In the shadow of the atomic bomb: Life during the Cold War

Russia's invasion of Ukraine raises fears of a new Cold War. DW's Susanne Spröer describes what it was like to grow up with east German border controls and peace demonstrations.

A graffiti depiction of the GDR border on Berlin's East Side Gallery

"Susanne is easily tempted to chatter." That comment was in my report card at the end of the first grade, in the summer of 1972.

Which is why what my parents now demanded of me was truly harsh punishment: We were on a train and I was to be absolutely quiet when we reached the border and were checked.

This "border" in question was the one that divided Germany into two states until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989: the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and a member of NATO on the west, and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and Warsaw Pact signatory on the east.

COLD WAR NIGHT LIFE -- RATIONAL YOUTH

Led by the United States in the West and the Soviet Union in the East, the two sides would be embroiled in a weapons-laden standoff for some four decades. Once allies, who together with Britain had defeated Nazi Germany in World War II, the US and Soviet opposing ideologies and systems — capitalism in the West and communism in the East — saw this alliance rapidly disintegrate.

A temporary alliance: Heads of state Churchill, Truman, and Stalin in 1945

 

Therefore this border, which we were now approaching to exit the East and enter the West, was one of the most closely guarded in the world. It was quite literally the "dividing line" of the Cold War.

'Show your ears!'

When the train slowed down, I nervously fidgeted on the seat that smelled of plastic, exchanging silent glances with my little brother. The other passengers were silent as well, with only occasional soft whispers punctuating the silence. Outside, the sun was shining; inside there was a sense of unease.

This picture would have been invalid as a passport photo: Author Susanne Spröer's ears are covered

After what seemed like an interminable time, the compartment door opened and grim-looking GDR border guards in drab grey uniforms began their check.

"Papers!" My parents handed over visas and passports. The officers then scrutinized each of us against our respective passports for an agonizingly long time.

"Show your ears!" — our ears had to be clearly visible in passport photos. I brushed back my hair, trembling and sitting quietly as a mouse, with my heart caught in my throat.

The border officials never smiled — not even at us children. 

Escape and separated families

Frostiness, silence, and hours of waiting: That's what the Cold War felt like to me, long before I even knew what the term meant.

Yet I was privileged to be allowed to cross this border toward the West at all.

The GDR barred its citizens from traveling to the West, with the exception of only a select few. Some attempts to leave East Germany ended fatally. At least 500 people died trying to escape over the border and the Berlin Wall; the exact number remains unclear.

But we came from the West, and had to travel to the GDR if we wanted to visit my mother's foster parents, Uncle Max and Aunt Frieda in Karl-Marx-Stadt (now known as Chemnitz). They had taken care of my mom as a child, when my widowed grandmother had to work.

When my 13-year-old mother and grandmother fled to the West in 1956, they and many other relatives stayed behind in the GDR.

In the West, my mother met my father, and they married in 1963 — six months after the Cold War almost reached a tipping point during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.

Cold War with 22 million victims

Yet the term "Cold War" plays down the fact that despite no direct military confrontation between the two superpowers themselves, namely the USA and the USSR, numerous proxy wars over territory, resources and ideological spheres of influence were fought elsewhere: in Korea and Vietnam, on the African continent and in Afghanistan.

Around 22 million people died in these bloody conflicts, but I only learned about all this much later, at school and during my further studies. 

While I was traveling to the GDR, children in Vietnam were being bombed with napalm

Back in 1972 though, I was a naturally chatty six-year-old sitting on a train, feeling thoroughly intimidated. For there was something to keep mum about — and it had to do with my feet.

Economic scarcity, long waits and arbitrariness

In the communist planned economy, there were strict regulations for the import and export of goods.

Many things were not allowed to be imported, for example, "printed matter that contradicted the interests of the GDR or its citizens," as one information brochure put it.

Given that such formulation was open to arbitrary interpretation, even Mickey Mouse magazines could have been considered "undesirable Western propaganda."

When leaving the East, on the other hand, it was strictly forbidden to export important GDR products — which included children's clothing and shoes. And that was exactly what I had on my feet: a pair of red sandals. 

GDR children's clothing: Export strictly prohibited!

My parents had bought them during our visit using GDR marks, which every traveler into the country was obliged to use in exchange for foreign currency, and which they could not then exchange again before leaving the GDR.

Since we stayed with Uncle Max and Aunt Frieda, we had trouble spending all the exchanged East German marks every time. 

What is now merely a bizarre anecdote was rather risky back then: Violations of the GDR's customs and foreign exchange regulations were subject to heavy fines, with the threat of arrest and pre-trial remand for serious violations. And one never knew what constituted a serious violation.

Anywhere but the GDR

Over the years, I lost contact with Uncle Max and Aunt Frieda and the rest of our family in the GDR.

As a young woman, I longed for the south, traveling to France, Spain or Italy, which were wonderfully uncomplicated. I only crossed the inter-German border when I had to. It almost always took hours before we were allowed to continue our journey, with dread hanging over me every time.

A memorial today: The former GDR border crossing Marienborn

Apart from that, the Cold War was a rather vague threat to me, just like for many young people in Western Europe. We knew the world as divided into two blocs — and I never thought Germany would be reunified.

Largest postwar peace movement

But I was convinced that the two blocs should finally make peace.

At the start of the 1980s, the arms race entered a new phase with the deployment of the Soviet SS-20 medium-range missiles and the NATO Dual Track policy, which provided for further missile deployments by NATO in Central Europe if the disarmament negotiations between the two superpowers failed.

This led to the largest peace protests Germany had seen up to then, driven mainly by the Green Party, segments of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the churches.

US singer Harry Belafonte at the peace demonstration in Bonn in 1981

More than 300,000 people attended a peace demonstration at Bonn's Hofgartenwiese in October 1981: Heinrich Böll, the Nobel Prize winner for literature, whom I admired, was there and US musician Harry Belafonte performed there too.

German singer and songwriter Nena's " 99 Luftballons" — a song alluding to the paranoia of the Cold War — received much airplay in 1983. It was re-recorded in English later that same year as "99 Red Balloons"; both versions became chart-toppers in various countries.

The peace movement was clearly influencing culture.

No more war!

I was a staunch pacifist at that time. I felt the same way as my grandmother, who had experienced two world wars and lost her husband and brother in the process.

After all, the Second World War started by Germany had led to the division of Germany and the subsequent Cold War in the first place.

That's why in 1985 Sting's song "Russians" resonated with me. When US President Ronald Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire," I could not and would not share such a worldview. Sting, on the other hand, appealed to the power of humanity.

Recently, Sting re-recorded the song in support of Ukraine. After all, one of the lines goes, "The Russians love their children too." And today, as in the 1980s, I hope that Russian mothers and fathers will love their children so much that they will finally take a stand against this cruel war that contravenes international law, and through which Russia's President Putin has invaded Ukraine. Because not only countless innocent Ukrainians are dying as a result of it, but also young Russians.

Postscript: End to a horrid era

The wall has fallen! And we want to go there. Brandenburg Gate in November 1989

When I heard on the news that the GDR border had opened on that fateful night of November 9, 1989, I called my grandma and my parents. We cried over the phone. 

My brother and I spontaneously decided to drive to Berlin. We got as far as the Marienborn border crossing, but that was still 180 kilometers (112 miles) away from Berlin, and traffic on the transit route to city was at a standstill. So when our passports were returned, we turned around and helped tow a stalled Trabant car, whose driver was desperate to get to the West.

Buoyed by the chaotic merriment around us, we toasted with sparkling wine. The border no longer felt threatening.

 

This article was originally written in German.

   

How India is pushing for the return of stolen artifacts

As the conversation around looted artifacts gains prominence across the world, India's attempts to repatriate stolen heritage items are beginning to bear fruit.


Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inspected the artifacts repatriated from Australia in March

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently thanked Australia for returning 29 Indian-origin artifacts that hade been stripped from the South Asian country illegally. It's the latest in a string of ancient artifacts that have been returned to India.

The objects — including sculptures, paintings, photographs and a scroll — date back to the ninth century and were held by the National Gallery of Australia.

"I thank you for your initiative to return Indian antiquities and the antiquities sent by you include artifacts hundreds of years old and photos that were illegally taken out of Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and other Indian states," Modi told Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison at the 2nd India-Australia Virtual Summit on March 21.


A catalog shared by the government showcased 12th-century Chola bronzes, 11th-12th century Jain sculptures from Rajasthan, 12th-13th century sandstone Goddess Mahisasuramardini from Gujarat, a number of 18th-19th century paintings, and early gelatin silver photographs.

Push to bring back heritage items

India has lost several significant national artifacts, first under British colonial rule and then through illegal smuggling activities. As the conversation around looted artifacts gains prominence across the world, its attempts to repatriate stolen heritage items are bearing fruit.

In September last year, Prime Minister Modi was credited with bringing back 157 Indian artifacts, which were handed to him during his visit to the United States, where he and US President Joe Biden expressed their commitment to strengthening efforts to combat theft, illicit trade and the trafficking of such objects.


While almost half of these artifacts were cultural, the other half were figurines linked to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.

It's estimated that thousands of artworks are stolen from Indian temples each year and put on a thriving international antiquities market.

Where do the artifacts go?

Since coming to power in 2014, Modi has brought back Indian cultural items from trips to many countries, including Australia, Canada, Germany, Singapore, as well as the US.

"The return of these artifacts is a welcome move as they represent the cultural identity of India," Juhi Sadiya, assistant professor at the New Delhi-based National Museum Institute, told DW.

While the final destination of these items will be decided by the competent authorities within the government, Sadiya said that the museum was well equipped to provide the preventive conservation these objects required. This includes offering micro-climates with the right humidity, temperatures and light conditions to prevent any damage.

Anupam Sah, a leading art conservation-restoration practitioner, said that preventive conservation can be implemented even at novice institutions.

"Cultural holdings in the country are spread across private ownership, monasteries and religious institutions, universities and public institutions, as well as the specific repositories of cultural heritage, which are museums," Sah told DW, adding that India had the requisite tools and expertise for preventive conservation.

While the primary aim is to avoid future risks to objects, specialized curative treatments are being conducted for objects that need further attention.

Religious identities of the relics

While many say the artifacts belong in Indian museums, some groups of volunteers have been calling for the relics to be returned to temples, their "rightful" place. One such group is the India Pride Project (IPP), run by two Singapore-based Indian-origin art enthusiasts.

The group, which prides itself as the world's first crowd-sourced heritage-recovery project, uses its global network of volunteers to build "the case for India's stolen heritage to be brought back home," co-founder Anuraag Saxena told DW in an earlier statement.

According to the activist, "history belongs to its geography," and nations, museums, citizens, as well as officials, need to understand why this is the right thing to do. The group has one uniting theme: #BringOurGodsHome.

"We have taken an academic issue and made it into a social movement," Saxena said.

The IPP has already successfully traced some stolen statues, but experts are wary of leaving the task of recovery to private individuals, who might sometimes bring back pieces that best suit their version of history.

If possible, Sah says artifacts should not be taken out of their cultural context. "This is not limited to religious objects but also, for example, a cave painting that is displayed out of its original environment," Sah said.

"In an ideal situation, I would prefer for these objects to be returned to their original cultural context with proper systems in place to ensure their security and longevity," Sah said. But until the time their safety is ensured, Sah believes they should be in a safe holding area with trained professionals best suited to handle the task of conservation.

Long road ahead

While reclaiming the world-famous Kohinoor Diamond, now a part of the British Crown Jewels, is still a dream for many in India, the cultural importance of newly reclaimed artifacts cannot be dismissed.

UNESCO, the UN agency for culture, says heritage theft remains a rampant problem across India, which is compounded by poverty and poor protection of historical monuments.

Laying emphasis on international cooperation to retrieve illegally stolen antiquities, the UN agency has highlighted the importance of developing capacities for conservation within the country.

"A key measure is the development of digital inventories and professional documentation of cultural property," UNESCO said in a statement. Pushing for a nationally coordinated approach, the organization said newly developed mechanisms, if available in regional languages, would be able to "report theft instantly, and could facilitate the interception of stolen objects before they enter illegal trade channels."

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Prestigious British art school in Rome accused of being a ‘toxic’ place to work

A taxpayer-funded charity that runs a prestigious art school in Rome has been accused of failing in its duty of care after allegations of mismanagement, a “toxic” working environment and unfair working practices.

© Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images

Matteo Civillini and Jon Ungoed-Thomas

THE GUARDIAN

The British School at Rome (BSR) launched an inquiry after 24 staff, former employees and alumni complained about the charity’s operations in April 2020 to its trustees. It was alleged that staff were suffering “physical and mental health issues” because of poor working conditions.

It is alleged a “grievance panel” set up by the charity’s trustees to investigate the claims was suspended before it reported its findings. The charity said last week it had conducted a “comprehensive, independent and confidential” investigation.

BSR was established in 1901 and is housed in a neoclassical building in Rome designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Alumni include Turner prize winners Elizabeth Price and Mark Wallinger. It receives more than half of its funding from the British Academy, which is supported by a grant from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

A two-page complaint written in April 2020 was sent to the charity’s council, whose members are its trustees. The council is chaired by Mark Getty, a member of the Getty family oil dynasty and co-founder of the media company Getty Images.

© Provided by The Guardian 

Multimillionaire Mark Getty is chair of the charity’s council. 

Photograph: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

The complaint seen by the Observer said there were grave concerns at the school with regard to mismanagement, unfair working practices and alleged demeaning language towards some female employees. The letter complained of a “toxic” and “divisive” working atmosphere.

The document stated: “Since July 2019, a number of trustees have been approached and these issues have been brought to their attention, but nothing positive has resulted. People should be given the opportunity to speak in a safe and protected environment.”

In one case of alleged unfair working conditions, a senior female arts researcher who lived at the school and has spoken to the Observer said she was expected to act as a “janitor” on some nights, and was given a torch and high-visibility vest to patrol the premises.

She said: “I actually found a naked man in the lecture theatre one Saturday evening and I had to deal with that. I think he was on drugs.” When she complained that out-of-hours duties were not in her contract, she claims she was told she would not be granted her holiday leave unless she agreed to do the out-of-hours work. The researcher was dismissed after refusing to work out of hours, but says she pursued an unfair dismissal case in the Rome courts and received compensation in a settlement.

The council overseeing the charity commissioned an independent review in June 2020. The panel recommended forming a grievance panel and also identified a “very urgent” need for staff to get access to human resources advice and support.

A grievance panel composed solely of lawyers appointed by the BSR was conducted with hearings in July 2020. In September that year, 37 staff, former employees and alumni wrote to the British Academy, complaining they had not been informed of any findings by the panel and the charity had “failed in its duty of care”.

The British Academy and the BSR reviewed the charity’s governance. Reforms were proposed, including a new code of conduct, the formation of a senior management team and a new approach to diversity and inclusion. The British Academy reported to the complainants in June 2021 that the council had “decided to suspend the operations of the grievance panel despite the absence of any resolution of the issues that came before it”.

The charity, which has about 30 employees, said last week that all the review’s recommendations had been implemented. It said it could not fully respond to specific claims because of confidentiality arrangements, but no members of staff were the subject of disciplinary action.

It said it consulted staff last summer about the grievance panel and the council concluded it was appropriate to consider the procedure closed. It said that no researchers had been asked to act as janitors, but residential staff had shared duties for out-of-hours emergencies. Since spring 2020, a professional security service had been in place, the charity said. An HR manager was appointed in 2021.

Mark Getty, chair of the BSR council, said: “I am confident that with an enhanced framework for the BSR’s governance and with new dynamic leadership, the BSR is now well-placed to develop the UK’s creative and academic presence in Italy.”

The British Academy said it was not in its remit to investigate specific complaints from employees, but said it was satisfied the issues identified in its governance review were “in hand”.

Professor Stephen Milner, director of the charity at the time of the complaints, left at the end of his secondment in January 2021. Milner, Serena Professor of Italian at Manchester University, said last week the BSR would respond on the issue.

Imran Khan Ousted as Pakistan Leader, Paving Way for Power Shift

Kamran Haider and Ismail Dilawar
Sat, April 9, 2022





(Bloomberg) -- Pakistan lawmakers ousted former cricket star Imran Khan as prime minister in a no-confidence vote, ending his four-year run as leader after he clashed with the country’s powerful military and Asia’s second-fastest inflation eroded support.

A united opposition bloc cobbled together 174 lawmakers to vote against Khan after midnight in Islamabad, two more than required to remove him from office. Parliament will convene again on Monday to pick a new prime minister, which will almost certainly be opposition leader Shehbaz Sharif.

“A new morning is beginning, a new day is about to start,” Sharif told lawmakers after the results were declared in the early hours of Sunday. “The prayers of millions of Pakistanis have been heard.”

The political shakeup in the world’s fifth-most populous nation is likely to immediately rebalance Pakistan’s foreign policy more toward the U.S. and Europe. Khan had shifted Pakistan closer to Russia and China, and sought to sabotage the no-confidence vote by claiming the Biden administration conspired with the opposition to remove him from power.

A Sharif-led government is also likely to help secure about $3 billion left from an International Monetary Fund loan needed to bolster foreign reserves and the currency. The rupee is trading near a record low against the U.S. dollar and foreign currency reserves have dropped to the lowest in about two years, enough to cover a couple months of imports. The central bank surprised analysts last week with the biggest rate hike since 1996.

Ahead of his ouster, Khan called on supporters to protest peacefully after evening prayers on Sunday. A national vote must be held by August 2023, and Khan is already pressuring the opposition to go to the polls.

Khan’s loss came after a fallout with Pakistan’s army over a range of issues, including interference in military promotions, his rocky relationship with the U.S. and management of the economy. Pakistan’s military has ruled the country for almost half of its 75-year history, and no prime minister has completed a full term in that time.

Khan didn’t go quietly. Last weekend, his party shocked Pakistan when one of his allies canceled the no-confidence vote over the foreign interference claims, after which Khan quickly called an election. Pakistan’s opposition called the move treasonous, as the constitution doesn’t allow parliament to be dissolved during a no-confidence debate.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court later rejected Khan’s rationale for scrapping the vote and ordered the no-confidence vote to go ahead on Saturday. During the parliament session, Khan’s party triggered multiple adjournments by repeating claims without showing evidence that the U.S. wanted to oust his government -- an allegation the Biden administration has denied.

When the vote finally took place, opposition lawmakers cheered and clapped as the numbers were called out. Television channels showed opposition party flags being waved on the street and celebratory fireworks and gunfire sounded in Karachi and Islamabad.

(Updates throughout)

Imran Khan dismissed as Pakistan PM in no-confidence vote

Pakistan's Imran Khan who was dismissed on April 10, 2022 as prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil.

By AFP
Islamabad

Imran Khan was dismissed Sunday as Pakistan's prime minister after losing a no-confidence vote in parliament following weeks of political turmoil.

A new premier will be chosen Monday, with Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) chief Shehbaz Sharif almost certain to be picked to lead the nuclear-armed nation of 220 million people.

No prime minister has ever served a full term in Pakistan, but Khan is the first to lose office this way.

Opposition supporters took to the streets early Sunday, waving national and party flags from car windows as they raced through the streets.

There had been a massive security presence in the capital, but no incidents were reported.

Acting speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq said 174 lawmakers had voted in favour of the motion, "consequently the vote of no confidence has passed".

Lost his majority

Khan, 69, who was not present, lost his majority in the 342-seat assembly through defections by coalition partners and even members of his own party, and the opposition had needed just 172 votes to dismiss him.

He tried everything to stay in power — including dissolving parliament and calling a fresh election — but the Supreme Court deemed all his actions illegal last week, and ordered the assembly to reconvene and vote.

There was drama right until the midnight deadline ordered by the Supreme Court, with the speaker of the assembly -- a Khan loyalist -- resigning at the last minute.

In the end, the session continued through to Sunday with a replacement.

"We will put a balm on the wounds of this nation," Sharif said immediately after the result was announced.

Militancy on the rise

Whoever takes over will still have to deal with the issues that bedevilled Khan: soaring inflation, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.

Militancy is also on the rise, with Pakistan's Taliban emboldened by the return to power last year of the hard-line Islamist group in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Tempers rose in the assembly when Sharif insisted a vote be held immediately — as ordered by the Supreme Court on Thursday — but Khan loyalists demanded discussion first on their leader's claims there had been foreign interference in the process.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi accused the opposition of leading the country down a dangerous path.

"History will expose all those, who set the stage for this move to topple the government," he said, to chants of "vote, vote" from the opposition.

Khan insists he has been the victim of a "regime change" conspiracy involving the United States.

Conspiracy claim

He said the PML-N and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) — two normally feuding dynastic groups who joined forces to oust him — had conspired with Washington to bring the no-confidence vote because of his opposition to US foreign policy, particularly in Muslim nations such as Iraq and Afghanistan.

He also accused the opposition of buying support in the assembly with "open horse-trading... selling of lawmakers like goats and sheep".

How long the next government lasts is also a matter of speculation.

The opposition said previously they wanted an early election — which must be called by October next year — but taking power gives them the opportunity to set their own agenda and end a string of probes they said Khan launched vindictively against them.

Local media quoted an election commission official as saying it would take them at least seven months to prepare for a national vote.

Publicly, the military appears to be keeping out of the current fray, but there have been four coups since independence in 1947, and the country has spent more than three decades under army rule.

Challenges ahead: Key issues facing Pakistan’s next leader


By AFP
April 9, 2022

Whoever becomes Pakistan’s next prime minister following the dismissal of Imran Khan Sunday will inherit the same issues that bedevilled the former international cricket star.

A poorly performing economy, rising militancy and shaky relations with former allies will be top of the agenda for the next administration.

The incoming government will need to stave off “multiple challenges on domestic and foreign relations levels”, said Professor Jaffar Ahmed, director of the Institute of Historical and Social Research.

Following are the key issues ahead for the incoming premier of the country of 220 million people:

– The economy –

Crippling debt, galloping inflation and a feeble currency have combined to keep growth stagnant for the past three years with little prospect of genuine improvement.

“We don’t have any direction,” said Nadeem ul Haque, vice-chancellor of the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics (PIDE), a research organisation in Islamabad.

“Radical policy reforms are needed to turn around the economy.”

Inflation is ticking along at over 12 percent, foreign debt is at $130 billion — or 43 percent of GDP — and the rupee has dipped to 190 to the dollar, a decline of nearly a third since Khan took power.

A $6 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout package signed by Khan in 2019 has never been fully implemented because the government reneged on agreements to cut or end subsidies on certain goods and improve revenue and tax collection.

“The IMF package must go on,” said Ehsan Malik, head of the Pakistan Business Council.

On the bright side, remittances from Pakistan’s vast diaspora have never been higher, although the cash flows have put Pakistan on the radar of the Financial Action Task Force, the global money-laundering and terrorist-funding watchdog.

“This is a hanging sword which could fall on the country any time,” Jaffar said.

– Rise of militancy –

Pakistan’s Taliban, a separate movement that shares common roots with the militants who took power in Afghanistan last year, have stepped up attacks in recent months.

They have threatened an offensive against government forces during Ramadan — which started Sunday — and in the past have been blamed for a string of murderous attacks.

Khan attempted to bring militants back into the mainstream, but talks with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants got nowhere last year before a month-long truce collapsed.

Afghanistan’s Taliban say they will not allow the country to be used as a base for foreign militants, but it remains to be seen if they will genuinely put a stop to the activities of thousands of Pakistani Islamists based there — or where they will go if they are kicked out.

There are no easy solutions even for the incoming government, experts say.

“The insurgency challenge would remain as big and crucial for the new government,” said political analyst Rafiullah Kakar.

In mineral-rich Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province, separatists have been demanding more autonomy and a greater share of the wealth for years, and the region is riven by sectarian strife and Islamist violence.

Kakar suggested a two-pronged approach — “confidence-building measures and political reconciliation” in Balochistan, but taking off the kid gloves for the Taliban “once and all”.

– Foreign relations –

Khan claims the United States orchestrated his removal by conspiring with the opposition, and the next government will have to work hard to patch up relations with Washington — a key arms supplier countering Russia’s trade with India.

Khan angered the West by continuing with a visit to Moscow on the day Russia invaded Ukraine, and was also one of the few world leaders to attend the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympics when others boycotted in protest at China’s human rights record.

Still, army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa allayed some fears last weekend by saying good relations with the United States remain high on Pakistan’s agenda — and the military holds huge sway regardless of which civilian administration is in power.

“The incoming government… needs to put in hard effort to undo the damage,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, a political analyst and journalism teacher.

Plotting from the wings: Key players behind

Pakistan PM’s ouster

ByAFP
April 9, 2022

Imran Khan was thrown out of office as Pakistan prime minister Sunday after losing a no-confidence vote in the national assembly.

The drama caps weeks of machinations by the opposition aimed at unraveling the tenuous coalition Khan built around his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to become premier in 2018.

Following are brief profiles of the key players in the saga:

– Shehbaz Sharif –

The brother of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif — who has been disqualified from ever again running for office and is currently in exile in Britain — Shehbaz is the main candidate to replace Khan.

The 70-year-old is a political heavyweight in his own right, however, having served as chief minister of Punjab, the family’s power base, and now as president of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N).

A tough administrator with a reputation for passionate outbursts, he is known for quoting revolutionary poetry in speeches and is considered a workaholic.

He remains popular despite lurid tabloid headlines about multiple marriages and a property portfolio that includes luxury apartments in London and Dubai.

– Asif Ali Zardari –

Hailing from a wealthy Sindh family, Zardari was better known for his playboy lifestyle until an arranged marriage saw him wed Benazir Bhutto shortly before she became prime minister for the first time.

He took to politics with gusto, earning himself the nickname “Mr Ten Percent” for the cut he allegedly took from government contracts, and was twice jailed on charges related to corruption, drug smuggling and murder — although never faced trial.

The 67-year-old became co-chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) after the assassination of Bhutto in 2007, and became president of the country a year later in a power-sharing deal with the PML-N.

– Bilawal Bhutto Zardari –

The son of Benazir Bhutto and Asif Zardari is political royalty and became chairman of the PPP aged just 19 following his mother’s assassination.

The Oxford-educated 33-year-old is considered a progressive, in his mother’s image, and has frequently spoken out on the rights of women and minorities.

With more than half of Pakistan’s population aged 22 or below, Bhutto’s social media savvy is a hit with the young, although he is frequently mocked for a poor command of Urdu, the national language.

– Maulana Fazlur Rehman –

After starting political life as a firebrand Islamist hardliner, the Muslim cleric has softened his public image over the years with a flexibility that has seen him forge alliances with secular parties on the left and right of the spectrum.

With the ability to mobilise tens of thousands of madrassa students, his Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam (F) party never musters enough support for power on its own but is usually a key player in any government.

His enmity with Khan runs deep, calling him “a Jew” in reference to his former marriage to Briton Jemima Goldsmith.

Khan, in return, calls him “Mullah Diesel” for his alleged participation in graft involving fuel licenses.

Opinion: Political chaos doesn't augur well for Pakistan's democracy

Prime Minister Imran Khan may take his fight to the streets after a setback in Pakistan's top court, heightening political tensions and instability in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation, DW's Adnan Ishaq writes.


Pakistan could witness the failure of another government to finish its full five-year term

Pakistan's Supreme Court dealt a severe blow to Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party on Thursday by ruling that his maneuver to dissolve parliament — to avoid a vote of no-confidence in his leadership — and call early elections was illegal.

It's not clear what Khan's next steps would be, but the opposition was ecstatic after the verdict.

As per the court order, lawmakers are to convene at the National Assembly in Islamabad on Saturday for a no-confidence motion.

It's highly likely that the prime minister will lose the vote. Opposition parties say they have enough support in the 342-seat house to oust Khan.

If Khan is removed from power, Pakistan would witness the failure of yet another government to complete its full five-year term.

It is democracy that has suffered the most in the ongoing political chaos in the country.

Khan's rift with the military

After coming to power in 2018, Khan launched an array of projects to alleviate the suffering of Pakistan's impoverished and marginalized communities. His multibillion-rupee initiative to issue health insurance cards immensely helped the poor, along with projects that provided shelter to the homeless, scholarships to impoverished students and quarterly financial aid to extremely poor sections of society, among other things.


DW's Adnan Ishaq

Khan's initiative to plant a billion trees in the country also earned laurels from international organizations. The government also managed the COVID pandemic relatively well.

Nevertheless, skyrocketing inflation, rising unemployment and alleged gross incompetence stoked public discontent with the government.

During his initial days in office, it was evident that Khan had the backing of the military, Pakistan's most powerful institution. When some opposition parties began criticizing the army, Khan was quick to defend the generals and maintained a healthy relationship with the men in uniform.

But relations between the prime minister and the military seem to have soured since then. There was a weekslong standoff between Khan and the army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa, over the appointment of a new head of the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI) spy agency last year.

And Khan's positioning of himself as an "anti-West" leader and his increasingly strident criticism of the US and the EU did not go down well with the army, which views the West as key to Pakistan's economic and security interests.

The US and the EU are among Pakistan's largest economic partners, with huge influence over global financial institutions, whose assistance Islamabad desperately needs to get out of the economic mess it finds itself in.

Furthermore, Pakistan has always tried to maintain a balance in its strategic relations, with the West on one side and China and Russia on the other. Khan disrupted this balance by veering heavily toward Beijing and Moscow, triggering concerns among the Pakistani military establishment over how his actions would affect Islamabad's ties to Washington.

Khan has little to show in terms of performance

Khan claimed that his defiance of "US dictation" and following an "independent" foreign policy infuriated Washington and its EU allies and that's why the US wants him gone.

With his rhetoric, Khan has been successful in promoting an anti-American and anti-West narrative while declaring his political opponents as stooges of foreign powers. This seems to have increased his popularity among conservative and right-wing voters, including those in Punjab, the country's most populous province, which decides the fate of politicians during elections.

The anti-US narrative is a tried-and-tested formula in Pakistan. Most political parties and religious factions keep the tactic up their sleeve in case things get out of hand. In 2017, when the Supreme Court ordered the removal of then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from office because of corruption accusations, Sharif said it was part of "an international conspiracy."

Khan is now using the same tactic as he needs to prepare for the elections and has very little to show in terms of performance.

Expect more protests and political unrest

There has been a sigh of relief after the top court's verdict to restore Parliament, with many believing that it would restore a modicum of political stability. But things don't appear optimistic for Pakistan.

Khan and his PTI party will most likely take to the streets and resort to protests and agitation, heightening political tensions and instability in the nuclear-armed Islamic nation.

The prime minister once said democracy functioned on moral authority. We keep hearing this statement from opposition political parties as well. But when it comes to their interests, all the nation's political actors trample on moral and democratic values.

Whatever has happened in the past few days will not benefit Pakistan's democracy and democratic values.

Some politicians may get temporary benefits from this fiasco, but the forces that have not allowed any Pakistani prime minister to complete a full term in office will once again be the ultimate long-term beneficiaries.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Tens of thousands march against beleaguered Sri Lankan President Rajapaksa

Tens of thousands marched on beleaguered Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's office on Saturday, in the biggest protest to date over the country's dire economic and political crisis.

© Eranga Jayawardena, AP

Sri Lanka's 22 million people have seen weeks of power blackouts and severe shortages of food, fuel and other essentials in the country's worst downturn since independence in 1948.

Saturday's social-media organised protest drew the largest numbers since the crisis blew up last month, according to AFP reporters. And pressure on Rajapaksa intensified further as the country's powerful business community also began withdrawing support for the president.

Men and women poured onto Colombo's seafront promenade and laid siege to the colonial-era Presidential Secretariat, chanting "go home Gota" and waving the national lion flag.

Others carried handwritten placards that read "it's time for you to leave" and "enough is enough."

Barricades blocked the entrance to the president's office with police in riot gear taking up positions inside the tightly guarded compound.

"These are innocent people here. we are all struggling to live. The government must go and allow a capable person to lead the country," one man told the crowd.

The protests appeared to be peaceful, but a police official said teargas and water cannon were at the ready if needed. On Friday security forces fired water cannon at demonstrating students.

Residents said there were widespread protests in the suburbs of the capital too while the Catholic and Anglican churches also brought their followers onto the streets.

The head of the Catholic Church, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith led a protest in the town of Negombo, just north of Colombo, urging people to continue protesting till the Rajapaksa administration resigned.

"Everyone must get on the streets till the government leave, these leaders must go. You must go. You have destroyed this country."
Fuelling losses

Sri Lanka's business community, which largely funded Rajapaksa's election campaign, also appeared to ditch the president on Saturday.

"The current political and economic impasse simply cannot continue any further, we need a cabinet and interim government within a week at most," said Rohan Masakorala, head of Sri Lanka Association of Manufacturers and Exporters of Rubber products.

His association joined 22 other business and industry organisations, seeking a change of government, saying daily losses had reached around $50 million due to the fuel shortage alone.

In a joint statement, they said that they were responsible for generating nearly a quarter of the country's $80.17 billion gross domestic product and warned millions of jobs would be in jeopardy.

Newly appointed central bank governor Nandalal Weerasinghe said a series of monetary policy blunders had led to the current crisis with no dollars to finance many imports.

In a desperate attempt to shore up the free-falling rupee, Weerasinghe on Friday implemented the country's biggest-ever interest rate hike of 700 basis points.

"We are now in damage control mode," he said.

Weerasinghe added he expected the rupee to stabilise and dollar inflows to improve as he relaxes his predecessor's tight foreign exchange restrictions which he described as counter-productive.

The government is preparing for bailout negotiations with the International Monetary Fund next week, with finance ministry officials saying that sovereign bond-holders and other creditors may have to take a haircut.

New finance minister Ali Sabry told parliament on Friday that he expects $3 billion from the IMF to support the island's balance of payments in the next three years.

"We hope to get about a billion dollars a year in the next three years totalling a support of three billion," he said adding that Colombo will also seek a debt moratorium.

(AFP)

Iraqis clean up river as first green projects take root

Garbage clogs the banks of Iraq’s Tigris River in Baghdad but an army of young volunteers is cleaning it, a rare environmental project in the war-battered country.

Young Iraqi volunteers take part in a clean-up campaign on the bank of the Tigris river in the Adhamiyah district of the capital Baghdad, on March 11, 2022. Plastic garbage clogs the banks of Iraq’s Tigris River in Baghdad, but an army of young volunteers is cleaning it, a rare environmental project in the war-battered country, part of a green activist campaign called the Cleanup Ambassadors. AFP

With boots and gloves, they pick up soggy trash, water bottles, aluminium cans, and muddy styrofoam boxes, part of a green activist campaign called the Cleanup Ambassadors.

“This is the first time this area has been cleaned since 2003,” shouts a passer-by about the years of conflict since a US-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.

The war is over but Iraq faces another huge threat: a host of interrelated environmental problems from climate change and rampant pollution to dust storms and water scarcity.

The 200 volunteers at work in Baghdad want to be part of the solution, removing garbage from a stretch of one of the mighty rivers that gave birth to the ancient civilisations of Mesopotamia.

“It breaks my heart to see the banks of the Tigris in this state,” said one 19-year-old volunteer, who gave only her first name, Rassel, working under Baghdad’s Imams Bridge.

“We want to change this reality. I want to make my city more beautiful.”

The task is Herculean in a country where it remains common for people to drop their trash on the ground.

The green banks of the Tigris, popular for picnics by families and groups of friends, are usually littered with waste, from single-use plastic bags to the disposable tips of hookah pipes, especially after public holidays.

Rubbish chokes wildlife

“There is a lot of plastic, nylon bags, and corks,” said Ali, also 19 and an organiser of the cleanup event.

The group then handed their collected waste to the Baghdad City Council which took it away, bound for a landfill.

More often the garbage ends up directly in the Tigris. It is one of Iraq’s two major waterways, along with the Euphrates, that face a host of environmental pressures.

The rivers or their tributaries are dammed upstream in Turkey and Iran, over-used along the way, and polluted with domestic, industrial and agricultural waste.

The trash that flows downriver clogs riverbanks and wetlands and poses a threat to wildlife, both terrestrial and aquatic.

When the water empties into the Gulf, plastic bags are often ingested by turtles and dolphins and block the airways and stomachs of many other species, says a United Nations paper.

In Iraq — which has suffered four decades of conflict and years of political and economic turmoil — separating and recycling waste has yet to become a priority for most people.

The country also lacks proper infrastructure for waste collection and disposal, said Azzam Alwash, head of the non-governmental group Nature Iraq.

“There are no environmentally friendly landfills and plastic recycling is not economically viable,” he said.

Plumes of smoke

Most garbage ends up in open dumps where it is burned, sending plumes of acrid smoke into the air.

This happens in Iraq’s southern Mesopotamian Marshes, one of the world’s largest inland deltas, which Saddam once had largely drained. They were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2016, both for their biodiversity and ancient history.

Today a round-the-clock fire outside the town of Souq al-Shuyukh, which is the gateway to the marshes, burns thousands of tonnes of garbage under the open sky, sending white smoke drifting many kilometres away.

“Open burning of waste is a source of air pollution, and the real cost is the shortening of Iraqi lives,” said Alwash. “But the state has no money to build recycling facilities.”

Even worse is the air pollution caused by flaring — burning off the gas that escapes during oil extraction.

This toxic cocktail has contributed to a rise in respiratory illnesses and greenhouse gas emissions, a phenomenon the UN’s climate experts have voiced alarm about.

Environment Minister Jassem al-Falahi admitted in comments to the official news agency INA that waste incineration’s “toxic gases affect people’s lives and health”.

But so far there have been few government initiatives to tackle Iraq’s environmental woes, and so projects like the Tigris cleanup are leading the way for now.

Ali, the volunteer, hopes that their effort will have a more long-term effect by helping to change attitudes.

“Some people have stopped throwing their waste on the street,” he said, “and some have even joined us.”

Dozens hospitalised as Iraq gripped by dust storm

A man walks in a street during a dust storm in Iraq's city of Nasiriyah in the southern Dhi

 Qar province.

A dust storm that has swept through much of Iraq has left dozens of people in hospital with respiratory problems, a health ministry spokesman said Saturday

The storm erupted in the north of the country on Thursday, prompting the cancellation of flights serving Arbil, capital of the autonomous Kurdistan region.

As the storm swept south, it shrouded Baghdad and cities as far south as Nasiriyah in a ghostly orange.

In the capital, buildings and vehicles were covered in ochre-coloured dust, AFP journalists reported.

The storm has caused "dozens of hospitalisations across Iraq due to respiratory problems", health ministry spokesman Saif al-Badr told AFP.

The director of Iraq's meteorological office, Amer al-Jabri, said that while dust storms were not uncommon in Iraq, they are becoming more frequent "due to drought, desertification and declining rainfall".

Iraq is particularly vulnerable to climate change, having already witnessed record low rainfall and high temperatures in recent years.

Experts have said these factors threaten social and economic disaster in the war-scarred country.

In November, the World Bank warned that Iraq could suffer a 20 percent drop in water resources by 2050 due to climate change.

Iraq cholera cases grow, spread to Kurdish region

© 2022 AFP

Twitter stakeholder Elon Musk tweets 'Is Twitter dying?'


Elon Musk, seen here at the Tesla Giga Texas grand opening on April 7, 2022 in Austin, Texas, is proving a controversial add to Twitter's board (AFP/SUZANNE CORDEIRO) (SUZANNE CORDEIRO)

Sat, April 9, 2022

Twitter's newest board member and largest stakeholder Elon Musk tweeted Saturday to ask if the social media network was "dying" and to call out users such as singer Justin Bieber, who are highly followed but rarely post.

"Most of these 'top' accounts tweet rarely and post very little content," the Tesla boss wrote, captioning a list of the 10 profiles with the most followers -- a list which includes himself at number eight, with 81 million followers.

"Is Twitter dying?" he wrote.

Former US President Barack Obama appears at the top with 131 million followers, followed by stars such as Bieber, Katy Perry, Rihanna and Taylor Swift, as well as Indian prime minister Narendra Modi and football star Cristiano Ronaldo, among others.

"For example, @taylorswift13 hasn't posted anything in 3 months," Musk continued.

"And @justinbieber only posted once this entire year."

The social media company named Musk to the board on Tuesday after the outspoken and polarizing executive disclosed he had acquired a more than nine percent stake in the company, making him Twitter's largest shareholder.

Musk said he looked forward to soon making "significant improvements to Twitter," and began polling his followers on whether to add an "edit" button to the service, a long-discussed tweak.

Twitter has now said that it will start experimenting with one.

On Thursday, Musk tweeted a photo of himself smoking marijuana on a Joe Rogan podcast in 2018, with the caption, "Twitter's next board meeting is gonna be lit."

His antics often raise eyebrows and occasionally draw condemnation, as when Jewish groups blasted his tweet comparing Canadian leader Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler over Covid-19 vaccine mandates. Musk later deleted the tweet without apologizing.

The appointment has sparked misgivings among some employees, according to a Washington Post report.

Workers at the California-based social media company cited worries about Musk's statements on transgender issues and his reputation as a difficult and driven leader, according to statements on Slack reviewed by the Post.

A California agency has sued Tesla, alleging discrimination and harassment against Black workers. The electric carmaker has rejected the charges, saying it opposes discrimination.

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Favourable breezes boost Spain's wind power sector



Wind power became the main source of electricity production in Spain last year, accounting for 23 percent, ahead of nuclear (21 percent) and gas (17 percent)

 (AFP/CESAR MANSO)


Valentin BONTEMPS
Sat, April 9, 2022, 

Buoyed by a surge in investment and new projects, wind power has become Spain's main source of electricity generation just as Europe seeks to curb its energy imports from Russia.

"We are on suitable ground here," said Joaquin Garcia Latorre, project director at Enel Green Power Espana, pointing to gigantic masts erected on the heights of the tiny northeastern village of Villar de los Navarros.

The Spanish-Italian firm picked this spot, which is well exposed to the wind, to set up a 180-megawatt wind farm, one of the country's biggest.

Dubbed Tico Wind, its 43 wind turbines started producing power in November, said Latorre while workers around him tended to the turbines, which are over 100 metres (328 feet) high.

"There are between 2,500 and 3,000 hours of wind here per year," he added.

The wind farm will be able to produce 471 gigawatt hours per year -- enough to meet the demands of 148,000 households -- after it becomes fully operational in a month.

These types of projects have popped up across Spain in recent years, making it Europe's second-biggest wind power producer after Germany for installed capacity and the world's fifth biggest.

Wind power became the main source of electricity production in Spain last year, accounting for 23 percent, ahead of nuclear (21 percent) and gas (17 percent), according to national grid operator REE.

The sector "benefits from a favourable situation" although "brakes" remain on its development, such as a dependency on government auctions, said Francisco Valverde Sanchez, renewables specialist at electricity consultants Menta Energia.

- Investor interest -

Following a boom in the 2000s thanks to generous public financial aid, the sector suffered a sudden halt when subsidies were slashed in 2013 during Spain's economic crisis.

It has since charged ahead. Spain, which has a total of 1,265 wind farms, had an installed wind power capacity of 28.1 gigawatts in 2021, up from 23.4 gigawatts in 2018, according to industry group AEE.

With large swathes of sparsely populated land, a favourable legal framework and cutting edge wind turbine makers, Spain is one of the most "interesting" markets for wind power investors, said AEE director general Juan Virgilio Marquez.

Spain is home to several sector heavyweights such as Iberdrola and Naturgay, making it a top exporter of wind power equipment. "This explains the dynamism of the sector," said Marquez.

Investor interest has even come from outside of the energy sector.

In November Spain's Amancio Ortega, the founder of fast fashion giant Zara and one of the world's richest men, injected 245 million euros ($268 million) in a wind farm in the northeastern region of Aragon.

- Energy 'breadbasket' -

Spain in 2020 pledged to generate 74 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030, up from 47 percent.

To meet this target, Spain is counting on the development of offshore wind power, a sector that is in its infancy.

But since Spain has thousands of kilometres of coastline, offshore wind has lots of room to grow.

"This is an ambitious goal," said Valverde Sanchez, arguing that government bureaucracy around wind farm projects must be reduced for it to be met.

Nearly 600 wind power projects are currently under study by the government, according to AEE.

As part of its plan to respond to the economic fallout from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Spain has pledged to speed up the approval of wind power projects of less than 75 megawatts.

"Our country had enough natural resources to become Europe's leading producer and exporter of renewable energy," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Wednesday, adding this could be key to help the European Union meet its goal of "energy independence".

Since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, Brussels has declared a mission to cut the EU's Russian gas imports by two thirds this year and to end the use of Russian gas by 2027.

Spain "could become the energy 'breadbasket' of Europe," said Virgilio Marquez.

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