SMOKERS’ CORNER: THE MIRROR ARGUMENT

Nadeem F. Paracha 

Published August 11, 2024

  DAWN

Illustration by Abro

In his autobiography Mein Kampf [My Struggle], published nine years before he came to power, the German Nazi leader Adolf Hitler concluded that Jews were a threat to Germany because they were working to completely demolish the country and its people.

In claiming this, Hitler was formulating what is often referred to as the ‘mirror argument’ — when someone accuses an actual or perceived opponent of planning to commit a grave crime or atrocity against the accuser, but which the accuser himself is wishing to commit against the accused.

Once this accusation is thoroughly circulated and is believed by large sections of the society, the accuser poses himself as a defensive force that will stop the accused from committing the atrocity. The accuser then strikes against the accused in ways that he claimed the accused was planning to. Such acts of violence by the accuser against the accused are then posited as being defensive acts against an ‘enemy’ that was planning to do the same against the accuser.

When Hitler was accusing the Jews of planning to demolish Germany, this claim was eventually believed by millions of Germans. Therefore, once in power, Hitler’s Nazi regime unleashed genocidal policies against Jews. These were explained as a defensive act against a people who he claimed had been conspiring to wipe out Germany.

Throughout history, demagogues and political opportunists have used mirror arguments to project their own desires or plans on to their opponents, in an attempt to manufacture a perceived ‘threat’ that must be crushed

Till today, many neo-Nazi groups in the West view the Holocaust as a defensive act against a powerful people who had international support to degrade and destroy Germany. Mirror arguments are a handy tool for people desiring to commit violence against those they view as enemies, and then justify the violence as a defensive act.

According to the American historian Alison Des Forges, who investigated the 1994 genocide of millions of Tutsi people by Hutu militias in Rwanda, a mimeographed document was found in a hut owned by a Rwandan Hutu. The document stated that the Hutu should accuse the Tutsi of planning to do what the Hutu militias were already planning. Therefore, in the eyes of the Hutu, their genocidal actions became justified as a defensive ploy against what the Tutsi were only alleged to be planning.

There are dozens of other examples of how mirror arguments have been used to justify widespread violence. These include genocides and massacres. During almost every genocide or systematic massacre in the last 200 years, mirror arguments have been common. Certain ‘enemies’ were accused of seeking to eliminate the accusers. The accusers then set out to slaughter the accused and rationalise the slaughter as acts of defence against an enemy that was posing an existential threat.

Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been using mirror arguments to justify his government’s violent policies against the Palestinians. Between October 2023 and now, Israeli forces have killed at least 40,000 Palestinian men, women and children, mostly in Gaza. The attacks came on the heels of an audacious ‘invasion’ of southern Israel by the fighters of the Palestinian Islamist outfit Hamas.

However, Netanyahu’s mirror arguments have nothing to do with Hamas being militantly opposed to the existence of Israel. In fact, although Hamas refuses to recognise Israel, it has accepted the 1967 borders, which implies an acceptance of Israel. After the 2023 Hamas ‘invasion’, Netanyahu didn’t need much to justify a military response. But the problem for him began when the response became overkill.

Images of dead Palestinian men, women and children, unarmed and having nothing to do with Hamas, began to circulate on social media, drawing outrage, even from people who weren’t particularly pro-Hamas. In fact, many were opposed to it.

The Israeli government began to dish out fake news to justify its indiscriminate bombing of Gaza. For example, to justify the flattening of a hospital building teeming with patients, the Israeli military claimed there was a secret tunnel used by Hamas under the building. Journalists found none. This is when Netanyahu intensified a mirror argument in which he more-than-alluded that each and every Palestinian, militant or not, posed an existentialist threat to Israel and its people.

He was simply strengthening a sentiment which has been rather common in Jewish settlers who have illegally taken over lands that are internationally recognised as being part of Palestine. In 2022, an Israeli soldier told the BBC, “I grew up as a settler, so something that I heard from a very young age was that every Palestinian is a threat…”

The soldier was relating a mirror argument that saw every Palestinian as planning to obliterate Israel. The purpose of this argument is to rationalise the killing of unarmed, common Palestinians. Far-right Zionists claim every Palestinian plans to eliminate the Jews. By claiming this, they are actually projecting their own desire to wipe out the Palestinians.

At a December 2023 rally, the former US president Donald Trump, who is contesting to win back the presidency that he lost in 2020, said this about the current president Joe Biden: “He thinks he can do whatever he wants, break any law, tell any lie, ruin any life, trash any norm and get away with anything he does.”



A former administrative judge Bill Blum understood this as an example of a mirror argument, because what Trump was accusing Biden of is exactly what Trump plans to do if he manages to win the presidency again. In an article, Blum feared that, as president, Trump is likely to “round up undocumented immigrants into mass-detention centres, unleash the Justice Department on his political opponents and invoke the Insurrection Act to quell domestic unrest.” So, simply put, by accusing Biden of being authoritarian, it is he (Trump) who is looking to become one.

The jailed former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan, who was ousted in 2022, has often lambasted the country’s military chief Gen Asim Munir for allegedly turning the country into a virtual dictatorship, arresting the current government’s opponents on false charges, torturing political prisoners and presiding over a police state.

But as the veteran political commentator Najam Sethi often states, if Khan manages to come to power again, he will throw the opposition in jail, turn the country into a one-party state and use the military as his personal police.

On most occasions, those who come to power by demonising their opponents often become the actual demons. They then justify this as a defence against existential threats. Through mirror arguments they project their own demagogic desires on to their opponents and, unfortunately, there are always enough people to buy these arguments.

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 11th, 2024

Unfulfilled vision

DAWN
Editorial 

Published August 11, 2024 

THE Quaid-i-Azam’s speech to the Constituent Assembly on Aug 11, 1947, mere days before independence, was a clarion call against the dangers of communalism. Yet, like much of Mr Jinnah’s vision, the governments that came after him did little to translate these lofty goals into reality.

Today, as Pakistan celebrates Minorities’ Day, an honest reckoning is in order to ascertain how and why the state has failed its non-Muslim citizens. Pakistan, as envisioned by its founding father, was to be a state where all communities could live in peace and thrive. Quite the opposite has occurred. While it can be argued that India took the same route after Partition, eventually shedding its secular skin and taking on the violent avatar of Hindutva, on this day we need to focus on where we went wrong.

The current year — like many years before it — has been a difficult one for Pakistan’s minorities. For example, Ahmadis have seen mobs attack their places of worship, while members of this community have also been stopped from engaging in their rituals within their homes. The Christian community has also been targeted by mob violence, fuelled by dubious blasphemy allegations. An ugly bout of anti-Christian violence hit Sargodha in May, bringing back the painful memories of last year’s rampage in Jaranwala.

Meanwhile, the state has been unable end forced conversions and the kidnapping of Hindu girls and women. Much of this is the result of decades of steady radicalisation of society, and the unchecked power that violent extremist groups exercise. The state has, unfortunately, mostly remained a silent spectator as these groups have gained strength, and in some cases, has even used them for its ‘strategic’ ends. The rise of militancy and extremism, and the plight of minorities, are all interlinked, and have contributed to the culture of intolerance that has taken root in the country.

There may, however, still be time to reverse the tide. Ten years ago, in response to suo motu hearings, then chief justice of Pakistan, Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, issued a landmark verdict where the defence of minorities’ rights is concerned. In it, Justice Jillani issued several orders which — if put into practice — could significantly aid the struggle for equal rights for Pakistan’s non-Muslim citizens. These included a dedicated police force to protect non-Muslim worship places, controlling hate speech on social media, and forming a national council on minority rights.

Rights activists continue to demand that such an empowered and autonomous body be created to safeguard minority rights. In his Aug 11 speech, the Quaid reiterated that the government’s “first duty” was to protect the “life, property and religious beliefs of its subjects”. The state needs to do much more than it is at the moment to fulfil this duty.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2024

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE IN PAKISTAN

For more than seven decades, Pakistan and Pakistanis have harboured a unique ability to discriminate against people on every possible metric.

Harris Khalique 

DAWN

Published August 11, 2024 

On August 11, 1947, the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, gave his most important official speech — not to a political gathering, but as the president of the first Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

Almost at the beginning he said: “The Constituent Assembly has got two main functions to perform. The first is the very onerous and responsible task of framing our future constitution of Pakistan, and the second of functioning as a full and complete sovereign body as the Federal Legislature of Pakistan.”

Towards the end of his speech he stated: “…you will find that, in course of time, Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims, not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense, as citizens of the state.”

He reaffirmed his vision for the federal character of the state, where all federating units would have identical stakes, as was first mentioned in the 1940 Lahore Resolution, besides his desire for an equal citizenship for all, irrespective of their personal faith.

Regrettably, since the very early years, the powers that be in Pakistan decided to choose a political course that was opposite to what Jinnah had stated — from the passing of the Objectives Resolution in 1949, which was further tweaked by Gen Ziaul Haq in 1984. On the one hand, Pakistan’s journey since then has been marred by ethnic strife, emanating out of regional disparities and provincial inequities. On the other hand, religious extremism was also encouraged to grow and become uglier with time.

For more than seven decades, Pakistan and Pakistanis have harboured a unique ability to discriminate against people on every possible metric — from their ethnicity, to their religion, sect, social status and caste. As each successive generation continues to internalise these prejudices, are we doomed to remain a bitterly divided country and people?

After 77 years of existence as a country, we see ethnic, provincial, religious and sectarian prejudices being consolidated again. On a regular basis, there are incidents of hate speech and ensuing violence reported from different parts of the country. Political differences have also morphed into bitter animosity, leading to complete intolerance for any political views that may conflict with one’s.

These solidifying prejudices will eventually lead to more extremism and violence in various shapes and forms. Consequently, religious and ethnic minorities in the country are becoming more and more vulnerable with each passing day.

As we approach the country’s 78th Independence Day on August 14, let me take stock of what the Pakistani state and society have done to itself and where we stand today, before moving on to the way forward.

CULTIVATED PREJUDICES

There are many different types of prejudices that the generation today has inherited from the recent or not-so-recent past, which continue to shape our ideas in the present. These prejudices are transmitted to us from our family, teachers, friends, colleagues, peers, politicians and religious clerics. As is the case in Pakistan, many class-based, ethnic, religious and sectarian prejudices are cultivated over time — intentionally or unintentionally — by the misplaced priorities of state policy.

These prejudices have, time and again, led to brutal violence, large scale damage to private and public property, and massive killings in different parts of the country. But a significant portion of our intelligentsia refuses to learn any lessons from them and continues to live in a state of denial.

Let me recount a trivial personal memory, which speaks of a very different kind of prejudice but helps me understand how prejudices are nurtured and then play out. As a 12-year-old, my first brush with a certain ingrained prejudice came along when I was eating with my left hand, although using a fork. My paternal aunt’s husband looked me in the eyes and snubbed me. He brusquely said that those who eat or write with their left hand are followers of Satan and slaves of the West. I became terrified and stopped eating.

By that time, I had read a little bit about the use of the left hand being considered sinister in old cultures of both the orient and the occident. But I learned then how, even in present times, some people can immediately demonstrate contempt for any kind of difference, however minor that may seem.

The incident brought home to me that, when people encounter a person who is simply different, it invokes a feeling in them about something much bigger that they detest — ideology, race, religion or culture.

JUSTIFYING DISCRIMINATION

In 1971, the first major tragedy that struck Pakistan, as a consequence of cultivated ethnic and racial prejudice, was the secession of East Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh — merely 24 years after Pakistan had gained independence from the British.

There are multiple economic and political reasons behind the Bangladeshi state coming into being. But the prejudice cultivated in the then West Pakistan against Bengalis of East Pakistan, soon after independence, helped to shape the minds of common people in West Pakistan to see the Bengalis as traitors.

There were exceptions, of course, but many people in the western wing of the country became blinded by racial prejudice and could not see the linguistic chauvinism of West Pakistan in the name of Urdu — which was partially based on Jinnah’s ill-conceived understanding of the language question in East Pakistan. That was further compounded by the perpetual economic exploitation and the political disenfranchisement of the region.

It took Pakistan nine long years to agree to a constitution of the republic after turning West Pakistani provinces into ‘One-Unit’ and making East Pakistanis agree to the principle of parity when their population was larger than ours. Even that constitution could not last beyond a couple of years, due to the military takeover in 1958.

None other than the first military ruler and self-proclaimed president of the republic, Gen Ayub Khan, summed up this prejudice against Bengalis in parts of the influential West Pakistani intelligentsia, in his autobiography Friends Not Masters.

Besides other derogatory remarks, he says about Bengalis: “Their hot and humid climate puts them at a physical disadvantage and the marshy nature of terrain with poor communications make them exclusive, mother-attached and inward-looking. No wonder they are secretive, unsocial and unpredictable.” Consider that this book was published in 1967 — when Bengalis formed the majority of Pakistanis.

Undoubtedly, there was international interference and Indian military intervention during the 1971 war, but we need to introspect as Pakistanis about our own conduct. Instead of accepting our historic blunders so that we do not commit them again, a part of the Pakistani establishment, assisted by parts of the intelligentsia, continues to employ plausible deniability and churn out propaganda material that only those who generate it consume.

Ironically, they stop short of mentioning the hundreds of thousands of stranded non-Bengali Pakistanis in Dhaka’s Mirpur and Mohammadpur camps who have never been repatriated.

After 77 years of existence as a country, we see ethnic, provincial, religious and sectarian prejudices being consolidated again. On a regular basis, there are incidents of hate speech and ensuing violence reported from different parts of the country. Political differences have also morphed into bitter animosity, leading to complete intolerance for any political views that may conflict with one’s.

VIOLENT VICTIMHOOD

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, ethnic violence swept across Sindh, taking thousands of lives. It was encouraged by the policies of Zia’s martial regime, which helped whip up a deep sense of victimhood in the minds of those who had migrated to Sindh in 1947 from different provinces of what is now India.

We saw the second and third generation immigrants (Mohajirs) organising the Mohajir Qaumi Movement, later renamed Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), an offshoot of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation (APMSO) that was founded in 1978. The party gained immense popularity in the immediate aftermath of the orchestrated Pakhtun-Mohajir riots in Karachi and the Sindhi-Mohajir riots in Hyderabad. The MQM leadership claimed perpetual victimhood and resorted to lethal violence in attacking other ethnic communities, while massively terrorising and killing their own.

Going exactly by the usual playbook of Pakistani politics, the state sponsors of MQM had a falling out with its founding leadership sooner rather than later. It was split within its ranks, besides continuing to be at odds with others. Ruthless urban warfare provided the powers that be with the pretext for launching wide-scale police and military operations in Karachi, resulting in the killings of thousands, including many who were innocent.

The exchange of racist slurs, between MQM workers on the one hand and the largely Punjabi and Pakhtun constabulary fighting them on the other, echoed across low-income Mohajir-dominated neighbourhoods. It was commonplace to find racist graffiti on the walls of the city. A whole generation grew up imbibing those slurs and graffiti.

A mob celebrates after burning Christian houses in Lahore on March 9, 2013 following allegations of blasphemy: the anti-Christian and anti-Hindu sentiment among the majority Muslim community in Pakistan has increased over time | White Star

ALIENATION AND BETRAYAL

The Baloch remain disgruntled since long and bear a strong feeling of alienation from the Pakistani state. It is a direct consequence of strong kinetic means being used by the state apparatus since the beginning, from Jinnah’s hurried accession of the Kalat state, to the times of Gen Ayub and, most importantly, the unmet demand for a fair distribution of resources.

In the 1960s, Ayub had also betrayed the Baloch leader Nawab Nauroze Khan and martyred his sons. A strategy similar to that of Ayub’s has continued since then to settle issues of civil, political and economic rights.

Multiple military operations bringing death and devastation on the Baloch, enforced disappearances of Baloch activists and, above all, persistent interference by the state to manoeuvre local political processes continue to add fuel to the fire. This has also translated into ethnic tensions between the Baloch and others who inhabit the province — particularly those of Punjabi origin.

There are increasing incidents of Punjabi civilians, mostly labour, being attacked or killed. The powers that be have neither learned anything from the past nor do they seem willing to. They still do not see merit in a genuine political dialogue to address the genuine concerns of the Baloch civil resistance. There are reports from places like Lahore and Karachi that Baloch students are picked up randomly, locked up and severely manhandled.

Pakhtun students meet the same fate, particularly if they are seen to be the supporters of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM), primarily a non-violent group. Although Pakhtuns are more integrated into Pakistan’s economy and governance but, as a result of the unending conflict in their region, there are many who feel the same alienation with the state of Pakistan as the Baloch do. The way military operations aimed at culling terrorism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (including the newly merged districts) have been conducted has created a deep mistrust between the citizens and the state.

In recent years, there is also a growing tension being observed between Sindhi and Pakhtun inhabitants of Sindh as well, because of the continued migration of Pakhtuns and Afghans to Sindh from the areas affected by the wars in KP and Afghanistan.

RELIGIOSITY AND SECTARIANISM

The religious and sectarian tensions in Pakistan go as far back as our initial years. The Shia-Sunni riots, which later turned into frequent attacks on Shia processions and worship places, have led to prominent professionals shedding a lot of blood, from Quetta to Parachinar and Gilgit to Karachi, over the past many decades. The Hazara community in Balochistan is doubly jeopardised in terms of their ethnicity and due to predominantly belonging to the Shia sect of Islam. They have faced brutal violence, leaving hundreds dead.

The anti-Christian and anti-Hindu sentiment among the majority Muslim community has also increased over time. Christians, Hindus and, occasionally, Sikhs remain under attack. Their worship places are not safe either. The landmark 2014 Justice Tasadduq Jillani judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, which laid out some tangible measures to protect minorities, is yet to be implemented.

Low-income classes within these communities also face both latent and overt discrimination in accessing education and jobs. Even after quotas have been fixed, according to estimates, about 20,000 positions earmarked for minorities have been kept vacant for the last many years.

The proper census count of non-Muslims in Pakistan remains an outstanding problem. According to them, like transgender persons, they are undercounted. We are also familiar with the issues of forced conversions, particularly of minority girls, and the inhuman treatment meted out to sanitation workers, who are largely Christian from the lowest tier of society.

After the blasphemy laws were made more stringent in the 1980s, all communities have a sword hanging over their heads, due to the frequent misuse of these laws. There is a higher number of Muslims charged with blasphemy, but those belonging to minority communities have a much higher percentage compared to their overall population. Besides, people take the law into their own hands on a regular basis. The discrimination defining society’s attitude towards working class Christians and Hindus is equally based on their lower social class as much as their different faiths.

The first anti-Ahmadiyya riots in Lahore are recorded as early as 1953. That was 21 years before the Ahmadiyya were excommunicated from the sphere of Islam by the Pakistani parliament, during the prime ministership of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Even after their excommunication, the acrimony continues, with tweaking of certain laws, further restricting their religious and community affairs.

This has created an enabling atmosphere for increased attacks on individuals and their worship places and the desecration of their graves. Reportedly, the tombstone of Nobel Laureate Professor Abdus Salam was also vandalised once by some unknown individuals.

Pakistani society is held hostage to religious outfits that preach hate and incite or commit violence from time to time. The organs of the state are either found to be complicit or come up with wishy-washy, ad-hoc and temporary solutions instead of taking the bull of religious extremism by the horns.

A sewerage worker emerges from a sewer in Karachi: the low income classes within non-Muslim communities face both latent and overt discrimination in accessing education and jobs | Zofeen T. Ebrahim


CLASS AND CASTE DISCRIMINATION

In terms of caste and class, not only the majority of our elites but the affluent and not-so-affluent middle classes are anti-poor and caste conscious. We all know Pakistanis boast of being charitable. It is a valuable tradition. Nonetheless, when it comes to any public structural reform to correct the economic imbalance — with social justice and equal opportunities for all — the elite and middle classes immediately resist.

A wide majority of them will grossly underpay their work employees or household help but will distribute food at mosques or shrines. They are against collective bargaining rights for labour, or regulating domestic help, or introducing land reforms, or facilitating the landless peasantry. They also have little interest in creating decent working conditions for miners, fisherfolk and gig workers, to name a few.

State policy is representative of the interests of the elite and the affluent middle class. Here, I reiterate that we have degrees of marginalisation, with an interplay of caste and class. You are marginalised if you are a poor Muslim man. You are more marginalised if you are a poor Muslim woman. You are even more marginalised if you are a poor non-Muslim man. You are most marginalised if you are a poor non-Muslim woman.

EFFECTS ON INDIVIDUAL LIVES

There are a plethora of prejudices Pakistanis seem to hold against each other, in terms of all the possible differences that we espouse. But those of us who are born into the official religion of the state and brought up in a plural environment, with access to education and exposure to the outside world, have a definite social privilege. When we experience some prejudice, we may feel emotionally disturbed for some time, but we remain unaffected in the longer run.

But people who continuously face prejudices on an ethnic or sectarian basis develop their own hardened prejudices in reaction. If viewed from a distance, these prejudices may appear ludicrous. But they play out most viciously in our polity and society.

Put aside for a moment, the major incidents of discrimination and violence based on our prejudices. Imagine the discrimination faced by common people on a daily basis — the constant ridicule, perpetual fear, systematic exclusion and social oppression felt by them. Think about a Christian woman working at a brick kiln, who cannot buy herself a cup of tea if not carrying her own utensil. Or a scheduled caste Hindu farmhand disallowed to drink water from the same tap as others. Or an Ahmadi refused entry into a grocery store. Or a Shia child walking to school and on the way reading graffiti on the walls proclaiming ‘Shia kaafir’ [Shias are unbelievers].

Imagine a woman living with a disability, hearing every other day that she is God’s retribution for the sins committed by her parents, a 10-year-old Pakhtun boy polishing shoes on the streets of a big city instead of being in school and treated like dirt by some of his customers, and a nine-year-old malnourished Punjabi housemaid minding a four-year-old well-fed child.

Imagine the cockiness, the slights, the scorn and the contempt faced by ordinary people due to their caste, class, ethnicity, faith, gender, sexual orientation, complexion or physical disability.

THE WAY FORWARD

When it comes to the rest of the world tackling these issues of discrimination and prejudice at different levels, we see that larger humanity does take a step back at times. But then comes a moment when it takes two steps forward. In Pakistan, we observe a perpetual downward slide, with diminishing hope. What is needed is a major intellectual and material transformation, if the country wants to preclude itself from the looming threats of complete chaos and internecine warfare.

At a societal level, it is necessary for those shaping opinions through the classroom, public space, workplace or media to sensitise people on these issues, so that an attitudinal shift in society is made possible. Primarily, it becomes the responsibility of our artists, writers, teachers and journalists to create an atmosphere in which neither faith, ethnicity, caste or class is used by politicians and clerics to undermine an individual or a group. We have to shun fear, as individuals and as communities of practice.

At a political level, it is the responsibility of none else but the state to look beyond its short term interests and remove any injustices faced by the diverse peoples of Pakistan, from Balochistan to Gilgit-Baltistan, from gender minorities — including the transgender persons — to persons living with disabilities, and those considered deviant by society because they wish to spend their lives differently from how the majority lives.

The distortion of history in our textbooks and mainstream media must immediately stop, through radical curriculum reform and honesty in media discourse. We cannot have a glorious future if we insist on inventing a glorious past that never was. We committed major wrongs that we are bound to repeat if they are glossed over by a fictitious narrative of greatness — that develops a false pride and obstinate self-righteousness.

Immediate practical steps will only mean adherence to the 1973 constitution and the respect it accords to the ideal of federalism, where all provinces (federating units) are equal, abiding by the trichotomy of power between legislature, judiciary and executive. This means not abrogating but strengthening the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which allocates due powers to the federating units/provinces. Additionally, the upholding of equal citizenship for all faiths has to be ensured — beginning with the implementation of the 2014 Justice Tasadduq Jilani judgement of the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

If we wish to move forward, every citizen’s rights and freedoms must be guaranteed, all faiths equally respected, all languages promoted and equal economic opportunities provided to citizens by the state. This is all that is already enshrined in the 1973 constitution — nothing new.

Otherwise, our prejudices — particularly ethnic and religious — will mutate into even worse forms. We will carry on producing confused, ignorant, chauvinistic and lopsided individuals who collectively shape an intolerant, fragmented, agitated and violent society.

Header image: Illustration by Abro

The writer is a poet, essayist and the Secretary General of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Published in Dawn, EOS, August 11th, 2024

After Bangladeshi Hindus gather on streets, Muhammad Yunus calls attack against minorities 'heinous'

Yunus asked the student protesters, 'Are they not the people of this country?'

 By Sarah Sebastian Updated: August 11, 2024 

Muhammad Yunus urged leaders of student protesters to protect the minorities | AFP

After thousands of members of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh protested against the violence against the communuity following former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's ouster, Muhammad Yunus, head of the interim governemt, condemned the attacks as "heinous".

The Nobel laureate urged the student protesters to protect all minority communities, including Hindu, Christian and Buddhists, from being targeted. "Are they not the people of this country? You have been able to save the country. Can't you save some families?" he asked the student protesters.

"You must say: No one can harm them. They are my brothers; we fought together, and we will stay together," Yunus added.

He warned that the attacks targeting Hindus and other minorities could be a sabotage by those seeking to undermine their progress. "There are many standing by to make your efforts futile. Don't fall this time,” Yunus told the students.

The protesters raised slogans urging Yunus as well as the media and citizen to protect the minorities. Some of the slogans were "Who are you? Who am I? Bengali, Bengali!" and "None of us are free until all of us are free".

Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad President Nirmal Rosario sent an open letter to Yunus as he said, "We stay up all night guarding our homes and temples. I have never witnessed such events in my life. We demand that the administration restore communal harmony in the country."

Reports pegged the number of attacks to at least 205. At least two Hindu leaders of the Awami League party have been killed in the violence. Several Hindu homes, temples and businesses have been vandalised.

Meanhwile, the police department in the country have ordered formation of citizen security committees in every police station limit to restore operations of the law enforcement authorities and maintain law and order. This comes in the wake of unchecked violence, theft, robbery and hijacking across the country.

Political, not communal: Misinformation runs rife in India over attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

At least 2 Hindus have been killed in the social upheaval that erupted in Bangladesh after nationwide protests unseated former Premier Sheikh Hasina earlier this month

Faisal Mahmud |10.08.2024 - TRT/AA


Muslim community guards a hindu temple to protect minority hindus amid turbulent times after the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on August 08, 2024 in Barishal, Bangladesh.

- Many Indian media outlets have falsely portrayed the violence against Hindus as religiously motivated, despite findings that victims were supporters of Hasina's Awami League, which indicates that the victims were targeted for political, not communal, reasons

- Groups that spearheaded the unrest against Hasina have taken action to protect minorities in Bangladesh, including by maintaining vigils in front of Hindu temples and demonstrating against the violence and vandalism

DHAKA, Bangladesh

Social unrest swept through Bangladesh following the resignation and flight of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month.

In the upheaval, several instances of violence against the South Asian nation's minority Hindu community have taken place, resulting in at least two dead after being targeted by mobs.

According to a minority rights group called the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddhist-Christian Unity Council, Hindu homes, businesses, and temples have been targeted in incidents of vandalism and looting across 29 districts.

Meanwhile, the daily Prothom Alo has highlighted such attacks in at least 12 districts, with these events being widely shared on social media in India.

Despite evidence indicating that much of the violence against Hindu households was politically motivated, many Indian media outlets reported the incidents as communal attacks, running sensational headlines, unverified information, rumors, and provocative language.

Indian media outlet Republic Bangla, for instance, published a story titled "Hindu Shunno Bangladesh Ashonka (Apprehension of a Hindu-free Bangaldesh)" suggesting that Hindu homes were targeted with the aim of driving minorities out of the South Asian country.

A 50-minute documentary by Republic Bangla showed several households being attacked, with the network claiming that the dwellings belonged to Hindus and suggesting that the incidents were religiously motivated.

However, Anadolu’s independent verification revealed that at least one of the houses belonged to a Muslim and another to a Hindu politician affiliated with Hasina’s Awami League, and attacked due to its association with the former premier's political party.

In another example of false and potentially provocative reporting, a video circulating on X claimed that an attack had taken place against the Hindu Navagraha Temple in southeastern Chattogram. However, the footage actually depicted a fire at a nearby political office, not the temple. This misinformation was also propagated by Indian broadcaster Republic TV. The temple remains intact, as confirmed by its caretaker to Anadolu.

Many of the videos containting misinformation were posted on X with hashtags like #AllEyesOnBangladeshiHindus, which have gained traction following the recent events in Bangladesh.

A video posted on X on Aug. 7 showed the burning of a shop, allegedly Hindu-owned, with individuals attempting to salvage goods from the flames. According to X, the account that shared it was managed from India.

Indian media outlet Sudarshan News also reported on the footage, portraying it as an attack on Hindus. However, DismissLab, an independent fact-checking organization based in Bangladesh, said the video was not recent.

The original video depicts a fire from July in the eastern village of Maju Chowdhury Hat, where 15 shops were razed. This indicates that although the specific cause of the fire is not known, it happened before Sheikh Hasina's resignation and was not the result of communal violence.

False identity and false claims

Another post on X falsely claimed that the house of Liton Das, a prominent Bangladeshi Hindu cricketer, had been set on fire, presenting a collage of two images as evidence. One image showed a young man sitting near a Hindu place of worship, while the other shows a burning home.

The post received over a million views and has been shared by many accounts with similar claims. While the man in the first image is indeed Liton Das, a reverse image search by German public broadcaster DW's fact-checking team revealed that the burning house was not his residence.

Instead, it was linked to reports of former Bangladesh cricket captain Mashrafe Mortaza's house being burned by protesters.

Social media footage and images verified by Al Jazeera's fact-checking agency Sanad show students safeguarding Hindu temples and other places of worship, including in Chittagong, the country's second-largest city.

Russell Ahmed, a coordinator at Chittagong University, told the Bangla Tribune newspaper, "Miscreants are intentionally targeting various public and private institutions to discredit the students' movement."

Indian broadcaster NDTV reported that a violent mob attacked Bangladeshi singer Rahul Ananda's ancestral home in Dhanmondi, Dhaka, setting fire to his musical instruments and furniture. Ananda's family managed to escape the attack.

The musician's folk band, Joler Gaan, posted a video of their last recording in the now-damaged room, calling the blaze a "fire of rage and revenge."

Journalist Muktadir Rashid visited Ananda's residence and told Anadolu that it was situated within the compound of the Centre for Research and Information (CRI), a major think tank affiliated with the Awami League. The location of Ananda's house near the CRI building seems to be the reason for the attack.

Gobinda Pramanik, president of the Bangladesh National Hindu Grand Alliance, told Anadolu that, to his knowledge, no Hindu households that were not connected to Hasina's Awami League were attacked.

"These attacks were politically motivated, rather than religiously driven, and the way some Indian media are falsely portraying these incidents as attacks on the Hindu community is concerning," he said.

Protecting minorities

Student leaders who spearheaded the recent mass protests against Hasina have urged their supporters to protect Hindu temples and churches. This appeal comes amid concerns from diplomats and human rights organizations on reports of attacks on minority groups following the prime minister's resignation during the nationwide unrest.

Bangladesh's Jamaat-e-Islami (BJI) political party on Wednesday said a number of attacks on religious minorities, including vandalism, looting, and arson had occurred. The party strongly condemned these acts, underscoring equal rights for all citizens in a call for national unity.

To ensure the safety of Hindu and other minority religious sites throughout the country, students have been maintaining overnight vigils at various locations. In front of the Dhakeshwari temple in the capital Dhaka, Shahadat Ul Islam, a student from a madrasa, or Islamic seminary, stood tall last Thursday night along with several others. "We are keeping vigilance here so that no one can harm our Hindu brothers," said Islam.

Jahir Uddin Swapan, advisor to the chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), told Anadolu that efforts by some Indian media to depict Bangladesh as a communal nation are "ludicrous." He accused the outlets of trying to impose their own communal perspectives on others and emphasized that in Bangladesh, many Muslims are stepping forward to ensure the safety of minorities.

Swapan also pointed out that the Indian media misunderstood the scale of the student and public movement, mischaracterizing it as a conspiracy by Pakistan's intelligence agency ISI or political opponents of Bangladesh. He urged Indian media to send reporters to witness the situation firsthand and understand what has truly transpired.

Meanwhile, the first reported attempt to infiltrate India from Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina's departure occurred when around 500 individuals from the country tried to cross the border through the Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal. India's Border Security Force, which has been on high alert along the Bangladeshi border since Monday, thwarted the attempt.

On Thursday, the Indian far-right Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) appealed to New Delhi to protect Hindus in violence-hit Bangladesh amid the ongoing unrest and to prevent "jihadis" posing as refugees from entering the country.

Rajesh Jain, VHP secretary in the western state of Madhya Bharat, urged Indian authorities to take all necessary steps to safeguard Hindus in Bangladesh. He stressed the importance of ensuring the safety of Hindus, who he said were particularly vulnerable in the neighboring country.

In Dhaka, hundreds demonstrated on Friday against the escalating violence aimed at the country's Hindu minority, chanting slogans promoting "unity and peace," and some carried signs urging the "protection of minorities."

Meanwhile, in response to the violence targeting the minority Hindu community in Bangladesh, a spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres emphasized his strong stance against racially motivated attacks and incitement to violence.

Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesperson for Guterres, stated on Thursday, "We have made it clear that we want to see an end to the recent violence in Bangladesh. We firmly oppose any attacks or incitement based on race or ethnicity."

UN approves landmark controversial cybercrime treaty


By Théophane Hartmann | Euractiv 
Aug 9, 2024

One clause Iran attempted to delete read that "nothing in this Convention shall be interpreted as permitting suppression of human rights or fundamental freedoms," such as "freedoms of expression, conscience, opinion, religion or belief." 

[Osugi / Shutterstock]



The United Nations Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime approved on Thursday (8 August) a first-ever treaty aimed at combating cybercrime, a controversial text opposed by digital rights organisations and big tech companies.

The Convention Against Cybercrime was initiated by Russia in 2017, and the text has since made progress despite EU and US opposition.

Negotiations took three years, following delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The text is aimed at enhancing global efforts in tackling cybercrime, particularly in areas like child sexual abuse imagery and money laundering.

The convention will now go through a vote in the UN General Assembly in Autumn and should enter into force once ratified by at least 40 UN member states.

This convention could become the first international convention on cybercrime. All EU member states are already parties to the 2001 Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, except Ireland, which has signed but not yet ratified it. The text was negotiated within the framework of the Council of Europe.

Deputy Director of Human Rights Watch Deborah Brown warned on X, that the convention’s adoption by UN member states comes “despite stark warnings”, from leading human rights experts, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, over 100 NGOs, and industry.

“Unfortunately, [the treaty] was adopted today,” Nick Ashton-Hart wrote on X, who heads the Cybersecurity Tech Accord delegation representing over 100 technology companies, including HP, Meta and Microsoft. Adding in a second post that, “delegates failed to address even one of the shortcomings the [Office of the High Commissioner for] Human Rights has identified.”

NGOs and big tech fear that the treaty could be misused as a tool for state surveillance.

“This treaty is effectively a legal instrument of repression,” Brown reportedly told AFP, because, “it can be used to crack down on journalists, activists, LGBT people, free thinkers, and others across borders.”

Key to fears of misuse by authoritarian regimes, is the provision allowing a state to ask foreign authorities for any electronic evidence to a crime, should the crime be punishable by at least four years of imprisonment under domestic law. States could also request data from internet service providers.

Conversely, Iran sought to eliminate several provisions safeguarding fundamental freedoms before the Convention’s adoption on Thursday, but their efforts were decisively rejected in a series of overwhelming votes.

One clause Iran attempted to delete read that “nothing in this Convention shall be interpreted as permitting suppression of human rights or fundamental freedoms,” such as “freedoms of expression, conscience, opinion, religion or belief.”

This particular request was rejected with 102 votes against and 23 in favour from states including; India, Libya, North-Korea, Russia, Sudan, Syria, and Venezuela.

“We fully share the position of the Egyptian, Iranian, Pakistani, Vietnamese, and Mauritanian delegations that the treaty is oversaturated with human rights safeguards,” the Russian Federation wrote in a document, on 30 July, despite the country being a long-established supporter of the convention.

It considered that these safeguards “would lead to an excessive use by certain states of the opportunities to reject requests for legal assistance.”

After years of negotiations, member states represented in the Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime unanimously supported the text.

[Edited by Rajnish Singh]

UN Cybercrime Convention in limbo as civil society, industry want rejection

The Russia-initiated United Nations Cybercrime Convention was due to conclude on Friday (9 February) but lack of consensus on the scope and terminology has prompted civil society to call for the rejection of the Convention in its current form.

Russian oligarch under fire for rare anti-war comments


Euractiv.com with Reuters
Aug 9, 2024


The founder of the mining company RUSAL, Russian billionaire and industrialist Oleg Deripaska, attends a meeting of Russian President Putin with Indian Prime Minister Modi at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, 9 July 2024. [EPA-EFE/SERGEI ILNITSKY]
 Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>>

Russian billionaire Oleg Deripaska came under attack from supporters of the war in Ukraine on Friday (9 August) after making a rare anti-war statement in which he described the conflict as “mad” and called for a ceasefire without pre-conditions.

Deripaska made the comment in an interview with Nikkei Asia in Japan this week on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Business Advisory Council meeting, where he officially represented Russia.

Nikkei Asia said he criticised his country’s defence spending and called for an “immediate, unconditional ceasefire” in Ukraine, saying: “If you want to stop the war, first you need to stop the fire.”

The reported comments marked the strongest criticism of the war by any powerful businessman still remaining in Russia since the start of the conflict in February 2022.

“Previously, Deripaska’s position on the special military operation was ambiguous. Now he has made his stance clear. He is on the other side,” said philosopher Alexander Dugin, widely seen as one of the key ideologists of the war.

“This is a stab in the back to our forces, and assistance to the Ukrainian army terrorists who have invaded the Kursk region,” Dugin added in a statement posted on his Telegram channel.

Representatives for Deripaska did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Deripaska branched out into metals trading as the Soviet Union crumbled, making a fortune by buying up stakes in aluminium factories. Forbes ranked his fortune in 2024 at $2.8 billion.

In his latest reported comments he went further than in 2022, when he called for peace in Ukraine and cast the war as a tragedy for both the Russian and Ukrainian people.

Deripaska has been under sanctions by the United States since 2018 and has tried to legally challenge them in US courts. He has been under European Union and British sanctions since 2022. He called sanctions “a 19th-century instrument” and said they were inefficient.

Zelenskyy suggests moves towards banning Orthodox church with Moscow ties

Aug 10, 2024

A general view of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery in Kyiv, Ukraine, 19 October 2023. The Ukrainian Parliament (Verkhovna Rada) on 19 October passed at first reading a bill on banning the activities of religious organizations associated with the Russian Orthodox Church (ROC) in Ukraine. [EPA-EFE/OLEG PETRASYUK]

 Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>>

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged on Saturday (10 August) to “strengthen our Ukrainian spiritual independence”, suggesting that the country’s leadership was moving towards effectively banning the branch of the Orthodox Church that has links to Moscow.

A majority of Ukrainians are Orthodox Christians, but the faith is split into one branch with traditional links to the Russian Orthodox church and an independent church, recognised by the world Orthodox hierarchy since 2019.

Ukraine Orthodox Church obtains independence from Moscow

The spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians worldwide on Sunday (6 January) presented the head of the Ukrainian church with a decree granting it independence from Moscow, a historic split strongly opposed by Russia

Membership of the independent church loyal to the Kyiv patriarchate has swelled since Russian troops invaded Ukraine in February 2022. But the minority Moscow-linked church retains influence and Ukrainian leaders accuse it of abetting the invasion and trying to poison public opinion.

“I have just held a meeting — a preparatory one — regarding a decision that will strengthen our Ukrainian spiritual independence,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.

“We must deprive Moscow of the last opportunities to restrict the freedom of Ukrainians. And the decisions for this must be 100% effective. We will ensure that.”

Parliament last year gave initial approval to a bill that would have outlawed the activities of religious organisations affiliated with centres of influence “in a state that carries out armed aggression against Ukraine”.

But an attempt last month to introduce a draft to secure final approval failed and the legislation remains in abeyance.

The minority church says that after the invasion it cut all its links with the Russian Orthodox Church, an unabashed supporter of the Kremlin’s war. Ukrainian leaders dispute that contention.

Criminal proceedings, including treason charges, have been launched against dozens of their clerics. At least one cleric has been sent to Russia as part of a prisoner swap.

Some Ukrainian lawmakers have also expressed fears that the legislation could meet opposition from conservative Republicans in the United States, Ukraine’s biggest Western backer, on grounds that it restricts religious freedom.

This is the nightmare reality of giving birth in Gaza

From self-inducing labour to C-sections performed with gloves, antiseptic wipes and a knife, expectant mothers face a horrifying time

Dr Raghda, a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology in Gaza, says she has witnessed horrific scenes she wishes she could forget (Photo: Sacha Myers/Save the Children)

By Lauren Crosby Medlicott
August 11, 2024

When Tima* found out she was pregnant with her second child in July 2023, she was beaming with happiness as she decorated a nursery, thinking about all the ways she would spoil her new baby.

“I thought we’d be able to buy nice clothes and the best food,” the 26-year-old living in Gaza Strip told the i Paper.

Months later the war in Gaza broke out, and everything changed.

While still pregnant, Tima and her family were displaced multiple times as fighting spread across the Gaza Strip.

“One of the nights in a greenhouse was the worst,” she said. “There were strikes and shootings and everything was coming through the plastic of the greenhouse.”

She sourced drinking water from trucks or small tanks but said the water was poor quality. Her 19-month-old son had already become sick after drinking it. Unable to eat healthily or take vitamins, she often worried about the impact of her lack of nutrition on herself and her baby.

“My pregnancy was so difficult,” she said. “I had back pain because we have to do everything on the ground – cooking, washing, sleeping. It was tough being pregnant during a war.”

Tima* with her daughter, Lana*, who arrived on 26 April 2024 in Gaza (Photo: Sacha Myers/Save the Children)

Tima went on to give birth to her daughter without complications in late April 2024, and the baby was healthy when they left. However, three days afterwards, the baby developed a fever, refused to breastfeed and had blood coming from her umbilical cord. She was admitted to hospital with sepsis, contracted through an infection of the umbilical cord due to the unhygienic conditions in al-Mawasi, a coastal area in the south of Gaza near Khan Yunis designated a humanitarian zone by Israel. Sepsis is common in places with poor hygiene and a lack of clean water.

Both Tima and her daughter are safe for now, but many pregnant and birthing mothers and their babies displaced throughout Gaza are not.

An estimated 50,000 babies have been born in Gaza over nine months of conflict, with many women giving birth in traumatic, unhygienic and undignified conditions without access to basic services.

According to the charity Save the Children, many women in Gaza are scared to seek vital pre-natal care because of fears of bombing. Some have lost their lives due to a lack of access to doctors and medical treatment.

“The Gaza we see today is no place for a child to be born,” Rachel Cummings, Save the Children’s team leader for Gaza, told i. “We know that prolonged exposure to stress and trauma coupled with substandard medical facilities can lead to premature labour and death of newborns.

“Any woman who has become pregnant during this time will have only known fear, trauma, deprivation and displacement. Any mother who has given birth will have done so lacking the critical support all women need to deliver safely. And any baby born – who manages to survive these conditions – will only have known war.”

Some women are self-inducing labour so it happens at a chosen time to avoid giving birth while on the move.

Sharifa Khan, a midwife in Gaza, told i: “We’ve seen the continuous stress and misery taking a toll on women, with some making drastic choices such as self-inducing labour using medication out of fear they might lose their babies if they have to flee again for survival.”

One mother who was supported by Ms Khan’s team was rushed to the maternity unit with “serious obstetric complications after self-medicating before term”.

“The medication caused her uterus to overstretch and rupture, leading to severe bleeding and a distressed foetus,” Ms Khan said. “While the team was able to manage the case, had the mother been delayed by just a few minutes in reaching the maternity unit, the baby’s life could have been lost or the baby could have been born with disabilities due to prolonged lack of circulation. The woman might have lost her life too.”

Even when women do not induce their own labour through dangerous methods, they and their babies are still at risk due to the stress of displacement and war, lack of water and clean spaces, and scarce medical care.

After the bombing of Gaza began in October following the Hamas attacks on Israel, Dr Raghda, a doctor of obstetrics and gynaecology based in Gaza, spent countless days with no breaks treating women and their new babies. During the months of war, she has witnessed horrific scenes she wishes she could forget.

“[I was told] we had a pregnant patient, so I immediately examined her and saw she was almost full term,” she told i. “When she was brought into the hospital she had a weak pulse. Two minutes before I arrived, she’d had a heart attack. We decided to do a C-section to try and save the baby and the mother. I only had gloves, an antiseptic wipe and a knife. The baby was a girl and she was about 33 weeks.”

The mother’s bowel was outside her body and her abdomen was full of blood. The woman did not survive.

Another patient of Dr Raghda had just given birth when fighting broke out around the hospital. The new mother had a post-birth haemorrhage, but “was forced to walk out of the hospital carrying her newborn, and all the tubes coming out of her”, Dr Raghda said. “We need this nightmare to end. These people don’t deserve this.”

The only solution for pregnant and new mothers and their babies, according to Ms Cummings, is an immediate and definitive ceasefire.

“It’s the only way to save lives in Gaza and end the relentless, serious violations of children’s rights,” she concluded. “There is no alternative.”

*name changed for the person’s safety

ANTI ABORTION LAW  IN POLAND

Euroviews. Deadly consequences of far-right's policies should end thoughts of cooperation for EU politicians

Copyright AP Photo/Euronews

By Barbara Skrobol
Published on 06/08/2024 -

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent in any way the editorial position of Euronews.

Right now, by drawing a red line against any future deals with the far right, President von der Leyen can make one of the most decisive steps to ensure the EU stands firm for all Europeans, Barbara Skrobol writes.

Izabela Sajbor, my sister-in-law, was just 30 years old when, at 22 weeks pregnant, she found herself in a hospital bed.

Surrounded by doctors who refused to act due to the stringent abortion laws enacted under the far-right Law and Justice (PiS) government, Izabela died from septic shock 24 hours later, leaving behind a 9-year-old daughter and a grieving family. She is believed to be the first known victim of Poland's abortion ban.

Izabela’s death sparked protests across Poland against the misogynist laws of the PiS government under the slogan “Not a single woman more”.

The official investigation blamed medical malpractice. Which is partly true — there were medical errors.

But most of all, I believe that the change in abortion law influenced the doctors' decision, ultimately leading to my sister-in-law’s death.

This tragedy is a reminder of the dangers posed by far-right politics, which prioritise ideology over human life, of the ways the political becomes personal.
We came to Brussels to share our stories

Our story is not unique. Across Europe, wherever the far right gets into power, we see attacks on families, wars on women, and the shredding of personal freedoms and choices.


The makeup of the new European Parliament will worry people across Europe who traditionally bear the brunt of far-right power.

As Euronews put it, the new Parliament is “more right wing, with fewer women”. New hard-right groupings include Viktor Orban’s and Marine Le Pen’s Patriots for Europe with 84 seats and the AfD-led Europe of Sovereign Nations with 25 seats may not have seized control, but they will now have enough traction to make it all too tempting to make deals with them.

A recent delegation to Brussels of victims of the far right, in which I took part, came to warn centre and left parties not to cosy up to the ultra-right. We all had our stories to tell.

Members of European Parliament enter the plenary chamber as they prepare to vote at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 18 July 2024AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

But normalising these parties would be a huge mistake for a Europe that is attempting to lead the world as a model of liberal democracy.

A recent delegation to Brussels of victims of the far right, in which I took part, came to warn centre and left parties not to cosy up to the ultra-right. We all had our stories to tell.

In Hungary, a children's book editor witnessed far-right MPs tearing up pages at a press conference, reminiscent of Nazi book burnings. Orbán's government later banned the depiction of gay people in educational materials and TV shows for under-18s, a move condemned as a violation of children's rights.

Women's rights groups protest against abortion law in Poland

In Italy, two lesbian mothers face a legal battle to keep both their names on their child's birth certificate, following Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's directive to stop registering same-sex parents' children. If they lose, one mother could lose her parental rights overnight, a heartbreaking prospect for any family.

And then there was the tragedy of my sister-in-law.

It's people who bear the scars of governance

These stories expose the ugly face of the far-right, and they are why I have joined a group of survivors from different countries to warn politicians and people alike of how dangerous they are.

Our group is diverse — but each of us bears the scars of far-right governance. We include LGBTQ+ individuals who have been attacked for who we love or who we are, parents who fear losing the right to parent their children together, and an editor fighting for free speech.

Right now, by drawing a red line against any future deals with the far right, President von der Leyen can make one of the most decisive steps to ensure the EU stands firm for all Europeans.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen takes her seat in the plenary at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, 18 July 2024

AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias

First and foremost, we are just ordinary people who want to live our lives and love our families. But every day is a fight because of the far right.

Although von der Leyen has so far avoided any alliances with the far right, there is still a danger. Analysis has shown that, including the centre-right EPP, every committee in the European Parliament will have a right-wing majority (except for the Committee on Women).

Centre-right EPP grabs key jobs in first Parliament allotment

Male MEPs over-represented in EU committees, warns European Women's Lobby

This is significant. Committees have a huge influence. And the temptation for the EPP and Meloni’s ECR may well be to align with the harder right on upcoming issues where their views align.
Lived realities of countless others across Europe

The simple fact is the far right offers false solutions to the real problems facing Europeans — problems such as rising food prices, housing shortages, and failing public services.

Instead, they thrive on division and scapegoating. They will erode our freedoms, attack our families, and undermine democracy. These are not abstract fears; they are the lived realities of people like me, my family, and countless others across Europe.

Right now, by drawing a red line against any future deals with the far right, President von der Leyen can make one of the most decisive steps to ensure the EU stands firm for all Europeans.

Let Izabela's tragic death not be in vain. Not one more life should be lost to the cruel and oppressive policies of the far-right. Stand with us, and together, we can safeguard the future of Europe for all its citizens.

Barbara Skrobol is the sister-in-law of Izabela Sajbor, the first known victim of the de facto abortion ban in Poland.

Demonstrators in Mallorca protest high costs of housing and saturated public services

Copyright TVE vía EBU/Euronews
By Euronews with AP
Published on 11/08/2024 -

A new wave of protests took place in Mallorca as locals demand action against the growing impact of mass tourism on the Balearic Islands. 

On Sunday, demonstrators from the “Occupem Les Nostres Platges” also known as "Occupy Our Beaches" movement gathered at the popular Balneario 6 area of S'Arenal beach in Palma.

More than 100 protesters laid out their towels and took a symbolic dip in the sea, calling for stricter limits on tourism and solutions to the problems it causes, such as overcrowded public services and the rise of housing costs.
Mass tourism in Spain: drowning the Balearic Islands?

Demonstrators expressed their frustration with the saturation of their island by foreign tourists. One young woman among the protesters said, "We have come here to demand that residents should be able to enjoy our beaches, which nowadays are only enjoyed by tourists."

The protest comes as Mallorca faces a massive influx of tourists each summer. The effects of this surge in visitors are felt not only on the island's beaches but also in its cities, on its roads, and within its public services.

Protest signs on the Baleario 6 beach.LUSA

Another protester, highlighted the broader consequences of mass tourism, "From the disappearance of local culture, the increasing cost of living, the impossibility to live here, and the worsening of public services, many tourists understand this because they are aware of what it means in their home places."

Last year alone, the Balearic Islands saw a record-breaking 14 million foreign visitors. This year, the trend shows no signs of slowing down, with more than six million tourists arriving even before the summer season, marking an 8% increase compared to 2023.

In response, the Balearic Government has created a joint committee with representatives from the tourism sector and civil society to work on ways to curb the impact of tourism.

Measures being implemented include enhanced controls against illegal tourist accommodations, with 27 new inspectors and fines reaching up to 80,000 euros for violations.