Sunday, April 7, 2019
When will the world stop failing the people of Yemen?
Tawakkol Karman accuses Saudi Arabia and the UAE of committing war crimes in Yemen and we debate Brexit.
Saudis Escalate Crackdown on Dissent, Arresting Nine and Risking U.S. Ire
Among those held are two dual Saudi-American citizens and two women — one of them pregnant, the groups said. Many of the detainees are suspected of having complained to Western journalists and rights groups about the treatment of imprisoned women’s activists, according to a Saudi national briefed on the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss confidential information.
The arrests come as Prince Mohammed, the 33-year-old de facto ruler of the kingdom, is under intense scrutiny over the killing last fall of the dissident Jamal Khashoggi, a Virginia resident and Washington Post columnist who was ambushed and dismembered by Saudi agents in Istanbul. American intelligence agencies have concluded that Prince Mohammed ordered the killing.
In the aftermath, a chorus of American lawmakers from both parties have urged the crown prince to loosen his iron-fisted grip by releasing some of the nonviolent activists. Many lawmakers have focused attention on a small group jailed for campaigning for reforms to the kingdom’s austere social code — including the right for women to drive, which Prince Mohammed has granted.
Lawmakers have also demanded the release of a dual Saudi-American citizen, Walid Fitaihi, a Harvard-trained doctor, who has been held without charges or trial for a year and a half. Associates and relatives of the activists and Dr. Fitaihi have said that the detainees have been repeatedly tortured.
The most recent arrests — the first high-profile detentions since Mr. Khashoggi’s killing — suggest that the crown prince intends to continue his crackdown regardless of American admonitions. “By targeting them, they are signaling to their entire people that there will be zero tolerance of any form of criticism, let alone questioning, of the state’s authoritarian practices,” said Lynn Maalouf, Amnesty International’s director of research for the Middle East. One of the dual American citizens detained, Salah al-Haider, is the son of a prominent activist temporarily freed last week, Aziza al-Yousef. He had celebrated his mother’s return by posting photos of her on Twitter. The other is Bader el-Ibrahim, a Shiite author and physician who may have attracted the authorities’ attention because he has written about Shiites in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom’s population is mostly Sunni, and Shiites are often subject to discrimination.
Their names were confirmed by ALQST, a rights group based in London that has worked on behalf of the activists, and by a Saudi associate of the detainees who insisted on anonymity out of safety fears.
Neither the American Embassy in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, nor a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington responded to requests for comment on Friday.
Lawmakers in Washington called the arrests a sign of disregard for the United States alliance.
“Our strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia is important, but actions like this make it very difficult to sustain it,” Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, wrote on Twitter.
Representative Tom Malinowski, a New Jersey Democrat who recently introduced legislation to deny visas to those whom American intelligence agencies deem responsible for the Khashoggi killing, said the new arrests showed that Prince Mohammed “still feels he has nothing to fear from the Trump administration.”
He added that the prince “doesn’t understand how badly his recklessness is hurting what’s left of support for the U.S.-Saudi partnership in the Congress and among the American people.”Almost all those arrested in recent days are connected to a group of women’s rights activists who have been detained since last spring. They have been charged with acting as foreign agents and working to undermine the kingdom’s security, though rights groups say their detentions appear to stem from their activism.Three of the activists, including Ms. al-Yousef, were granted temporary release last week, leading some observers to speculate that the international pressure on Saudi Arabia to improve its rights record was working. But the charges against them have not been dropped.Yahya Assiri, the director of ALQST, said he did not know what to make of the latest roundup, coming so soon after the authorities had allowed three of the women to go home.
“It’s just bizarre,” he said. “They released Aziza and they arrested her son. I couldn’t understand that.”
Those arrested this week had far lower profiles than the women’s rights activists and tended to be less outspoken, though they belonged to the same social and intellectual circles.
Among them was Ayman al-Drees, the husband of a Saudi feminist activist, Malak al-Shehri, who had fled to the United States last year after the other women’s activists had been arrested. In 2016, Ms. al-Shehri herself was arrested after defying the kingdom by tweeting a photo of herself not wearing a head scarf or an abaya, part of a protest against the country’s conservative dress code.
In a phone interview on Friday from California, Ms. al-Shehri said her husband had called her from his family’s farm in Saudi Arabia to tell her that he saw men “coming for him.”
Sounding frightened, he told her to be careful, she said, and that he loved her, before hanging up. Ms. al-Shehri said that her husband, an insurance underwriter, had muted his own activist posts on Twitter out of fear two years ago and had recently limited himself to translating feminist videos from English into Arabic to spread awareness of feminist ideas.
“We didn’t expect this, because he didn’t do anything wrong. He did nothing,” said Ms. al-Shehri, her voice breaking. “He was being careful, but it didn’t work.”
Also among the recent detainees, according to Prisoners of Conscience, another rights group, was Yazed al-Faife, a journalist for a state-owned newspaper, Al Sharq. He had recently appeared in a video accusing Saudi officials of habitually neglecting parts of southern Saudi Arabia and suggesting that some official dealings had been corrupt.
Mr. al-Faife said that poverty, lack of opportunity and poor infrastructure along the Saudi border with Yemen had allowed Iranian intelligence to destabilize the area and incite discontent in the Saudi population there. This, too, may have been sensitive territory in the authorities’ eyes: Saudi Arabia, with its ally the United Arab Emirates, has drawn strong criticism for its destructive war in Yemen against the Houthis, a militant group believed to be propped up by Iran.The latest detainees also include a couple, Thumar al-Marzouqi and Khadija al-Harbi, both writers. Ms. al-Harbi, who often writes on feminist themes, is pregnant, Mr. Assiri said. Others arrested included Mohammed al-Sadiq, a writer; Fahad Abalkhail, who has supported giving women the right to drive; and Abdullah al-Duhailan, a journalist, novelist and advocate for Palestinian rights.A 10th person, Anas al-Mazrou, a lecturer in literature at King Saud University, is believed to have been detained last month. The Saudi with knowledge of the case said the arrest was related to Mr. al-Mazrou’s appearance on a human rights panel in Riyadh, where he mentioned the imprisoned women’s rights activists.“No one dares to ask, and I am not challenging anybody, including those who are sitting here on stage, to ask about the human rights activists,” Mr. al-Mazrou said, naming three women and a man and saying that they had “contributed to spread the idea of human rights.”
“I will give you an idea and I invite everybody to think about it; the idea of the nation being the guardian of itself,” he added, so the guardian “is the people, not the ruler.”
The conversation quickly moved on to other subjects, but the event was recorded and he was later arrested.
10+ people, ‘mostly children,’ killed in a Saudi-led coalition airstrike on Yemeni capital – reports
At least 11 people, including children, have been killed and over 30 injured in an airstrike on Yemen’s capital, Sanaa, media reports, citing local health officials. The blast affected a “metal workshop” and a nearby school.
The incident occurred in the city’s eastern Sawan neighborhood on Sunday afternoon.
While some eyewitnesses said an aircraft had targeted a “metal workshop,” a spokesman for the Houthi rebel-controlled Health Ministry said the strike actually was on a school close to the workshop. At least 11 people, “mostly schoolgirls”were killed and at least 39 others were injured.
The death toll might even be higher and stands at 13 dead and over 100 injured, AP reported, citing an unnamed official who described the incident merely as an “explosion.”
The coalition, for its part, has reportedly denied carrying out airstrikes in the area. Saudi-owned Al-Hadath TV for its part reported that the coalition had conducted several strikes on “military targets” in Sanaa, including in the Sawan neighborhood. Yemeni news outlets, supporting the Saudi-propped government, claimed the “metal workshop” was actually a warehouse packed with weaponry and used by the Houthi rebels.
Last week, the Saudi-led coalition bombed a rural hospital in northwest Yemen that had been supported by the Save the Children charity. That attack killed eight people, including five children, and injured seven more. The coalition has a long record of bombing civilian targets in Yemen, including weddings, funerals, school buses and busy markets.
While Riyadh is usually quite reluctant to acknowledge involvement of the coalition in such incidents, is has promised to “investigate” the most outrageous cases. The ‘investigations,’ however, have apparently had no tangible result and haven’t prevented further strikes on civilian facilities in the war-torn country.
China’s rise has helped European integration
Editor's Note:
After Italy signed up to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China-EU relations are once again under the global spotlight. Meanwhile, China's rise is believed to be worrying Europe. Which way will EU-China relations go? What do Europe and European enterprises expect from China? How will China's rise affect European integration? Before the upcoming EU-China summit scheduled for April 9, Daniel Gros (Gros), director at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, shared his views on these issues with Global Times (GT) reporter Xu Hailin.
GT: Does the EU have a unified stance toward China?
Gros: There has been little European unity toward China so far. Some progress had been made because the member states now see that 5G is a key technology and Chinese state-owned enterprises might dominate key sectors. However, it is unlikely that the EU will ever find a cohesive policy toward China because member states prefer to keep foreign policy to themselves.
GT: What will be the prospects of BRI in Europe?
Gros: BRI has become an important topic in the EU mainly because of strategic Chinese investment in infrastructure (ports, for example) and because in the 16+1 group there are a number of EU member countries. There is a feeling in Brussels that the representatives from some member states with strong Chinese investment take a more China friendly line than others. However, apart from this, there is little interest in the BRI outside small policy circles because most European policymakers are busy with their domestic problems.
GT: There is divergence in attitudes toward China among EU member states. While some hope a split EU can deepen ties with China, they are vigilant about the increasing influence of Beijing around the world. How will the upcoming summit reassure the EU?
Gros: The first key issue is whether French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker can find a common line. This should be feasible as all three share a preference for an open multilateral trading system. But all three are also wary of investment of Chinese state-owned enterprises in key sectors. They do not want to shut Chinese investors out of the EU market, but would like to have more transparency and reciprocity.
GT: The EU has demanded that China further open its market and lower the limits for entry of foreign capital. In fact, China is opening its door more widely, but the country has its own pace. So, how can the two sides coordinate the divergence on this issue?
Gros: There is little EU leaders can do since China will decide the pace of its opening-up on its own. But the Europeans perceive China now as a very competitive economy. The latest new law on intellectual property is a step in the right direction, but remains to be seen how it will be implemented at the regional and provincial level.
GT: Will more EU member states follow Italy signing MOUs with China within the framework of BRI, and why?
Gros: Other EU member states are likely to wait and see what concrete advantages Italy gains from this step. At present, Italy trades relatively little with China and receives also little investment from China. Other countries will want to see whether signing the MOU will lead to more investment or more trade. Only if this happens, other countries are likely to follow the Italian example.
GT: What do you expect from China's law on foreign investment, which was approved during the two sessions held in early March?
Gros: This new Chinese law on foreign investment could be a major step forward. However, the foreign response has been muted. The key reason for this cautious foreign response is that implementation will be key. The many complaints from European and US enterprises in China are usually not about laws, but about opaque or inconsistent application by different bureaucracies and in different provinces. The change foreign enterprises in China expect is thus a different attitude in the administrations they have to deal with. If the government succeeds in ensuring that the spirit of the new law has to be adapted by the administration at all levels, this new law on foreign investment could be a major positive event.
GT: As EU leaders prefer to keep foreign policy to themselves, what do you think the EU-China summit will do to the current complex situation on the continent?
Gros: The EU-China summit might be important for both sides: for Europe to understand better what China wants; for China to understand better why Europe worries about state intervention in the economy and what Europe might do next. However, it is unlikely that Europe will ever have a coherent "China strategy." Member states like to keep foreign policy for themselves (this is mainly for domestic purposes, most European leaders know that they have no influence abroad, especially not in China). However, the EU has a unified trade policy. There is not yet a unified foreign investment policy, but this is likely to change over time as the European Treaty has given the EU the power to conclude foreign investment treaties.
GT: What role can China play in European integration?
Gros: China can do very little to resolve all the problems we have in Europe. It is already positive that China has not taken the attitude of Donald Trump that the EU is a rival and should disintegrate. The rise of China has already helped European integration because it has helped European citizens to understand that their countries are much too small to prosper individually. Moreover, the important role of the state in such a big economy as China forces Europe to re-examine the role of the state at home as well and it has increased the value of a unified European trade policy, which can negotiate from a position of almost equal strength with China, for example by insisting on reciprocity in foreign investment, government procurement and so on.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1144778.shtml
After Italy signed up to the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China-EU relations are once again under the global spotlight. Meanwhile, China's rise is believed to be worrying Europe. Which way will EU-China relations go? What do Europe and European enterprises expect from China? How will China's rise affect European integration? Before the upcoming EU-China summit scheduled for April 9, Daniel Gros (Gros), director at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, shared his views on these issues with Global Times (GT) reporter Xu Hailin.
GT: Does the EU have a unified stance toward China?
Gros: There has been little European unity toward China so far. Some progress had been made because the member states now see that 5G is a key technology and Chinese state-owned enterprises might dominate key sectors. However, it is unlikely that the EU will ever find a cohesive policy toward China because member states prefer to keep foreign policy to themselves.
GT: What will be the prospects of BRI in Europe?
Gros: BRI has become an important topic in the EU mainly because of strategic Chinese investment in infrastructure (ports, for example) and because in the 16+1 group there are a number of EU member countries. There is a feeling in Brussels that the representatives from some member states with strong Chinese investment take a more China friendly line than others. However, apart from this, there is little interest in the BRI outside small policy circles because most European policymakers are busy with their domestic problems.
GT: There is divergence in attitudes toward China among EU member states. While some hope a split EU can deepen ties with China, they are vigilant about the increasing influence of Beijing around the world. How will the upcoming summit reassure the EU?
Gros: The first key issue is whether French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker can find a common line. This should be feasible as all three share a preference for an open multilateral trading system. But all three are also wary of investment of Chinese state-owned enterprises in key sectors. They do not want to shut Chinese investors out of the EU market, but would like to have more transparency and reciprocity.
GT: The EU has demanded that China further open its market and lower the limits for entry of foreign capital. In fact, China is opening its door more widely, but the country has its own pace. So, how can the two sides coordinate the divergence on this issue?
Gros: There is little EU leaders can do since China will decide the pace of its opening-up on its own. But the Europeans perceive China now as a very competitive economy. The latest new law on intellectual property is a step in the right direction, but remains to be seen how it will be implemented at the regional and provincial level.
GT: Will more EU member states follow Italy signing MOUs with China within the framework of BRI, and why?
Gros: Other EU member states are likely to wait and see what concrete advantages Italy gains from this step. At present, Italy trades relatively little with China and receives also little investment from China. Other countries will want to see whether signing the MOU will lead to more investment or more trade. Only if this happens, other countries are likely to follow the Italian example.
GT: What do you expect from China's law on foreign investment, which was approved during the two sessions held in early March?
Gros: This new Chinese law on foreign investment could be a major step forward. However, the foreign response has been muted. The key reason for this cautious foreign response is that implementation will be key. The many complaints from European and US enterprises in China are usually not about laws, but about opaque or inconsistent application by different bureaucracies and in different provinces. The change foreign enterprises in China expect is thus a different attitude in the administrations they have to deal with. If the government succeeds in ensuring that the spirit of the new law has to be adapted by the administration at all levels, this new law on foreign investment could be a major positive event.
GT: As EU leaders prefer to keep foreign policy to themselves, what do you think the EU-China summit will do to the current complex situation on the continent?
Gros: The EU-China summit might be important for both sides: for Europe to understand better what China wants; for China to understand better why Europe worries about state intervention in the economy and what Europe might do next. However, it is unlikely that Europe will ever have a coherent "China strategy." Member states like to keep foreign policy for themselves (this is mainly for domestic purposes, most European leaders know that they have no influence abroad, especially not in China). However, the EU has a unified trade policy. There is not yet a unified foreign investment policy, but this is likely to change over time as the European Treaty has given the EU the power to conclude foreign investment treaties.
GT: What role can China play in European integration?
Gros: China can do very little to resolve all the problems we have in Europe. It is already positive that China has not taken the attitude of Donald Trump that the EU is a rival and should disintegrate. The rise of China has already helped European integration because it has helped European citizens to understand that their countries are much too small to prosper individually. Moreover, the important role of the state in such a big economy as China forces Europe to re-examine the role of the state at home as well and it has increased the value of a unified European trade policy, which can negotiate from a position of almost equal strength with China, for example by insisting on reciprocity in foreign investment, government procurement and so on.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1144778.shtml
Commentary: Xi’s visits inject new impetus to China-Europe ties
When spring arrived and everything came back to life, Chinese President Xi Jinping made his first overseas trip in 2019. His state visits improved China’s bilateral practical cooperation with Italy, Monaco and France.
China, together with the three countries, proved with concrete action that both China and Europe are the constructors of world peace, the contributors of global development, and the guardians of international orders.
They injected strong power to the development of China-Europe ties, and also contributed positive energy to safeguarding multilateralism.
Xi’s visits mapped out a new blueprint for China’s bilateral ties with the three countries, and enhanced strategic mutual trust and comprehensive cooperation. They demonstrated the open mind and willingness of China to conduct continuous dialogues with the countries and revitalize traditional friendships, endowing practical cooperation with new connotation, and promoting bilateral ties in the new era to a new height.
Xi’s visits expressed China’s sincerity to further enhance strategic coordination and push for healthy and stable development of China-Europe ties. The visits released a positive signal that China and Europe share the same stand on safeguarding multilateralism and opposing protectionism and unilateralism, and further expanded the width and depth of China-Europe practical cooperation. They bore huge significance for the continuous deepening of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe.
Sticking to the basic norms of international relations, China and Europe have laid solid foundation of cooperation on international affairs for the long-term stability of China-Europe relations.
To cope with the common challenges and risks faced by human society, the world must keep strategic composure and adopt a long-term view, jointly safeguard the basic principles of the international order centered with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, protect the international system with UN at the core, respect the international law and globally recognized rules of international relations, and stick to the UN Charter.
Sticking to the trade rules, China and Europe have laid solid foundation of economic development for the long-term stability of China-Europe relations.
At present, the world is seeing increasing factors of instability and uncertainty, with emerging trend of unilateralism, protectionism and anti-globalization.
To conform to the historical trend of multi-polarization and economic globalization and to build an open world economy, the world must keep cooperating to tackle common challenges, oppose protectionism and unilateralism in any form, and make global economy strong, open and inclusive.
In addition, the world should also enhance trade liberalization and investment facilitation, safeguard the core position of the World Trade Organization (WTO), support necessary WTO reforms, and make the rule-based multilateral trading system transparent, equal, non-discriminatory, open, inclusive, and beneficial to all.
Making efforts to deepen China-Europe partnerships of peace, growth, reform and civilization, China and Europe have laid solid foundation of strategic mutual trust for the long-term stability of China-Europe relations.
To deepen the China-Europe partnerships of peace, growth, reform and civilization and develop China-Europe comprehensive strategic partnership calls for the two parties to build closer ties in trade and interconnectivity, conduct more practical cooperation, and protect global and regional peace, stability and prosperity with innovation and inclusiveness.
China firmly supports the European integration, as well as the unity and development of the European Union. It is also willing to see a larger role to be played by Europe in international affairs.
Jointly building a new platform for multilateral cooperation, China and Europe have expanded the space for the long-term stability of China-Europe relations.
Increasingly, the Belt and Road Initiative is becoming a popular public goods in the international society. China and Italy inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to jointly advance the construction of the Belt and Road and promote mutually beneficial cooperation in various fields; China welcomes Monaco to actively participate in the joint development of the Belt and Road; France pays great attention to the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and is working with China to strive for early implementation of the BRI and third-party cooperation projects.
These efforts are conducive to the expansion of the common interests between China and Europe, as well as the common prosperity and the benefit of the two peoples.
Xi, in the warm spring, has composed a beautiful melody of friendship and a symphony of cooperation.
It is believed that Xi’s visits, focusing on the historical trend, opportunities of peaceful development, as well as the China-Europe cooperation and innovative development, will definitely promote the healthy and stable development of China-Europe ties.
The visits are expected to usher in new prospects and make new contribution for global peace and development.
Religious minorities vulnerable in Pakistan: Daily
Religious minorities are more vulnerable than safe in Pakistan, a leading newspaper said on Wednesday.
An editorial in the Dawn newspaper made the comment after two Hindu sisters, both minors, were allegedly abducted, forced to embrace Islam and married.
"The state has a responsibility to preserve and protect the right to freedom of religion, guaranteed under Article 20 of our Constitution," the editorial said.
"But it is impossible to deny the fact that religious minorities are, in many ways, more vulnerable than safe in Pakistan."
The editorial said that last week's abduction of Hindu sisters Reena and Raveena from their home in Daharki "is one of only a handful of the many claims of forced conversions in Sindh that actually gain public attention.
"Too often, officials casually lean into the suggestion that such incidents are simply a matter of women deciding to convert and marry of their own free will, a ‘family dispute' that should be resolved privately, ignoring the power dynamics that make this so suspect.
"The fact is that the majority of new converts in Sindh are young women or minor girls from socio-economically vulnerable Hindu families," the daily said.
"The nexus of power - politically influential families, clerics and seminaries - behind this phenomenon are also well known to all, while religious minorities have repeatedly pointed to a lack of appropriate concern displayed by police and judicial officers.
"In this case, too, despite the fact that an FIR was registered under the Sindh Child Marriages Restraint Act, 2013, the police seemingly attempted to minimize the allegations by pointing to a video of the two girls claiming they had chosen their fate voluntarily."
'We led a life worse than a dog in Pakistan': Hindu refugees from Sindh, Pakistan, now in Delhi, India
Rohit E David
Speaking with Rohit E David, Hindu refugees who escaped from Pakistan recount the terrible conditions they faced there, conversion, discrimination and flesh trade, why Hindus are targeted thus and Narendra Modi vs Imran Khan.
Sitting underneath a handmade bamboo roof, Nehru Lal (45) doesn’t seem to acknowledge that someone is standing at his doorstep. Going through his android phone, he is watching ‘atrocities against Hindus in Pakistan’ on YouTube. Sensing my presence, he finally whispers to his family members, ‘There comes another reporter’.
I quietly sat next to Nehru who burst out finally, ‘Why have you come here?, Many journalists have come, written, shot videos but our lives haven’t changed.' Around 650 Pakistani-origin Hindus are living in a camp right behind Majlis Park metro station in Delhi. All of them say, it’s been six years now and we don’t have electricity or water supply.
That vital escape — To get one passport made, each Hindu had to pay Rs 25,000 to Pakistani agents. (Photo: Author)
The escape from Pakistan — Rs 25,000 per passport
It was in 2013 that a group of 480 Pakistani Hindus got their passports made. Kajal (52), who makes a living today by selling mobile covers, said, “We decided to trick the Pakistani authorities — it was in 2013 that all of us decided to get our passports, as that was the only way we could have come to India. At the passport office, the agent was speculative but we told him that all of us are pilgrims and want to go to the Kumbh mela.”
Not understanding their motives, Pakistani agents promised to give them passports for Rs 25,000 each. In March 2013, all of them travelled from Khokhrapar check post in Pakistan to board a train and reach Munabao railway station located in Barmer district in Rajasthan. They were hoping for a better life in India.
It is certainly a challenging experience. All of them complain that every year, each one of them has to pay Rs 1000 to get their visas renewed as they are still struggling to get the dreamt-of Indian citizenship.
Life is not adarsh in Delhi's Adarsh Colony. But it is an escape for the Hindus who faced torture in Pakistan. (Photo: Author)
'We underwent daily torture'
But the Pakistani Hindus who thus escaped have powerful reasons to stay put.
In 1951, Hindus formed 22% of the Pakistani population — today, they have been reduced to less than 1.6% (Pakistan Census 2017). Either they are forced to convert, or live like third-grade citizens, or even apparently push their women into the flesh trade.
Here, Balram (22) greets his friends, saying, ‘Jai Shri Ram’. He tells me, 'In Sindh, we couldn’t openly say these three words. All festivals, from Diwali to Holi, were celebrated indoors. Every second day, police would pick us up, lock us up and start beating us up without any reason.”
The group says forced conversion is nothing new in that country. “We escaped the conversion part, but I know of many Hindus being converted in the name of a having a better life in Pakistan. What has come out in the news now is that two minor girls were abducted and forced to convert — the reality is that around 25 girls were abducted and no one talks about it. If it comes out in the open, Pakistan will not leave that reporter alive,” said Geeta Devi. “The fear of Hindu girls being abducted in Pakistan is so much that we never stepped out alone in that country,” added Devi.
Tensions erupted, according to these refugees, when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992. Now, with the Balakot air-strikes, many Hindu families in Pakistan must have been tortured, they claim. Similarly, the refugees fear, if a decision favourable to the Hindu community in India on the Ayodhya Ram Mandir were to come out, Hindus would be targetted in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Yes, there are small moments of relief too in the Hindu Pakistani refugee community. (Photo: Author)
No proper schooling, jobs or social equality
Life was apparently beyond bleak in Pakistan; the Pakistani Hindu refugees say they didn’t send their kids to school there as Islamic teaching was forced on them. Jamna (44) said, 'How could we send our kids to school knowing that Islamic teaching is being given to them? There were no jobs for our kids — the first thing that anyone asked us was, what’s your religion? The moment they came to know we are Hindus, they would turn their backs on us. So, we survived on farm produce. We led lives worse than a dog in Pakistan.”
Praying for deliverance was also hard. There are only a handful of temples remaining in Pakistan. Ram Chander (60), who runs a grocery store inside the refugee camp today, says, 'There is one Kali temple in Hyderabad and one Shiv temple in Karachi. The rest,' he claims, 'have been destroyed by them.'
Looking ahead: With their children finally getting a proper education in India, the refugees can dream of tomorrow. (Photo: Author)
'Imran nothing before Modi'
Imran Khan has done nothing new to change this situation in his 'Naya Pakistan' — the Pakistani Hindu refugees dismiss Khan's leadership entirely. 'What is Imran Khan? He doesn’t have the calibre to even stand in front of Modi, ' says Lal, animatedly now. 'Modi had the guts to inaugurate a temple in Saudi Arabia — can Imran Khan open a mosque in India? Khan is bankrupt and doesn’t have the knowledge or stature to compete with Narendra Modi,” Lal adds.
Saying Namaste. With pride. (Photo: Author)
Houses of mud
The life of the refugees has been uniformly hard though.
After crossing over to India, they stayed on the outskirts of Bijwasan, New Delhi. Garib Das (55) said: 'When we came to Adarsh Nagar, the government had dumped us here, with no facilities. We have literally picked up stuff lying on the road and made our house. When the Delhi Metro was being made (Pink Line), we used to take cement and floor tiles. No one helped us — so we had to take this extreme step.”
Candidly, he invited me inside his house and said, see, the sofa, bed and everything inside the one room tenement has been given by someone. The houses are made of mud, which is not resistant to rain. Every day, young girls of this small neighbourhood have the task to pick up wood from nearby areas, so that they can use it to cook food. A few houses have bought batteries and that’s how they charge their mobile phones. Living in the refugee camp for more than six years now, all of them say that no one looks at them.
“There are mosquitoes breeding everywhere. A Delhi Jal Board tanker comes once in two days to supply water, politicians come, they promise electricity — and they go back,” said Chandu (35). A few months ago, the government built tin sheds as toilets for the community. There are around 130 shanties where, in one room, five people stay.
The area is surrounded by trash dumped by MCD vehicles.
Yet, the community has built one Kali temple and a tuition centre for kids, which is run by an NGO. Even though they don't have electricity, yet they are happy that all their kids are studying in government schools and getting an education.
Not at all an easy ride: Many Hindu Pakistani refugees sell mobile covers for a living. (Photo: Author)
Making ends meet
Many of the refugees make their living by selling mobile covers. Jairam Das (23) picks up his cart and stands outside the Adarsh Nagar metro station. 'I earn around Rs 500-1000 a day and that’s how we survive. Since this is not a tough job, every household in the locality survives on selling mobile covers,' said Das.
Despite all their immense hardships though, the refugees know this fact. Their religion will not be a reason for them to feel terrorised any more.
#Pakistan - #Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit - #PTI's so-called war against corruption - Sham Accountability
The Peshawar Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) report is a balance sheet of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) performance in the province. It is a document that clearly shows the ineptness of PTI in handling such projects. Quite ironically, the report also reveals that massive kickbacks in the process were received by some people under the nose of PTI that is fighting the so-called war against corruption that has plagued every other department of the government machinery. Even reading the report is painful.
According to the report, the project is a waste of public money. Do we now reserve the right to question PTI’s performance? Or the supporters of the party still want to live in denial! Is BRT the mess of the previous governments – an argument one often hears from PTI members and supporters alike whenever anyone dares to criticise the party’s performance or failure to deliver on its provinces? It is the project that PTI initiated in the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). How is PTI going to explain this multi-faced failure: kickbacks, poor planning and feasibility, frauds?
While the government has released the investigation report on BRT after the media’s consistent pressure, it is about time for the government to move ahead by taking the next step. The next step the government must take should show some action against those who are responsible for the failure of this project. First, the state should initiate criminal charges against the ones involved in all illegal activities in the project and civil charges against the contractors and construction firms who failed to follow the standard procedures.
Moreover, accountability should not stop with this. The government is also required to suspend the experts and officials who supervised this incompetent travesty. Also, the process of accountability will remain incomplete if Imran Khan’s PTI tries to provide “NRO” to the politicians who pushed this through – the ones who decided to make the BRT on a route that had recently been widened and beautified and did not need BRT at all.
In the process of accountability, the state should spare no one. All responsible for playing havoc with public money by rushing the project for achieving political mileage before general elections and the ones who awarded the project to untested contractors and blacklisted firms should also be brought before the justice. PTI’s mantra of accountability and making a Naya Pakistan free of corruption and corrupt politicians are being tested in their backyard.
https://nation.com.pk/04-Apr-2019/sham-accountability
Pakistan: Containing Post Harvest Losses – OpEd
Reportedly, post harvest losses range from 10% to 20% for different crops in Pakistan. To achieve food security, containing such colossal losses should be the top priority of the Government of Pakistan (GoP).
Analysts are of the consensus that if such losses are contained, twin benefits can be achieved: 1) increasing income of farmers and 2) boosting exports from the country.
Pakistan is among the top producers of various staple food grains that include rice, wheat and maize. The country exports substantial quantity of its top quality Basmati and other varieties of rice. Lately, the country has been producing around 25 million tons wheat per annum and joined the club of wheat exporting countries. Boosting production of maize can help in containing import of edible oil, estimated over US$2 billion per annum.
Despite producing substantial quantities of staple food grains, farmers face hardship due to huge postharvest losses. The prime reason for high losses is lack of modern grain storage silos. Although, State Bank of Pakistan offers financing for the construction of warehouses on concessional rates, little success has been achieved.
As stated earlier, Pakistan produces 25 million tons wheat per annum valued around US$7.5 billion. As against this the country has less than 6 million tons storage capacity. The remaining quantity has to be kept either in unscientific warehouses or in open. As a result significant percentage of total production goes stale and rendered unfit for human consumption after the monsoon season or eaten up by rats etc. Even if one estimates loss of 10% (2.5 million tons), its value comes to US$750 million. Saving this quantity can help Pakistan in boosting its GDP as well as exports significantly.
Farmers, particularly smaller ones suffer due to financial exclusion. As a large number of farmers usually borrow from informal financial system, they are forced to sell their produce at the earliest. One of the suggestions to save farmers from ‘distress selling’ is construction of grain storage silos, where they can store their produce, borrow from financial institutions by offering their produce as collateral and meet their immediate cash requirement. This can become ‘warehouse receipt financing system’ being propagated by State Bank of Pakistan.
Creation of an efficient warehouse receipt financing system can also pave way for ‘trading of warehouse receipts’. Under the proposed system the farmers will not be obliged to sell their produce physically, but transfer ‘constructive’ ownership by selling the receipts. Following this system will save transfer of the produce from one warehouse to another warehouse. To make this a norm, creations of value chain is necessary. This will comprise of modern grain storage silos, collateral management companies, quality certification entities and logistic providers.
Pakistan Mercantile Exchange Limited (PMEX) has set a precedence by offering its electronic trading platform for red chilli. In this venture its value chain partners are Pakistan Agricultural Coalition (PAC), SGS Pakistan and Agility Pakistan. PAC provides on-farm technical services, SGS offers quality certification and Agility provides logistic facilities.
Capitalizing on PMEX’s red chilli experience, it is proposed that deliverable contract of wheat be listed and offered for trading at its electronic trading platform. The system will offer certified quality of wheat for sale, facilitate real time price discovery, guarantee delivery of the produce and prompt payment to the sellers. This will yield two benefits: 1) facilitating disbursement of pre and postharvest loans by the financial institutions and 2) minimizing postharvest losses by offering modern storage facilities.
The added advantage will be linking of grain storage silos across the country with the PMEX trading system. It will not require movement of wheat from one city to another city, till the buyer (who wishes to take physical delivery) acquires ownership title. Under this system availability of wheat at different point of delivery will also facilitate the buyer to choose a point of delivery of his/her own choice. Presence of designated banks in the system will also free buyers/sellers from indulging in cash transactions. They will be able to transfer funds with the click of a key.
Since the GoP is responsible for ensuring ‘food security’, real time display of wheat quantities available at different locations will ensure better monitoring and surveillance of the movement of the produce. Since all the integral components are available, all the stakeholders, the GoP being the biggest, must join hands to list deliverable contracts of wheat at PMEX, facilitate its trading at an electric trading platform and free the farmers from the shekels of informal lenders.