about your friends and family that are living in Gaza through the embassy? 

Namoura: Yeah, I am in touch with the embassy since I am also a member of the Palestinian Student Union here in Bangladesh. The embassy does its … diplomatic work like any other embassy. If they can, they also provide us with information. Whatever they can find out, they would inform us. 

VOA: How does your life in Dhaka compare to life in the Gaza Strip? 

Namoura: Bangladesh is a free country. In Dhaka, I can move around. I have access to safe and clean water all the time, 24/7. I have electricity 24/7! Just having those two things has made my experience in Dhaka far better than my experience in Gaza. Those two simple things, and fuel too. I also have access to medical services since I’m a medical student. Just those three things make life here way better. Much better than living in Gaza. I’m getting my basic human needs filled, and I’m so happy that I’m getting them. 

VOA: What do you want to do when you go back? 

Namoura: I’ll go back after finishing my course. I’ve been here for two years now, two years and a month. Maybe after three or four years, I’m planning to go back home. I’m planning to stay there and do my internship. I’m also planning, if I get a chance, to do postgraduate studies in medicine. Maybe I will have to travel somewhere again to get my higher education in medicine, but the goal is to get the degree I want, then come back home and practice there. As a Palestinian, I first need to serve the people in need, and who’s more in need than my own people? They are especially in need of me, you know, and my services as a doctor. 
…

Police in Bangladesh fired tear gas, sound grenades, and rubber bullets Saturday afternoon to break up a massive gathering of opposition supporters amid a steep escalation of political tensions.   

The protesters were demanding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina step down to allow for a free and fair election under a neutral government. The clashes, which unfolded in central Dhaka, underscore the deep-seated divisions in the country’s political landscape.   

Police estimated more than 125,000 supporters from two prominent opposition parties, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, rallied to voice their demands. A VOA reporter near the rally witnessed hundreds of people running for safety as sound grenades detonated, enveloping the streets in plumes of smoke. The violence spread around the protest site, as police fired tear gas and rubber shotgun rounds, while protesters retaliated by throwing stones and bricks.   

Bangladesh Police spokesperson AKM Kamrul Ahsan told VOA that at least one member from the police force was killed, and dozens of others were injured during the clashes. 

“The police member who was hacked in the head died after being taken to the hospital,” he said. 

Several individuals injured during the clashes were rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, the country’s largest, with wounds from rubber bullets. 

‘We call for calm’

The United States condemned the political violence that unfolded in Dhaka on Saturday afternoon.  

“We call for calm and restraint on all sides and will review all violent incidents for possible visa restrictions,” said Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Donald Lu in a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter. 

In May, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the implementation of a new U.S. policy that allows the restriction of visas to individuals from Bangladesh who are found to undermine the country’s democratic election process. 

The leading opposition party, BNP, alongside its former ally, the country’s largest Islamist party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, organized the “grand rallies” in the capital with a singular objective: to call for the resignation of the prime minister’s government. They maintain she should relinquish her position to allow for an impartial caretaker administration to manage the upcoming polls scheduled for January.  

Earlier in the afternoon, in Dhaka’s Naya Paltan neighborhood, the BNP rally kicked off in front of the party’s headquarters, with thousands of party leaders and activists, as well as affiliated organizations. 

BNP Secretary-General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir — a senior figure in the party who assumed a prominent role after the incarceration of the party’s chief and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on corruption charges — called upon the assembled crowd to maintain a peaceful and non-confrontational approach. 

As BNP leaders addressed the gathering, protests led to confrontations with the police in close proximity. The police’s use of tear gas and sound grenades triggered a chaotic dispersal. The pervasive tear gas made it impossible for the central opposition leaders to stay on the stage. 

Senior BNP Leader and the party’s Joint General Secretary Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal claimed police and the ruling party supporters attacked their rally.  

“The party leadership remained on the stage urging for a peaceful gathering until the very last moment! However, we were compelled to vacate the stage when the police and the ruling party supporters came attacking our gathering. We had to defend ourselves,” Alal told VOA. 

“Hundreds of BNP activists got injured by the brutal attacks by the police and the Awami League supporters. They had been planning for the attacks to foil our rally for days,” he added.  

The BNP has called for a nationwide strike on Sunday in response to the violence. 

The opposition has been staging protests for months, despite the BNP’s leader, Khaleda Zia, being under house arrest since 2020 following a conviction on corruption charges. Her supporters continued to pour into Dhaka for the rally, braving checkpoints on roads into the capital and overcrowded trains. 

Protesters chanted slogans such as, “Vote thief, vote thief, Sheikh Hasina vote thief” during the demonstration in front of the BNP headquarters. In addition to the immediate resignation of the Hasina government, the opposition activists demanded the release of Khaleda Zia and the establishment of the people’s right to vote. 

“The fascist Awami League government has run out of time, it’s time for Sheikh Hasina to step down or the common people will drag them down from power. People want to cast their vote freely and they want to vote for the BNP,” said Rahmat, a BNP supporter from northern-Bangladeshi district of Naogaon, who gave only his first name to VOA. 

Obstructions to gathering 

The BNP accused the police and security forces of obstructed the gathering of BNP supporters by employing tactics such as arrests, raids, and detentions. Multiple local media outlets have reported that law enforcement agencies established checkpoints at the entry points to Dhaka, seemingly intended to discourage people from participating in the rally. 

“To the best of my knowledge, more than 2,000 BNP supporters were arrested or detained in just the last two days.The actual number might be much higher as we are still trying to gather more information,” said BNP leader Alal. 

According to local media reports, the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission issued a directive to telecom operators, instructing them to either shut down or reduce internet services from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the vicinity of the rally. The VOA reporter covering the event couldn’t access the internet while on-site. However, the BTRC has denied issuing such instructions, despite the claims by local media. 

The Bangladeshi constitution underwent a transformation in 1996 with the introduction of an election-time caretaker government system tasked with supervising national elections. But under Hasina’s government, the system was abolished in 2011 following a Supreme Court ruling that declared the caretaker government system is in conflict with the constitution.  

In 2014, the BNP chose to boycott the election, while in 2018, the election results generated a dispute over allegations of vote rigging by the ruling party, which emerged victorious with a substantial majority. 
…

The Islamic State group claimed on its Telegram channel Friday that it was behind a blast at a sports club that killed four people in the Afghan capital the night before.

The Sunni Muslim extremist group said it had used a parcel bomb that “IS fighters placed in a room where Shiites gather.”

The explosion occurred Thursday evening at a commercial center in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul, an enclave of the historically oppressed Shiite Hazara community, according to police.

Police were still investigating the cause of the explosion, Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said on Friday afternoon in a message to reporters.

He added that seven people were injured in the blast, revising the initial toll of two dead and nine injured.

Taliban authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Islamic State (IS) claim.

The explosion ripped through a sports club several floors up in the commercial center, blowing out all the sides of the space and shattering windows and causing damage throughout the block, AFP journalists saw on Friday.

An instructor at the club, which holds training in combat sports, told AFP the blast happened at the end of a busy boxing session that usually hosted around 30 people.

“The explosion was extraordinarily strong. The walls fell, the metal doors, glass and windows were broken,” said Sultan Ali Amiri, 26, who was not in the club when the blast occurred. “There has been a lot of damage – punching bags and almost everything is destroyed.”

AFP journalists saw several heavy bags used for combat sport training on the floor of the club, others still hanging and pocked with fragments from the blast.

Afghanistan’s Hazaras have regularly faced attacks in the majority Sunni Muslim country.

They have been persecuted for decades, targeted by the Taliban during their insurgency against the former U.S.-backed government as well as by IS.

The Islamic State group, which considers Shiites heretics, has carried out several deadly attacks in the same area in recent years, targeting schools, mosques and gyms.

Images shared on social media shortly after the explosion showed a fire blazing in the sports club and boxing mitts among shattered glass on the ground.

The number of bomb blasts and suicide attacks has fallen dramatically since the Taliban ended their insurgency after seizing power in August 2021, ousting the U.S.-backed government.

However, a number of armed groups — including the regional chapter of IS — remain a threat.
…

Afghan refugees living in Pakistan say they are concerned about Pakistan’s decision to forcibly deport all undocumented refugees starting November 1. Muska Safi has the report from Peshawar, narrated by Elizabeth Cherneff.
…

It was an emotional scene at Sohrab Goth bus terminal when Jannat Bibi, a 50-year-old Afghan woman, bid farewell to the only home her children have ever known. After 35 years in Karachi, she and her eight children were making the difficult journey back to Afghanistan.

The terminal has become a hub for Afghan families forced to leave Pakistan because of a government mandate. Authorities have given a deadline of November 1 for those without legal documentation to leave or face forced eviction.

Jannat, her daughters draped in black Burqas, stood anxiously awaiting their departure. As the minutes ticked away, her son kept them updated on the bus’s schedule. They were hesitant to sit on the rough floor, not wanting to soil their clothes.

Jannat shared her family’s struggle, highlighting the abruptness of the decision. “We spent our entire lives in Pakistan. I got married here. My children were born here. … Now they have suddenly decided that we cannot live in this country.”

The lack of legal documentation further complicated their situation. “When my family reached Pakistan [35 years ago], some of my family members were able to get cards after much struggle. Some of us were never able to get cards. My husband and I were one of those people,” Jannat explained.

The tipping point for Jannat was the repeated arrests of her two sons. Fearful for their safety, she made the painful decision to return to Afghanistan. She had to sell their home and belongings at a fraction of their value, taking only their essentials.

Her daughter, Khanum, expressed her sorrow about leaving behind the life they had built. “Even before the Taliban took control of Kabul, two years ago, my elders did not think about going back to Afghanistan. We were happy here,” she lamented.

The uncertainty of their destination weighed heavily on many families. Fatima, a 21-year-old resident of Mominabad, Karachi, grappled with the reality of leaving behind everything she held dear. “You ask anyone here why they are going back [to Afghanistan], they will tell you the same: the police will arrest our men, our sons and take them to prison, so we are leaving from here.”

As the departure time approached, emotions ran high. Families embraced, tears flowed, and prayers were whispered for safety and blessings. Jannat’s final words resonated, “You heard our pain. I’ll remember you always.”

Several buses, bound for the Chaman border, stood ready to carry families on their journey into an uncertain future. Fatima and her sister, engaged in a last-minute plea to keep a small wooden box of cherished mementos, spoke volumes about the sacrifices they were making.

The departure of Jannat Bibi and countless others from the only home they’ve ever known is a poignant reminder of the challenges faced by Afghan refugees. As they embark on this new chapter, they carry with them the weight of their past and the hope for a brighter tomorrow.

This story originated in VOA’s Urdu Service. 
…

Eight Indian former naval officers who were handed the death penalty by a court in Qatar on Thursday were charged with spying for Israel, a source in India and another in Qatar said.

Neither New Delhi nor Doha has officially stated the charges against the eight, who were arrested in August 2022.

In India, a government official aware of Doha’s stance said the Qatar authorities had accused them of spying for Israel.

The eight Indians will be able to appeal the death sentence, the source briefed on the case in Qatar told Reuters, who also said they had been charged with spying for Israel.

Both sources spoke on condition of anonymity given the sensitivity of the case.

A spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the sources’ comments.

There was no immediate reply from Qatar’s foreign ministry, nor from the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem, which oversees Israel’s intelligence services.

The ruling comes as Doha is trying to negotiate with the Palestinian militant group Hamas for the release of over 200 hostages seized during its October 7 rampage in Israel, which is pummeling Gaza with aerial strikes in response.

The case involving the eight Indians, who were working on a submarine project with a private company for the Qatari authorities, also could become a diplomatic headache for New Delhi, which depends heavily on Qatar for its natural gas needs.

The Indian government said Thursday it was “deeply shocked” that Qatar’s Court of First Instance had sentenced the eight Indians to death, adding it was “exploring all legal options.”

New Delhi had said that it attaches “high importance to this case” and will “take up the verdict with Qatari authorities.”

The government said it would not comment further because of the “confidential nature of the proceedings.”

Jairam Ramesh, a spokesperson for India’s opposition Congress party, urged the Indian government on Thursday to “use its diplomatic and political leverage with the Qatar government” to do the utmost to get the prisoners released as soon as possible.

More than 800,000 Indian citizens live and work in Qatar.
…

Pakistan has ordered all undocumented Afghans to leave by November 1. As part of that crackdown, the government now requires locals to present visas or passports to cross the border, documents that many lack. VOA’s Murtaza Zehri has the story; Bezhan Hamdard narrates. Camera: Murtaza Zehri.
…