SCA MORNING PRESS CLIPS
Prepared for the U.S. Department of State
Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs
TO: | SCA & Staff |
DATE: | Tuesday, March 25, 2025 6:30 AM ET |
Afghanistan
US lifts millions in bounties on senior Taliban officials (New York Times)
New York Times [3/24/2025 6:49 PM, Christina Goldbaum, 3973K]
The United States has lifted multimillion-dollar bounties on three senior Taliban officials, according to Afghan authorities and a senior American official. The move is a significant shift by the Trump administration toward militants who were behind some of the deadliest attacks during the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan but have refashioned themselves as a more moderate voice within the Taliban.The bounties were removed days after a U.S. hostage envoy, Adam Boehler, made the first visit by a high-ranking American diplomat to Kabul, the Afghan capital, since the Taliban seized power in 2021. His talks with Taliban representatives led to the release of an American citizen who had been detained in Afghanistan for more than two years.Many Taliban officials saw the meeting in Kabul and the subsequent lifting of the bounties as a major victory for a government that was almost completely shut out by the United States during the Biden administration. The steps also put fresh momentum behind a Taliban faction that has pushed for the government to pull back on its hard-line policies to gain wider acceptance on the world stage.The United States had offered $20 million in bounties for information about three leaders of the Haqqani network, the only wing of the Taliban to be classified by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. Among the three leaders is Sirajuddin Haqqani, who heads up the network and is the acting Taliban interior minister.Mr. Haqqani, his brother Abdul Azizi Haqqani and a cousin, Yahya Haqqani, no longer appear on the State Department’s Rewards for Justice website. The bounty was removed on Monday from the F.B.I.’s wanted poster for Sirajuddin Haqqani.A spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry of Interior Affairs, Abdul Mateen Qani, said that “a deal with the U.S. was finalized” to lift the bounties, after the issue was discussed multiple times with American officials.“This is a major achievement for the Islamic Emirate,” he added, referring to the Taliban government.The American official who confirmed the bounty removals spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive diplomacy. The Trump administration, including in a January social media post by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has made clear that it could reimpose or increase bounties on Taliban leaders if additional Americans held in Afghanistan are not released.The meeting on Thursday in Kabul between Trump administration and Taliban officials followed initially tense indirect interactions by the two sides. In January, President Trump demanded that the Taliban return $7 billion in American military hardware left in Afghanistan after the U.S. withdrawal. He threatened to cut all financial aid to the country if it was not returned.The Taliban authorities rejected the notion, noting that the equipment had been crucial in keeping the Islamic State affiliate in the region at bay, according to two Afghan officials with knowledge of the matter.Since the Taliban seized power, the United States has led the charge in isolating their government, which has imposed the most draconian restrictions on women in the world. Biden administration officials stressed that the United States would not ease any sanctions until those restrictions were lifted.But as the Taliban, led by an ultraconservative cleric, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, made clear that they would not bow to outside pressure, the United States became an outlier in its firm approach.While no country officially recognizes the Taliban as the lawful authorities in Afghanistan, more countries in the region and in Europe have appeared to accept the limits of their influence and engage on issues on which they can find common ground.“The Taliban has developed a proclivity to do transactional diplomacy, quid pro quo deals,” said Ibraheem Bahiss, an International Crisis Group consultant. The lifting of the U.S. bounties showed that the release of the American held in Afghanistan “was somehow reciprocated with some good will or that a transactional deal had been struck.”It is also a notable change in American policy toward Sirajuddin Haqqani, an ambitious political operator who embraced suicide attacks like few other Taliban leaders and was responsible for the bloodiest attacks during the U.S.-led war.In 2011, Mr. Haqqani’s men launched a 19-hour-long assault on the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. In 2017, his network was behind a truck bombing that killed more than 150 people, mostly civilians.Over the past three years, Mr. Haqqani has sought to remake his image and engage with the West through back channels. He appears to be trying to win foreign backing that could help him as he tries to negotiate with Sheikh Haibatullah over the Taliban’s most controversial policies, including the restrictions on women.In January, the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court requested arrest warrants for Sheikh Haibatullah and the country’s chief justice for their “unprecedented” persecution of women and girls.“This is a victory for the engagement camp within the Taliban,” Mr. Bahiss said of the lifting of the bounties. More moderate figures “can go back to hard-liners and say this is the kind of reciprocity we can get for the compromises we are advocating for.” Taliban says it will swap two US prisoners for ‘Bin Laden’s special aide’ (The Telegraph)
The Telegraph [3/24/2025 6:22 PM, Samaan Lateef, 126906K]
The Taliban has admitted that it has two American prisoners, whose freedom it will only grant in return for the release of "Osama Bin Laden’s special aide", who is in Guantánamo Bay, local media reported.
Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader, is heard in an audio recording saying that "an Afghan is imprisoned in Guantánamo", according to reports by Amu TV, an independent multimedia channel run by Afghan journalists.
In the recording, he added: "Two Americans are imprisoned here. They ask us to release them safely. We say: release our prisoner safely too – why won’t you?".
The Telegraph could not independently verify the audio and has sought comment from the Taliban.
The identities of the American prisoners were not disclosed, but at least two Americans remain missing in Afghanistan: Paul Overby and Mahmood Habibi.
Mr Overby, 74, was last seen in Khost City, Afghanistan, in May 2014. He disappeared on his way to North Waziristan, Pakistan, to meet and interview Sirajuddin Haqqani, the Taliban leader of the Haqqani network, for a book on the Taliban and the war in Afghanistan.
Mr Habibi disappeared in 2022, a day after the US drone strike that killed al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri in Kabul’s Sherpur area. The Taliban accused him of aiding US forces in targeting the al-Qaeda leader.
The Taliban has consistently denied claims that it is holding them prisoner.
Akhundzada’s remarks on Monday were reportedly made during a gathering in Kandahar and relate to the release of Muhammed Rahim al-Afghani, an Afghan who has been held in Guantánamo Bay under indefinite law-of-war detention since 2008.
Al-Afghani, who has been described as Bin Laden’s "special aide", was captured by the CIA in Pakistan in 2007 and was the last detainee transferred to Guantánamo by the Bush administration.
He has not been charged with a crime, but a 2016 intelligence profile described him as an al-Qaeda courier. The US periodic review board maintains that his continued detention is necessary for national security.
The US invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to destroy the terrorist organisation Al-Qaeda and capture its leader Bin Laden, and left in 2021 in a chaotic withdrawal.
Since then, the Taliban has attempted to "normalise" ties between the nations.
Three Americans have been released by the Taliban since January, the latest of whom was George Glezmann, a 66-year-old airline mechanic from Atlanta, Georgia.
He had been held by the Taliban’s intelligence services in December 2022 and was designated by the US government as wrongfully detained the following year.
His release was secured in a deal with the Trump administration that Qatari negotiators helped broker, the US state department said on Thursday.
Also freed in a similar deal in January were Americans Ryan Corbett and William McKenty. In exchange, the US freed Khan Mohammed, who was detained on the battlefield in Nangarhar, Afghanistan, and later convicted for narco-terrorism in 2008 and sentenced to two life terms.
While Mr Glezmann was released without an Afghan being freed in exchange but on "humanitarian grounds", according to the Afghan foreign ministry, expectations are high that the Trump administration will look to secure the Americans’ release.
"Neither the Taliban nor the US governments submit themselves to international courts, so there is no neutral referee of their legal claims," Graeme Smith, senior analyst for the International Crisis Group, told The Telegraph.
"In such cases, the only recourse is diplomacy. That is exactly what we witnessed as the Trump administration had more face-to-face engagement with leaders inside of Afghanistan in recent days than US diplomats have had in years. The results speak for themselves," he added.
"This Taliban engagement with the US on captive Americans is significant for becoming more frequent, and increasingly public," Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre in Washington told The Telegraph.
"The Taliban know that freeing captive Americans is a core Trump administration goal in Afghanistan, and perhaps its most high-priority goal there. This gives the Taliban leverage," Mr Kugelman said.
On Thursday, Mr Habibi’s family renewed their plea for his release, saying there was "overwhelming evidence" that he remained in Taliban custody.
"We are confident that the Trump administration will hold firm that my brother needs to be released for relations with the US to move forward," one of Habibi’s brothers, Ahmad, said in a statement. Daughter of Taliban-imprisoned British couple fears for health amid court delay (The Independent)
The Independent [3/24/2025 10:28 AM, Ruby Cline, 62527K]
The daughter of an elderly British couple imprisoned in Afghanistan has spoken of her serious concerns about their deteriorating health.
Peter Reynolds, 79, and his wife Barbie, 75, were arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, in central Afghanistan, in February.
Sarah Entwistle said the continued detention of her father "poses a serious risk to his life".
Mr Reynolds is "experiencing tremors in his head and left arm", Ms Entwistle told The Times, adding Mrs Reynolds was "collapsing due to malnutrition".
Mr Reynolds has had a chest infection, a double eye infection and serious digestive problems since he was moved to a maximum security prison, she said.
"We remain extremely concerned for Dad in particular. Without access to the medication he needs, his continued detention poses a serious risk to his life," she has said previously.
Court proceedings for the couple were scheduled for Saturday but they were returned to their separate prisons after the hearing was delayed.
Ms Entwistle said she was "devastated" by the delay but added guards had "indicated that a different judge would be handling the case".
"We continue to hope they will receive a fair hearing," she added.
Mr and Mrs Reynolds have lived in Afghanistan for 18 years, where they run school training programmes.
They were arrested alongside Faye Hall, an American friend who had rented a plane to travel with them, and a translator from the couple’s Rebuild training business.
A Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office spokesman said on Monday: "We are supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan.".
However, the UK Government has said its ability to provide assistance was "extremely limited" due to the closure of its embassy after the Taliban’s takeover in 2021. Teenage Afghan girls were banned from school - now these classes are their only option (BBC)
BBC [3/24/2025 7:45 PM, Mahjooba Nowrouzi, 69.9M]
Amina will never forget the moment her childhood changed. She was just 12 years old when she was told she could no longer go to school like boys.
The new school year began on Saturday in Afghanistan but for the fourth consecutive year, girls over 12 were barred from attending classes.
"All my dreams were shattered," she says, her voice fragile and filled with emotion.
Amina, now 15, has always wanted to become a doctor. As a little girl, she suffered from a heart defect and underwent surgery. The surgeon who saved her life was a woman – an image that stayed with her and inspired her to take her studies seriously.
But in 2021, when the Taliban retook power in Afghanistan, Amina’s dream was abruptly put on hold.
"When my dad told me the schools were closed, I was really sad. It was a very bad feeling," she says quietly. "I wanted to get an education so that I could become a doctor."
The restrictions on education for teenage girls, imposed by the Taliban, has affected more than one million girls, according to Unicef, the UN’s children’s agency.
Now, madrassas – religious centres focused on Islamic teachings – have become the only way for many women and teenage girls to access education. However, those whose families can afford private tuition may still have access to subjects including maths, science and languages.
While the madrassas are seen by some as a way to offer young women access to some of the education they would have had in mainstream schools, others say they are no substitute and there are concerns of brainwashing.
I meet Amina in the dimly-lit basement of Al-Hadith madrassa in Kabul, a newly established private religious educational centre for around 280 female students of various ages.
The basement is cold, with cardboard walls and a sharp chill in the air. After chatting for about 10 minutes, our toes are already going numb.
Al-Hadith madrassa was founded a year ago by Amina’s brother, Hamid, who felt compelled to act after seeing the toll that the education ban had taken on her.
"When girls were denied education, my sister’s dream of becoming a heart surgeon was crushed, significantly affecting her wellbeing", says Hamid, who is in his early thirties.
"Having the chance to go back to school, as well as learning midwifery and first aid, made her feel much better about her future," he adds.
Afghanistan remains the only country where women and girls are banned from secondary and higher education.
The Taliban government originally suggested the prohibition would be temporary, pending the fulfilment of certain conditions, such as an "Islamic" curriculum. However, there has been no progress towards reopening schools for older girls in the years since.
In January 2025, a report by the Afghanistan Centre for Human Rights suggested that madrassas are being used to further the Taliban’s ideological goals.
The report alleges that "extremist content" has been integrated into their curriculum.
It says that textbooks advocated by the Taliban promote its political and military activities, and prohibited the mixing of men and women, as well as endorsing the enforced wearing of the hijab.
The Afghan Centre for Human Rights calls the ban on older girls attending school a "systematic and targeted violation" of their right to quality education.
Before the Taliban return, the number of registered madrassas is believed to have been around 5,000. They focus on religious education, which includes Quranic, Hadith, Sharia law, and Arabic language studies.
But since the restrictions on girls’ education were introduced some have expanded the teaching of subjects including chemistry, physics, mathematics, and geography, and languages like Dari, Pashto, and English.
Though a few madrassas tried to introduce midwifery and first aid training, the Taliban banned medical training for women in December last year.
Hamid said he was dedicated to providing an education which blends both religious and other academic subjects for secondary school-age girls.
"Socialising with others girls again made my sister much happier," he told me with a smile, clearly proud of his sister’s resilience.
We visit another independently-run madrassa in Kabul.
The Shaikh Abdul Qadr Jilani madrassa educates more than 1,800 girls and women from the ages of five to 45. Classes are organised by student ability rather than age. We were able to visit under strict supervision.
Like Al-Hadath madrassa, it is freezing cold. The three-storey building has no heating, and some classrooms were missing doors and windows.
In one large room, two Quran classes and a sewing class are taking place simultaneously, as a group of girls wearing hijabs and black face masks sit cross-legged on the carpet.
The only heat source in the school is a small electric radiator in the second-floor office of the director, Mohammad Ibrahim Barakzai.
Mr Barakzai tells me that academic subjects are taught alongside religious ones.
But when I ask for evidence of that, staff search for a while before bringing out a few tattered maths and science textbooks.
Meanwhile, the classrooms are well stocked with religious texts.
This madrassa is divided into two sections: formal and informal.
The formal section covers subjects like languages, history, science, and Islamic studies. The informal section covers Quranic studies, Hadith, Islamic law, and practical skills like tailoring.
Notably, graduates from the informal section outnumber those from the formal section by 10 to one.
Hadiya, who is 20 years old, recently graduated from the madrassa after studying a broad range of subjects including maths, physics, chemistry, and geography.
She speaks passionately about chemistry and physics. "I love science. It’s all about matter and how these concepts relate to the world around me," she says.
Hadiya now teaches the Quran at the madrassa, as she tells me there was not enough demand for her favourite subjects.
Safia, also 20, teaches the Pashto language at Al-Hadith madrassa. She passionately believes that girls in religious centres should enhance what she described as their personal development.
She focuses on Fiqh, the Islamic legal framework essential for daily Muslim practices.
"Fiqh is not included in mainstream schools or universities. As a Muslim woman, studying Fiqh is vital for women’s betterment," she says.
"Understanding concepts such as ghusl – ablution – the distinctions in prostration between genders, and the prerequisites for prayer are crucial."
However, she adds that madrassas "cannot serve as a substitute for mainstream schools and universities".
"Educational institutions, including mainstream schools and universities, are absolutely essential for our society. The closure of these establishments would lead to a gradual decline in knowledge within Afghanistan," she warns.
Tawqa, 13, is a quiet, reserved student who also studies at the Shaikh Abdul Qadr Jilani madrassa. From a devout family, she attends classes with her older sister.
"Religious subjects are my favourite," she says. "I like learning about what kind of hijab a woman should wear, how she should treat her family, how to treat her brother and husband well and never be rude to them."
"I want to become a religious missionary and share my faith with people around the world."
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has raised serious concerns about the Taliban’s restrictive "madrassa-style" education system.
He has emphasised the need to restore educational opportunities for girls beyond sixth grade and for women in higher education.
Mr Bennett warned that this limited education, combined with high unemployment and poverty, "could foster radical ideologies and increase the risk of homegrown terrorism, threatening regional and global stability".
The Taliban Ministry of Education claims that around three million students in Afghanistan are enrolled in these religious educational centres.
It has promised to reopen girls’ schools under certain conditions, but this has yet to materialise.
Despite all the challenges Amina has faced – her health struggles and the education ban – she remains hopeful.
"I still believe that one day the Taliban will allow schools and universities to reopen," she says with conviction. "And I will realise my dream of becoming a heart surgeon." Afghan Women Risk Taliban Wrath Over Hair Trade (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/24/2025 10:03 PM, Claire Gounon, 1054K]
Until Taliban authorities took power in Afghanistan, women like Fatima were able to freely sell their hair to be made into wigs, bringing in crucial cash.
But a ban last year has forced the 28-year-old and others to covertly trade hair -- collected from shower drains or the salon floor -- braving the risk of punishment one strand at a time.
"I need this money," said Fatima, 28, one of the few women still in paid private employment in Kabul after the Taliban regained control in 2021.
"I can treat myself to something or buy things for the house.".
The woman, who withholds her last name for security reasons, sells every 100 grams of hair for little more than $3, a small addition to her monthly salary of $100.
Buyers who want to export the locks for wig production abroad "would knock on our doors to collect" the hair, she said.
One of those buyers is a man, who also requested anonymity, sending the manes to Pakistan and China from Afghanistan, one of the world’s poorest countries.
Taliban authorities have cracked down on the rights of women, imposing what the UN calls a "gender apartheid".
They banned women and girls from universities and schools, effectively strangling their employment hopes.Women have also been barred from parks and gyms, while beauty salons have been shut down.
Last year, Taliban authorities imposed vice and virtue laws regulating everyday life for men and women, including banning sales of "any part of the human body" including hair.
They have not said what the punishment for violations would be.
"We must respect the appearance that God has given to humans and preserve their dignity," Ministry for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) spokesman Saiful Islam Khyber told AFP.
He said the trading of hair had become "normalised" in the country and that now "selling body parts is not allowed.".
Hair sales are so sensitive that the ministry which handles morality issues burned nearly a ton of human strands in Kabul province in January.
The PVPV said in a statement it burned the batch "to protect Islamic values and human dignity".
The restrictions have not deterred Fatima, however.
During prayer times, when Taliban officials and forces attend the mosque, Fatima sneaks to a Kabul waste site to hand over her cache of tresses.
The few extra dollars are significant, with 85 percent of Afghans living on less than a dollar a day, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
At a secret salon in Kabul, two worn-out leather chairs sit in a small, cold room where hairdresser Narges now only receives about four customers a week.
Before the 2021 takeover, the 43-year-old widowed hairdresser used to give crop cuts to five to six clients every day.
Now, only the wealthiest of her customers brave visiting the salon, and even they sometimes ask if they can take valuable spare hair home with them.
"They’re the only ones who can still care about beauty," she said.
For others, the threat of a Taliban punishment is too much to risk.
Wahida, a 33-year-old widow whose husband was a soldier killed in 2021, has a constant worry about how she will feed her three children.
She still collects hair that has fallen from her eight-year-old daughter’s head and her own, with strands from the root more valuable than those cut with scissors.
The unemployed Afghan woman, who now relies almost entirely on charity, stuffs them in a plastic bag to keep them for a potential sale later.
"I had a glimmer of hope when I used to sell my hair. Now that it’s banned, I’m devastated. I’m hoping buyers will come back to my door," she said, sitting in her home.
"I know there are places to sell. But I am afraid of getting caught there.". Pakistan
New bill seeks to sanction Pakistan’s army chief, free former PM Khan (The Hill)
The Hill [3/24/2025 6:21 PM, Ailia Zehra, 126906K]
Reps. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) and Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif). introduced the "Pakistan Democracy Act" on Monday, seeking to sanction the country’s Army chief for "persecution of political opponents" including former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
The Hill obtained a copy of the bill, which would place sanctions on Pakistan’s military boss within 180 days, under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. Violators can be subjected to denial of entry to the United States and ineligibility for U.S. visas.
The bipartisan legislation accuses Pakistani military leader General Asim Munir of "knowingly engaging in the wrongful persecution and imprisonment of political opponents." It further seeks the identification of key individuals involved in this "persecution," and imposing similar bans on them.
It gives the president the power to drop the sanctions if "military rule has ended in Pakistan and rule of law and civilian-led democracy has been restored" and "all wrongfully detained political detainees have been released from detention.".
Wilson has consistently demanded the release of Khan, who was arrested in August 2023, and blamed Pakistan’s military for his "unjust detention.".
"Mr. Khan is clearly a political prisoner," Wilson told The Hill, adding that he has written a letter to President Trump urging him to "put pressure on Pakistan’s military leadership including through visa bans, to restore democracy and release Mr. Khan.".
Members of Congress on both sides of the aisle have sought the release of Khan, who has faced various charges following his removal from office in 2022.
Members and supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party have expressed hope that the Trump administration will lean on Pakistan’s leaders for Khan’s release.
Trump has not publicly commented on Khan’s incarceration or ouster.
However, Trump’s "envoy for special missions," Richard Grenell, has tweeted in support of the former prime minister.
A post on the social platform X from Grenell in December extending support to Khan received over 12 million views and was widely shared by Khan’s supporters.
"Watch Pakistan," he said. "Their Trump-like leader is in prison on phony charges, and the people have been inspired by the US Red Wave. Stop the political prosecutions around the world!".
Hopes of a pro-Khan stance from the president were dampened, however, by his joint address to Congress earlier this month, in which he thanked the Pakistani government for facilitating the arrest of an Islamic State (ISIS) member accused of planning a 2021 terror attack in Kabul that killed American soldiers.
Last week, US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce declined to comment on Khan’s imprisonment, saying that the administration does not involve itself in the internal matters of other countries.
Wilson told The Hill he thinks Pakistan’s cooperation over the arrest of the ISIS suspect should be welcomed, but that the country should still be "encouraged" to uphold democratic values.
Others on Capitol Hill who have demanded Khan’s release include Reps. Greg Casar (D-Texas), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Haley Stevens (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), August Pfluger (R-Texas), Jack Bergman (R-Mich.), among others.
Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani envoy to the U.S. and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, said the U.S. was unlikely to expend its limited leverage on Khan.
"It is unlikely that sanctions would be imposed on Pakistan just to secure the release of a populist but anti-American politician," Haqqani said, referring to Khan’s past anti-American stance.
In 2022, following his ouster from power through a no-confidence vote, Khan claimed that his removal as prime minister was the result of an "American conspiracy." He accused the then-opposition of collaborating with the U.S. to bring down his government.
The Biden administration had denied these claims.
Khan said at the time the U.S. did not want him in power due to his anti-imperialist stance and independent foreign policy choices. His party’s rallies against his ouster featured anti-American slogans and chants about standing up to "foreign slavery" and protecting the country’s sovereignty.
Wilson said he has major differences with Khan, not only in his past anti-American statements, but also his statements defending China, and "refusing to take a strong stance against war criminal Putin’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.".
"But political differences should be dealt with at the ballot box," he added.
Michael Kugelman, South Asia director of the Washington D.C.-based Wilson Center, said he didn’t expect the U.S. to ultimately place sanctions on Pakistan over its refusal to free Khan.And he noted a certain irony in the pleas coming from Khan’s camp.
"For many observers in DC, there is something deeply ironic about Khan supporters blaming the U.S. for Khan’s ouster and then calling on it to rescue him," Kugelman said.
"Khan supporters counter that it’s about ‘reversing an interference,’ but that itself is a highly partisan statement as it assumes the U.S. was complicit in Khan’s ouster," he added.
Haqqani said the calls from lawmakers were more about "constituency politics and responding to donors" than anything related to Khan’s politics.
"Several members of Congress are unaware of Khan’s track record, as some have mistakenly described him as a friend of the U.S., which he has never claimed to be," the former ambassador said.
The Hill reached out to the Trump administration and the Pakistan embassy for comment. Pakistan Jails Baloch Human Rights Activist (TIME)
TIME [3/24/2025 10:50 PM, Karl Vick, 52868K]
Pakistan has again arrested Mahrang Baloch, a prominent champion of human rights for the country’s ethnic Baloch minority, and barred her lawyer from visiting her in jail.
"She was looking weak and stressed," her sister Nadia Baloch told TIME on Monday after being allowed a few minutes with the activist in Quetta’s Hudda District Prison, where she has been held since Saturday. Mahrang Baloch’s lawyer was not allowed in; nor was the food her family had brought. "Our greatest fear is that she will be given contaminated food—or worse, something harmful," Nadia Baloch said.
The circumstances of Mahrang Baloch’s arrest illustrate both the complexities and the risks of her work for the Balochis. The ethnic group, whose population is often put at between 10 and 15 million, resides on arid lands divided by the borders of Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan. Like the Kurds, whose historic homeland was arrayed among several Middle Eastern states when nation states were being drawn, many Balochis want more autonomy, if not a state of their own—and some have taken up arms. Pakistan’s Balochistan province has seen decades of conflict between the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and a heavily militarized state. The latest clash, on March 11, appeared to mark a dramatic new level in its guerrilla and terror operations when a BLA force hijacked a train, resulting in scores of deaths.
Pakistan’s response to the insurgency has been a decades-long "dirty war" that has left thousands of Balochi citizens missing and presumed dead. Mahrang Baloch founded the Baloch Yekjehti [Solidarity] Committee to advocate for a political future grounded in recognition of human rights, including ascertaining the fates of the disappeared. The state has not engaged, however.
After the hijacking of the Jaffar Express, state security forces ramped up pressure on Balochi human rights advocates, detaining several Solidarity activists in Quetta, the Balochistan provincial capital. On Friday, state forces opened fire on protesters who had assembled to demand their release, killing three. Mahrang Baloch was arrested the next day at a sit-in where protesters had assembled with the bodies of the victims.
"She is quite strong. She will not give up on this," said Imran Baloch, her attorney, who like many Balochis uses Baloch as a surname but is no relation. The lawyer said the state clearly feels threatened by Mahrang’s increasing prominence, noting that it escalated against her in October after she was included in the TIME100 Next list of the world’s emerging leaders. Mahrang learned that she had been placed on a no-fly list and her passport had been suspended only when she was turned away from her flight to New York to attend a TIME event. Her lawyer said she also felt "pressurized" by the state after she was nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize.
"There is a complex web of violence and human-rights violations in Balochistan that creates a very challenging environment for human-rights defenders, particularly women human-rights defenders, working on issues of enforced disappearance," Sarah de Roure, the global head of protection at the advocacy group Front Line Defenders, told TIME in October, after Mahrang was detained at the Karachi airport.
"She is being targeted as a woman, she is being targeted as a Baloch woman, because of the work that she’s doing, which is publicly speaking on the issue of enforced disappearance—initially around her own family, and then as part of a broader movement.".
Following her latest arrest, prominent human rights advocates, including Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and the U.N. Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, called for her release.
Nadia Baloch, the sister, said family members were turned away the three previous days they went to the jail. "So today we said that we will be on hunger strike if you will not allow us to meet her. Then they just allowed me to visit her for few minutes," she said. "She did not know the reason that she was arrested. I must say that is illegal, that they have not allowed her lawyer to meet her. They have isolated her in a room separate from the other prisoners.". India
Trump Pushes ‘Tariff King’ India to Tear Down Trade Barriers (Bloomberg)
Bloomberg [3/25/2025 12:06 AM, Dan Strumpf and Shruti Srivastava, 5.5M]
Radico Khaitan Ltd. has been producing alcohol for Indian drinkers at its Rampur distillery since 1943 — four years before the nation gained its independence.
Shielded by tariff walls first erected by Britain then maintained by generations of India’s leaders to protect the small enterprises that dominate the economy, the company started out making bulk alcohol for local liquor manufacturers and booze for the military. In 1998, it launched its “8 PM” whiskey blend — named for the popular drinking hour in India. More recently it’s started making higher-end malts for export.
A 150% tax on imported liquor has meant the Uttar Pradesh company could expand in the world’s largest whiskey market with little competition from American bourbons or Scottish single malts. Donald Trump’s tariff assault is starting to change all that.
The US president’s plan to impose reciprocal tariffs starting April 2 has touched off a scramble in New Delhi to accommodate Washington’s demands for a more level playing field for American businesses. Among a raft of tariff cuts this year, policymakers have trimmed booze duties to 100% — at least on American bourbon — and many in the industry are betting more reductions will follow.“It’s only a matter of time,” says Sanjeev Banga, head of the international business at Radico, one of India’s largest spirits makers. But rather than lobby against the reductions, Banga is welcoming them.
Radico uses imported scotch to blend into the company’s own domestically bottled whiskey, so lower tariffs will reduce costs. And reciprocal reductions could help make his company’s exports — like the Rampur brand of single-malt whiskey — more competitive overseas.“I’m all for all these free-trade agreements and globalization because more competition helps the category to grow,” Banga said. “If the consumers like it, then let them make a choice.”
There’s a growing optimism among economists that Trump’s branding of India as the “tariff king” and his threats to impose matching levies could begin to spur a once-in-a-generation overhaul of the nation’s protectionist trade policies.
In addition to last month’s cut on bourbon tariffs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has reduced levies on large-engine motorcycles, electronic components, chemicals and other products and is considering further cuts on a wide range of other goods.
India has the world’s highest tariffs of any major economy — far above the rates charged by Washington — making it one of Trump’s top targets for any reciprocal levies. At risk are some $87.4 billion worth of goods, ranging from pharmaceuticals to textiles, that India exported to the US in 2024.
Indian officials are already warning companies to brace for tariff walls to come down. Earlier this month, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal told exporters to “come out of their protectionist mindset” and “deal with the world from a position of strength and self-confidence.”
Still, the rip-off-the-tariff-band-aid approach isn’t being celebrated everywhere in the world’s most populous nation. The Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies, for instance, has said the industry body isn’t opposed to tariff cuts, but would like to see the reductions take place in phases.
In 2023, India’s simple average tariff rate — the mean duty applied to fellow World Trade Organization members with which it doesn’t share a preferential trade agreement — was 17%, compared with 7.5% for China, 6.8% for Mexico and just 3.3% in the US.
Broad tariff reductions are likely to come in the form of bilateral trade deals with New Delhi’s trading partners. India is negotiating such pacts with the US, the UK and the European Union, and officials are hopeful their accommodating stance and ongoing talks will be taken into account as new duties are formulated in Washington.
Still, Trump in a recent interview said India would be slapped with reciprocal tariffs even as New Delhi moves to cut duties. US officials arrive in India Tuesday for trade talks, with officials in New Delhi expected to seek a reprieve from next week’s tariff hikes. The US embassy said in a statement it’s committed to advancing the trade relationship with India, and holding talks in a “constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner.”
Unlike Canada or Mexico — two top US trading partners that have successfully pushed back against some of the White House’s trade measures — India doesn’t have as many tools to resist the Trump administration, said Alexander Slater, managing director at Capstone, a business strategy firm in Washington.“The Trump Administration is serious about reducing the bilateral trade deficit and ending what it believes is an unfair trading relationship” with India, he said. And while India may be able to delay new tariffs with its own duty cuts or by buying more American energy or weapons systems, “India, to use President Trump’s parlance, has very few cards to play,” he said.‘Positive’ Side-Effects
While economists say a broad reduction in India’s tariffs could cause short-term pain, over the long term it can lift growth by making imports cheaper and boosting investment. In the 2000s, India undertook broad tariff cuts while posting a GDP growth rate averaging 7.8% per year, according to Pranjul Bhandari, chief India economist at HSBC Holdings Plc.
While closing India’s tariff differential with the US could shave 0.3 percentage point off India’s short-term GDP growth, “over the medium term — I would say once 2026 starts — I think things can become pretty positive,” she said.“New opportunities will arise, new sectors will arise, input costs for many industries will go down and they’ll be able to export more,” she said.
Historically, India’s high tariff walls have favored large conglomerates at the expense of smaller players, said Abhishek Anand, a former civil servant and visiting fellow at the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
For example, in the garment industry tariffs have favored conglomerates such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Aditya Birla Group — vertically integrated firms that produce their own raw materials, he said. Smaller garment firms were often forced to buy from the local giants because of the high tariffs. Lower duties could even things out.
US distillers are also hoping to benefit from India’s lower trade barriers. “American whiskey is not even a blip on the radar,” said Rob Marin, senior vice president at the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. Tariff reductions are “a great step in the right direction.” US trade officials to visit India for trade talks amid tariff concerns (Reuters)
Reuters [3/24/2025 7:07 AM, Manoj Kumar and Shivam Patel, 126906K]
A delegation of officials from the United States will visit India from March 25-29 for trade talks with Indian officials, a US embassy spokesperson said on Monday.
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead the group.
"This visit reflects the United States’ continued commitment to advancing a productive and balanced trade relationship with India," the spokesperson said.
U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to impose reciprocal tariffs from April 2 on various nations, causing alarm among Indian exporters.
India has an "obvious expectation", a government source said, that the Trump administration could exempt it from reciprocal tariffs as the two nations continue talks on a bilateral trade pact.
The source said U.S. Vice President J. D. Vance is also likely to visit India in April.
Several industry groups have cautioned the Indian government that reducing tariffs on industrial products under U.S. pressure could lead to an influx of cheaper Chinese goods, resulting in dumping and harming domestic manufacturers.
Trade Minister Piyush Goyal spent nearly a week in the United States earlier this month in trade talks.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the U.S. last month, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, with a target of reaching $500 billion in bilateral trade by 2030.
India and the U.S. are engaged in discussions to resolve tariff-related issues and finalise a framework for a bilateral trade pact, Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for India’s external affairs ministry, said last week.
"We value our ongoing engagement with the Government of India on trade and investment matters and look forward to continuing these discussions in a constructive, equitable, and forward-looking manner," the U.S. embassy spokesperson said. India eyes tariff cut on $23 bln of US imports, to shield $66 bln in exports, sources say (Reuters)
Reuters [3/25/2025 4:38 AM, Sarita Chaganti Singh, Aftab Ahmed and Manoj Kumar, 5.2M]
India is open to cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports worth $23 billion in the first phase of a trade deal the two nations are negotiating, two government sources said, the biggest cut in years, aimed at fending off reciprocal tariffs.
The South Asian nation wants to mitigate the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s reciprocal worldwide tariffs set to take effect from April 2, a threat that has disrupted markets and sent policymakers scrambling, even among Western allies.
In an internal analysis, New Delhi estimated such reciprocal tariffs would hit 87% of its total exports to the United States worth $66 billion, two government sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.
Under the deal, India is open to reducing tariffs on 55% of U.S. goods it imports that are now subject to tariffs ranging from 5% to 30%, said both sources, who sought anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
In this category of goods, India is ready to "substantially" lower tariffs or even scrap some entirely, on imported goods worth more than $23 billion from the United States, one of the sources said.
India’s trade ministry, the prime minister’s office and a government spokesperson did not reply to mail seeking comments.
Overall the U.S. trade-weighted average tariff has been about 2.2%, data from the World Trade Organization shows, compared with India’s 12%. The United States has a trade deficit of $45.6 billion with India.
During Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s U.S. visit in February, the two nations agreed to start talks towards clinching an early trade deal and resolving their standoff on tariffs.
New Delhi wants to strike a deal before the reciprocal tariffs are announced and Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch will lead a delegation of officials from United States for trade talks from Tuesday.
The Indian government officials warned that cutting tariffs on more than half of U.S. imports hinges on securing relief from reciprocal tax.
The tariff cut decision was not final, with other options under discussion such as sectoral adjustments of tariffs and product-by-product negotiations rather than a wide cut, said one of the officials.
India is also considering wider tariff reform to lower barriers uniformly, but such discussions are in early stages and might not figure immediately in talks with the United States, said one of the officials.
TRUMP ADAMANT ON TARIFFS
Even though Modi was among the first leaders to congratulate Trump on his election victory in November, the U.S. president has continued to call India a "tariff abuser" and "tariff king", vowing not to spare no nation from tariffs.
New Delhi estimated increases of 6% to 10% in tariffs on items such as pearls, mineral fuels, machinery, boilers and electrical equipments, which make up half its exports to the United States, due to reciprocal tax, both sources said.
The second official said the $11 billion worth of pharmaceutical and automotive exports may see the most disruptive impact due to reciprocal tariff, given their dependence on the U.S. market.
The new tariffs could benefit alternative suppliers like Indonesia, Israel and Vietnam, the official added.
To ensure political acceptance by Modi’s allies and the opposition, India has set clear red lines for the negotiations.
Tariffs on meat, maize, wheat and diary products that now range from 30% to 60%, are off the table, a third government official said. But those on almonds, pistachio, oatmeal and quinoa may be eased.
New Delhi will also push for phased cuts in automobile tariffs, now effectively more than 100%, a fourth official said.
India’s tightrope walk on the matter was highlighted by comments its trade secretary made to a parliamentary standing committee on March 10 and remarks by U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.
India did not want to lose the United States as a trading partner, Sunil Barthwal told the committee, but vowed at the same time, "We will not compromise on our national interest," according to two people who attended the closed-door meeting.
Lutnick asked India to "think big" after it cut tariffs on high-end motorcycles and bourbon whisky this year.
"To date, the Modi government has shown little appetite for sweeping tariff cuts of the kind Trump is seeking," said Milan Vaishnav, an expert on South Asian politics and economy at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank.
"It is possible the Modi government could use external pressure from the Trump administration to enact politically costly, across-the-board cuts, but I am not holding my breath." India plans to scrap digital ad tax to ease U.S. concerns, source says (Reuters)
Reuters [3/25/2025 2:33 AM, Aftab Ahmed and Manoj Kumar, 5.2M]
India plans to scrap a contentious tax of 6% on digital advertisements that primarily affected U.S. tech giants such as Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) Google, Meta (META.O), and Amazon (AMZN.O), aiming to ease U.S. concerns and advance a trade pact.
New Delhi’s move seeks to assuage concerns raised by Washington after President Donald Trump threatened reciprocal tariffs from April 2 on trading partners, including India, that fuelled alarm among exporters.
The government proposes to abolish the 6% equalisation levy on online services, including advertising, as part of amendments to the Finance Bill 2025, a government source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.
Parliament is expected to approve the bill this week, making the decision on the levy effective from April 1, the source added.
India’s finance ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
During a visit last month to the United States by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both nations agreed to work on the first phase of a trade deal by autumn 2025, targeting two-way trade of $500 billion by 2030.
India’s 6% equilisation levy, or digital tax, affects online advertising services provided by foreign companies, requiring them to withhold and remit the tax to the government.
The United States Trade Representative (USTR) had criticised the levy targeting U.S. companies as "discriminatory and unreasonable" arguing that domestic companies were exempt.
A U.S. delegation led by Brendan Lynch, the assistant U.S. trade representative for South and Central Asia, is visiting India this week for talks with officials.
Last year, New Delhi abolished a levy of 2% on non-resident e-commerce firms for providing online services.
Analysts said the new measure was likely to provide relief to U.S. tech companies.
The decision signals an attempt to ease trade tension with the United States, said Amit Maheshwari, tax partner at AKM Global.
"However, it remains to be seen whether this step, coupled with ongoing diplomatic efforts, will lead to any softening of the U.S. stance," he added. India is hoping its manufacturing industry will profit from Trump’s tariffs on China (NPR)
NPR [3/24/2025 11:37 AM, Diaa Hadid, 78K]
The women knocking on doors of the employment agencies that dot the roads of this industrial town are one sign of how India has profited from U.S. tensions with China.
Here in the southern state of Tamil Nadu, many seek work at one company: FoxConn, which manufactures iPhones for Apple. Women make up some 70% of the Sriperumbudur plant’s workforce.
Twenty-one-year-old Keerthana, who only has one name, was sleepily waiting for a bus to the FoxConn dormitory housing women employees. She’d arrived in the morning on the overnight bus from her hometown. An agency immediately offered her a job at FoxConn. She said she wasn’t sure what job she’d be assigned, but she was told she’d earn $170 a month, double her previous wages in a garment factory. "I’ll send the money to my father," she beamed. "It will really help us.".
Such wages are life-changing for many Indian women, and for that, says former Indian government economic adviser Arvind Subramanian, "I am unambiguously in favor of manufacturing. Because you get many, many more women getting jobs.".
Getting more women into poverty-lifting work is a key reason why India, and Tamil Nadu in particular, seeks to attract more labor-intensive manufacturing. More than 40% of women who work in India’s factories do so in Tamil Nadu, although the state is home to only 6% of India’s 1.4 billion people.Now India is hoping it will have a chance to lure more manufacturing to its shores amid deteriorating U.S.-China relations and as the Trump administration’s tariff policies make it more expensive to do business in China.
"Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi’s big bet is that as more and more companies are seeking to exit China … India is poised to play in a very big way," says Milan Vaishnav, who directs the South Asia program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a nonpartisan international affairs think tank.
It would build on India’s achievements in attracting manufacturing as the mood against China grew hostile during the first Trump administration, and through the pandemic, when concerns grew over China’s dominance of global supply chains. India continued attracting manufacturing through the Biden years, as the former president kept Trump-era tariffs on some Chinese-made products and raised others.
"The fact that China was discriminated against," says Subramanian, "meant that India was a good place from which to sell back to the United States.".
One company that shifted operations from China to India in 2017 was FoxConn, a decision widely seen as reflecting Apple’s plans to diversify its manufacturing.
Now India manufactures nearly 15% of all Apple iPhones, and is the second largest exporter after China. India hopes to nearly double its share of iPhone manufacturing to 25% in the coming years. Last year it exported over $20 billion worth of mobile phones — a 44% rise over 2023, spotlighting how rapidly this market is growing.
But there’s a key obstacle to India’s hopes of attracting more manufacturing: Trump’s China tariff policies. Indian analysts say he’s been softer than expected on China, where he imposed 20% tariffs — after campaigning on imposing up to 60% tariffs.
"We haven’t seen Mr. Trump as being as tough as he was expected to be," says Suhasini Haidar, diplomatic editor of The Hindu. Indian officials hoped "the U.S. would get so tough on China that eventually companies would be forced to move to a country like India," she says. "That promise has not played out so far.".
Ashutosh Varshney, director of the Saxena Center for Contemporary South Asia at Brown University, says Trump’s relatively soft approach toward China may be due to "Elon Musk’s rising profile in the Trump power structure." Musk’s business interests are entrenched in China.
Then there are Trump’s grievances with India over its trade surplus with the U.S., its largest trading partner, which was $45 billion last year. India’s tariffs — which the United States Trade Representative said in its 2024 report are "the highest of any major world economy" — range from 45% on vegetable oils to 150% on alcoholic drinks and 100% on coffee.
During his State of the Union address, Trump said reciprocal tariffs on India and other countries would begin on April 2. India may lose up to $7 billion in trade with the U.S. if those tariffs are applied, Reuters reports, citing Citigroup.But a Tamil Nadu government representative tells NPR he believes companies will continue shifting to India because of other factors — including a desire to diversify from China and to base themselves in a large consumer market. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue of tariffs is politically sensitive in India.
But, he said, "what hurts pipeline investment more than bad policy is uncertainty," referring to weeks of Trump’s announcements on how, and when, tariffs would be imposed.
The ways in which India might be affected are no concern for this Trump administration, says Varshney.
"American companies making more investments abroad is not what Mr. Trump wants," he says. "American companies making more investments in America and foreign companies making investments in America is what he wants.". Canada Says China and India May Seek to Meddle in Election (Reuters)
Reuters [3/24/2025 4:03 PM, David Ljunggren, 24727K]
China and India are likely to try to interfere in the Canadian general election on April 28, while Russia and Pakistan have the potential to do so, the country’s spy service said on Monday.
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service made its comments at a time when Ottawa’s relations with both India and China are chilly. Beijing and New Delhi have denied previous allegations of interference.
Canada was slow in responding to efforts by China and India to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections but their outcomes were unaffected by the meddling, an official probe said in a final report released in January.
Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director of operations at CSIS, told a press conference that hostile state actors were increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to meddle in elections.
"The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is highly likely to use AI enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada’s democratic process in this current election," she said.
Earlier this month Beijing announced tariffs on more than $2.6 billion worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, retaliating against levies Ottawa slapped on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products last year.
Canada said last week that China had executed four Canadian citizens on drug smuggling charges, and strongly condemned Beijing’s use of the death penalty.
Canada last year expelled six Indian diplomats - including the head of mission - over allegations they were involved in a plot against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.
"We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes," said Lloyd.
The Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa were not immediately available for comment.
Russia and Pakistan could potentially conduct foreign interference activities against Canada, Lloyd added.
"It’s often very difficult to establish a direct link between foreign interference activities and election results ... Nevertheless, threat activities can erode public trust in the integrity of Canada’s democratic processes and institutions," she said. How India’s $14bn Muslim endowments are being plundered, even by government (Al Jazeera)
Al Jazeera [3/25/2025 4:48 AM, Kashif Kakvi, 18.2M]
In January this year in Ujjain, a city in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, authorities bulldozed nearly 250 properties, including homes, shops and a century-old mosque, to clear a sprawling 2.1 hectares (5.27 acres) of land.
The land belonged to the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board. Derived from Arabic, “waqf” refers to moveable or immoveable properties – mosques, schools, graveyards, orphanages, hospitals and even vacant plots – donated by Muslims for religious or charitable purposes to God, thereby making such property transfers irrevocable and prohibiting sale and other uses.
But the Ujjain waqf land was cleared for a so-called Mahakal Corridor, a $1bn government project surrounding the city’s famous Mahakaleshwar Temple.
India, home to more than 200 million Muslims, has the largest number of waqf assets in the world – more than 872,000 properties, spanning nearly 405,000 hectares (1 million acres), with an estimated value of about $14.22bn. They are managed by waqf boards in every state and federally-run territory.
Together, waqf boards are the country’s largest urban landowners and the third-largest overall, after the army and the railways respectively.
The Indian parliament is expected to discuss – possibly this week – amendments to the decades-old Waqf Act that has governed these waqf boards, and which has, over the years, entrenched more and more power in their hands. The amendment bill, proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu majoritarian Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), could give the government unprecedented control over what happens with waqf properties.
Muslim groups allege that the Modi administration is using its parliamentary strength to further marginalise the minority community.
But even as the debate dominates television studio conversations, some activists and lawyers cite the Ujjain case as an example of a deeper set of problems that have long plagued waqf properties: years of mismanagement leading to encroachments, which the amended law might make worse.‘A direct violation’Madhya Pradesh, India’s second-largest state by size, has been governed by the BJP for most of the past 22 years, except for a brief period from December 2018 to March 2020 when the centrist Congress party was in power before it lost a majority in the state assembly.
Since being appointed the state’s chief minister in December 2023, Mohan Yadav, a BJP politician from Ujjain, has been preparing for Kumbh 2028, a Hindu pilgrimage held every 12 years on the banks of the city’s Shipra River. The demolition of waqf properties around the Mahakaleshwar Temple is widely viewed as part of the government’s acquisition of lands for the Kumbh pilgrimage, expected to draw millions of devotees.
Critics allege that state officials overlooked a 1985 government document that established that the Ujjain site was a Muslim graveyard where a historic mosque – large enough to accommodate 2,000 devotees – also stood. Over the years, influential builders with political connections illegally sold plots for a residential colony there, resulting in more than 250 permanent structures that were razed in January.
The government’s acquisition document, obtained by Al Jazeera, reveals that in June 2023, a revenue department officer in Ujjain objected to the state administration’s plan to take over the waqf land. In his note, the officer wrote that residents had shown him a 1985 gazette notification, proving that it was a waqf land.
The officer suggested that a “No Objection Certificate” should be obtained from the state waqf board to acquire the land. A month later, however, the Ujjain district administration issued an order, saying there was “no permission required when [land is] acquired for social cause”.“The acquisition is a direct violation of the Waqf Act,” said lawyer Sohail Khan, who has challenged the Ujjain takeover in court.
Though the government paid 330 million rupees ($3.8m) as compensation to people whose houses or shops were demolished in January, many in the city asked why the Waqf Board had not claimed that amount – as opposed to people who had purportedly occupied the plot illegally to set up homes and shops there.
When Al Jazeera asked Sanawar Patel, chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board and a BJP leader in Ujjain, why he did not oppose the acquisition or claim compensation, he said: “I would do what the party orders because I am here because of the party.”
He said that the Waqf Board wrote a letter to the Ujjain district administration asking it not to disburse the compensation to the residents of illegal homes on the land, but did not explain why he did not challenge the administration in court. Patel also conceded that more than 90 percent of waqf properties in the state have either been encroached upon or are under litigation in courts.
Ashish Agarwal, a BJP spokesman in Madhya Pradesh, meanwhile, claimed that the state government acquired the Ujjain land “based on its requirement and following the laid down laws”. He refused to speak further.‘History will not forgive us’India’s waqf boards are set up under the 1954 Waqf Act, and since then, Muslims have been running the bodies with the help of the government. More laws passed in subsequent years – 1995 and 2013 – gave more powers to the waqf boards and even set up waqf tribunals, which are alternate courts meant to settle disputes related to waqf properties.
But late last month, Modi’s cabinet cleared the draft Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which proposes 14 amendments to the old law.
Some of the controversial proposed amendments include the appointment of non-Muslims as waqf board members and mandatory registration of properties deemed to be “waqf” with the district administration.“This is the beginning of capturing land of mosques and dargahs [shrines]. History will not forgive us,” said Sanjay Singh, a parliamentarian from the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), who is one of the 31 members of a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) formed to discuss opposition objections to the proposed amendments before the full parliament debates the changes this week.
Supreme Court lawyer Anas Tanwir told Al Jazeera that the Ujjain case “reflects a broader national concern of political interference and degradation of waqf lands”.“The management of waqf properties in India has long been plagued by mismanagement and encroachment,” he said. “The proposed Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024 potentially exacerbates the problems.”
But Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board Chairman Patel claimed the amendments have been brought by the government “to root out the existing problems and fix the anomalies”.
Deliberate dispossession
While the planned amendments have sparked concerns about how they might give the government greater control over waqf properties, many Muslim community leaders and lawyers say these lands have been widely encroached upon even under the current law.
Experts cite a decades-old pattern of deliberate dispossession, mismanagement and corruption in the government’s handling of waqf properties. They complain of a systematic diversion of waqf properties by district revenue officials and other authorities, and the widespread illegal occupation and conversion of waqf land to private ownership.
Most waqf lands or properties, they say, have been declared non-waqf by the government’s revenue department, the state body that maintains land records and collects taxes on them.
The Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board has conducted two surveys of its properties so far, in the late 1960s and the 1980s, and found that it had control over more than 23,000 properties. In subsequent years, it digitised its records and geotagged them for better identification.
Experts, however, also allege that the government’s revenue department has outdated land records, often based on pre-independence surveys. Despite the 1954 Waqf Act making it mandatory for the department to make relevant changes in its land records based on the waqf board surveys, revenue records were not updated. For example, Ujjain had 1,014 waqf properties as per the 1985 gazette, but none of them are listed as waqf assets in revenue records.“Out of those 1,014 assets, 368 are listed as government-owned, 454 as private, and records for 192 properties are either incomplete or missing entirely,” says a public interest litigation filed in December by Ujjain-based lawyer Aashar Warsi in the Madhya Pradesh high court.
Digitisation of land records, which started in the late 2000s, compounded the problem. Since the software only had two columns – government and private – lands mentioned as waqf-owned in revenue records were often moved to the government column.“Because of this, Bhopal’s historic Moti Mosque that was built in 1857, is registered as a government property, which is absurd,” says Masood Khan, a member of a community group campaigning for the restoration of waqf lands. Khan has filed a complaint with the waqf tribunal, requesting it to direct the revenue department to make corrections regarding the mosque in its records.
Al Jazeera asked Madhya Pradesh’s Revenue Minister Karan Singh Verma why revenue records were not updated in government records. “Since it’s a prolonged issue, the minister doesn’t know much about it. We will look into the matter,” his office replied.
Mismanagement and corruption
Muslims say the Ujjain takeover is not an isolated incident, but part of a pattern seen across Madhya Pradesh and other parts of India.
Warsi’s petition says there is a “systematic and deliberate loot of waqf properties under the watchful eyes of the governments and its officials”. It adds that despite multiple letters from the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board and the federal Ministry of Minority Welfare between 2001 to 2023, advising the Madhya Pradesh government to make corrections in its revenue records, it “turned a deaf ear” to the issue, allowing the “plundering of waqf properties to continue unabated”.“The mismatch of waqf land records with revenue records is a common phenomenon across the country that is feeding the encroachers,” Supreme Court lawyer and waqf law expert Mehmood Pracha told Al Jazeera.
In January 2021, the Madhya Pradesh government authorised an NGO that had BJP leaders as its trustees to acquire 1.2 hectares (2.88 acres) of waqf land in Bhopal. The site in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood was designated as a graveyard in state records and had half a dozen graves on it.
Before the waqf board’s tribunal or a court could order a stay on the acquisition, the NGO built a wall around it in 2021, and then announced plans to construct a community hall there. Authorities imposed a curfew in the area and deployed a large contingent of policemen to preempt any protest.“The Waqf Act obligates the district administration or the government to remove unauthorised constructions, but when the government itself indulges in encroachment, who is going to uphold the law?” asked activist Khan.
Waqf Board members say hundreds of waqf properties in Bhopal, Indore and other cities of Madhya Pradesh have either been encroached upon by the state government or are held by influential private individuals.“The Madhya Pradesh Police headquarters, Bhopal Police control room, traffic police station and many other government offices are constructed on prime land owned by waqf,” a Waqf Board member, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera, adding that more than 100 graveyards have disappeared from the state capital, which once had nearly 140.
Often, the “mutawallis”, caretakers of a property appointed by the waqf board, have been found to be involved in the fraudulent sale of waqf land or unauthorised construction at a waqf property.
In December 2024, Madhya Pradesh Police arrested a man called Nasir Khan, a former caretaker of a waqf property in Indore, for allegedly forging waqf documents for personal gain and selling a multimillion waqf property in the city. Police found fake letterheads and official waqf board stamps in his house.
Experts say years of government and private encroachment, corruption and mismanagement have made waqf properties vulnerable. With the new amendments, they say, the government wants to legally take them over.“With growing population, the values of lands are skyrocketing. Since waqf boards own massive properties on prime places across India, the government, by using the latest amendment, wants to get control over these lands in one go,” lawyer Pracha told Al Jazeera. ‘It felt like war’: BBC journalists recall horrors of India’s Covid lockdown (BBC)
BBC [3/24/2025 8:33 PM, Staff, 69901K]
On 24 March 2020, India announced its first Covid lockdown, just as the world stood on the brink of a global pandemic that would claim millions of lives.
India’s already fragile healthcare system collapsed under the pandemic’s weight.
The WHO estimated over 4.7 million Covid deaths in India - nearly 10 times the official count - but the government rejected the figure, citing flaws in the methodology.
Five years later, BBC India journalists reflect on their experiences recounting how, at times, they became part of the story they were covering.‘Oxygen, oxygen, can you get me oxygen?’.
Soutik Biswas, BBC News
It was the summer of 2021.
I woke up to the frantic voice of a school teacher. Her 46-year-old husband had been battling Covid in a Delhi hospital, where oxygen was as scarce as hope.
Here we go again, I thought, dread creeping in. India was trapped in the deadly grip of a lethal second wave of infections, with Delhi at its heart. And it was just another day in a city where breathing itself had become a privilege.
We scrambled for help, making calls, sending SOS messages, hoping someone might have a lead.
Her voice shook as she told us her husband’s oxygen levels had dipped to 58. It should have been 92 or higher. He was slipping, but she clung to the small comfort that it had climbed to 62. He was still conscious, still speaking. For now.
But how long could this last? I wondered. How many more lives would be lost because the basics - oxygen, beds, medicine - were beyond reach? This wasn’t supposed to happen in 2021. Not here.
The woman called back. The hospital didn’t even have an oxygen flow meter, she said. She had to find one herself.
We reached out again. Phones buzzed, tweets flew into the void, hoping someone would see us. Finally, a device was located - a small victory in a sea of despair. The oxygen would flow. For now.
The numbers didn’t lie, though.
A report from the same hospital told of a 40-year-old man who died waiting for a bed. He found a stretcher, at least, the report helpfully added. That was where we were now: grateful for a place to lay the dead.
In the face of this, oxygen was a commodity. So were medicines, in short supply and hoarded by those who could pay. People were dying because they couldn’t breathe, and the city choked on its own apathy.
This was a war. It felt like a war. And we were losing it.‘Most difficult story I have ever covered’.
Yogita Limaye, BBC News
"Balaji, why are you lying like this," screamed a woman outside Delhi’s GTB hospital, shaking her unconscious brother who was lying on a stretcher.
Minutes later, her brother, the father of two children, died, waiting outside a hospital before he was even seen by a doctor.
I will never forget her cry.
Around her, families pleaded at the door of the hospital to get a doctor to come and see their loved ones.
They were among hundreds of pleas for help we heard over the weeks we reported on how the second wave of Covid, which began in March 2021, brought a nation to its knees.
It was as though people had been left to tackle a vicious pandemic on their own – going from hospital to hospital searching for beds and oxygen.
The second wave had not come without warning, but India’s government, which had declared victory over the disease two months earlier, was caught unprepared by the resurgence.
In the ICU of a major hospital, I saw the head doctor pace up and down, making one phone call after another frantically searching for supplies of oxygen.
"There’s just one hour of supply left. Reduce the oxygen we’re supplying to our patients to the lowest levels needed to ensure all organs continue to function properly," he instructed his deputy, his face tense.
I distinctly remember the heat and fumes from 37 funeral pyres burning simultaneously under the April sun at a Delhi crematorium.
People sat in shock - not yet feeling the grief and anger that would come - seemingly stunned into silence by the frightening speed at which Covid ravaged the capital.
Our work messaging groups buzzed all the time with news of yet another colleague desperately needing a hospital bed for a loved one.
No-one was untouched by it.
In Pune, my father was recovering from a Covid-related heart attack he’d suffered a month earlier.
Back in my hometown Mumbai, one of my closest friends lay critical on a ventilator in hospital.
After five weeks in ICU, miraculously, he recovered. But my father’s heart never did, and a year later, he suffered a fatal heart attack, leaving a permanent hole in our lives.
Covid-19 will always be the most difficult story I’ve ever covered.‘Could I have done more?’
Vikas Pandey, BBC News
Covering the pandemic was the hardest assignment of my life because it’s a story that literally came home.
Friends, relatives and neighbours called every day, asking for help procuring oxygen cylinders, hospital beds and even essential medicines. I interviewed several grieving families at that time.Yet, a few incidents have remained etched in my memory.
In 2021, I reported Altuf Shamsi’s story, which sums up the unimaginable pain millions went through.
His pregnant wife and father were both infected with the virus and admitted to different hospitals in Delhi. He knew me through a friend and called to ask if I could help him find another doctor after the hospital where his dad was admitted told him that chances of survival were zero. While he was speaking to me, he got another call from his wife’s doctor who said they were running out of oxygen for her.
He lost his father first and later texted me: "I was looking at his body, while reading SOS messages from Rehab’s [his wife] hospital for oxygen.".
A few days later, he lost his wife too after she gave birth to their daughter.
The two other incidents came closer to home than anything else.
A relative deteriorated very fast after being admitted to a hospital.
He was put on a ventilator and doctors gave a bleak prognosis. One of them advised trying an experimental drug that had shown some results in the UK.
I tweeted and called everybody I thought could help. It’s hard to put that frustration into words - he was sinking with each passing hour but the drug that could potentially save him was nowhere to be found.
A kind doctor helped us with one injection but we needed three more. Then someone read my tweet and reached out - she had procured three vials for her father but he died before he could be given the doses. I took her help and my relative survived.
But a cousin did not. He was admitted to the same hospital. His oxygen levels were dipping every hour and he needed to be put on a ventilator, but the hospital didn’t have any free.
I made calls the whole night.
The next morning, the hospital ran out of oxygen, leading to many deaths, including his. He left behind his wife and two young children. I still wonder if there was something more I could have done.‘We feared stepping out and we feared staying in’.
Geeta Pandey, BBC News
The morning after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a hard lockdown, I headed out to Delhi’s main bus station. The only people out on the streets were police and paramilitaries, deployed to ensure people stayed indoors.
The bus station was deserted. A few hundred metres away, I met men, women and children who were looking for ways to reach home, hundreds of miles away. Over the next few days, those numbers swelled into millions as people desperately tried to find a way to be with their families and loved ones.
As the virus made its way over the next few months, and the capital city - along with the rest of the country - remained under a strict shutdown, tragedy lurked at every corner.
We feared stepping out and we feared staying in.
All hopes - including mine - were pinned on a vaccine that scientists across the globe were racing to develop.
I had last visited my mother, bedridden in our ancestral village 450 miles (724km) from Delhi, in January 2020, just a couple of months before the lockdown. My mother, like millions of other people, didn’t really understand what Covid was - the disease that had suddenly disrupted their lives.
Every time I called, she had only one question: "When will you visit?" The fear that I could carry the virus to her at a time when she was most vulnerable kept me away.
On 16 January 2021, I was at Max hospital in Delhi when India rolled out the world’s biggest vaccination drive, promising to vaccinate all the adults in the country of 1.4 billion people. Doctors and medical staff there described it as a "new dawn". Some told me they would visit their families as soon as they received their second doses.
I called my mother and told her that I will get my vaccine and visit her soon. But a week later, she was gone.‘I never felt this helpless’.
Anagha Pathak, BBC Marathi
A few days after India announced the lockdown, I was travelling to the border of Maharashtra state to document the impact of the restrictions.
It was three in the morning as I drove along the eerily empty Mumbai-Agra highway. My hometown of Nashik looked unrecognisable.
Instead of traffic, migrant workers filled the road, walking back home, stranded and out of work. Among them was a young couple from Uttar Pradesh. They had worked as labourers in Mumbai. The wife, still in her early 20s, was pregnant. They had hoped to catch a ride on a truck, but that didn’t happen. By the time they reached Nashik, they had run out of food, water and money.
I will never forget seeing the pregnant woman, her fragile body walking under the scorching sun. I had never felt more helpless. Covid protocols prevented me from offering them a ride. All I could do was give them some water and snacks, while documenting their journey.
A few miles ahead, around 300 people waited for a government bus to take them to the state border. But it was nowhere in sight. After making some calls, two buses finally arrived - still not enough. But I made sure the couple got on the one heading towards Madhya Pradesh state, where they were supposed to catch another bus.
I followed them in my car and waited for some time for them to catch their next bus. It never came.
Eventually, I left. I had an assignment to finish.
Five years have passed, and I still wonder: Did the woman make it home? Did she survive? I don’t know her name, but I still remember her weary eyes and fragile body. The Indian scholar arrested in US over father-in-law’s Hamas link (BBC)
BBC [3/24/2025 6:40 AM, Neyaz Farooquee, 69901K]
It was an invitation from a classmate 15 years ago that changed the life of Badar Khan Suri, an Indian scholar now facing deportation from the US over accusations he is linked to a Hamas member.
On that summer evening, Mr Suri had been sitting outside his department at Delhi’s Jamia Millia Islamia university when a classmate announced that an international aid convoy was set to go to Gaza - the Palestinian territory run by the armed Islamist group Hamas and under blockade by Israel.
To students of conflict studies, the caravan - of more than 150 people from several Asian countries - offered a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness one of the world’s most contentious disputes up close.
Mr Suri happily agreed to participate, a classmate recalled to the BBC.
It was during this trip that he met Mapheze Saleh, a Palestinian and the daughter of a former Hamas adviser, whom he married a few months later.
After living in Delhi for almost a decade, the couple moved to the US where Mr Suri joined the prestigious Georgetown University as a postdoctoral fellow.
He had been living in Virginia for nearly three years when the police knocked on his door on the evening of 17 March and arrested him.
Three days later, on 20 March, Tricia McLaughlin, the assistant secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted that Mr Suri was being detained for his "close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, a senior adviser to Hamas". He has denied the allegations.
This action follows President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants and activists involved in pro-Palestinian campus protests which authorities have accused of fuelling antisemitism and supporting Hamas. The group is designated a terrorist organisation by the US. India, however, has not banned Hamas.
Although Mr Suri, who entered the US legally on a student visa, has had his deportation blocked by a US court, the Trump administration’s allegations have shocked those who know him back home.
His acquaintances describe him as a soft-spoken, shy and hardworking student with a broad knowledge of the world, while his classmates and teachers said they found allegations of him having ties with Hamas "tenuous".
India has historically supported the Palestinian cause. But it has also developed close, strategic ties with Israel in recent years, with Delhi often refraining from criticising Israel’s actions.
Even then, "by no stretch of imagination can Suri be associated with anything unlawful", one of his professors from Jamia told the BBC.
"Having a view on the ongoing conflict is not a crime. As a conflict studies scholar, it is well within his professional mandate to share his analysis of the war in Gaza.".
Those who accompanied him on the trip held similar views.
Feroze Mithiborwala, one of the organisers of the caravan, remembered Mr Suri as an intelligent, young man.
"He always took a secular stance in our discussions. He was not some right-wing Islamist type of character," he said.
The trip began in December 2010 from Delhi. As India’s neighbour Pakistan refused to give a travel permit to the group, the convoy had to travel to Iran, Turkey, Syria and Egypt before finally reaching Gaza.
The route, most of which was covered by bus, offered much for a student of peace and conflict studies, one of Mr Suri’s friends who also went on the tour said.
Throughout the trip, he was deeply moved by the sufferings he witnessed in Gaza and focused on providing aid to the widowed and elderly, he added.
The caravan, in many ways, "brought Mr Suri closer to the Palestinian cause", but his interest was largely academic, said another classmate who was in touch with him until days before his arrest.
The second and the last time Mr Suri went to Gaza was for his own wedding with Ms Saleh.
A US citizen, Ms Saleh had been working as a translator and volunteer in Gaza at that time.
Her father, who has lived in the US, is a former adviser to Ismail Haniyeh, the Hamas leader killed by Israel last year, according to a statement submitted by her in court.
In 2010, her father left the Gaza government and "started the House of Wisdom in 2011 to encourage peace and conflict resolution in Gaza", it adds.
When Ms Saleh and Mr Suri first met, they did not speak much. But they connected again a few months later, a friend who accompanied him on the caravan told the BBC.
Their wedding made headlines, external in India, as the couple moved back to Delhi and continued to live there for about eight years.
Ms Saleh enrolled herself for a masters degree in Jamia and later worked at the Qatar embassy. In 2023, Mr Suri moved to the US and Ms Saleh followed him.
He was months away from completing his fellowship when he was arrested.
Mr Suri’s father said it pained him to see his son in this situation.
"He has no connections with Hamas or Palestine [other than his marriage]. His sin is that he is married to a Palestinian woman," he said.
But he is hopeful that his son will not be deported. "After all, these are merely allegations. There is no proof of any wrongdoing," he added. India’s Confidence About Trump’s Tariffs Is Deluded (Bloomberg – opinion)
Bloomberg [3/24/2025 5:00 PM, Mihir Sharma, 777K]
India’s policymakers should be drawing up strategies to deal with the new age of trade barriers. Instead, they seem to be looking forward to it with a certain confidence, even optimism. There is none of the concern or outrage visible in other countries that US President Donald Trump has targeted.Indeed, if anybody nourished a vague hope that Trump would fail to impose tariffs on Indian exports, the man himself dashed them last week. Duties would be imposed on goods coming into the US from April 2, he said in an interview to Breitbart News, adding for good measure that India was “one of the highest tariffing nations in the world.” Perhaps New Delhi is taking comfort from the promise Trump made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Washington that a new trade deal between the two countries would be signed by the fall. It is of course possible that the White House wants these new levies from April as an encouragement to India’s famously refractory negotiators. Trump said himself that he believes that New Delhi will be lowering tariffs “substantially” as a consequence of his actions. It isn’t as if Indians don’t recognize that US duties might hurt their exporters. Certainly, some in business — particularly those that have scaled up shipments to American markets in recent years — are far from happy. But, particularly in recent weeks, as the level of Trump’s determination to remake global trade has sunk in, leaders have begun to think that its exporters might have a fighting chance in this new era.But what most outsiders identify as optimism is actually the opposite: A deep pessimism that Indian manufacturing will ever be productive and efficient enough to compete on its own terms. Officials in New Delhi are actually quite open about this. Like the American president, they blame previous administrations for signing trade deals that they insist led to de-industrialization, and are nostalgic for a world where bureaucrats, not the bottom line, determined the flow of trade.Indian producers losing out to China was bad enough. But it is the fact that the country’s trade deficit with Southeast Asia expanded manifold after a free trade agreement came into force that has scarred many in industry and government. They are now convinced that Indian manufacturing may never be able to produce things more cheaply or with consistently higher quality than its peers.A nation that thinks it can’t win on either cost or quality will naturally welcome a third axis. Let other emerging economies worry that tariffs and restrictions will act as a disadvantage for them against the West’s domestic producers. Indians can hope that this additional factor acts as an equalizer for its producers when compared to the rest of the emerging world.After all, India has privileges the others do not, and isn’t afraid to use them. Its economy has size, its policies reliability. It is a geopolitical and geo-economic swing state. All of these add heft to any trade negotiations it enters. Many Indians, both in the business world in Mumbai and in the corridors of power in New Delhi, believe that if we play our cards right in bilateral negotiations with countries seeking our favor, then we can win better deals than anything the multilateral trading system gave us. Our negotiators will win what we have lost on the factory floor.It doesn’t matter, therefore, if Trump raises tariffs on India as long as he is even tougher on everyone else. Any fear felt by those who currently export to the US from India would be temporary. Eventually, India’s global prestige will deliver its exporters the competitive advantage they could never win on their own.I don’t know if this attitude will survive the year. There is, after all, another way that India is special: Its domestic market has potential. We don’t know if Trump even cares about US companies’ market access in Thailand or Bangladesh. But there’s plenty of evidence that he wants them to be competitive in India. Instead of being better placed than its peers, Indian trade might find itself uniquely disadvantaged — faced with extra-high barriers demanded by leaders, like Trump, who overestimate Indian producers’ efficiency and competitiveness.Export pessimism is a disease in India, and one that has become so endemic that we appear optimistic when faced with disruptions to trade. In this new age, like in the last, Indians will learn the same lesson: Your leaders can’t grant you some shortcut to competitive success. You still have to produce things cheaper and better to win. NSB
Rohingya in Bangladesh face dire consequences if aid money drops, say UN agencies (Reuters)
Reuters [3/24/2025 6:39 AM, Olivia Le Poidevin, 41523K]
Two United Nations agencies said on Monday that any shortfalls in funding from global donors could have dire consequences for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh.
Refugee agency UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration issued the warning at the launch of their first joint multi-year funding appeal for food and educational help to Rohingya people who have fled violence in neighbouring Myanmar for the past eight years.
"Any funding shortfalls in critical areas, including reductions to food assistance, cooking fuel or basic shelter, will have dire consequences for this highly vulnerable population and may force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety", the agencies said in a statement.
The agencies, alongside 113 partners, are calling for $934.5 million in its first year of the 2025-2026 appeal, to reach some 1.48 million people in Bangladesh including Rohingya refugees and host communities.
Earlier in March, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP) announced potential cuts to food rations for Rohingya refugees following the shutdown of USAID operations, raising fears among aid workers of rising hunger in the overcrowded camps.
WFP said this month the reduction was due to a broad shortfall in donations, not the Trump administration’s decision to cut U.S. foreign aid globally, including to USAID. But a senior Bangladeshi official told Reuters that the U.S. decision most likely played a role, as the U.S. has been the top donor for Rohingya refugee aid.
Bangladesh is sheltering more than one million Rohingya, members of a persecuted Muslim minority who fled violent purges in neighbouring Myanmar mostly in 2016 and 2017, in camps in the southern Cox’s Bazar district where they have limited access to jobs or education.
Roughly 70,000 fled to Bangladesh last year, driven in part by growing hunger in their home Rakhine state, Reuters has reported. UN Seeks Nearly $1 Bn In Aid For Rohingya Refugees In Bangladesh (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/24/2025 5:14 AM, Staff, 931K]
The United Nations announced Monday it was seeking nearly $1 billion to provide life-saving aid this year for some 1.5 million Rohingya refugees and their hosts in Bangladesh.
The UN and more than 100 partners launched a two-year 2025-26 Joint Response Plan for the Rohingya crisis, amid what it called "dwindling financial resources and competing global crises".
The appeal seeks $934.5 million in its first year to reach some 1.48 million people including Rohingya refugees and host communities.
Around a million members of the persecuted and mostly Muslim minority live in squalid relief camps in Bangladesh, most of whom arrived after fleeing the 2017 military crackdown in neighbouring Myanmar.
"In its eighth year, the Rohingya humanitarian crisis remains largely out of the international spotlight, but needs remain urgent," the UN said in a statement.
Launching the appeal in Geneva, UN migration agency chief Amy Pope said drastic foreign aid cuts were putting lives on the line.
US President Donald Trump imposed a freeze on foreign aid in January pending a review, after which Washington announced the cancellation of 83 percent of programmes at the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
"If we face cuts as organisations, the Rohingya don’t eat, or they don’t have protection, or they don’t have basic life-saving needs met," Pope said.
She said the international community had failed to create the conditions whereby the Rohingyas would be able to go home safely.
"If we do not provide other options for the Rohingyas, we are leaving them completely dependent on humanitarian aid. And so cutting that aid, without giving them other options, means that people will die," she said.
"When you deprive people of hope and opportunity, you create conditions for more despair," added Pope, and "the problem gets much, much worse".
The overcrowded settlements around Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh are reliant on aid and suffer from widespread malnutrition.
UN chief Antonio Guterres visited the area earlier this month, in a show of solidarity.
Khalilur Rahman, Bangladesh’s high representative on Rohingya issues, said he was cautiously optimistic that a cessation of hostilities in neighbouring Rakhine State in Myanmar -- a pre-requisite for the return of refugees -- was now "within the realm of possibility".
The Arakan Army, an ethnic minority rebel group in Myanmar, is engaged in a fierce fight with the military for control of Rakhine, where it has seized swathes of territory in the past year.
"We look at it with cautious optimism that there are some fleeting lights at the end of the tunnel," he said -- adding that it was therefore not the time for donors to back out.
UN refugees chief Filippo Grandi added that ultimately, "the solution lies in Myanmar", and the situation was perhaps moving in ways "that may open up the door for the beginning of a solution".
The UN statement said that until the situation in Rakhine becomes conducive to safe and voluntary returns, "the international community must continue to fund life-saving assistance to refugees in the camps."
Any funding shortfalls could "force many to resort to desperate measures, such as embarking on dangerous boat journeys to seek safety", it added. Sri Lanka To Host India PM Modi Next Month (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/24/2025 4:50 AM, Staff, 931K]
Sri Lanka will host Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi next week, an official said Monday, as Colombo grapples with the competing interests of its powerful northern neighbour and China, its largest lender.
A member of leftist President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s office said Modi will be the first foreign head of government to visit the island nation under the new administration.
"It must be recalled that President Dissanayake’s first foreign visit after his election in September was to New Delhi in December," the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.
He said Modi was due to hold bilateral talks on April 5 and travel to the northern Buddhist pilgrimage city of Anuradhapura before returning the following day.
Dissanayake travelled to Beijing in January for his second foreign visit as president, underscoring Sri Lanka’s delicate balancing act of maintaining ties with the two regional rivals.
New Delhi has been concerned about China’s growing influence in Sri Lanka, which it considers to be within its sphere of geopolitical influence.
China has emerged as Sri Lanka’s largest single bilateral creditor, accounting for more than half of its $14 billion bilateral debt at the time the island defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2022.
Beijing was also the first to restructure its loans to Sri Lanka, a move that cleared the way for the island to emerge from that year’s worst-ever economic meltdown.
During Dissanayake’s visit to Beijing, the two countries agreed to continue maritime cooperation and signed several agreements on agriculture, tourism and media collaboration.
Unable to repay a massive Chinese loan in 2017, Sri Lanka handed over its southern port of Hambantota to a Beijing-based company on a 99-year lease for $1.12 billion.
New Delhi has objected to Chinese research vessels entering Sri Lanka’s ports, accusing them of spying on Indian military installations, an allegation rejected by Beijing. UK sanctions former Sri Lankan commanders over civil war abuses (Reuters)
Reuters [3/24/2025 12:16 PM, Sarah Young, 126906K]
Britain on Monday imposed sanctions on three former senior Sri Lankan military commanders and one former Tamil Tiger rebel commander over human rights violations during a civil war that ended in 2009.
The measures, which include bans on travelling to Britain and asset freezes, target the former chief of staff of the Sri Lankan Armed Forces, Shavendra Silva, former commander of the Navy Wasantha Karannagoda and former commander of the Army Jagath Jayasuriya.
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, known as Karuna Amman, a former commander in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, was also sanctioned. Amman split from the LTTE before the war ended and later led a paramilitary group working for the Sri Lankan Army.The United Nations estimates that 80,000-100,000 people died in the 26-year war between government forces and Tamil separatists.
Sri Lanka’s army and security forces have been accused of war crimes, including extrajudicial killings, torture and sexual violence, and of abductions and torture long after the end of the war.
A U.N. panel in 2011 found "credible allegations" of serious violations by both sides "some of which would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity". Sri Lanka has always denied such allegations, but refused to cooperate with international investigators.
In a statement, British foreign minister David Lammy said: "The UK government is committed to human rights in Sri Lanka, including seeking accountability for human rights violations and abuses which took place during the civil war, and which continue to have an impact on communities today.". UK Sanctions Senior Combatants In Sri Lanka’s Civil War (Agence France-Presse)
Agence France-Presse [3/24/2025 12:06 PM, Staff, 931K]
The UK on Monday announced sanctions against four senior combatants in the Sri Lanka civil war that ended in 2009, who it said were "responsible for serious human rights violations and abuses" during the decades-long conflict.
The sanctioned individuals include former head of the Sri Lankan armed forces Shavendra Silva, former navy commander Wasantha Karannagoda and former commander of the Sri Lankan Army Jagath Jayasuriya, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office.
They also include the former military commander of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, also known as Karuna Amman.
The Foreign Office said the four were responsible for "serious human rights abuses and violations" during the war, "including extrajudicial killings, torture and/or perpetration of sexual violence".
The sanctions include UK travel bans and asset freezes.
"The UK government is committed to human rights in Sri Lanka, including seeking accountability for human rights violations and abuses which took place during the civil war," said Foreign Secretary David Lammy.
"The UK government looks forward to working with the new Sri Lankan government to improve human rights in Sri Lanka, and welcomes their commitments on national unity," he added. Central Asia
WHO deems Central Asia and Caucasus states as “high priority countries” for TB infections (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/24/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Tuberculosis infection numbers are inching up, and the World Health Organization has identified Central Asia and the Caucasus as hot spots.
A WHO report on TB in the Europe and Central Asia region, published March 24, shows that formerly Soviet states – Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan – had the highest overall numbers of “incident TB cases” among all the countries surveyed.
The report also showed that incidence rates, or TB numbers relative to overall population, was highest in Kyrgyzstan, with 112 cases per 100,000 population. Azerbaijan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan also had comparatively high rates. All Central Asian states were deemed “high-priority countries,” defined as having TB incidence rates of 46 per 100,000 or higher. The WHO drew on data from 2023 to compile the report.
The three states in the Caucasus – Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia – were also listed among high-priority countries in the WHO report. However, Armenia’s TB incidence rate (25 per 100,000) was below the established threshold.“The current TB burden and the worrying rise in children with TB serves as a reminder that progress against this preventable and curable disease remains fragile,” WHO’s Europe director, Hans Kluge, said in a written statement.
TB infections experienced a steady decline globally from 2010-20, but since the Covid pandemic, the disease has made a slow comeback, according to WHO figures.
Kluge indicated that the drastic cutbacks made by the United States in foreign assistance for public health programs will likely make it tougher for individual governments and international organizations to reverse existing TB trends. “TB transmission may go unnoticed, further fueling the rise in hard-to-treat strains,” Kluge said. Kazakhs and Uzbeks are happiest peoples in Eurasia – survey (EurasiaNet)
EurasiaNet [3/24/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 57.6K]
Their political systems may not be free, but Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have the happiest citizens in Eurasia, according to a newly released survey. Happiness in the Caucasus, meanwhile, seems to be a more elusive commodity.
The World Happiness Report 2025 evaluated the moods of citizens in 147 countries globally, as seen through a prism of “caring and sharing.” The survey based its rankings on a variety of factors, including tangible expressions of “caring behavior,” such as benevolence and charity. The survey also looked at such factors as family dynamics, social connectivity and subjective well-being. Benevolence was measured by such actions as donating, volunteering, and helping strangers. Family dynamics and connectivity were evaluated by sharing meals and other bonding activities, while subjective well-being tried to gauge life satisfaction and levels of trust in others. “When society is more benevolent, the people who benefit most are those who are least happy. As a result, happiness is more equally distributed in countries with higher levels of expected benevolence,” the study found. “The degree of benevolence in a country also has a profound impact on its politics. Populism is largely due to unhappiness. But whether populists are on the left or the right depends on trust. People who trust others veer to the left, those who do not veer to the right.”
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan achieved the highest overall rankings among Eurasian states included in the survey, coming in at 43rd and 53rd respectively out of 147 countries. Both scored comparatively well in the benevolence category, even though they both ranked near the bottom of the table in the sub-category of volunteering.
The survey noted that in Central and Eastern Europe, “regional differences may represent cultural variations that shape norms for caring for others,” adding that “an informal benevolent act, such as helping strangers, appears to be more common than other formal acts of benevolence such as donating and volunteering.”
But there are exceptions. For example, Tajikistan, which ranked 90th overall in the happiness table, was deemed to have the fourth highest rate of volunteering of all the countries surveyed. Kyrgyzstan ranked 75th in the survey, which did not include Turkmenistan. Russia came in 66th.
Happiness is not necessarily tied to income level, the survey confirms. The Caucasus as a region is wealthier in terms of per capita GDP than Central Asia, except for Kazakhstan. But citizens of all three Caucasus states tend to be unhappier than those in Central Asia.
Armenia was the highest-ranked Caucasus state in the survey at 87th, just three spots ahead of Tajikistan, the lowest ranked Central Asian state. Georgia – which just a few years ago seemed on a trajectory toward European Union membership, but which has been buffeted by political upheaval over the past year – ranked 91st. Azerbaijan, the richest state in the Caucasus, is the poorest in terms of citizen contentment, coming in at 106th.
The happiest nations in the world, according to the survey, are found in Nordic states, with Finland, Denmark and Iceland top-ranked in that order.
The survey established a clear connection between happiness and voting patterns in democratic societies. “Subjective experiences like life satisfaction and trust play a much greater role in shaping values and voting behavior than traditional ideologies or class struggle,” the survey states. “In Europe and the United States, the decline in happiness and social trust explains a large share of the rise in political polarization and votes against ‘the system.’” Central Asia’s shining star: Uzbekistan on the road to success (CNN)
CNN [3/24/2025 4:14 PM, Staff, 22.1M]
As a rising star in Central Asia, Uzbekistan has taken bold steps in sustainability, governance, education, and international leadership, reflecting a dynamic transformation that few could have predicted just a decade ago.
Uzbekistan’s Strategy 2030 is the plan behind it all, encompassing five core pillars: environmental sustainability, public administration reform, social transformation, national safety, and a future-focused outlook. President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s , Strategy 2030 has become a blueprint guiding all parts of the Uzbek administration, with economic goals balanced against environmental and social needs.Strong economic growth and global recognition
Last year was pivotal for Uzbekistan’s economy. With a record GDP of $100 billion, exports exceeding $24 billion, and gold and foreign exchange reserves reaching €38 billion, the country solidified its reputation as a reliable international partner.
At the Third International Investment Forum in Tashkent, May 2024, contracts worth $25.5 billion were signed, boosting the inflow of foreign investments. Advances in infrastructure and energy development, the creation of 1.5 million jobs, and progress in WTO accession talks with 22 countries, including the United States and China, have become the foundation for sustainable growth. Much of the growth and investment is attributed to the Mirziyoyev administration’s commitments to a more open economy and a much-improved business climate.
According to the Global Innovation Index for 2024, Uzbekistan’s economy is now ranked 10th among middle-income nations, up from 133rd a decade ago.
On course for a greener future
Over the past five years, Uzbekistan has commissioned 16 major solar and wind power plants with a total capacity of 3,500 megawatts or 10 billion kilowatt-hours. As a result, the share of green energy in the country’s energy system exceeded 16% in 2024, a major step towards the goal of 40% by 2030.
The national project “Yashilmakon” has already transformed the country: 138 million trees have been planted, “green belts” covering 10,000 hectares have been created, and 257 new parks have been opened. The “My Garden” initiative, which provided land leases to 10,000 residents, has not only improved the environment but also breathed new life into local entrepreneurship.
2024 also saw the implementation of water-saving technologies, which optimized irrigation across 1.8 million hectares. Further to this, international experts have highly praised Uzbekistan’s efforts in combating desertification. 2025 has been declared the Year of Environmental Protection, highlighting the country’s commitment to environmental leadership and preserving its natural heritage for future generations.
Supporting people is the basis of progress
The state has strengthened social assistance to cover 2.2 million families, with programs introduced to support citizens with disabilities, increase employment, and provide modern prostheses. A World Bank-supported network of Innovative Social Protection System for Protection of Vulnerable People (INSON) social service centers has also been created.
Cultural revival of Uzbekistan
In 2024, the Uzbekistan Art and Culture Development Foundation organized several significant events that emphasized the rich cultural heritage and the international role of the country in the field of art and culture. In April 2024, the exhibition “Uzbekistan: Avant Garde in the Desert” was held in the Italian cities of Florence and VeniceOver four days in August last year, the 8th International Congress of the World Society for the Study, Preservation and Promotion of the Cultural Heritage of Uzbekistan was successfully held in Tashkent and Samarkand in partnership with the Center of Islamic Civilization of Uzbekistan under the motto “Heritage of Great Ancestors – the Basis of the Third Renaissance”.
And in September, the British Museum in London hosted the opening of the unique exhibition “Silk Roads,” which presented some of the rarest artifacts yet to be seen from Uzbekistan. The exhibition aroused great interest from the world community.
Sporting victories that inspire
2024 was a landmark year for Uzbek sports. At the Paris Olympics, the Uzbekistan national team showed the best result in its history, winning 13 medals (eight gold, two silver, three bronze), which allowed the country to take 13th place among 206 countries. The Uzbek boxing team took first place in the overall medal standings, winning five gold medals, two silver and one bronze.
These victories were the result of many years of work on the development of sports, the creation of modern training bases, and state support for young talents. The athletes not only strengthened Uzbekistan’s position in the international arena, but also inspired a whole generation of young athletes.
The country’s young people continue to actively contribute to the development of the economy and society. Today, 22.9% of entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan are under 30 years old, including 3,500 farmers and 7,800 craftspeople.
Educating the next innovators
Uzbekistan’s higher education enrolment rate surged from 9% in 2016 to 42% in 2023, with a target to reach 50% by 2030.
This leap is backed by substantial government spending on education, which reached the equivalent of €4.5 billion in 2023, around 44% of annual social expenditure. This investment has launched a myriad of new initiatives, such as the establishment of international university branches and scholarships, particularly for women, which have broadened access to quality education and seen Uzbek universities rise in international rankings.
Educational reforms are also tightly interwoven with the country’s digital goals. Universities now offer specialized courses in artificial intelligence, data science, and blockchain technology, preparing the younger generation for a competitive global environment.
A step into the digital future
The “Digital Uzbekistan – 2030” program, initiated by President Shavkat Mirziyoyev, is positioning the country as a technological leader. IT service exports generated €326 million in revenue, while IT parks have become home to over 1,000 startups. The complete digitalization of elections through the “E-Saylov” system has elevated democratic processes to a new level of transparency.
With a vision to maintain momentum throughout 2025, Uzbekistan will implement large-scale reforms, strengthening its international standing and unlocking new opportunities for every citizen. The country is becoming a symbol of progress, inspiring other nations with its dynamism and ambition. Indo-Pacific
Japan backs close security ties with India, South Korea in Indo-Pacific (Reuters)
Reuters [3/25/2025 4:04 AM, Shivam Patel, 5.2M]
Japan has said that it backed close security cooperation with South Korea and India in the Indo-Pacific, days after the Philippines’ military chief said a U.S.-backed security group wanted both nations to join to counter China in the region.
Japan’s Ministry of Defense said in a statement to Reuters on Monday that it supported building a multi-layered network of alliances in general, and but declined to say whether it has given its consent or made any specific considerations on the expansion of the Squad group.
The Squad is an informal multilateral grouping made up of Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and the United States, focused on defence cooperation, intelligence sharing, and joint military exercises and operations.
"It is important to build networks among allies and like-minded countries organically and in a multi-layered manner, as well as to expand such networks and strengthen deterrence, as Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II," Japan’s Ministry of Defense said.
It added that the ministry "believes that close cooperation among regional partners, including Australia, the Philippines, as well as the Republic of Korea and India is extremely important from the perspective of realizing a ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’, while the Japan-U.S. Alliance remains at its core."
General Romeo S. Brawner, military chief of the Philippines, said at a security forum in New Delhi last week that Squad nations were trying to include India and South Korea in the grouping to counter China. His remarks followed a series of escalating confrontations between Manila and Beijing over the past couple of years in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
India’s defence ministry and South Korea’s embassy in India did not respond to a request for comment.
Christopher Elms, the spokesperson of the U.S. Embassy in India, told Reuters last week that, "The United States will continue to work with all of our partners to continue to advance a more secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific region".
Australia’s defence ministry did not respond to a request for comment. Islamic State Is Evolving, But Has The World Taken Its Eyes Off The Ball? (Radio Free Europe)
Radio Free Europe [3/24/2025 7:01 PM, Kian Sharifi, 968K]
US-backed forces declared in 2019 that the Islamic State (IS) group had been destroyed. But as the past few years have shown, that only marked the end of its quasi-state that controlled territory in Iraq and Syria -- not the threat it continues to present.
The extremist group is demonstrating resilience and experiencing a resurgence in other parts of the world -- and its operational capabilities are evolving.
Since January 2024, IS has claimed a series of high-profile attacks across the world, from Iran and Russia to Germany and the United States.
"IS remains a persistent global security threat and the deadliest terrorist organization in the world," Adrian Shtuni, a security specialist and head of the Washington-based Shtuni Consulting, told RFE/RL.
"Now the organization relies primarily on a dynamic network of regional affiliates who operate independently," he said.
What Is The Current State Of IS?
The vision and aspirations of IS have not changed, but since its territorial defeat in 2019, the extremist group has undergone a radical structural and operational evolution, analysts say.
A diversified array of IS branches has emerged in recent years throughout the world, particularly in regions where there is little ability to counter extremism.
Colin Clarke, director of policy and research at the New York-based Soufan Group consultancy, said IS has become a group for which the sum of its parts is greater than the whole.
"IS might be even more challenging as a decentralized organization than it was as a proto-state. When it was running a proto-state, it was a big target," Clarke told RFE/RL.
IS and its affiliates have made their presence felt over the past year with deadly attacks around the world.
In January 2024, twin suicide bombings in the southern Iranian city of Kerman killed around 100 people.
Two months later, four attackers targeted the Crocus City Hall concert venue outside Moscow, killing 145 people in a mass shooting, stabbing, and arson attack.
In August, a suicide bombing killed at least 20 people in the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Days later, an IS member stabbed several people at a festival in Solingen, Germany, killing three people.
The group’s reach extends as far as the United States. On January 1, an IS-inspired assailant drove a truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans, killing 14 people and injuring dozens more. The attacker, Texas-born former US Army veteran Shamsud-Din Jabbar, was killed by police.
Shtuni said these attacks attest not only to "the continued appeal of [IS’s] brand of terrorist violence, but also to the organization’s resilience, adaptability, and global reach.".
IS and its affiliates carried out an average of around 600 attacks per year over the past three years, according to data gathered by Dragonfly, a London-based global security intelligence consultancy.
While that is down from an average of 770 incidents annually during the prior three-year period, the incidents are becoming deadlier, with the average number of casualties per attack rising 40 percent, according to Dragonfly’s TerrorismTracker database.
The data as it stands "does not necessarily point to a resurgence in IS (and its affiliates) in the last few years, but rather points to a degree of resilience," Dragonfly told RFE/RL.
"However, concern has been raised in the international press over an intent by IS to increase the number of mass-casualty attacks globally," the group said.
Where Are IS Extremists Active And How Do They Recruit?
Through its affiliates, IS maintains a strong presence and level of engagement in specific hotspots in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
One group that has emerged as one of the most active affiliates is IS-Khorasan Province (ISKP), which has expanded its operations beyond Afghanistan and is drawing militants from Central Asian nations, especially Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Meanwhile, Somalia has become a critical hub of the group’s global expansion in Africa. It is leveraging Somalia’s instability to establish strongholds and networks attracting fighters from Ethiopia, Sudan, and Tanzania while expanding ideological outreach in multiple languages like Amharic and Swahili.
But the group is also growing fast in the Sahel region, where IS-West Africa (ISWA) remains one of the dominant terrorist organizations in the Lake Chad Basin.
Recruitment is taking place not only on the ground, but also online.
"In the digital space, IS continues to exploit social media platforms and encrypted messaging tools very effectively to disseminate its ideology, radicalize, recruit, raise funds, and plot attacks," Shtuni said.
He pointed to a recent string of IS-inspired attacks in Europe, which he said showed three concerning trends: that the radicalization is mostly happening online, is occurring at an accelerated pace, and is increasingly involving minors and young adults.
"The online space requires a lot of attention, especially as military operations are kind of scaled back…compared to the…the global war on terror," Lucas Webber, a senior analyst at Tech Against Terrorism, told RFE/RL.
How Does IS Fund Its Operations?
IS maintains financial resilience through diversified revenue streams and evolving tactics.
Despite leadership losses, its core in Iraq and Syria retains $10 million to 20 million in reserves, supplemented by regional branches generating funds by kidnapping-for-ransom, extortion, taxes, and robberies, according to US Treasury reports last year.
At its peak, when the group’s self-styled caliphate controlled vast territories in Iraq and Syria, oil sales dominated its income. But IS now relies on criminal activities and local exploitation to generate revenue.
In Africa, branches like IS-Somalia (ISS) extort millions from businesses and financial systems.
In Asia, ISKP initially suffered when its financial network was rocked by the arrests and killings of its key facilitators across the Middle East. However, it has recovered by shifting to virtual assets for funding external operations, including the Crocus City Hall attack.
Global connectivity remains critical, with IS increasingly using cryptocurrency to transfer reserves and donations. The group’s financial sustainability hinges on maintaining safe havens, evading financial controls, and sustaining global networks.
How Are Counterterrorism Efforts Faring?
The global reach of terrorism necessitates multilateral collaboration in counterterrorism, requiring nations to exchange intelligence, align strategies, and strengthen security capabilities in regions most susceptible to extremist activities.
Reduce any of those and opportunist extremist groups like IS find ways to thrive, as has been the case in Afghanistan following the US withdrawal and in the Sahel in Africa with France’s phased exit from the region.
In the Sahel region, the withdrawal of French forces has also resulted in a shift in regional alliances.
"The military juntas installed in Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali after recent military coups have tried to fill the vacuum in counterterrorism efforts by turning to Russia, [which] has significantly increased its footprint in the region," Shtuni said.
The United States still leads global counterterrorism efforts along with regional partners, as demonstrated by recent strikes on IS targets in Iraq, Syria, and Somalia.
This month, a US-led coalition helped Iraqi forces kill Abdullah Maki Musleh al-Rifai, also known as Abu Khadija. Described by the Iraqi government as "one of the most dangerous terrorists in Iraq and the world," Abu Khadija was the leader of IS in Iraq and Syria.But there is growing concern that shifting priorities in Washington can hinder the global fight against extremism "as it becomes clear that the US is shifting its focus inward and reevaluating its role on the global stage," Shtuni warned.
General Michael E. Kurilla, head of the US military’s Central Command, has said that the thousands of IS fighters being held in Syria in facilities guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces represent "a literal and figurative [IS] army in detention" and warned of the dangers "to the region and beyond" if a large number of them escaped.
Kurilla said during a visit to Syria in January -- a month after the fall of Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad -- that the US military "remains dedicated to our mission, our people, the enduring defeat of [IS], and stability throughout the region and beyond.".
Devorah Margolin, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, told RFE/RL that IS "has been playing the waiting game" in Syria.
"It is hoping to use the uncertainty of the new Syria to destabilize and assert its agenda," Margolin said.
Clarke of the Soufan Group, meanwhile, said the lack of a US presence in Afghanistan following its 2021 withdrawal has left a "major intelligence gap" in the fight against IS.
"The US has been forced to rely on signals intelligence and has extremely limited human intelligence in Afghanistan," he said.
Clarke called IS "a much different organization today than it was seven years ago when it still had the caliphate," saying it is "far more dependent on external operations and attacks to generate publicity.".
"They have deliberately amended their strategy to focus on launching high profile attacks in the West," he said. "They have been aggressive and relentless in their plotting and are determined to pull off a spectacular attack in Europe or the United States.". Twitter
Afghanistan
Nazifa Haqpal@NazifaHaqpal
[3/24/2025 6:45 AM, 4.7K followers, 1 retweet, 16 likes]
The central framework used to justify the U.S. war in Afghanistan relied on an orientalist perspective, portraying the U.S. as a beacon of civilization with a duty to tame the Islamic world and liberate its women. However, the recent visit of Khalilzad to Kabul, the release of an American hostage by the Taliban, the removal of the $10 million bounty on Sirajuddin Haqqani by the U.S., and the continued weekly funding to sustain the regime over the past four years all validate the idea that it was always about them—not us (women).
Habib Khan@HabibKhanT
[3/23/2025 8:49 PM, 247.8K followers, 58 retweets, 145 likes]
In a letter to President Trump, Afghan women protesters accused Zalmay Khalilzad of betraying U.S. values and helping the Taliban return to power. The Afghan-born American, who served as U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Iraq, and the UN, was a top negotiator in Taliban talks.
Lynne O’Donnell@lynnekodonnell
[3/24/2025 12:04 PM, 27.5K followers, 4 likes]
Another hostage swap? The jungle drums are beating… Trump & Taliban sitting in a tree… (iykyk)
Lynne O’Donnell@lynnekodonnell
[3/24/2025 12:43 PM, 27.5K followers, 2 likes]
Muhammad_Rahim_al_Afghani, last Afghan in Gitmo, for Mahmood Habibi. Hostage diplomacy is working for the gang that Mike Waltz called the "most dangerous terrorist group you never heard of"
Lynne O’Donnell@lynnekodonnell
[3/24/2025 12:22 PM, 27.5K followers, 1 like]
Has the deal been done? "Family of Mahmood Habibi confident Trump will push for his release" https://amu.tv/164230/
Dhruva Jaishankar@d_jaishankar
[3/24/2025 9:38 AM, 108.8K followers, 1 like]
Pakistan’s special envoy for Afghanistan, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq meets Afghanistan’s Acting Foreign Minister, Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi, in Kabul. https://www.dawn.com/news/1899690?utm_source=dailybrief&utm_content=20250324&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DailyNewsBrief2025Mar24&utm_term=DailyNewsBrief
Beth W. Bailey@BWBailey85
[3/24/2025 8:35 AM, 8.2K followers, 21 retweets, 76 likes]
Afghan ally Nasir came on The Afghanistan Project podcast to talk about his evasion of the de facto government for the last 3.5 years, and the importance of his P-1 referral to the USRAP Please listen, share, and subscribe: https://youtu.be/EYWSTNmKNzg?si=NoT2oEQ2hEgp3ZEd Pakistan
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/24/2025 1:14 PM, 3.1M followers, 4 retweets, 16 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has inaugurated the Seed Potato Production and Aeroponics Complex and the Institute for Genomics and Advanced Biotechnology in Islamabad today. Prime Minister also addressed the inaugural ceremony at National Agricultural Research Center in Islamabad.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/24/2025 1:16 PM, 3.1M followers, 2 retweets, 5 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif received the briefing regarding the Aeroponics Technology Complex for Potato Seed Production. Prime Minister also distributed awards among the team of the Aeroponics Technology Complex at the National Agricultural Research Centre in Islamabad.
Government of Pakistan@GovtofPakistan
[3/24/2025 1:17 PM, 3.1M followers, 1 retweet, 5 likes]
Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif also planted a sapling at the National Agricultural Research Centre in Islamabad.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[3/24/2025 12:02 AM, 481.4K followers, 6 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, chaired an inter-ministerial meeting on investment project proposals with Azerbaijan. DPM/FM directed to accelerate the implementation of decisions to boost economic growth and development through viable investment projects. He reaffirmed that strengthening Pakistan-Azerbaijan ties remains a priority as both countries collaborate across various sectors.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[3/24/2025 9:08 AM, 481.4K followers, 17 retweets, 28 likes]
Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister, Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50, chaired a meeting on the market supply of key commodities to ensure stable food prices. He noted that previous measures are yielding positive results. He reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to extending the benefits of macroeconomic stability to the common man.
Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Pakistan@ForeignOfficePk
[3/24/2025 7:34 AM, 481.4K followers, 23 retweets, 39 likes]
DPM/FM Senator Muhammad Ishaq Dar @MIshaqDar50 chaired a meeting on relations with Afghanistan. Pakistan’s Special Representative on Afghanistan, Ambassador Muhammad Sadiq, provided a detailed briefing on his recent visit to Kabul, highlighting key engagements with Afghan authorities and discussions on bilateral cooperation. DPM emphasized the importance of sustained dialogue with the interim Afghan government to address Pakistan’s concerns and promote bilateral relations. Foreign Secretary and other senior officials of the Foreign Ministry also attended the meeting.
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/24/2025 11:41 PM, 219.2K followers, 491 retweets, 1.2K likes]
One of the most significant pieces of US legislation on Pakistan in quite some time was introduced today. It calls for steps that could lead to Magnitsky sanctions on Pakistan’s army chief. May be a long shot to pass, but it’ll spook Pakistan’s leadership. https://thehill.com/policy/international/5211677-pakistan-democracy-act-imran-khan/ Hamid Mir@HamidMirPAK
[3/25/2025 2:37 AM, 8.6M followers, 112 retweets, 213 likes]
Will the government of @CMShehbaz explain about this back channel? Israeli newspaper interviewed a group of Pakistanis who visited Israel and one of them claimed that state of Pakistan deliberately stopped big anti-Israel rallies in Pakistan. https://www.jpost.com/international/article-847298 Anas Mallick@AnasMallick
[3/24/2025 7:23 PM, 76.3K followers, 14 retweets, 106 likes]
Mother of Pakistan’s Military Chief, CoAS Gen Asim Munir has passed away. #Pakistan India
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/24/2025 9:09 AM, 26.5M followers, 273 retweets, 1.7K likes]
President Droupadi Murmu performed darshan and puja at Lord Nilamadhab Temple at Kantilo, Nayagarh. She also graced the foundation day ceremony of Bharatiya Biswabasu Shabar Samaj at Kaliapalli.
President of India@rashtrapatibhvn
[3/24/2025 3:44 AM, 26.5M followers, 385 retweets, 2.5K likes]
President Droupadi Murmu graced the silver jubilee function of Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly at Raipur. The President said that the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly has presented a unique example of excellent parliamentary conduct not only for the rest of India but also for all the democratic systems of the world.
Vice-President of India@VPIndia
[3/24/2025 7:37 AM, 1.6M followers, 31 retweets, 267 likes]
Hon’ble Vice-President and Chairman, Rajya Sabha, Shri Jagdeep Dhankhar interacted with Members of Parliament from various political parties at Parliament House today. #RajyaSabha (1/2) @Jairam_Ramesh @raghav_chadha @Ranjeet4India @tiruchisiva @nrelango_dmk
Vice-President of India@VPIndia
[3/24/2025 5:57 AM, 1.6M followers, 35 retweets, 121 likes]
India is recognized in the world as a great nation because of our demographic dividend which is the envy of the world. There is an effort in the nation and outside to run us down but you must always realize that India’s rise is for global stability. India’s rise is for global peace, and youth alone can bring about big change. #RajyaSabha
Sidhant Sibal@sidhant
[3/24/2025 1:34 PM, 308.8K followers, 127 retweets, 869 likes]
No PM Modi, Yunus meet expected in Bangkok on the sidelines of BIMSTEC summit. Details: https://www.wionews.com/india-news/no-pm-modi-yunus-meet-expected-in-bangkok-8886815
Sidhant Sibal@sidhant
[3/24/2025 1:13 PM, 308.8K followers, 30 retweets, 148 likes]
India’s Navy to conduct key maritime exercises with African nations. This is the 1st time such large scale India-Africa Naval exercises will take place. Also, Indian Navy ship to take part in EEZ involving Navy Personnel of Indian Ocean countries. Details https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indias-navy-to-conduct-key-maritime-exercises-with-african-nations-8886746
Sidhant Sibal@sidhant
[3/24/2025 12:52 PM, 308.8K followers, 52 retweets, 263 likes]
Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch to begin India visit from tomm. Visit comes just days before reciprocal tariffs kick in. Key focus on Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) as well. Reporting: https://www.wionews.com/india-news/top-us-official-to-visit-india-ahead-of-reciprocal-tariff-deadline-8886538
Michael Kugelman@MichaelKugelman
[3/24/2025 8:23 AM, 219.2K followers, 2 retweets, 12 likes]
What’s next for India-China relations after Modi calls for warmer ties? In this @BBCIndia analysis I identify some signposts to watch in the coming months that can help us better understand the relationship’s possible trajectory. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj4nkxv4e4po NSB
Mohamed Nasheed@MohamedNasheed
[3/24/2025 9:20 AM, 274.3K followers, 43 retweets, 108 likes]
So nice to receive a call from the Niafaru marine centre turtle rehabilitation & conservation group, who are in town attending the 43rd International Sea Turtle Society Symposium. Turtles are indicative of a healthy marine ecosystem and we must do our upmost to protect them.
Anura Kumara Dissanayake@anuradisanayake
[3/24/2025 5:48 AM, 146.6K followers, 3 retweets, 85 likes]
Today, three newly appointed Ambassadors to Sri Lanka presented their credentials to me at the Presidential Secretariat. Mr. Remi Lambert (France), Mr. Ihab I.M. Khalil (Palestine) and Dr. Purna Bahadur Nepali (Nepal) presented their credentials to me. We reaffirm our commitment to strengthening ties with their nations.
Namal Rajapaksa@RajapaksaNamal[3/24/2025 11:12 PM, 436.8K followers, 8 retweets, 28 likes]
Sri Lanka was the first nation to fully defeat terrorism, yet the West continues to selectively target our war veterans while ignoring those who funded and justified LTTE brutality. The latest UK sanctions aren’t about human rights—they’re the result of relentless LTTE-backed lobbying, manipulating foreign governments to act against those who brought lasting peace.
This is not justice; some Western politicians are enjoying the perks of lobbying money, putting our nation’s reconciliation at risk. People from both the North and South must understand that the freedom we enjoy today comes from tough decisions. These sanctions will lower the morale of our forces, and if another crisis arises, they may lack the courage to fight if we don’t support them now.
Those behind these sanctions don’t care about the safety of the Tamil community—they are only creating more problems and further jeopardizing reconciliation. Their real goal is to disrupt the progress made, especially as Tamil communities in the North and East now have a clear path to vote for national parties. We will never allow anyone to hamper reconciliation between communities.
I want to reiterate once again—the war was against terrorism, not against any ethnic group. I urge the Tamil community not to fall for the agenda of certain Tamil politicians who receive perks to fuel divisions between communities through certain INGOs. @anuradisanayake @HMVijithaHerath —Your government came to power with support from those who have always undermined our military’s sacrifices. Will you defend them now when foreign powers attack those who secured peace for Sri Lanka, or will you stay silent? We will always protect our war veterans—now and forever. Their sacrifices secured our peace, and we will never allow anyone to undermine their legacy. #SriLanka #LKA #SLA #SLN #SLAF
M U M Ali Sabry@alisabrypc
[3/24/2025 12:29 PM, 8K followers, 36 retweets, 109 likes]
UK sanctions of our war heroes! None of these developments occur in a vacuum. The separatist diaspora is more active than ever strategic, vocal, and persistent. It is deeply regrettable that some of our own politicians, whether by choice, design, or sheer ignorance, end up playing directly into their hands. I am genuinely concerned that, in the name of political expediency, we are dangerously compromising the security and dignity of those who were responsible for defeating one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world bringing peace and stability to our nation after decades of bloodshed. How ungrateful can a nation be, to forget the sacrifices made for its unity and freedom? Sri Lanka must remain a unitary state there can be no compromise on that. Our commitment to preserving the sovereignty and territorial integrity of our country must remain unwavering. We must strengthen our collective resolve to firmly resist all forms of separatism whether overt or insidious while building a nation where every Sri Lankan, regardless of race, religion, or language, can live with dignity, equality, and mutual respect. That is the only way forward. Central Asia
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