SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS

epubdos : Afghanistan

Prepared for the U.S. Department of State

Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs

By TechMIS
www.TechMIS.com

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TO:	SCA & Staff
DATE:	Wednesday, September 11, 2024 6:30 AM ET

Afghanistan

Congress Honors U.S. Service Members Killed During Afghanistan Withdrawal (New York Times)

New York Times [9/10/2024 4:14 PM, Karoun Demirjian, 831K, Neutral]
Top lawmakers on Tuesday presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the families of 13 U.S. service members killed in a terrorist attack during the evacuation of Afghanistan, as Republicans make an election-season push to blame Vice President Kamala Harris for their deaths.

The House and Senate voted unanimously three years ago to award Congress’s highest civilian honor to the 11 Marines, one sailor and one soldier who were killed by a lone bomber outside the Kabul airport on Aug. 26, 2021.

But Republicans’ timing of the award ceremony, weeks before the presidential election, was fraught with politics. It unfolded just hours before former President Donald J. Trump and Ms. Harris were to square off in a high-stakes televised debate. And it came after a contentious back and forth between the two after Mr. Trump recorded a campaign ad with families of the victims in a restricted portion of Arlington National Cemetery. He drew rebukes from the U.S. Army and from Ms. Harris, who accused him of desecrating a sacred space for the sake of politics.

Congressional leaders largely kept politics out of their speeches as they stood shoulder to shoulder in the Rotunda to present the medals to the families of those killed.

“We will never forget the sacrifice of the fallen 13 service members,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the majority leader, adding that it now falls on Congress “to ensure the sacrifices of all our service members were not in vain.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, Republican of Louisiana, opened the proceedings by focusing on the honorees.

“Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members,” he said. But in the next breath, he implicitly criticized the Biden administration for allowing the attack to happen and for failing to apologize for it.

“To the families who are here, I know many of you have yet to hear these words, so I will say them: We are sorry,” Mr. Johnson said. “The United States should have done everything to protect our troops.”

Republicans have long argued that Mr. Biden was to blame for the service members’ deaths. On Sunday, they fueled that charge by releasing a lengthy investigative report that was scathing in its criticism of the Biden administration and Ms. Harris in particular, while largely absolving Mr. Trump of any wrongdoing. Democrats assailed the document as a political stunt, accusing Republicans of twisting facts to try to tarnish Ms. Harris’s candidacy as the campaign enters its critical final weeks.

Many relatives of the 13 service members have joined Republicans in criticizing the Biden administration.

“They just let our kids die; they just sent them to die,” Coral Doolittle, whose son, Marine Corporal Humberto A. Sanchez, was one of those killed, said on Monday. “All this was because of this bad administration.”

In the Capitol on Tuesday, Ms. Doolittle, who was selected to speak on behalf of the 13 families, struck a more conciliatory tone.

“We deeply appreciate the efforts of Congress and the speaker of the House for making this moment possible,” she said, asking members of the audience to honor the fallen and “say their names and tell their stories.”

Congress bestows highest honor on 13 troops killed during Afghanistan withdrawal (AP)

AP [9/10/2024 3:42 PM, Stephen Groves and Ellen Knickmeyer, 4566K, Neutral]
House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday presented Congress’ highest honor — the Congressional Gold Medal — to 13 U.S. service members who were killed during the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan, even as the politics of a presidential election swirled around the event.

Both Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation to posthumously honor the 13 U.S. troops, who were killed along with more than 170 Afghans in a suicide bombing at the Abbey Gate at Kabul’s Airport in August 2021. President Joe Biden signed the legislation in December 2021. On Tuesday, the top Republican and Democratic leaders for both the House and Senate spoke at a somber ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda, hailing the lives and sacrifices of the service members.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called on the lawmakers gathered to “ensure the sacrifices of all our servicemembers were not in vain.”

“We must care for them and their families and defend the values of freedom and democracy they so nobly fought for,” Schumer, a New York Democrat, said.

But rather than a unifying moment, the event took place against the backdrop of a bitter back-and-forth over who is to blame for the rushed and deadly evacuation from Kabul. Johnson, a Louisiana Republican and ally of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, scheduled the ceremony just hours before the first debate between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris.

“They lost their lives because of this administration’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan,” Johnson said at a news conference minutes before the ceremony.

Then as the speaker opened the ceremony, he took another jab at how the Biden administration has defended its handling of the final months of America’s longest war.

“To the families who are here, I know many of you have yet to hear these words, so I will say them: we are sorry,” Johnson said. “The United States government should have done everything to protect our troops, those fallen and wounded at Abbey Gate deserved our best efforts, and the families who have been left to pick up the pieces continue to deserve transparency, appreciation and recognition.”

Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee also released a scathing investigation on Sunday into the withdrawal that cast blame on Biden’s administration and minimized the role of Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby on Monday criticized the House report as partisan and one-sided and said it revealed little new information as well as contained several inaccuracies. He noted that evacuation plans had started well before the pullout and the fall of Kabul “moved a lot faster than anyone could have anticipated.”

He also acknowledged that during the evacuation “not everything went according to plan. Nothing ever does.”

“We hold ourselves all accountable for that,” he said of the deaths.

Top military and White House officials attended the ceremony Tuesday, including Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough and Air Force Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Pentagon reviews have concluded that the suicide bombing was not preventable, and that suggestions troops may have seen the would-be bomber were not true.

Regardless, Trump has thrust the withdrawal, with the backing from some of the families of the Americans killed, into the center of his campaign. Last month, his political team distributed video of him attending a wreath-laying ceremony for the fallen service members at Arlington National Cemetery on the third anniversary of the bombing, despite the cemetery’s prohibition on partisan activity on the grounds as well as an altercation with a cemetery employee who was trying to make sure the campaign followed those rules.

The Gold Star military families who invited him to the Arlington ceremony have defended Trump’s actions. At a fiery news conference outside the Capitol Monday, they implored for the House report to be taken seriously and demanded accountability for those in leadership during evacuation from Kabul.

“President Trump is certainly not perfect. But he’s a far better choice, in my opinion, than the mess that Biden and Harris have created since Kabul,” said Paula Knauss Selph, whose son Ryan Knauss died in the Abbey Gate attack.

At the ceremony Tuesday, Coral Doolittle, whose son Humberto A. Sanchez was killed, spoke on behalf of the Gold Star families and asked the American public to “always remember the 13. Say their names, speak their names, and tell their stories.”

While Trump and Republicans have sought to link Harris to the withdrawal as a campaign issue, and Harris has said she was the last person in the room when Biden made his decision, neither watchdog reviews nor the 18-month investigation by House Republicans have identified any instance where the vice president had a significant impact on decision-making.

Still, House Republicans argued that Harris, as well as Biden’s national security team, needed to face accountability for the consequences of the deadly withdrawal.

“Kamala Harris wants to be the president of the United States. She wants to be commander in chief. She needs to answer for this report immediately,” said Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

McCaul, the committee chairman, also defended the timing of the report by saying that the committee’s investigation had to overcome resistance from the Biden administration.

He cast the investigation as a “truth-seeking mission” rather than a partisan endeavor, but also bragged that out of all the investigations that House Republicans have launched into the Biden administration in the last two years “this investigation is the one they fear the most because they know ... they were wrong.”

Most assessments have concluded Trump and Biden share blame for the disastrous end to the 20-year war, which saw enemy Taliban take over Afghanistan again before the last American troops even flew out of the Kabul airport. Over 2,000 U.S. troops were killed in Afghanistan.

The main U.S. government watchdog for the war points to Trump’s 2020 deal with the Taliban to withdraw all U.S. forces and military contractors as “the single most important factor” in the collapse of U.S.-allied Afghan security forces and Taliban takeover. Biden’s April 2021 announcement that he would proceed with the withdrawal set in motion by Trump was the second-biggest factor, the watchdog said.

Both Trump and Biden kept up the staged withdrawal of U.S. forces, and in Trump’s case sharply cut back important U.S. airstrikes in the Taliban, even though the Taliban failed to enter into substantive negotiations with the U.S.-backed civilian government as required by Trump’s withdrawal deal.

The top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Gregory Meeks of New York, also issued a memorandum in response to the GOP report, saying he was concerned by the “attempts to politicize the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.”

“Republicans’ partisan attempts to garner headlines rather than acknowledge the full facts and substance of their investigation have only increased with the heat of an election season,” Meeks said.

Service members killed in Afghanistan honored in Congressional Gold Medal ceremony (CBS News)

CBS News [9/10/2024 12:13 PM, Kaia Hubbard and Melissa Quinn, 59828K, Negative]
The 13 U.S. service members killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul in 2021 were honored posthumously Tuesday in a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the Capitol that came three years after the chaotic U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan.

House Speaker Mike Johnson hosted the ceremony and was joined by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, along with family members of those killed in the attack, which took place at the Kabul airport. The Congressional Gold Medal is the highest award Congress can bestow.

"Their names are etched into our hearts and now into the history of our nation," Johnson said of the 13 service members before reading aloud each of their names. "Our nation owes a profound debt of gratitude to these service members and those here today who were with them in Kabul."

Jeffries said no award can repay the sacrifices made by the service members, but praised them for defending freedom and democracy "until their last breath."

"With this Congressional Gold Medal, we reverently honor 13 patriots who have fallen in a war zone with tremendous valor," he said. "The 13 heroes we are honoring here today represent the best of America. They were beloved sons and daughters, brothers ad sisters, spouses and friends who knew the dangers of the mission but nevertheless answered the call to service, risking their own safety for that of our fellow Americans, our allies and our Afghan partners."

Schumer called the service members "heroes, guardians, saviors."

"They were fighting for a cause far bigger than themselves to deliver freedom to those who otherwise might never, never have known it again," he said.

Sen. Steve Daines, a Montana Republican, and Rep. Lisa McClain, a Michigan Republican, introduced legislation shortly after the attack to award the service members with Congressional Gold Medals. It passed both chambers in the fall of 2021 and was signed by Mr. Biden that December. Both Daines and McClain participated in the ceremony and delivered brief remarks.

"It is our duty to remember the service, the sacrifice, and the faithfulness of the 13 brave men and women who fell that day but is also our duty to remember their loved ones as well, because in remembering and honoring the memory of the fallen we provide their families comfort," Daines said. "Today is an important step on that journey."

President Biden has faced fierce criticism over the deadly evacuation, which Republicans are highlighting this week. And they’ve drawn attention to Vice President Kamala Harris’ role in the withdrawal as the Democratic presidential nominee is about to take on former President Donald Trump in their first debate Tuesday night.

Johnson alluded to the Republicans’ accusations that Biden administration officials have not been held accountable for their handling of the exit from Afghanistan, saying the families of the fallen service members are owed an apology they have not received.

"To the families who are here, I know many have yet to hear these words, so I will say them: We are sorry," the Louisiana Republican said. "The U.S. government should have done everything to protect our troops. Those fallen and wounded at Abbey Gate deserved our best efforts and the families who have been left to pick up the pieces continue to deserve transparency and appreciation and recognition."

On Monday, Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee released a report on the Afghanistan withdrawal that accused Mr. Biden of ignoring repeated warnings because he "prioritized politics and his personal legacy over America’s national security interests." Democrats on the committee said the report was "based on cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and pre-existing biases," while pointing to Trump’s role in kickstarting the withdrawal process during his administration.

Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery with family members of the 13 service members last month, and while he was there, a campaign staffer and a cemetery official had a dispute over political activity and photos on the grounds of the national cemetery.

Some, including Harris, viewed the visit was seen as overtly political, but several Gold Star family members defended the former president in videos released after the cemetery visit. And a few family members criticized Harris in a recent Trump campaign ad, in which they thanked Trump for the attention he’s paid their families.

"President Trump has called," one of the family members says during the advertisement. "President Trump shows up."

Afghan women endure draconian Taliban, 23 years after 9/11 (Washington Post)

Washington Post [9/11/2024 12:00 AM, Ishaan Tharoor, 6.9M, Negative]
Just days after the attacks of 9/11, then-President George W. Bush went to Congress to lay out the scope of his administration’s response. Al-Qaeda’s unprecedented terrorist strike launched the United States on its sweeping “war on terror” and placed the Taliban regime in Afghanistan immediately in Washington’s crosshairs. The campaign Bush unleashed was not framed simply in national security terms but as a war over civilizational values, a war against those who were “the heirs of all the murderous ideologies of the 20th century,” as Bush put it.

“Afghanistan’s people have been brutalized — many are starving and many have fled,” Bush said of the extremist group in Kabul that had given sanctuary to al-Qaeda’s leadership. “Women are not allowed to attend school. You can be jailed for owning a television. Religion can be practiced only as their leaders dictate. A man can be jailed in Afghanistan if his beard is not long enough.”

But 23 years after 9/11, the Taliban hold sway. Their fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic doctrines is the law of the land. Their draconian edicts once more asphyxiate Afghanistan society. And Afghan women, as they were a generation ago, are yet again thwarted from school, restricted in all they can do and banned from revealing their faces and even their voices in public.

The plight of Afghanistan’s women in 2024 provides a grim coda to the saga of the United States’ role in the country since 2001. It’s a tale of tragedy and hubris, misadventures and corruption — and in the final bleak reckoning, a tale of failure.

Successive U.S. administrations poured in tens of billions of dollars into the reconstruction of the country, propped up a perennially fragile, frequently venal Washington-aligned government in Kabul, and presided over bloody insurgencies and counterinsurgencies more than two decades. When the resurgent Taliban swept aside the forces of the U.S.-backed regime in 2021, as U.S. and NATO powers telegraphed their plans for withdrawal, it was a brutal shock for Western policy elites. But for the triumphant Taliban, it was the inexorable redemption of their view of the world and their nation’s history.

Afghanistan’s impoverished population, and especially its women, are paying the price. The country is in the grips of a rolling humanitarian crisis, compounded by decades of conflict and failed development, the downstream effects of the coronavirus pandemic, major economic downturns, and the collapse of the banking sector that came with the Taliban regime’s takeover and its subsequent isolation on the world stage. More than half the country’s population required humanitarian assistance this year.

Unbowed, the Taliban have only entrenched their rule. What social changes were unleashed in the post-Taliban era have been drastically reversed by a regime that sees its lack of international legitimacy as a reason to only double down on its ideological instincts. A ban on girls attending high school was followed by a ban on women attending universities. By 2023, Afghanistan ranked last out of 177 countries evaluated in the Women Peace and Security Index, a global survey of how societies embrace — or don’t embrace — women’s rights, compiled by researchers at Georgetown University.

Last month, the Taliban regime issued a new set of stifling edicts regarding “vice and virtue.” The Associated Press, which saw the 114-page, 35 article document, reported: “It says it is mandatory for a woman to veil her body at all times in public and that a face covering is essential to avoid temptation and tempting others … A woman’s voice is deemed intimate and so should not be heard singing, reciting, or reading aloud in public. It is forbidden for women to look at men they are not related to by blood or marriage and vice versa.”

Article 17 bans the publication of images of living beings; Article 19 bans the playing of music and the transportation of solo female travelers, it reported.

U.N. officials and international rights advocate expressed their outrage. “I want to make clear my abhorrence of these latest measures, which include forbidding even eye contact between women and men who are not related and imposing mandatory covering for women from head to toe, including their faces,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said this week. He added, “I shudder to think what is next for the women and girls of Afghanistan. This repressive control over half the population in the country is unparalleled in today’s world.”

Taliban officials seem impervious to this sort of censure. Zabihullah Mujahid, a top Taliban spokesman, issued a statement denouncing the “arrogance” of outside critics and called for “a respectful acknowledgment of Islamic values.” He said foreign moralizing “will not sway the Islamic Emirate from its commitment to upholding and enforcing Islamic law.”

Of course, as myriad Afghan commentators themselves have argued, the Taliban’s interpretation of Shariah law is but one hardline view and arguably flies in the face of the country’s rich, deep traditions. The regime’s morality police have been known to abuse and attack women contravening their laws, including reports of gang rape of women in prisons. But in some instances, the edicts have not been fully implemented or enforced.

“In the three years since the Taliban takeover, it’s become clear that even if edicts aren’t strictly imposed, people start self-regulating out of fear,” the BBC’s Yogita Limaye noted on a recent trip to Kabul. “Women continue to be visible in small numbers on the streets of cities like Kabul, but nearly all of them now are covered from head to toe in loose black clothes or dark blue burqas, and most of them cover their faces with only their eyes visible, the impact of a decree announced last year.”

Rights activists have branded what’s taken hold of Afghanistan as “gender apartheid” and want to see international bodies take the regime’s leaders to task for implementing it. “The Taliban’s claim that the rights of over half of Afghanistan’s population is an internal matter is incompatible with Afghanistan’s international obligations and commitments and membership of the United Nations,” a panel of U.N. human rights experts noted last month. They added that no foreign governments should move to “normalize” the Taliban regime “unless and until there are demonstrated, measurable, and independently verified improvements against human rights benchmarks, particularly for women and girls.”

For many months, policymakers far from Kabul have struggled to figure out how to coax the Taliban down a different path. The regime is beefing up its economic links with various countries, including China and Russia, even as it exists in purgatory on the world stage. Normalizing relations with the Taliban is a nonstarter for most countries, but shunning the Taliban has not resulted in any positive change in its behavior.

All the while, Afghan women chafe and struggle amid one of the world’s most repressive regimes. “Every moment you feel like you’re in a prison. Even breathing has become difficult here,” one woman in Kabul told the BBC.

‘If we can’t speak, why live?’ - BBC meets women after new Taliban law (BBC)

BBC [9/10/2024 6:19 AM, Yogita Limaye, 67197K, Neutral]
The daily English lessons that Shabana attends are the highlight of her day. Taking the bus in Kabul to the private course with her friends, chatting and laughing with them, learning something new for one hour each day - it’s a brief respite from the emptiness that has engulfed her life since the Taliban took over Afghanistan.

In another country, Shabana* would have been graduating from high school next year, pursuing her dream to get a business degree. In Afghanistan, she and all teenage girls have been barred from formal education for three years.

Now even the small joys that were making life bearable are fraught with fear after a new law was announced saying if a woman is outside her home, even her voice must not be heard.

“When we got out, we’re scared. When we’re on the bus, we’re scared. We don’t dare to take down our masks. We even avoid speaking among ourselves, thinking that if someone from the Taliban hears us they could stop and question us,” she says.

The BBC has been in Afghanistan, allowing rare access to the country’s women and girls - as well as Taliban spokespeople - reacting to the new law, which was imposed by the Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

The law gives the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice Ministry – the Taliban’s morality police - sweeping powers to enforce a stringent code of conduct for Afghan citizens.

For women who have already had their freedoms crushed bit by bit by a relentless series of decrees, it delivers another blow.

“If we can’t speak, why even live? We’re like dead bodies moving around,” Shabana says.

“When I learnt about the new law, I decided not to attend the course any more. Because if I go out, I’ll end up speaking and then something bad might happen. Maybe I won’t return home safely. But then my mother encouraged me to continue.”

In the three years since the Taliban takeover, it’s become clear that even if edicts aren’t strictly imposed, people start self-regulating out of fear. Women continue to be visible in small numbers on the streets of cities like Kabul, but nearly all of them now are covered from head to toe in loose black clothes or dark blue burqas, and most of them cover their faces with only their eyes visible, the impact of a decree announced last year.

“Every moment you feel like you’re in a prison. Even breathing has become difficult here," said Nausheen, an activist.

Until last year, whenever new restrictions were announced, she was among small groups of women who marched on the streets of Kabul and other cities, demanding their rights.

The protests were violently cracked down on by the Taliban’s forces on multiple occasions, until they stopped altogether.

Nausheen was detained last year. “The Taliban dragged me into a vehicle saying ‘Why are you acting against us? This is an Islamic system.’ They took me to a dark, frightening place and held me there, using terrible language against me. They also beat me,” she says, breaking down into tears.

“When we were released from detention we were not the same people as before and that’s why we stopped protesting,” she adds. “I don’t want to be humiliated any more because I’m a woman. It is better to die than to live like this.”

Now Afghan women are showing their dissent by posting videos of themselves online, their faces covered, singing songs about freedom. “Let’s become one voice, let’s walk together holding hands and become free of this cruelty” are the lines of one such song.

Taliban government deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat, who didn’t want to be pictured with a woman or sit directly opposite me, justified the new edict, which came accompanied with copious footnotes - references to religious texts.

“The law approved by the supreme leader is in accordance with Islamic Sharia law. Any religious scholar can check its references,” he says.

Shireen, a teacher, does not agree.

“This is their own interpretation of Sharia. Islam has given the right to both men and women to choose if they want to study and progress.

"If they say that women’s voices should not be heard, let’s go back to history. There are so many women in Islamic history who have spoken out.”

Shireen is part of a network of Afghan women running secret schools quietly rebelling against the restrictions. Already operating under a great deal of risk, often having to move the location of the school for safety, the new law has compounded her fears.

The danger of discovery is so great, she cannot speak to us at home, instead choosing a discreet location.

“Every morning I wake up asking God to make the day pass safely. When the new law came, I explained all its rules to my students and told them things would be more difficult. But I am so tired of all this, sometimes I just want to scream,” she says. “They don’t see women as human beings, just as tools whose only place is inside the home.”

Karina, a psychologist who consults with a network of secret schools, has previously told us that Afghan women are suffering from a ‘pandemic of suicidal thoughts’ because of the restrictions against them.

After the new law was announced she says she had a surge in calls asking for help. “A friend of mine messaged me to say this was her last message. She was thinking of ending her life. They feel all hope is gone and there is no point in continuing living,” she said. “And it’s becoming more and more difficult to counsel them.”

I asked Hamdullah Fitrat about the Taliban government’s responsibility towards women and girls in their country who are being driven into depression and suicidal thoughts because they’re banned from education.

“Our sisters’ education is an important issue. We’re trying to resolve this issue which is the demand of a lot of our sisters,” the spokesman said.

But three years on, do they really expect people to believe them?

“We are awaiting a decision from our leadership. When it is made, we will all be told about it,” he replied.

From earlier meetings with Taliban officials, it has been evident for a while that there are divisions within the Taliban government on the issue of women’s education, with some wanting it to be restarted. But the Kandahar-based leadership has remained intransigent, and there has been no public breaking of ranks with the supreme leader’s diktats.

We have seen some evidence of the difference in views. Not far from Kabul, we were unexpectedly given access to a midwife training course regularly run by the Taliban’s public health ministry. It was under way when we visited, and because ours was a last-minute visit, we know it was not put on for us to see.

More than a dozen women in their 20s were attending the course being conducted by a senior female doctor. The course is a mix of theory and practical sessions.

The students couldn’t speak freely but many said they were happy to be able to do this work.

“My family feels so proud of me. I have left my children at home to come here, but they know I’m serving the country. This works gives me so much positive energy,” said Safia.

Many acknowledged their privilege, and some expressed fear about whether even this might be stopped eventually. The Taliban’s health ministry didn’t answer questions about how they would find students to do this course in the future, if girls were not receiving formal education after grade six.

Public health, security, arts and craft are among a handful of sectors where women have been able to continue working in parts of the country. But it isn’t a formal decree that gives them permission. It’s happening through a quiet understanding between ground-level Taliban officials, NGOs and other stakeholders involved.

The new law leaves even this informal system vulnerable to the scrutiny of the Taliban’s morality police.

Sources in humanitarian agencies have told us they are grappling to understand how the law should be interpreted but they believe it will make operations more difficult.

The law was announced less than two months after the Taliban attended UN-led talks on engagement with Afghanistan for the first time – a meeting that Afghan civil society representatives and women’s rights activists had been kept out of, at the insistence of the Taliban.

It’s led many in the international community to question whether it was worth accepting the Taliban’s conditions for a meeting, and what the future of engagement with them might look like.

Reacting to the new law, the EU put out a sharply worded statement describing the restrictions as ‘systematic and systemic abuses… which may amount to gender persecution which is a crime against humanity’. It also said the decree creates ‘another self-imposed obstacle to normalised relations and recognition by the international community’.

“The values laid out in the law are accepted in Afghan society. There are no problems. We want the international community, especially the UN and others to respect Islamic laws, traditions and the values of Muslim societies,” Taliban deputy spokesman Hamdullah Fitrat said.

Less than two weeks ago the Taliban’s Vice and Virtue Ministry said it would no longer co-operate with the UN mission in Afghanistan because of its criticism of the law.

It’s evidence that relations which seemed to be progressing just two months ago, appear to have now hit a significant roadblock.

“I believe that when it comes to aid, the world should continue helping Afghanistan. But when it comes to talking to the Taliban, there should be a rule that in each discussion women must be present. And if that can’t happen, they [the international community] should stop talking to them,” psychologist Karina said.

“The world must care about what’s happening with Afghan women, because if it doesn’t this mentality could easily spread to them, to their homes.”

Pakistan

Pakistani Police Arrest Lawmakers Allied With Former Prime Minister Imran Khan (New York Times)

New York Times [9/10/2024 4:14 PM, Salman Masood and Christina Goldbaum, 831K, Negative]
Pakistani police arrested at least 10 lawmakers belonging to the imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s political party, in an hourslong raid on the Parliament building in Islamabad that began Monday night, officials said.

The police sweep was the first time in recent memory that Pakistani lawmakers have been arrested while at the Parliament and it intensified the political turmoil gripping the country over the past nearly three years. That crisis has pit Pakistan’s powerful military — long seen as an invisible hand guiding the country’s politics — against the still-strong political force of Mr. Khan and his die-hard supporters.

The overnight police raid began around 8:30 p.m. on Monday night, when dozens of police officers entered the building in the capital shortly after the end of a legislative session. As word spread of the raid, some lawmakers barricaded themselves inside their offices, while others were pulled from their cars by police officers as they tried to leave the premises, according to videos and witnesses.

The lights in the building went out late Monday night, going back on only after the police sweep ended around 2 a.m. on Tuesday.

The party members were arrested on charges related to antiterrorism laws, according to court documents and leaders of Mr. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf, or P.T.I. At least one lawmaker who had been arrested was released from custody late on Tuesday, court documents show.

The police did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The raid seemed to signal the lengths to which the security establishment is willing to go to squash Mr. Khan’s party, analysts said, even into the halls of Parliament.

“Whatever happened in the Parliament, definitely a stand will have to be taken,” Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the speaker of the National Assembly, said during a fraught session on Tuesday.

In that session, some cabinet members of the ruling party, the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz, or P.M.L.N., defended the arrests, describing them as a consequence of threats that P.T.I. leaders had made at a rally on Sunday to secure Mr. Khan’s release from prison within two weeks — by force if necessary.

“It was a reaction to what happened at the rally,” said Khawaja Muhammad Asif, the defense minister and a member of P.M.L.N.

But Mr. Khan’s party members condemned them as a threat to the country’s fragile democracy. “This is an attack on democracy and Pakistan’s constitution,” said Ali Muhammad Khan, a lawmaker from P.T.I.

The current political crisis began in 2022, when Mr. Khan, a former international cricket star-turned-populist politician, fell out with the generals and was ousted as prime minister in a vote of no-confidence. Since then, he has made a stunning political comeback and rallied thousands across the country with his message criticizing the military’s role in politics.

Earlier this year, Mr. Khan’s party won the most seats in a general election but fell short of the majority needed to form a government. His rivals, led by the party of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, cobbled together a coalition government instead. Mr. Khan was arrested last year and remains in prison on what he calls politically motivated charges.

In recent months, the generals have slowly ramped up their crackdown on Mr. Khan’s party.

Last month, the military arrested a powerful former spy chief and ally of Mr. Khan — the first time in Pakistan’s history that a current or former chief of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence, or I.S.I., has faced court-martial proceedings. Human rights groups and analysts have accused the government of secretly testing a firewall-like system to better surveil and control the country’s internet, including social media sites where Mr. Khan’s supporters are particularly active.

And recently, Mr. Khan’s supporters have expressed concerns that the generals may be preparing to try Mr. Khan in a military court on charges that he instructed his supporters to attack military installations during a major protest last year.

While some hoped that his party could engage in talks with the military to secure Mr. Khan’s release, most now believe that doing so is off the table.

“It seems that P.T.I. sees no path to securing Imran Khan’s release from prison through a negotiated settlement with the military and has instead chosen to use this moment to apply pressure on the establishment and initiate a political campaign,” said Zaigham Khan, a political analyst in Islamabad.

The most provocative speech at the rally on Sunday was delivered by Ali Amin Gandapur, an ally of Mr. Khan and chief minister of the restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Mr. Gandapur, known for his brash style of politics, threatened to stage a mass protest in Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province, where the local government is led by P.T.I.’s main rival party, the P.M.L.N.

“Put your house in order,” Mr. Gandapur said in comments directed at the military. “I am not scared of the army uniform,” he added, in what was understood to be a warning against any move to try Mr. Khan in military court.

Mr. Gandapur also accused journalists who were not supportive of Mr. Khan’s party of being sellouts.

Mr. Gandapur’s speech was widely condemned, even by members of his own party, as inflammatory and employing derogatory language.

Mr. Khan, the analyst, said the speech made the crisis “appear irreconcilable for the time being, signaling tough times ahead for P.T.I.” as well as for the coalition government and the military, both of which are grappling with a lack of public support and credibility.

Some also called the criticism from P.T.I. hypocritical, pointing to an episode in 2022, during Mr. Khan’s tenure, when three opposition lawmakers were arrested in their lodges across from the Parliament building.

Mr. Sadiq, the speaker of the National Assembly, ordered a complete investigation into the arrests and requested a report on the incident from the Inspector General of Islamabad, his office said in a statement.

The ruling party, which is widely considered little more than a front for the military, stood alone in defending the police actions. On Tuesday, even its coalition partners in government condemned the arrests, saying they crossed a line and signaled troubling times to come.

“What will happen tomorrow?” said Syed Naveed Qamar, a member of the Pakistan Peoples Party. “Will they come for you, on the floor of the Parliament?”

Pakistani police free the leader of former premier Khan’s opposition party (AP)

AP [9/10/2024 9:09 AM, Staff, 31638K, Neutral]
Pakistani police on Tuesday freed the president of the opposition party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, a day after he was detained outside parliament on a charge of allegedly inciting violence, his party said.

Islamabad police in a statement confirmed the release of Gohar Khan, who is not related to the former premier. He was arrested along with several other leaders of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party as they demanded Imran Khan’s release from prison.

After his release, Khan, who is also a lawmaker, called the arrests an attack on parliament. He asked the National Assembly speaker to investigate.

Party spokesperson Zulfi Bukhari said 12 others were still in police custody.

PTI’s top leadership denounced the arrests, vowing their campaign would continue until the former premier Khan’s release.

The former prime minister was imprisoned last year after his conviction in a graft case. He remains a popular figure despite his ouster in a no-confidence vote in 2022.

Nine Pakistan MPs Held By Court Under New Protest Law (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [9/10/2024 9:47 AM, Saqib Bashir, 1251K, Negative]
Nine Pakistan MPs from jailed former prime minister Imran Khan’s party were among more than 30 people remanded in custody on Tuesday under a new law restricting protests.

It comes after thousands of supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party gathered in the capital Islamabad on Sunday for a rally that was broken up with tear gas.

The party has faced a sweeping crackdown since former cricket star Khan was jailed in August last year on a series of charges that he says are politically motivated and designed to keep him from power.

The MPs appeared at an anti-terrorism court in Islamabad where a judge remanded them in custody for eight days, an AFP journalist witnessed.

They are accused of violating the Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024 -- passed just last week -- according to a charge sheet seen by AFP in court.

In total 34 people, including the nine MPs, were named on the charge sheet as having been remanded in custody.

PTI leader and senior lawyer Muhammad Shoaib Shaheen, who appeared in court alongside the MPs, faced a police complaint about an "attack on officials", "armed riots" and "illegal assembly" after Sunday’s rally and was also remanded in custody.

"I was picked up from my office around 7:30 pm (1430 GMT)," he said at the court.

"These small obstacles won’t hold us back. We are the soldiers of Imran Khan, and we stand with him," he said.

Several of the group were rounded up by police as they left the National Assembly building in the capital on Monday night, PTI’s media team said.

Gohar Ali Khan, PTI chairman in Imran Khan’s absence, was also taken away by police but later released, he told reporters.

"These are not the offences where you should charge people with terrorism legislation," he told the media.

Thousands of Khan supporters turned out for Sunday’s rally, the largest in the capital since February elections when rival parties formed a coalition to keep PTI from power, despite the party winning the most seats.

It was the first demonstration since the government passed the new law regulating public gatherings, which it said would allow for peaceful assembly subject to reasonable restrictions.

Political, religious and civil rights groups in Pakistan frequently stage sit-ins and protests that can see cities shut down for days.

However, rights groups say the law is a curb on freedom of expression and is part of a continued crackdown on peaceful protests.

The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan denounced "the arbitrary arrests" of the lawmakers and PTI leaders.

"This high-handedness on the government’s part does not bode well for its commitment to democracy and political consensus-building," the HRCP said in a statement.

City authorities gave permission for the demonstration to go ahead but it continued beyond the stipulated time and authorities used tear gas to disperse crowds.

Authorities had earlier warned of legal action "for violation of the permission".

Imran Khan rose to power in 2018 with the help of the military, analysts say, but was ousted in 2022 after reportedly falling out with the generals.

A United Nations panel of experts found this month that his detention "had no legal basis and appears to have been intended to disqualify him from running for political office".

Several convictions against him have been overturned by the courts.

Several members of the PTI’s social media and press team were rounded up last month and accused of "anti-state propaganda".

Pakistani police arrest 13 opposition leaders of ex-PM Khan’s party (Nikkei Asia)

Nikkei Asia [9/10/2024 8:15 AM, Adnan Aamir, 2376K, Negative]
Pakistani authorities have arrested more than a dozen leaders of the main opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in an unprecedented crackdown on the party of imprisoned ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan.

The mass arrests Monday evening and Tuesday morning saw most of the politicians -- including party Chairman Gohar Khan -- arrested at the parliament building in Islamabad, moves the PTI blasted as "#UndeclaredMartialLaw" on its official account on X, formerly Twitter.

Videos online showed police taking party leader Khan, who is not related to the former prime minister, out of his vehicle before whisking him away.

Roads leading to parliament had been closed off Monday evening before police began detaining the 13 opposition members. The mass arrests came just a day after tens of thousands of people attended rallies on Sunday calling for the release of the former prime minister, gatherings which were deemed illegal under a newly enacted public order law.

"The Peaceful Assembly and Public Order Act 2024 is yet another attack on the right to freedom of peaceful assembly in Pakistan which has a long history of enacting draconian legislation to criminalize peaceful protest and suppress the expression of dissent," Amnesty International said in a statement.

Khan supporter and PTI member Ali Amin Gandapur, chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, went missing for several hours on Monday, fueling suspicions that he too had been arrested, although he later reappeared in the regional capital Peshawar.

On Sunday, Gandapur had delivered a fiery speech as he issued a two-week ultimatum to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s military-backed coalition government to release jailed PTI founder Khan.

The former cricket star was ousted from the country’s leadership in a no-confidence vote in 2022 and arrested the following year on a series of charges, including leaking state secrets and corruption. Khan, Sharif’s main rival who remains widely popular, denies what he has described as politically motivated charges.

Syed Muhammad Ali, an Islamabad-based political analyst, said the government appeared to be following its new law by arresting the opposition leaders after the weekend demonstration.

"Organizing a major rally in Pakistan’s federal capital when legal cases against its [the party’s] founder Imran Khan are at a critical stage indicates PTI’s plan to put political pressure and influence the proceedings and outcome of these cases," he told Nikkei Asia.

The government has said the PTI leaders were arrested under the public order law which was quickly passed last week. The legislation criminalizes political rallies in Islamabad that do not receive official permission.

While the PTI secured clearance to hold the rallies, the organizers refused to shut them down at a certain time on Sunday evening.

"Yesterday’s massive protest has sent shivers down the government’s spine," PTI leader Zulfikar Bukhari said on X.

Authorities had tried to limit supporters by placing empty freight containers in dozens of locations to block access to the site.

"If PTI leaders harshly criticize military leadership then there will be consequences," said Asad Toor, a political analyst based in Islamabad. "This was the message delivered through the arrest."

Is Pakistan set for new Khan vs government showdown after PTI arrests? (Al Jazeera)

Al Jazeera [9/10/2024 11:06 AM, Abid Hussain, 25768K, Negative]
The arrest of several legislators and leaders of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party in overnight police raids could trigger yet another showdown between the opposition and the government, analysts have said.

The politicians belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party were arrested on the premises of Pakistan’s parliament late on Monday, a day after the PTI held a rally on the outskirts of capital Islamabad to demand Khan’s release from prison.

Khan was imprisoned in August last year on several charges. Though his conviction in most cases has either been overturned or suspended, the 71-year-old cricketer-turned-politician continues to remain in jail, facing trial in other cases.

Several rights groups have called for Khan’s release, calling his detention “arbitrary”. A recent indication by the government and the army that Khan could be tried in a military court has further angered the PTI.

Videos on social media showed police officers pushing PTI leaders into vehicles at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, after its session concluded on Monday evening. Similar raids were reported from other locations in Islamabad.

While the police said it had arrested four PTI politicians, including its chairman Gohar Ali Khan, the party claims at least 13 leaders were taken into custody.

“Armed, masked men entered the parliament premises and arrested several more party lawmakers,” the PTI’s Sayed Zulfi Bukhari told Al Jazeera. “Many of our lawmakers are currently in hiding, while some are missing after the raid. This is a shocking development and a dark day for democracy.”

The crackdown came a day after PTI’s rally in Islamabad, which was attended by thousands of people who came from all over the country.

It was the party’s first show of strength since the controversial general elections in February this year, in which candidates backed by Khan’s party won the most seats (93) but failed to form a government.

The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) who won 75 and 54 seats respectively, formed a coalition government with the help of other smaller parties.

The PTI has alleged the elections were rigged and several other countries had raised “serious concerns” about the fairness of the vote. But election authorities in Pakistan denied the charges.

PTI said Sunday’s rally – originally scheduled for August 22 but delayed over security concerns – was held despite several obstacles imposed by the government, including a proposed law on banning public gatherings and rallies in the capital.

‘Chokehold of martial law’

As the rally went past the original deadline of 7pm local time (14:00 GMT) to end the rally, minor clashes between police and the crowd took place, with authorities alleging stone-pelting from the crowd whereas the PTI claimed that the police fired tear gas shells at the public.

Addressing the rally, Ali Amin Gandapur, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and a top PTI leader, said, “If Imran Khan is not released in the next two weeks, we will personally intervene to secure his release.”

Such political comments that directly challenge the authority of Pakistan’s security forces often trigger a sharp backlash in a country where the powerful military has directly ruled the country for nearly 30 years and wields political influence even when civilian governments are in office.

On Monday evening, Gandapur was initially reported as missing, but his brother Faisal Amin Khan, also a PTI legislator, later told reporters he was able to establish contact with him.

PTI leader Bukhari told Al Jazeera on Tuesday that Gandapur was invited by the military on Monday to discuss law and order matters, but was allegedly detained without consent.

“He was held for hours without contact with his staff or the party. Even his security personnel were unaware of his location. He was eventually released around 4am [local time on Tuesday; 23:00 GMT on Monday],” Bukhari said, calling the government’s action “desperate”.

“We cannot accept our parliamentarians being arrested from within the parliament while attending [house] sessions. This is unacceptable. The chokehold of martial law is becoming more evident in Pakistan,” he said, adding that PTI will call for nationwide protests against the arrests.

The army’s media wing, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), has not yet responded to Al Jazeera’s queries about Bukhari’s allegations.

Meanwhile, the speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, from the governing PML-N, condemned the arrests of the PTI leaders and demanded their release.

“We must take a stand against what has happened in the parliament,” Sadiq said on Tuesday. “If necessary, I will file an FIR.” An FIR refers to the first information report, or complaint, filed to the police over an incident.

Political analyst Talat Hussain said arrests were “surprising and hugely embarrassing” for the government.

“The PTI leaders were on the backfoot after Gandapur’s outbursts,” he told Al Jazeera. But the arrests, he said, would give the party “more propaganda material against the establishment”. In Pakistan, the “establishment” is a euphemism for the military.

However, Hussain said, he did not expect tensions to escalate into new violence.

Mustafa Nawaz Khokar, a former member of Pakistan’s Senate, the upper house of parliament, said the PTI retained broad public support despite a crackdown that the party has faced since the May 9 protests last year, after Khan was briefly detained for less than 48 hours.

The protests last year saw attacks on government properties, including military installations. Thousands of PTI workers, as well as party leaders were arrested. The vast majority of them were allowed to let go, but more than 100 people were tried by military courts on charges of rioting.

“The PTI’s political base is in disarray, but public support remains high. Politicians must move away from reliance on the security establishment and find a way to resolve this escalating crisis,” Khokar told Al Jazeera.

Lahore-based political commentator Majid Nizami said he doubted a showdown between the PTI and the government was imminent, suggesting instead that the PTI might face more state aggression.

“The events of the last 48 hours show that PTI will face more hardships. They might see more people being arrested,” he told Al Jazeera.

Ex-Senator Khokar said the arrest of PTI leaders from inside the parliament grounds “lowers the bar of an already fragile democracy” in Pakistan.

India

India Targets $500 Billion Electronics Sector by 2030, Modi Says (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg [9/11/2024 3:49 AM, Sankalp Phartiyal, 5.5M, Neutral]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi trumpeted India’s potential in technology, saying the country aims to increase its electronics sector to $500 billion by the end of the decade.

Modi touted the country’s advantages in areas such as semiconductors as he addressed a chip conference on the outskirts of capital New Delhi on Wednesday. The country currently estimates its electronics market at about $155 billion.

India is trying to woo more chipmakers into the country, much the same way subsidies have encouraged Apple Inc. to assemble $14 billion in iPhones in the South Asian nation. Modi’s administration has so far approved more than $15 billion worth of semiconductor investments. These include a proposal by conglomerate Tata Group to build the country’s first major chip plant and US memory maker Micron Technology Inc.’s envisioned $2.75 billion assembly facility in Modi’s home state of Gujarat. Israel’s Tower Semiconductor Ltd. is seeking to partner with billionaire Gautam Adani for a $10 billion fabrication plant in western India.

“This is the right time to be in India,” Modi said. “In the India of the 21st century the chips are never down.”

Semiconductors have grown into a crucial resource, especially as the geopolitical chasm between Beijing and Washington continues to widen and importers look to reduce their reliance on overseas producers in locations such as China and Taiwan. Several countries including the US, Germany, Japan and Singapore are investing aggressively to boost domestic chipmaking, ensuring supply of the components needed for technologies from AI to electric cars.

At the same event, chip industry executives from India and abroad outlined their growth plans in the country. NXP Semiconductors NV Chief Executive Officer Kurt Sievers said the Dutch chipmaker will invest more than $1 billion in India over the next few years to widen its research and development efforts in the region.

India foreign minister Jaishankar says "not closed to business from China" (Reuters)

Reuters [9/10/2024 7:14 AM, Shivam Patel, 37270K, Neutral]
India is not "closed to business from China", but the issue is in which sectors the country does business with Beijing and on what terms, foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in Berlin on Tuesday.

Ties between the nuclear-armed Asian giants have been strained since clashes between their troops on their largely undemarcated Himalayan frontier left 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers dead in 2020.

India subsequently tightened its scrutiny of investments from Chinese companies and halted major projects.

However, government officials, including Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, have recently backed suggestions to allow more Chinese investment in the country.

The latest annual economic survey released in July suggests that to boost its global exports, India can either integrate into China’s supply chain or promote foreign direct investment (FDI) from China.

"We are not closed to business from China...I think the issue is, which sectors do you do business and what terms do you do business? It’s far more complicated than a black and white binary answer," Jaishankar said at a conference in Berlin.

Reuters reported in July that India could ease restrictions on Chinese investment in non-sensitive sectors such as solar panels and battery manufacturing where New Delhi lacks expertise and which hinders domestic manufacturing.

Diplomatic and military talks to end the military standoff in the Himalayas have made slow progress.

Along with investments scrutiny, India has also virtually blocked visas for all Chinese nationals since 2020, but it is considering easing them for Chinese technicians, as it had hindered investments worth billions of dollars.

India’s Manipur Blocks Internet for Five Days Following Violence (Bloomberg)

Bloomberg [9/10/2024 9:30 AM, Anup Roy and Sudhi Ranjan Sen, 27782K, Negative]
India’s northeastern border state of Manipur imposed a ban on internet services for five days to prevent the spread of misinformation amid ethnic violence that has claimed several lives.

The suspension of internet and mobile data services will be in effect from 3 p.m. on Tuesday to 3 p.m. on Sunday, according to an order from the home department of the state.

“In view of the prevailing law and order situation in the State of Manipur, there is apprehension that some anti-social elements might use social media extensively for transmission of images, hate speech and hate video messages inciting the passions of the public,” the order said.

Earlier in the day, the government imposed a curfew on the Imphal West and Imphal East districts of the state following clashes between students and security forces. The students were protesting the recent spurt in violence between two ethnic groups and have demanded the ouster of the state’s security adviser and director general of police. The students also sought the resignation of lawmakers in the state, The Hindu newspaper reported.

Clashes between the two main ethnic groups in Manipur have been going on since May last year. They have claimed over 200 lives with thousands of people displaced from their homes. Violence flared up again this month with reports of gunfire, and the use of rockets and drones to drop bombs on people. Attempts were also made to loot arms from the headquarters of the state’s police forces.

Internet suspended in parts of India’s Manipur as students clash with police (Reuters)

Reuters [9/10/2024 9:47 AM, Tora Agarwala, 37270K, Negative]
Internet and mobile data services were suspended for five days and an indefinite curfew imposed in some parts of India’s northeastern state of Manipur on Tuesday after student protests over continuing ethnic strife turned violent.

After a brief lull, fighting broke out between the majority Meitei and minority Kuki communities on Sept. 1 and some attacks involved the use of drones to drop explosive devices, killing civilians. Police say they suspect that the drones were used by Kuki militants, a claim denied by Kuki groups.

Hundreds of Meitei students took to the streets on Monday to protest against the drone attacks, calling for a change in the leadership of the state’s "unified command" that oversees security.

Protesters threw stones and plastic bottles in front of the main gate of the state governor’s residence, police said in a statement. Police used tear gas and stun grenades to disperse the crowds and about 45 protesters suffered minor injuries, a police officer said.

As protests spilled over into Tuesday, the local government imposed a curfew in the Imphal Valley and surrounding districts and suspended internet services in five valley districts.

Government and private colleges in the state, which borders Myanmar, will also be shut on Wednesday and Thursday, according to an order issued by the government.

Authorities shut down the internet in Manipur last year, in one of India’s longest enforced outages.

In the Thoubal district on Monday, police said a large mob "overpowered personnel on duty", snatched arms and fired at the police.

"We are using minimum force as a preventive measure to control the crowd," a police official said, and added that the situation had been brought under control.

At least 225 people have died and some 60,000 have been displaced since fighting broke out last year between the Meitei and Kuki communities over the sharing of economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education that are given to the tribal Kukis.

Manipur’s government is led by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Modi or the BJP have not commented on the latest violence in the state.

Modi’s top rival Gandhi denounces ‘ideological war’ in India (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [9/10/2024 5:41 PM, Staff, 88008K, Neutral]
Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday denounced an "ideological war" in the South Asian country, ruled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Hindu nationalist party.

Rahul Gandhi said there were "two completely different visions" between his Congress party and Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as he spoke to the National Press Club in the US capital Washington.

"We believe in a plural vision, a vision where everybody has a right to thrive... an India where you’re not persecuted because of what religion you believe in, or what community you come from, or which language you speak," he said.

Gandhi, 54, was appointed in June to lead India’s opposition in parliament, a key post that had been vacant for a decade.

He is the scion of a dynasty that dominated Indian politics for decades and is the son, grandson and great-grandson of former prime ministers, beginning with independence leader Jawaharlal Nehru.

His party’s result in the 2024 election -- nearly doubling its parliamentary numbers -- defied analyst expectations and forced Modi’s BJP to form a coalition to govern.

In Washington, Gandhi said India had a problem with participation of weaker castes, pointing in particular to Dalits -- the once so-called "untouchables" in India’s caste system.

"So there is a very small percentage of India which is controlling the entire infrastructure," Gandhi said.

He also criticized Modi’s handling of relations with China, with which India shares a 2,100 mile (3,500 kilometer) border that is a constant source of tension and occasional confrontation between the two nations.

"We’ve got Chinese troops occupying land the size of Delhi. I think that’s a disaster. I don’t think Mr Modi’s handled China well at all," he said.

Gandhi, on a multi-day visit to the United States mainly to engage with its large Indian diaspora, has also met with US lawmakers.

Kolkata doctors will not return to work until rape case demands met (Reuters)

Reuters [9/10/2024 7:08 AM, Subrata Nag Choudhury, 88008K, Negative]
Junior doctors in India’s West Bengal state have vowed to keep up a strike in protest at the rape and murder of a trainee doctor unless their demands are met, defying a Supreme Court deadline for Tuesday.

While demonstrations in other states have been gradually called off after the Supreme Court formed a hospital safety task force, doctors in West Bengal, where the incident happened at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, have continued their protest.

The West Bengal Junior Doctors’ Front marched in Kolkata on Tuesday, with junior doctors from several medical colleges in the state lending support, to press its demands for justice for the victim and better security at hospitals.

The group had said it would "consider" the court’s order on Monday directing protesters resume work by Tuesday evening only if its demands were tackled by the deadline.

"Otherwise, we will understand that the government does not wish to end the deadlock," the group, which represents about 7,000 physicians in the state, said in a statement on Monday.

"In that case, we will hold the government responsible for the situation arising across the state."

Officials from West Bengal’s health department told Reuters that the protesters’ concerns, including additional CCTV coverage, deployment of female security personnel, adequate lighting, toilets, and resting spaces, were being addressed.

"Funds have been released but it will certainly not meet the deadline of today (Tuesday)," said a senior official who did not want to be named because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

"It will take some time for these things to happen on the ground."

Protests over the incident spread overseas at the weekend, as thousands of Indians staged demonstrations in 25 countries, including the United States and Japan, to demand justice for the woman.

Rights activists say the attack provides further evidence of the sexual violence Indian women face despite tougher laws introduced after a horrific incident of gang rape and murder in the capital, New Delhi, in 2012.

A police volunteer has been arrested in connection with the crime and the former principal of the college has been arrested over accusations of graft.

Political startups bleed support in India-administered Kashmir over suspected Delhi ties (VOA)

VOA [9/10/2024 3:22 PM, Muheet Ul Islam, 4566K, Neutral]
New political parties formed after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special autonomy five years ago appear to be bleeding support ahead of the first regional elections since then. Analysts see perceived ties to the central government in New Delhi as a factor.

Typical of the trend is former lawmaker Noor Mohammad Sheikh, who recently resigned from the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party, or JKAP, a political group he had joined a few years ago in Indian-administrated Kashmir.

Established in 2020 by Syed Mohammad Altaf Bukhari, a businessman-turned-politician, and Ghulam Hassan Mir, a veteran politician from north Kashmir, JKAP aimed to build a bridge between the local population and New Delhi after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reduced the Himalayan region to a federally controlled territory in August 2019.

Bukhari and Mir successfully recruited over 50 politicians, including Sheikh, from various pro-India parties, giving JKAP a promising start. The party was expected to reshape the political landscape of the region by challenging the dominance of the two main parties — the National Conference, or NC, and the People’s Democratic Party, or PDP.

“Bukhari took the initiative to engage with the government of India during a time of complete silence in the Kashmir Valley,” Sheikh told VOA. “I chose to join the party because I believed I could represent my people when no one else was doing so.”

JKAP, however, suffered an abrupt downfall after a disappointing performance during Indian general elections held earlier this year. With the announcement of the first assembly elections since Indian Kashmir became a union territory scheduled to begin September 18, JKAP began to unravel. Core members of the group started leaving one after another, causing the party to fragment.

“My workers did not support me, so I chose to leave the [JKAP] after three years,” Sheikh said. “My supporters and I held a protest on August 5, and on that very day I decided to contest the election as an independent candidate.”

Noor Ahmad Baba, a prominent Srinagar-based political analyst and professor, told VOA that the central government tried to reshape the politics in Kashmir from above by promoting new political groups in the region, but they couldn’t push aside traditional parties, especially the NC.

“It’s hard to achieve such goals in a country like India. Even a dictator wouldn’t be able to do it. Over time, people have become more politically aware and can analyze things and respond accordingly,” Baba said. “The parliamentary elections indicated that building a new political party takes time and sacrifices and cannot be imposed from above.”

Multiple parties that formed after the region lost its semiautonomous status have faced similar challenges. The Democratic Progressive Azad Party, established by former Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad in September 2022, has lost over a dozen lawmakers, including co-founder Taj Mohiuddin.

Azad, once a close aide to India’s opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, faced criticism from the locals who suspect that he, like lawmakers among other regional upstart parties, has a covert alliance with Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

The suspicion was fueled by Modi’s praise for Azad following his exit from the Indian National Congress. Azad, however, dismisses these claims as attempts to undermine his new political role.

Similarly, the much longer established Jammu Kashmir Peoples Conference, or JKPC, led by separatist-turned-mainstream politician Sajad Lone, is losing ground. Many attribute its decline to Lone’s alleged closeness to Modi.

Many politicians who left these upstart parties are now running as independent candidates. They say that elections attract “new combinations and shifting allegiances.”

“I left JKPC for my own survival,” Nizam Ud Din Bhat, a former lawmaker from north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, told VOA. “My voters and workers wanted me to contest election from my home district as an independent candidate.”

Muzamil Maqbool, another analyst and a political commentator, believes that public pressure has forced many individuals to run independently.

“People like the work done by some of these candidates but they do not like the political party they represented,” he said.

“However, we cannot ignore the fact that these independent candidates could join hands with any leading political party in the assembly elections by October this year,” he said. “Horse trading in politics is not a new thing and in Kashmir; it is often the only way for politicians to secure their future and survive.”

Professor Baba believes that those who switched parties during tough times and aligned with New Delhi may face difficulties.

“People now understand that such individuals are motivated by a desire to cling to power,” Baba said. “I believe it might cost them in the upcoming elections.”

JKAP co-founder Hassan Mir told VOA that emotional politics played by other parties has impacted people for decades.

“Every political party is referred to by various names, but if the vision and agenda are clear, it’s crucial to persuade people regardless of the labels attached,” he said. “Some members departed because they sought power and realized we couldn’t provide it while others left due to unmet expectations regarding their mandates.”

NSB

US to discuss economic support for Bangladesh interim government (Reuters)

Reuters [9/10/2024 7:24 PM, Sudipto Ganguly, 5.2M, Neutral]
U.S. officials will hold talks with Bangladesh’s interim government to see how the United States can support the country’s economy and development, the U.S. State and Treasury departments said on Tuesday.

An interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus was sworn in last month with the aim of holding elections in the South Asian nation after the ouster of prime minister Sheikh Hasina following deadly protests.

A State Department statement said Donald Lu, assistant secretary for South Asia, will be part of a U.S. delegation holding meetings with the Bangladeshi interim government. Lu will also visit India during the Sept. 10-16 trip.

The State Department said the delegation would include representatives from the Treasury, USAID, and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative.

"U.S. and Bangladeshi officials will discuss how the United States can support Bangladesh’s economic growth, financial stability and development needs," the statement said.

A U.S. Treasury spokesperson said the delegation was expected to meet with high-level members of the interim government, including Yunus, foreign affairs adviser Mohammad Touhid Hossain, finance and commerce adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, and Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan Mansur.

"The United States is optimistic that, by implementing needed reforms, Bangladesh can address its economic vulnerabilities and build a foundation for continued growth and increased prosperity," Brent Neiman, assistant Treasury secretary for international finance, said in a statement.

Bangladesh’s $450-billion economy has slowed sharply since the Russia-Ukraine war pushed up prices of fuel and food imports, forcing it to turn to the International Monetary Fund last year for a $4.7-billion bailout.

In India, Lu and Jedidiah Royal, U.S. principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, will discuss defense cooperation and ways to expand U.S.-India collaboration in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, the State Department statement said.

Bangladesh ramps up border vigilance as thousands of Rohingya flee Myanmar (Reuters)

Reuters [9/11/2024 3:57 AM, Ruma Paul, Neutral]
Bangladesh has ramped up vigilance at its border with Myanmar, with at least 18,000 Rohingya Muslims crossing over in recent months to escape escalating violence in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, officials in Dhaka said.

The influx of refugees from Myanmar has mounted as fighting escalates between the troops of the ruling junta and the Arakan Army, the powerful ethnic militia that recruits from the Buddhist majority.

"Thousands of Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh and many are waiting to cross. The situation is dire," said a foreign ministry official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to media.

The new arrivals add to more than one million Rohingya refugees already living in overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar district after they fled a military-led crackdown in Myanmar in 2017. They have little hope of returning to Myanmar, where they are largely denied citizenship and other basic rights.

Arrivals have more than doubled from what the government estimated earlier this month, despite Bangladesh repeatedly saying it cannot accept more Rohingya refugees as resources are already stretched thin.

"The vigilance at the border has increased, but managing our 271 km (168 miles) border with Myanmar is challenging, especially without a security counterpart on the other side," said another government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said many Rohingya were desperate and were finding ways to cross into Bangladesh.

The government was yet to make a decision on whether to register those who have entered recently and are living in refugee camps, said the foreign ministry official.

"If we decide to register them, it could open the floodgates, and that’s something we can’t afford," he said. "But at the same time, how long can we ignore this issue? That’s the real question."

The head of Bangladesh’s interim government, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, has called for a fast-tracked third-country resettlement of Rohingya as a long-term solution, but the foreign ministry official said progress on resettlement has been limited.

"Around 2,000 people have gone under the resettlement programme since it resumed in 2022 after a gap of 12 years," he said, adding that the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland were among countries taking in refugees.

Heavy Climate Toll on Bangladesh Warrants Attention and Action (The Diplomat)

The Diplomat [9/10/2024 6:49 AM, Parvez Uddin Chowdhury, 1198K, Negative]
For people living in Bangladesh, home to the world’s largest river delta, disasters such as floods and cyclones are routine, especially during the monsoon season. Almost, every year, people experience floods in various parts of the country.

However, the devastating flood that hit the northeastern and southeastern districts of Bangladesh in August this year that has affected over 5.8 million people is being described as one of the worst in recent memory.

Just two years ago in 2022, another unprecedented flood occurred in the region of Sylhet, a northeastern division of the country. The 2022 flood affected more than 7.2 million, claimed dozens of lives, and caused severe damage and suffering to the communities.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries. Erratic and extreme rainfall are among the growing climate impacts that are becoming evident. Perhaps the time has come for Bangladesh to seriously rethink its development strategies and policies related to river and water management and food security.

Recent Flood Toll

The recent floods, especially in Feni, Noakhali, and Cumilla districts, have claimed 71 lives so far, and left millions displaced and homeless. Beyond the heavy toll on human lives, it has caused massive damage to crops, homes, sanitation, and public facilities on a scale not seen before. On September 6, one of the country’s leading English dailies, The Daily Star, reported that the recent flood in Moulvibazar district damaged 512 km of roads and 12 bridges. Another report said that 1,258 km of roads, 32 bridges and culverts were damaged in Akhaura and Cumilla, areas bordering India.

Global charity Oxfam unveiled its assessment on the impact of the flood in Feni and Noakhali, the hard-hit southeastern districts. The charity says over 90 percent of the population in the two districts has been affected, with an increasing risk of waterborne diseases such as diarrhea and cholera. Additionally, the flood has disrupted education, with many schools being used as shelters. It has severely impacted local economies, making recovery a long and arduous process.

In 2023, Bangladesh saw catastrophic flash floods in southern Chittagong that wreaked havoc on lives and livelihoods. There was major destruction to the newly-built rail line and public facilities like roads and bridges. Many blamed the construction of Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar rail line for the flood, as the railway blocked water flow at many points.

Similarly, in 2022, Sylhet division was hit by a catastrophic flood, causing record-high damages. That was also widely blamed on the unplanned construction of roads and dams in haors (wetlands) in the region. In addition, this year Bangladesh, like other South and Southeast Asian countries, has seen an unprecedented rise in temperature.

Fastest Rising Seas

To the south of Bangladesh lies the Bay of Bengal, often called a hotbed for deadly tropical cyclones. Due to global warming, the waters of this sea are said to be rising at a faster rate than any other sea. Deadly cyclones causing flooding and destruction of coastal embankments heap misery and damage on coastal communities every year. And the intensity of these events is growing every year.

In May this year, Cyclone Remal crashed into coastal parts of southern Bangladesh, including the Sundarbans and also parts of India, leaving a trail of deaths and destruction.

In the north, one of the world’s largest river networks, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna (GBM) river system flows through Bangladesh. The rivers mostly originate from outside of the country, from the Himalayas and India.

Dams, water diversions, encroachment of rivers, and various pollutions driven by climate change are taking a huge toll on the millions living along the river basin. In the dry season, many rivers are dying up and during monsoon, water overflows causing floods. While extreme rainfall and pollution on both sides of the rivers are mostly responsible for it, there is also a lack of coordination and cooperation between neighboring countries like India and Bangladesh over river and water management.

Bangladesh is located in between two major climate-driven forces - fading and controlled rivers and rising seas. Both are turning unfriendly and often deadly. People in this river delta have a deep relationship with water. Rivers have been a lifeline sustaining communities. But in this era of rapid climate change, the connection is often turning into an existential threat. Bangladesh is being engulfed by cyclones from the south and floods from the north and east.

Food Insecurity

Bangladesh is a developing country of more than 160 million people. In recent years, its economy is also said to be one of the fastest-growing in the region. It has a large vulnerable population that is involved in agriculture and solely dependent on the market for their daily food access.

The recent flood waters have receded from the affected area, but according to a report by the Center for Agricultural Policy Studies, 2,91,333 hectares of paddy fields are damaged, an estimated $285 million worth of crops have been damaged, and about 1.41 million farmers in 23 districts affected. In the meantime, due to these massive losses, the impact on the rice market is visible, with the price of rice rising. Food security remains a big concern, given that natural disasters like floods and cyclones keep causing massive damage to agriculture and livelihoods.

Bangladesh Cannot Look Away Anymore

Climate change has been declared a global emergency as it poses a fundamental threat to human health and the physical environment of the world. It also threatens international peace and security as it has enhanced competition and conflict relating to control over water, food, and land among countries. Bangladesh has been caught in this conflict.

While Bangladesh displayed a heartwarming humanity in its flood aid response, it is still rare to see climate issues shaping its political narratives and debates.

However, there is hope that some concrete action against river pollution and environmental degradation will be taken as one of Bangladesh’s environmental champions, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, has been appointed the environment, forest, and climate change adviser of the interim government led by Nobel Peace Laureate Mohammad Yunus. In a recent interview with The Daily Star, she issued a stern warning against the pollution of rivers.

Developing countries like Bangladesh have focused so far on economic growth, energy, and infrastructural development. However, the toll of climate change is getting too high for Bangladesh to ignore global warming any longer.

Maldives ministers quit after ‘clown’ jibe against Indian PM (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [9/10/2024 9:31 AM, Staff, 88008K, Negative]
Two Maldivian ministers resigned Tuesday, the government said, months after their suspension following a furious spat with neighbouring powerhouse India for alleged "derogatory remarks" against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pro-China President Mohamed Muizzu, who suspended three ministers in January for their remarks -- including one reportedly calling Modi a "clown" -- is seeking to rebuild ties with New Delhi.

Known as a luxury holiday destination, the atoll nation has also become a geopolitical hotspot, with New Delhi suspicious of Beijing’s influence in Male.

India’s government has traditionally considered the Maldives, home to around half a million people, within its sphere of influence.

Global east-west shipping lanes pass the nation’s chain of 1,192 tiny coral islands, stretching around 800 kilometres (500 miles) across the equator.

A government official said both had resigned citing "personal reasons".

Official sources said the resignations came ahead of a potential visit by Muizzu to New Delhi.

They also follow a visit last month by India’s foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, his first trip to the archipelago nation since Male expelled Indian troops in May.

The now ex-ministers had criticised Modi on social media, sparking angry protests from Indian celebrities who called for a tourism boycott, the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

They criticised Modi following his visit to promote the Indian territory of Lakshadweep, a cluster of atolls just north of the Maldives, as a tourist destination.

Modi posted photographs of himself snorkelling, and suggested the islands should be on the must-visit list of any adventure-seeking tourist.

There was no immediate word on a third minister, who was also suspended in January.

Muizzu travelled to India to attend Modi’s inauguration in June, but has not made a solo official visit.

Since coming to power, Muizzu has toned down his anti-Indian rhetoric and said he would not upend the regional balance by replacing Indian forces with Chinese troops.

Sri Lanka’s presidential election: Where are the women? (Reuters)

Reuters [9/11/2024 1:59 AM, Uditha Jayasinghe, Neutral]
Not one of the 38 contenders in Sri Lanka’s presidential election this month is a woman, a stark contrast in the Indian Ocean island where women make up more than half the voters and the workforce.

Well before more familiar figures such as Britain’s Margaret Thatcher or India’s Indira Gandhi, Sri Lanka gave the world its first female prime minister in 1960, electing Sirimavo Bandaranaike to a job her daughter also held 30 years later.

Women make up 52% of the more than 17 million Sri Lankans set to vote for a new president on Sept. 21, hoping to boost political stability and economic growth as the country grapples with its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades.

But since Sri Lanka introduced the universal franchise in 1931, the number of women in parliament has never crossed a threshold of 7%. Today, they are just 5.3% of its 225 members, and historically held only a fraction of cabinet positions.

Yet merely setting a quota of 25% among lawmakers, as was done in 2016, cannot be the only answer, said Harini Amarasuriya, a woman parliamentarian who called for a wider effort to bring more women into political life.

"The quota system is just one way," said Amarasuriya. "It can make a numerical change, but for meaningful change there must be an effort that actively brings women into politics and gets them involved in leadership roles."

Irrigation Minister Pavithra Devi Wanniarachchi is the lone woman in the current cabinet of 16, and there are just two women among three dozen junior ministers.

The patriarchal structure of Sri Lanka’s political parties is to blame for the sparse representation, said Nimalka Fernando of the Women’s Political Academy, which trains women to effectively participate in decision-making.

"The biggest block is men do not perceive politics as a space that should be shared equally with women," said Fernando, whose organisation has trained about 3,000 women over the last 12 years.

"We share the house equally, but politics is outside the house," she added. "Women are campaigners, they are in protests ... but there is a block when it comes to decision-making."

‘VERY HARD FOR WOMEN’

Handing out campaign flyers for one of the election frontrunners, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa, was Samudra Jayalath, 61, who had hoped her political career would take off after she won a municipal election in 2012.

"It’s very hard for women to make it in politics unless they come from a political family. Parties only want women to fill chairs," added Jayalath, who never secured a national position, despite nearly four decades of working for different parties.

She dispatched party workers to hand out the signature green caps of Premadasa’s Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) party in her closely-knit, middle-class Colombo neighbourhood, where she knows most of the 1,250-odd families by their first names.

Premadasa is running against President Ranil Wickremesinghe, who has steered the nation through the aftermath of the financial crisis, and Marxist-leaning parliamentarian Anura Kumara Dissanayake, among others.

Of the three main contenders, only Wickremesinghe has outlined a special effort to boost women’s representation in politics and business. Premadasa wants to improve maternity laws and roll out a national policy for daycare.

Regulations to promote women in management, private insurance schemes and modernising labour laws are among Dissanayake’s pledges.

Women’s representation in grassroots governance in Sri Lanka has never crossed 23%, despite the spur of the 2016 quota.

A similar quota designed to boost their representation at the provincial level beyond the current 5% has been gridlocked in parliament for more than two years.

The election will be Jayalath’s last before she passes on her duties as an organiser to a male colleague, ironically after failing to find a woman successor.

"You must have an inborn talent for politics," she said. "This system will not change unless we force it to change."

Tea trouble brews for Sri Lankan presidential hopefuls (Agence France-Presse)

Agence France-Presse [9/10/2024 10:31 PM, Amal Jayasinghe, 88008K, Neutral]
The backbone of the economy, Sri Lanka’s tea pickers are determined to use their powerful vote to choose a president this month who will change grim working conditions for good.

Tea pickers largely voted as a bloc in past polls and the support of the estimated one million people working directly or indirectly in the industry will be critical in the tightly fought September 21 polls.

"Nothing has been done for us," said 42-year-old tea picker K. Jesmina, who shares a small and basic two-room home without running water with 10 family members.

"We hope at least after this election, we will get some help," Jesmina added, noting her family shares a toilet with 115 other households.

Tea is the main export of Sri Lanka, the second largest supplier of black tea to the international market according to the United Nations’ agriculture agency (FAO).

In a bankrupt nation still reeling from a 2022 economic crisis and unrest that ousted strongman president Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the $1.3 billion tea exports are vital foreign income.

The aromatic "Ceylon Tea", known by the island’s colonial-era name, is celebrated as among the finest in the world.

But behind the picturesque plantations are conditions that experts say border on modern-day slavery.

All three front-running candidates -- President Ranil Wickremesinghe, opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Marxist leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka -– have promised to address tea pickers’ longstanding demand for better housing.

The pickers’ main political party, the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), are backing the incumbent Wickremesinghe.

He has promised workers freehold land rights and support for pickers to build their own homes.

But years of economic crisis and tough fiscal cuts Wickremesinghe has pushed mean many pickers are deeply distrustful of promises from any politician.

"They come and get our vote, and after that, they don’t care about us," Jesmina said.

The island’s pickers are mainly from the Tamil minority and arrived from neighbouring India during British colonial rule.

Fairtrade, the global sustainability label, says industry challenges include "low minimum wages, marginalisation of tea workers and the colonial legacy of tea plantation systems".

Jesmina’s home is in a crowded housing settlement in Hatton, in the heart of the island’s tea-growing estates, some 80 kilometres (50 miles) east of Colombo.

"What we expect is better housing," Jesmina said, while carrying her five-month-old granddaughter.

Many pickers support the CWC party, backing Wickremesinghe.

"We are not slaves," CWC national organiser Palani Shakthivel, 59, told AFP, before addressing tea workers at a rally.

"So, we want equal rights -- whatever other communities, other people, are enjoying".

Wickremesinghe’s government in July ordered pickers be paid a 70 percent wage increase -- from 1,000 ($3.35) to 1,700 rupees ($5.68) per day for their backbreaking work.

But it then revoked the decree after employers said they could not afford it.

Tea picker R. Sundarsewaran, 51, said he was considering voting for Dissanayaka, leader of the Marxist People’s Liberation Front (JVP).

"We don’t have drinking water, there are no toilets, there are two or three families in one room -- we live with great difficulty," he said.

Wickremesinghe, elected by parliament to lead the interim government, wants another term to continue tough austerity measures in line with a $2.9 billion IMF bailout loan to stabilise the economy.

Typically, a tea picker is paid for around 20 days a month -- a gruelling job plucking 20 kilogrammes (44 pounds) of tiny tea leaf tips for each shift.

Pickers say take-home pay is often around 20,000 rupees ($66), just below the minimum monthly wage of 21,000 rupees.

While some tea companies pay higher wages, tea unions say plantation workers are the worst-paid labourers in the country.

In June, the Ceylon Workers Red Flag Union put plantation workers in front of a three-member panel of former judges from India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

The judges’ report said they were "horrified by the stark realities" of the lives of plantation workers, including tea pickers, describing exploitation that reduced workers to effective bonded labour.

"It has shocked the conscience of the tribunal that such practices could continue unabated in the modern civilised world," the report said.

For pickers like Sundarsewaran, this vote might be the time to shift alliances and try a new party.

"Politicians come here promising this that and the other," he said. "But they are not helping us in any way."

Central Asia

Why Kazakh Activists Struggle To Live Normal Lives After ‘Extremism’ Convictions (Radio Free Europe)

Radio Free Europe [9/10/2024 4:57 AM, Chris Rickleton and Manshuk Asautai, 1251K, Negative]
Political activist Darkhan Ualiev offers a wry smile as he begins a tour of his temporary "workplace" -- a disused apartment in an old building on the outskirts of Almaty that he is fixing up.

Since he was released from jail in late 2022, he has accepted whatever work he can to feed his family. But there are plenty of constraints.

"Cash, only cash!" he sighs, as he explains how he depends on his friends with bank cards to pay for essential services and why he cannot work as a taxi driver -- his previous occupation.

"I am a citizen of this country, but I cannot open a bank account. I cannot go to a currency exchange and buy dollars," Ualiev told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service in an interview last month.

"My personal identification number (PIN) is blocked. I cannot get car insurance, and I certainly cannot register any property under my name."

The reason for these onerous restrictions?

Ualiev is viewed by Kazakhstan’s government as an "extremist" and, as such, features on a "financing terrorism" list that contains more than 1,400 names that can be found on the website of the country’s Financial Monitoring Agency.

The rights watchdog Human Rights Watch released a report last month based on interviews related to more than a dozen cases similar to Ualiev’s.

Among the report’s recommendations were calls for an overhaul of the "overbroad" definition of extremism in Kazakh law as well as a review of how individuals are designated for inclusion on the financing terrorism list.

"It is bad enough that people in Kazakhstan can be wrongfully prosecuted on charges related to ‘extremism’ or ‘terrorism’ simply for exercising their right to free speech, religion, or peaceful assembly, [but] they are forced to endure unjustified financial restrictions as well," wrote Mihra Rittmann, the report’s author, on August 27.

From Activist To ‘Extremist’

It would be an understatement to say that Ualiev had suffered enough even before he found his way onto the "financing terrorism" list.

As historic unrest befell Kazakhstan in January 2022, he was serving a probation-like sentence for what an Almaty court determined was his membership in an organization banned as extremist by state authorities.

That organization was the Koshe (Street) party, which officials ruled was merely a new version of another anti-regime movement prohibited in 2018 after it began regularly calling for nationwide anti-government demonstrations.

Activists have repeatedly demanded to see the original Astana court judgment that condemned the Democratic Choice of Kazakhstan (DVK) -- a group closely associated with foreign-based opposition politician Mukhtar Ablyazov -- but officials have never heeded the request.

Resolutions passed by the European Parliament demanding improvements in Kazakhstan’s human rights and governance environment, in turn, refer to both DVK and the Koshe party as "peaceful" opposition movements.

When he realized that the 2022 unrest that began in western Kazakhstan over a fuel price increase had reached Almaty, Ualiev said he decided to violate a provision of his sentence that barred him from political activity and join the January protests.

By January 5, 2022, the demonstrations were giving way to violent clashes and looting, but there is no evidence that Ualiev engaged in any violence.

His older brother, though, was a victim of it.

Aslan Ualiev was shot dead during the events that killed at least 238 people.

After being unable to reach his brother for several days following the peak of the crisis, Ualiev and other relatives began to scour the city’s morgues.

And it was while searching for Aslan that he was arrested by police, who he claims tortured him before he began a nearly yearlong stint behind bars.

He received confirmation of his brother’s death only after his arrest, while his lawyer, Zhanara Balgabaeva, said the evidence of mistreatment of her client was "clear" when she was finally able to meet with him.

More than 30 police officers and secret services staff have been handed custodial and other sentences for mistreating detainees during the events many Kazakhs refer to as Bloody January, authorities say. Other cases are still in motion.

But rights groups argue that these figures do not capture the truly systemic nature of the abuses committed by the state during the month that rocked Kazakhstan.

‘Abusing’ Laws On Combating Terrorism, Money Laundering

The space for political activism in Kazakhstan hasn’t increased since the crisis, as many hoped.

If anything, there is even less evidence that a law on public assemblies passed earlier in President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev’s tenure has had any real bearing on political freedom in the country.

In a September 3 national address, Toqaev condemned "irresponsible, exalted populists who do not have deep knowledge of the issues discussed in society," adding that such figures have "nothing to do with democracy."

But the restrictions faced by the activists profiled in HRW’s report would appear to have even less to do with it, especially given the nonviolent nature of their "crimes."

According to the group, the nearly 20 cases examined for the report all stemmed from prosecution on three charges: "organizing or participating in the activities of a public or religious association" banned as extremist by a court; "inciting social, ethnic, tribal, racial, class or religious discord"; and "terrorism propaganda or public calls to commit an act of terrorism."

Data provided by the Foreign Ministry to Human Rights Watch in the first half of the year suggested that nearly half of all the citizens on the "financing terrorism" list had been prosecuted on one of these charges.

RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service, which regularly monitors the plight of opposition activists, has in the past covered the attempts of citizens convicted of "extremist" crimes to appeal against the economic straitjacket that comes with being on the notorious list.

But HRW notes that the restrictions are automatic for anyone whose conviction falls under this umbrella, thanks to Article 12 of a 2009 money-laundering law.

Individuals on the "financing terrorism" list can remain on it for as long as they have a criminal record, although they have the right to petition authorities for removal if they have served their sentence, the group said.

Interviewed by RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service on the ramifications of HRW’s report, veteran rights defender Yevgeny Zhovtis said he did not expect "any particular reaction" to the report from officials, who he said have "become accustomed to" ignoring rights organizations.

"But there is also the UN Security Council Counterterrorism Committee. There is a [UN] special rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism; there is a group of measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, called FATF," he said.

"Kazakhstan has been strongly criticized by all these organizations for the fact that [the government], to put it mildly, abuses these laws on combating terrorism and money laundering.... The reaction [of these organizations] can have some weight for the authorities of Kazakhstan."

Kazakh Fined Over YouTube ‘Poll’ Questioning Nuclear Plans (Radio Free Europe)

Radio Free Europe [9/10/2024 8:29 AM, Staff, 1251K, Negative]
A Kazakh activist has been fined for a YouTube clip questioning government plans for a nationwide referendum on the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Abzal Dostiyarov streamed the session of the Auezov district court in Almaty on September 10 at which he was found guilty of violating the law on public polling and ordered to pay a 55,350-tenge ($115) fine.

Dostiyarov insisted he is innocent, saying the video clip in question from a week earlier was not a poll.

"I reject the charge. There were opinions of our subscribers compiled under our video. It was not a poll for all the citizens of the country, it was just feedback," Dostiyarov said. He alleged that the court’s ruling was politically motivated.

Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev last week announced plans for a nationwide referendum on October 6 to gauge public support for the construction of a nuclear power plant.

Many Kazakhs expect the referendum to succeed, given the country’s tightly controlled political environment.

But the push to build a new nuclear facility has been met by significant opposition despite apparent efforts to silence dissent on the issue. In recent weeks, several activists known for their stance against such a project have been prevented from attending public debates on the matter.

Nuclear power-related projects have been a controversial issue in Kazakhstan, where the environment was severely impacted by operations at the Soviet-era Semipalatinsk nuclear test site from 1949 to 1991, and the Baikonur spaceport, which is still operated by Moscow.

Hours before his decree was made public on September 2, President Toqaev reiterated his support for the plant’s construction.

There has been no official information about a proposed site, but a public debate was held last year in the village of Ulken on the shore of Lake Balkhash, in the southeastern region of Almaty, on the possibility of constructing a nuclear power station there.

Talk of a new nuclear power station in Kazakhstan has been circulating for years, leading to questions regarding what countries would be involved in the project.

Kazakh officials avoided answers, saying the decision would be made after a referendum.

Shortly before launching its ongoing invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russia proposed that its Rosatom nuclear agency be Kazakhstan’s major partner in such a project.

Many Kazakhs publicly rejected the idea of Rosatom’s involvement, citing the legacy of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster and Russia’s occupation of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine as examples of Moscow’s attitude toward nuclear safety.

On September 3, the chairwoman of Kazakhstan’s Central Commission on Referendums, Sabila Mustafina, said 15.5 billion tenges ($32.5 million) has been requested to conduct the referendum.

Tajikistan Warns Citizens Against Traveling To Russia (Radio Free Europe)

Radio Free Europe [9/10/2024 11:05 AM, Staff, 1251K, Negative]
The Tajik Embassy in Moscow on September 10 warned citizens against traveling to Russia for the time being, citing beefed-up security measures and increased document checks by Russian border guards. Last week, the Kyrgyz Foreign Ministry put out a similar statement to its citizens citing the same reasons. Central Asian migrant workers and visitors have faced increased scrutiny from Russian authorities following a deadly terrorist attack at an entertainment center near Moscow in March that left more than 140 people dead and hundreds injured. Russia arrested 12 suspects, mostly from Tajikistan.

Uzbekistan shuns Russian overtures on closer ties (EurasiaNet)

EurasiaNet [9/10/2024 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K, Neutral]
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin’s two-day visit to Uzbekistan highlights the limits of the Kremlin’s geopolitical leverage these days. Mishustin arrived with high hopes of drawing Uzbekistan closer into Russia’s orbit, but he left with little of substance.

Uzbekistan and other Central Asian states have walked a fine line since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, striving to remain on the sidelines of the conflict without riling the Kremlin and provoking Russian leader Vladimir Putin into taking some sort of punitive action. Helping to keep Moscow happy is the fact that Central Asian states have acted as a backdoor trade conduit, tacitly helping Russian leaders soften the impact of Western sanctions, and keeping the Russian war effort going.

Mishustin arrived in Uzbekistan on September 9 with a declared aim of securing Tashkent’s commitment to becoming a full member of the Moscow-dominated Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU). “Uzbekistan’s participation in Eurasian integration can give additional advantages for business. First of all, thanks to the opening of new sales markets, the creation of conditions for fair competition,” the TASS news agency quoted Mishustin as saying during a September 9 meeting of the joint Russian-Uzbek governmental commission.

And unnamed experts cited by the Russia-based URA news agency said the main reason Moscow wants Uzbekistan to join EAEU boils down to population numbers: Russia is facing a demographic disaster exacerbated by already large, and constantly rising, wartime losses. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, has a young and rapidly growing population. Russia needs more bodies to ensure a stable economic future.

“Russia is interested in Uzbekistan’s accession to the EAEU because it is a country with a population of 35 million, and according to forecasts, by 2035 it will already have more than 40 million inhabitants,” URA quoted the expert as saying. “The total population of the [Eurasian economic] union would exceed 200 million people [if Uzbekistan became a member]. For Russia, this is an opportunity to strengthen the combined weight of that side of the multipolar world that is being built around our country as a regional leader.”

At the joint commission meeting, Mishustin also expressed hope that the two countries could develop a venture to produce drones for “civilian” uses. “We are exploring the possibilities of organizing the high-tech production of polymers, localizing the production of civilian unmanned aircraft systems and their components,” TASS quoted Mishustin as saying.

The suggestion raised eyebrows among some local observers, given that an entity in Kazakhstan has already come under US sanctions for supplying Russia with dual-use components, including parts for drones used against Ukrainian forces.

Uzbek officials appeared to listen politely to Russian proposals, but provided no indication that they would go along with Moscow’s wishes. A statement issued by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s office following a September 10 meeting with the Russian prime minister offered the usual platitudes on the importance of the bilateral “strategic partnership” without mentioning the EAEU or specific joint projects. About the most specific the presidential statement got was an acknowledgement that “an exchange of views occurred on issues of mutual interest.”

The joint commission’s outcome the previous day was similarly modest. There was lots of discussion about boosting trade and investment and following up on joint projects agreed upon during Putin’s visit to Uzbekistan last May. But the talks produced few results.

An Uzbek government statement noted that three relatively minor agreements were signed at the conclusion of the commission session, including one on accelerating the rail transport of agricultural products and another covering standardized labeling of medicinal products. The third item was a protocol on the training of medical personnel.

Perhaps the most significant development arising out of the visit was the signing of a protocol concerning implementation of an agreement signed back in May under which Russia pledged to build up to six low-power nuclear reactors to generate electricity in Uzbekistan. The protocol “will allow us to begin direct work on the construction site in the near future,” a report published by the Spot.uz new outlet quoted Otabek Amanov, a top Uzbek official overseeing the project, as saying. Uzbek officials say they hope the first reactor will be ready to go online within five years.

During the commission meeting, Mishustin expressed satisfaction with bilateral energy cooperation. “Our energy partnership is progressing successfully. Including the supply of natural gas, oil, and petroleum products from Russia to Uzbekistan,” Mishustin stated.

Uzbek officials have no reason to argue on that point. Uzbekistan is buying up Russian natural gas at a bargain-basement rate of $160 per thousand cubic meters (tcm), according to local media reports. By comparison, the Russian energy behemoth Gazprom sold China gas at an estimated rate of just over $286/tcm in 2023. The low purchase price of Russian gas helps explain why Uzbekistan, itself rich in gas reserves, has turned into a net importer of the blue fuel. Low-cost Russian supplies are enabling Uzbek leaders to offer domestic customers highly subsidized rates for gas consumption.

Twitter

Afghanistan

Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[9/10/2024 3:08 PM, 236.3K followers, 51 retweets, 125 likes]
The Taliban is even barring women from entering a famous shrine in the northern province of Balkh.

Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[9/10/2024 1:29 PM, 236.3K followers, 290 retweets, 553 likes]
In Afghanistan, the Taliban have prevented female staff from participating in the polio vaccination program, tightening restrictions on women in the health sector.

Freshta Razbaan
@RazbaanFreshta
[9/10/2024 4:55 PM, 5K followers, 2 retweets, 4 likes]
Targeted Justice: The Perilous Plight of Afghanistan’s Former Legal Elite Under Taliban Rule Since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan, former prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges who once upheld justice are now living in constant fear. Over the past three years, many have been killed or detained, with over 200 former officials and security forces murdered, despite the Taliban’s promised amnesty. This amnesty has proven to be a deception, as these legal professionals face revenge from the Taliban and released criminals. They are targeted for their past roles in prosecuting or sentencing those now in power or freed by them. These individuals, who defended human rights and justice, particularly for women, are now scattered, living under threat not just in Afghanistan but also in neighboring countries. The international community must urgently relocate them to safe countries. The Taliban’s actions against these former legal officials are not just personal vendettas but systematic violations of human rights.

Pakistan

Government of Pakistan
@GovtofPakistan
[9/11/2024 12:09 AM, 3.1M followers, 19 retweets, 34 likes]
The nation pays rich tribute to the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, on his 76th death anniversary with due solemnity and reverence.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[9/10/2024 1:31 AM, 479.8K followers, 44 retweets, 109 likes]
Ambassador Amna Baloch @amnabaloch4 becomes the 33rd Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. A veteran diplomat, Ambassador Baloch has held several important assignments both in Islamabad and in Pakistan’s Mission’s abroad. She served as Pakistan’s Consul General to Chengdu, China (2014-2017); High Commissioner to Malaysia (2019-2023); Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg (2023-2024).

Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan
@ForeignOfficePk
[9/10/2024 11:00 AM, 479.8K followers, 38 retweets, 126 likes]
Today we bid farewell to Ambassador Syrus Sajjad Qazi @syrusqazi as the 32nd Foreign Secretary of Pakistan. He leaves government service upon attaining superannuation.

Habib Khan
@HabibKhanT
[9/10/2024 1:11 PM, 236.3K followers, 21 retweets, 85 likes]
Pashtun police in Pakhtunkhwa are protesting against the Punjabi-dominated Pakistani military, accusing them of supporting terrorists and demanding their withdrawal from Pashtun lands. After decades of state-sponsored terrorism, Pakistan is now on the brink of civil war.

India

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/11/2024 2:39 AM, 101.8M followers, 825 retweets, 2.6K likes]
India’s semiconductor sector is on the brink of a revolution, with breakthrough advancements set to transform the industry. Addressing the SEMICON India 2024.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/11/2024 12:27 AM, 101.8M followers, 3K retweets, 16K likes]
On this day in 1893, Swami Vivekananda delivered his iconic address in Chicago. He introduced India’s ages old message of unity, peace and brotherhood to the world. His words continue to inspire generations, reminding us of the power of togetherness and harmony. https://belurmath.org/swami-vivekananda-speeches-at-the-parliament-of-religions-chicago-1893/

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/10/2024 12:49 PM, 101.8M followers, 3.4K retweets, 19K likes]
Chaired the Semiconductor Executives’ Roundtable at 7, LKM. Discussed a wide range of subjects relating to the semiconductors sector. I spoke about how this sector can further the development trajectory of our planet. Also highlighted the reforms taking place in India, making our nation a great investment destination. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2053551

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/10/2024 10:32 AM, 101.8M followers, 6.6K retweets, 40K likes]
At around 10:30 AM tomorrow, 11th September, I will inaugurate SEMICON India 2024. As India works towards becoming a hub in the world for semiconductors, SEMICON India brings together key stakeholders from the sector. The theme this year is ‘Shaping the Semiconductor Future.’ https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2053241

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/10/2024 9:44 AM, 101.8M followers, 4.4K retweets, 24K likes]
Today marks a new chapter for India’s scientific community. Chaired the first meeting of the Governing Board of Anusandhan National Research Foundation. This body will continue working towards ensuring a transformation of India’s research landscape, thus breaking new ground in the world of science. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2053451

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/10/2024 9:44 AM, 101.8M followers, 811 retweets, 2.4K likes]
For a nation like ours, which is blessed with an innovative pool of young innovators, it is important we set big research targets and provide effective solutions to global problems. The Government of India is committed to supporting every such endeavour and will also do everything possible to make research easy.

Narendra Modi
@narendramodi
[9/10/2024 9:44 AM, 101.8M followers, 811 retweets, 2.4K likes]
Anusandhan National Research Foundation will work on futuristic areas such as mobility, Advanced Materials, sustainable agriculture, and health tech. We will also work to ensure greater collaboration between academic research and industry, driving growth and innovation.

NSB

Awami League
@albd1971
[9/10/2024 11:39 PM, 646.1K followers, 10 retweets, 39 likes]
Bureaucrats have relied on #mobviolence to get promotion after a list was published at the directives of interim government over the appointment of 59 deputy commissioners in the last two days. Inside #secretariat, the hub of public service and policy makers, witnessed a day of shame due to the failure of the interim regime in bringing in sweeping reform without considering further consequences and the usage of mob violence used by public bureaucrats. #Bangladesh #BangladeshCrisis

Awami League
@albd1971
[9/11/2024 3:25 AM, 646.1K followers, 3 retweets, 7 likes]
Expressing concern over communal attacks on minorities, a motion has been brought in Australian Parliament by Honoruable @Bowenchris the Minister for @ClimateChange and #Energy. In his speech, atrocities descended on minorities under @Yunus_Centre led @ChiefAdviserGoB government including #attacks, #vandalism and #arson featured heavily. There has been credible evidence on communal attacks and we have discussed about it. Honourbale parliamentarians Dr Charlton, Mike Freelander and Anne Stanley and Mishel Roland among others agreed to this observation. As many as 46 members of Bangladesh community came up with the current state of condition and we have also managed to listen the ordeals from three victims. Earlier even visited by #EmanuelMacron, the residence of eminent musician #RahulAnand has been burnt to ground while music instruments were not spared. Houses, businesses and worship places of minorities were razed to ground and many minorities are forced to flee. We have expressed our concern with our counterpart in #Bangladesh. It is an imperative and responsibility of Dr Yunus led government to stop communal violence. #BangaldeshCrisis #SaveBangladeshiHindus

MFA SriLanka
@MFA_SriLanka
[9/10/2024 6:53 AM, 38.4K followers, 4 retweets, 3 likes]
57th Session of the Human Rights Council: Statement by Sri Lanka (as the country concerned, following the Presentation of the Comprehensive Report on Sri Lanka by the High Commissioner for Human Rights) 9 September 2024 Read: https://mfa.gov.lk/57th-session-of-the-human-rights-council-statement-by-sri-lanka/

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[9/10/2024 8:41 AM, 6.4K followers, 12 retweets, 36 likes]
It was clarified that reports claiming that the Cabinet has not yet approved the salary increase for public sector employees set to be implemented in 2025 are false & necessary approval has already been granted. Therefore, public sector salary increments will take place as planned – PMD

M U M Ali Sabry
@alisabrypc
[9/10/2024 4:25 AM, 6.4K followers, 3 retweets, 4 likes]
An officer’s committee, appointed when the proposal was first made by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, had submitted a report after investigating the advantages and disadvantages, and had responded positively, Cabinet spokesman said.

Central Asia

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[9/10/2024 9:22 AM, 5K followers, 1 retweet, 2 likes]
Celebration of the State Independence Day of the Republic of Tajikistan abroad https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/15675/celebration-of-the-state-independence-day-of-the-republic-of-tajikistan-abroad

MFA Tajikistan
@MOFA_Tajikistan
[9/10/2024 7:14 AM, 5K followers, 2 retweets, 2 likes]
Meeting of the First Deputy Minister with OSCE Сoordinator for Economic and Environmental Activities https://mfa.tj/en/main/view/15670/meeting-of-the-first-deputy-minister-with-osce-soordinator-for-economic-and-environmental-activities

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[9/10/2024 12:09 PM, 198.9K followers, 1 retweet, 15 likes]
Another key site inspected by President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev was the #Olympic campus, currently under construction for the upcoming Asian and Pacific Youth Games next year. The complex is planned to accommodate over 3,000 athletes from 45 countries. The construction efforts will prioritize the convenience and safety of both visitors and athletes, with a strong emphasis on integrating artificial intelligence technologies to digitalize various processes.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[9/10/2024 10:56 AM, 198.9K followers, 7 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev inspected the Yangi Uzbekistan Street improvement project site in #Tashkent. This 11-kilometer avenue is set to become a major infrastructure landmark, forming the foundation for the development of a business district and residential areas. The President underscored the significance of integrating landscaping and achieving a harmonious balance between ecological and cultural elements.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s Press-service
@president_uz
[9/10/2024 5:48 AM, 198.9K followers, 3 retweets, 18 likes]
President Shavkat #Mirziyoyev convened a meeting with the Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Mikhail #Mishustin, focusing on further advancing the multifaceted cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries. The dialogue placed particular emphasis on the effective implementation of previously established agreements in the economic and other vital sectors.

Furqat Sidiqov
@FurqatSidiq
[9/10/2024 7:48 PM, 1.5K followers, 1 retweet]
Honored to host a reception celebrating Uzbekistan’s 33rd Independence Day @willardhotel. The event brought together U.S. officials, diplomats, compatriots, and our friends to celebrate the country’s achievements. Thank you to all who attended and shared in our joy.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[9/10/2024 12:37 PM, 19.4K followers, 1 retweet, 15 likes]
Today, we met with the Prime Minister of Russia, Mikhail Mishustin. We discussed several important areas of cooperation, including economy, culture, education, labor migration. We also agreed to continue developing a close dialogue to expand mutually beneficial partnerships.

Saida Mirziyoyeva
@SMirziyoyeva
[9/10/2024 10:25 AM, 19.4K followers, 21 likes]
I was honored to join the round table for #IDPEA in Doha. Very grateful to HRH @mozabintnasser for invitation. We’re committed to supporting education for girls and women, including training Afghan citizens. Despite challenges, we will continue to do our utmost to achieve this.

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[9/10/2024 8:56 AM, 23.6K followers, 1 retweet]
Kyrgyzstan government’s list of outlets it sees as foreign representatives: https://nko.minjust.gov.kg/ru

Navbahor Imamova
@Navbahor
[9/11/2024 5:02 AM, 23.6K followers, 1 like]
"Separatist movements" according to some in the Uzbek and Tajik governments, although the UZ authorities usually shy away from using such terms. Karakalpakstan leaders resent such descriptions, arguing they are baseless. https://www.usip.org/publications/2024/09/how-china-leveraging-security-cooperation-central-asia

Peter Leonard
@Peter__Leonard
[9/11/2024 1:08 AM, 22.5K followers, 2 retweets]
More than 700,000 Russian tourists visited Uzbekistan in 2023 (every 10th visitor was Russian). President Shavkat Mirziyoyev hopes that number will hit 1.4 million this year

{End of Report}

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