KATHMANDU, 20 August 2021, (TON): At least 300 Nepalis in Afghanistan have registered their details, request support to return home.

They registered their information on the web portal run by the Department of Consular Services (DoCS).

Likewise, a total of 42 Nepalis registered their details via the phone number and email address managed by the Deputy Chief of Protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs till 5:00 pm.

However, some people's details were sent from different locations. The Foreign Ministry informed that cooperation and coordination with the friendly countries were continuous for the rescue of the Nepalis from Kabul. Some of the Nepalis have already reached safe destinations and their details are being ascertained.

A total of 296 Nepalis arrived home including eight via Jazeera Air from Kuwait.

DHAKA, 20 August 2021, (TON): At least 218 Rohingyas died or went missing at sea in 2020, as they desperately sought refuge in Southeast Asian countries -- either from Myanmar's Rakhine state or Bangladesh's Rohingya camps, a new UN report says.

According to the report of the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, released “they are part of 2,413 Rohingyas who are known to have travelled last year, making it the deadliest year on record for refugee journeys in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea since the region's "boat crisis" in 2015.”

"This means that journeys were 8 times deadlier in 2020 than those in 2019," according to the report titled "Left Adrift at Sea: Dangerous Journeys of Refugees Across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea".

It also highlights that some two-thirds of those attempting these perilous voyages were women and children in contrast to earlier periods where most of those travelling were men.

UNHCR says these deadly journeys of the Rohingyas are not a new phenomenon. Over the past decade, thousands of Rohingya refugees have left by sea from Rakhine state in Myanmar and from the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar.

"The roots of these dangerous journeys are found in Myanmar, where the Rohingya were stripped of their citizenship and denied basic rights."

Bangladesh hosts nearly a million Rohingyas, mostly those who fled a brutal military campaign in 2017. Back in Rakhine State, there are some six lakh Rohingyas.

NAYPYITAW, 20 August 2021, (TON): Junta troops raided the homes of three elected National League for Democracy (NLD) parliamentarians in Sagaing Region’s Depayin Township, arresting members of their families when the MPs themselves could not be located.

Citing eyewitness accounts, a source close to the NLD said that two of the houses were located in the village of Saing Pyin, 10 miles from Depayin town, and were targeted simultaneously. They belonged to Lower House parliamentarian Win Myint Aung and regional parliamentarian Moe Min Win, both of whom had long gone into hiding elsewhere.

“They took everything party-related that they found in Win Myint Aung’s home as he was the chair of the [NLD’s] Depayin Township chapter. In short, they took everything that was red.”

He said, referring to the colour associated with the party, whose government was ousted in the February 1 coup.

Khin Ohn Myint, Win Myint Aung’s wife and his son were arrested, along with the MP’s brother, San Lin.

Moe Moe Win’s brother, Mhat San, and his nephew were also taken away by the soldiers.

DHAKA, 20 August 2021, (TON): The stranded are passing miserable days without food and water Vast croplands and thousands of homesteads in low lying areas of 35 river basin villages in Rangpur have been flooded due to the sudden rise of the water level in the Teesta River.

While the river water had been rising steadily for the past few days, a flash flood hit seven unions under the Gangachara upazila of the district after the sudden heavy downpours and an onrush of water from the hilly areas upstream in India.

Rangpur Water Development Board Executive Engineer Ahsan Habib said “the water level crossed the danger mark at Dalia point and the river was flowing 16cm above the danger level as of 9am on Thursday.”

He added that the Teesta was flowing 12cm above the danger level in Gangachara upazila of Rangpur.

Gangachara Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Taslima Begum said “About 4,000 families have become stranded after 35 villages in seven unions of the upazila went under 2-4ft of floodwater.”

According to upazila administration sources, about 2,000 families have become stranded in Sankardaha, Charichali, Chilakhal, Char Matukpur and Binbina areas of the Lakkhitari union.

By Aroussa Hafeez

India's Maoist (Naxalite) insurgency is one of the biggest internal security threat. The Maoist insurgency started as communist peasant revolt in late 1950s and early 1960s in India. Later on it turned into a combination of ethnic, caste, class-based political and socioeconomic battle in many poorest provinces in East of India. The first armed uprising against landlords of the Naxalbari village in eastern state of India of West Bengal was launched on 1967 which sowed the seed of insurgency.  This armed uprising inspired other rebels in the country and became known as Naxalism or Naxalite movement, which was originated as a Maoist movement, struggling for liberation in the small village along India-Nepal border.

The Maoists waged an armed struggle against Indian government for decades and are considered as India’s biggest internal security threat. This movement was named as Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) by government of India. The Naxalites operate in about 90 districts across 11 states of India and fighting against Indian government and security forces. Naxal insurgency has moved to the southern states of India, leaded by Communist Party of India (Maoists) and is active in the states of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where they mainly operate in mineral-rich territory or forest area in the east and south of the country also known as “Red corridor.”

The people from the tribal areas were driven to join the Maoists due to the grievances with the government of India, who started a series of development projects in the 1980s and removed these tribals from their land in the name of public greater good. Most of the land area was inhabited by tribal people but the acquiring of land by government for mining operations and other projects rehabilitated millions of natives and thus the systematic marginalization contributed to the insurgency movement. Undoubtedly, the government resettlement programs are clearly at fault which alienated and marginalized tribal population. The insurgency seems unlikely to end because the Maoists will continue to support tribals until the government does not meet their grievances of its own people.

Recently, Indian security forces have increased operations against ultra-left-wing guerrillas in the country and regular clashes are witnessed between the Maoists and the security forces. On 3^rd April, 2021, about 22 members of Indian security forces were killed, 31 injured and 29 Maoists including women and children were killed during a four-hour gun battle between both in Sukma District of Chhattisgarh.  Earlier, on 23^rd March, 2021, 5 security personnel were killed and at least 13 were injured in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.  Currently, the number of Maoist-linked incidents have decreased due to the heavy operations of Indian security forces against them. However, it seems from the policy of Indian government for the Maoists and the poor tribals against which the Indian government is fighting and killing them with pride are not countrymen as much as the powerful are.

 The police in one of the districts in Chhattisgarh have published findings of survey conducted in January, which figures out Maoist strongholds in the region however, later in July investigation was followed up and results showed that 15 villages were free of Maoists.  However, it cannot be predicted that the insurgency in the region is completely over because the Naxal movement is mainly supported by tribal population of the country, who are neglected by the government and left behind in India's economic boom.

Naxalite movement takes up the cause of marginalized section of society in India. The economic marginalization, poverty, social exclusion, political instability, corruption, supremacy of landlords and several other factors have contributed to the ongoing Maoist insurgency. According to United Nations Human development index report 2020, India has been positioned at 131 out of 189 countries and territories, slipping two positions down than previous year. People are deprived of their basic rights. Increase in poverty and the treatment of Indian government with the people has created hatred for local and central administration. The cycle of resistance and revenge between powerful and poor led to such insurgencies.

Albeit, the battle between the Maoists and the Indian government cannot be overlooked, it is indeed very complex and the heavy presence of security forces and armed personnel have strained the situation more. Moreover, Indian government has failed to tackle tribal grievances. The government’s view to eliminate Maoist’s military through operations against them is not the solution of the problem because a number of unsatisfied people from indigenous communities join this insurgent group and Indian government and security forces are busy in killing their own people.  

Insurgencies do not arise in vacuum. The frustrations, grievances and other unheard demands of people motivates such revolts against the government. Today, there is a rift between poor and rich in India, which needs to be reduced. A new wave of Maoist insurgency cannot be terminated if the rich continues to get richer and the poor get poorer day by day.  The benefits of economic growth should be for the people who really need it. The systematic economic exploitation in urban areas of India need serious attention because these socioeconomic factors inspire Naxal insurgency and in addition, the conflicting views need to be heard by the government.

ISLAMABAD, 19 August 2021, (TON): Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that Pakistan is closely following developments in Afghanistan and in touch with regional and international partners.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister Office (PMO), the premier expressed these remarks during a telephone call from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

The statement said that PM Imran stressed that a peaceful and stable Afghanistan is critically important for Pakistan and the region. He further underscored that safety and security as well as protection of the rights of all Afghans is critically important.

he premier also said that an inclusive political settlement is the best way forward. It is equally essential for the world community to stay engaged in order to support the people of Afghanistan, economically and to help rebuild.

PM Imran highlighted that Pakistan is facilitating the evacuation of diplomatic personnel and staff of international organisations and others from Afghanistan, as requested.

KABUL, 19 August 2021, (TON):  Afghan Defense Minister General Bismilla Khan Mohammadi called on Interpol to detain President Ashraf Ghani, who had fled the country earlier, for selling his homeland.

He wrote on Twitter “those who trade and sell the homeland should be punished and delayed,” adding the hashtag “Interpol, arrest Ghani.”

Publications with such a hashtag have already begun to appear on the social network.

WASHINGTON, 19 August 2021, (TON): The US Embassy in Afghanistan warns Americans that the US government does not guarantee safe passage to Kabul airport for evacuation.

A statement posted on the embassy’s website said “the US government ca-nnot guarantee safe travel t-o Karzai International Airport.”

Tthe message said It provides detailed information on how best for American citizens to get to the airport. “Flights organized by the US government continue to take off.”

The situation in Afghanistan has become especially aggravated in recent weeks, with the onset of the radical Taliban movement on large cities.

On Sunday, media and sources said the rebels were in control of all border crossings. Later that day, militants said they had entered Kabul and taken control of the presidential palace. Afghan President Gha-ni said he left the country “to prevent the massacre.” On Monday, a spokesman for the Taliban’s office Na-im announced that the war in Afghanistan was over.

BERN, 19 August 2021, (TON): Switzerland will not accept large groups of refugees arriving directly from Afghanistan, the government said, as a Swiss army unit arrived in Kabul to assess the situation.

It said that the neutral Alpine country has promised to evacuate local workers for a Swiss development office and their families, 230 people whom the Taliban insurgents could see as “western collaborators”.

But other applications for asylum will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, with humanitarian visas considered only for people facing an “immediate, concrete, serious and directly life-threatening threat”, the government said.

It added that there are different U.N. organisations trying to work out in an unclear situation if and how many people need long-term protection and if these people need to be resettled.

“Also, such an operation is currently not at all possible because the situation in Afghanistan is so unstable.”

A detachment from the Swiss army had reached Kabul, where it will work closely with U.S. forces to assess the situation.

The government was also in contact with 30 Swiss citizens still in Afghanistan who want to leave.

KABUL, 19 August 2021, (TON): A Taliban delegation led by a senior leader of the Haqqani Network group, Anas Haqqani, has met former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for talks, a Taliban official said, amid efforts by the group to set up a government.

Karzai was accompanied by the ousted government's main peace envoy Abdullah Abdullah and leader of Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin Hekmatyar in the meeting, said the Taliban official, who declined to be identified. He gave no more details.

The Haqqani Network is an important faction of the Taliban, who captured the capital, Kabul.

Karzai on Sunday announced that a 'coordination council' was formed in order to prevent chaos, reduce sufferings of the people and oversee a peaceful transition of power after the Taliban seized control of the war-torn country.

The Afghan Taliban said “they wanted peaceful relations with other countries and would respect the rights of women within the framework of Islamic law, as they held their first official news briefing since their shock seizure of Kabul.”

He added "we don't want any internal or external enemies," the movement's main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said. Women would be allowed to work and study and "will be very active in society but within the framework of Islam."

"If the question is based on ideology, and beliefs, there is no difference but if we calculate it based on experience, maturity, and insight, no doubt there are many differences."

"All those in the opposite side are pardoned from A to Z," he said. "We will not seek revenge."