This is not new and it’s certainly not accidental that women are participating in every sphere of the Baloch movement, from the streets of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to the suicide operations of the Majeed Brigade. It’s the most precise sociological indicator of how far this conflict has travelled in southwestern Pakistan. Mama Qadeer Baloch conducted 2,000-kilometre march from Quetta to Islamabad in 2013-14, under the banner of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons. It was largely sustained by women.
Barring several imponderable items, the pomp and show and the nine-course meal banquet, Trump essentially returned empty-handed after his visit to China, with the latter asserting over Taiwan, ushering in G2, but with no major trade or investment concessions from Beijing. It is advantage China in this round, and the new-found confidence in Beijing could constrain New Delhi's moves.
Now, Bangladesh has said that future bilateral relations with India will heavily depend on successful renegotiation and renewal of the 1996 Ganges Water Sharing Treaty, which expires in December 2026. Bangladesh’s Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir are pressing for immediate talks on new agreements that should not have fixed tenures.
Amid this regional uncertainty, a new dynamic is emerging. China and Pakistan are taking steps to form a new regional alliance that plans to include Bangladesh as a potential member. This reality may lead to various disagreements about the need for SAARC’s revival. However, establishing active regional cooperation in South Asia would help create geopolitical pressure and push crises like the Rohingya problem towards a coordinated solution.
Collectively the peacebuilders, physicians and public-health activists from across South Asia noted that inequity is the key challenge and asked their governments to address it properly so that the lessons of the past year are not forgotten, writes Rida Anwar for South Asia Monitor
In Zoramthamga, a former rebel leader and now chief minister of India's northeastern state of Mizoram, India has a potential mediator who has close links with all stakeholders in Myanmar, including the Tatmadaw and Aung Saan Suu Kyi's NLD, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
The upheaval in Nepalese politics over the past few months has occurred following a power tussle within the ruling Communist-led dispensation despite the best efforts of Hou Yanqi, China’s ambassador to Nepal since 2018 to resolve it, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Unlike the US, vaccine hesitancy among large sections of the population is not an issue in India, but production is, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor
Labor economists and various surveys have said the pandemic and consequent job and income losses have pushed tens of millions of Indians into poverty in the last few months, writes Vaibhavi Pingale for South Asia Monitor
I believe that as an Afghan and as a youth, after the full withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan, no pretext and justification will exist for the Taliban to continue the war - the jihad against a foreign power, writes Bator Arsalan for South Asia Monitor
The least India can do is to let the Tibetan community in India select a new Dalai Lama; if there are two Dalai Lamas (one selected in India and one in China), New Delhi should have nothing to do with the Beijing-backed Dalai Lama, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
Amid pervasive expansion of Chinese influence in Myanmar, New Delhi doesn’t want to give further space to Beijing and feels the best option is to remain silent on the Myanmar military’s actions, writes Pema Tseten Lachungpa for South Asia Monitor
Police brutality in India is a form of institutional violence as it is closely connected with law enforcement and torture is perceived as an expeditious method of policing, writes Rahul Machaiah for South Asia Monitor
Politically, the Sheikh Hasina government has adroitly maneuvered a middle but autonomous road for Bangladesh, away from the influences of two regional powers, China and India, writes Aneek Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor
The nation, and especially Hindus and Muslims, will be waiting with bated breath to see what impact the RSS supremo’s advice has on the ruling BJP, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
Dilip Kumar suffered during the phases when neighbors Pakistan and India went to war, but his popularity and the run of his films remained unaffected, on both sides of the border, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Pakistan fails to realize that with US troops exiting Afghanistan, Washington will no longer overlook the generation of terrorism and recruitment of child soldiers by Pakistan, especially when it is wedded to Beijing against the US, writes Lt Gen P. C. Katoch (Retd) for South Asia Monitor
Although Bhutan will succeed in its vaccination drive, the scramble in the South Asian region for doses underscores the highly iniquitous access to vaccines to fight Covid-19, writes N. Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
The Chinese Communists were never shy in shaking hands with insurgents and rebels from India. In contrast, the Dalai Lama has never wielded a weapon. In that sense, he is also a Mahatma Gandhi, writes M.R. Narayan Swamy for South Asia Monitor
