Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Modi Led Hindutva Politics: A Threat To Indian Citizenship – OpEd

By 

Mr. Narendra Damodardas Modi, serving as the 14th Prime Minister of India, has successfully completed two terms in office and is now seeking re-election for a third term in the forthcoming 18th Lok Sabha elections. Widely recognised as a prominent figure in Hindutva politics, Modi is often viewed as the face of a political ideology marked by division and animosity. Throughout his tenure, Modi has been disseminating misleading information to sway public opinion in his favour. One of the most contentious aspects of his leadership has been his portrayal of Indian Muslims as outsiders or “intruders.” This rhetoric not only underscores his divisive approach but also exacerbates religious tensions, leading to increased polarisation and communal strife in the country. Such divisive tactics not only undermine the unity of India but also pose a threat to its secular fabric and citizenship rights.

Modi’s policies and governance have often been evident for marginalising minorities, lower castes, and the working classes. This marginalisation can be traced back to the core principles of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is deeply influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organisation espousing a racist Eurocentric ideology. The RSS’s emphasis on cultural nationalism and its hierarchical view of society have shaped the BJP’s approach, leading to policies that often neglect the rights and welfare of marginalised communities.

Modi’s past remarks about Indian Muslims, first likening them to “puppies” and now branding them as “intruders,” offer a telling insight into the nature of Hindutva politics rather than merely reflecting on Modi’s personal beliefs. These comments indicate a troubling tendency to overlook and undermine the secular and inclusive principles that are at the heart of India’s Constitution.

Indian Muslims have been an integral part of the country’s fabric, actively participating in its democratic processes and contributing significantly to its growth and progress. They have made invaluable contributions across various fields such as social work, science, education, history, culture, religion, language, and literature. Their role in India’s anti-colonial struggles and nation-building efforts has been substantial, often involving sacrifices that have helped shape the nation’s identity, ethos and destiny. Hindutva political forces collaborated with British colonialism in their aim to create a Hindu Rashtra. In contrast, anti-colonial Muslim leaders not only participated and sacrificed their lives but also helped shape India’s secular and scientific ethos as a modern constitutional democracy.

By branding Indian Muslims as “intruders,” Mr. Modi not only undermines the sanctity of the Indian Constitution but also negates the rich tapestry of contributions that Muslims have made to India’s diverse heritage. Such rhetoric not only threatens to erode the concept of Indian citizenship but also perpetuates a divisive narrative that undermines national unity. Moreover, Modi’s statements are deeply offensive to all Indians who uphold the principles of equality, secularism, and the rights enshrined in the Constitution. Modi and his Hindutva forces send a message that contradicts the inclusive vision of India as a pluralistic society where every citizen, regardless of their religious or cultural background, has an equal stake and contribution to make in the deepening of Indian democracy. Muslims are as much shareholders of Indian democracy as any other citizens of India.

In essence, Mr. Modi’s remarks reflect a broader Hindutva challenge to India’s foundational values and principles. The Hindutva ideology is a foreign import that has intruded into the fabric of Indian politics, society, and culture. While claiming to represent authentic Indian values, its ethnonationalistic tendencies and focus on religious and ethnic identity have more in common with European ideologies than with India’s rich and diverse history, society, and culture. Rather than drawing from India’s pluralistic traditions and composite culture, Hindutva’s roots can be traced back to European concepts of ethnonationalism, religious nationalism and racialised democracy. This imported ideology of Hindutva politics has sought to redefine Indian pluralistic identity in narrow, exclusionary terms, often at the expense of religious and cultural minorities.

Historically, there are parallels between Hindutva and the ideologies that emerged in Europe during the early 20th century. One of the most striking comparisons can be drawn with Nazi Germany, where ethnonationalism and religious intolerance were central tenets of the regime. The ideology of Adolf Hitler, with its emphasis on racial purity, scapegoating of minorities, and use of fear and hatred to mobilise the masses, seems to provide a blueprint for Hindutva political practices in India. In both cases, fear and hatred are employed as powerful tools to manipulate public opinion and garner electoral support. The Hindutva ideology can be seen as a true intruder in Indian politics, society, and culture, drawing inspiration from European ethnonationalism rather than India’s own rich traditions. Its reliance on fear, hatred, and divisive tactics undermines the principles of secularism, pluralism, and unity that are integral to India’s democratic ethos.

By stoking communal tensions and promoting a divisive agenda, Hindutva politicians seek to consolidate their power base and rally support among certain segments of the population. This approach not only undermines India’s secular and democratic principles but also threatens to unravel the country’s social fabric by fostering mistrust and animosity among its diverse communities. It’s crucial to recognise that such divisive ideologies are antithetical to the pluralistic ethos that has been a hallmark of Indian civilisation for centuries. India’s strength lies in its diversity, and any attempt to impose a monolithic vision of identity runs counter to the country’s democratic values and inclusive heritage.

The tactics employed by Hindutva politics, including its anti-Muslim propaganda and diversionary strategies, serve multiple purposes for its proponents. First, these tactics serve to distract from the ideological shortcomings and lack of substantive policy achievements within the Hindutva framework. By focusing public attention on divisive issues and fostering communal tensions, Hindutva leaders like Mr Modi can deflect scrutiny from their governance failures and policy inadequacies. Secondly, by creating a climate of fear and suspicion, Hindutva politics seeks to consolidate its voter base by appealing to religious and ethnic identities. This strategy aims to rally support among certain segments of the population by portraying minorities, particularly Muslims, as the ‘other’ or as threats to national identity and security.

However, in the long run, such divisive politics by Hindutva forces have detrimental effects on both India and its people. Firstly, it undermines the social fabric of the country by fostering mistrust and animosity among its diverse communities. India’s strength has always been its pluralistic ethos, which celebrates its rich cultural, linguistic, and religious diversity. Hindutva’s divisive agenda threatens to erode this diversity by promoting a narrow and exclusionary vision of Indian identity. Secondly, the focus on divisive issues and religious polarisation detracts from addressing the real challenges facing the country, such as economic development, social inequality, and progressive governance reforms. By prioritising dominant identity politics over issues that affect the daily lives of ordinary citizens, Hindutva politics hampers India’s progress and development. Lastly, the international perception of India as a secular and democratic nation is also at risk due to Hindutva’s divisive agenda.

Therefore, Hindutva politics may offer short-term electoral gains by exploiting religious and ethnic divisions, its long-term consequences are detrimental to India’s unity, progress, and international standing. By prioritising divisive tactics over inclusive governance, Hindutva weakens the fabric of Indian society and undermines the democratic values that are integral to India’s identity. Mr. Modi’s bid for a third term is a continuation of his divisive Hindutva politics, characterised by misinformation, religious polarisation, and marginalisation of vulnerable groups. His leadership style and policies reflect the broader ideological framework of the BJP, influenced by the RSS’s racist Eurocentric worldview, which prioritises certain segments of society at the expense of others.

The 18th Lok Sabha elections in India present an opportunity to mend the fractured republic led by the Hindutva figurehead, Modi. The crisis facing Indian democracy under Hindutva politics highlights the urgent need for political transformation to uphold the principles of secularism and inclusivity that are fundamental to India’s democratic values. Instead of employing divisive tactics that marginalise communities based on religion or ethnicity, it’s crucial to nurture unity. It is time to defeat Modi, BJP, and RSS to steer India away from a destructive path politically, socially, culturally, religiously, and economically. Progress and prosperity in India depend on secular solidarity.


Bhabani Shankar Nayak works as Professor of Business Management, 
Guildhall School of Business and Law, London Metropolitan University, UK.

HINDUTVA IS FASCISM

Modi accused of using hate speech for calling Muslims 'infiltrators'

Remarks by India's Prime Minister at a campaign rally on Sunday drew fierce criticism that he was peddling anti-Muslim tropes


The Associated Press
Krutika Pathi
Published Apr 23, 2024 •
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi listens to Bharatiya Janata Party President JP Nadda speak during an event organized to release their party's manifesto for the upcoming national parliamentary elections in New Delhi on April 14.
 PHOTO BY MANISH SWARUP /THE ASSOCIATED PRESS


NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s main opposition party accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of using hate speech after he called Muslims “infiltrators” — some of his most incendiary rhetoric about the minority faith, days after the country began its weeks-long general election.

The remarks at a campaign rally Sunday drew fierce criticism that Modi was peddling anti-Muslim tropes. The Congress party filed a complaint Monday with the Election Commission of India, alleging he broke rules that bar candidates from engaging in any activity that aggravates religious tensions.

Critics of the prime minister — an avowed Hindu nationalist — say India’s tradition of diversity and secularism has come under attack since his Bharatiya Janata Party won power a decade ago. They accuse the party of fostering religious intolerance and sometimes even violence. The party denies the accusation and says its policies benefit all Indians.

At a rally in the state of Rajasthan, Modi said that when the Congress party was in government, “they said Muslims have the first right over the country’s resources.” If it returns to power, the party “will gather all your wealth and distribute it among those who have more children,” he said as the crowd applauded.

“They will distribute it among infiltrators,” he continued, saying, “Do you think your hard-earned money should be given to infiltrators?”

Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress party’s president, described the prime minister’s comments as “hate speech,” and party spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi called them “deeply, deeply objectionable.”

The party sought action from the election commission, whose code of conduct forbids candidates from appealing “to caste or communal feelings” to secure votes. The first votes were cast Friday in the six-week election, which Modi and his Hindu nationalist BJP are expected to win, according to most surveys. The results come out on June 4.

Asaduddin Owaidi, a Muslim lawmaker and president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen party, said on Sunday: “Since 2002 till this day, the only Modi guarantee has been to abuse Muslims and get votes.”

While there have long been tensions between India’s majority Hindu community and Muslims, rights groups say that attacks against minorities have become more brazen under Modi.

Muslims have been lynched by Hindu mobs over allegations of eating beef or smuggling cows, an animal considered holy to Hindus. Muslim businesses have been boycotted, their homes and businesses have been bulldozed, and places of worship set on fire. There have been open calls for their genocide.

Modi’s remarks referred to a 2006 statement by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress party. Singh said that India’s lower castes, tribes, women and, “in particular the Muslim minority” deserved to share in the country’s development equally.

“They must have the first claim on resources,” Singh said. A day later, his office clarified that Singh was referring to all of the disadvantaged groups.

In its petition to the election commission, the Congress party said that Modi and the BJP have repeatedly used religion and religious symbols and sentiments in their election campaign with impunity. “These actions have been further bolstered by the commission’s inaction in penalizing the prime minister and the BJP for their blatant violations of electoral laws,” it said.

“In the history of India, no prime minister has lowered the dignity of his post as much as Modi has,” Kharge, Congress’ president, wrote on social media platform X.

The commission can issue warnings and suspend candidates for a certain amount of time over violations of the code of conduct.

“We decline comment,” a spokesperson for the commission told the Press Trust of India news agency on Monday.

In his speech, Modi also repeated a Hindu nationalist trope that Muslims were overtaking the Hindu population by having more children. Hindus make up 80% of India’s 1.4 billion people, while the country’s 200 million Muslims are 14%. Official data shows that fertility rates among Muslims have dropped the fastest among religious groups in recent decades, from 4.4 in 1992-93 to 2.3 between 2019-21, just higher than Hindus at 1.94.

Modi’s BJP has previously referred to Muslims as infiltrators and cast them as illegal migrants who crossed into India from Bangladesh and Pakistan. Several states run by the BJP have also made laws that restrict interfaith marriage, citing the unproven conspiracy theory of “love jihad,” which claims Muslim men use marriage to convert Hindu women.

Through it all, Modi has largely stayed silent, and critics say that has emboldened some of his most extreme supporters and enabled more hate speech against Muslims.

As ethnic violence rages on in Manipur, Indian government accused of looking the other way

NPR/PBS
Apr 23, 2024 

By —Zeba Warsi


Indian Prime Minister Modi hopes to secure a third term in elections now underway. He's promising voters a rising, united India. But in India’s northeast, a state is at war with itself. Hundreds are dead, tens of thousands displaced and the government is accused of looking the other way. Zeba Warsi reports with support from the Unity Productions Foundation. A warning, some details are disturbing.

Read the Full Transcript



Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes to secure a third term in elections that are now under way, his promise, a rising united India.

But, in India's northeast, a state is at war with itself. Hundreds are dead, tens of thousands are displaced, and the central government is accused of looking the other way.

Producer Zeba Warsi got rare access to the deeply divided state of Manipur.


And a warning:

Some details in her report are disturbing.


Zeba Warsi:

It feels like a militarized border between two warring countries. But it's a road between two districts in an Indian state.

Across 40 miles, we crossed a dozen checkpoints controlled by Indian security forces and civilian militias to reach the Christian minority stronghold Churachandpur.


Ichan Lunginlal, Churachandpur, India, Resident (through interpreter):

Our fathers and forefathers lived together in Manipur. But the ethnic conflict in Manipur has been so sudden.


Zeba Warsi:

Thirty-one-year-old Ichan Lunginlal is a Hindu from the majority Meitei Tribe who was married to Lalneo Lunginlal, a Christian of the minority Kuki tribe. They fell in love as teenagers. Their youngest daughter is 6-year-old Lamkholhing.


Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

We could not spend even one day apart. It felt like a love straight out of a movie. It was difficult for us to spend any time away from each other.


Zeba Warsi:

They did not consider themselves star-crossed, but their love story ended when Manipur's fault lines cracked.


Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

I spoke to him and asked, how is the situation right now? He responded and said the situation has become tense now. I could also hear his voice shaking, but he still consoled me and said: "Don't worry."


At around 11:

00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m., I received a call from my husband, and I could hear him shouting: "Ichan, Ichan, they have found me and they are going to kill me."


Zeba Warsi:

What began last may as a protest over political participation and state benefits turned into an armed conflict between two tribes and religions that engulfed the state in flames. Entire villages were razed and hundreds of churches burned.

The bulk of the dead and missing belong to the Christian Kuki minority, including Lalneo Lunginlal. He was last seen in this video with two other Christian Kuki men left to bleed on the street.


Ichan Lunginlal (through interpreter):

The mob killed my husband after brutally assaulting him like an animal. I don't think even animals are subject to such levels of violence.


Zeba Warsi:

At the wall of remembrance, Kukis display death, empty coffins in a line, one for every life lost.

This wall bears the human cost of this conflict. The Kuki community calls it state-sponsored ethnic cleansing, and they tell us each picture on this wall has its own story to tell.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi portrays India's future as strong and united. But Election Day in Manipur was marred by violence. The Hindu majority Meitei militia allegedly captured polling booths. They are heavily armed and throughout the conflict accused of killing with impunity.

Civil rights advocates accuse the state government run by Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, of protecting the perpetrators, and exploiting ethnic divisions.


Kim Gangte, Kuki Women’s Human Rights Network:

This is a war crime. This is ethnic cleansing. And, plus, this is a religious persecution.


Zeba Warsi:

Kim Gangte is a Kuki women rights activist who has documented sexual crimes.


Kim Gangte:

Most of our women who are there in the valley, they were being tortured. They were being raped. They were being killed.


Zeba Warsi:

In May last year, two Kuki women were paraded naked, beaten, and sexually assaulted by a mob of hundreds. One of them was allegedly gang-raped.


Kim Gangte:

We are very much Indian. We are very much the daughters and sons of India. We really wonder why the central government is still keeping silent.


Zeba Warsi:

Repeated requests for an interview with state government officials were ignored. After months of silence, Modi addressed the turmoil in Manipur only after the report of a gang-rape.


Narendra Modi, Indian Prime Minister (through interpreter):

In this country, in any corner of this country, in any state government rising above politics, law and order and respect for women is important. I want to assure the countrymen that no culprit will be spared.


Zeba Warsi:

But for the Christian Kuki community, that reassurance rings hollow. They no longer believe in living with the Hindu Meiteis. They want separate union territory, as we saw in the hillside town of Moreh.

Last year, this local economic hub was engulfed in flames. Today, it is heavily guarded by Indian armed forces and nearly inaccessible to anyone outside. After a six-hour wait at a security checkpoint, we were allowed to enter.


David Wapei, Kuki Student Organization:

The moment one community sees the other community, they want to kill each other.


Zeba Warsi:

David Wapei is a Kuki activist in Moreh. He says there is an invisible boundary between these hillside towns and the capital forged on hate.


David Wapei:

There's so much of divisions or mistrust between the two communities that the two communities cannot live together now.


Zeba Warsi:

But Manipur's violence is on both sides. During our visit, an angry Kuki mob set the police station on fire. And more Hindu majority Meiteis have been forced out of their homes and now live in camps restricted to a small corner of the state.


Hijam Kulajit, Imphal, India Resident (through interpreter):

On that day I couldn't take her to her private tutor, as I usually could, as there was pain in my eye. This thought haunts me to this day.


Zeba Warsi:

Hijam Kulajit, a Hindu Meitei, is still to bury his 17 year old daughter with dignity. She was last seen with a classmate after they were abducted by Kuki militias. After weeks of outrage and protests, the accused were arrested, but her body was never found.

Kulajit has made a shrine of memories of his daughter, who had big dreams.


Hijam Kulajit (through interpreter):

She had a cup with future she had a cup with "Future Doctor" written on it. She wanted to become a doctor to help the underprivileged.


Zeba Warsi:

The last drawing she made, the last book she read, her last Father's Day card bring pain, tears, and rage.


Hijam Kulajit (through interpreter):

Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not utter a single word about this case or the violence in Manipur all these month, even though the prime minister's so called slogan is save daughter, educate daughter. Will they be able to bring back my daughter?


Zeba Warsi:

There is no justice for a father who lost his daughter. And there is no closure for victims on both sides, who say they have been neglected.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Zeba Warsi in Manipur, India.

—-

Neel Madhav, Omair Farooq and Alishan Jafri contributed to field producing this piece.

This reporting was supported by a grant from Unity Productions Foundation

Watch



Zeba Warsi  is a foreign affairs producer, based in Washington DC. She's a Columbia Journalism School graduate with an M.A. in Political journalism.


Pelosi Calls on Netanyahu to Resign

By Michael Katz | NEWSMAX|    Tuesday, 23 April 2024 

Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., became the latest high-ranking Democrat to meddle into Israel's governmental affairs, calling on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign, claiming he is an obstacle to peace.

Pelosi's comments Monday in an interview with Irish media outlet RTE during a visit to Ireland share the same sentiments as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., the highest-ranking Jewish politician in the U.S. who on March 14 said Netanyahu's government "no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7" and called for new elections.

"He has been [an obstacle for peace] for years," Pelosi said. "I don't know whether he's afraid of peace, incapable of peace, or just doesn't want peace. But he has been an obstacle for the two-state solution."

On Monday, Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva, chief of the Israel Defense Forces' Military Intelligence Directorate, announced his resignation over his role in the failures that led to Iranian-backed Hamas' Oct. 7 terrorist attack in Israel.

Following the terrorist attack, Israel began a military operation in the Gaza Strip with a goal of eliminating Hamas and rescuing the remaining hostages.

"We recognize Israel's right to protect itself," Pelosi said. "We reject the policy and practice of Netanyahu – terrible. What could be worse than what he has done in response [to the Oct. 7 terrorist attack]?

"First of all, the exposure. See, his intelligence officer resigned, he should resign. He's ultimately responsible."

Her comments came three days after the House passed a foreign aid package that included $26 billion for Israel and humanitarian relief for Palestinians in Gaza. Pelosi claimed House Republicans were against providing any humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in Gaza.

"The biggest advocate for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians has been Joe Biden," she said. "He's the only one advocating at that level."

Newsmax reached out to Netanyahu's office for comment.
​Vice-Senior General Soe Win takes part in a military parade to mark the 74th Armed Forces Day in the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar March 27, 2019.

Vice-Senior General Soe Win takes part in a military parade to mark the 74th Armed Forces Day in the capital Naypyitaw, Myanmar March 27, 2019. 

 REUTERS/Ann Wang

Deputy Prime Minister Gen. Soe Win has not been seen in public since April 3, with unconfirmed reports alleging he was injured in a drone attack — or purged from leadership. Either explanation for his long absence comes down to the same root cause: six months of rebel victories and, as of April, daring air strikes on junta strongholds.

The rebel offensive: Starting in October, a loose coalition of ethnic minority militias backed by the People’s Democratic Forces (supporters of the overthrown democratic government) launched offensives that have seized almost all of Myanmar’s frontiers with India, China, and Thailand. With trade routes cut off, the junta is feeling pressure on its military supply chains and key sources of revenue.

Will the military fall? It’s hard to imagine. They may be on the back foot, but the feared Tatmadaw has a $2.7 billion budget while some rebels are building their own artisanal firearms (talk about scrappiness).

That said, the recent rebel drone strikes on the capital and other key junta sites reportedly caused tension among the cabinet (and possibly left Soe Win incommunicado). If it is true that the rebels are chipping away at the regime’s internal cohesion, that may be their most consequential victory yet.
Myanmar rebel group withdraws from key town on Thai border

An official of the Karen National Union says the "temporary retreat" from the town of Myawaddy comes after the return of junta soldiers to the vital strategic area.



Military personnel stand guard as hundreds of refugees crossed over the river frontier between Myanmar and Thailand following the fall of a strategic border town to rebels fighting Myanmar's military junta. / Photo: Reuters Archive

A Myanmar rebel group has withdrawn its troops from a town along the Thai border following a counteroffensive by soldiers of the ruling junta from whom the rebels had this month wrested the key trading post, an official said.

A spokesman for the Karen National Union (KNU) said on Wednesday that the "temporary retreat" from the town of Myawaddy came after the return of junta soldiers to the vital strategic area that is a conduit for annual foreign trade of more than $1 billion.

"KNLA troops will ... destroy the junta troops and their backup troops who marched to Myawaddy," Saw Taw Nee said, referring to the group's armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army, one of Myanmar's oldest ethnic fighting forces.

Fighting had flared as recently as Saturday in Myawaddy, forcing 3,000 civilians to flee as rebels fought to flush out Myanmar junta troops holed up for days at a border bridge crossing.

Many of those civilians have since returned, the Thai government has said, adding that it had also urged Myanmar to keep the fighting from spilling across the border.



Unprecedented pressure

Photographs posted on some pro-junta social media groups showed a handful of soldiers raising the Myanmar flag at a military base the KNU had controlled just days before, and where the rebel group had raised its own banner.

The junta, which has mounted a counter-offensive to retake Myawaddy, was able to enter the area with the help of a regional militia that had stood aside when the KNU laid siege to Myawaddy early in April, according to Saw Taw Nee.

Officials from the militia group, the Karen National Army, and the junta did not respond to telephone to seek comment.

Three years after its coup ousted a democratically-elected civilian government, Myanmar's junta is under unprecedented pressure, having lost control of a string of key frontier areas to rebel groups.

 


Hundreds of civil war victims treated every day as Myanmar chaos spills over Thailand border

China, the US, and Thailand are reassessing their strategies. Whatever happens next, the future of Myanmar will probably remain splintered, with no one authority in charge.


Cordelia Lynch
Asia correspondent
Sky News
Wednesday 24 April 2024 


Mae Tao clinic in Mae Sot, a frontier town along the border with Myanmar, is a harrowing window into a civil war that has suddenly escalated.

In the searing heat of early morning, the wards are packed full of patients, some with catastrophic injuries.

We walk into a room full of amputees, many recently injured by airstrikes and landmines.

Lying on a bed with his stomach held together by a bandage, we meet Maung Maung.

His voice is incredibly strained, and he can hardly move. He's just lost his two daughters. One was two years old, the other 14.

"They were hiding in a school. I thought it would be safe. After the bomb, I saw the body of one of my daughters ripped apart," he tells us.

Many here say they're too terrified to return to their home country and that fighting is now a daily threat.

MORE ON MYANMAR
Cordelia Lynch and the clinic's founder Cynthia Maung (right)

For decades, Dr Cynthia Maung, founder of the clinic in Thailand, has seen the graphic side effects of the world's longest-running civil war, a brutal clash between Myanmar's military and a mix of pro-democracy groups and local ethnic rebel armies.

In recent weeks though, she says the number of patients coming to her almost doubled to 500 a day.

"This is the worst in my time in 35 years here. This is the worst situation," says Dr Maung.

As we talk, there are patients of all ages. She is their great hope, but she's juggling increasingly complex and desperate cases.

There's recently been a sharp increase in those coming here wounded by bombs.

The embattled ruling junta has increasingly been carrying out airstrikes in the face of big losses. The resistance now controls more than half of Myanmar's territory.

One of the most symbolic defeats came two weeks ago in Myawaddy. The small town has an outsized economic role, known as the so-called "gateway to Thailand".



It has long been a focal point for many of the ethnic and pro-democracy groups, but rarely looked vulnerable.

Yet two weeks ago, rebel forces led by the Karen ethnic army made their move, stunning observers by taking the town.

Social media videos show the military seemingly launching an operation to retake it - but their convoy is ambushed, resistance fighters taking over their vehicles and sending them fleeing.

At the top of a hill on the Thai side of the border, the army is watching everything closely. There's a nervousness and tension that hasn't been there since the coup in 2021.

Read more:
Myanmar junta 'deliberately bombing medical facilities'
Myanmar's civil war has taken dramatic turn

Sub-Lieutenant Chuchat Farangtong tells me: "I felt the resistance groups were well prepared.

"There were signs before they attacked. My unit could see their manpower and their weapons. And there were civilians waiting along the river getting ready to cross over."

In the past few days alone, thousands have fled the fighting in Myanmar, many running away from conscription driven by a military desperately in need of more men.

Among them is 19-year-old Nyi Nyi, now in hiding in Thailand after secretly crossing the border - a terrifying journey that took three days.

"When I was fleeing, most of my friends got arrested by the military," he says.

"They were interrogated and tortured. They trained them for just three weeks and then sent them to the frontline."

Thai patrols are taking place on the border with Myanmar

He claims opponents are being brutally attacked by a military desperate to cling to power: "They starve opponents, put them in stress positions and beat them until they bleed from their ears."

We asked the ruling junta about his allegations. They did not respond to our request for comment.

Myanmar's military government has been losing ground in its borderlands for months, as pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups have launched a series of successful offensives.

That's been made possible by previously disparate groups coming together.

It is unlikely the ruling military government is at risk of being overthrown imminently, but we haven't seen a shift like this for years.

That's a challenge for neighbouring countries trying to navigate their relationship with Myanmar, the creeping violence on the border areas and the exodus of Myanmar's people.

Lieutenant Sivadumrong; police seem to be trying to play the role of protector and enforcer

We went on patrol with the Thai police who seem to be trying to play the role of protector and enforcer, helping some find refuge and detaining others.

They tell us they've arrested up to 30 people trying to cross illegally into Thailand every day.

"I'm worried that the bullets are flying to the Thai side," Lieutenant Manop Sivadumrong says.

"So, we've deployed border police and provincial police along the border to prevent illegal migrants and to help the Myanmar people on both sides in case they are injured."

It is a delicate balance for them and many other countries - one by-product of a conflict many have ignored.

But the international community is slowly waking up.

China, the US, and Thailand are reassessing their strategies. Whatever happens next, the future of Myanmar will probably remain splintered, with no one authority in charge.

And a splintered state will likely reap havoc on innocent civilians and continue to spill across national borders.
Brazil Iron: UK court case launched over mining project in Bahia

By Ione Wells,
BBC
South America Correspondent, Bahia
BBC/Paulo KobaCatarina 
Oliveira de Silva accuses UK-based mining company Brazil Iron of burying a lake in her community

In a small community deep in the remote, lush mountains of Bahia, Brazil, Catarina Oliveira de Silva points down at what used to be a lake.

"After the mine started extracting there, waste came down. It fell into the spring. It buried this entire lake. Three metres of silt and ore sludge."

Catarina says dust from this mine covered crops she owned, including coffee bushes and banana trees, until she could not produce them anymore.

She and her husband had also taken out a loan in 2015 for a business where people could pay to go angling in the lake.

"Our project went down the drain," she says.

Catarina and her family live in a traditional Quilombola community, descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves whose rights to their land and way of life are protected under Brazilian law.

Now, their fight against a UK-owned mining company is set to move to a top court in London.

Brazil Iron, a self-described "sustainable" mining company, is accused of damaging the environment, health, crops and water supplies of local communities near its Brazilian mine.
BBC/Paulo Koba
Brazil Iron says its project could save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions annually and create thousands of local jobs if it is given a full licence to mine

The company strongly refutes the claims. It says its project to produce greener steel could save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions annually and create thousands of local jobs if it is given a full licence to mine.


But locals like Catarina claim the mine has already caused extensive damage through its research alone. Other residents allege explosions from the mine cracked their houses, and dust pollution has affected their health.

There are 103 claimants now in the UK legal case, with claims spanning from 2011-2022.

They are seeking compensation for what their lawyers describe as "physical and mental health injuries and environmental losses" and are presenting their formal claim to a UK court today.

Edimone Almeida Silva claims her eldest daughter developed a respiratory problem that she did not have before the mine started operating, which improved after it stopped.

"She practically didn't sleep the whole night trying to scratch her throat. I had to take her to the doctor who gave her an inhaler."

BBC/Paulo Koba
Edimone Almeida Silva (left) says her eldest daughter developed a respiratory problem after the mine started operating

The company says those making such claims have no evidence, and that it has offered independent medical examinations to members of the community.

Some residents ask why it had to mine here. The answer lies in geology.

Deep below the verdant Chapada Diamantina region of Bahia, lie iron ore reserves, kilometres wide, which is the key ingredient needed to make steel.

This makes the area a magnet for mining companies.

Steel is used in almost every aspect of our lives from buildings, trains and cars to fridges, furniture, and food packaging.

It is traditionally produced from reducing iron ore in dirty coal-fired blast furnaces that create huge amounts of carbon emissions.

Since Brazil Iron started operating in the region on a research licence in 2011, it said it had found a type of iron ore that can be turned into steel in electric arc furnaces - resulting in fewer carbon emissions -and can be extracted in Brazil using solar and wind power in Bahia.

The company paused operations in 2022 after a disagreement with Bahia's state government over its permission to mine and is awaiting a new licence.

Brazil Iron says by continuing it could create 27,000 jobs in its construction phase, 10,000 jobs permanently directly and indirectly, and save 2.35 million tonnes of carbon from being emitted every year in the steel industry supply chain.


This tension between local jobs versus claims of local damage is playing out among the community, with some very supportive of the mine's presence, its jobs, and the tax revenue it would raise for the nearby town.

BBC/Paulo Koba
One of the main benefits [of the job] was the opportunity to live close to family. That's something money can't buy.Erivelton Souza Silva


Local who took a job at the Brazil Iron project

Some of those who protested against the mine's activities or joined the English lawsuit allege they were intimidated by mine employees and other residents, dissuading them from taking action and claiming it could harm them financially.

This led to a court injunction being issued against the company, ordering it to prevent staff from contacting the claimants except through lawyers.

Brazil Iron was found by the UK High Court to have broken this injunction when it wrote letters to some of the claimants after the order was made.


Erivelton Souza Silva is a member of the community who did get a job with the company.

"I didn't have a source of income, most people always travelled to São Paulo," he said.

He joined the company in 2019, and was taught how to operate heavy vehicles, machinery, and equipment.

"I think one of the main benefits that the company brought, as well as the opportunity to work with a formal contract, have paid vacations, was the opportunity to live close to family. That's something money can't buy."
BBC/Paulo Koba
Rich iron ore reserves under the Chapada Diamantina region are attracting mining companies


Brazil Iron denied its research had impacted the environment or community and said its "doors are always open" to mitigate any problems.

It said the allegations were "untrue" but could still have a "devastating impact on the economy of the area".

It also argues it is "not appropriate" for the claims to be brought against the company in a UK court, and plans to challenge this and request it be heard in Brazil.

The lawyers representing the claimants disagree.

They argue that Bahia's state agency for the environment and water also found the company had broken the terms of its environmental licences, for example through pollution and unmitigated detonations, in multiple reports and notices issued to the company between 2020-2022.


They also argue the case should be heard in the UK where the company is domiciled.

Brazil Iron, in the UK, exists for the sole purpose of funding its Brazilian subsidiary - which it says is the largest foreign investor in mineral research in Brazil.

Brazil Iron is funded by tens of millions of dollars' worth of loans and shares from shareholders around the world.

It says it is "important for the globe" because it's positioning itself as the world's leading independent producer of green "hot-briquetted iron" using "100% renewable energy sources".


BBC/Paulo Koba
Is it clean to kill a river? Do we need to sacrifice everyone in rural areas for the city?
Rogério Mucugê
Geographer at Bahia Catholic University


The key question, which is an issue playing out around the world, is whether such resources contributing to a greener future are hurting the environment and way of life locally.

Rogério Mucugê, a local geographer at Bahia Catholic University, is not convinced the jobs and carbon-reducing benefits are worth it and argues communities with a "green" way of life shouldn't have to change to provide the solutions for carbon emissions caused in more urban areas.

"The ideal when you arrive in a community is to listen to the community that knows the territory best," he says.

"If we say this model is sustainable, that this model will generate clean energy, is it clean to kill a river? Do we need to sacrifice everyone in rural areas for the city?"
Norway Calls on Donors to Resume Funding to Palestinian UNRWA Agency

10 February 2024, Palestinian Territories, Gaza City: Palestinians examine the damage to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings on their way back to their homes in the wake of the Israeli army withdrew from North of Gaza City. (dpa)

Norway called on international donors on Tuesday to resume payments to the UN agency for Palestinians refugees (UNRWA) after a report found Israel had yet to provide evidence that some UNRWA staff were linked to terrorist groups.

The United States, Britain and others earlier this year paused payments to UNRWA following Israel's claims, while Norway, also a major donor to the organization, argued that funding cuts put the population of Gaza at risk.

A review of the agency's neutrality led by former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna on Monday concluded Israel had yet to back up its accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff were operatives in Gaza terrorist groups.

"I would now like to call on countries that have still frozen their contributions to UNRWA to resume funding," Norway's foreign minister Espen Barth Eide said in a statement.

A separate investigation by internal UN investigators is looking into Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks which triggered the Gaza war.

"Norway has emphasized that it is unacceptable to punish an entire organization, with 30,000 employees, and all Palestine refugees for the alleged misdeeds of a small number of the organization's employees," Barth Eide said.

While 10 countries have since ended their suspensions, the United States, Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and Lithuania have not. A UN spokesperson on Monday said UNRWA currently had enough funding to pay for operations until June.


UNRWA: Restart aid to Palestinian UN agency, EU urges

By Phelan Chatterjee,
BBC News
EPA
The UN's human rights chief says there is a "plausible" case that Israel is using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza

The EU has called on international donors to resume funding to Gaza's largest UN agency.

It comes after a review found that Israel had not provided evidence for its claim that thousands of UNRWA staff were members of terror groups.

Several nations halted funding to the agency after allegations that some employees took part in the Hamas attacks on Israel.

The US says it will not restore funding until UNRWA makes "real progress".

UNRWA, which provides healthcare, education and humanitarian aid to Palestinians, employs 13,000 people in Gaza.

EU humanitarian chief Janez Lenarcic welcomed Monday's report for "underlining the agency's significant number of compliance systems in place as well as recommendations for their further upgrade".

He called on donor nations to support UNRWA, describing it as "the Palestinian refugees' lifeline".

This was echoed by Norway's Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, who hailed Australia, Canada, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Japan and Sweden for already resuming their funding. The US and UK have not yet done so.

"In terms of our funding of UNRWA, that is still suspended," White House security spokesman John Kirby said on Tuesday.

"We're gonna have to see real progress here before that gets changed."

The deputy spokesman of the US State Department, Vedant Patel, said the government was looking closely at the report, adding "we of course continue to support UNRWA's important work, and it must continue".

Israel has accused more than 2,135 of the agency's staff of being members of Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad - proscribed terror organisations in Israel, the UK, US and other countries. But the UN's independent review, led by France's foreign minister, said Israel was yet to provide "supporting evidence" for this claim.

While the report acknowledged UNRWA's "robust framework", it said it needed to do more to improve its neutrality, staff vetting and transparency.

The agency insists it carries out detailed reference checks on all employees, and shares staff lists with Israel.

Israeli authorities suggest the report ignores the severity of the problem, and maintain that UNRWA has systematic links to Hamas.

The EU's plea came as the US humanitarian envoy to Gaza, David Satterfield, repeated warnings that the risk of famine throughout the Palestinian territory - especially in the north - was very high.

The catastrophic situation has been caused by the siege Israel imposed after the 7 October attacks.

Mr Satterfield said Israel needed to do everything possible to stop a famine and called on more to be done to deliver aid to those in need.

So far, more than 34,000 Palestinians - mostly women and children - have been killed during Israel's military campaign in Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

A separate UN investigation is looking at Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA staff took part in the 7 October attacks in Israel, which saw around 1,200 people killed and about 250 taken hostage.

UNRWA fired the 10 of the 12 accused staff members who were still alive in the wake of the allegations.

UNRWA committed to implement independent review recommendations

23 April 2024


The head of the UN agency that assists Palestine refugees, UNRWA, on Tuesday reiterated that he welcomed the recommendations of a much-awaited report on its efforts to ensure neutrality and to respond to allegations of serious breaches when they arise.

Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini briefed journalists in New York a day after the independent review panel published its findingsOpens in new window.

Former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna spearheaded the report, which found that UNRWAOpens in new window has put in place a large number of mechanisms and procedures to ensure its commitment to the principle of neutrality and outlines some 50 recommendations.
Preparing to update

UNRWA is committed to implement the Colonna report’s recommendations, he said, before reporting on his meeting with UN Member States that morning.

“I have informed them that we are now preparing updating our response plan. We will in fact make sure that partners are aware of the measures already being taken and being in line with the recommendations,” he said.

He noted that while some recommendations can be implemented quickly, others will require additional staff and strong commitment and support from the international community.

Mr. Lazzarini also explained that the Colonna report is separate from an ongoing probe by the UN’s top investigative body, the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), into Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas-led assault on its territory.

UNRWA under attack

The Commissioner-General was in New York for the report’s launch and a Security CouncilOpens in new window meeting last week focused on UNRWA, which continues to provide support in Gaza amid the ongoing conflict.

He said he told the Council that attacks against the agency “are not necessarily motivated because of neutrality issues, but are primarily motivated by the objective to strip the Palestinians from their refugee status”.

This was why there have been calls for UNRWA not to be present in Gaza, the West Bank and beyond, he added.

While before the Council, he also called for “an independent investigation and accountability for the blatant disregard” of UN premises, staff and operations in Gaza.

© UNRWA/Fadi El Tayyar
UNRWA flag-lowering ceremony at the UNRWA Lebanon Field Office in Beirut.
Staff killed, premises destroyed

To date, 180 UNRWA staff and at least 400 people seeking UN protection have been killed in the hostilities. More than 160 UNRWA premises have been damaged or completely destroyed.

There have also been reports that UNRWA premises that have been vacated have been used for military purposes, either by the Israeli army, Hamas or other political factions or armed groups on the ground. Staff have also been arrested and mistreated, if not tortured.

“You have seen the report which came out yesterday,” he told reporters. “So hence, the importance to have an investigation and to have accountability in order not to set a new low standard in future conflict situations.”
Aid on the move

Mr. Lazzarini also highlighted several positive developments. He said the number of aid trucks entering Gaza this month averages around 200 daily, with a peak of 360 on Monday, representing a positive trend when compared to March.

The World Food Programme (WFPOpens in new window) has also entered northern Gaza through the Erez crossing on three occasions.

“My colleagues are also reporting that convoys which went to the north have not been assaulted as they used to be in the past by desperate people who were struggling to get their share of the assistance,” he noted.
Anxiety over impending offensive

However, as warmer weather approaches, he warned about the possibility of new disease outbreaks, especially in the south, where garbage collection is a priority.

“I have also been reminded about the deep anxiety prevailing in the south about the possible looming upcoming military offensive, which seems to be back on the table,” he said, referring to a potential assault on Rafah.

Mr. Lazzarini was asked about funding lost following the allegations against UNRWA, which prompted up to 18 countries to halt their support to the agency.

Several countries “have come back”, he said, expressing hope that more will return in the wake of the Colonna report and the measures that will be put in place.

Additionally, since the start of the year, UNRWA has raised $150 million from the general public, which he called “an extraordinary indication of grassroots solidarity vis-à-vis the organization”.

Donate to the humanitarian response in Gaza

Transported to another era
Published April 24, 2024 




THE structural foundation of the Roman Empire, history tells us, included the roads that were built. With this communication network, the expanding empire was able to connect newly conquered lands. It did not matter how disparate a culture or how unintelligible a language was to the ruling Romans; the road was the connection they needed. Via roads, armies could be sent to help beleaguered governors and consuls. Most importantly, revenue could be transported back to the centre. It was the Romans who constructed the first paved road — the Via Appia. However, Roman roads included everything from small pathways between towns to broad avenues that allowed armies to make their way to encampments and battles.

Centuries after the Romans, the Mughal Empire in India also required a communication network to allow all parts to remain connected and central power to be consolidated. The road, of course, had already been invented — in fact, Sher Shah Suri, a non-Mughal, built, during his short rule after Babar’s death, the Grand Trunk Road connecting the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan. So the Mughals set about leaving their very own and very particular mark on the means and manner of transportation.

The flair with which the Mughals themselves travelled was inventive and meant to create the sort of aesthetic spectacle of which they were very fond. People have flashy cars even now, but that instinct was not born with the creation of the automobile. If there is any doubt about this, one need only look at how the Mughals got from one place to another.

In the 16th century, and even after, ordinary people in India often used bullock carts as the standard mode of transport. However, if you were well off, and most rich people of the time were government officials, administrators, aristocrats and court officials, you could use horses and camels to get around. There was also occasional travel along waterways using boats. If you were the emperor or part of the royal court or someone else with a high rank, elephants were available for your travel. Nothing proclaimed the pomp and circumstance of an emperor better than when he travelled with 100 or more elephants, even when he was not going to war.

The drama of conquest and the status of the emperor as the conqueror could be emphasised even if he was only travelling from one palace to another. According to records from the era, the elephants were obtained from the forests of Bihar, Orissa and Agra. In some cases, they were brought all the way from places like Golconda on ships that were made specifically to transport elephants.


The drama of conquest and the status of the emperor as the conqueror could be emphasised even if he was only travelling from one palace to another.

According to historian Nazer Aziz Anjum’s research on transportation in the Mughal era, the covered seats on the elephants were called ‘howdah’. There would be processions of 160-170 elephants, each animal covered with fantastic green and red cloths, all travelling closely together. The howdahs were fastened on top with ropes and served as a kind of sleeping coach which was quite comfortable. These were mostly used by the royal household on long trips to the hunt. The Mughals had even devised a variation of this that was a travelling bathroom that allowed the emperor to have his own facilities while on the move.

The howdah was a square structure that was also placed on an elephant and allowed four to six people to travel inside it while seated. It had a canopy supported by pillars, and it was possible for onlookers to see who was travelling inside and for those inside the howdah to observe the world outside.

The most mesmerising account of how to get around in style during the Mughal era is that of the choudoli, descriptions for which have varied from “a sedan with two poles” to an “enormous affair, borne by two elephants”. One record of the choudoli in which women from high-ranking households were travelling describes the exterior as having its four sides covered with khas, a kind of grass known for its fragrance and cooling effect when wet. Lesser women travelled (if at all) in palkis, which were lavishly decorated, according to the status of the owner, with crushed silk and velvet curtains and a wax cloth covering to protect against wet weather.

In terms of the transportation of goods, the semi-trucks of the Mughal age were camels, whi­ch were especially bred in a facility near Thatta. There trainers helped enable them to travel long distances in a short period of time. Some of them were strong enough to be able to carry very heavy goods, thus keeping trade going. Horses were used largely for light transport for the postal or courier service as sending information or messages quickly was of primary importance.

The wild and fanciful truck art of Pakistan is well known, but the artistic flair in investing the daily routine with aesthetic complexity and design elements dates back from a time when an empire was given to making a great show of everything, including getting around. On Pakistan’s roads, where our senses are constantly assailed by poisonous fumes as well as tempers, fights and thefts, it helps to take a small pause and think of things as they were a few hundred years ago.

What it must have been to come across a prince’s procession of elephants, what great lady could be glimpsed through the crushed velvet curtains of a nobleman’s entirely silver-plated palki! They could not dash through the land in railway cars or rise into the atmosphere in passenger jets but the Mughals, flashy and flamboyant as they might have been, got around in style even so many centuries ago.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.

rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2024
Unstable dams mean Chernobyl-scale nuclear disaster threatens Central Asia’s Fergana valley


Ever-present danger. Uranium tailings sites at Mailuu Suu, Kyrgyzstan. 
/ IAEA Imagebank, cc-by-sa 2.0

By bne IntelliNews April 23, 2024

A possible Chernobyl-scale nuclear disaster threatens the fertile Fergana valley in Central Asia as Soviet-built dams holding vast amounts of uranium mine tailings that sit above the region are unstable, studies are said to have revealed.

If the dams collapse, the spillage of the tailings would make the vicinity uninhabitable.

The dams, located in Kyrgyzstan, hold some 700,000 cubic metres (185mn gallons) of uranium mine tailings. Assessments have shown that they became unreliable following a 2017 landslide. A further landslide, or an earthquake, could pollute the river system used to irrigate Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik farmlands in the Fergana valley and lead to the displacement of millions of people.

The studies of the radioactive waste disposal facilities were conducted as part of a European Commission and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) project to reinforce the facilities. According to a Reuters report published on April 23, they showed that the waste type involved cannot be safely contained in the currently used locations and needs to be transferred away from the banks of the Mailuu-Suu river.

"If a landslide causes the river to burst, the waste from two mine dumps will enter the water," Gulshair Abdullayeva, a manager of the Mailuu-Suu radiology lab, was cited as saying, adding: "The environmental disaster would almost be comparable with Chernobyl."

Some 16mn people live in the Fergana valley, the most densely populated area in Central Asia. Cotton, rice, grains, fruit and vegetables are among crops grown there.

Studies have highlighted how the waste in the dumps—located near the town of Mailuu-Suu, they in fact make up one of the world’s biggest uranium ore dumps—is liquid, making it more hazardous, Sebastian Hess, an engineer with German firm G.E.O.S., contracted by the Kyrgyz government, told Reuters, pointing out that the consequences of a strong earthquake might mean it flowing into the river.

"That would be a horrible catastrophe," he was reported as saying. "This water is used to irrigate fields which means agricultural produce would be contaminated."

The 2017 landslide weakened the dams' foundations and raised the river's water level, bringing it closer to the tailings, according to engineers.

An estimate prepared by Kyrgyzstan’s government and G.E.O.S. concluded that around €22-25mn would be required to transfer the waste at the two sites to a location further away from the river.

Unstable nuclear-waste dams threaten fertile Central Asia heartland

"The environmental disaster would almost be comparable with Chernobyl."


A view shows constructions on the bank of a river in a mountainous area near the town of Mailuu-Suu in the Jalal-Abad region, Kyrgyzstan, April 20, 2024.
PHOTO: Reuters file


PUBLISHED ONAPRIL 23, 2024 


AsiaOne has launched EarthOne, a new section dedicated to environmental issues — because we love the planet and we believe science. Find articles like this there.

Kyrgyzstan - Dams holding vast amounts of uranium mine tailings above the fertile Fergana valley in Central Asia are unstable, threatening a possible Chernobyl-scale nuclear disaster if they collapse that would make the region uninhabitable, studies have revealed.

Dams holding some 700,000 cubic metres (185 million gallons) of uranium mine tailings in Kyrgyzstan have become unreliable following a 2017 landslide. A further landslide or earthquake could send their contents into a river system used to irrigate Kyrgyz, Uzbek and Tajik farmlands, the studies at the Soviet-era radioactive waste disposal facility showed. That event would possibly displace millions in those three countries.

The studies, part of a project by the European Commission and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to reinforce the facilities, show that the type of waste involved cannot be safely contained in their current locations and needs to be moved away from the banks of the Mailuu-Suu river.

The Fergana valley, where the contaminated water would go, is the most densely populated area in Central Asia with 16 million people, many of whom are involved in the cultivation of cotton, rice, grains, fruit and vegetables.


"If a landslide causes the river to burst, the waste from two mine dumps will enter the water," says Gulshair Abdullayeva, a manager of the Mailuu-Suu radiology lab.

"The environmental disaster would almost be comparable with Chernobyl."

Studies have shown that the waste in those dumps is liquid, making it more hazardous, and it could flow into the river in the event of a strong earthquake, says Sebastian Hess, an engineer with German firm G.E.O.S. contracted by the Kyrgyz government.

"That would be a horrible catastrophe," he said. "This water is used to irrigate fields which means agricultural produce would be contaminated."

The dams' foundations were weakened by water during a 2017 landslide which raised the river's water level, bring it closer to the tailings, engineers have said.

The Bishkek government and G.E.O.S. estimate that 22-25 million euros would be needed to move the waste from the two unsafe locations to one further away from the river.

The area near the town of the Mailuu-Suu, one of the world's biggest uranium ore dumps, was developed by the Soviet Union between the 1940s and 1960s. A factory in the town also processed uranium ore from other nearby mines.

Immigrant groups in U.S. blast resumption of deportation flights to Haiti



Haiti’s health system nears collapse as gangs attack hospitals and ports remain shut


By Dánica Coto
April 23, 2024

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti —

On a recent morning at a hospital in the heart of gang territory in Haiti’s capital, a woman began convulsing before her body went limp as a doctor and two nurses raced to save her.

They stuck electrodes to her chest and flipped on an oxygen machine while keeping their eyes on a computer screen that reflected a dangerously low oxygen level of 84%.

No one knew what was wrong with her.

Even more worrisome, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in the Cite Soleil slum was running low on key medicine to treat convulsions.

“The medication she really needs, we barely have,” said Dr. Rachel Lavigne, a physician with the medical aid group.

It’s a familiar scene repeated daily at hospitals and clinics across Port-au-Prince, where life-saving medication and equipment is dwindling or altogether absent as brutal gangs tighten their grip on the capital and beyond. They have blocked roads, forced the closure of the main international airport in early March and paralyzed operations at the country’s largest seaport, where containers filled with key supplies remain stuck.


Haitians scramble to survive, seeking food, water and safety as gang violence chokes the capital

April 22, 2024

“Everything is crashing,” Lavigne said.

Haiti’s health system has long been fragile, but it’s now nearing total collapse after gangs launched coordinated attacks on Feb. 29, targeting critical infrastructure in the capital and beyond.



The violence has forced several medical institutions and dialysis centers to close, including Haiti’s largest public hospital. Located in downtown Port-au-Prince, the Hospital of the State University of Haiti was supposed to reopen on April 1 after closing when the attack began, but gangs have infiltrated it.

One of the few institutions still operating is Peace University Hospital, located south of the shuttered airport. From Feb. 29 to April 15, the hospital treated some 200 patients with gunshot wounds, and its beds remain full.

“We urgently need fuel because we operate using generators. Otherwise we run the risk of closing our doors,” hospital director Dr. Paul Junior Fontilus said in a statement.
ADVERTISEMENT






WORLD & NATION
Why is Haiti so chaotic? Leaders used street gangs to gain power. Then the gangs got stronger

March 15, 2024

More than 2,500 people were killed or wounded across Haiti from January to March, a more than 50% increase compared with the same period last year, according to a recent U.N. report.

Even if a hospital is open, sometimes there is little or no medical staff because gang violence erupts daily in Port-au-Prince, forcing doctors and nurses to stay at home or turn around if they encounter blocked roads manned by heavily armed men.

The spiraling chaos has left a growing number of patients with cancer, AIDS and other serious illnesses with little to no recourse, with gangs also looting and setting fire to pharmacies in the capital’s downtown area.

Doctors Without Borders itself has run out of many medications used to treat diabetes and high blood pressure, and asthma inhalers that help prevent deadly attacks are nowhere to be found in the capital, Lavigne said.

At the Doctors Without Borders hospital, medical staff recently tried to save a boy with a severe asthma attack by giving him oxygen, she said. That didn’t work, and neither did another type of medication. Finally, they ended up injecting him with adrenaline, which is used in emergencies to treat anaphylactic shock in patients who suffer a severe allergic reaction.




WORLD & NATION
Many Haitians on brink of famine as aid dwindles amid gang violence

March 16, 2024

“We improvise and we do our best for the people here,” Lavigne said.

People’s health is worsening because the daily medications they need for their chronic conditions is not available, warned Doctors Without Borders project coordinator Jacob Burns.

“It becomes acute and then they run out of options,” he said. “For certain people, there are very, very few options right now.”

Despite the pressing need for care, the Doctors Without Borders hospital in Cite Soleil has been forced to cut the number of outpatients it treats daily from 150 to 50, Burns said, though all emergencies are attended to.

Scores of people line up outside the hospital each day and risk being shot by gang members who control the area as they await treatment.

Everyone is allowed to enter the hospital compound, but medical staff set up a triage to determine which 50 people will be seen. Those with less urgent needs are asked to return another day, Burns said.


Gangs unleash new attacks on upscale areas in Haiti’s capital; at least a dozen killed nearby

March 18, 2024

On Friday morning, 51-year-old Jean Marc Baptiste shuffled into the emergency room with a bloody bandage on his right hand. He said police in an armored vehicle shot him the previous day as he was collecting wood to sell as kindling in an area controlled by gangs.

Once inside, nurses removed the bandage to reveal a gaping wound in his thumb as he cried out in pain. Lavigne told him he needed a plastic surgeon, which the hospital does not have, and ordered X-rays to ensure there was no fracture.

On average, the Cite Soleil hospital sees three wounded people a day, but sometimes it’s up to 14 now, staff said.

Recently, five people with bullet wounds arrived at the hospital after spending all night inside a public bus that couldn’t move because of heavy gunfire, Burns said.

“Cite Soleil was long the epicenter of violence,” he said. “And now violence is so widespread that it’s become a problem for everyone.”

Coto writes for the Associated Press.





Tuesday, April 23, 2024

What's Behind The Deadly Surge Of Violence In Pakistan's Balochistan?

April 23, 2024 
By Abubakar Siddique
A man walks past charred truck containers torched by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in the central Bolan district in Balochistan Province on January 30.

Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan has been the scene of a low-level insurgency and a brutal government crackdown for decades.

But the vast and resource-rich province -- home to the South Asian country's ethnic Baluch minority -- has witnessed a surge in deadly attacks in recent months.

The gun attacks and suicide bombings have targeted Pakistani security forces as well as foreign nationals.


Who Is Behind The Attacks?

Most of the attacks have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group and U.S.-designated terrorist organization.

The Majeed Brigade, the BLA’s suicide squad, is believed to have carried out the most complex attacks.

SEE ALSO:
Pakistani Protests: Baluch Women Seek Answers, Justice In Disappearance Of Loved Ones


The BLA is considered the largest armed group operating in Balochistan. It is allied with the Baloch Liberation Front, the other major separatist militant group active in the province. Experts believe the BLA has several thousand members.

Last year, Baluch militants carried out 110 attacks, according to the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, an Islamabad-based think tank. In the first three months of 2024 alone, the groups have launched 62 attacks, suggesting a sharp rise.

Who Are They Targeting?

The BLA is targeting the Pakistani Army and police and has been blamed for killing Chinese workers.

Since January, the group has attacked government offices in the port city of Gwadar, the lynchpin of Chinese investments in energy and infrastructure in Pakistan. The BLA also attacked Pakistan's largest naval air force base and attempted to overrun the strategic town of Mach.

Assassinations and improvised-explosive-device (IED) attacks have been reported almost daily.

A general view of Gwadar port, which is the lynchpin of Chinese investments in Pakistan. (file photo)

"Anyone affiliated with the state's crackdown in Balochistan is their target," said an Islamabad-based expert who tracks the region and spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Zafar Baloch, a Balochistan researcher based in Britain, says the BLA and other separatist groups seek independence from Pakistan. The groups have demanded that the Pakistani military leave Balochistan and for China to end its "exploitative" projects in the province.

SEE ALSO:
Cross-Border Strikes A Major Escalation In Long-Running Iran-Pakistan Dispute


The Baluchis blame Islamabad for exploiting the vast natural resources in Balochistan and committing grave human rights abuses in the impoverished region.

Why Was There A Sharp Increase In Attacks?

The expert in Islamabad said the "recruitment of the separatist militant organizations has skyrocketed" recently. That, the analyst said, has enabled the groups to "launch more attacks."

The disputed February elections, marred by widespread allegations of fraud, added "fuel to the fire" because they deprived the Baluchis of real political representation, the analyst says.

The Baluch youth, the analyst says, do not "see any avenue for expressing their dissent."

Baluch political parties, which had formed most provincial governments in the past, lost power in the controversial elections.

Sarafaz Bugti, a Baluch politician who is backed by the military, now heads the provincial government.

Baloch, the Britain-based researcher, said that "Islamabad's counterinsurgency strategy, based on a militarized approach, is the root cause" of instability in Balochistan.

A man looks at charred shops and a vehicle torched by the BLA militants in Bolan district, Balochistan on January 30.

Activists have accused the Pakistan military of the enforced disappearances of thousands of people and a "kill-and-dump" policy against political activists and suspected armed separatists.

Baloch says Islamabad's suppression of a sit-in protest by the relatives of Baluch victims of forced disappearances and unlawful killings in January dented the community's hopes for a political solution to their woes.

Are Baluch Separatists Growing In Strength?

Analysts say the Taliban takeover of neighboring Afghanistan has boosted the capabilities of armed groups in the region, including Baluch separatist groups.

Some of the military gear and weapons left behind after the U.S. military withdrawal in 2021 and seized by the Taliban have turned up and been used by Baluch armed groups.

The influx of U.S. weapons has "opened new avenues for these groups to thrive," Baloch said.

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The researcher says the BLA has also evolved in recent years. Once led by tribal figures, the group is now run by educated middle-class professionals who think in "modern and unconventional ways." Since 2018, several Baluch separatist groups have coalesced around the BLA.

Baloch says the group has used digital and social media to attract new recruits and cultivate sympathy from the civilian population.

Pakistan is not willing to address the deep-rooted political grievances that keep Balochistan unstable, the Islamabad-based analyst says.

"If 20 years of kinetic operations have not solved anything," the analyst said. "It will not solve anything in the next 20 years."    


Abubakar Siddique a journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, specializes in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan. He is also one of the authors of the Azadi Briefing, a weekly newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan.