Author: Priya Saha

AdvertisementAs the preeminent power in South Asia and one that has an expanding global footprint, India’s policies at home and abroad have always impacted its smaller neighbors. This was particularly the case in 2021, a year that saw India’s democratic credentials plunge precipitously and its Afghan policy come a cropper.In his speech at the United Nations in September 2021, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi grandly described India as the “mother of all democracies.” However, the health of the “mother” has been in a state of decline for some time. In its 2021 report, Freedom House listed India as “partly free,”…

Indigenous Christians are living in fear after violence by land grabbers from the Muslim-majority community in Bangladesh’s Rajshahi district.At least 10 Christians were beaten while two of them landed in hospital in critical condition in Badhair village in the Tanore area of the northern district in the past week.The village is home to more than 200 indigenous people, mostly Christians. They are now scared to step out of their homes. The men fear going to the market while children are not being sent to school, say locals. The cause for the attacks is 12,500 square meters of khas land (government-owned fallow…

In this photo provided by the An Khoun Sam Aun/National Television of Cambodia, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures as he joins an online meeting of the ASEAN-China special summit at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Nov. 22, 2021. (An Khoun SamAun/National Television of Cambodia via AP) PHNOM PENH/YANGON (Kyodo) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen is set to arrive in Myanmar later Friday in the first visit by a foreign leader to the Southeast Asian country since the military ousted a civilian government led by Aung San Suu…

Recently, Thailand has decided to provide a duty-free, quota-free (DFQF) market facility for Bangladeshi products in its market until 2026 to increase the two-way trade volume. The declaration came as such facilities to Bangladesh by Thailand expired on 31 December 2020. It is high time to analyze the market situation of Thailand to find appropriate strategies to get optimum benefits from the DFQF market facilities offered to Bangladesh. The journey of Bangladesh–Thailand relations began on 5 October 1972 when Thailand recognized Bangladesh as a sovereign nation-state. The diplomatic ties began with the establishment of the Thai Embassy in Bangladesh in…

(Photo: Unsplash/Sameer Akhtari) A Christian man has been sentenced to death in Pakistan a decade after he was charged with blasphemy. Zafar Bhatti, 58, was accused of sending blasphemous text messages from his phone.  He has always denied the accusations but was charged with blasphemy in 2012, and in 2017 he was sentenced to life in prison. An appeal was lodged by the Christian NGO, the Centre for Legal Aid Assistance and Settlement (CLAAS-PK), which has been supporting Bhatti throughout his ordeal. Last October, the case was referred back to a trial court by Mr Justice Abdul Aziz who said…

Tesla Showroom In Xinjiang: Earlier, US Rights groups had demanded the closure of the showroomBeijing: China accused Washington of hypocrisy on Thursday after US politicians and rights groups criticised carmaker Tesla for opening a dealership in Xinjiang, the site of alleged widespread human rights abuses.The US electric carmaker announced the opening of its new showroom in the northwestern region’s capital Urumqi on New Year’s Eve, welcoming followers on the Chinese social media platform to “start Xinjiang’s electric journey together”.The announcement prompted a backlash from US politicians including Republican Senator Marco Rubio, who accused Tesla on Twitter of “helping the Chinese…

More than 365 prisoners have been executed in 2021 in Iran, raising concern over the abysmal human rights condition which has worsened since Ebrahim Raisi became the regime’s president. This number does not include those prisoners who are secretly executed, and it is not possible to ascertain their names and places of execution. The actual number of executions in 2021 in Iran is much higher as the regime carries out most executions out of the public eye. No witnesses are present at the time of execution but those who carry them out. At least 131 executions were carried out for…

A Christian political party in Pakistan will be appealing a high court order requiring the family of a child victim of abduction, forced conversion and marriage to report to the police station every three months until she turns 18.“Sindh High Court’s judgment is against article 15 that guarantees freedom of movement. The kid will relive the trauma in the police station,” said Akmal Bhatti, chairman of Minorities Alliance Pakistan (MAP) while announcing his party will appeal the decision in the Supreme Court.Bhatti, who was speaking at a press conference in Islamabad on Jan. 5, was accompanied by the victim and…

Universities that use “first-in-family status” when making offers to students risk intensifying “existing education inequalities”, a report suggests.The “flawed” indicator is self-declared and unverifiable, according to a paper published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) think tank.Students who are the first in their family to attend a higher education institution make up around two-thirds of young graduates in England, the research found.It suggests that the use of the term “first generation” does not accurately capture individuals’ socio-economic status despite often being used as a “proxy for low-income”.The term also applies disproportionately to those from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds…

New Delhi: A group of former ambassadors and senior diplomats has criticised activists, retired bureaucrats, military officers and journalists for conducting what it claimed was a “sustained smear campaign” against the government over controversial statements made at the Dharam Sansad in Haridwar in December last year. The group of 32 diplomats, which included former foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal, contended in a statement issued on Wednesday that all calls for violence “must be unequivocally condemned regardless of their religious, ethnic, ideological or regional origin”. The group claimed a “motley group of activists”, some former civil servants and military figures were involved…

— Australian Institute of International Affairs There is little doubt that the fascist ideology of Hindutva has hijacked Hinduism, writes Habib Siddiqui CHAUVINISM remains the greatest threat to pluralism and often triggers genocide. When a chauvinist group is in power, it poses a mortal threat to others not just within its own confined spaces but also outside. In our time, the Hindutvavadi nationalism in India has become a threat to all the non-Hindus everywhere. It is no accident that Muslim and Christian minorities in India are the worst sufferers in the hands of Hindutvavadi fascists, while the BJP government and…

Authorities in Bangladesh have bulldozed over 3,000 Rohingya shops in the last month calling them “illegal”.In a statement to AFP, the country’s deputy refugee commissioner Shamsud Douza confirmed the figure and said that the “illegal shops” had been cleared as “the number of Rohingya is increasing”.“And they need shelters. We are already building sheds on the premises,” he added.While Mr Douza said that relief groups were ensuring the refugees were still getting daily necessities, members of the Rohingya groups said that the shop owners are struggling to survive.“Rohingya families are large and the amount of food ration given to them…