Category Archives: South and Central Asia

Sri Lanka caught off-guard by attacks despite its violent recent past

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Much bitterness and grievance remain in country where war is unfinished business for some

Coordinated bomb attacks on worshippers attending Easter church services and multiple other targets across Sri Lanka were the work of terrorists or religious extremists, a government minister has suggested.

But after the murderous wave of indiscriminate violence shocked and paralysed the country on Sunday, it seemed clear the authorities had been caught off-guard by an unknown enemy that struck without warning and without mercy.

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Archbishop of Colombo urges calm after Sri Lanka Easter Sunday attacks – video

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The archbishop of Colombo, Malcolm Ranjith, has urged Sri Lankans not to ‘take the law into their own hands’, after a series of explosions targeting churches and hotels on Easter Sunday killed hundreds of people. ‘I condemn, to the utmost of my capacity, this act that has caused so much death and suffering,’ he said.

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Devastating aftermath of Sri Lanka’s Easter Sunday church blasts – video

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More than 100 people have been killed and hundreds injured after a series of explosions rocked churches in Sri Lanka. Footage circulated on social media showed the roof of one church almost entirely blown off, as people rushed to help worshippers caught in the attacks on one of the most important days in the Christian calendar.

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Afghan telecoms ministry hit by blast as attackers enter Kabul building

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Officials report gunfire as unknown attackers battle security forces in Afghan capital

An explosion has hit the centre of the Afghan capital Kabul and unidentified attackers appear to have entered a multistorey building housing the communications ministry where they were battling security forces, officials have said.

Gunfire could be clearly heard by witnesses in Kabul on Saturday, but the area around the site was cordoned off by security forces.

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India elections: man chops off finger after voting for wrong party

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Pawan Kumar had voted for Modi party in confusion over symbols on machine

A man has chopped off his index finger in desperation after voting for the wrong party in India’s general election.

Pawan Kumar became confused by the symbols on the electronic voting machine and voted for Narendra Modi’s party instead of its regional rival in Uttar Pradesh state on Thursday, his brother said.

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Bangladeshi teenager set on fire after accusing teacher of harassment

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Nusrat Jahan Rafi was doused with kerosene and burned at her school, dying 10 days later of her injuries

A teenage Bangladeshi girl who reported being sexually harassed has died after being set on fire at school. Police and school authorities had ignored her complaints.

The murder of 19-year-old Nusrat Jahan Rafi, who was doused with kerosene and set on fire at her school in Feni on 6 April, followed her allegations of sexual harassment against her headteacher two weeks before. Nusrat suffered 80% burns to her body and died 10 days later from her injuries.

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‘I lost consciousness’: woman whipped by the Taliban over burqa without veil | Haroon Janjua

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Aziza’s story reflects the growing number of violent public assaults on women deemed to be in breach of sharia law in Afghanistan

One of four women who was recently subjected to a brutal public lashing by armed Taliban fighters in Afghanistan has spoken about her experience, amid an increase of violent punishments given to those violating its strict interpretation of religious law.

Aziza, who like many other Afghan women only uses one name, was rounded up by the Taliban’s shadow police for being out of her house without her husband and not being fully veiled. She was beaten so badly she lost consciousness.

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The two MPs of British descent who do not have to stand in Indian election

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Anglo-Indian George Baker, who occupies one of two reserved seats that are a relic of colonial rule, speaks to Michael Safi

Winning a seat in India’s parliament can take months of gruelling campaigning across vast electorates, often in stifling heat. Unless you are George Baker.

The award-winning actor from eastern India is one of just two members of the country’s 545-seat lower house whose name will not appear on any ballot in India’s six-week election season, which kicked off on Thursday.

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UK ‘deeply regrets’ Amritsar massacre – but no official apology

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High commissioner to India marks 100th anniversary of British troops firing on crowd

Britain’s high commissioner to India has laid a wreath to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Amritsar massacre, one of the worst atrocities of Britain’s colonial rule.

On 13 April 1919, British troops fired on thousands of unarmed men, women and children in the northern city of Amritsar. Colonial-era records put the death toll at 379, but Indian figures say the number was closer to 1,000.

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India election 2019: marathon vote begins to decide Modi’s fate

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Six weeks of voting begin with many viewing it as referendum on prime minister

The world’s largest ever election has started in India, with voters in 20 states casting their ballots in the first phase of a marathon six-week poll.

The contest in the vast country of 1.3 billion people is dominated by local issues but also viewed as a referendum on the prime minister, Narendra Modi, a staunch Hindu nationalist who rode a wave of popularity five years ago to become the first leader of a majority government in decades.

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Women are suffering silently in Pakistan – is #MeToo the answer?

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Inclusiveness and an appreciation of cultural nuances are key to changing attitudes in a society where harassment is the norm

When I was in seventh grade in Pakistan, a classmate tapped my best friend’s shoulder and remarked: “Nice bra”. We were 12, and accustomed to friendships with boys. But youthful idealism meant less tolerance for unsolicited sexual innuendo. We marched to the headteacher’s office ready to change the world, only to be asked to repeat verbatim, several times, the words that had been spoken.

“These things happen in co-education,” we were told. The headteacher downsized our trauma, reducing our complaint to a cheap, inflated scandal. The boy escaped without punishment and the message was clear: girls, pick your battles.

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Dalai Lama, 83, taken to hospital with chest infection

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Tibetan spiritual leader to spend a few days in hospital in Delhi after feeling ‘some discomfort’

The Dalai Lama has been admitted to hospital in Delhi with a chest infection, an aide said, adding that the 83-year-old Buddhist monk was stable.

The Tibetan spiritual leader, who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, lives in exile in the northern Indian hill town of Dharamshala.

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Brother of Sri Lanka ex-president sued over alleged torture and killings

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Gotabaya Rajapaksa was defence secretary in last years of war against Tamil Tigers

The brother of the former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa is being sued in a US court over alleged extrajudicial killing and torture, by the same lawyers who successfully brought a civil suit against the Syrian government for the killing of the Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa was Sri Lanka’s defence secretary during the final years of the country’s civil war against the Tamil Tigers until his brother lost the presidency in 2015, and has been mooted as the family’s presidential candidate in this year’s election.

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‘A terrible thing’: India’s destruction of satellite threatens ISS, says Nasa

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Space agency chief says shooting down of satellite has created 400 pieces of orbital debris

India’s destruction of one of its satellites has been labelled a “terrible thing” by the head of Nasa, who said the missile test created 400 pieces of orbital debris and posed a threat to astronauts onboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Jim Bridenstine was addressing employees five days after India shot down a low-orbiting satellite in a missile launch that it says elevated the country to the elite tier of space powers.

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Bangladesh could take over workplace safety despite ‘shocking unreadiness’

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Exclusive: government’s own data shows no factory it inspects has eliminated high-risk safety hazards

Bangladesh’s government could assume responsibility for safety in workplaces producing clothing for major western brands this week despite demonstrating a “shocking level of unreadiness” to do so, according to an analysis of the state’s own data.

The country’s supreme court is scheduled to decide on Sunday whether to kick out the Bangladesh accord on building and fire safety, an international initiative to remove life-threatening hazards from factories that was put in place after the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza complex in which more 1,100 people died.

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‘The metro smashed the old rules’: Indian women drive change – and trains

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Run by an army of women and equipped with solar power and dedicated breastfeeding pods, Kochi Metro is altering the status quo in Kerala

Down on the platform, where the air is intensely muggy in the March heat, a train glides in. The driver is a woman.

The ticket office is run by a woman. A transgender woman helps customers at the inquiry desk. On four of the metro’s stations, passengers can go into a special cubicle to breastfeed their babies.

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Severe Nepal thunderstorm leaves 25 dead, hundreds injured

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Death toll may increase as rescuers contend with heavy rain and uprooted power lines

More than two dozen people have been killed in a severe thunderstorm that swept through parts of southern Nepal and hundreds more were injured, police and officials said.

Nepal’s prime minister KP Sharma Oli wrote in a tweet that 25 people had been killed on Sunday, and around 400 were injured.

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Bangladesh police arrest building owners over fatal Dhaka blaze

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Authorities say complex had no fire-protected staircases and top floors were illegally constructed

Police in Bangladesh’s capital arrested two of the owners of a commercial complex that caught fire last week, killing 26 people and injuring about 70, an official said.

Deputy police commissioner Shahjahan Shaju said early on Sunday that they arrested FR Tower’s owners Tasvir-ul-Islam and SMHI Faruque in Dhaka after police charged them with negligence and violations of a building code that resulted in casualties. In cases where deaths occur as a result of negligence, defendants also usually face culpable homicide charges.

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US woman kidnapped in Afghanistan says husband’s abuse was just like captors’

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Caitlan Coleman says her Canadian husband, Joshua Boyle, was violent towards her before, during and after their kidnapping

A Canadian man who was kidnapped with his wife in Afghanistan was controlling and violent towards her before, during and after their five-year hostage ordeal, she told a Canadian court on Friday.

Caitlan Coleman, 33, gave testimony for a second day at the trial of Joshua Boyle, 35 who faces 19 criminal charges, including sexual assault, unlawful confinement and uttering death threats.

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