Binance slammed for seizing Palestinian crypto at Israel's request

Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, is facing backlash over reportedly seizing crypto from all Palestinians, as per request from Israel.

The New Arab Staff
28 August, 2024


Binance has denied blocking cryptocurrency from all Palestinians [GETTY]

One of the largest cryptocurrency exchange companies is facing backlash for allegedly seizing crypto from Palestinians at the request of the Israeli army.

Ray Youssef, co-founder of Paxful, a peer-to-peer crypto platform and CEO at Noones, said on X that Binance had seized all funds from all Palestinians.

"Binance has seized all funds from all Palestinians as per the request of the IDF. They refuse to return the funds. All appeals denied," Youssef wrote.

"I have received this from several sources. ALL Palestinians are affected and judging by the way things are going all Lebanese and Syrians will get the same treatment. Not your keys, not your coins," Youssef added.

The CEO shared a letter from his sources at Binance, referring to a letter signed in November 2023 by Paul Landes, the head of Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing, in response to Palestinian users who appealed to restore their funds.


The letter, written in Hebrew, says according to anti-terrorism laws, the Minister of Defence is allowed to order a "temporary seizure of property of a declared terrorist organisation, as well as seizure of property which was used to commit a crime".

The funds were supposedly transferred by the Dubai Exchange Company in the Gaza Strip, which is a declared "terrorist organisation", according to the letter.

Youssef also shared a video from a Palestinian supposedly confirming that "Israel is putting massive pressure on Binance and all other exchanges to blanket seize the funds of ALL Palestinians".

The company has since received backlash, with many users online calling for a boycott.

"Time to boycott @binance They are working with the #IsraeliApartheid to seize and freeze our brothers and sisters assets based on Israeli demands, Crypto is meant to be decentralised not controlled by the government. I deleted my account, now it's your time guys," one user wrote on X.

"TAKE YOUR FUNDS OUT OF BINANCE."

 They support Genocide and are bending over to Israel to freeze assets in Palestine. imagine what they can do with your funds," another wrote.

"Shame on @binance for stealing people's money," said another.

Binance has denied blocking cryptocurrency from all Palestinians, telling Cointelegraph, "Only a small number of user accounts, linked to illicit funds, were blocked from transacting".

The spokesperson also said the company complies with "internationally accepted sanctions legislation, just like any other financial institution".

Data from software company Similarweb cited by Cointelegraph found that Palestine was a "minor market" for Binance, with the traffic share amounting to roughly 0.05 percent of Binance's visits over the past year.

However, Palestine's traffic surged to over 80 percent since August 2023.

With bank infrastructure in ruins, Gaza gets a crypto lifeline

Azraa Muthy

Israeli forces continue violent West Bank raids, Gaza onslaught

Israel's most violent raid on the West Bank in over 20 years continued for a consecutive day on Saturday, bringing the total of Palestinians killed to 22.

The New Arab Staff & Agencies
01 September, 2024

Jenin has been relentlessly targeted by Israel during its large-scale raid of the West Bank [Getty/file photo]

Israel pressed on with a large-scale military operation in the occupied West Bank for a fourth day Saturday, while fierce fighting raged in the nearly 11-month Gaza war.

Israeli soldiers had destroyed most of the streets while power and water have been cut off, local officials said.

A Gaza health official meanwhile said vaccinations had begun there following the first confirmed polio case in the besieged Palestinian territory in 25 years.

The World Health Organization says Israel has agreed to a series of three-day "humanitarian pauses" to facilitate the polio vaccination drive, which an international aid worker told AFP would start in earnest on Sunday.

COGAT, the Israeli defence ministry body which oversees civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, said it would begin at 6:00 am (0300 GMT).

In the northern West Bank, clashes and explosions persisted in Jenin, and both the health ministry and the Red Crescent reported two more Palestinians killed there.

Israel's military said a 20-year-old soldier was killed and another severely wounded.

Earlier, the military said two Palestinians were killed claiming they were attempting to carry out separate bombings overnight in the southern West Bank.

'Worst day'

At least 22 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since Wednesday in simultaneous raids in several cities across the northern West Bank.

Related
Why did Israel launch largest W. Bank raid since Second intifada


Hamas and Islamic Jihad have said at least 14 of the dead were members of their armed wings.

Since Friday, soldiers have concentrated operations on Jenin and its refugee camp, a densely-populated community which has long been bastions of Palestinian resistance.

Visiting the city Saturday, Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said his forces "have no intention of letting terrorism (in the West Bank) raise its head" to threaten Israel.

Early Saturday, an AFP photographer in Jenin reported ongoing clashes and said the streets were mostly empty.

"I think it's the worst day since the start of the raid," said Jenin Government Hospital director Wisam Bakr.

Water and electricity were cut off from the hospital during the raid, forcing it to rely on a generator and water tank, he told AFP.

Later Saturday, Bashir Matahine from the Jenin municipality told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that electricity and water "are completely cut off" in Jenin refugee camp and that "80 percent" of the city's neighbourhoods no longer have water.

He said Israeli bulldozers had dug up 70 percent of the streets, "destroying the water and sewage networks, as well as cables for electricity and telecommunications".

Violence has surged in the West Bank since Hamas's October 7 attack.

The United Nations said Wednesday that at least 637 Palestinians had been killed in the territory by Israeli troops or settlers since the Gaza war began.

Britain, France and Spain have all expressed concerns about Israel's West Bank operation.

Hezbollah drones

In Gaza, Israel pushed on with its deadly offensive, with at least 42 people killed in Israeli strikes across the territory on Saturday.

The fighting has devastated Gaza, repeatedly displaced most of its 2.4 million people and triggered a humanitarian crisis.

Israel's military campaign has killed at least 40,691 people in Gaza, according to the territory's health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

The Israeli army said its forces found "a number of bodies" during fighting in Gaza and were working to identify them, a process it warned would take "several hours".

Israeli media reported the bodies were possibly those of captives, though the army asked the public to "refrain from spreading rumours".

Israeli troops have during the war taken scores of Palestinian bodies, digging up multiple graveyards, some hundreds of which have been returned unidentified for mass burial in Gaza.

The war has drawn in Iran-backed groups from around the region and raised fears of a wider conflict.

On Saturday, Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it had launched "explosives-laden drones" at Israel's Beit Hillel barracks "in response" to Israeli attacks.

UNICEF issues emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit nations

This tender will allow UNICEF to purchase and ship vaccines as soon as financing, demand, readiness, and regulatory requirements are confirmed.


Sumaya Hatungimana, 12, shows the marks on her hands after recovering from mpox, outside her house in Kinama zone, in Bujumbura, Burundi, August 28, 2024.

 (Photo - REUTERS)


Reuters
New Delhi

Sep 1, 2024 

In Short

Agreements for up to 12 million doses through 2025 possible

Unicef to set up supply agreements with manufacturers

Over 18,000 suspected mpox cases reported in Congo this year


The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) has issued an emergency tender to secure mpox vaccines for crisis-hit countries in collaboration with the Gavi vaccine alliance, Africa CDC and the World Health Organisation, the organisations said in a joint statement on Saturday.

Depending on the production capacity of manufacturers, agreements for up to 12 million doses through 2025 can be made, according to the statement.
advertisement

Under the tender, Unicef will set up conditional supply agreements with vaccine manufacturers, the statement said.
This will enable Unicef to purchase and ship vaccines without delay, once financing, demand, readiness and regulatory requirements are confirmed.

The collaboration - which would also include working with the Vaccine Alliance and the Pan American Health Organisation as well as with Gavi, the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention and WHO - would facilitate donations of vaccines from existing stockpiles in high-income countries.

The statement added that WHO is reviewing information submitted by manufacturers on August 23, and expects to complete a review for an emergency use listing by mid-September.

The agency is reviewing applications for emergency licences for two vaccines made by Bavarian Nordic BAVA.CO and Japan's KM Biologics.

Earlier in August, the WHO declared mpox a global public health emergency following an outbreak of the viral infection in the Democratic Republic of Congo that spread to neighbouring countries.

More than 18,000 suspected cases of mpox have been reported in Congo so far this year with 629 deaths, while over 150 cases have been confirmed in Burundi, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.

Sweden and Thailand have confirmed cases of the clade Ib type of the virus, outside of the Democratic Republic of Congo and neighbouring countries.

Published By:
Ayush Bisht

Fake CIA agent deceives world leaders, US general, lawmakers

Our Correspondent

Published September 1, 2024 

DAWN

WASHINGTON: The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating Gaurav Srivastava, an Indian businessman accused of an elaborate fraud scheme involving wire fraud, money laundering, and falsely claiming to be a CIA agent and American citizen, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

In an exposé, the newspaper reveals that Srivastava, who has become notorious for his ‘fake CIA agent’ scam, is under scrutiny for undermining US national security with fraudulent activities spanning several years.

The report paints Srivastava as a college dropout who deceived Washington’s political elite with blatant lies and stolen funds. Srivastava reportedly met President Joe Biden and allegedly donated over $1 million to the Democratic Party while masquerading as a covert CIA operative. His deceptive actions are seen as a major vulnerability in US national security, sparking significant concern on Capitol Hill.

Republican lawmakers are demanding explanations on how a green-card holder from Lucknow gained unrestricted access to high-level Democratic circles.

Srivastava is currently facing a probe by FBI

Srivastava, also known as “Mr. G,” duped numerous high-profile figures, including General Wesley Clark, the Atlantic Council think tank, several Democratic fundraising committees, and multiple senators and Congress members. He also targeted individuals like Senator Mark Warner, Representative Patrick Ryan, a Geneva-based commodities trader, several African leaders, and the president of Indonesia. While some distanced themselves from Srivastava after questioning his credibility, others severed ties only after media revelations.

Srivastava has made repeated attempts to erase public records of his activities, including filing deceitful lawsuits against publications in Pakistan and India and attempting to have articles removed from Google using fraudulent claims. He has also tried to obscure the original articles by republishing them on platforms like Tumblr and Medium under false pretenses.

WSJ details how Srivastava sought to capitalize on connections between commodities, intelligence, and security. Targeting developing countries and conflict zones in Africa, he approached leaders claiming to be a non-official cover (NOC) operative of the CIA, promising influence in Washington.

By associating himself with influential figures such as General Clark, whom he reportedly paid for consulting services, Srivastava created a façade of legitimacy that deceived leaders from Libya and Sudan. At the same time, he presented himself in Washington as a well-connected American with undisclosed government ties, according to General Clark.

Political donations, including a major $1m contribution to the Atlantic Council’s food security event in fall 2023, helped bolster his facade. However, the Atlantic Council confirmed on March 2, 2024, that it terminated its relationship with Srivastava and his fake charitable organisation, “The Gaurav & Sharon Srivastava Family Foundation,” after discovering his deceit.

The scam began to unravel when Niels Troost, a trader whom Srivastava was trying to deceive, grew suspicious. Troost discovered Srivastava’s fraudulent background in the US and India, where Srivastava’s family business, Veecon Group, had a history of failed deals. Srivastava had been introduced to Troost in early 2022 as a solution to counter threats from a business rival, but eventually claimed he could facilitate US government-approved Russian oil trading.

After a dubious “interrogation” by a French financier, Nicolas Bravard, whom Srivastava allegedly claimed was an “FBI friend,” Srivastava convinced Troost to transfer 50 per cent of his company, Paramount Energy & Commodities, to Bravard as a proxy. The funds from this deal were reportedly used for political donations, establishing a new office, and purchasing a $24.5m villa in Los Angeles’s Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

The nature of this purchase, involving apparent deception of an Indonesian company, is central to the wire fraud allegations against Srivastava. As suspicion grew at Paramount, Srivastava’s claims became increasingly desperate, including fabricated assertions of being one of 30 top-secret agents working with the CIA and financier Warren Buffett, who was purportedly involved in running the CIA’s pension plan — a claim Buffett denied.

Srivastava’s lawyer admits their client never spoke to CIA Director William Burns, dismissing Srivastava’s claims as fabrications, though they declined to specify the source of the falsehood.

Recently, Srivastava and his wife Sharon have faced two separate fraud cases in California. Additionally, a former landlord, Stephen McPherson, has sued Srivastava for failing to vacate a $12m Santa Monica home after his lease expired, accusing him of dishonesty and unpaid rent.

Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024

 

Afghanistan dispatch: the Taliban have established a gender apartheid regime

Contributed

AUGUST 30, 2024 

Meena Sadr is a former JURIST correspondent in Afghanistan. She now lives in the United States.

The Taliban have lately passed the so-called Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, which “shall be enforced in all offices, public places, and people living in the territory of Afghanistan” (Article 4). The provisions of this law embody the public erasure of women and proof of the establishment of a gender apartheid regime. The law defines “Hijab” as an attire that covers the body and face of women which should not be short, thin, or tight (Article 3). The section related to the women’s Hijab defines a woman’s face and voice as intimate parts (awrat). Consequently, a woman shall conceal her voice, body, and face if they need to leave the house for urgent needs.

The mandatory Hijab for face and voice has no roots in the culture or the religion of Afghanistan people as the Taliban argues. For example, a documentary filmed by Nancy Dupree in northern Afghanistan 1974 showcases the legal and customary rights of women who did not conceal their faces or voices. Moreover, thepromulgated  dress code is part of Islamic etiquette, not required behavior. Covering the entire body except hands and face was developed using the Hadith, sayings of the prophet Muhammad, three centuries after his death. Jurists of the Hanafi and Maliki schools of thought also prescribed covering the entire body except the face.

The recently passed law is a testament to two important points. First, the Taliban has established a gender apartheid regime. Gender apartheid is defined by human rights lawyers, academics, and advocates as “… inhumane acts…, committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination … by one gender group over another gender group or groups, and committed to maintain that regime.” Although the term gender apartheid is not codified in the international human rights conventions, advocates from Afghanistan and Iran have started to  campaign for the codification of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity. Since the takeover of Afghanistan in mid-2021, the Taliban has passed more than one hundred decrees banning a wide spectrum of women’s rights, to name a few the right to work, the right to get educated, and the right to movement. It is time for international lawyers and academics to advocate for the recognition of gender apartheid as a crime against humanity.

Second, the Taliban law is undeniable proof that Taliban apologists were wrong about the Taliban’s supposed ideological shift. The reality is that the Taliban have not evolved; rather, they have become even more brutal and cruel. In their view, women are not even considered second-class citizens. Afghanistan academics, lawyers, and activists had long asserted that the Taliban had not changed. However, their warnings went unheeded.

This point is crucial because the Taliban has not faced significant consequences for their ongoing ban on women’s basic rights. Despite this, the Taliban government has received billions of dollars as humanitarian aid. The irony of this situation lies in the fact that, while they benefit from international aid, Article 20 (20) of the Law on Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice prohibits any form of friendship or assistance with infidels. Yet, the Taliban consistently seeks international recognition, a seat at the UN, and the continuation of humanitarian aid.

 

 

Opinions expressed in JURIST Dispatches are solely those of our correspondents in the field and do not necessarily reflect the views of JURIST's editors, staff, donors or the University of Pittsburgh.

Poland expands abortion access with new medical guidelines

Tiffany Rojas | Facultad de Derecho PUCP, PE

AUGUST 31, 2024 

Poland’s government introduced new guidelines on Friday concerning legal abortions up to the 12th week of pregnancy.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Minister of Health Izabela Leszczyna and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar indicated that there were many challenges in securing a parliamentary majority to legalize abortion up to the 12th week. Regardless, they decided to issue specific guidelines for prosecutors and hospitals to emphasize that the state should not remain passive when it comes to providing women with the opportunity to legally end a pregnancy.

The guidelines state that the law defines “health” in a general manner so that a woman obtaining a medical certificate from a psychiatrist who establishes that her mental health is at risk constitutes a valid legal reason to obtain an abortion.

Prime Minister Tusk stated that these guidelines will change the practical enforcement of current abortion laws, ensuring that women who need a legal abortion have access to it. Health Minister Leszczyna explained that the guidelines involve not only safety for women seeking abortions but also legal protection for the doctors involved.

The current legislation allows women to get an abortion for only two reasons: i) when it represents a threat to life or health and ii) when pregnancy is a result of rape. However, Minister Leszczyna noted that the threat to health or life are two different aspects and therefore these guidelines will shape the interpretation of the law.

Earlier this week, the UN declared that Poland has violated women’s rights due to the severe restrictions on the availability of abortion. These recent accusations are based on the absence of an official guidance protocol for medical staff regarding abortion, cases of pregnancy-related deaths, difficulties faced in accessing abortion based on a threat to the woman’s mental health, medical staff not being sufficiently trained in abortion management and a lack of familiarity with the abortion care guideline made by the World Health Organization.

PHILIPPINES

Doctor who helped Agent Orange victims wins Magsaysay Award

August 31, 2024 
By Associated Press

This undated photo provided by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation shows 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, center, from Vietnam.

(Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation via AP)



MANILA, Philippines —

A Vietnamese doctor who has helped seek justice for victims of the powerful defoliant dioxin "Agent Orange" used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War is among this year's winners of the Ramon Magsaysay Awards — regarded as Asia's version of the Nobel Prizes.

Other winners announced on Saturday were a group of doctors who struggled to secure adequate health care for Thailand's rural poor, an Indonesian environmental defender, a Japanese animator who tackles complex issues for children, and a Bhutanese academician promoting his country's cultural heritage to help current predicaments.

First given in 1958, the annual awards are named after a Philippine president who died in a 1957 plane crash, and honor "greatness of spirit" in selfless service to people across Asia.

"The award has celebrated those who challenge the status quo with integrity by courageously confronting systemic injustices, transform critical sectors through groundbreaking solutions that drive societal progress, and address pressing global issues with unwavering resilience," said Susanna B. Afan, president of the award foundation.

Vietnamese doctor Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong carried out extensive research into the devastating and long-term effects of Agent Orange. She said she first encountered it in the late 1960s as a medical intern when she helped deliver babies with severe birth defects as a result of the lingering effect of highly toxic chemical, according to the awards body.

"Her work serves as a dire warning for the world to avoid war at all costs as its tragic repercussions can reach far into the future," the Magsaysay foundation said. "She offers proof that it can never be too late to right the wrongs of war and gain justice and relief for its hapless victims."

American forces used Agent Orange during the Vietnam War to defoliate Vietnamese jungles and destroy crops for the Vietnamese Communists, or Viet Cong, who fought against South Vietnam and the United States.

Between 1962 and 1971, the U.S. military sprayed roughly 11 million gallons of the chemical agent dioxin used in Agent Orange across large swaths of southern Vietnam. Dioxin stays in the soil and in the sediment of lakes and rivers for generations. It can enter the food supply through the fat of fish and other animals.

Vietnam says as many as 4 million citizens were exposed to the herbicide and as many as 3 million have suffered illnesses from it, including the children of people exposed during the war.

Indonesian Farwiza Farhan won the award for helping lead a group to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, a 2.6-million-hectare forest on Sumatra Island in his country's Aceh province where some of the world's most highly endangered species have managed to survive, the foundation said.

This undated photo provided by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation shows 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Emergent Leadership, Farwiza Farhan of Indonesia, sitting beside an elephant. (Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation via AP)

Her group helped win a court verdict that led to $26 million in fines against a palm oil company that burned forests and stopped a hydroelectric dam that would have threatened the elephant's habitat, the foundation said.

Miyazaki Hayao, a popular animator in Japan, was cited by the awards body as a co-founder in 1985 of Studio Ghibli, a leading proponent of animated films for children. Three Ghibli productions were among Japan's 10 top-grossing films.

I

n this undated photo provided by Arai via the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, Japan's Miyazaki Hayao, reads a script. (Arai/Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation via AP)

"He tackles complicated issues, using his art to make them comprehensible to children, whether it be about protecting the environment, advocating for peace or championing the rights and roles of women in society," the foundation said.

The Rural Doctors Movement, a group of Thai physicians, won the award for their "decades of struggle … to secure adequate and affordable health care for their people, especially the rural poor," the foundation said.

"By championing the rural poor, the movement made sure to leave no one behind as the nation marches forward to greater economic prosperity and modernization," it said.

Karma Phuntsho from Bhutan, a former Buddhist monk and an Oxford-educated scholar, was cited by the awards body for his academic works in the field of Buddhism and Bhutan's rich history and cultural heritage that were being harnessed to address current and future problems in his country, including unemployment and access to high-quality education.

This undated photo provided by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation shows 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee, Karma Phuntsho, left, from Bhutan. (Ramon Magsaysay Awards Foundation via AP)

The winners will be presented with their awards and a cash prize on November 16 at the Metropolitan Theater in Manila.

Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki among winners of Ramon Magsaysay Award, Asia’s ‘Nobel Prize’

Mr Hayao Miyazaki has been chosen as one of the five winners for the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize. 

PHOTO: STUDIO GHIBLI/ ENCORE FILMS

Chin Hui Shan
ST
Sep 01, 2024


Mr Hayao Miyazaki – director of acclaimed films such as Spirited Away – has been chosen as one of the five winners for the 2024 Ramon Magsaysay Award, known as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The co-founder of Studio Ghibli produced a lot of anime films on difficult themes such as environmental protection and peace, and made them comprehensible to children, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation said.

The 83-year-old is also known for his works such as Princess Mononoke and The Boy And The Heron.

The Philippines-based foundation said on its website that these works display a deep understanding of the human condition, engage their viewers to reflect on their own situation and exercise their humanity.

Three other individuals and one group were also selected as the 2024 recipients. The list of winners was announced on Aug 31.

Among them is a Vietnamese doctor, Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, who has helped seek justice for victims of the powerful defoliant dioxin, known as Agent Orange, used by US forces during the Vietnam War.


Former Buddhist monk Karma Phuntsho – the founder of an educational charity in Bhutan – is recognised for his contributions towards harmonising the richness of his country’s past with the diverse predicaments and prospects of its present, the foundation said.

Another winner is Indonesian Farwiza Farhan who helped lead a group to protect the Leuser Ecosystem, a 2.6-million-hectare forest in Sumatra in Aceh province, which is home to highly endangered species and faces severe threats from deforestation, infrastructure and weak law enforcement.

The Rural Doctors’ Movement of Thailand, a group of Thai doctors, is also awarded for its dedication and struggle to secure adequate healthcare for Thailand’s rural poor.

The award ceremony will be held in Manila in November.

The Ramon Magsaysay award is named after the seventh Filipino president, a former automobile mechanic who was venerated for his servant leadership that earned him the moniker Champion of the Masses.

Past winners included Singapore’s former deputy prime minister Goh Keng Swee and Malaysia’s former chief justice Suffian Hashim.

The earliest pictures capturing the art and beauty of Indian monuments

ORIENTALISM THROUGH THE IMPERIALIST EYE

Sudha G Tilak
BBC  Delhi

01/09/2024

DAG
William Henry Pigou, a surgeon turned photographer, took this picture of an idol cart at a Mysore temple in 1856


A new show in the Indian capital Delhi showcases a rich collection of early photographs of monuments in the country.

The photographs from the 1850s and 1860s capture a period of experimentation when new technology met uncharted territory.

British India was the first country outside Europe to establish professional photographic studios, and many of these early photographers were celebrated internationally. (Photography was launched in 1839.)

They blended and transformed pictorial conventions, introduced new artistic traditions, and shaped the visual tastes of diverse audiences, ranging from scholars to tourists.

While the works of leading British photographers often reflect a colonial perspective, those by their Indian contemporaries reveal overlooked interactions with this narrative.What secrets do the Taj Mahal's locked rooms hold?
A makeover for 200-year-old India heritage building

The pictures at the show called Histories in the Making have been gathered from the archives of DAG, a leading art firm. They highlight photography’s crucial role in shaping an understanding of India’s history.

They also contributed to the development of field sciences, fostered networks of knowledge, and connected the histories of politics, fieldwork, and academic disciplines like archaeology.

"These images capture a moment in history when the British Empire was consolidating its power in India, and the documentation of the subcontinent's monuments served both as a means of asserting control and as a way to showcase the empire's achievements to audiences back in Europe,” says Ashish Anand, CEO of DAG.

dag
William Johnson and William Henderson photographed the Elephanta caves in western India


This is a a picture of Caves of Elephanta taken by William Johnson and William Henderson.

The Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, are a group of temples primarily dedicated to the Hindu god Shiva in the state of Maharashtra.

William Johnson began his photographic career in Bombay (now Mumbai) around 1852, initially working as a daguerreotypist - the daguerreotype was an early photographic process that produced a single image on a metal plate.

In the mid-1850s, Johnson partnered with William Henderson, a commercial studio owner in Bombay, to establish the firm Johnson & Henderson.

Together, they produced The Indian Amateur’s Photographic Album, a monthly series published from 1856 to 1858.

dag
This 1858 picture of the sacred tank at the Minakshi Sundareshvara Temple in the southern city of Madurai was taken by Linnaeus Tripe


Linnaeus Tripe arrived in India in 1839 at the age of 17, joining the Madras regiment of the East India Company.

He began practicing photography and in December 1854, captured images in the towns of Halebidu, Belur, and Shravanabelagola.

Sixty-eight of these photographs, primarily of temples, were exhibited in 1855 at an exhibition in Madras (now a major city called Chennai), earning him a first-class medal for the "best series of photographic views on paper".

In 1857, Tripe became the photographer for the Madras Presidency - a former province of British India - and photographed sites at Srirangam, Tiruchirapalli, Madurai, Pudukkottai, and Thanjavur.

Over 50 of these photographs were displayed at the Photographic Society of Madras exhibition the following year, where they were widely praised as the best exhibits.

dag
John Murray's picture of the Agra Fort, 1858


John Murray, a surgeon in the Bengal Indian Medical Service, began photographing in India in the late 1840s.

Appointed civil surgeon in the city of Agra in 1848, he spent the next 20 years producing a series of studies on Mughal architecture in Agra and the neighbouring cities of Sikandra, and Delhi.

In 1864, he created a comprehensive set of pictures documenting the iconic Taj Mahal.

Throughout his career, Murray used paper negatives and the calotype process - a technique of creating "positive" prints from one negative - to produce his images.

dag
Thomas Biggs picture of a Durga temple in Bijapur, 1855


Thomas Biggs arrived in India in 1842 and joined the Bombay Artillery as a captain in the British East India Company.

He soon took up photography and became a founding member of the Photographic Society of Bombay in 1854.

After exhibiting his work at the Society's first exhibition in January 1855, he was appointed as the government photographer for the Bombay Presidency, tasked with documenting architectural and archaeological sites.

He photographed Bijapur, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Dharwad, and Mysore before being recalled to military service in December 1855.

Biggs experimented with the calotype process, producing "positive" prints from one negative.

dag
Felice Beato's picture of the clock tower at the ruined British Residency in Lucknow, 1858


Felice Beato, one of the most renowned war and travel photographers of the 19th Century, arrived in India in 1858 to document the aftermath of the 1857 mutiny.

Indian soldiers, known as sepoys, had set off a rebellion against the British rule, often referred to as the first war of independence.

Although the mutiny was nearly over when Beato arrived, he photographed its aftermath with a focus on capturing the immediacy of events.

He extensively documented cities deeply affected by the uprising, including Lucknow, Delhi, and Kanpur, with notable images of Sikandar Bagh, Kashmiri Gate, and the barracks of Kanpur. His chilling photograph of the hanging of sepoys, stands out for its stark depiction.

As a commercial photographer, Beato aimed to sell his work widely, spending over two years in India photographing iconic sites. In 1860, Beato left India for China to photograph the Second Opium War.

dag
Andrew Neill's picture of the sculptured granite wall in Hampi, 1856


Andrew Neill, a Scottish doctor in the Indian Medical Service in Madras, was also a photographer who documented ancient monuments for the Bombay Presidency.

His calotypes were featured in the 1855 exhibition of the Photographic Society of Madras and in March 1857, and 20 of his architectural views of Mysore and Bellary were shown by the Photographic Society of Bengal.

Neill also documented Lucknow after the 1857 revolt.

dag
Edmund Lyon's picture of a long aisle in Ramalingeswara temple in Rameswaram, 1867


Edmund Lyon, who served in the British Army from 1845 to 1854 and briefly as governor of Dublin District Military Prison, arrived in India in 1865 and established a photographic studio in the southern city of Ooty.

Working as a commercial photographer until 1869, Lyon gained significant recognition, particularly for his photographs of the Nilgiris mountain range, which were showcased at the 1867 Paris Exposition.

Accompanied by his wife, Anne Grace, Lyon also captured southern India's archaeological sites and architectural antiquities.

His work resulted in a remarkable collection of 300 photographs documenting sites in Trichinopoly, Madurai, Tanjore, Halebid, Bellary, and Vijayanagara

dag
Samuel Bourne photographed this ice cave at the source of Baspa river in the Himalayas in 1860


Samuel Bourne’s stunning images of India, especially from his Himalayan expeditions between 1863 and 1866, stand among the finest examples of 19th-Century travel photography. A former bank clerk, Bourne left his job in 1857 to pursue photography full-time.

Arriving in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1863, he soon moved to Shimla, where he partnered with William Howard to establish the Howard & Bourne studio.

Later that year, Charles Shepherd joined them, forming 'Howard, Bourne & Shepherd'. When Howard left, the studio became ‘Bourne & Shepherd,’ a name that would become iconic.

Bourne embarked on three major Himalayan expeditions, covering vast regions including Kashmir and the challenging terrain of Spiti. His 1866 photographs of the Manirung Pass, at over 18,600ft (5,669m), gained international acclaim.

In 1870, Bourne returned to England, selling his shares, though Bourne & Shepherd continued to operate in Calcutta and Simla. The studio, which later documented the spectacular Delhi Durbar – the ‘Court of India’ of 1911, an event that saw 20,000 soldiers marching or riding past the silk-robed Emperor and Empress - had a remarkable 176-year legacy before closing in 2016.

WAIT, WHAT?!

Mexico judge orders Congress not to discuss controversial judicial reform

August 31, 2024
By Reuters

A unionized federal court worker protests against reforms that would make all judges stand for election in Mexico City, Aug. 26, 2024.

MEXICO CITY —

A Mexican judge ordered the Lower House of Congress not to discuss a controversial judicial reform scheduled to be taken up by lawmakers the first week of September, according to a legal document reviewed by Reuters on Saturday.

The judicial reform, pushed by Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has generated tensions with the United States and has sparked concern in global financial markets.

The order to temporarily block lawmakers from debating and voting on the reform was issued by District Judge Martha Eugenia Magaña López in the Mexican state of Morelos, in response to concerns about judicial workers' labor rights.

The reform would see around 7,000 judges, magistrates and justices elected by popular vote, lower experience and age requirements and reduce the size of the nation's top court.

Proponents say it will improve democracy and help fix a system that no longer serves the public, but critics say it will cut off judges' careers, skew power to the executive and open the judiciary to criminal influence.

The judge's order issued on Saturday would prohibit lawmakers in the Lower House of Congress from discussing the reform until September 4, when the judge will rule on whether to issue a permanent suspension.

Congress has ignored similar orders from judges in the past, leading to doubt as to whether the lawmakers will heed the judge's order or take up the reform anyway.

U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar has expressed strong criticism of the proposed judicial overhaul, calling it a "major risk to the functioning of Mexico's democracy." Canada's government has also criticized it.

Lopez Obrador said earlier this week that he had paused relations with the Canadian and U.S. embassies in the country over their criticisms, which he said disrespected Mexico's sovereignty. He stressed the pause was only with the embassies, and not with the countries.

The ruling Morena party and its allies hold a two-thirds supermajority in the lower house and are one seat short in the Senate.

Why is Mexico’s judicial reform plan so controversial?


By AFP
August 31, 2024

Mexico's outgoing President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador wants judges to be elected by popular vote - Copyright AFP RALF HIRSCHBERGER
Yussel Gonzalez

Judicial reforms championed by Mexico’s outgoing president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, and supported by his incoming successor have sparked diplomatic tensions with the United States and upset financial markets.

Here are the key points of the proposals, which will be debated in the ruling-party-dominated Congress, due to convene on Sunday:



– What’s the plan? –



Lopez Obrador wants Supreme Court and other judges and magistrates to be elected by popular vote, arguing that the judiciary now serves the interests of the political and economic elite.

Candidates would be proposed by the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government.

At present, Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and ratified by the Senate.

Judges and magistrates are appointed by the Federal Judicial Council, an administrative body.

The proposals, which are supported by president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum, who will take office on October 1, would reduce the number of Supreme Court judges from 11 to nine.

Their terms of office would be shortened from 15 years to 12.

A new body would be formed to supervise judges, in a country where the rate of impunity — of being able to avoid accountability for crimes — stands at 99 percent, according to the non-governmental organization Impunidad Cero.

The system would have similarities to that of Bolivia, where members of the high courts are elected by popular vote.

Some states in the United States use elections to select judges. In Switzerland, judges are chosen by voters at the local level.



– Why the controversy? –



Opposition politicians, judges and judicial employees say that the reforms would politicize the justice system and compromise the separation of powers between the branches of government.

Margaret Satterthwaite, United Nations special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers, has also voiced “deep concerns” about the plan’s “broad implications for judicial independence across Mexico.”

“I urge the authorities to carefully reconsider the proposal, giving appropriate weight to the human rights guarantee of judicial independence,” she wrote on social media platform X.

Human Rights Watch urged lawmakers to reject what it called the “dangerous proposals,” saying they would “seriously undermine judicial independence and contravene international human rights standards.”

The New York-based rights group expressed concern that the reforms would also eliminate restrictions on the military carrying out civilian law enforcement.

“Given Mexico’s long history of serious human rights violations and official cover-ups, legislators should be taking steps to strengthen human rights protections, not weaken them,” it said.



– What’s the diplomatic fallout? –



US Ambassador to Mexico Ken Salazar has warned that the changes would “threaten” a trade relationship between the neighboring countries that “relies on investors’ confidence in Mexico’s legal framework.”

The reforms could pose “a major risk to the functioning of Mexico’s democracy,” he told journalists.

In particular, they could “make it easier for cartels and other bad actors to take advantage of politically motivated and inexperienced judges,” Salazar said.

Canada, also a member of the major free trade partnership with the United States and Mexico, has for its part said investors are worried.

“They want stability, they want a judicial system that works if there are problems,” Canadian Ambassador Graeme Clark said.

In response, Lopez Obrador announced a “pause” in relations with the US and Canadian embassies, criticizing the ambassadors’ statements as “interventionist.”



– Why are markets nervous? –



Several investment firms have warned that curbing the independence of the judiciary would affect the resolution of conflicts between the government and the private sector.

The changes would “lead to heightened uncertainty” about the legal operating environment, British consultancy firm Capital Economics wrote in a note to clients.

“The politicization of the justice system could raise concerns about whether disputes between businesses and the government would be resolved in an impartial manner,” it said.

Since Sheinbaum, a close ally of Lopez Obrador, won a landslide election victory June 2, the Mexican peso has fallen by around 16 percent against the dollar.

The drop reflects “concerns about the country’s economic stability… and also the perception of risk that foreign investors are beginning to attribute to Mexico,” Ramse Gutierrez, co-director of investments at asset manager Franklin Templeton, told AFP.

Amin Saikal on the United States’ Many Mistakes in Afghanistan


The United States “overestimated the power that the U.S. military could bring to bear in changing Afghanistan.”

By Catherine Putz
September 01, 2024

Taliban fighters celebrate the third anniversary of the withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan, in Kabul, Afghanistan, Aug. 14, 2024

Credit: AP Photo/Siddiqullah Alizai

In the wake of the September 11 attacks, the United States and its allies ousted the Taliban from power in Afghanistan in retaliation for providing safe havens to al-Qaida. By the 20th anniversary of the attacks, however, the Taliban had returned to Kabul.

The story of how and why the U.S. fought a 20-year war in Afghanistan – and how it ultimately lost that war – is a complicated tale. Four U.S. presidents oversaw the war in Afghanistan. The mission evolved, as did the wider foreign policy strategies onto which it was mapped. By one measurement, the United States spent $2.3 trillion on the war from 2001 to 2021 – a mind-blowing sum in light of the devastating conclusion.

In his book, “How to Lose a War: The Story of America’s Intervention in Afghanistan,” Amin Saikal lays out the convoluted path from a retaliatory intervention to defeat. In the following interview, Saikal, emeritus professor and founding director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University, helps explain the war’s evolution, the dysfunction of successive Afghan (and American) governments, and the fatal mistakes that doomed the effort to re-make Afghanistan into a democracy.

The Bush administration envisioned a “light footprint” as sufficient to achieve its aims in Afghanistan. It also sought to set the war within its wider foreign policy aims of “democracy promotion” and the “war on terror.” How did this constellation of circumstances and strategies hamper its ability to actually achieve its stated aims in Afghanistan?

Initially, the U.S. limited force deployment, spearheaded by the CIA and air power, rapidly prevailed against al-Qaida as the perpetrator of 9/11 and the extremist Taliban regime as the protector of al-Qaida under Osama bin Laden. But it resulted only in the dispersion of al-Qaida and the Taliban leaders and their operatives rather than in their total defeat.

Washington’s plan was not to “get bogged down” in Afghanistan. It was to help transform the country into a stable, secure, and democratic state within a relatively short period, and at minimum cost, in close relationship with the U.S. to ensure the country would never again become a hub for international terrorism. However, the failure to capture bin Laden as the main target of the intervention sooner rather than later led to a “hunt” for him that lasted 11 years, obliging America to deepen and widen its involvement in support of the difficult task of “nation-building” in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, America’s Afghanistan campaign was conflated with two wider foreign policy objectives: democracy promotion and the war on terrorism. The first objective motivated the Bush administration to influence the shaping of the strong presidential system of governance with which Afghanistan was endowed and which was more akin to the American model than in accord with the mitigating prevailing and historical conditions in Afghanistan. The system proved unworkable in a highly socially divided and traditional country. It produced dysfunctional and kleptocratic governments under leaders who personalized politics and could not be effective and reliable partners of the U.S. on the ground.

The second objective spread out American power with the prime aim of toppling the defiant Saddam Hussein’s autocratic rule in Iraq, which Washington falsely linked to al-Qaida and accused of possessing weapons of mass destruction. The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq diverted many American military and intelligence resources from Afghanistan to Iraq in order to quell a raging insurgency there.

The Iraq war was prioritized over Afghanistan at a time when the Taliban, in alliance with al-Qaida, backed by Pakistan, rapidly regrouped and made a comeback with a vengeance before the U.S. and its Afghan and NATO allies could consolidate the situation in Afghanistan. U.S. forces remained thin on the ground and in need of more troops and military equipment, which only worsened as the Taliban-led insurgency expanded. By 2006, despite an increase in military assets, American forces and their allies were struggling to gain the upper hand over the Taliban and their supporters – a trend which continued, with the U.S. incapable of fighting two wars at the same time in contrast to the Pentagon’s doctrine.

Read the full story here, in The Diplomat magazine.