SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Monday, October 28, 2024 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
The Azadi Briefing: UN Complains Of Growing Taliban Interference In Aid Operations (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [10/25/2024 4:14 PM, Abubakar Siddique, 235K, Neutral]
A new UN report says the Taliban is increasingly interfering in international aid operations in Afghanistan.
On October 22, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said aid agencies recorded more than 170 incidents of interference in September, which led to the suspension of 83 humanitarian projects.
The incidents in September represent a 31 percent increase compared to the previous month and a 66 percent rise compared to the same period last year, the OCHA said.
The OCHA said the Taliban detained or arrested nine aid workers and closed three facilities in September. The extremist group has also restricted the movement of aid and humanitarian workers.“Interference in humanitarian activities, violence against humanitarian personnel, assets and facilities” were the most common incidents, said the report.
Why It’s Important: The Taliban appears keen to regulate and control international aid projects in Afghanistan, the world’s largest humanitarian crisis.
The militant group’s interference in humanitarian projects is likely to impede the delivery of aid to millions of Afghans.“What is troubling is when this interference actually obstructs aid from getting to Afghans who desperately need it,” said Ashley Jackson, the co-founder of the Center on Armed Groups.
Jackson said most aid organizations operating in Afghanistan are good at negotiating with the Taliban to ensure that they can function. But she said that “most aid workers will tell you that it is onerous and takes significant time and resources.”
What’s Next: The Taliban is likely to continue to press for more control over aid operations.
But its interference and restrictions could prompt Western donors to cut their funding to international aid projects in Afghanistan.
The UN is already scrambling to attract funding for its $3 billion annul humanitarian appeal this year.
What To Keep An Eye On
Kazakhstan has signed a memorandum of understanding with the unrecognized Taliban government to increase bilateral trade to $3 billion annually.
The Taliban’s Commerce Minister, Nooruddin Azizi, and Kazakh Deputy Prime Minister Serik Zhumangarin signed the agreement on October 22.
Under the deal, Astana will build railway lines in Afghanistan linking Central Asia to Afghanistan’s southern and eastern regions, which border Pakistan.
Kazakhstan wants to eventually use Pakistani ports for exporting goods to the Middle East. It also wants Afghanistan’s trade with China to transit through its territory.
Astana will export new and used cars, grains, and wheat flour to Afghanistan while importing fresh and dried fruits.
Why It’s Important: Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries have sought to expand their relations with the Taliban government, which is not recognized by any country in the world.
Many Central Asian states appear interested in developing economic ties. They are also worried about security threats emanating from Afghanistan, where dozens of extremist groups operate. Pakistan
Militants in northwest Pakistan attack a security post killing 10 forces (AP)
AP [10/25/2024 1:58 PM, Riaz Khan, 456K, Negative]
Militants armed with assault rifles and grenades attacked a security post in northwest Pakistan killing 10 officers in an intense shootout, police said Friday.
Three other forces were wounded in the overnight attack in Dera Ismail Khan, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, local police official Abdul Rauf said.
He said the assailants suffered casualties and fled with their dead and wounded when authorities dispatched reinforcements to the security post in the town of Draban.
Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, in a statement paid tribute to the officers who were killed and offered his condolences to their families.
Also on Friday, suspected militants ambushed a police vehicle killing a local police chief and another policeman, authorities said.
In another attack, militants Friday evening opened fire at a mosque in the northwestern city of Lakki Marwat and killed an under-training soldier who was on leave and praying along with other worshippers, the military said. It identified the dead soldier as Arif Ullah, 19, who responded to the attack by returning fire.
In a statement, the military said Ullah sacrificed his life while trying to save other worshippers.
No one claimed responsibility for either attack but suspicion was likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, who often target security forces across the country, especially in the former tribal regions in the troubled northwest.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry denounced the killing of security forces in the northwest.
Government forces recently have been conducting intelligence-based operations against the Pakistani Taliban, who are known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, and have been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.
The TTP is a separate group but a close ally of the Afghan Taliban.
The attack on the security post came within 24 hours of two other operations in which security forces shot and killed 19 insurgents in Bajur, a district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Mianwali, a city in eastern Punjab province.
Meanwhile, unidentified gunmen on the outskirts of Islamabad opened fire Friday on three prison vans and briefly freed some supporters of the country’s imprisoned former premier Imran Khan. They were being transported to the Attock jail after their appearance in city court.
Dozens of other inmates on trial were also in the vans when the gunmen ambushed them.
Islamabad police chief Nasir Abbas told Pakistani media outlets that police quickly responded to the attack and arrested all the suspects who were trying to escape. It was unclear who the attackers were and why they tried to free Khan’s supporters who were arrested this month when they defied a ban on rallies to demand his release.
Later, some of the attackers were also arrested, including the son of a lawmaker from Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf or PTI party, according to Information Minister Attaullah Tarar. He said that four policemen were also wounded in the attack.
PTI denied that any of their party members were behind it. Suicide blast kills at least 8 in northwest Pakistan (VOA)
VOA [10/26/2024 1:34 PM, Ayaz Gul, 4566K, Negative]
Pakistani officials reported Saturday that a suicide bomber targeted a security checkpoint in a volatile region near the border with Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and injuring several others.
The attack occurred in the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan’s militancy-hit North Waziristan district. At least two soldiers, four police officers and two civilians were said to be among the dead.
Multiple area security officials confirmed the casualties, reporting that the bomber detonated a motorbike rickshaw filled with explosives at the checkpoint.
The explosion also injured five security personnel, with local hospital sources describing the condition of some of them as "critical."
Militants allied with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, reportedly claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. It came a day after fierce clashes with militants in districts surrounding North Waziristan killed at least 16 Pakistani security force members and injured many others.
Pakistani officials have reported a dramatic surge in TTP-led gun attacks and suicide bombings in the country, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province, where North Waziristan is located.
The violence has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Pakistanis, half of them security forces, in the first 10 months of this year, according to independent research reports.
Islamabad says TTP operates out of sanctuaries in Afghanistan and has intensified cross-border attacks since the Islamist Taliban regained power in the neighboring country.
The Taliban government in Kabul has persistently denied allegations that the TTP or any other transnational militant groups are present on Afghan soil.
TTP, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, is listed as a global terrorist organization by the United Nations and the United States.
The group sheltered leaders of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistani border areas and joined them in staging years of insurgent attacks on U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan until those departed in August 2021. Pakistan begins another vaccination campaign after a worrying surge in polio cases (AP)
AP [10/28/2024 2:42 AM, Munir Ahmed, 456K, Neutral]
Pakistan began a nationwide vaccination campaign Monday to protect 45 million children from polio after a surge in new cases that has hampered years of efforts to stop the disease in one of the two countries where it has never been eradicated.
Pakistan regularly launches such campaigns, but violence targeting the health workers and police assigned to escort them is common. Militants falsely claim the vaccination campaigns are a Western conspiracy to sterilize children.
The campaign is the third this year and will continue until Sunday “in response to the alarming increase in polio cases,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s adviser for the polio eradication program. “We are re-energized in our efforts to combat polio,” she said in a statement.
During the door-to-door campaign, children younger than 5 will be vaccinated and given drops of Vitamin A supplements to enhance their immunity.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif recently met with front-line health workers, urging them to ensure no child was left unvaccinated by going door-to-door.
Anwarul Haq, who is the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Centre for Polio Eradication, also urged parents to fully cooperate with polio workers. “Polio has no cure, but it can be prevented with this readily available vaccine,” he said.
Pakistan has recorded 41 cases across 71 districts so far this year, Farooq said. Most were reported from southwestern Balochistan and southern Sindh province, following by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and eastern Punjab province.
The surge in cases in new locations is worrying authorities since previous cases were from the restive northwest bordering Afghanistan, where the Taliban government in September suddenly stopped a door-to-door vaccination campaign.
Authorities in Pakistan say the Afghan Taliban’s recent decision to stop door-to-door anti-polio campaign will have repercussions beyond the Afghan border, as people from both sides frequently travel to each other’s country. The World Health Organization has confirmed 18 polio cases in Afghanistan this year.
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped. It is one of the world’s most infectious diseases, so it continues to spread anywhere people are not fully vaccinated. In severe cases, polio can cause permanent paralysis and death. Pakistan’s budding democracy is on the verge of collapse. It has two options – change tack or implode (The Guardian – opinion)
The Guardian [10/26/2024 3:00 AM, Mustafa Nawaz Khokhar, 92374K, Negative]
For most of its history, Pakistan has been ruled by military dictators. Brief democratic intervals were only possible because the military became so hugely unpopular that it was left with no other option than to temporarily cede space to democracy. The last military dictator was forced to quit in 2008, and Pakistan has since seen the longest spell of civilian control in its history. Instead of moving forward, it has slid backwards, and was downgraded last year from a "hybrid" to an "authoritarian" regime. Its electoral process and its democracy have lost all credibility - not only in the eyes of ordinary Pakistanis, but in the eyes of the world.
We didn’t get here overnight. In Ernest Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises, one character asks another "How did you go bankrupt?", and gets the famed reply: "Two ways. Gradually, then suddenly." In the past decade or so, all major political parties in Pakistan have participated in the gradual decline of its democracy. In their lust for power, they have conspired with the military, using its influence to manipulate elections and crush political opponents. In doing so, they have helped to undermine the rule of law, democratic norms and the country’s constitution.
The last two elections were marred by glaring irregularities. Instead of settling political disputes, they exacerbated them. Those held in 2018 brought Imran Khan to power and caused huge controversy, and those held in 2024 denied him power arbitrarily. In 2018, Khan counted the military as an ally; by 2024 it had become a foe. Now Khan is exactly where his opponents were a few years ago: in jail, waiting for the tide to turn. If history is an example, the tide will surely turn at some point for Khan as it did for his opponents. The larger question is why the military is allowed to choose who gets to run Pakistan. For now, political leaders and parties seem uninterested in asking, let alone resolving this question. Politics has been reduced to a pick me, love me, choose me affair.
As a result, various worrying trends are surfacing in the country. The state has been cracking down on dissent, attempting to decimate Khan’s party and recently taking the decision to ban the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement, a peaceful organisation that has long championed the rights of the country’s ethnic Pashtuns.Meanwhile, the government has been slow to condemn recent killings in police custody. Last month, two citizens were killed in custody after facing accusations of blasphemy. There has been no discussion of what might have sparked these killings - and whether growing religious radicalisation has played a part.
When the focus of politics shifts from the welfare of citizens and morphs into an elite power struggle, ordinary people are the biggest losers. This cycle of political instability has injured Pakistan’s economy, causing capital flight, while 12.5 million more people have slipped below the poverty line. The number of children now out of school has increased drastically to 25.3 million, which amounts to more than a third of children aged five to 16. Budgetary allocations for education and health remain dismally low.
Last month, the country entered the 25th IMF bailoutprogramme in its history. While this has prevented Pakistan from defaulting on its sovereign debt, it has also involved a number of reforms - such as privatising loss-making state enterprises, and raising taxes - that are so unpopular previous governments avoided taking them out of fear of a public backlash. Economic stability is built on political stability, yet rather than easing political tensions, the government has inflamed them. Last week, it rushed through a controversial amendment that will give it more control over the appointment of judges in the supreme and high courts, without any debate. This came under severe criticism at home and abroad, with theInternational Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the UN human rights chief branding this as an attempt to undermine the independence of the judiciary.
I’m afraid the situation on the international front is as bleak as that back home. Since the withdrawal of the US and the Taliban’s subsequent takeover of Kabul, thousands of Pakistani civilians and members of the security forces have been killed in terrorist attacks orchestrated by the radical Taliban offshoot Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). The relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan is souring and has the potential to unravel completely. For years, the security apparatus in Pakistan ignored calls that cautioned it against treating the Taliban as an ally. It looked the other way as the Taliban built sanctuaries in Pakistani tribal areas, betting that the Taliban would take control of Afghanistan as soon as the US retreated. It has radically underestimated the risks. Far from being an ally, the Taliban want to expand the Islamic emirate, and the TTP’s stated goal is to overthrow the Pakistani constitution and government.
Mistakes and follies have a way of catching up with people at the worst possible time. Pakistan could go two ways from here. The government could change tack and run the country according to the wishes of the people, as expressed through free and fair elections. Or it could risk crossing the invisible line between the gradual and the sudden. Its future hangs in equal balance, between democracy and implosion. India
US deports Indians on chartered flight in major crackdown on illegal immigration (The Independent)
The Independent [10/26/2024 3:53 PM, Namita Singh, 53826K, Negative]
The US deported a number of Indians who were illegally staying in the country, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed on Friday.
A chartered flight carrying them left for India on 22 October, it said, adding that the operation was carried out in coordination with Indian authorities.
The department did not specify how many people were on the flight.
The US Customs and Border Patrol reported that it found 90,415 Indians attempting to enter the country without valid documents between October 2023 and September 2024.
Kristie A Canegallo, DHS acting deputy secretary, emphasised that "Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal" and warned against the false promises of smugglers.
"Intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise," she said.
In a broader effort to enforce immigration laws and discourage unlawful entry, DHS said it was focused on repatriation and promoting legal migration pathways.
Since June 2024, when new immigration policies under the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation were introduced, encounters at unauthorised border crossings in the southwest US reportedly declined by 55 per cent.
According to DHS, more than 160,000 people were deported or returned in fiscal year 2024, with over 495 repatriation flights to over 145 countries, including India. DHS continued to work with governments around the world to ensure the swift return of individuals without legal permission to stay in the US, aiming to reduce irregular migration and counter transnational smuggling operations, the department said.
The US had deported individuals from a diverse range of countries, including Colombia, Egypt, Peru and China, over the past year under ongoing enforcement measures. Violence and Threats: How a Campaign of Fear Has Shaken Canada’s Sikhs (New York Times)
New York Times [10/25/2024 4:14 PM, Matina Stevis-Gridneff, 831K, Neutral]
On a warm July night two years ago, Moninder Singh received a chilling message from special federal agents who showed up at his house in British Columbia: You are being formally warned that there is an imminent threat to your life. Avoid public spaces. Enhance security at home.
The first person he called — a friend and fellow activist in a campaign promoting an independent Sikh homeland carved out of India — had just gotten the same ominous warning.
A year later, that friend, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, was dead.
Murder at the Temple
Mr. Nijjar was gunned down in June 2023 by masked men outside a Sikh temple he led in British Columbia. The Canadian government blamed the Indian government for the killing, setting off an extraordinary diplomatic rift.
Now, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian law enforcement officials have painted an even darker picture: Mr. Nijjar’s assassination, they said, was part of a broader criminal campaign run by India that targeted Sikhs on Canadian soil and included harassment, intimidation, extortion and the killing of at least one other person.
The campaign was orchestrated, officials said, by India’s ambassador in Canada and other diplomats out of the embassy in Ottawa and consulates in Toronto and Vancouver.
The Canadian authorities say that they will not release evidence linking individual cases to the Indian government because investigations are still underway.
But a review of court records and interviews with local police officials uncovered new details of a surge in such crimes in Sikh communities over the past year, including in at least a dozen alleged extortion episodes involving firearms and arson outside Toronto.
The spike began soon after Mr. Nijjar’s killing and Mr. Trudeau’s accusation in September 2023 that India was behind it, according to community leaders, the court documents and law enforcement officials familiar with the cases outside Toronto. They requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly while the investigation is underway.
Mr. Trudeau and the federal authorities said they had decided to issue a broad warning about criminal activity backed by India even without releasing evidence because of “a grave concern for our public safety.” Local authorities said they could not link any cases examined by The Times to India, saying such evidence would need to come from intelligence agencies.
This month, citing the violence, Canada expelled India’s high commissioner, or ambassador, Sanjay Kumar Verma, and five other diplomats. India angrily denounced the accusations and expelled six Canadian diplomats.
Canada’s accusations have echoes to parallel events in the United States.
After Mr. Nijjar’s killing in Surrey, British Columbia, the F.B.I. last year charged an Indian government employee with plotting to assassinate a Sikh activist in New York. More recently, the authorities charged an Indian intelligence officer in the same case.
The public accusations suggest that the United States and Canada are increasing their pressure on India — a longstanding partner — to rein in what they describe as state-sponsored violence within their borders.
Bad Blood
India has largely stamped out Sikh secessionist aspirations at home. Most Sikhs who support the creation of an independent enclave they call Khalistan live overseas, with Canada home to the largest Sikh diaspora.
Some 800,000 Sikhs are concentrated in British Columbia and Ontario, making up about 2 percent of Canada’s population.
Most are not involved in the Khalistan movement, but those who are say life in Canada has been punctuated by violence and intimidation.
Mr. Singh, reeling from Mr. Nijjar’s killing, received several more warnings of imminent risk to his life from the Canadian authorities. Three other Sikh activists from their temple had also gotten initial warnings two years ago, Mr. Singh said.
They were all instantly certain where the threat was originating.“I felt this was India trying to silence us, to either actually physically eliminate us or scare us into sitting at home and stepping away from the movement,” Mr. Singh said.
It won’t work, he said: “I know I’d rather die than let that happen. Hardeep Singh proved his conviction with sacrificing his life.”
But Mr. Singh did temporarily move out of his home to protect his family, he said.
India has called Canada’s accusations “preposterous.” The government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi claims that Mr. Trudeau is pandering to Canada’s Sikhs because they are an important voting bloc for his party, the Liberals.
India has long said that Canada has not done enough to root out what it believes is Sikh extremism.
Sikh nationalists were implicated in Canada’s deadliest terrorist act: a 1985 suitcase bombing of an Air India flight from Montreal to India via London that killed all 329 on board. Twenty years later, a judge acquitted two Indian-born Sikh nationalists who lived in Canada of murder charges. A third man had earlier pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
One of the men acquitted in the Air India case, Ripudaman Singh Malik, was killed in 2022 in Canada, and this week two men pleaded guilty to his murder.
Vincent Rigby, a former national security and intelligence adviser to Mr. Trudeau, said that the rift between Canada and India dated back to the bombing.
The Indian government believes that “the Canadian government did not do enough to prevent that, and the Indians have repeatedly said to Canada over the last 40 years: You’ve got to do more,” said Mr. Rigby, who was also a senior official at the public safety, foreign and defense departments before he retired.“Their mind-set has been: ‘We told you to up your game with respect to the Sikh extremism, to do more to address this issue. You haven’t done it,’” he said.
Today the pro-Khalistan movement is involved in organizing “referendums” among the diaspora in favor of an independent Sikh homeland, protesting India’s government, and disseminating pro-Khalistan information. Canada has designated one pro-Khalistan entity as a terrorist organization.
Indian officials have repeatedly pointed out that the Canadian authorities have not presented concrete evidence supporting the accusations against their government.
Bullets With a Message
The New York Times reviewed more than 100 pages of court documents that cite arrests and detail charges in and near Brampton — a city with a large Sikh community close to Toronto — in episodes targeting Sikhs and their businesses over the past year.
The documents paint a picture of threats and violence committed by perpetrators working in groups.
Among the cases: A car dealership was shot up; a Sikh-owned restaurant was doused with gasoline and set on fire; businesspeople received calls demanding hundreds of thousands of dollars and threatening harm to them or their families.
By the end of last year, a regional police force set up a special task force focused on extortion and other violent organized crime targeting Sikhs.
Sikh community leaders and law enforcement officials said they believed the violence playing out in Brampton and Surrey was meant to sow fear and suspicion.
Last December, Jiwan Sidhu and his brother, with whom he owns a car dealership in Brampton, started getting calls from a man speaking Punjabi, he said. The caller demanded that they transfer 200,000 Canadian dollars ($144,000) into a bank account or face physical harm.
He dismissed the calls as a prank, and they decided not to pay, but the calls made his brother nervous.
Fifteen years earlier, the two Sikh siblings had moved from India to Canada. They became Canadian and built up their business. Mr. Sidhu said that neither he nor his brother have links to the Khalistan movement.
One morning after he got the threatening phone call, as he was walking to the car dealership, Mr. Sidhu had a phone conversation with his brother that he had never expected. “If anything happens to me, look after my family please, and don’t worry about the business,” his brother told him.
Mr. Sidhu was trying to reassure him, when he suddenly felt something hard under his shoe as he walked along the dealership’s parking lot. It was a bullet. Then another one.
He walked up to five Wrangler jeeps lined up for sale and realized the tires were flat. When the police arrived, they found 32 bullets and 12 damaged vehicles. CCTV footage reviewed by The Times showed three hooded men in the parking lot, moving vehicle by vehicle, shooting at the tires using pistols, then calmly leaving.
Mr. Sidhu said the authorities had not said whether the targeting of his business was anything more than thuggery, nor did they suggest it was linked to the Indian government.
Ruby Sahota, a member of Parliament representing northern Brampton who serves as the Liberal government’s chief whip, and is herself Sikh, said her constituents started calling her to report such incidents late last year.“People were being victimized in this manner,” she said in an interview. “The pace of it, it was alarming beyond belief, and the grief people had and sense of insecurity. They felt that they had nowhere to go.”
Ms. Sahota said what made the campaign of violence all the more disturbing was that the perpetrators often filmed themselves and posted the videos.“The videos were meant to be circulated online,” she said, “and create this complete feeling of terror.” Sikh separatist, targeted once for assassination, says India still trying to kill him (NPR)
NPR [10/27/2024 5:15 AM, Ryan Lucas, 40123K, Negative]
It is a phone call Gurpatwant Singh Pannun remembers well. It was June 17, 2023. After playing phone tag for a day, he and his close aide in Canada finally managed to connect.
"He told me that he was informed by the Canadian intelligence officials that there is a serious threat to his life and he might be killed," Pannun recalled.
On that call, his aide, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, said that assassins were coming for Pannun as well. The conversation is seared into Pannun’s memory because of what Nijjar told him - but also because it was the last time the two men spoke.
The following day, gunmen shot Nijjar dead in the parking lot of a Sikh temple outside Vancouver, Canada. Canadian authorities have arrested four Indian nationals in connection with the murder.
Nijjar’s warning for Pannun, a dual U.S.-Canadian citizen, also proved prescient. Five months later, the U.S. Justice Department announced it had foiled a plot to assassinate Pannun in New York City. An Indian national was charged in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme, and has pleaded not guilty.
Nijjar’s killing and the purported plan to assassinate Pannun are part of a broader trend around the world in which foreign governments seek to silence critics overseas, including in the United States.
Last week, prosecutors announced charges against a new defendant in Pannun’s case: a former Indian intelligence officer, Vikash Yadav, who allegedly orchestrated the plot.
In the last few years, the Justice Department says it has foiled at least four assassination plots tied to a foreign power. Three of those allegedly link back to Iran, including one targeting Iranian-American activist and journalist Masih Alinejad. The fourth - allegedly targeting Pannun - involves India.
The Indian government denies any involvement in Nijjar’s killing or the purported plot against Pannun.
After the U.S. announced charges in the Pannun case, India set up its own internal inquiry to investigate. Just over a week ago, Indian officials were in Washington for meetings to discuss the case and for both sides to provide an update on their respective investigations.
The State Department called the meetings "productive." The Indian Embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
"Well-documented" threats from India
Pannun, who was born in India but moved to the U.S. in 1992, told NPR earlier this year that the threat to his life came as no surprise.
"I have been threatened directly by the Indian parliamentarians while sitting in the Indian parliament," he said. "They have stated that we are going to kill Pannun, even if we have to do a surgical strike. These are well-documented, the statements of the government officials."
In particular, he points to remarks Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made several times in recent years, including early this July in India’s parliament.
"Today, post 2014, India enters your home and kills you," Modi said before lawmakers. "Carries out surgical strikes. Carries out air strikes."
In Pannun’s view, Modi’s threat about how India deals with its perceived enemies is directed at people like him.
Pannun is a Sikh separatist. He is a leading figure in the Khalistan movement, which wants to create an independent Sikh homeland carved out from northern India. He and his organization, Sikhs for Justice, have been spearheading a global referendum for independence.
Khalistan referendum campaign
Pannun is a practicing attorney. At his law office in Queens, boxes of case files and legal books lined the walls. His legal work pays the bills, but much of his time he dedicates to the Khalistan cause.
In his office, he has a green screen set up and camera for the videos he produces and posts online for the campaign.
Behind his desk hung a yellow and blue Khalistan flag. On the wall was a framed picture of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, the holiest site in Sikhism.
Pannun and Nijjar first worked together to document the events surrounding the Indian military’s attack on the temple in 1984, known as Operation Blue Star, and the government’s bloody, nearly decade-long effort to stamp out an armed Sikh insurgency fighting for independence. Thousands were killed.
The two men then shifted their focus to the future and started the Khalistan referendum campaign. The idea is to have Sikhs around the world vote on the question of creating an independent Sikh state. It is an unofficial referendum, and not legally binding.
Pannun has dedicated his life to the campaign. He told his family years ago that his advocacy work would put him at odds with India’s government.
"I have told them very clearly what it would entail and where it can lead," he said. "That’s why when we are talking about assassination attempts and killings and threats, that doesn’t come as a surprise to us. That doesn’t come as a surprise to the family."
"Survive to the finish line"
The Modi government in 2020 designated Pannun and Nijjar terrorists for their separatist work.
Pannun rejects the allegation. He said he follows the law, and that his campaign is a peaceful, democratic process.
India’s response, he said, has been to come after him, and that has forced him to look over his shoulder.
"That’s how I’m going to survive to the finish line," he said.
The alleged assassination plot was not a one-off. He said there are active threats against his life right now. That danger has not forced him to end his separatist work, but it has forced him to take precautions.
At his office, a security team screens visitors with a metal detector. Body guards ferry him to and from work. He had security before the alleged plot, he said, but he’s beefed it up since the case was charged last year.
"Today, what you see is very, very obvious," he said of his security detail. "This is a message that I’m giving that I’m not out there to do it in suicide mode. I’m going to continue to campaign and I’m going to continue to protect myself."
Still, the threat on his life has altered, to a degree, how he operates. The interview with NPR was in his office, in part, because it is secure.
"I cannot just abruptly take a car and jump in the car and go anywhere," he said. "That’s what I have been advised by my security details. That’s where you get killed."
He’s changed his residence several times since the alleged plot was foiled. He doesn’t go to restaurants much. He said he hasn’t been to the grocery store in years; he gets things delivered instead. And he’s curtailed his on-the-ground campaign appearances.
Boycotting Indian-owned businesses
He remains very active online, though, and regularly posts videos on Instagram. Some of them show pro-Khalistan rallies, while others offer heated challenges against India or Indian officials.
In one from last November, Pannun declares: "Sikhs are facing existential threat under the successive India regimes."
"We are going to target India," he adds. "From Air India to made in India, we are going to ground everything."
Some Indian media outlets interpreted that as a threat in light of the 1985 bombing of an Air India passenger jet flying from Canada to India that killed more than 300 people. A Canadian Sikh was found guilty in 2003 for involvement in the bombing. A Canadian court acquitted two others.
Pannun pushed back, calling that interpretation of his video an "Indian narrative," and saying he was calling for a Sikh boycott of Indian-owned businesses.
"The objective behind it is that I want the (Sikh) community to stop funding their own genocide," he said. "I want the community not to spend a dime on Indian-owned businesses."
Breaking up the Indian state
He’s also come under criticism over posters with the words "Kill India" and the names and photos of Indian officials that the placards claim were involved in Nijjar’s killing. One of the officials pictured was Sanjay Kumar Verma, India’s high commissioner, who was among the six Indian diplomats recently expelled from Canada.
Pannun said his goal is to break up the Indian state.
"I say to kill Modi politics. We are in America. We say ‘kill Biden politics,’ we say ‘kill Trump politics,’" Pannun said. "‘Kill India’ means balkanize India. India is not a human being. India is in a union of states. We want to balkanize India."
Some of his posts on social media are about his late colleague and friend, Nijjar. His assassination, Pannun said, has left a hole.
"You feel the vacuum, but then you also get the strength and the courage: what Nijjar stood for, for what he gave his life, for what he has spent the last 15, 16 years with us," he said.
But Pannun also said there’s no time to sit back and grieve. There is work to be done, a campaign to run, despite the risks.
"I would rather take a bullet in my head than stop the Khalistan referendum campaign," he said. India Beefs up Defense Production With Airbus Plant in Gujarat (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [10/27/2024 7:21 AM, Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 27782K, Neutral]
India will open its first private military aircraft manufacturing facility on Monday as the South Asian nation ramps up its local defense production to cut reliance on imports.The factory — a joint venture between Airbus SE and TATA Advanced Systems — will produce transport aircraft to replace Indian military’s aging fleet. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who’s on a two-day visit to India, will inaugurate the facility with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi in the latter’s home state of Gujarat.The first aircraft is scheduled to be delivered in 2026 and the remaining by August 2031, according to Indian officials who asked not be named as the discussions are private.The manufacturing facility follows a 219 billion rupees ($2.6 billion) contract between India and Airbus for 56 C-295 transporters three years ago. Of these, 16 aircraft will be made in Spain and rest in India, with state-owned firms as Bharat Electronics Ltd. and Bharat Dynamics Ltd. also contributing to the program, according to a statement.The C-295s, which can carry as much as nine metric tons or 71 troops, will replace the aging Indian Air Force fleet of Avro cargo planes inducted six decades ago. India’s military expects to build more of these transport aircraft to help replace Russian-made An-32 transporters that are fast reaching the end of their lives.Local components in the India-made C-295s will rise to as much as three-fourths from about half now, they said.A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the details.The move comes as India aims to reduce its dependence on foreign-made equipment, especially from Russia. Moscow remains New Delhi’s largest weapon supplier despite a drop in recent years, according to the Stockholm International Peace research Institute, an independent thinktank that tracks weapons trade.In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has delayed weapon supplies to India affecting defense preparedness and adding greater urgency to locally produce weapons. The leaders of India and Spain launch India’s first private military aircraft plant (AP)
AP [10/28/2024 2:45 AM, Ahit Solanki, 456K, Positive]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez inaugurated India’s first private military aircraft plant on Monday, boosting New Delhi’s ambitions of growing local manufacturing in its defense and aerospace industries.
Sanchez was welcomed to the country with a roadshow in Gujarat state’s Vadodara city where hundreds of people cheered and waved banners.
The two leaders then launched the Tata Aircraft Complex, the manufacturing hub which will produce the Airbus C-295 transport military aircraft in collaboration with Airbus Spain and to be deployed by the Indian air force.
Sanchez said the project was a triumph of Modi’s vision “to turn India into an industrial powerhouse and a magnet for investment and business-to-business collaboration.”“This partnership between Airbus and Tata will contribute to the progress of the Indian aerospace industry and will open new doors for the arrival of other European companies,” he added.“This new aircraft factory will boost new skills and new industries in India,” Modi said, adding that the country was now supplying parts to the world’s leading aircraft companies.
The chairman of Tata conglomerate, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, hailed it as a historic day for the country’s defense sector and credited the late Ratan Tata, the industrialist and former chairman who died earlier this month, for conceiving the idea more than a decade ago.
Under a $2.5 billion deal signed in 2021, Airbus will deliver the first 16 of the aircraft from its final assembly line in Seville, Spain — six of them have been delivered to the Indian air force so far. Tata Advanced Systems Ltd will produce 40 of the aircraft in the Vadodara plant, which is expected to roll out the first C-295 aircraft made in India in 2026. The aircraft can transport up to 71 troops or 50 paratroopers and will be able to access remote locations. It can also be used for medical evacuations and aid in disaster response and maritime patrol duties.
Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has vowed to turn India into a global manufacturing hub, including in infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and defense. As part of an effort to modernize and reform military equipment, the government has sought to grow the private defense manufacturing sector, a space previously occupied solely by the government-run organizations, and has eased foreign direct investment regulations to try and encourage companies to establish themselves in India.
The visit marks the first by a Spanish leader to India in 18 years. Modi and Sanchez have previously met on the sidelines of global summits in 2018 and 2021. During the two-day visit, Sanchez will hold talks with Modi to review ties between the countries and also speak with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.
On Tuesday, Sanchez will travel to Mumbai, India’s financial capital and home to Bollywood, where he is expected to interact with trade and industry leaders, and also visit film studios in an effort to grow collaboration between the Indian and Spanish entertainment industry.
Their bilateral trade stood at nearly $10 billion as of 2023. According to the Indian foreign ministry, more than 200 Spanish companies actively operate in India and around 80 Indian companies in Spain.
The two leaders are expected to sign agreements that will further boost ties and cooperation in various areas such as trade, information technology, renewable energy and defense, according to an Indian government statement. India and Germany look to bolster ties as Modi and Scholz hold talks in New Delhi (AP)
AP [10/25/2024 6:17 AM, Sheikh Saaliq and Geir Moulson, 456K, Neutral]
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on Friday held wide-ranging discussions to bolster strategic ties between the two countries as Berlin looks to strengthen its relationship with New Delhi at a time when the West is seeking to counter China’s growing influence in the region.
Modi and Scholz met in New Delhi where the two countries signed various agreements on enhancing cooperation in the defense sector, information technology, clean energy, skill development and artificial intelligence.
Scholz — accompanied by several key ministers and business leaders — is leading a high-level delegation as part of his three-day visit to India.
After the talks, Scholz noted that Germany is India’s most important trading partner in the European Union and said he was determined to expand those ties.“As chancellor, I am in particular advocating an ambitious free trade agreement between India and the European Union,” he said. “All sides would really benefit from this, and it should be our ambition finally to make progress here.”
He said there was “good progress” on attracting skilled labor to Germany, particularly “in the sectors where we need them most urgently — whether in medicine, in nursing care, or the IT sector.”“Our aim is to enthuse even more skilled workers from your country for Germany,” Scholz told Modi.
Earlier in the day, Modi announced that Germany will increase visas for the skilled Indian workforce from 20,000 to 90,000.
Scholz also made a pitch for India to be more active in persuading Russia to end the war in Ukraine.“This war, which has been raging for so long now and is claiming so many victims, must finally come to an end. The integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine must be preserved,” Scholz said.
Western allies want India to be more active in persuading Russia to end the war in Ukraine, but Modi has avoided condemning Russia while emphasizing a peaceful settlement. He has repeatedly urged diplomatic efforts to end the war and pledged India’s support in doing so.
After the talks concluded, Modi said global forums created in the 20th century “were not capable of dealing with the challenges of the 21st century” and called for reforms of the United Nations Security Council. India has argued for decades that the country of more than 1.4 billion people should have a permanent seat there.
He also said there were “serious concerns regarding the rule of law and freedom of navigation” in the Indo-Pacific region, where China is trying to grow its influence.
Germany has not traditionally had close defense ties with India, but Modi has said in the past that there’s unrealized potential on defense cooperation. Germany’s Thyssenkrupp is also expected to partner with Indian firms to build six advanced conventional submarines in India.
On Saturday, Scholz will be visiting a German frigate and a supply ship, which are in the southern state of Goa participating in a joint maneuver with the Indian navy. Hoax bomb threats wreak havoc on India’s travel industry, days ahead of Diwali festival (CNN)
CNN [10/27/2024 2:14 PM, Jessie Yeung and Esha MItra, 24052K, Neutral]
Indian airlines have received more than100 hoax bomb threats in a span of a few days, forcing planes to delay, reroute and make emergency landings - throwing the country’s aviation industry into costly disarray right before one of the biggest festivals of the year.
The epidemic of hoax threats has targeted both international and domestic flights, causing chaos on long-haul trips headed for places such as New York. Although one arrest was made last week, with authorities vowing to punish perpetrators potentially with jail time, the spate of threats has continued, often sent through emails and social media posts.
One airline alone, the budget company IndiGo Airlines, received nearly 30 bomb threats in four days since Sunday, according to statements by the carrier. Other Indian airlines, including Akasa Airlines, SpiceJet and Alliance Air, have also been impacted.
The highest-profile hoaxes targeted Air India last week; one flight en route to Chicago had to make an emergency landing in Canada’s northernmost city in the Arctic, while another flight headed to Singapore had to be escorted by Singaporean fighter jets, with bomb disposal squads waiting at the airport.
Since the flurry of hoaxes first started around mid-October, "we have [had] 150 to 160" threats, said Sanjay Lazar, an aviation expert.
Bomb threat hoaxes aren’t a new phenomenon in India - several airports received similar threats in April and June this year. But the sheer frequency and level of disruption in the past two weeks has been unprecedented, sending investigators scrambling to determine who is behind the threats.
Police in Mumbai said last Wednesday that they had arrested a minor suspected of posting threats against IndiGo Airlines on X, formerly Twitter. Police are also questioning a second minor, and "there are chances he played a role in this," a spokesperson said.
But no further arrests have been made, and more threats have come in despite authorities stepping up security measures, threatening legal punishments, appeasing airlines and reassuring panicked passengers.
"Even though there are hoax threats, we can’t take the situation non-seriously," said Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu in a news conference on Monday. "The safety and security of people and convenient travel … is always our utmost priority."
With less than a week until Diwali, the festival of lights - which sparks a travel boom each year as millions of Indians fly domestically and diaspora members come home from abroad - experts worry that the ongoing hoaxes could wreak travel havoc.
Millions of dollars lost
Each bomb threat causes a ripple effect of disruptions, costing both airlines and passengers huge amounts of time and money, said Lazar.
This is partly because of strict protocols set out by outdated laws, he said. Under a 1982 law last amended in 2010, "every threat has to be taken into consideration," he said - even though the law doesn’t mention modern factors such as social media that complicate the task.
There’s also the "lengthy process" of bureaucracy and coordinating with various committees, Lazar said.
Authorities follow these steps "word for word" with every single threat, said aviation minister Naidu. "Whenever there is a bomb threat case happening, if it is through a call or if it is through social media or if it is through some other means, we have a strict protocol that we follow," he added.
But the threats - and their aftermath - have caused massive headaches for airlines. Not only do they have to disrupt passenger plans by rerouting or making unexpected landings, but they must also cope with the hours-long process of isolating the plane, checking the aircraft from top to bottom, screening every piece of luggage, and allowing a "cooling period" for the plane afterward, expert Lazar said.
"It’s not very simple … there’s a lot of cost and time involved."
While the airlines have not disclosed the extent of their losses, Lazar estimated each affected carrier has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars - and the cost for the industry as a whole is likely in the millions.
The losses rack up through landing charges, fuel dumping, bomb disposal squad fees, and providing services for passengers including accommodation, alternate flights and refunds.
These disruptions would be a nightmare at any time - but particularly in the run-up to Diwali, which begins on October 31. Also called Deepvali, the festival of lights is celebrated by more than a billion Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists around the world, with families gathering to feast on food, exchange gifts and make religious offerings.
That also makes it the second-biggest travel period of the year in India, after the Christmas to New Year period, according to Lazar.
By September, flight bookings for the Diwali period had seen an 85% increase on last year - surpassing pre-pandemic levels, according to World on Holiday, an Indian organization that analyzes travel and hospitality data.
"Passengers are going to be scared but those who need to fly will fly … so what’s going to happen if this havoc is created around Diwali?" Lazar said.
He added that while he was worried about the recent string of bomb threats, he was "even more worried about what’s going to happen around Diwali and Christmas."
Government efforts
Authorities still don’t know who is making these threats and why - though Naidu, the aviation minister, blamed the recent hoaxes on "minors and pranksters" in a post on X.
On Monday, he also admitted it’s hard to even say whether the threats are coming from inside India due to the potential use of VPNs to mask users’ locations.
Authorities are now investigating and coordinating with different government ministries, the minister added. Meanwhile, airports have increased the number of security checks and the use of CCTV cameras to monitor their area "more thoroughly."
The civil aviation ministry is also trying to introduce legal changes as a deterrent. If passed, the amendments would put hoax perpetrators on a no-fly list and criminalize hoaxes as a "cognizable offence," which allows police to arrest suspects without a warrant, Naidu said.
CNN has reached out to the Ministry of Civil Aviation and several other government agencies for comment.
Lazar argues the proposed measures are far from enough - saying it was "stupid" to dismiss the hoaxes as "the work of a prankster" given the severity of the disruption and potential danger of a real threat.
Authorities should use the country’s technological heft to track down online users, he said, including working with international agencies and social media platforms.
Until then, "I don’t believe we’ve seen the end of this," he said. Reuters exposé of hack-for-hire world is back online after Indian court ruling (Reuters)
Reuters [10/26/2024 1:13 PM, Staff, 37270K, Neutral]
Reuters News has restored to its website an investigation into mercenary hacking after a New Delhi court lifted a takedown order it issued last year.The article, originally published on Nov. 16, 2023, and titled “How an Indian startup hacked the world,” detailed the origins and operations of a New Delhi-based cybersecurity firm called Appin. Reuters found that Appin grew from an educational startup to a hack-for-hire powerhouse that stole secrets from executives, politicians and wealthy elites around the globe.Prior to publication, a group calling itself the Association of Appin Training Centers filed suit in a New Delhi district court to prevent the report from running. In court filings, the association claimed it was the successor to Appin’s network of educational franchises in India. It accused Reuters of damaging the reputations of these schools and their students, claims the news agency denies.Asked for comment Friday morning India time, a lawyer for the plaintiff said they weren’t being given enough time to respond, but noted that there were multiple proceedings pending between their client and Reuters. By Saturday evening India time, the attorney hadn’t replied.The district court granted the association an initial injunction, then ordered Reuters to take down the article on Dec. 4, 2023. Reuters removed the published report from its website while it appealed that takedown order.On Oct. 3, 2024, the same court vacated the injunction, noting that “as yet, the plaintiff has not been able to show any prima facie case to make interference in the process of journalism.”The lawsuit remains pending. ‘Does a Dalit’s life have no value?’: The murder of a teenage girl in India (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [10/26/2024 1:15 AM, Yashraj Sharma, 25768K, Negative]
As protesters took to the streets of Kolkata to demand justice for a trainee doctor who was raped and murdered on August 9, 55-year-old Nirali Kumari* gasped for breath in her small wooden hut 480km (300 miles) away. She hadn’t left her home - or even her bed - since the body of her 14-year-old daughter was found on the morning of August 12 - naked, bloodied and with her hands and legs tied.
Kumari says "six men wielding knives" entered her home on the night of August 11. "[They] threatened us and kidnapped my daughter. She was sleeping right here, with her elder sister," she adds, before breaking down.
When Al Jazeera first met Kumari, she was so overwhelmed by grief that she had not eaten in the five days since her daughter’s body had been discovered. Her wrist was bloodied and bandaged from the cannula feeding her fluids. She fainted from time to time in the suffocating heat of her hut, even as a relative waved a handheld fan over her.‘Tool of oppression’
Kumari’s daughter’s body was found in a paddy field near her home in the area of Paroo in Muzaffarpur district, Bihar, one of India’s most populous states.
The murder of the teenager - who belonged to the Dalit community, the least privileged in India’s complex caste hierarchy, a position that has enabled its persecution for centuries - has put the entire village on edge.
Kumari’s family lives in a village in Paroo, located nearly 80km (50 miles) from the state capital, Patna. The village is home to fewer than 5,000 people and is surrounded by vast paddy fields. Colourful cement houses belonging to the dominant Yadav community, an estimated 4,500 people, sit on either side of the potholed, date tree-lined main road that runs through the village. Towards the end of the road, 18 grass and bamboo huts house the local Dalit community, which numbers about 80.
A historical system of feudal rule is still a lived reality for millions of people in Bihar, and Paroo is no exception. Across the state, Dalit families depend on dominant caste landlords to earn a living by working on their land for a daily wage. Landowning families often lend money at high interest rates, which can trap families in debt.
In the past, there have been moments of friction between the communities. Last year, during Holi, the Hindu festival of colours, Dalit children crossed over to the "Yadav side" of the village while playing with coloured powders, causing arguments between the communities. The police had to intervene to prevent an escalation, a Dalit resident tells Al Jazeera.
The primary defendant in the murder case, Sanjay Rai, 42, belongs to the Yadav community and is an influential landlord. The men who abducted the girl were masked, but the family identified Rai by his voice and build. The defendant is well-known in the village.
Local media first reported that Kumari’s daughter was gang-raped and murdered after witness accounts and the family reporting the crime to the Paroo police.
Indian law prohibits revealing the identities of victims and their families in sexual violence cases. However, at a news conference on August 19, the police announced they were ruling out rape based on the findings of the postmortem report and the investigation. They also shared that they had arrested Rai and four men from the Dalit community for murder and conspiracy to murder.
The girl’s killing and the authorities’ handling of the case have sparked tension in the village.
Dalit and human rights activists, including some from Paroo, decry the implication of Dalit men, seeing it as the result of pressure and influence from members of the dominant caste to conceal the attackers’ identities and silence their community.
They see the girl’s murder as a clear example of a crime inflicted by the dominant caste on the Dalit community and the case as one resulting from systemic caste oppression.
"Dominant castes have long used [violence, especially] sexual violence, as a tool of oppression. They see themselves as powerful because of their social identity," says Manjula Pradeep, director of campaigns at the Dalit Human Rights Defenders Network (DHRDN). "Their perception depends on the subjugation of rights of the people from the lower castes."‘Kept this family together’
The girl’s schoolbag lay on a wooden bed, and her school dress hung from a plastic hook on the wall. Her elder sister stared at the bag while their mother wailed in the room filled with visitors.
Kumari says her daughter was innocent and sincere. "Just another child," she says.
"She was beautiful like a flower but also a straight talker," Kumari recalls, referring to how her daughter would speak up when she felt she needed to. "She was the child who kept this family together. From my medicines to managing our meals, she was young but could do it all."
The ninth-grade student wanted to complete her high school education, but she often struggled to find time to attend school while helping her parents, both daily-wage labourers, by working in the rice fields and doing chores at home.
Not everyone in the village knew the girl before her killing. But Suraj*, a neighbour of the family who requested his name be changed, fearing repercussions from dominant caste villagers, says Rai has a reputation as "a womaniser".
Rai had been fixated on the teenager and had pressured her to marry him, the victim’s relatives tell Al Jazeera. "He offered us a tractor and some money," Kumari explains.
When the girl refused, he harassed the family on the phone.
"I was scared and thought the only way to save my daughter was to marry her off silently," Kumari says. Even though the legal age for a bride in India is 18, she says she had no choice but to marry her to someone else, a man in his early 20s.
The teenager was set to be married in a nearby village on August 19.
Kumari wailed loudly before fainting again. After a relative splashed her with water, she gasped back to consciousness and broke down.
"Does a Dalit’s life have no value? Or is this country only for the people with money?" she asks. "We want a life for a life."‘Dalits are the easiest target’
Sanjay Kumar, 28, navigated the vast maze of the village’s paddy fields under the scorching sun. As he neared where the teenager’s body was found, he grew distressed, speaking falteringly.
He was one of two people who picked up the girl’s body on August 12 in the presence of police officials. He had been working in a paddy field when he heard the shouts and cries of the people who first spotted the body.
"Everyone was terrified just by the sight of the body. I cannot even describe that feeling," he recalls.
He lives about 80 metres (nearly 90 yards) from the girl’s hut and was shocked when he recognised her face. Then he removed his gamcha, a type of long scarf, to cover her body.
Scratching his shaved head, Kumar says: "Her hands and legs were tied, and she had grave injury marks on her scalp and lower neck."
These injuries were corroborated in the postmortem report shared by police officials with Al Jazeera. As he lifted the body, Kumar says, he was drenched in blood from the girl’s head and pelvic area. Pelvic injuries were not mentioned in the report.
As a Dalit working as a labourer in Paroo’s paddy fields, Kumar says he has spent his life facing "exploitation" by dominant castes, but this "horrifying incident" has left him jolted.
"Dalits are the easiest target for these men," he says as his eyes well with tears.
The news that a body had been discovered spread quickly that morning. Kumari had rushed to the field, fearing the worst. The family was not allowed near the girl’s body. All they could see was her face as the police whisked her body away.
In the hours that followed, members of the family had to stand up to local Yadav leaders - who they say pushed for a quick cremation - so they could to register a case with the police and get the investigation started.
Family members say they were able to halt the cremation until later that afternoon after the postmortem had been carried out.
Rushing the cremation of a reported rape and murder victim could be an attempt to destroy "the most important evidence", Shama Sinha, a lawyer who has represented victims of sexual violence in court, including Dalit women, tells Al Jazeera.
Increasing crimes and invisibility
According to a DHRDN study, crimes against Dalits, including murder, rose by 177.6 percent over the three decades from 1991 to 2021.
Annual data from India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) shows there has been a 50 percent increase in murders of Dalits from 651 to 975 from 2012 to 2022, the latest year for which data are available. Bihar has been the second most affected state.
The Indian government does not maintain separate data for crimes against Dalit women and girls such as murder, gang rape and rape with murder. However, NCRB data show a 169 percent increase in reported rapes of Dalit women nationally from 2012 (when there were 1,576 cases) to 2022 (when there were 4,241 cases). An average of 10 Dalit women and girls are reported raped every day.
Pradeep of the DHRDN, a lawyer with more than 30 years of experience navigating cases of violence against women, believes the increase in reported rape partly reflects the growing social mobility of Dalit women.
"The subcastes within Dalits who have been able to climb the economic ladder and assert their rights are also increasingly able to register a complaint," she says. Even then, she says, the numbers are a "vast undercount".
Dalit families’ economic reliance on landlords "prevents a lot of complaints", Pradeep says.
She says crimes against Dalits are often rendered "invisible" due to the community’s disadvantaged social standing.
Sinha, who has spent more than two decades travelling across rural Bihar to run camps to raise awareness about legal rights, agrees.
Fear of retribution is a major factor in low reporting of crimes, she says, "because the next day, these families still have to live in the same village and face the same social dynamics".
For Dalit women who experience gender discrimination on top of the economic and caste prejudice endured by Dalits, reporting is an even greater challenge.
"The literacy rate is low - 57 percent for Dalit women - and even though there are strong laws in place, there is no awareness and more importantly no agency for [Dalit] women to report [cases] and seek justice," Sinha says. "Wives still call husbands ‘maalik’," which is Hindi for "owner".
This disparity or invisibility extends to representation in media, Pradeep says. "Dalits do not get the same kind of reporting from the media, which could enable social mobilisation."
The rape and murder of the 31-year-old trainee doctor in Kolkata, a major city in eastern India, prompted nationwide protests and outrage with medical workers in several parts of the country, including Bihar, walking out of hospitals in protest.
There was far less outrage over the murder of the schoolgirl in Paroo although Dalit and women’s rights activists organised protest marches in Bihar.
"Dalit families are left all alone in these times," Pradeep points out.
A playbook
On August 19, Rakesh Kumar, the Muzaffarpur district police chief, said at the news conference that police had arrested Rai that morning from a nearby village as well as the four Dalit men.
Kumar said the victim was not abducted but went willingly to meet Rai near her home when they were attacked by the four men who wanted to punish them for having an intercaste relationship.
He said the men then fled and, panicked, Rai then killed the girl, tied her limbs together and left her body in the fields."It [the police version] has to be the most absurd explanation behind the case that reeks with a smell of a cover-up," says Kumari, a local social activist, who spent a week in the village on a fact-finding mission and requested to be identified only by her second name. "This is straight out of a playbook where the entire machinery is rigged against the community.
"I’m not shocked at all to find Dalit men being arrested in this case. That is what mostly happens in our experience. I would not even be shocked if tomorrow the police implicated one of the family members too if they raise their voice."
Experts also say rape should not be ruled out.
In court, a range of evidence comes into play in sexual violence cases, Sinha says, and "the signs of rape are harder to catch in medical reports with passing time."
"Spermatozoa not found" - which is what the report says - can never be grounds to dismiss rape, she says.
Sinha adds that police investigations often suffer from improper collection of time-sensitive evidence and a lack of training of police personnel in investigating cases of sexual violence.
Shreya Rastogi, director of forensics at Project 39A, a New Delhi-based research group, says assuming the forensic report is correct, the absence of sperm does not disprove rape.
She says sperm cells degrade, there may not have been ejaculation and the test could have been done improperly but also the absence of sperm cells "means really nothing because so many scenarios could have occurred while there may still have been penetration. … Ruling out rape is completely wrong."
She continues: "Both legally and medically speaking, ruling out rape just on the basis of absence of sperm is not valid or reliable."
Al Jazeera tried to reach Rai as well as his family, who left the village before Rai’s arrest. The details of Rai’s legal counsel are not known.‘Treated like criminals’
Back at Nirali Kumari’s home, a group of local Yadav leaders came to meet the family on August 17 while Al Jazeera was visiting.
She tried to stay conscious for the visitors, who were given chairs to sit on.
"We should not politicise this issue. One person’s doing does not represent the Yadav community at large," Tulsi Rai, 43, a local Yadav leader who came to visit the family, tells Al Jazeera.
If someone from the Dalit community told him that they were being intimidated by a Yadav family, "we will scare those Yadavs back," Rai says. "A filthy person like Sanjay does not belong to our community. We have disowned him."
But soon, teenage boys and men appeared outside the family’s home wearing blue scarves, synonymous with Dalit politics. They interrupted their words of sympathy and called for accountability.
"We have lost our daughter, but I do not trust the police and the administration for justice and our safety," Nirali Kumari says. "We only have faith in brothers of our caste across India to help us get justice now."
Dalit activists held small protests in Paroo, which stirred fear among Dalit families of a backlash from the dominant caste. Then, on the evening of August 18, the Kumari family was forced to flee the village.
Nirali Kumari says they left behind an unlocked home and all their belongings - including a "hard-earned" bicycle, clothing and food - and "ran for our lives" when, the family says, dominant caste members wielding weapons started ransacking Dalit homes.
"If you survive - come back someday to collect your belongings," a neighbour told Nirali.
All of the Dalit families have since fled the village, and their 18 huts are now deserted.
Muzaffarpur police tell Al Jazeera that the investigation is ongoing and a charge sheet has yet to be issued. They did not comment on the Dalit residents fleeing Paroo.
On September 4, Al Jazeera met Nirali Kumari’s family in hiding nearly 100km (62 miles) from their home at a location that is not being disclosed for its safety.
Fifteen family members were sheltering in a small, white-walled room. A devastated Nirali was sitting in a corner.
The family continues to be on the move. "We are a poor family, and now we have no roof over our heads. My heart is sinking," she says, beating her chest in anger. "I wish I was killed rather than my babu. This life is worthless.
"We are being treated like criminals. My daughter was raped and murdered - but who cares about giving justice to a poor Dalit like me? But we are not the last Dalits in this country, and this story will keep on repeating." The Curious Case of a Temple Sweet: How Food Increasingly Divides India (New York Times)
New York Times [10/26/2024 4:14 PM, Pragati K.B., 831K, Neutral]
It was a sensational charge in a country where food is yet another marker of political, religious and caste divides.
For centuries, the Tirupati temple in the south Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has given laddu, a ball-shaped sweet, to devotees. The temple is the richest Hindu holy site in the world, with revenues each year of hundreds of millions of dollars, and it is spending about a million dollars a month just on ghee to fry the laddu in, according to M.K. Jagadish, an official at a state-owned dairy.
Last month, the state’s newly elected chief minister, a Hindu named N. Chandrababu Naidu, accused his Christian predecessor of allowing the temple’s laddu to be made in ghee, a clarified butter, that was adulterated with other animal fats. A majority of the temple’s devotees are vegetarian; Mr. Naidu’s allegation called into question the sanctity of the temple itself.
The case of the temple sweet shows how India’s food cultures have become increasingly politicized. In a nation where cows are viewed as sacred by most Hindus, many states have banned the slaughter of cows and made the transportation of beef a punishable offense. In some, even the cooking of eggs has drawn official condemnation. Restaurants are closely monitored for any mixing of vegetarian and nonvegetarian food. Some states have ordered the owners of food stalls to display their names clearly so consumers are aware of their religious and caste identity.
Cultural sensitivities surrounding food are not new in India. The Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British was ignited by allegations that rifle cartridges, which had to be manually loaded by biting off the end, were greased in beef tallow and pig fat, antagonizing both Hindu and Muslim soldiers in the British Army.
But the politicization of food has become more pervasive with the rise of Hindu nationalism under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Vegetarianism and cow protection are now a staple of the political discourse. Mere accusations of eating or transporting beef — mostly against Muslims — can result in lynchings by cow-protection vigilantes and right-wing organizations.
In the temple case, Mr. Naidu took his accusations to the country’s Supreme Court.
Last month, the court criticized him for making his claims without conclusive lab results on the ghee samples. “You should have at least kept the gods away from politics,” Justice B.R. Gavai said.
The conception of those gods as vegetarian has no basis in Hinduism’s central scriptures, said Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd, an author of books including “Buffalo Nationalism” and “Why I Am Not a Hindu.” Instead, he said, it was manufactured by upper castes in India’s rigidly hierarchical society and is used to enforce their superiority.
Brahmins, the priestly caste at the top of the chain, link smell to purity and spirituality. Air permeated with the scent of cooked meat is considered impure. That proscribes not just the personal diets of Brahmins and other upper castes but also those of the people around them.
In the lower social strata are tribal, Dalit and Shudra communities, which make up a large part of the Hindu faith. Historically, they got nutrition despite their meager means by eating pork, beef and meat from other readily available animals.“Food habits and caste cannot be separated in Indian culture. Just as caste is cemented at birth, so is diet,” wrote Shahu Patole in the book “Dalit Kitchens of Marathwada.”
Today, more than half of the population in India consumes meat, mostly chicken, and fish, according to the National Family Health Survey.
Still, governments across India promote vegetarianism. In a country that lags on global hunger indexes, state funding is usually allocated only to vegetarian sources. Under a large school lunch program, contracts are increasingly awarded to Hindu religious organizations that avoid eggs and meat in favor of vegetarian food.
Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, which has traditionally drawn support from upper castes, has presented the notion of “pure vegetarianism” as a nationalist ideology since it took power in 2014. That push is intended to shape a monolithic Hindu identity that paints over caste divisions, analysts say.
Increasingly, those who do not conform to these ideas of food purity or who question them — including religious minorities like Muslims, lower-caste communities and political activists — have come under attack. Some are trolled and shamed online. Others have had their homes bulldozed or even been lynched.
Mr. Naidu, the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, was widely seen as settling political scores with his Christian predecessor, Jagan Mohan Reddy, when he accused Mr. Reddy of awarding a contract for the temple — the government has considerable control over its administration — to a company that made ghee adulterated with other animal fats.
When Mr. Reddy announced that he would visit the temple earlier this month, Hindu organizations demanded that he sign a declaration form meant for non-Hindu pilgrims, affirming his faith in the temple deity. Mr. Reddy canceled the visit. NSB
Pressure mounts to oust Bangladesh president (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [10/28/2024 4:45 AM, Staff, 1.4M, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s President Mohammed Shahabuddin faced growing pressure Monday to quit from leaders of the revolution that toppled autocratic ex-prime minister Sheikh Hasina in August, who argue he was her appointee.
Shahabuddin, 74, widely known as "Chuppu", was elected by parliament in 2023 by Hasina’s now ousted Awami League, but while the post is largely ceremonial, his potential removal from the role has sparked fears of a constitutional vacuum.
"Any decision regarding the removal of the president will be based on political consensus," Shafiqul Alam, press advisor to the interim government that replaced Hasina, said on Monday.
The interim government is led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus as its "chief adviser".
Government spokeswoman Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a minister in Yunus’s cabinet, said there is "an ongoing discussion regarding the removal" of Shahabuddin.
"It must be considered whether a government formed after a revolution should retain a president who was selected by a fascist government," Hasan told reporters on Sunday.
"The demand for his removal stems from claims that he does not align with the spirit of the movement."
Earlier this month Shahabuddin sparked furious protests after he said he had never seen a resignation letter from Hasina -- raising the prospect her departure was unlawful.
Soon after, Asif Nazrul, a student protest leader now serving in Yunus’s government, charged that the comments were a "violation of his oath of office".
Last week, police clashed with a crowd of hundreds who tried to storm the presidential compound, leaving 30 officers and protesters injured.
But those pushing for his removal face constitutional hurdles.
To impeach the president requires a two-thirds vote by parliament, with the speaker then assuming the post.
Parliament however was suspended following Hasina’s ouster, meaning the process to remove a president -- and who would choose his successor -- is open to question.
"If we want to make the most of this uprising, we should not be guided by whims that may create a constitutional vacuum," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary general of the powerful Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said.
Hasnat Abdullah, convener of Students Against Discrimination, the protest group credited with sparking the uprising against Hasina, demanded a swift decision.
"We don’t want this situation to linger," he said, claiming only the BNP opposed removing him.
But Mamun Al Mostofa, a professor of political science at the University of Dhaka, warned that challenging the post could lead to wider difficulties.
"Can the people reach a consensus on a candidate? Even if they do, who knows if there will be protests the next day?" Mostafa said.
"The government is in a fragile state, and it is unlikely they could handle such instability. What would follow then? Another cycle of anarchy." Party of ousted Bangladeshi PM Hasina planning protest (VOA)
VOA [10/25/2024 7:13 PM, Sarah Zaman, 4566K, Negative]
The party of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may soon begin street agitation against the interim government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, according to a party leader.
"We are planning to demonstrate and start our political activities," Shafiul Alam Chowdhury, organizing secretary of the Awami League, told VOA on Friday.
Chowdhury is among dozens of Awami League leaders who fled Bangladesh after a student-led mass uprising toppled Hasina’s regime in August. The iron-fisted leader was serving her fourth consecutive term when she was forced to resign on August 5 and flee to India in a military helicopter.
Since the fall of the regime, dozens of party leaders have been arrested, many in connection with the violent crackdown on protesters that killed hundreds across the country between July and August. Thousands of Awami League workers and supporters have gone underground, fearing mob attacks.
On Wednesday, the interim government banned the Awami League’s student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, declaring it a terrorist organization.
Earlier this month, the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal issued arrest warrants for Hasina and 45 others linked with the ousted regime.
Speaking to VOA over the phone, Chowdhury said the party is working to unite its ranks and is reaching out to other like-minded political forces to launch protests against the interim government.
"After two weeks or one month, we can move," the Awami League leader said when asked how soon his party was planning to take to the streets.
Major political parties in Bangladesh back the interim government agenda to reform institutions that they say the Awami League destroyed through massive political interference in the past 15 years.
However, political parties are also publicly pushing the Yunus government to ensure a swift return to democracy. One of the country’s biggest political parties is dissatisfied with the progress so far.
"This government is going a bit slow," said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.
"The election commission, they have resigned. But they [the interim government] have not formed the new election commission," Alamgir told VOA at his residence in Dhaka earlier this month.
Ten commissions, comprising civil society activists, retired officials and academics, are tasked with proposing reforms in key areas including the judiciary, police, constitution, electoral system, mass media and labor rights.
Six of the commissions announced in September must submit their proposals by December 31. However, reviewing those proposals, seeking political consensus for them and implementing them may take several months.
Alamgir, whose party has called out the interim government for embarking on reforms without a timetable, worries a delay in elections will prolong the political vacuum in the country, giving the rival Awami League the opportunity to regain lost political space.
"The fallen fascist Awami League, they have their support [base]. They are a very big, old political party, so they have support here. They will also get time to consolidate and create problems here," veteran politician Alamgir told VOA.
Bangladesh’s election law requires the government to form a search committee that selects members for the election commission. The interim government recently announced it would follow the existing law but has not given a date for the formation of such a committee.
"Please try to understand that we are not a political force, and for the first time, we are working in a group," said Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh’s chief law adviser, defending the interim government’s slow progress.
"We don’t have the necessary experience. We have commitment, we have a hardworking attitude, we have integrity," Nazrul told VOA late last month at his official residence in Dhaka.
One of the major handicaps of the interim government, analysts said, is that it lacks a supportive security and administrative system because much of what is in place is from the last 15 years of Hasina’s rule.
"The government is operating without having full control of the law enforcement and bureaucracy," political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman said.
To rid the system of the remnants of the Awami League, the interim government has been transferring and reassigning police officers and bureaucrats in and out of the capital, Dhaka.
To chart a course for Bangladesh and calm political nerves, Yunus’ team has been ramping up engagement with political parties. The Awami League so far has been shut out of the consultations.
"They should be given the political space. They should be given the right to do politics. They should also be given [a chance] to participate in elections in future. That’s what I agree." said Rahman, who is also a member of the electoral reform commission.
But Rahman warned that bringing the Awami League to the table anytime soon could cause a backlash.
"Calling Awami League for [discussing] reforms, I think, will have some severe reaction in the society."
The Awami League is not interested in sitting down with the interim government either, Chowdhury said.
"This [interim] government is totally unconstitutional," he said. "If we protest them, demonstrate all over the country, this [interim] government will be no more." Bangladesh’s new outcasts: Students from ex-PM Hasina’s party now in hiding (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [10/27/2024 4:14 PM, Mehedi Hasan Marof, 25.8M, Neutral]
Since early August, Fahmi*, 24, who used to be a dominant figure on the sprawling campus of Dhaka University in Bangladesh’s capital, has been in hiding.
Fahmi was a member of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League (AL) party that ruled over the South Asian nation with an iron fist for more than 15 years before she was ousted and forced to flee to neighbouring India following a student-led movement in August.
On Wednesday, Bangladesh’s interim government, led by its only Nobel laureate, Muhammad Yunus, declared the BCL a “terrorist organisation” and banned it. The Ministry of Home Affairs said the BCL had a history of serious misconduct over the past 15 years, including violence, harassment and exploitation of public resources.“Not long ago, I was a voice of authority here,” Fahmi, an undergraduate student of applied chemistry, told Al Jazeera. “Now, I am running around like a fugitive with no probable future.”
Fahmi’s story mirrors that of thousands of students formerly affiliated with the AL, whose once-powerful hold over Bangladesh’s campuses collapsed overnight. The former powerbrokers on campuses and the AL’s muscle on the streets now face eviction, retribution and even imprisonment for their role in trying to suppress the popular revolt against Hasina and for the rights violations they allegedly committed while she was in power.
Fahmi maintains he did not directly participate in the government’s deadly crackdown against people during the anti-Hasina demonstrations. “My sisters were part of the protests,” he said. “I also believed in the cause but was trapped by party obligations.”
The deadly protests began in July after college students demanded the abolition of a controversial reservation system in government jobs that they said favoured supporters of the governing party. Though Bangladesh’s top court scrapped the quota, the protests soon morphed into a wider call for the removal of Hasina’s “autocratic” regime, marked by allegations of widespread rights violations.
The government’s response was one of the bloodiest chapters in Bangladesh’s history as security forces beat the protesters, and fired tear gas and live ammunition on peaceful demonstrators, killing more than 1,000 people in three weeks and arresting thousands of others.
On August 5, as defiant Bangladeshis stormed prominent government buildings, including Hasina’s residence and the parliament, the 77-year-old prime minister fled the country in a military helicopter and sought refuge in New Delhi.
The violence, however, did not end with Hasina’s fall. The former perpetrators of state atrocities became the new targets as hundreds of AL politicians and members, including students, were attacked or killed. Many went into hiding or were detained while attempting to flee.
Fahmi said the anti-Hasina protesters set fire to his family’s home and cold storage business in Noakhali district, 173km (107 miles) from Dhaka. “They threatened to make my younger brother disappear if he didn’t disclose my whereabouts,” he said. So far, they haven’t acted on the threat, said Fahmi, though his younger brother has been bullied at the madrasa [a Muslim educational institution] where he studies.
Reflecting on his BCL involvement, Fahmi admitted, “I was a good student who cared little for politics, but at Dhaka University, hall politics was unavoidable. You either joined, or you suffered.” He admitted that being a BCL leader would improve his prospects of landing a government job – an appealing incentive in a shrinking job market – especially since his responsibilities towards his mother, two unmarried sisters, and younger brother grew after his father’s death two years ago.
But his loyalty to the Awami League also meant he was not always there for his family when they needed him.
On August 15, 2022 – just a day after his father’s passing – he left his grieving family in Noakhali to attend an event in Dhaka marking the anniversary of the death of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Hasina’s father and the leader of Bangladesh’s movement for independence from Pakistan.“Looking back, I see I prioritised the party’s approval over supporting my family,” Fahmi said with regret.
Now, while his erstwhile leader Hasina is safe in India, he faces the constant threat of violence or arrest, a scenario that he says made him feel that he has been abandoned by the party he once represented and the university he is a student of.“The salam [peace] I offered and hours I invested buttering up our leaders and arranging party rallies … now seem meaningless,” he said bitterly. “The party used us as its political pawns but offered no protection when we needed it most. The regime fell suddenly; saving myself from the angry mob was the hardest thing I ever faced that evening. Yet, neither top party leaders nor BCL’s student leaders have checked on me.”
With his final year exams under way, he cannot attend classes or complete his degree. “I wanted to join the civil service and serve the nation,” he said. “But stepping on campus could lead to my arrest on dubious charges – or worse, I could be beaten to death.”
Thousands in limbo
Fahmi’s situation is far from unique. The Awami League estimates that at least 50,000 of its student affiliates across the nation are now in limbo, struggling to continue their tertiary education.
Shahreen Ariana, a BCL leader from Rajshahi University, was arrested on October 18 on “forged charges,” according to her family. She was detained while trying to sit for a term-final exam. Saikat Raihan, another BCL leader at Rajshahi University, was arrested on the same day.
The district police, however, claimed that both faced prior cases, but refused to provide documents to back their claim. Meanwhile, the university’s proctor, Mahbubur Rahman, told Al Jazeera, “Other students refused to sit with any BCL leader during the exam.” To prevent any “mob justice,” Ariana and Raihan were handed over to the police. “We had to intervene,” he said. “Otherwise, things could have gotten worse.”
On October 25, two more BCL leaders — Abul Hasan Saidi, a finance student and Kazi Shihab Uddin Taimur, an anthropology student — were arrested while appearing for exams at Dhaka University. “There were existing cases against the two students, and they were arrested accordingly,” said university Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed.
The wave of violence against Awami League-affiliated students has spread across campuses. On the outskirts of the capital, former Jahangirnagar University BCL activist Shamim Ahmed was beaten to death on September 18, while Masud, another BCL leader, was killed by a mob in Rajshahi on September 7.“These are just the reported cases,” says Redwanul Karim Sagor, who goes by the name Sujon and was a senior BCL leader who is now in hiding. Sujon, nearly six feet tall, was wearing a crumpled black shirt and unpressed pants, his hair untrimmed. During our interview, he repeatedly asked if anyone else knew about the meeting. “There have been more killings, arrests and fabricated cases against us, often in areas we’ve never even visited,” he said.
The interim government that took over after Hasina fled, led by Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, issued a gazette on October 23, officially banning the BCL under the Anti-Terrorism Act 2009 – a law that was brought, ironically, by Hasina’s government soon after it came to power in 2009.
This decision came after nationwide protests led by Students Against Discrimination (SAD), the student group that mobilised the students against the Hasina government in July, and other groups demanding BCL’s ban.
Abdul Hannan Masud, a founding member of SAD, who earlier demanded this ban, said, “The Chhatra League cannot operate in Bangladesh. All their operatives will be identified nationwide and brought to justice.”
Meanwhile, police filed a major case over the July 15 BCL-led attack on protesters, incriminating 391 individuals, including then-Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and several BCL leaders. It also names up to 1,000 unidentified individuals.
Since the ban on the student body on October 23, officers in the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) confirmed to Al Jazeera the arrest of at least 10 BCL leaders from the city. More than 100 student activists were arrested from across the country.“Almost all of these arrests are under cases filed over July protests,” said a senior DMP official, seeking anonymity, “based on no specific charges but under suspicion, and largely because of their affiliation with Chhatra League.”
Amid this turbulent environment, Sujon told Al Jazeera he now lives in a secret location.We met on October 21 in a small, rundown cafe made of wood and bamboo over a canal along a desolate road, far from any neighbourhood, where passing cars would occasionally stop. We sat at a corner bench under dim lighting as Sujon constantly shifted his gaze towards the window, his eyes betraying his anxiety, as he kept downing glasses of water.
At one point, two cars pulled up outside, their occupants stopping briefly for water. As a broad-shouldered man stepped out, Sujon’s face tensed up, his voice stopping for a moment before he managed to continue sharing his story.“I grew up in a generation that only saw Awami League in power. Aligning with them was the only option,” he said.
Sujon was pursuing a bachelor’s degree in physics at Rajshahi University and was one final-term exam away from graduation before the August upheaval forced him into hiding.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, a former minister in Hasina’s cabinet, now in exile in India, criticised the interim government for the insecurity faced by BCL students. “This government claims to be building a discrimination-free Bangladesh,” he told Al Jazeera. “Yet it’s depriving thousands of students of their right to education.”
He argued that sidelining the BCL, the country’s largest student organisation with an estimated 100,000 members, could have consequences for all of Bangladesh. “How can Dr Yunus hope to build a better future for Bangladesh while excluding such a significant segment of its youth?”
Chowdhury emphasised that his party remains loyal to its members. “When the time is right, we will fight for their rights,” he asserted, “and ensure they can complete their education without fear.”
Azad Majumder, Muhammad Yunus’s deputy press secretary, told Al Jazeera that “everybody is free to join regular academic activities unless there are any criminal charges against him or her”.
However, when asked about the government’s measures to protect students from mob violence or arbitrary arrests, he said, “I have nothing to add.”
Rahman, the university proctor, stressed that the campus violence that was common when the BCL dominated should not be repeated in “new” Bangladesh. “Authorities aim to ensure all students graduate without facing violence,” he stated, noting that investigations are under way to identify the perpetrators of violence on the university’s campus from July 15 to August 5.“Any students found guilty will face disciplinary actions according to the university’s code of conduct,” he added.
Reversal of fortunes
For more than a decade, the BCL ruled campuses with an iron grip. The Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the biggest opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, managed to maintain a presence but was often on the defensive. Meanwhile, the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the students’ body of the Jamaat-e-Islami, Bangladesh’s largest Muslim party, was forced underground.
Numerous media reports over 16 years show students being forced out of campuses – tortured, or even gruesomely murdered – by BCL members on suspicion of ties to the Shibir, which in August this year was banned by the Hasina government under the same anti-terror law now used against the BCL.
The ban on the Shibir was lifted by the Yunus government. And now, the tables have turned on the BCL more broadly, with opposition student wings reclaiming control across campuses.“BCL created a system of modern slavery,” said Abu Shadik, president of the Chhatra Shibir’s Dhaka University unit — the first publicly declared Shibir committee in decades. “Students had to align with BCL to secure dorms; dissenters faced a living inferno. Some joined for survival, others for personal gain.”“All BCL operatives who repressed students or joined the July violence must face justice. The common students have rejected them from society,” he told Al Jazeera. “Even those who didn’t attack but remained silent are culpable. To reconcile, they must admit to BCL’s 16 years of brutality, the July ‘genocide,’ and seek forgiveness. Only then can reintegration be considered.”
In a separate conversation, Nahiduzzaman Shipon, general secretary of the BNP’s Dhaka University unit, recalled the reign of violence on campus when the BCL dominated. “Awami League turned BCL into a force to rig votes, suppress dissent, and bypass the law,” he stated.
Shipon added that the BCL used sickles, machetes and firearms against their peers. “After 2009, many Chhatra Dal [BNP] members were tortured and forced off campuses, their education cut short.”
While exact figures on BCL-linked killings are unavailable, the opposition estimates suggest that the toll runs into the hundreds.
Still, Shipon insists, his party, the BNP, is not advocating for vigilante justice against BCL members.“Any student without criminal charges is welcome back to campus, regardless of their political affiliations,” he said. “But those who used brutality as political enforcers must be held accountable under Bangladeshi law.”
A law that the party of students like Fahmi once controlled has now turned against them. Bangladesh immunity order sparks fears of justice denied (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [10/27/2024 11:15 PM, Staff, 8537K, Negative]
Hundreds died in the student-led revolution that toppled Bangladesh’s autocratic leader Sheikh Hasina, but those impacted in the violent aftermath fear the new authorities’ promise of justice will exclude them. The family of 16-year-old Shahriar worry those who beat their son into a coma may never face trial, after sweeping immunity from prosecution was slapped on the protesters who took part in the uprising.The quiet rise and fall of Shahriar’s chest, on a ventilator in an intensive care unit in a Dhaka hospital, are the only signs that he is alive."My child hasn’t opened his eyes or spoken," his distraught father Abdul said, using only his first name for fear of reprisals.Abdul has barely slept since a mob staved in his boy’s head during widespread violence that erupted as Hasina fled into exile by helicopter to India on August 5.Police, blamed for the deadly crackdown on protesters that left more than 700 dead before Hasina’s fall, went into hiding.Some of the violence that ensued was fuelled by revenge, targeting those seen as loyal to the now-toppled regime.Officials say at least 46 police officers were killed, while Hasina’s Awami League party members were lynched, and buildings set on fire.Other attacks were motivated by greed or religious hatred.‘Anarchy’Abdul, from the minority Muslim Ahmadiya Sufi sect from a village in Panchagarh district, fears those responsible for attacking his son will not be held accountable.His son was out playing when a mob stormed the village, torching Ahmadiya homes and looting businesses."Nearly 500 people carrying sticks and hammers stormed into Ahmadiya houses," said Ahmadiya community member Mawlana Muhammad Salauddin, who witnessed the violence."The anarchy continued for two hours," he added. "Many took shelter in the mosque, while others hid in the bushes or a neighbour’s house"Ain O Salish Kendra, a leading human rights organisation, reported that at least 318 people, including children, were killed between August 5 -- the day of Hasina’s ouster -- and August 8.The Bangladesh Hindu, Buddhist, Christian Unity Council (BHBCUC) reported 2,010 incidents, including murder and rape, from August 4-20.Among the many cases were those killed during the August 5 destruction of a museum at the home of Hasina’s father, Bangladesh’s first president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.Sukumar Biswas, a cobbler, said he saw "four burned bodies" in front of the now-charred building.Their small size suggested "three of them were children", he said.Another victim, a woman from the Hindu minority, said she was raped on August 5, while her husband hid their three children."We haven’t sought justice out of fear," she said, asking not be identified.Some Bangladeshi Hindus, who make up less than a 10th of its 170 million people, were targeted because they were perceived to have supported Hasina.‘Autocratic and fascist’But the new government has granted widespread immunity to protesters.That includes not only events during the revolution, but also for the three days after Hasina’s fall."A new journey toward a nondiscriminatory Bangladesh has begun with the fall of an autocratic and fascist government," interior ministry spokesman Faisal Hasan said, reading the October 14 order."Students and citizens who put forth all efforts to make this uprising successful will not face prosecution, arrest, or harassment for their acts between July 15 and August 8."In contrast, the police have been busy investigating the old regime, and dozens of Hasina’s allies have been arrested.An arrest warrant has been issued for the fugitive 77-year-old Hasina, whose last confirmed whereabouts was a military airbase near India’s capital New Delhi.Hasina’s 15-year rule saw widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killings of her political opponents.‘Each and every case’But Nirmal Rozario, from the BHBCUC religious council, said justice must be for all."If the government means to ensure good governance, they should investigate each and every case and try the perpetrators," Rozario said.Human rights barrister Sara Hossain said it was critical that the immunity order not be used to provide "indemnity for anyone involved in crimes of violence", urging the government to clarify its position.Hossain said neither attacks against minorities, nor reprisals against political party "could be considered acts related to the protest".In the hospital ward, Shahriar’s family wait for a sign.Heartbroken Abdul spends his days peering at his son from outside the room, with his wife usually going inside for the permitted 30 minutes visiting time each day."I spend the whole day on the balcony just to get a peek of him," he said. Bangladesh central banker accuses tycoons of ‘robbing banks’ of $17bn with spy agency help (Financial Times)
Financial Times [10/27/2024 9:54 PM, John Reed, 14.2M, Neutral]
Bangladesh’s new central bank chief has accused tycoons linked to the toppled regime of Sheikh Hasina of working with members of the country’s powerful military intelligence agency to siphon $17bn out of the banking sector during her rule.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ahsan Mansur — who was appointed Bangladesh Bank governor after Sheikh Hasina fled the country in August — said the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence had helped force takeovers of leading banks.
Mansur said an estimated Tk2tn ($16.7bn) had been spirited out of Bangladesh after the bank takeovers, using methods such as loans made to their new shareholders and inflated import invoices.“This is the biggest, highest robbing of banks by any international standards,” he said. “It didn’t happen on that scale anywhere, and it was state-sponsored and it couldn’t have happened without intelligence people putting guns [to former bank CEOs’] heads.”
The governor said Mohammed Saiful Alam, founder and chair of industrial conglomerate S Alam, and his associates had “siphoned off” at least $10bn “as a minimum” from the banking system after taking control of banks with the help of the DGFI. “Every day they were granting loans to themselves,” he said.
In a statement issued by law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan on behalf of Saiful Alam, the S Alam Group said there was “no truth” to Mansur’s allegations.“The co-ordinated campaign of the interim government against the S Alam Group and several other leading businesses in Bangladesh has failed to respect even basic principles of due process,” it said.“It has already undermined investor confidence and contributed to the deterioration of law and order,” the statement said. “Given the Group’s record and contributions, we find the accusations by the governor . . . surprising and unjustified.”
The Inter Services Public Relations Directorate, which handles media inquiries for Bangladesh’s armed forces, did not respond to a request for comment and the DGFI could not be reached for comment.
Sheikh Hasina was in power for a total of two decades in Bangladesh, a country of 170mn people and the world’s second-largest garments exporter, but her rule was marred by allegations of vote rigging, the jailing and torture of opponents and widespread corruption. The former prime minister fled to India in August, and her current whereabouts are unknown.The interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus that took power after her flight has repeatedly vowed to recover funds it claims were misappropriated by members of the regime and their associates.
Mansur, a former IMF official who told the FT last month that he had sought the help of the UK to probe the overseas wealth of allies of Sheikh Hasina, said board members of leading banks had been targeted under her rule.
The board members were “hijacked from their houses” by intelligence officials, taken to other locations such as hotels, and told “at gunpoint” to sell all their shares in the banks to “to Mr S Alam” and to resign their directorships. “At one bank after another they did it,” he said.
One former bank CEO told the FT he had been forced to resign the position as part of a forcible takeover. Mohammad Abdul Mannan, formerly CEO of Islami Bank Bangladesh, one of the country’s largest lenders, said he came under pressure from “people associated with the then-government” from 2013.
This included pressure to recruit board members suggested by the prime minister’s office and a search by “people related to government agencies” of a hotel room used by one of the bank’s foreign directors.
Mannan said that in January 2017 he was diverted on his way to a board meeting and taken to see a senior defence official, then kept for a full working day to force him to resign.“They prepared bank letters on fake stationery,” said Mannan, who was appointed chair of First Security Islami Bank by the central bank in September. “I had to sign a resignation letter.”
S Alam diversified into banking over the past decade. The group’s website says it has “significant investment” in seven banks, including Islami Bank Bangladesh and First Security Islami Bank.
Mansur said Bangladesh aimed to recover stolen funds after completing an audit of about a dozen mostly bankrupt banks taken over during Hasina’s time in government. “We want to use that audit as evidence in the court of law internationally and domestically,” the governor said.
Bangladesh’s interim government moved to block sales of shares in the banks after the Sheikh Hasina regime collapsed. Mansur said authorities now planned to sell stakes in the banks to “good quality national or international strategic investors” in order to recapitalise them. The central bank also planned to set up an asset management firm to manage or dispose of the banks’ distressed assets.
He said Bangladesh would also seek to recover money taken out of the country by hiring international law firms to try to attach assets held by the banks’ shareholders in Dubai, Singapore, the UK or elsewhere. Maldives can sustain progress with access to FDI, affordable financing (Nikkei Asia – opinion)
Nikkei Asia [10/25/2024 4:05 PM, Kanni Wignaraja and Enrico Gaveglia, 2376K, Negative]
The threat of "disappearing" was furthest from people’s everyday worries or development discourse when UNDP, the United Nation’s development arm, opened its premises in the Maldives in the 1970s. The country faced other perils, including a cholera epidemic and lack of access to necessities. One of the agency’s first moves was deploying the motorboat "Sulha" to reach remote communities, supporting the government in delivering vital supplies and services across the Maldives’ 22 atolls.Over 45 years since the Sulha first set sail, UNDP has remained a steadfast partner for the Maldives in a journey of trust, innovation, and partnership. As the nation evolved in governance, embraced nature-positive development, and hence pursued growth, one word threads it together, defining the country’s journey: resilience.In many ways, the Maldives is making considerable advances toward a stronger democracy. Across the world this is never a singular nor direct path, but often a bumpy one, with lessons learned or discarded. Transitions bring upheaval. Establishing stable political institutions requires time, effort, and constant adjustments.Decision-making, once limited to a select few, now involves elected representatives, and local governments are creating unique identities, allowing people to contest ideas, exert pressure on local leaders to deliver on promises, and insist on greater accountability. Media, civil society, and advocacy groups have grown in capacity, enhancing their watchdog roles. Maldivians deeply believe in the power of the vote, the constitution and doing right by nature.UNDP’s role in strengthening democratic institutions in the Maldives, from advocating constitutional and policy reforms to supporting new governance institutions in the 2000s, has been widely recognized. Over time, UNDP has helped strengthen state oversight through support to the People’s Majlis, Human Rights Commission, and Local Government Authority, to name a few. Today, we continue our governance work with the support of partners, focusing on legislation, judicial integrity, civic empowerment, gender equality and effective public services.In the past, the Maldives’ development journey has seen various economic drives that have come at the expense of nature. As in many countries and too frequently, economic growth has led to the irreversible loss of precious ecosystems like coral reefs and mangroves.In the past, such resource-intensive models have proven unsustainable, pushing countries and communities to seek more viable alternatives, while trying to reverse past damage. Carbon emissions affect everyone, yet developing countries bear the greatest burden. As the world scrambles to redress past actions through carbon markets, offset programs and renewable energy projects, temperatures keep rising.Countries like the Maldives, on the cusp of growth and industrialization, don’t have to choose between progress and preservation. They can adopt a development model that avoids past mistakes, embracing pathways aligned with nature that capitalize on the value of their natural assets. The Maldives’ openness to pursue a "Blue Economy" is promising, and will demand a whole-of-government, whole-of-society approach. Success will require systemic transformation-optimizing legislation, incentivizing financing, and nurturing a new generation of entrepreneurs. Without the international and domestic private sector stepping up and being on the same page, this will not be feasible.By income-based measures, the Maldives is a development success story, largely fueled by the rise of tourism in the 1970s. Over 40 years, the country averaged 7.4% annual economic growth, transforming itself from one of the world’s poorest nations in the 1980s to an upper-middle-income country by 2011. By 2023, per capita income more than doubled to $22,362 from the 1990s, life expectancy reached 81 years, and poverty rates dropped to near zero.Yet despite these achievements, the Maldives now faces an economic crisis fueled by rising debt, prompting reflection on whether the country’s growth model has truly delivered the right kind of growth. The recent surges of global inflation and the resulting interest rate rises have raised the cost of borrowing for developing countries such as the Maldives. The U.N. estimates borrowing costs for developing countries are two to four times higher than in the United States.Tourism is a key economic pillar. However, it employs only 12% of the local labor force and generates significant income only for a few. The Maldives produces just 10% of its food needs and imports nearly all essential commodities. The fisheries sector, once vital, has seen its share of gross domestic product decline from 6% to 3.5% over the past two decades. The country’s heavy reliance on fossil fuels has led to an average fuel bill of 10% of gross domestic product since 2018, around $537 million annually. The country’s leaders want to see a way back to food and energy security while addressing the significant inequalities that persist between the capital region and the outer islands, with 92% of the nation’s poor living in the atolls.As Maldives President Dr. Mohamed Muizzu said during his statement at the U.N. General Assembly’s plenary of the Summit of the Future, "It is time to turn the page to a chapter where multilateralism is more than a concept, but a lived reality."A million years before the dinosaurs vanished, the Indian tectonic plate shifted northward, creating a fissure in the Earth’s crust. This rupture led to the emergence of a volcanic ridge, which gradually eroded over time. As the ocean floor subsided with the volcano, corals began to populate and grow around it, forming the fringed reef of the Maldives atolls.For a country whose birth lay in regeneration and resilience, commitment to more sustainable growth will shape its future. Sri Lanka Central Bank Sees ‘Some Space’ for Cuts Amid Deflation (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [10/26/2024 2:19 PM, Jorgelina Do Rosario and Anusha Ondaatjie, 1784K, Positive]
Sri Lanka’s central bank governor said he sees scope to loosen monetary policy but any decision will depend on the economic outlook when policy makers meet late next month.
Governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said that while it’s too soon to commit to any decision ahead of the Nov. 26 policy rate meeting, indicators pointed to conditions for potential interest rate cuts.
"It appears there is some space for us to relax further, but we will look at the latest information before the November policy meeting," he said in an interview on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund annual meetings in Washington on Friday. "For timing, we have to wait and see the data points."The Central Bank of Sri Lanka on Sept. 27 kept the benchmark standing lending facility rate at 9.25% as it flagged the onset of deflation due to changes in administered prices and easing of supply conditions. The South Asian island nation’s inflation has undershot a 5% target since March. Bloomberg Intelligence forecasts it will remain below that level for the rest of this year.
"We have seen a deflation situation right now," Weerasinghe said. The monetary authority has slashed rates by 725 basis points since the easing cycle started in April 2023.
Meanwhile, Sri Lanka plans to start a swap of its defaulted dollar debt for new bonds in November, drawing the nation closer to completing its restructuring, according to people familiar with the matter. Restructuring external debt after the island nation fell into default in 2022 amid an unprecedented economic crisis, is a key step toward restoring its access to international debt markets.
Weerasinghe declined to comment on the timing of the deal, but said that authorities and bondholders were working to complete it as soon as possible.
IMF ‘Encouraged’
Sri Lanka’s new president earlier this month held his first meetings with officials from the IMF since taking office and initiated steps to move forward with the nation’s debt restructuring.
The IMF’s Asia-Pacific Department chief, Krishna Srinivasan, said in a briefing Thursday that the fund and government have been in talks this week in Washington. The IMF is "encouraged" by the interactions and hopes to "move fast" toward Sri Lanka’s third program review, he said.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, the leftist leader who swept the Sept. 21 election, has said he remains committed to the overall objectives of the IMF’s $3 billion loan program, but added they should be achieved "through alternative means that relieves the burden of the people."
Weerasinghe said there will be "some delays’ in completion of the next review under the program due to parliamentary elections scheduled for Nov. 14. Those will force the government to push back the budgeting process until early 2025.
He added that the government aims to reach a staff level agreement this year on the review, but the executive board will take it up next year once the 2025 budget is in place.
For its part, the central bank has said that the continuation of Sri Lanka’s Extended Fund Facility arrangement with the IMF and early finalization of the debt restructuring process will support the strengthening of external sector buffers further.
The governor on Friday said gross foreign reserves of $6.1 billion were already above year-end targets set under the IMF program.
"The government will stick to IMF program and its parameters. I don’t see a reason why we need to change the parameters," Weerasinnghe said. Central Asia
Kazakhstan: High-profile murder of teenager shakes society, spurs call for tougher anti-crime measures (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [10/25/2024 4:14 PM, Almaz Kumenov, 57.6K, Neutral]
The brazen killing of a teenaged store clerk in Kazakhstan is sparking a public outcry for police to get tougher on crime.
Sherzat Bolat, 16, died from a severe beating and multiple stab wounds after being attacked by a group of men on October 4 in the city of Talgar near Kazakhstan’s commercial capital Almaty. The boy was behind the counter at his family’s small grocery store at the time. A payment dispute with a customer apparently precipitated the fight that caused his death: during the argument, the customer apparently summoned friends via cell phone and the group proceeded to pummel the boy to death, as well as beat up some of his family members. The following night, the family’s home burned down in what is termed a suspicious blaze. No one was injured in the fire, but the residence was uninhabitable.
The tragedy has generated lots of media attention, highlighting an issue that many complain is prevalent across the country – thugs committing crimes without fear of being punished. “[Sherzat] died because of a can of beer, literally,” social media influencer Syrym Itkulov said in a YouTube episode dedicated to the Talgar incident.
According to Sherzat’s father, local police did not act with alacrity to bring the killers to justice. Arrests were made only after the incident came under a media spotlight. The publicity also led to a shake-up of the municipal administration and law-enforcement agencies in Talgar.
For many, the incident was reminiscent of the murder of a famous Kazakhstani figure skater, Olympic medalist Denis Ten, who was killed in Almaty in the summer of 2018. The 25-year-old athlete was fatally stabbed during a fight with two thieves, whom he surprised while trying to remove the mirrors on his car.
In the aftermath of that murder, there was a groundswell of public support for reforms in the way police engage with citizens. In response, authorities at the Ministry of Internal Affairs ordered the dismantling of fences around police stations and the installation of more security points to increase people’s access to law-enforcement officers. Authorities also increased staffing at police call centers. The implementation of what ministry officials describe as a “client-oriented” format, however, has had a limited impact on curbing crime and bringing perpetrators to justice. Polls close in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election held without real opposition (AP)
AP [10/27/2024 12:00 PM, Staff, 4566K, Negative]
Polls closed in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election Sunday that featured no real opposition to the Central Asian country’s strongman president, despite a recent overhaul of the electoral system and years of reform that have included economic liberalization and easing censorship.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev retains a tight grip on power in the country of 37 million. Since taking office in 2016, he has enjoyed broad support for a slew of political and economic reforms that relaxed the repressive policies of his predecessor, longtime dictatorial leader Ismail Karimov.
Over 71% of voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m. (1200 GMT), election authorities said, well above the 33% needed for the vote to be valid. Preliminary results are expected on Monday and the final ones within 10 days.
Mirziyoyev has released some political prisoners, allowed the emergence of some independent news media and bloggers, and eased the tight controls on Islam that Karimov imposed to counter dissident views.
But reform appeared to stall last year, following a constitutional referendum in April that reset presidential term limits and could pave the way for Mirziyoyev to stay in office until 2037. Parliament rarely opposes laws drafted by Mirziyoyev’s Cabinet, while rights groups say thousands of people in Uzbekistan remain imprisoned on false charges.
Mirziyoyev’s government in 2022 claimed to have eliminated what rights groups said had amounted to systemic forced labor, but some concerns have remained.
Under changes introduced last year, Uzbekistan switched to a mixed election system, with half of its 150 lawmakers elected from party lists and the other half elected individually. The new rules also stipulate that 40% of those running for parliament must be women.
However, all candidates running in Sunday’s vote have been nominated by the country’s five registered parties. There are differences in focus among the parties, some of which stress issues such as the business climate or environmental protection, but none of them oppose Mirziyoyev. Uzbekistan Set To Elect Parliament Loyal To President (Reuters)
Reuters [10/27/2024 8:02 AM, Mukhammadsharif Mamatkulov, 1251K, Negative]
Uzbekistan votes in a parliamentary election on Sunday that, in the absence of opposition parties, is certain to produce a legislature loyal to President Shavkat Mirziyoyev despite constitutional reforms bringing some procedural changes.Mirziyoyev has run Central Asia’s most populous nation, since 2016, winning broad popularity through liberal economic reforms and an easing of his predecessor’s draconian restrictions on political, religious and media freedoms.However, political power in the nation of 37 million remains concentrated in Mirziyoyev’s hands and parliament rarely opposes laws drafted by his cabinet.The main change introduced under the 2023 constitutional reform is a switch to a mixed election system, in which only half of the 150 deputies are elected by voting for political parties.The other 75 candidates will be elected individually, though all of them have also been nominated by Uzbekistan’s five registered parties, none of which oppose Mirziyoyev.Instead, some parties focus on issues such as environment, justice or business climate."I voted for the Adolat (justice) social-democratic party," said Nazokat Solijonova, a 19-year-old student of the Interational Islamic University in Tashkent. "I want justice to be in our society and in every aspect of our lives."Another student, Umugulsum Adkhamova, 20, said: "I voted for the Liberal Democratic Party because they promote private business and make it easy for everyone. I have plans to start my own business in the future."More than 47% of voters had cast their ballots by 1 p.m. local time (0800 GMT), making the election valid, election authorities said. Preliminary results of the vote are expected on Monday.One area where Uzbek parliament deputies have been more outspoken than government officials is over the former Soviet republic’s relations with Russia.For example, when Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova expressed concern about an incident in an Uzbek school last month in which a teacher hit a student who spoke Russian instead of Uzbek, Milliy Tiklanish (National Revival) party leader Alisher Qodirov told Moscow to mind its own business.Uzbekistan has close economic ties with Russia and millions of Uzbek migrant labourers work there to provide for their families at home.But Tashkent has remained neutral in the Russia-Ukraine conflict and has said it abides by Western sanctions against Moscow. Uzbekistan’s Parliamentary Elections And The Pretense Of Change (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [10/26/2024 4:58 AM, Chris Rickleton, 1251K, Neutral]
Of all the elections in the world this year, few could be considered less free and fair than the one for the Uzbek parliament taking place on October 27.
And yet the powers that be in Central Asia’s most populous country are working hard to persuade the world that this is not the case.
Alongside local elections taking place across the country, Uzbekistan’s two-tier, national legislature will be elected under a newly introduced mixed system that combines majoritarian, district-level races and proportional representation for political parties.
Advocates argue that the introduction of proportional representation for half of the lower house’s 150 seats -- candidates for the other 75 seats still need to be representatives of parties -- is a shot in the arm for party-building.
Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoev, meanwhile, has predicted "strong competition" in the forthcoming ballot.
There’s just one problem with that.
"All the parties competing are pocket parties," said Alisher Ilkhamov, founder of Central Asia Due Diligence, a research unit based in the United Kingdom."And the authorities have been trying to stop new political parties from forming," he told RFE/RL.
An ‘Evolving Political Story’?
The last time Uzbeks voted for a new parliament, in 2019, coincided with a period of genuine transition.
Under Mirziyoev’s leadership, the country of 35 million people was emerging from the self-imposed isolation of his late, long-ruling authoritarian predecessor, Islam Karimov.
A straitjacket economy was being opened to privatization and foreign investment, a sea change in visa policy fueled a boom in tourism, and a small but noticeable gap had emerged for independent media and critical bloggers.
The one element of the Uzbek system that had changed the least?
Politics, which, just as it was under hard-liner Karimov,remains a members-only club.
Five years since that vote, all available evidence suggests that the space for differences of opinion and critical views in Uzbekistan is once again shrinking rather than growing.
In the watchdog Reporters Without Borders’ 100-point scale for media freedom, Uzbekistan has fallen to 37.27 from 46.48 since 2019, as some of those bloggers that emerged during the Mirziyoev "thaw" found themselves on the end of harsh prison sentences.
So why would the October 27 vote buck the trend?
In an optimistic opinion piece published in the Diplomat magazine earlier this month, Mirshohid Aslanov, founder of the pro-government Uzbek Center for Progressive Reforms think tank, described a "political landscape [that] is buzzing with activity."
He maintained that the upcoming elections "could signal a new chapter in the country’s evolving political story."
Aslanov cited his think tank’s own survey of national opinion as revealing "a population eager for change, particularly in areas such as transparency, economic reform, judicial independence, and environmental protection."
The five political parties competing in the vote are "actively seizing these sentiments as they gear up for the election," he added, "crafting messages that resonate with a public hungry for progress."
That is well and good, and reports from Tashkent suggest posters of candidates are plenty visible, with at least two famous "people’s artists" running in the capital’s city-council race.
But how many Uzbek voters would recognize Aslanov’s description of one of the five pro-government parties competing as "doubling down on its commitment to social justice," or as "a defender of the working class and vulnerable groups?"
In fact, how many of them would recognize the Adolat Social Democratic Party at all?
At present, Adolat currently holds 24 of the 150 seats in the Uzbek parliament. The Uzbekistan Liberal Democratic Party (UzLiDeP) has the most with 53.
In the two-round 2014-15 parliamentary elections during Karimov’s era, Adolat gained 20 seats while UzLiDeP won 52. In 2009-10 those totals were 19 and 53, respectively.
For the last 15 years, the five forces in parliament have been exactly the same with only one peculiarity.
In the two earlier elections, the Ecological Movement of Uzbekistan was allocated a 15-seat quota in parliament.
For the 2019 elections, it was rebranded as a party and forced to compete for them.
Still, the result was the same -- 15 seats.
Window Closed To Critical Voices
This unbelievably consistent electoral form by the parties, combined with parliament’s limited powers, might reasonably make some observers question whether this vote is worth any attention at all.
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe-led monitoring mission didn’t go quite as far as that in its preliminary report on the election, but it did criticize "burdensome requirements for party registration, broad legal grounds for denial of registration or suspension of party activities, and restrictions on holding assemblies."
One man who knows more about that than most is Xidirnazar Allaqulov, a vehement critic of Mirziyoev who has been trying and failing to register his would-be opposition party, the Truth, Progress and Unity Party, for several years.
During that time, Allaqulov, his relatives, and his supporters have been routinely harassed, with the former university rector alleging that he had electric shocks applied to his genitals during one police detention.
His son and fellow party activist, Sherzod, is currently in jail.
Inside parliament, criticism of Mirziyoev and other political heavyweights does not exist.
In fact, two of the only lawmakers known for their relative independence in the era that Mirziyoev calls New Uzbekistan gave up their seats.
Doniyor Ganiev, described by the private news website Gazeta.uz as "one of the few lawmakers who speaks out openly on issues important to the citizens of Uzbekistan, sometimes critically," announced that he would quit the legislature in August.
Ganiev said on Telegram that continuing in his role "will not benefit either me or the voters."
Rasul Kusherbaev, who, like Ganiev, represented UzLiDeP, made a more dramatic exit.
He called parliamentary sessions a "show" after being prevented from asking a question related to the state budget in December 2022. He quit the party but later took up a role as a government adviser.
The elections are the first under a new constitution that was passed by referendum last year, and the first since Mirziyoev secured a new presidential term in July 2023, extended from five to seven years as part of the overhaul of the basic law.
The October 27 vote will also feature the first elections to the parliament of Karakalpakstan -- a nominally autonomous republic inside Uzbekistan -- since constitution-related unrest in the region was put down with lethal force in 2022.
That crisis was, in many ways, sparked by the abject failure of political representation at multiple levels.
But signs of lessons being learned from that situation are few. A Failed Assassination Attempt In Uzbekistan As It Faces Elections (Forbes)
Forbes [10/26/2024 9:09 AM, Melik Kaylan, 98958K, Neutral]
Dark forces continue to ripple through the post-Soviet Central Asian states to destabilize their progress. The latest such incident took place on October 25 with a failed assassination attempt against a top national figure in Uzbekistan, Komil Alamjanov, a prominent reformer. At 1.30 am local time, five bullets were fired at a car driving him home. He was the former head of the Department of Communications and Mass Media attached to the President of Uzbekistan. The car had stopped at a railway crossing in the Kibray area of Tashkent, the capital.
Alamjanov resigned his position some months ago because he wanted to get back into the private sector. He was known for his work supporting the reform agenda of President Mirziyoyev, working towards enhanced freedom of speech, independent journalism and greater transparency in state institutions. Inevitably, Alamjanov’s endeavors threatened any number of individuals committed to the old corrupt backroom ways of doing business and public administration inherited from the Soviet era. In a system long steeped in monolithic and secretive institutional habits which President Mirziyoyev is pressuring to evolve, initiatives at modernization tend to meet stiff resistance from the entrenched bureaucracy.
This is the first time in the history of modern Uzbekistan that a targeted assassination attempt against a prominent public figure has occurred. It will certainly be seen as a bid to halt the pace of progress toward international norms, and a lesson to others. The incident evokes the brutal post-Soviet years of murky executions in Russia among the political and business mafias. Not something hitherto commonplace in Uzbekistan. The timing in Alamjanov’s case is interesting. He no longer had state protection. Parliamentary elections occur on Sunday, October 27. Clearly a message was being sent.
Alamjanov has been associated with and accused of too much sympathy for Western standards. Anti-Western sentiments in Uzbekistan are continuously stoked by old guard nationalists and even Russian sympathizers among the population, as they are elsewhere in the post-Soviet space. Alamjanov is the kind of figure they need to identify as embodying the Western enemy in order to make an example of him. And indeed a number of commentators have done just that. It’s a far more dangerous game to threaten the President directly so this kind of proxy war is the easier option. As witness recent history in the Russosphere, regressive factions dressed up as anti-Western populist agents, tend to favor a return to strongman leadership. Creating instability, forcing the leader to entrench, and forming a Soviet-style protection bureaucracy around him of statist mafias, KGB variants - that too is a protocol the world has witnessed aplenty. For such power groups, political modernization is a disaster, a direction synonymous with Western norms such as transparency, free speech, free elections, independent media and the like. As the saying goes, daylight is the best hygiene, especially in business, politics and law enforcement. Alamjanov was easily presented as a bete noire for embodying such trends.
And so one need not look too far for the traditional culprits. Entrenched business interests. The SGB (Uzbek KGB). Soviet-style sympathizers especially in the SGB, accustomed to old Sovietic practices. With the elections at hand, the warning is clear to Uzbeks. Don’t get too used to living and evolving in some dreamland toward independent (Western) habits. That is not the harsh real world. Return to the fold or face chaos and danger. Neither Uzbeks nor other post-Soviet citizens are unaware of that message.
Indeed, the elections and events in nearby Georgia also offer condign lessons. There, the country’s de facto leader has publicly derided the opposition as elections loomed for trying to drag the country into Ukraine-like conditions. The authors of the murder bid on Alamjanov are mining that same psychology. In response, Uzbeks need to be watchful, brave and unified in their support of Mirziyoyev’s reform direction, however gradual it may seem to others. Their independence is at stake and they know it. Twitter
Afghanistan
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 8:16 PM, 238.8K followers, 34 retweets, 84 likes]
In Taliban’s Afghanistan, it’s been 1,137 days that girls are legally banned from school. #LetHerLearn
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:34 AM, 238.8K followers, 1.3K retweets, 2K likes]
The Taliban’s latest rule forbids women from speaking to one another, adding to a long list of restrictions. Afghan women face numerous restrictions on education, employment, travel, public spaces, and sports, further erasing them from public life. Here are some key bans:
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:44 AM, 238.8K followers, 39 retweets, 207 likes]
Taliban’s Education Ban Teenage girls and young women are banned from secondary school (grades 7–12), universities, and private tutoring, cutting off millions from education and their future opportunities.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:47 AM, 238.8K followers, 37 retweets, 197 likes]
Taliban’s Employment Ban Women are barred from government jobs, NGOs, and international organizations, stripping millions of their ability to work and support themselves and their families.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:48 AM, 238.8K followers, 34 retweets, 193 likes]
Public and Social Restrictions Women are prohibited from traveling without a male guardian, and they’re barred from parks, gyms, and other public spaces, cutting them off from social interactions and vital support networks.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:51 AM, 238.8K followers, 33 retweets, 195 likes]
Dress Code Women must wear full-body coverings, like the burqa or hijab, in public, with some areas enforcing complete face coverings, stripping them of basic rights to choose their attire.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 5:53 AM, 238.8K followers, 38 retweets, 193 likes]
Voice & Visibility Bans Women are prohibited from speaking in public, with restrictions even on conversations between women. Any form of cultural expression, including singing and music, is strictly banned.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 6:41 AM, 238.8K followers, 35 retweets, 173 likes]
Healthcare Access Taliban’s bans on female healthcare workers have severely restricted women’s access to essential medical care in Afghanistan. The limited availability of gender-segregated healthcare facilities puts women’s health at significant risk.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 6:43 AM, 238.8K followers, 26 retweets, 154 likes]
Political Participation Women are barred from holding office and engaging in politics, silencing their voices and denying them a role in shaping Afghanistan’s future.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT[10/27/2024 6:44 AM, 238.8K followers, 25 retweets, 153 likes]
Freedom of Movement Women face severe restrictions on public transport and cannot take a cab alone, limiting their mobility and independence while further isolating them from society.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 6:44 AM, 238.8K followers, 29 retweets, 157 likes]
Sports and Physical Activities Women are banned from participating in all sports and physical activities, stripping them of opportunities for health, fitness, and empowerment while limiting their ability to engage in social life.
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[10/27/2024 6:45 AM, 238.8K followers, 34 retweets, 165 likes]
Cultural & Personal Restrictions Beauty salons have been shut down, eliminating one of the few places where women could focus on personal care and expression. Moreover, as protections diminish, forced marriages are on the rise, further eroding women’s autonomy and agency. Pakistan
Shehbaz Sharif@CMShehbaz
[10/26/2024 4:36 AM, 6.7M followers, 641 retweets, 2.8K likes]
I congratulate Justice Yahya Afridi on taking oath as the Chief Justice of Pakistan. His experience, wisdom and legal knowledge will guide the judiciary towards upholding justice and strengthening the rule of law. I am confident that under his leadership, the courts will continue to serve the people of Pakistan with integrity and fairness. My best wishes to him for a successful tenure ahead.
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[10/26/2024 2:47 PM, 74K followers, 3 retweets, 14 likes]
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister @MIshaqDar50, India’s Union Minister @KirenRijiju, Vice President of Seychelles, Advisor on Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh and SriLanka’s Foreign Secretary hold informal interactions in Samoa during #CHOGM2024
Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[10/25/2024 5:48 PM, 74K followers, 6 retweets, 34 likes]
While #Pakistan’s Foreign Office has laid out its policy position of holding Israel responsible for the recent expansion in conflict cycle, important to note that Pakistan’s PM Shehbaz Sharif has also given a policy position of his govt that it stands with #Iran in pursuit of peace India
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/28/2024 1:08 AM, 103.2M followers, 1.9K retweets, 8K likes]
Speaking at the inauguration of the C-295 Aircraft facility in Vadodara. It reinforces India’s position as a trusted partner in global aerospace manufacturing.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/26/2024 11:30 PM, 103.2M followers, 10K retweets, 71K likes]
On Infantry Day, we all salute the indomitable spirit and courage of all Ranks and Veterans of the Infantry, who tirelessly protect us. They always stand resolute in the face of any adversity, ensuring the safety and security of our nation. The infantry embodies the essence of strength, valour and duty, inspiring every Indian.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/26/2024 12:50 AM, 103.2M followers, 7.5K retweets, 53K likes]
Saddened by the passing of Shri Kanaka Raju Ji, a prolific dancer and cultural icon. His rich contribution to preserving Gussadi dance will always motivate the coming generations. His dedication and passion ensured that important aspects of cultural heritage can flourish in their authentic form. Condolences to his family and admirers. Om Shanti.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/25/2024 11:34 AM, 103.2M followers, 7.9K retweets, 53K likes]
Pained by the passing away of Rohini Godbole Ji. She was a pioneering scientist and innovator, who also was a strong votary of more women in the world of science. Her academic efforts will continue to guide the coming generations. Condolences to her family and admirers. Om Shanti.
Narendra Modi@narendramodi
[10/25/2024 11:32 AM, 103.2M followers, 5.1K retweets, 31K likes]
Strong economic linkages are an important element of India-Germany friendship. Chancellor Scholz and I addressed the 18th Asia Pacific Conference of German Business and later on, also interacted with the India-Germany CEO Forum. Both nations will keep strengthening investment ties in the times to come.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[10/27/2024 9:16 AM, 3.3M followers, 275 retweets, 1.9K likes]
Pleased to address business leaders, eminent intellectuals and professionals in Mumbai today. Spoke about a decade of transformations in IN’s foreign policy, our commitment to diaspora welfare and growing prospects and opportunities for Indian businesses abroad.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar
[10/26/2024 10:18 AM, 3.3M followers, 325 retweets, 2.2K likes]
Pleased to meet and interact with business representatives at @EOPune today. Thanked them for being a strong partner in furthering India’s national interest abroad. As IN deepens its engagement with the world, their role in fostering partnerships across the globe will be crucial.
Dr. S. Jaishankar@DrSJaishankar[10/27/2024 10:15 AM, 3.3M followers, 299 retweets, 2.5K likes]
Delighted to inaugurate the @BJP4Maharashtra media centre in Pune today. NSB
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/27/2024 12:02 PM, 110.6K followers, 226 retweets, 2288 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu attends the High Court strategic action plan launching ceremony held at the Centre for Higher Secondary Education (CHSE).
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/27/2024 12:22 PM, 110.6K followers, 149 retweets, 147 likes]
President Dr @MMuizzu accepted the judge’s gown presented to his father, late Sheikh Uz Hussain Abdul Rahman. Additionally, at the ceremony mementoes were given to recognise long service at the High Court and their contributions to the nation.
The President’s Office, Maldives@presidencymv
[10/26/2024 3:25 AM, 110.6K followers, 186 retweets, 194 likes]
Vice President His Excellency Uz @HucenSembe participates in the Heads of Government Retreat of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM 2024).
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maldives@MoFAmv
[10/26/2024 8:05 AM, 54.9K followers, 34 retweets, 43 likes]
Minister Dr @abkhaleel met with Foreign Affairs Advisor of #Bangladesh Interim Government, Touhid Hossain, on the sidelines of #CHOGM2024 Discussed advancing the bilateral relationship and cooperation in areas of mutual interest, including in the multilateral arena. @BDMOFA
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/27/2024 2:29 PM, 133.5K followers, 12 retweets, 195 likes]
We extend our sincere gratitude to the thousands who demonstrated their unwavering support for Malima’s victory by attending the victorious rally (‘Building the Nation Together—We are for Malimawa!’) held this evening (27) in Galle.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/27/2024 11:16 AM, 133.5K followers, 21 retweets, 209 likes]
A heartfelt gratitude to the thousands who attended the inaugural victorious public rally series (‘Building the Nation Together—We are for Malimawa!’) held this evening (27) in Kalutara. Your unwavering support is truly appreciated.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/26/2024 9:52 AM, 133.5K followers, 32 retweets, 337 likes] A heartfelt gratitude to the thousands who attended the inaugural victorious public rally series (‘Building the Nation Together—We are for Malimawa!’) held this evening (26) in Ratnapura. Your unwavering support is truly appreciated.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/26/2024 4:33 AM, 133.5K followers, 19 retweets, 198 likes]
Yesterday (25), I met with the EU Delegation led by Ambassador Ms. Carmen Moreno. We discussed deepening Sri Lanka-EU relations, with a focus on expanding market access, tourism, and cooperation in education and anti-corruption efforts. I extend my thanks to the leaders of the Netherlands, France, and Romania for their warm wishes.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/25/2024 10:34 AM, 133.5K followers, 19 retweets, 286 likes]
Met with small and medium scale rice mill owners today (25) to discuss ways to strengthen their capacity and stabilize rice prices. My government is committed to supporting agriculture, irrigation, and fertilizer subsidies, and I made it clear that unfair profiteering on rice prices will not be tolerated. Together, we’ll ensure affordable rice for the people.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/25/2024 9:36 AM, 133.5K followers, 20 retweets, 232 likes]
Met with Iranian Ambassador Dr. Alireza Delkhosh at the Presidential Secretariat today. I expressed sincere appreciation for the congratulatory message delivered by him from President Masoud Pezeshkian. We had a productive discussion on Middle East affairs, Sri Lanka’s security initiatives, and strengthening our partnership, with a focus on trade, technology, culture, and education.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[10/25/2024 8:19 AM, 133.5K followers, 19 retweets, 177 likes]
This morning (25), I met with officials from the Agriculture, Trade, Paddy Marketing Board and Consumer Affairs Authority to discuss rice prices and the current market situation. I provided instructions on urgent actions needed to stabilize the situation. Our commitment remains focused on ensuring food security and supporting our farmers. Central Asia
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[10/26/2024 11:59 PM, 2.7K followers, 1 retweet, 14 likes]
Heartfelt thanks @RepTomSuozzi for honoring Kazakhstan’s Republic Day with remarks in the Congressional Record. Your recognition reinforces the U.S.-Kazakhstan bond and our joint efforts to foster stability, prosperity, and mutual growth
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[10/26/2024 11:58 PM, 2.7K followers, 3 retweets, 13 likes] Thank you @Robert_Aderholt for celebrating Kazakhstan’s Republic Day with remarks in the Congressional Record. Your support strengthens U.S.-Kazakhstan ties, bolstering our commitment to peace, security, and economic progress.
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[10/26/2024 11:57 PM, 2.7K followers, 1 retweet, 6 likes]
Deeply grateful @RepJimmyPanetta for recognizing Republic Day in the Congressional Record. Your support strengthens the bond between our nations and underscores our commitment to deepening partnership and advancing peace, security, and economic development.
Yerzhan Ashikbayev@KZAmbUS
[10/25/2024 6:41 PM, 2.7K followers, 3 retweets, 10 likes] We extend our gratitude to @POTUS and @WhiteHouse for the warm wishes on Kazakhstan’s Republic Day and for the commitment to strengthening our Enhanced Strategic Partnership.
Furqat Sidiqov@FurqatSidiq
[10/26/2024 10:35 PM, 1.5K followers, 1 retweet, 8 likes]
An event was held at the #WorldBank on UZ path to #WTO accession, with remarks from Deputy PM J. Khodjaev, World Bank VP A. Bassani, Chief Negotiator A. Urunov & Assistant U.S. Trade Rep B. Lynch. Key reforms for aligning with global trade standards were discussed.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[10/27/2024 4:27 AM, 202.6K followers, 6 retweets, 19 likes]
Today President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev accompanied by his family members voted in the #elections to the “Oliy Majlis” Legislative Chamber and the Council of People’s Deputies at the 59th polling station in Mirzo-Ulugbek district. For the first time in #Uzbekistan’s history, elections to the Legislative Chamber are organized on the basis of a mixed electoral system. Over 850 international observers from the #CIS, #SCO, #OTS and a full-scale #ODIHR #OSCE mission are part of the electoral process.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[10/25/2024 4:18 PM, 202.6K followers, 7 retweets, 40 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev participated in the launching ceremony of a 240 km section of the Kungrad-Beyneu highway built in line with the world standards, equipped with the cost-saving system for monitoring engineering structures. The new overpass leading to Tashkent International Airport was also launched. Such projects present major opportunities to increase the transit volume and exports in Karakalpakstan and other regions. Thus 10 major projects for road construction are planned with foreign partners for next year.
Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service@president_uz
[10/25/2024 2:50 AM, 202.6K followers, 16 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev received Douglas Wake, the head of election observation mission of the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights at #OSCE. Sides exchanged views on the preparation and conduct of the forthcoming parliamentary elections in our country. #ODIHR representative expressed support for the ongoing democratic transformations and socio-economic reforms in New #Uzbekistan.
Bakhtiyor Saidov@FM_Saidov
[10/27/2024 8:04 AM, 15.1K followers, 7 retweets, 14 likes]
Nice to meet with H.E. @AsadMK17, Secretary General of the Economic Cooperation Organization (@ECO_Secretariat). Underscored that the 16th ECO Summit themed Together Towards Economic Stability and Development held in #Tashkent last year plays an important role in elevating the level of the Organization. We focused onthe implementation of @President_Uz’s initiatives within the ECO, the need to develop practical instruments of efficient cooperation, and the schedule of upcoming events.
Bakhtiyor Saidov@FM_Saidov
[10/26/2024 8:56 AM, 15.1K followers, 3 retweets, 9 likes]
Had a phone call with H.E. Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of #Russia. We discussed the timely implementation of all the agreements between our Leaders, the acute topics of bilateral and multilateral cooperation, further enriching UZ-RU ties of comprehensive strategic partnership and alliance, as well as the schedule of upcoming events.
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[10/27/2024 10:07 PM, 29.2K followers, 1 like]
Prosecutors investigating shooting at @k_allamjonov car as attempted murder, suspect arrested. Details scant about case that’s highly unusual for #Uzbekistan - yet parliamentary election w foregone ccnclusion has pushed it out of headlines. Extraordinary
Joanna Lillis@joannalillis
[10/27/2024 9:12 AM, 29.2K followers, 6 retweets, 16 likes]
The takeaway from today’s parliamentary election - featuring no opposition, same five parties as always - is that meaningful political refirm is a red line for Mirziyoyev, despite his talk of reform. Politically, New #Uzbekistan looks very like the old one https://www.gazeta.uz/ru/2024/10/27/turnout/ {End of Report} To subscribe to the SCA Morning Press Clips, please email SCA-PressOfficers@state.gov. Please do not reply directly to this email.