Journalists in Afghanistan are facing a new requirement from the Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture to register and obtain identification cards in order to verify their identities and professional affiliations.

“We started the process in Kabul on Wednesday and have informed provincial authorities to do the same,” Abdul Wahid Rayan, MIC’s director for media monitoring, told VOA.

The identification cards issued to journalists will feature a bar code linked to the MIC website, storing journalists’ photos, names, affiliation and contact information.

Given free of charge, the badges will also include an emergency contact number for journalists to use when encountering security threats or difficulties while performing their jobs.

The Taliban have imposed gender-based restrictions on female journalists and media personnel, but Rayan said female journalists would also be registered and given identification cards.

“So far, no female journalist has registered,” he said, “but if they come, we will register and give them ID cards, too.”

Representatives of two free media support organizations told VOA they were not consulted by MIC about the registration drive and expressed concerns about the Taliban’s underlying motives.

“We do not know why [the Taliban] want to do this and what their true intentions are,” said Abdul Qadeem Wyar, president of the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee.

“We believe that identification cards from media organizations are sufficient and there is no need to have additional ID cards from the Taliban,” said Sumaya Walizada, a spokesperson for the Afghan Journalists Center.

Echoing concerns voiced by Afghan media support organizations, the Committee to Protect Journalists said the Taliban’s move appears to impose further controls on the press.

“It is extremely alarming,” Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator, told VOA.

“The Taliban’s Ministry of Information and Culture is trying to portray the registration drive as a way to protect and support journalists,” Beh said. “But it is the latest move to tighten control and surveillance of journalists and curtail any free and independent reporting in Afghanistan.”

Old, unclear policy

Taliban officials said the policy to register journalists was initiated by the former Afghan government before it collapsed in August 2021.

Despite being in power for nearly two years, the Islamist regime has not enacted a new media law, saying the mass media law approved by the previous government was still largely valid. 

As written, the law prohibits government interference in media affairs and offers protection for a free press. In practice, however, the Taliban are widely accused of unlawfully detaining, torturing and harassing journalists and enforcing policies that censor and restrict journalism — charges the Taliban reject.

“The Taliban’s crackdown on independent media in Afghanistan has been so catastrophic that there is virtually no free press left in the country,” Beh said.

It is unclear how the Taliban will register freelance reporters, vloggers and foreign journalists who visit Afghanistan for brief assignments.

Several foreign journalists have said they were  declared persona non grata by Taliban authorities because of their perceived bias while reporting on events in Afghanistan.

Over the past two years, thousands of Afghan journalists have left the country as scores of media outlets have gone out of operation, largely because of the lack of resources and Taliban restrictions. 
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Relocation flights from Afghanistan carrying Special Immigrant Visa (SIV) applicants to U.S. immigration processing centers in Qatar and other countries have been suspended for more than one month, and it’s unclear when they will resume.

For nearly two years since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Afghan Relocation Efforts (CARE) has been relocating SIV-eligible Afghans by air and overland routes.

The U.S. government used military planes to evacuate tens of thousands of Afghans amid a chaotic withdrawal from the country in August 2021.

Subsequently, most Afghans have been relocated by chartered commercial flights from Taliban-controlled Kabul airport.

A spokesperson for the Department of State confirmed that the relocation flights have been “paused since mid-June” but did not offer additional details because of operational sensitivity.

“We are hopeful these flights will resume soon,” the spokesperson said.

Despite condemning the Taliban’s repressive policies, U.S. officials had previously welcomed the ability of SIV-eligible Afghans to board relocation flights.

Sources involved in support of CARE operations gave different explanations for the pause in the flights from Kabul.

One source, who asked not to be named in this article because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the group’s security and operational issues, said the Taliban had suspended the flights because of internal disagreements.

However, Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesperson, said he was not aware of any restrictions imposed on the relocation flights on their part.

A second source said the U.S. had paused the flights due to concerns that the Taliban leadership was benefiting from the chartered flights by Afghan carriers, potentially violating U.S. economic sanctions on the Taliban.

Calls for resumption

While the U.S. has no diplomatic presence in Afghanistan and has largely curtailed engagement with de facto Taliban authorities, activists say now is not the time to wind down the relocation program.

“Any efforts that the U.S. has to meet our obligation to our allies should not be paused,” said Shawn VanDiver, president of #AfghanEvac, an umbrella body of individuals and non-government organizations advocating for Afghans who worked for the U.S. in Afghanistan.

“We have an obligation to those left behind,” said Chris Purdy, director of Veterans for American Ideals and Outreach, a coalition of veterans that advocate for human rights.

Over 152,000 Afghans who say they worked for the U.S. military in Afghanistan prior to the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021 have applied for the SIV program, according to the Department of State.

They are competing for about 17,000 principal SIVs remaining in the program. Some U.S. lawmakers have proposed legislation that will add 20,000 additional principal SIVs through 2029.

Human rights groups have accused the Taliban of targeting former Afghan government forces and individuals who worked for the U.S. in the past, a charge the Taliban deny, saying the group has offered a general amnesty.

“I don’t trust the Taliban,” Purdy told VOA. “Just because someone has successfully hidden for two years doesn’t mean that they should have to live their lives under fear.”

Critics have also complained that the program is not moving quickly or efficiently enough to relocate vulnerable Afghans.

“For nearly two years, the U.S. government has failed to evacuate at-risk Afghans in a speedy and efficient manner,” said Adam Bates, a policy counsel with the International Refugee Assistance Project (IRAP).

The IRAP has filed a lawsuit in a U.S. court accusing the government of leaving thousands of Afghan and Iraqi SIV applicants at serious risk in their home countries.

“Instead of abandoning its allies, the U.S. must increase efforts and resources to create viable pathways to safety for at-risk Afghans, better late than never,” said Bates.

U.S. officials say they are committed to making every feasible effort to relocating SIV-eligible Afghans.

“Many factors in the relocation process impact the pace of operations and are out of the control of the U.S. government,” said the Department of State’s spokesperson.
…

Snaking lines for fuel, empty shelves in food stores, angry street protests — those were common scenes in Sri Lanka last year when the country became bankrupt.

Now, the long waits outside fuel stations have gone, markets are again stacked with food and the streets of the capital Colombo are calm.

A year after Sri Lanka’s economic collapse brought a new government, the island nation is past the worst of the crisis. But the country’s economic woes are far from over.

For many the dilemma is that while food is now available, it is unaffordable.

Costs of all basics — food, fuel, electricity, and medicines have spiraled, taking a huge toll on millions in lower income groups.

“What we see now is the most vulnerable communities struggling and still facing hardships in getting three meals a day. The socio-economic indices indicate that still the crisis is far from over and it’s a long path to recovery,” according to Bhavani Fonseka at the Center for Policy Alternatives in Colombo.

Among the scores of community kitchens that sprang up across the country last year to address the hunger crisis were those run by The Voice for Voiceless Foundation in Colombo. It continues to provide about 600 meals a day.

“There is still a huge need,” the foundation’s national director, Moses Akash, told VOA. “What we find is that with prices of electricity and other utilities having risen hugely, people have lesser money left to buy food.”

The organization has cut back its operations due to a shortage of funds and spiraling food prices, said Akash. “We now focus on giving meals to children because many were facing malnourishment as families were unable to afford items such as milk or eggs.”

The World Food Program says the crisis that the country faced last year has been alleviated but has not gone away. According to the WFP, about 17% now face food insecurity, compared with about one quarter of the population last year. That adds up to about four million people in the nation of 22 million.

“The most vulnerable cross section in terms of food insecurity are people relying on social protection assistance, unskilled workers relying on daily wages and households with lower levels of education,” Abdur Rahim Siddiqui, Country Director at the World Food Program in Sri Lanka told VOA.

However, there are signs of revival in some sectors. Tourists have begun returning to the country’s pristine beaches, bringing back jobs in a crucial industry that has long been the backbone of Sri Lanka’s economy.

On a recent visit to India, President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who took charge after protestors stormed his predecessor’s home and office a year ago, expressed optimism about his country’s economic revival.

“I have set Sri Lanka firmly on a path of economic reform and Sri Lanka is already witnessing the stabilizing outcomes of these measures and the revival of confidence both within and outside the country,” Wickremesinghe said during a recent visit to New Delhi.

Sri Lanka turned the corner after it secured a bailout package of about $ 3 billion from the International Monetary Fund in March. But while the IMF loan extended a lifeline and removed Sri Lanka’s “bankrupt” tag, it came with tough conditions that require imposing higher taxes and steep cuts to government spending and welfare programs.

The next task for the country is to restructure both its domestic and foreign debt on which it defaulted last year. With more stringent reforms still to come, there is uncertainty over what lies ahead.

“How does it impact state-owned enterprises for example? Would people lose their jobs? There are a lot of conversations now as to what the restructuring will mean for people’s pensions and savings,” said Fonseka.

Analysts say while the reforms will lead to more pain and fuel popular resentment, Sri Lanka will have to stay the course.

“The worst is seemingly over but it can come back if the present trends don’t continue, if the government of the day does not plan and execute the policies it has outlined in a judicious manner,” according to Harsh Pant, Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

That means that for millions, the tentative signs of economic recovery will bring little cheer in the foreseeable future.

The economic crisis was blamed on the COVID-19 pandemic and economic mismanagement by former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s government.

Many are also disappointed that demands for political change and accountability have failed to materialize in the country that last year witnessed its biggest street protests in decades, with anger directed at the former president and his family over allegations of corruption and mismanagement. The Rajapaksas had controlled the affairs of the country for the most part of the last two decades.

The protests ended after Rajapaksa resigned. The new president Wickremesinghe took a tough approach to the demonstrations and there is still simmering anger in the country. Many protestors were disappointed when he came to the helm.

Some question whether the practices that led to the crisis have changed.

“The demand was for a system change that would ensure greater transparency and political accountability. But has there really been change or is the new administration a new avatar of the old?” said Fonseka.

She adds that there are still many questions about accountability regarding economic crimes and corruption.
…

A year after Sri Lanka’s economic collapse brought in a new government, the island nation is past the worst of the crisis. But as Anjana Pasricha reports, Sri Lanka’s economic woes are far from over as millions still confront hardship.
…

As monsoon rains battered India early in July, authorities released excess water into rivers that flow into neighboring and arch-rival Pakistan. While this process is normal, Pakistanis who were also facing intense rains were taken by surprise as the water came much earlier than expected, prompting mass evacuations. VOA Pakistan bureau chief Sarah Zaman visited villages along the banks of the Sutlej River. Camera: Wajid Asad
…

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan enforced a nationwide ban on beauty parlors Tuesday after the expiration of a one-month deadline for owners to close the businesses, leaving tens of thousands of women without work in a country grappling with poverty.

Since returning to power nearly two years ago, the hardline Taliban have placed sweeping restrictions on the rights of women, barring them from education, public spaces and most forms of employment.

Beauty parlors were one of the few remaining employment opportunities for Afghan women, and a rare public place for them to socialize. Many of their workers were said to be the sole source of income for their households.

The ban puts out of business roughly 12,000 female-run salons, including 3,000 in the capital of Kabul, employing an estimated 60,000 women, according to an Afghan association of the owners.

The Taliban Ministry for the Prevention of Vice and Propagation of Virtue had given beauty salons one month to close, saying they were offering services forbidden by Islam.

A ministry spokesman in a subsequent statement explained that parlors caused economic hardship for grooms’ families when brides are taken to these facilities during wedding ceremonies. He asserted that too much make-up would also prevent women from proper ablutions for prayer, while implanting hair and plucking eyebrows are against Sharia, or Islamic law. 

The edict outraged owners and beauticians, leading to a couple of rare protest rallies, urging authorities not to deprive them of their only source of earning. Last week, Taliban security forces fired shots into the air and used fire hoses in Kabul to forcefully disperse dozens of women protesting the ban.

The United Nations and human rights groups have opposed the restriction on Afghan beauty parlors. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in a recent statement called on the Taliban to reverse the edict, warning it would adversely affect the national economy and undermine support for women’s entrepreneurship. 

“The Taliban ban on beauty parlors removes another vital space for women’s work at a time when they’re struggling to feed their families, eliminates one of the few refuges for women outside the home & further transforms the country into a cruel & extreme outlier in the world,” Rina Amiri, the U.S. special envoy for Afghan women, girls and rights, said on Twitter after the Taliban announced they would ban beauty salons.

The restrictions on Afghan women’s rights to public life have drawn strong international criticism, with the U.N. denouncing the Taliban administration as “gender-apartheid regime.” 

No country has recognized the Taliban government, citing their treatment of women.

The fundamentalist de facto leaders justify their policies, saying they are aligned with Afghan culture and Sharia, claims scholars in the rest of Islamic countries dispute and reject. 
…

Nearly a year after the United States killed al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahiri in a drone strike in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, the country’s Taliban leaders continue to make conflicting claims about the circumstances around the death of the world’s most wanted man, raising doubts about their counterterrorism pledges.

“We had no information about Ayman al-Zawahiri, and we had nothing to do with his killing,” Taliban Defense Minister Mullah Mohammad Yaqoob told Saudi-based Al Arabia television channel on Friday.

On Saturday, the Taliban governor of Kabul was quoted by an Afghan mainstream television channel as outrightly denying the presence of the al-Qaida chief in the city. “There is no evidence to prove Zawahiri was killed in Kabul,” Mohammad Qassim Khalid told TOLO news.

The latest Taliban claims come days after U.S. President Joe Biden stated that Washington and the Taliban were cooperating to push out al-Qaida terrorists from the war-torn country.

“Remember what I said about Afghanistan? I said al-Qaida would not be there. I said it wouldn’t be there. I said we’d get help from the Taliban,” Biden told reporters at the White House earlier this month without elaborating.

The Taliban Foreign Minister swiftly responded to Biden’s remarks by describing them as an “acknowledgment of reality” about non-existence of armed groups in Afghanistan, but it did not categorically refute Biden’s assertions about counterterrorism cooperation between the two former adversaries.

“The Islamic Emirate maintains the policy of not allowing anyone to use the soil of Afghanistan to harm others. Our actions in this regard are not due to the requests or support of anyone, including America,” the ministry said in its statement, using the official name of the Taliban government, which the world has not recognized yet.

The 71-year-old Egyptian jihadist leader was on the balcony of a three-story house in Kabul’s upscale Sherpur area when two Hellfire missiles fired from an unmanned aircraft struck al-Zawahiri on July 31, 2022, U.S. officials told reporters hours later.

“He had moved to downtown Kabul to reunite with members of his immediate family. After carefully considering the clear and convincing evidence of his location, I authorized a precision strike,” Biden said while announcing the news of the death of the terror mastermind to the American nation a day after the missile attack.

Taliban authorities at the time claimed that they had “no knowledge” the al-Qaida leader was residing in Kabul. They said a “serious and comprehensive” investigation had been ordered into the incident. But the de facto Afghan rulers have since been silent about the probe’s outcome and continue to make contradictory statements or remain in denial.

Nearly two months after the deadly strike, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told VOA that their ongoing investigation into the incident was making progress.

“It will produce an outcome over time. But we still treat it as a claim (by the U.S.),” Mujahid said in the interview VOA conducted in his Kabul office last September.

“When security has newly returned to a country and the government is also new, taking advantage of the situation is entirely possible. But this does not mean that the Islamic Emirate was behind it. The Emirate did not know about it. America also knows that the Islamic Emirate will not do it,” Mujahid said.

U.S. officials said that al-Zawahiri was sheltered in the Kabul safe house by subordinates of Taliban Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and “acted quickly to remove Zawahiri’s wife, his daughter and her children to another location, consistent with a broader effort to cover up that they had been living in the safe house.”

The slain al-Qaida terror leader carried a $25 million U.S. bounty on his head.

Taliban security forces swiftly blocked media access to the multi-story building and briefly detained some journalists who had attempted to go near the site. The restriction remains in place to date.

Critics say the Taliban’s refusal to admit al-Zawahiri’s presence in Kabul raises doubt about their commitments to combat terrorism on Afghan soil.

In recent days, neighboring Pakistan has repeatedly complained that a surge in terrorist attacks in the country is being orchestrated by Afghanistan-based fugitive leaders of the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, which the U.S. also lists as a global terrorist organization.

Pakistani officials say the militants have enjoyed “greater operational freedom” since the Taliban took control of the neighboring country in August 2021, when all the U.S.-led NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan after two decades of involvement in the war.

The Taliban deny the allegations, saying neither TTP, nor any other foreign terrorist groups are operating inside Afghanistan. The Taliban confirmed early last year that they had hosted and mediated peace talks between Pakistani officials and TTP leaders. The dialogue produced a temporary cease-fire, which collapsed last November.

The militant group, an offshoot and close ally of the Afghan Taliban, has killed hundreds of Pakistanis in recent months, mostly security forces.

Last month, the United Nations Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team estimated in a new report that more than 4,000 TTP leaders, commanders and fighters are sheltering in Afghanistan under the protection of the country’s Taliban authorities.

The Taliban foreign ministry rejected the U.N. findings as baseless.

U.S.-led international forces withdrew from Afghanistan in August 2021, in line with the February 2020 agreement with the Taliban in return for assurances by the then-insurgent group that it would not allow transnational groups to use Afghan soil to threaten the security of the United States and its allies.
…

Sri Lanka tightened security on Sunday as activists lit oil lamps in the capital, Colombo, commemorating the hundreds killed in 1983 anti-Tamil riots that fueled a deadly civil war.

“Let’s not forget the slaughter of Tamils,” read a banner carried by members of North-South Solidarity, a group of rights defenders from the country’s majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities.

Several dozen activists lit coconut oil lamps and candles outside Colombo’s main cemetery, where the inter-communal violence started 40 years ago.

The then-government attempted a mass burial at the cemetery for 13 Sinhalese soldiers killed in a Tamil rebel land mine attack on July 23, 1983.

Relatives demanded individual funerals for the soldiers and clashed with police, before turning their attacks on Tamils and Tamil-owned shops in the area.

What began as a spontaneous backlash against Tamils degenerated into state-led deadly violence that lasted six days.

Official estimates place the riot death toll between 400 to 600, but Tamil groups say the actual number is in the thousands.

There have been no prosecutions, even though some members of the then-government were seen leading the Sinhalese mobs.

At Sunday’s commemoration, authorities deployed heavily armed troops who outnumbered demonstrators, while an AFP journalist saw police kicking and stomping on oil lamps placed along the pavement just outside the cemetery.

Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe has cracked down on dissent since he came to power last year.

His United National Party was in power when the 1983 riots broke out.

The then-president, Junius Jayewardene, Wickremesinghe’s uncle, is widely accused of not doing anything to prevent the violence.

A Tamil insurgency demanding a separate state for their ethnic minority developed into a full-blown civil war that eventually claimed the lives of at least 100,000 people, before the rebel leadership was defeated in May 2009.
…

Heavy flooding from seasonal rains in Afghanistan killed at least 31 people and left dozens missing over the past three days, while in neighboring Pakistan 13 people died due to heavy rains and landslides.

Shafiullah Rahimi, the ruling Taliban’s appointed spokesman for Afghanistan’s State Ministry for Natural Disaster Management, said Sunday that at least 31 people were killed, 74 were injured and 41 others were missing. Flash floods hit the capital, Kabul, and the Maidan Wardak and Ghazni provinces. He added that the majority of the casualties were in west Kabul and Maidan Wardak.

Rahimi also said around 250 livestock perished in the floods.

The flooding brought further misery to the already suffering Afghanistan. In April, the U.N.’s humanitarian affairs agency said the south Asian country is facing its third consecutive year of drought, its second year of severe economic hardship and the consequences of decades of war and natural disasters.

The most recent flash flood happened in the Jalrez district of Maidan Wardak province west of Kabul, killing 12 people, said Taliban government spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid. At least 40 other people were missing and rescue teams were busy conducting search and rescue operations, he said.

The provincial governor’s office in a statement said that hundreds of homes were either damaged or destroyed and the missing are believed to be under the rubble of collapsed homes.

The statement also said that hundreds of square miles of agricultural land were washed out and destroyed and the highway between Kabul and the central Bamiyan province was closed due to the floods.

In Pakistan, 13 people died and seven were injured due to heavy rains and landslides as monsoon season continued to affect parts of the country Sunday.

In the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, nine people lost their lives over the last 48 hours in rain-related incidents.

In the Skardu area of the Gilgit Baltistan region, four family members died when a massive landslide hit their car, according to police officer Raja Mirza Hassan.

Taimur Khan, a spokesman of the provincial disaster management authority, said heavy rainfall and thunderstorms damaged at least 74 houses in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

The provincial authorities declared an emergency in the Chitral district as rainfall triggered flash floods in the mountainous area.

Since the start of monsoon from June 25, the country has witnessed 101 deaths including 16 women and 42 children, according to the national disaster management authority.
…

A ban imposed by India on exports of several categories of rice due to rising domestic prices and fears of a shortfall in the next crop yield could drive up global prices of the grain at a time when food insecurity is already a concern, according to experts. 

India, the world’s largest rice exporter, accounts for 40% of the global rice trade, with its shipments going to about 140 countries.  

Announcing the ban Thursday, the government said that prices in the country had risen by 11.5% over the past year and 3% over the past month.   

In a statement, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs said that it has amended the export policy “in order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market.” It said the ban would take effect immediately. 

India’s move came days after Russia backed out of a deal to allow Ukrainian wheat safe passage through the Black Sea, prompting warnings that the action could lead to surging prices.    

“The impact of India’s rice ban is bound to be felt on global prices. This is happening soon after the Black Sea initiative was not renewed. When wheat is undergoing a shock, India banning rice exports creates a further shock in global food grain markets,” Harish Damodaran, agriculture editor at The Indian Express newspaper, told VOA. 

“India used to export about 22.5 million tons. Now about 10 million tons will go out of the international market, so about 40% of our exports will be knocked out. This includes a category whose exports were banned last year,” according to Damodaran.  

India is unlikely to ease the restrictions soon as it grapples with food inflation, according to analysts.  

The increase in food prices is a sensitive issue for the government as the country prepares to hold a series of key state elections later this year and national elections next April. Prices of rice and wheat are of particular concern in a country where cereals are a predominant part of the diet of low-income people. 

India has been tightening farm exports since last year — a ban imposed on wheat exports more than a year ago has not been lifted.  

Analysts say that while India, the world’s second largest rice producer, has sufficient stockpiles of rice for its 1.4 billion people, there are fears that an erratic monsoon season could damage the next paddy crop, which was planted in June and harvested in September.  

Heavy rains in the north of the country in recent weeks triggered floods in key rice growing regions while deficient rains in the south prevented many farmers from planting the crop.   

“We have had severe rains and floods in Punjab and Haryana, and these are the two states that predominantly supply surplus rice to the country,” Devinder Sharma, a farm analyst, told VOA. “The tragedy of southern states is that they don’t have irrigation and therefore they get adversely impacted by a shortfall in rains. So everything could go topsy turvy with the next rice harvest.” 

He also pointed out that there are worries over the “El Nino” effect, which usually causes hot, dry weather and lower rainfall in Asia, where the bulk of the world’s rice crop which needs ample water is grown. That has led to further uncertainty about potential shortages of the crop that is a staple for more than 3 billion people in the world. 

“So the government is right in being very cautious. They don’t want to take any risk,” said Sharma. 

The curbs on rice exports exclude one variety that is mostly exported to Bangladesh and several countries in Africa, which analysts say is a diplomatic move to ensure that the neighboring country with which New Delhi has good ties and African nations — where it is trying to build influence — do not face a significant problem.   

“The rice curbs have been crafted keeping in mind domestic political compulsions and diplomacy,” says Damodaran. 
…

Gender trumped tribe for a group of furious Indian mothers who torched the homes of two men from their own community who were accused of abusing women in a video that sparked outrage.

At least 120 people have been killed during months of ethnic conflict between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki in India’s troubled northeastern state of Manipur.

The women from the Meitei community decided to show their anger after the humiliating video surfaced on Wednesday, which reportedly shows two Kuki women being forced to strip naked and then jeered at and harassed by Meitei men in May.

Police arrested four suspects on Thursday but, on the same day, a powerful group of Meitei women known as the “Meira Paibis,” or the Mothers of Manipur, set out to burn the homes of two of the accused.

“We condemn the violence against the women and that is why we want capital punishment,” Sumati, who gave only her first name, told AFP.

“That is why we destroyed his house.”

India is generally traditionalist, conservative and patriarchal but the Meitei have a history of women’s activism, with women having a more prominent role in society than elsewhere.

Tens of thousands of people have fled to government-run camps since the violence erupted in May but the video clip has shone a spotlight on the conflict.

‘Shamed India’

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said after the video clip emerged that the incident had “shamed India.”

Manipur’s state government is led by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party and has said it is investigating the “heinous” incident.

“Both communities are condemning this event,” said Suchitra Rajkumari, 42, a local activist. “At least in one point they are agreeing.”

The Meira Paibis smashed down the walls of the homes of two of the accused before stuffing bales of hay inside and setting them on fire.

Thangjam Lata Devi, the mother of one of the accused, was told she had given birth to a “spoilt” son. Her home was also torched.

“If they decide to exile you, then that’s it,” she said.

The Meira Paibis said the homes were burned to send a message.

“We condemn what happened to the women,” said Sumati, who helped set fire to one of the houses.

“The accused and their family will not be able to live in their village. That is why we destroyed the house.”

The Kuki oppose Meitei demands for reserved public job quotas and college admissions as a form of affirmative action, stoking fears that they might also be allowed to acquire land in areas currently reserved for tribal groups.

Human Rights Watch alleges the policies “promote Hindu majoritarianism.”

Vigilante justice 

But just as Meira Paibis vigilantes administer their form of justice, they have also protected their men.

Some 500 women blocked roads to stop about 100 armed police arresting another suspect linked to the video on Saturday, jeering at security forces in a three-hour standoff.

“Kill us! Take us all!” the women screamed, brandishing burning torches. Their faces were smeared in toothpaste, which they say helps protect against tear gas.

This time, they alleged the men the police wanted to arrest were not responsible and the officers left empty-handed.

The group has blocked roads to bar security forces multiple times during the unrest, accusing the army of being biased towards the Kuki.

“We have a legacy of protecting our people and that gives us inner strength,” said Meira Paibis member Matouleibi Chanu.

The Meira Paibis launched dusk-till-dawn patrols after the violence erupted, hammering on electricity poles to raise the alarm.

The army said in June they were forced to release 12 Meitei militia members after troops were surrounded by a 1,500-strong “mob” of women.

“We will do everything to protect our people,” said 60-year-old Chongtham Thopi Devi, another Meira Paibis member.

Police said in a statement on Saturday that six arrests had been made in connection with the video and they were conducting “raids” for other suspects.

“We can’t use the same force as we do in dispersing men,” a senior police officer said, asking not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

“We often find men hiding behind these women in protests and marches… the women lead always.”      
…

DALLAS — As the Taliban swept back into power in Afghanistan, in the summer of 2021, Fahima Sultani and her fellow university students tried for days to get into the Kabul airport, only to be turned away by gun-wielding extremists.

“No education, just go back home,” she recalled one shouting.

Nearly two years later, Sultani, now 21, is safely in the U.S. and working toward her bachelor’s degree in data science at Arizona State University in Tempe on a scholarship. When she’s not studying, she likes to hike up nearby Tempe Butte, the kind of outing she enjoyed in her mountainous homeland.

Seeing students like Sultani rush to leave in August 2021 as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan after 20 years, colleges, universities and other groups across the U.S. started piecing together the funding for hundreds of scholarships so they could continue their educations outside of their home country.

Women of Sultani’s generation, born around the time the U.S. ousted the Taliban after the 9/11 attacks in 2001, grew up attending school and watching as women pursued careers. The Taliban’s return upended those freedoms.

“Within minutes of the collapse of the government in Kabul, U.S. universities said, ‘We’ll take one;’ ‘We’ll take three;’ ‘We’ll take a professor;’ ‘We’ll take a student,'” said Allan Goodman, CEO of the Institute of International Education, a global not-for-profit that helps fund such scholarships.

The fears leading the students to quickly board flights were soon justified as the Taliban ushered in a harsh Islamic rule: Girls cannot attend school beyond the sixth grade and women, once again required to wear burqas, have been banned from universities and are restricted from most employment.

Sultani is one of more than 60 Afghan women who arrived at ASU by December 2021 after fleeing Afghanistan, where she had been studying online through Asian University for Women in Bangladesh during the pandemic.

“These women came out of a crisis, a traumatic experience, boarded a plane not knowing where they were going, ended up in the U.S.,” said Susan Edgington, executive director and head of operations of ASU’s Global Academic Initiatives.

After making their way to universities and colleges across the U.S. over the last two years, many are nearing graduation and planning their futures.

Mashal Aziz, 22, was a few months from graduating from American University of Afghanistan when Kabul fell and she boarded a plane. After leaving, she scoured the internet, researching which schools were offering scholarships and what organizations might be able to help.

“You’ve already left everything and you are thinking maybe there are barriers for your higher education,” she said.

Aziz and three other Afghan students arrived at Northeastern University in Boston in January 2022 after first being taken to Qatar and then a military base in New Jersey. She graduated this spring with a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting management and plans to start work on her master’s degree in finance this fall at Northeastern.

Just two days after the fall of Kabul, the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma announced it had created two scholarships for Afghans seeking refuge in the U.S. Later, the university created five more scholarships that went to some of the young Afghans who had settled in the area. Five more Afghans have received scholarships to study there this fall.

Danielle Macdonald, an associate anthropology professor at the school, has organized a regular meetup between TU students and college-aged Afghans who have settled in the Tulsa area.

Around two dozen young people attend the events, where they’ve talked about everything from U.S. slang to how to find a job. Their outings have included visiting a museum and going to a basketball game, Macdonald said.

“It’s become a really lovely community,” she said.

Sultani, like many others who left Afghanistan, often thinks about those who remained behind, including her sister, who had been studying at a university, but now must stay home.

“I can go to universities while millions of girls back in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity that I have,” Sultani said. “I can dress the way I want and millions of girls now in Afghanistan, they do not have this opportunity.”

Since the initial flurry of scholarships, efforts to assist Afghan students have continued, including the creation of the Qatar Scholarship for Afghans Project, which has helped fund 250 scholarships at dozens of U.S. colleges and universities.

But there are still more young people in need of support to continue their educations in the U.S. or even reach the U.S. from Afghanistan or other countries, explained Jonah Kokodyniak, a senior vice president at the Institute of International Education.

Yasamin Sohrabi, 26, is among those still trying to find a way to the U.S. Sohrabi, who had been studying at American University of Afghanistan, realized as the withdrawal of U.S. forces neared that she might need to go overseas to continue her studies. The day after the Taliban took Kabul, she learned of her admission to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, but wasn’t able to get into the airport to leave Afghanistan.

A year later, she and her younger sister, who has also been accepted at the university, got visas to Pakistan. Now they are trying to find a way to get into the U.S. Their brother, who accompanied them to Pakistan, is applying to the school as well.

Sohrabi said she and her siblings try not to focus on what they have lost, but instead on how to get to WKU, where 20 other Afghans will be studying this fall.

“That’s one of the things in these days we think about,” she said. “It keeps us going.”
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The death toll from the recent landslide in India has climbed to 26.

“With the recovery of four bodies, the death toll in the landslide tragedy has now reached 26,” an official said Saturday.

The bodies of three women and one man were found in the rubble of Irshalwadi, a tribal village about 80 kilometers from Mumbai. 

A number of the town’s homes were either fully or partially destroyed Thursday when the earth gave way. 

Officials said the search continues, mostly by hand, for several missing people.
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Japan and India have signed an agreement for the joint development of semiconductors, in what appears to be another indication of how global businesses are reconfiguring post-pandemic supply chains as China loses its allure for foreign companies.

India’s Ashwini Vaishnaw, minister for railways, communications, and electronics and information technology, and Japan’s minister of economy, trade and industry, Yasutoshi Nishimura, signed the deal Thursday in New Delhi.

The memorandum covers “semiconductor design, manufacturing, equipment research, talent development and [will] bring resilience in the semiconductor supply chain,” Vaishnaw said.

Nishimura said after his meeting with Vaishnaw that “India has excellent human resources” in fields such as semiconductor design.

“By capitalizing on each other’s strengths, we want to push forward with concrete projects as early as possible,” Nishimura told a news conference, Kyodo News reported.  

Andreas Kuehn, a senior fellow at the American office of Observer Research Foundation, an Indian think tank, told VOA Mandarin: “Japan has extensive experience in this industry and understands the infrastructure in this field at a broad level. It can be an important partner in advancing India’s semiconductor ambitions.”

Shift from China

Foreign companies have been shifting their manufacturing away from China over the past decade, prompted by increasing labor costs.

More recently, Beijing’s push for foreign companies to share their technologies and data has increased uneasiness with China’s business climate, according to surveys of U.S. and European businesses there.

The discomfort stems from a 2021 data security law that Beijing updated in April and put into effect on July 1. Its broad anti-espionage language does not define what falls under China’s national security or interests. 

After taking office in 2014, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a “Make in India” initiative with the goal of turning India into a global manufacturing center with an expanded chip industry.

The initiative is not entirely about making India a self-sufficient economy, but more about welcoming investors from countries with similar ideas. Japan and India are part of the QUAD security framework, along with the United States and Australia, which aims to strengthen cooperation as a group, as well as bilaterally between members, to maintain peace and stability in the region.

Jagannath Panda, director of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs of the Institute for Security and Development Policy, said that the international community “wants a safe region where the semiconductor industry can continue to supply the global market. This chain of linkages is critical, and India is at the heart of the Indo-Pacific region” — a location not lost on chip companies in the United States, Taiwan and Japan that are reevaluating supply chain security and reducing their dependence on China.

Looking ahead

Panda told VOA Mandarin: “The COVID pandemic has proved that we should not rely too much on China. [India’s development of the chip industry] is also to prepare India for the next half century. Unless countries with similar ideas such as the United States and Japan cooperate effectively, India cannot really develop its semiconductor industry.”

New Delhi and Washington signed a memorandum of understanding in March to advance cooperation in the semiconductor field.

During Modi’s visit to the United States in June, he and President Joe Biden announced a cooperation agreement to coordinate semiconductor incentive and subsidy plans between the two countries.

Micron, a major chip manufacturer, confirmed on June 22 that it will invest as much as $800 million in India to build a chip assembly and testing plant.

Applied Materials said in June that it plans to invest $400 million over four years to build an engineering center in Bangalore, Reuters reported.  The new center is expected to be located near the company’s existing facility in Bengaluru and is likely to support more than $2 billion of planned investments and create 500 new advanced engineering jobs, the company said.

Experts said that although the development of India’s chip industry will not pose a challenge to China in the short term, China’s increasingly unfriendly business environment will prompt international semiconductor companies to consider India as one of the destinations for transferring production capacity.

“China is still a big player in the semiconductor industry, especially traditional chips, and we shouldn’t underestimate that. I don’t think that’s going to go away anytime soon. The world depends on this capacity,” Kuehn said. 

He added: “For multinational companies, China has become a more difficult business environment to operate in. We are likely to see them make other investments outside China after a period of time, which may compete with China’s semiconductor industry, especially in Southeast Asia. India may also play a role in this regard.” 

Bo Gu contributed to this report.
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Environmental activists and experts are increasingly concerned about the impact that military activity by India, China and Pakistan is having on the unique biodiversity and pristine ecosystems of Ladakh, an Indian-administered region high in the Himalayas.

Simmering tensions between India and China since a deadly border confrontation in 2020 have led to a surge in military deployment, with both sides fortifying their positions to ensure territorial security.

The influx of troops, equipment and infrastructure construction for military purposes has disrupted the fragile Himalayan ecosystem. The unchecked expansion of military bases, roads, helipads and related projects has led to deforestation, habitat fragmentation, and increased air and noise pollution, the experts say.

They point to the rapid degradation of sensitive habitats, such as alpine meadows, wetlands and high-altitude forests, which are home to several endangered species, including the elusive snow leopard, Tibetan antelope and black-necked crane.

“Rare birds such as the black neck crane face disturbances in their habitats due to the heavy military presence on both the Chinese and Indian sides,” said Sonam Wangchuk, an environmentalist and past winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award – sometimes referred to as the Nobel Prize of Asia.  

He and other experts explained that the military activities disrupt the natural breeding patterns, feeding habits and migration routes of these vulnerable species, threatening their survival.

The damage caused by military activity is exacerbating degradation already underway from rising global temperatures attributed in large part to the burning of fossil fuels, which release carbon dioxide, trapping heat from the sun in Earth’s atmosphere.

Mountain regions like the Himalayas are rapidly changing because of the climate crisis, said Doug Weir, policy director at the Conflict and Environment Observatory, a U.K.-based charity working to develop policies that will reduce the environmental harm caused by conflicts and military activities.

Weir told VOA that military activity is estimated to account for 5.5% of all global carbon dioxide emissions.

“Increased military spending and activity help accelerate the climate crisis and the regional changes that are already readily apparent,” he said. “While India has begun to acknowledge a need to reduce its military emissions, efforts are in their infancy. China’s views on military emissions reductions remain unclear.”

Wangchuk argued in an interview that the military buildup in Ladakh is contributing significantly to the warming climate.

“The Indian side alone emits approximately 300,000 tons of CO2 [carbon dioxide] annually, considering the substantial amount of fuel transported and burned for military operations,” he said. “Similarly, the emissions would be slightly higher on the Chinese side and somewhat lower on the Pakistani side, resulting in nearly 1 million tons of CO2 being emitted each year in this triangular junction.

“Pollution doesn’t know borders,” Wangchuk added, urging governments to prioritize the well-being of soldiers and civilians alike, irrespective of their nationalities. He compared the disputes between nations “to squabbling neighbors fighting over a fence while an impending avalanche threatens them both.”

Not only the wildlife is threatened. A recent study indicated that if temperature trends continued, the Himalayan glaciers might disappear entirely, “having a significant impact on regional water supplies, hydrological processes, ecosystem services and transboundary water sharing.”

Ladakh is particularly vulnerable to the threat, Wangchuk said. “Its glaciers play a crucial role in sustaining not only the local population but also communities across northern India and northern Pakistan. Consequently, many villages are teetering on the brink of becoming climate refugees.”

In a media report last year, the village of Kumik witnessed residents abandoning their homes and relocating to other parts of Ladakh because of water scarcity.

On a more positive note, Wangchuk said efforts are underway to collaborate with the Indian army to introduce passive solar-heated shelters, which have proven effective in significantly reducing emissions.

“These innovative zero-emission buildings have been successfully tested during two harsh winters, ensuring soldiers’ warmth without relying on conventional fuel sources,” he said, calling for China and Pakistan to adopt similar environmentally friendly practices. 
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India and Sri Lanka boosted their economic partnership by signing a series of agreements on energy, trade and connectivity projects following talks between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe in New Delhi on Friday.

Wickremesinghe was on his first visit to India since he took charge a year ago after an economic crisis engulfed the country and led to the resignation of his predecessor.

He came to New Delhi as both sides reset a relationship that has been set back by growing Chinese influence in the strategic island nation that lies on India’s southern tip. Before Sri Lanka’s economy collapsed, Beijing had poured in billions of dollars to build infrastructure projects that India feared could affect its security.

India provided aid last year

Ties between Colombo and New Delhi received fresh momentum last year, though, after India extended $4 billion in aid to help the beleaguered country.

Addressing reporters along with Wickremesinghe, Modi said that being a close friend, India had stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” with its neighbor during the crisis and that a prosperous Sri Lanka was key to regional stability.

“Sri Lanka has an important place in our ‘neighborhood first’ policy,” Modi said. “We believe that the security interests and development of India and Sri Lanka are intertwined.”

Wickremesinghe said that his visit had “reinforced trust and confidence for our future prosperity in the modern world.”

In a signal of deepening bilateral ties, the two countries unveiled an economic partnership vision that focused on enhancing connectivity and investments.

Modi said the two sides will conduct feasibility studies on laying a petroleum line between the two countries that would give Sri Lanka access to affordable energy. They also will explore the possibility of building a land bridge. The closest points between the two countries are just 50 kilometers apart.

The two countries also will work to connect their electricity grids and cooperate in the renewable energy sector. New Delhi will develop a port and an economic hub at Trincomalee, on Sri Lanka’s northeastern coast.

The two leaders also expressed support to implement a plan for the Sri Lankan government to share power with the country’s ethnic minority Tamil population that lives in the island’s north and east provinces. The Tamils of Sri Lanka have long had close ties with Tamils living in southern India.

“We hope that the government of Sri Lanka will fulfill the aspirations of the Tamils,” Modi said.

Optimistic about recovery

Wickremesinghe expressed optimism about economic recovery in his country, which secured a $3 billion bailout package from the International Monetary Fund in March.

“I have set Sri Lanka firmly on a path of economic reform,” he said.

For Sri Lanka, a top priority is to get countries like India and China to agree to a debt restructuring plan. Last year, the country defaulted on its $46 billion foreign debt.

But balancing ties with India and China still poses a challenge. Last year, Sri Lanka allowed a Chinese research vessel, Yuan Wang 5, to dock in a port built by Beijing — despite objections by New Delhi, which feared it was a spy ship.

Wickremesinghe’s visit to India, however — his first overseas trip since becoming president — underscores that ties between the two neighbors are again set on a growth trajectory.
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Rescue workers have resumed their search in western India on Friday for survivors of a landslide in Maharashtra state.

The landslide, which was triggered by torrential rains late Wednesday killed at least 16 people in Irshalwadi village in Raigad district. Officials say 75 people were rescued.

Authorities say other people and bodies may be trapped under the rubble.

Search and rescue operations were suspended Thursday because of heavy rains.

Officials say 17 of the town’s 50 houses were buried in the landslide.

Unusually heavy monsoon rains have killed more than 100 people across India in recent weeks.
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RAIGAD, India — A landslide triggered by torrential rains in India’s western Maharashtra state killed 10 people, with many others feared trapped under piles of debris, officials said Thursday.

A team of 60 rescuers and trained trekkers have been deployed to help save people trapped by the landslide, which occurred late Wednesday, the state’s deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted. Harsh weather conditions have hampered rescue efforts, and authorities have sent in medical teams to help the injured, he added.

While 75 people have been rescued, many others are still stuck, an official told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The landslide hit the Irshalwadi village in Raigad district and buried 17 of the 50 houses there.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde arrived at the site Thursday and told reporters that “the priority now is to rescue those still trapped beneath the rubble.”

India’s weather department put Maharashtra on alert as the state has been lashed by incessant rains this week. The downpours have disrupted life for many in the state, including in the capital, Mumbai, where authorities shut schools Thursday.

Local train services have been disrupted with water flowing inside stations and over tracks, local media reported. Roads have been submerged, causing traffic jams and leaving commuters stranded. The National Disaster Response Force deployed teams across the state.

Record monsoon rains killed more than 100 people in northern India over the last two weeks, officials said, as the downpours caused roads to cave in and homes to collapse. 

Monsoon rains across the country already have brought about 2% more rainfall this year than normal, India’s weather agency said.

India regularly witnesses severe floods during the monsoon season, which runs between June and September and brings most of South Asia’s annual rainfall. The rain is crucial for rain-fed crops planted during the season but often causes extensive damage.

Scientists say monsoons are becoming more erratic because of climate change and global warming, leading to frequent landslides and flash floods in India’s Himalayan north.
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In India, a video showing two women being paraded naked by a mob in the northeastern Manipur state, which has been wracked by ethnic violence, has sparked widespread outrage.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the alleged assault “shameful” and promised tough action. They were his first comments since the conflict led to the death of about 125 people and displaced thousands in the remote state since it erupted more than two months ago.

“My heart is filled with pain, it is filled with anger. It is shameful for any civilized society,” Modi said on Thursday before a parliament session began in New Delhi.

“I assure the nation, the law will take its course with all its might. What happened to the daughters of Manipur can never be forgiven,” the prime minister said.

The incident took place on May 4, according to police, but it hit national headlines only after more than two months when the video went viral on Wednesday. It shows two naked women being dragged and groped by a mob of men, and the women crying as they were led to a nearby field.

According to a complaint filed with the police, the men gang raped one of the women. The state’s chief minister, Biren Singh, said on Thursday that police have made their “first arrest” in connection with the assault.

“A thorough investigation is currently underway, and we will ensure strict action is taken against all the perpetrators, including considering the possibility of capital punishment,” Singh tweeted.

Opposition parties have criticized the prime minister for not speaking about the conflict that has wracked Manipur, which is ruled by his Bharatiya Janata Party. On Thursday, Modi condemned the assault, although he did not make a reference to the violence in Manipur.

“Manipur is burning, women are raped, naked, paraded, and horrific violence is taking place. But the PM (prime minister) kept quiet for so long until today,” the opposition Congress Party president, Mallikarjun Kharge, said in the upper house of parliament.

The video also prompted the Supreme Court to express concern over the assault. “In a constitutional democracy it is unacceptable. If the government does not act, we will,” Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud said. He asked the government to inform the court of the steps taken to apprehend the perpetrators and ensure such incidents are not repeated.

Manipur lies along the border with Myanmar, and most of its 3.6 million people comprise the Meitei community, who are mainly Hindu, and Kuki people, who are predominantly Christian.

Since May, the two communities have been pitted against each other. The violence was triggered by fears that an affirmative action program seeking tribal status for the Meiteis would give them an advantage in government jobs and allow them to buy land in the hills where the Kukis live. Clashes between the two communities have led to scores of homes, churches and temples being destroyed or damaged.

Internet services have been shut down since the violence erupted. 

The army is now patrolling the state, but sporadic violence continues, and tensions remain high between the two communities. 

The international spotlight also has focused on the ethnic conflict. A resolution adopted by the European Parliament earlier this month referred to the violence in Manipur and said there were concerns about “politically motivated, divisive policies promoting Hindu majoritarianism.” India called it an unacceptable interference in its internal affairs.
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Authorities in northwestern Pakistan said twin suicide bombings killed at least two police officers Thursday and wounded 10 others in a volatile district bordering Afghanistan.

Police in Khyber in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said the attackers targeted a government compound, which houses district police headquarters.

A senior police official said two suicide bombers detonated explosives strapped to their bodies when security forces intercepted them at the main entrance to the building. He added that the blast destroyed a gate and parts of the compound. The official said that he fears the death toll could rise.

In a statement sent to journalists, the outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack. The bombing came hours after an overnight attack in which militants, armed with assault rifles, shot up a roadside police post in the provincial capital of Peshawar, killing at least two security personnel and wounding as many others.  

The TTP has claimed responsibility for that deadly shooting as well.

Tuesday, a TTP suicide car bomber targeted a truck carrying security forces in Peshawar, wounding six soldiers and two civilians.

The militant outfit and other insurgent groups have recently increased attacks against Pakistani security forces, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and southwestern Baluchistan province, bordering Afghanistan.  

The violence has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 400 Pakistanis, mostly security forces, nationwide since the start of the year. Those killed include nearly 120 army officers and soldiers.

Islamabad alleges that fugitive TTP commanders and their associates are orchestrating terrorist attacks out of sanctuaries in Afghanistan. Pakistani leaders have pressed the country’s Taliban rulers to rein in the militants.  

Asif Durrani, Pakistan’s special representative on Afghanistan, is currently visiting Kabul and raised the security issue with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in a meeting late Wednesday.  

The Taliban-led Foreign Ministry on Twitter quoted Muttaqi as telling Durrani that “Afghans will never harm anyone; we will allow none to use our soil against another country; & our efforts will always be directed at working for regional security & stability.”

TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, is an offshoot and known ally of the Afghan Taliban. The United States has outlawed the Pakistani Taliban as a global terrorist organization.

The group is believed to have moved its operational bases to Afghanistan since the former insurgent Taliban seized control of the country in August 2021, days before the United States and NATO allies withdrew all their troops, ending nearly two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.
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Nine years after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi led his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party to a spectacular victory, he continues to be India’s most popular leader and is expected to win a third term in elections due next year.

Now, aiming to mount a collective challenge to the strong, charismatic leader in 2024, 26 opposition parties forged an alliance this week. The disparate group includes the main opposition Congress Party and a raft of regional parties that command significant support in several Indian states.

They have called the alliance INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Opposition Congress Party leader, Rahul Gandhi, billed next year’s election as “a fight between Narendra Modi and INDIA.”

“They feel that if they contest alone, they will not be able to put up a credible challenge to the BJP but coming together will help them in putting up a decent fight,” according to Rahul Verma, a fellow at the Center for Policy Research in New Delhi. “A coalition like this will enable them to pool their resources.”

Contests for parliamentary constituencies in India often involve multiple candidates, splitting votes three or even four ways. As a result, parties win elections even if they secure less than 50% of the votes cast.

“The figures of 2019 showed that BJP had about 37% of the total vote and non-BJP parties accounted for 63%. So, if they could consolidate a chunk of this through one-on-one contests, then the opposition vote will not get divided,” pointed out independent political analyst Neerja Chowdhury. “That is the heart of their strategy to take on Modi.”

‘Safeguard the idea of India’

The INDIA alliance, whose name has been chosen to strike a chord of nationalism, has said its goal is to protect democracy. Pledging to “safeguard the idea of India as enshrined in the Constitution,” it said in a statement that the “character of our republic is being severely assaulted in a systematic manner by the BJP.”

Critics have accused Modi’s government of undermining democracy and press freedom, polarizing the country along communal lines and using federal investigative agencies to target opposition leaders – charges it strongly denies.

“We resolve to fight the systemic conspiracy by BJP to target, persecute and suppress our fellow Indians,” the INDIA alliance said.

While the coming together of key regional parties like the Trinamool Congress and the Samajwadi Party with the Congress Party marks a significant political turnaround, the path ahead for the opposition group is formidable. Making room for one another in electoral contests will not be easy for parties who have been fierce rivals for decades. Some have been weakened by defections of their members to the BJP. Questions remain whether the disparate group can remain together in the months ahead.

But several observers say that united by a strong anti-BJP sentiment, opposition parties in the INDIA alliance appear willing to sink their differences.

“What we see this time is a certain determination that they are going to make this work,” said political analyst Arati Jerath. “The last five years have seen such an attack on the opposition by the ruling party in terms of filing corruption cases against several opposition leaders or getting them arrested that the BJP has kind of driven them into each other’s arms. I think their compulsion now to stay united is huge.”

Modi slams INDIA alliance

The disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from parliament in March following his conviction in a criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader had been slammed by several opposition parties and critics as a politically motivated case and an attempt to silence the opposition.

The BJP denies targeting the opposition and has denounced the INDIA alliance.

On Tuesday, even as opposition members held their meeting, the BJP also celebrated nine years in power at a gathering in New Delhi along with 38 allies, most of them small groups and exuded confidence about clinching a convincing victory next year.

At the meeting, Modi slammed the INDIA alliance calling it a “hardcore corruption convention” and said “people have already decided to bring our government back in 2024.”

But political analysts say there are signs of anxiety in the BJP, which was recently routed in the southern Karnataka state by the Congress Party and has also suffered setbacks in some other states.

“The BJP appears rattled. There is definitely some nervousness in the party,” said Jerath. “The BJP is trying to drive a wedge to stop the opposition unity and we have to see if the INDIA alliance can stay the course.”

Still, political analysts point out that Modi’s approval ratings are high and he remains a charismatic leader. And while Modi, who is the face of the BJP, is seen as a crowd puller, the INDIA alliance lacks a clear leader.

“All polls continue to indicate that Modi remains very popular. Anecdotally you hear people saying that he is losing his charisma but there is no hard evidence to back that. And losses in state elections cannot be a barometer of what happens in national elections,” according to Verma.

While it will be a huge challenge for the INDIA alliance to take on the BJP, analysts say it may be able to make a dent in the huge majority the Hindu nationalists command in parliament — in 2019, the BJP won 303 seats in the 545-member parliament.

“What they could do realistically, is bring down their tally by 70-80 seats and stop them for getting a clear majority, which will create the checks and balances in the system,” said Chowdhury.
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Employees of beauty salons in Kabul, Afghanistan, staged a protest following a recent Taliban order that will close all women’s beauty salons in less than a month. Thousands of women will lose their jobs if the order is implemented. Waheed Faizi has the story. Contributor: Roshan Noorzai.
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The Taj Mahal, the world-renowned mausoleum located in Agra, India, suffered flooding in one of its nearby gardens after record monsoon rains hit the city.

The structure is located near the Yamuna River, which has been experiencing unusually high water levels — hitting 152 meters (499 feet), slightly higher than the warning level for possible hazard.

Local officials expressed concern about the integrity of the 17th-century structure and said the last time the river reached the boundary walls was in 2010. The Taj Mahal last suffered water damage in 1978.

Officials from the Archaeological Survey of India said there was not any “serious concern” regarding possible damage to the Taj Mahal.

“If it rains more, or the water stays this high for some days, we will need to assess the situation again,” said Raj Kumar Patel, superintendent archaeologist at ASI.

Heavy floods in India have killed at least 100 people in the north, causing massive landslides and washing away bridges and houses.

The Taj Mahal remains India’s largest tourist attraction, with as many as 8 million visitors a year.
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The Pakistani Taliban released an online magazine geared toward women this week. The third of its kind in six years, the magazine comes at a time when the militant group formally known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, is staging a resurgence with near-daily deadly attacks on Pakistani security forces.

Titled Banat-E-Khadeejatul Kubra, which means Daughters of Khadeejatul Kubra, the 36-page Urdu-language magazine released July 16 is named after Khadeeja, the first wife of Muhammad, the prophet of Islam.

The look

The red and white cover features a photo of a warrior woman dressed in black from head to toe with only her eyes showing, sitting on a white horse, ready to shoot an arrow. For titles, the magazine uses red and pink colors, and many floral motifs; however, all illustrations show women in long, loose gowns and face coverings. None of the drawings depicts any facial features.

The message

TTP, an ideological offshoot of the Afghan Taliban, released its first official magazine for women in mid-2017. Titled Sunnat-e-Khaula, meaning The Way of Khaula, the magazine was named after a female warrior from Prophet Muhammad’s time and encouraged women to prepare to fight.

A second magazine, Khawateen Ka Jihad , or Women’s Holy War, came out in March after a gap of six years. Observers say that was almost a trial run for the latest release.

The latest issue named after Prophet Muhammad’s wife focuses on women’s domestic responsibilities with an emphasis on serving and supporting men.

Feminist scholar and author Afiya S. Zia told VOA the agenda of this magazine is not to spread extremism but maintain a patriarchal status quo.

“It’s to stabilize and support the extremist agenda like the ‘B’ team,” she said in written comments. “It gives women only a supportive role – not suicide bombers or jihadists but daughters and wives who sacrifice their men for the cause and testify to their martyrdom.”

Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, a journalist and founder of The Khorasan Diary, an online news platform that focuses on militant activity in Pakistan and Afghanistan, told VOA TTP sees women as an asset in promoting its extremist ideology.

Since the majority of Taliban and their families are Pashtun, Mehsud said releasing a magazine in Urdu shows TTP is trying to reach a wider audience.

“The fact that this magazine has come in Urdu (Pakistan’s national language) and not just Pashto, shows that it’s not just Pashtun women but other too whom they [TTP] are creating content for,” he said.

Unlike the Afghan Taliban who have put a ban on women’s education, the Pakistani Taliban support women’s right to education in this magazine. The writings, however, strongly criticize co-education with sweeping generalizations and declare certain subjects like engineering “unnecessary” for women.

Zia said the TTP takes a pro-education stance because “there is no appetite for Afghan Taliban agenda in Pakistan – it has to be a softer version.”

The timing

Although Pakistani military operations dealt a massive blow to the militant group, driving its leadership and many fighters into Afghanistan in the 2010s, TTP has staged a comeback since the Afghan Taliban regained power in Kabul in August 2021.

Under the leadership of Noor Wali Mehsud, allegedly present in Afghanistan, TTP has regrouped, reorganized, and expanded by taking more than 30 other militant outfits into its fold.

The group has claimed responsibility for more than 300 attacks this year, in which more than 800 people, mostly security personnel, were killed or injured.

The Pakistani Taliban’s official media outlet, Umar Media, named after Afghan Taliban’s founder Mullah Umar, has been ramping up production of slick video and text content.

While Pakistan has repeatedly targeted TTP’s operational capacity, journalist Mehsud said the state has not focused sufficiently on countering its extremist ideology.

“[This] is why the TTP manages to stage a resurgence again and again. For any militant group, their center of gravity is their ideology. We have seen that groups weaken operationally but their ideology remains intact because of which they bounce back again.”

The magazine, like other extremist content, is accessible through various social media accounts that manage to dodge scrutiny with clever use of key words and hashtags.
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