Category Archives: South and Central Asia

India’s #MeToo backlash: accusers battle intimidation, threats and lawsuits

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Six months after a wave of accusations against some of the country’s most powerful men, many women are now embroiled in litigation

Onlookers crowded against the walls of the Delhi courtroom for the testimony of Mobashar Jawed Akbar, India’s former junior foreign minister, and the highest-profile man to quit his job after Indian women started sharing their #MeToo stories last year.

Akbar, 68, has denied accusations by more than 10 women of sexual misconduct. Over two hours in court, an antagonistic audience hissed and tittered as he answered questions on the stand.

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Adani deal with Myanmar military-linked company raises human rights alarm

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Australian expert worries Queensland coal may help fund armed forces accused of genocide

The Adani Group has signed a US$290m commercial deal with a holding company controlled by the Myanmar armed forces, who have been accused by UN investigators of committing genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Indian conglomerate behind the controversial Carmichael coal project in north Queensland was granted permission in April to develop a container port in Yangon, on land owned by the Myanmar Economic Corporation. The MEC generates significant revenue for the Myanmar military, known as the Tatmadaw.

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Sri Lanka imposes curfew after mobs target mosques

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Action taken following days of attacks on places of worship and Muslim-owned businesses

Sri Lanka has imposed a country-wide curfew after successive days of mob attacks on mosques and Muslim-owned shops in three districts.

Facebook and WhatsApp have also been banned as the government seeks to quell unrest in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bombings at churches and luxury hotels last month, which killed more than 250 people.

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Passenger aircraft lands in Myanmar without front wheels – video

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A plane in Myanmar with 89 people onboard landed on the runway without its front wheels. The pilot has been praised for saving the day after the landing gear failed to launch. The touchdown – in which no one was hurt – was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in the country in less than a week

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‘There is less fear’: restoration of Kabul repairs the ravages of war

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Afghanistan rebuilds the old town and creates register of dwellings to promote peace and help residents feel safer

Amir Gol first arrived in Kabul after fleeing his home – a Taliban stronghold – in Nangahar. He had no idea where to settle, so he rented a small mud house and started collecting and selling used plastic to make a living. Almost a decade later, little has changed for the 60-year old father of eleven. He sits cross-legged on a cushion outside the house he rents for 600 Afghani (£5) a month. Occasionally, he says, members of insurgent groups come to his neighbourhood, a settlement specked with poorly constructed mud houses and plastic tents in the city’s outskirts.

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Myanmar plane with 89 on board lands without front wheels

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Pilot praised after touching down successfully at Mandalay despite failure of landing gear

A Myanmar pilot saved the day after his aircraft’s landing gear failed, safely putting the jet on the runway with no front wheels on Sunday, an official said.

The touchdown – in which no one was hurt – was the second instance of a malfunctioning flight in Myanmar in less than a week.

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Armed militants storm luxury hotel in Pakistan

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Gunfire heard at Pearl Continental hotel in Gwadar, in restive Balochistan province

At least three armed militants have stormed a luxury hotel in Pakistan and exchanged fire with government forces.

Local media said the fighters stormed the Pearl Continental hotel in Gwadar just before 5pm local time on Saturday. Firing was still ongoing at 8pm, the assistant superintendent of police in the city told the Guardian. Security personnel cordoned off the area around the hotel.

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Pakistani campaigner says he could be killed if UK deports him

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Azeem Wazir left Pakistan in 2015 over involvement in protest against blasphemy laws

A Christian man who has been living in Bristol for four years says he is at risk of being killed if he is deported to Pakistan after protesting against the country’s draconian blasphemy laws.

Azeem Wazir is being held in Colnbrook immigration removal centre near London, and may be deported as soon as Friday following his arrest last week.

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Asia Bibi begins new life in Canada – but her ordeal may not be over

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Islamic extremists vow to pursue Christian acquitted of blasphemy in Pakistan

Asia Bibi has arrived in Canada hoping to start a new life after her years on death row. But although there is huge relief among campaigners for religious freedom that she is out of Pakistan, her ordeal may not be over.

Islamic extremists have pledged to pursue the Christian woman and kill her for the act of blasphemy of which she was accused and later acquitted. Bibi may spend the rest of her days looking over her shoulder in fear of an international assassin.

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Asia Bibi arrives in Canada after leaving Pakistan

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Christian woman freed last year after spending eight years on death row for blasphemy

Asia Bibi, a Christian woman who spent eight years on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy before she was freed last year, has flown to Canada where she has reunited with her family, her lawyer has said.

“It is a big day,” Saiful Malook told the Guardian. “Asia Bibi has left Pakistan and reached Canada. She has reunited with her family. Justice has been dispensed.”

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Pakistan: eight dead after blast near major Sufi shrine in Lahore – reports

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Explosion reportedly targeted van carrying elite police officers as hundreds of pilgrims gathered at 11th century site

At least eight people have been killed in a blast near Lahore’s Data Darbar, the largest Sufi shrine in south Asia, police in the Pakistani city said.

The explosion was reported around 8.45am local time (4.15am GMT) on Wednesday morning. City police chief Ghazanfar Ali told Associated Press that police officers were the apparent target.

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‘When I get tired of it all, I escape into poetry’: book clubs bloom in Afghanistan

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Reading groups are springing up across Kabul, broadening youthful horizons in a country where books are often censored

In a dimly lit room in west Kabul, stacked with shelves full of books, a small crowd gathers around the warmth of a gas heater. Books clamped under their arms, they are eager to share the stories they’ve read over the course of the week.

Members of Afghanistan’s youngest reading club, the Book Cottage, range in age from four to 13. The club is just one of many reading circles that are springing up across the capital and reviving a book culture that, once lost, is now vibrant, liberal and expanding once again.

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Shamima Begum would face death penalty in Bangladesh, says minister

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Family lawyer says chances of Begum being sent to country are ‘vanishingly remote’

Shamima Begum could face the death penalty for involvement in terrorism if she goes to Bangladesh, the country’s foreign minister has said.

However, her family’s lawyer said the chances of her being sent to her parents’ country of origin were “vanishingly remote”.

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Cyclone Fani hits Bangladesh after killing 15 in India

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More than two million people in at-risk areas in two countries were moved into shelters

The strongest cyclone to hit India in five years killed at least 15 people in the eastern state of Odisha, before swinging north-eastwards into Bangladesh on Saturday, where more than a million people have been moved to safety.

After hitting land, Cyclone Fani lost some of its power and was downgraded to a deep depression by the India Meteorological Department.

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Cyclone Fani: ferocious winds leave trail of destruction in eastern India – video

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Cyclone Fani, the most severe storm to hit the Indian subcontinent in two decades, has made landfall on the coast of the eastern state of Odisha, where officials were trying to evacuate the homes of one million people in its path.

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Cyclone Fani: India’s biggest storm in decades makes landfall

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One million people evacuated as huge storm hits small city of Puri on east coast

Cyclone Fani, the most severe storm to hit the Indian subcontinent in two decades, has made landfall on the coast of the eastern state of Odisha, where officials were trying to evacuate the homes of 1 million people in its path.

The “extremely severe” storm bearing winds of up to 185km/h barrelled into the small city of Puri, home to about 200,000 people, at aabout 8am local time on Friday, according to Indian meteorological officials.

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Cyclone Fani: India evacuates 800,000 from coastal areas

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Emergency crews deployed to Odisha state with 127mph winds predicted to hit east coast

India has begun the evacuation of 800,000 people and deployed emergency personnel as the country’s east coast braces for a severe cyclonic storm.

Tropical Cyclone Fani, located in the Bay of Bengal and packing wind speeds up to 205 km (127 miles) per hour, is expected to make landfall on the coast of Odisha state on Friday.

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