South East Asia

Summary

• Some two hundred million Muslims live in India, making up the predominantly Hindu country’s largest minority group.
• For decades, Muslim communities have faced discrimination in employment and education and encountered barriers to achieving wealth and political power. They are disproportionately the victims of communal violence.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling party have moved to further limit Muslims’ rights under the controversial citizenship law, which has the power to render millions of Muslims in India stateless.

Ignoring the decades-old political roots of the Baloch Conflict, their new economic dimension over the past decade since CPEC, and the latest Taliban connections via its TTP partners leads to inaccurate assessments about its latest manifestations and impedes work on a sustainable solution.

An army with a state

In her seminal piece titled “Pakistan-from hybrid-democracy to hybrid-martial law” published in the 2019 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistan born and UK based leading expert on the Pakistan armed forces made some very pertinent and precise observations of how the all-powerful Pakistan army was continuing its subtle subversion of the country’s constitution with renewed vigour. One of her prognostications was – “The military is keen to generate a new national discourse in which the army’s position is considered synonymous to the state.” [Emphasis added].

In the latest issue of its Urdu-language magazine “Taliban,” Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) eulogizes slain fighters, argues that it is ahead of the Pakistani military in building narratives in the eyes of Pakistani audiences, frames Pakistani military leaders as those who monopolize resources and obstruct the establishment of Islam, and says that the TTP should not be viewed as a terrorist group but as an Islamic jihadi group striving for an Islamic welfare system.

In a devastating and violent incident, a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of foreign diplomats travelling through Pakistan’s scenic Swat Valley. Resultantly, what should have been a symbol of Pakistan’s expanding diplomatic connections, transpired into a tragic reminder of the menace of terrorism.

The White House went to extraordinary lengths last year to welcome Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a state visit meant to bolster ties with an ascendant power and potential partner against China.

Tables on the South Lawn were decorated with lotus blooms, the symbol of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. A chef was flown in from California to preside over a vegetarian menu. President Biden extolled the shared values of a relationship “built on mutual trust, candor and respect.”

The organisations, whose officials met with the US National Security Council officials, included the American Sikh Caucus Committee, Sikh Coalition, and Sikh American Legal Defence and Education Fund (SALDEF). These organisations are known for their pro-Khalistani separatist agendas

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Afghanistan has a façade of domestic stability, with armed conflict decreasing since the U.S. withdrawal.
• But dire economic, humanitarian and human rights conditions and Taliban violence build pressure on the population.
• The international community remains vexed over how to engage the Taliban.

Lacking formal recognition from all member states, the Taliban will not be present at the U.N. General Assembly next week. Their absence speaks volumes about how the international community struggles to constrain a regime that has repeatedly defied U.N. treaties, sanctions and Security Council resolutions. Three years into Taliban rule, the Afghan people are beset by a host of human rights, economic and humanitarian challenges, with women and girls particularly impacted. Meanwhile, the international community still has no clear approach to dealing with the Taliban, with the regime rejecting a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a special envoy to develop a roadmap for normalizing Afghanistan’s relations with the international community.