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Category: pakistan

  • Bajaur’s Unfinished War: From Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf

    Bajaur is among Pakistan’s tribal districts that witnessed the greatest battle in the war on terror. In the days of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Al-Qaeda strongholds, it has seen military operations time and again over almost two decades. The campaigns like Operation Sherdil during 2008–2009 showed some fierce counterinsurgency fighting; Operation Sarbakaf in 2025 highlighted how militancy stayed but in a different form ever since it was nearly defeated. The occurrence of various successful and funded coercive instruments, however, did not automatically dissolve the insurgency in Pajaur, reflecting the difficult situation for the extremist institutions. The unfinished war develops the argument that counterterrorism in the region is not only a military challenge but also a struggle counted in politics and society.

    Operation Sherdil: Breaking the TTP Stronghold

    Operation Sherdil was launched in August 2008, illustrating one of Pakistan’s largest counterinsurgencies in FATA. About 8,000 plus troops of the Pakistan Army and Frontier Corps, supported by air power, marched into Bajaur Agency as an anticipating preemptive force to dislodge the established TTP. They had fortified the district as a headquarters from which to influence northeastern Afghanistan. By February 2009, the operation was declared a success, with approximately 1,800 estimated militants killed and some hundreds captured. Yet the cost was high in terms of lives of coalition forces, the lacerated civilian displacement, and infrastructure of the military bases. Still, the TTP retaliated with strikes, indicating the limitations of Sherdil to provide Bajaur long-term peace.

    The TTP’s Enduring Threat

    The TTP group was founded in 2007 under Baitullah Mehsud, quickly becoming among the most deadly militant groups in Pakistan. Unlike the Afghan Taliban, whose interest is in national control, the TTP is more inclined towards sectarian violence and used to stage regular bombings with frequent suicide bombings, particularly carried out against Shia Muslims and state institutions. For them, Al-Qaeda was a source of financial, logistical, and ideological sustenance. Over time, the group found its links to various cross-border sanctuaries between Afghanistan and Pakistan, being based in an underground shelter and sheltered in caves. In 2025, TTP had lost quite a bit but retained fighters, mostly resorting to having bases inside of Afghanistan. Pakistan formally blamed some Afghan intelligence elements and forces shaped by Afghanism [Urdu term افغانیت (Afghanīyat), which reflects the ideological mindset among certain Pashtun groups that only their interpretation of Islam and law should prevail — an outlook carried by both the Afghan Taliban and later the TTP] for the incursion and for not providing real assistance against TTP militancy. All the foregoing compels us to see why militant violence in Bajaur has resisted almost everything.

    U.S. Military Assistance and Its Controversies

    Fighting against terrorism in Bajaur has been broadened to get financial support for Throne of Dollars from the USA. The American government started granting millions of dollars for Pak Army equipment endowing the F-16, MI-17, night vision devices, and secure communication infrastructures. All of these things were like shooting adrenaline to Pak war machinery and let campaigns like Sherdil dominate the battlefield. This aid was highly controversial in its own way as critics raised questions on the effective use of this assistance and warned of weapons leakage to militant groups. After a consequence of the Taliban from Afghanistan in 2021, a public shift is seen from NATO-grade arms to TTP arsenals; this incident added fuel to suspicions concerning diversion and battlefield capture. This $7-billion figure, almost as commonplace in the media debates as is the perception that a good chunk of the money spent continued to indirectly aid insurgents, goes a long way to underline that support can equip the state but also foster political mistrust.

    Civilian Toll of Bajaur

    The tribal communities of Bajaur are among those that have suffered unimaginably over the years due to repeated military operations. Operation Sherdil left thousands of families homeless and destroyed the infrastructure: schools, bazaars, and clinics were destroyed. Operation Sarbakaf was supposed to somewhat rectify this situation by evacuating people into relief camps and providing medical services, but civilian casualties were still left to bear the brunt of displacement and trauma. The unending cycle of violence has eroded the trust of the masses in the state, which militants capitalise on. Local elders lament that development and governance promises are often abandoned once operations are declared over. This social aspect shows that military success alone cannot bring peace to Bajaur. Without education, jobs, and credible governance, the space for militant groups to recruit and regroup will remain. Thus, the war in Bajaur is as much about rebuilding lives as it is about annihilating the insurgents.

    Evolution of Militancy 2009–2025

    Militancy in Bajaur has changed so much with the passing of years. In 2009 TTP, foreign Uzbeks and Arab jihadists were controlling areas like Damdola and Khazai Ghar under commanders like Maulvi Faqir Mohammad), sitting pretty and openly boasting of their power. The victories of the Pakistani Army pulled them out of territories, but the fighters withdrew into the mountains where they regrouped under new banners. TTP, while internally fighting, allied with other factions like Jamaat-ul-Ahrar and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi; some factions tilted toward ISIS-K. By 2025, the insurgency had become less about holding territories and more about sporadic ambushes, assassinations, and recruitment drives. This evolution is a clear demonstration of the flexibility and adaptability of the militants, as they changed their mode of action from open warfare to clandestine insurgency. This explains why even after so many “victories”, Bajaur remains an unresolved security concern two decades onwards.

    Conclusions

    The trajectory of Bajaur has transformed from Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf, revealing transformations of Pakistan’s counterinsurgency strategies and an evolving resilience of militant networks. Sherdil’s heavy fighting in 2008-2009 reclaimed territory at a terrible cost to civilians, while Sarbakaf in 2025 sought to combine targeted strikes with humanitarian safeguards. Sustained by regional safe havens, ideological networks, and alleged external sponsorship, however, TTP’s persistence shows that this war is far from over. While U.S. massive military aid has given Pakistan leverage, it has opened the Pandora’s box of fears of leakage to insurgents and another complication to counterterrorism discourse. The Bajaur conflict ultimately points out that victory over militancy requires more than force; it requires prolonged governance, social rehab, and regional cooperation. Until these dimensions are aligned, Bajaur’s war remains unfinished, a reminder of how insurgencies live where politics and development cease.

    The post Bajaur’s Unfinished War: From Operation Sherdil to Operation Sarbakaf first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Stolen Democracy: Why Imran Khan Was Jailed


    The imprisonment of Imran Khan is now a subject occupying the ground and shifting the mood of Pakistan in reaction. With his party symbol taken away and being surrounded by hundreds of other lawsuits, Khan continues to dominate conversations at the market stalls, tea stalls, and social media feeds. For many, he is an icon of resistance against a system long branded as one that silences popular leaders—a picture that awakens echoes of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s fate. His supporters see him as a victim of political engineering and these very political constraints. An outright ban on visits to his family, detention of his allies, and exile of sympathetic journalists have only strengthened the very allegiance among his supporters. Far beneath the floods, economic hardships, and day-to-day life lingering in their heads is the name of Imran Khan, both as a grievance against the ruling elite and a rallying cry for hope. Hence, his incarceration metamorphosed into a reflection of Pakistan’s truncated democracy, where public sympathy came into conflict with establishment revenge.

    Stolen Verdict

    The general elections exposed deep cracks in the democracy of Pakistan on February 8, 2024. Independent candidates joined Imran Khan’s PTI who won the most seats, leaving PML-N and PPP behind. However, not a single party managed to carry the clear majority, further escalating political uncertainty. Allegations regarding the vote rigging and other irregularities occupied the whole post-election scenario. PTI leaders accused the Election Commission of manipulating the result by delaying the announcement while reports of interference in vote counting identified the denial of PTI’s election symbol and thus painted in a picture of pre-election suppression.

    This controversy deepened when a divisional commissioner came up and confessed to fraud under duress from superiors before walking it back. These forces have manipulated the results of the elections but the findings have largely shown that the public is up against rejection of Pakistan’s dynastic parties, coupled with the public’s resentment of military interference in politics.

    Trials of Power

    The demise of Imran Khan is linked to a series of prominent cases. The leaked “cipher” which was published by The Intercept, suggested that there was pressure from the U.S. for his ouster over his Russia-Ukraine policy, which subsequently landed him a 10-year sentence under the Official Secrets Act. Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were also sentenced to seven years in the controversial Iddat case, which questioned the validity of their 2018 marriage, before they were acquitted on appeal in July 2024. He was also given a 14-year sentence on the Toshakhana wristwatch case involving gifts from foreign states. In a related inquiry, £190 million was allegedly diverted from property tycoon Malik Riaz to the Al-Qadir Trust linked to Khan and his wife, resulting in corruption charges. Such politically engineered cases, in the eyes of his supporters, have further exacerbated public grievances and reaffirmed his image as a persecuted leader.

    Pakistan’s Hybrid Power Structure

    Pakistan manifests a hybrid power system of political order where a military establishment converges with dynastic families, capitalist elites, and technocrats, who would all be working together to keep control. The ex-army officers occupy such lofty positions in civilian offices and institutions like NADRA, PTA, and WAPDA. This certainly indicates that there is a lot of military penetration in civilian governance and policy-making.

    Major parties being politically dominated by families like the Sharifs and Bhuttos who together exert family connections to establish the political monopoly and hinder political competition in an ongoing rivalry. Meanwhile, bureaucrats and business elites align with military and political families, thus fortifying a resistant-to-change ecosystem. Such commodification of power produces civilian-military brackets, institutionalises elite capture, and perpetuates the fragile democratic order in Pakistan.

    Exodus of Talent and Capital

    Emigration from Pakistan continues at a very brisk rate till now after regime change involving Imran Khan. For instance, in 2023, 862,625 people migrated, a slight improvement over the figure of 832,339 in 2022; hence, a gradual outflow instead of a sudden spike (PIDE BEOE). The net migration figure is clearly negative, at -1.6 million for 2023 and -1.3 million for 2022; thus, it is more people going out than coming in Macrotrends.

    While remittances have continued to show resilience, even during the pandemic period, future growth remains uncertain because of a possible slowdown in migration or diversion away from conventional labour destinations GIDS Report. This consistent outflow of professionals, labour, and capital represents one of the most grievous long-term losses for Pakistan and represents a debilitating drain on both talent and economic potential.

    Deep State: Old Patterns, New Confrontations

    Imran Khan’s four-year tenure indeed signified a drastic shift away from decades-old deep state patterns in Pakistan, especially when it came to an absolute rejection of U.S. drone strikes. For two reasons: One, in Khan’s government, there was no use of a drone on Pakistani soil, the first time since 2004. Unprecedented in its overt rejection of sovereignty, this act was Khan’s attempt to often evidently show that he rejected any imposition on sovereignty. For years, Khan had been mobilising protests against drones, condemning civilian deaths and secret pacts by past governments.

    Khan condemned Pakistan’s military as having aided U.S. operations in Afghanistan, calling it a “slave war” that cost Pakistan 70,000 lives and billions of dollars in damages, openly shunning military establishment strategy to pursue Washington’s objectives.

    In the past, however, accusations on Pakistan’s deep state have been persistent, accusing it of using non-state actors as instruments of proxy warfare in Afghanistan and Kashmir IDSA. It also facilitated the proliferation of Saudi-funded madrassas, from the 1970s onward, embedding puritanical ideologies which have altered Pakistan’s educational system and sectarian landscape.

    Another dark shadow hung over the drug trade. The heroin trafficking routes during the Afghan jihad in the 1980s were reportedly protected by intelligence networks to finance their covert wars, as claimed by GISF. Reportedly, these networks then became modern-day militancy financed by narcotics connected to groups like the Taliban and the Haqqani’s Global Initiative.

    Perhaps this level of opacity still exists today. During $364 million worth of defence contracts between the U.S. firms and Pakistan, it was suggested that arms be redirected to Ukraine alone. At the same time, claims by President Zelensky in 2025 that mercenaries from Pakistan had fought in favour of Russia were firmly rejected by Islamabad as false and politically motivated.

    For Khan supporters, this entire proxy warfare, ideological manipulation, illicit trades, and foreign appeasement went soberly against Khan’s policy that placed sovereignty first. His open defiance of deep state’s traditional alliances, coupled with his own zero-drone-strike record, is understood as an immediate trigger for his downfall, that is, being punished in prison for going against deep-rooted interests.

    Conclusion

    The jailing of Imran Khan is all about much more than one man; it is the ultimate proof that the politics of Pakistan are hostages to a hybrid deep state—military overlords, dynastic families, capitalist cronies, and generals turned bureaucrats. For this reason, Khan was punished for refusing to bow down to the system: ending military drone strikes, opposing proxy wars, and exposing elite corruption. An insatiable addiction to foreign dictates, drug money, and Saudi influence has sustained a system whose output is a broken democracy, mass exodus of youth and captivity of the nation between sovereignty and servitude. Until this nexus is broken, every elected leader will remain disposable, and every citizen will remain expendable.

    The post Stolen Democracy: Why Imran Khan Was Jailed first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Left Movements In South Asia Call For Increased Mobilizations

    Hundreds of people have lost their lives and millions their livelihoods and homes due to persistent flooding in India and Pakistan. The unprecedented rains in the last month have caused the rivers in the northern parts of both countries to flood most of the province of Punjab on either side of the border.

    Several other areas in both countries have been badly affected by the floods, such as Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in Pakistan and Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, and Haryana in India.

    Both countries have deployed their armed forces to evacuate thousands of people trapped in areas submerged in water and to run other forms of relief work, due to ineffective disaster management bodies.

    The post Left Movements In South Asia Call For Increased Mobilizations appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Clean Solar Outshines Filthy Oil

    We can have a world that runs on a resource that’s available to everyone everywhere.

    — Bill McKibben

    There’s a renaissance of nature powering the world, and it’s happening throughout the planet hidden from public view because it’s everywhere all at once and not in one isolated location easily identified. It’s solar panel installations experiencing smashing success everywhere throughout the world. Solar panels are consuming the world faster than public media has caught up with the trend to broadcast the good news. People simply aren’t aware of this ongoing miracle.

    Nobody knows this better than Bill McKibben, author, activist, educator, and leader of 350.org. He’s a brilliant environmental activist who has dedicated his life to a better world. His newest book Here Comes the Sun (W.W. Norton & Company) is all about a better world.

    McKibben was recently interviewed by Chris Hayes of MSNBC fame: The Chris Hayes Podcast – Why is This Happening? McKibben’s new book and much more was discussed on Chri Hayes’ podcast on YouTube. The interview is an optimistic take on the future of planet Earth because of rapid advancement of renewable energy.

    This article is based upon the McKibben interview.

    Accordingly, “It’s the rest of the world outside of America that’s really catching on.” Even though the climate situation is in dire straits today, there is a ray of hope in the midst of our troubled planet, an explosion of renewable energy the past 36 months that’s truly amazing, an eyeopener, happening fast!

    Renewable energy has been labeled “alternative energy” for 40 years, and as such, pigeonholed as an alternative or second fiddle. For decades now this frame of mind has downplayed its importance. That stigma is about to be lifted in the face of a big bright new world lighted and powered by the Sun. “It’s the largest nuclear reactor in the solar system, and we have immediate access to it.”

    For example, amazing things are happening: This Spring 2025 China was putting up three (3) gigawatts of solar power every day. One gigawatt is equivalent to one coal-powered plant. So, they were essentially installing three coal-powered plants per day.

    Equally impressive, over the past 15 months California produced renewable energy for long stretches every day and at times producing more than 100% of the power it needs with renewables. At night, California switches to batteries that spent the day soaking up sunshine. That all-important battery auxiliary power source did not exist three years ago. Overall, as of 2025 California has cut the state’s natural gas bill by 40% from two years ago.

    And Texas, the headquarters for the oil and gas industry, is challenging California. According to the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA), as of early 2025, Texas has over 22 gigawatts (GW) of installed solar capacity. That’s enough to power more than 3.5 million homes with clean energy. It is now second in national solar rankings. EVs have increased by 3900% since 2014. Wind energy is up three-fold since 2014. Renewables are hot items in Texas, displacing oil and gas like hot cakes. Do Texas Republicans agree with Trump that climate change is a hoax? Ask them!

    Elsewhere in the sane world, in Pakistan ordinary people have taken matters into their own hands, putting up rooftop solar power on individual homes now equal to one-half of the country’s electric grid. The biggest solar adopters are farmers, using solar to replace diesel fuel to power field generators for water irrigation. As a result, Pakistan used 35% less diesel fuel last year than the year before.

    In Africa mini grids powered by solar are popping up all over the continent.

    A couple of weeks ago Indonesia, the fourth most populated country, committed to build 100 gigawatts of solar power over the next decade.

    In part, all of this is happening because five years ago an invisible line was passed when it became cheaper to produce energy from the Sun and wind rather than burning fossil fuels that emit CO2 by the bucketful. Still, according to the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, for the year 2024, fossil fuels still supply about 80% of the world’s energy as renewable installations simply meet additional demand.

    According to McKibben, “All of this is happening at exactly the same time as the climate is spiraling out of control.” June 2023 is the key month, almost every month since has set a new record for heat. Coincidentally June 2023 is also when humans started installing one gigawatt of solar per day around the planet. Now, we are in a race against time to see who wins because major systems of the planet are just beginning to unravel, e.g., the jet stream has become so skewed that it’s like spaghetti. It has profound influence on weather patterns for the entire hemisphere, and it’s one reason for whacky weather that’s literally destroying property.

    According to McKibben, solar is a mighty force not to be reckoned with. For example, imagine for a moment there’s a ship carrying solar panels across the ocean. Compare that ship full of solar panels to a ship carrying coal across the ocean. Over a lifetime the solar panels will produce 500 times more energy than the same ship containing coal.

    Here’s another example by McKibben, regarding the muscle of solar: He met a farmer in Illinois who grows corn for ethanol. He said one acre worth of corn would power his Ford F150 for 25,000 miles for one year. But if he covers the same one acre with solar panels it’ll produce enough electrons to run his Ford F150 Lightening EV 700,000 miles.

    EVs and auxiliary batteries for power grids are about to get better, more powerful, and safer. Sodium ion batteries for EVs are the new trend in China. This is one more major advancement. Sodium-ion batteries charge faster than lithium-ion and have a three times higher lifecycle

    Meanwhile, archaic America is focusing on old-fashioned, awkward oil and gas drilling while denigrating and dissembling modern renewable policies as quickly as possible and literally decimating science and destroying important science data as well as key data sources. This is truly a tragedy. America is a prime example of the doing the opposite of China’s modernization campaign that embraces science along with renewables.

    In July Al Gore gave a TED speech wherein he mentioned the solar miracle taking place in China: He noted positives in the alternatives space. For example, the costs for renewables have plummeted to levels making fossil fuels unproductive in comparison. Exxon’s own prediction that solar capacity would only achieve 850GW by 2040 was dead wrong; as of year-end 2024, it is already at 2,280 GW, nearly triple the Exxon projection for 2040. Solar is now the least expensive source of electricity in human history. Since the Paris Agreement, solar electricity generation has soared by 732%. And electric vehicle sales have increased 34x since 2015.

    According to Gore, in April 2025 China installed 45 gigawatts of new solar capacity. This is equivalent to 45 brand new giant nuclear reactors installed in one month.

    An accelerating renewables revolution is underway throughout the world. Still, both McKibben and Gore mention the sorrowful fact that Earth’s systems are stressed like never before, and it’ll take a herculean effort to steady-the-ship-of-state. Too much time has passed with too little work to get off fossil fuels. Thank goodness solar is on the march in a very big way. But will it be fast enough, soon enough?

    The post Clean Solar Outshines Filthy Oil first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Digital Siege of Balochistan

    To the people of Balochistan, connectivity is not meant by scrolling through their social media or by undertaking a light entertainment. Internet access is tenuous at best, which – in one of the most poorly dealt with provinces in Pakistan – serves both as a lifeline to education, economic opportunity, and communication with the rest of the world. However, on 6 August 2025, that lifeline was immediately severed as the provincial government ordered a blanket block on mobile internet access in all of its 36 districts, saying that it would remain blocked until 31 August.

    This was not an extraordinary incident. Pakistan has developed an ominous reputation of normalising digital repression. In 2024 alone, internet access was terminated 18 times with a total of more than 9,700 hours of shutdowns, costing the national economies an estimated USD 1.62 billion. Pakistan has become one of the worst culprits in the world next to India and Ethiopia.

    A Manufactured Silence

    Supporters of these shutdowns argue that blocking internet access is necessary to protect national security and to prevent militant coordination. Contrary to what might be true, some of the deadliest attacks have been in the places already bereft of internet access.

    A question, then: assuming that militants can operate offline, what exactly does cutting the internet off to the rest of the population accomplish?

    Are these actions maintained in the interest of security or are they in the interest of power centers?

    Think of the timing. The inordinate closure of the government is also done around times of political sensitivities. There was a deliberate cell shutdown during the days of Muharram in July of 2024 in a number of districts. In July 2025, following a coordinated effort of insurgent groups to organize Operation Baam, the state reacted not by acting in transparent way, but with another communications blackout.

    Everyday Lives, Interrupted

    On the human side, the cost is high. Students have missed online classes, exams, and the status of online submission of online applications are uncertain. To the proprietors of businesses, electronic banking and consumer interactions go down in one night. Journalists are not able to verify events, or report on time; hence, it has been termed by many as an intentional information blackout.

    In Panjgur, a young student of journalism recalled his 4 years of life without mobile internet, but this was only possible through an expensive landline PTCL connection. In Gwadar, Nafeesa Baloch, a climate activist, complained that she had missed important deadlines to fill out grants and had lost international partners due to the August blackout: “This did not merely happen inconveniently; it silenced us on our work.” It is a bitter irony. While the leaders of Pakistan are so proud to talk about digital innovations, whole communities have to live as if they had never seen the modern internet.

    Defying Courts, Defying Citizens

    Considerations of executive competence dominate even where the courts intervene. In July, the Balochistan High Court ordered a partial restoring of internet service, but the government has continued the blackout irrespective of the order of the court. When a high court judgment can be blatantly disregarded, does a constitutional assurance of communication and expression have a quality anymore?

    Local coalitions, including the All Parties Kech grouping, have criticised curfews and internet cut-offs as an antipathetic step toward the people, an impediment to the supply of basic commodities and a gag order to representatives of people expressing differences with the state apparatus and its controlling corporations .

    A Historical Continuum of Control

    This is not a recent. On Pakistan Day in 2012, the mobile services were blocked throughout Balochistan. In 2017, Dalbandin had six months of no mobile data). In more recent times, in 2024 during the general elections, they went again to silence a platform, X like they did to YouTube in 2010. The tendency is another pattern that can only be described as the reaching of the off switch by the state on the part of insecurity.

    International Alarm, National Denial

    Watchdogs of freedom of expression, including the UN Special Rapporteur himself, have criticised the repeated use of blackouts not only as an attack on liberties but also for their effect on the credibility of Pakistan in the international arena. Nevertheless, the authorities perpetuate it, despite realising the damage to Pakistan’s reputation. Pakistan is in need of foreign investment, yet its digital ecosystem is driven to its knees.

    What tone relay to investors about the stability of Pakistan’s institutions?

    How can one present the country as a tech hub of the future when connectivity is not a right, but a privilege?

    The Questions That Remain

    • If security is truly the objective, then why do militant attacks continue even in areas that are already disconnected from the internet?
    • What happens to democratic checks and balances, if court orders are not enforced?
    • When education, healthcare, journalism, and livelihoods are being disrupted, whose security is being given first priority?
    • Above all: when a government opposes and muzzles its citizens far more than it protects them, who is the government actually serving–the populace, itself, or other interest groups?

    In Balochistan, every outage is not merely a time out in communication–it is another brick in the wall of isolation under duress. There is a danger that these emergency regulations would become a never ending reality of digital instability.

    When the only infrastructure between a people and the rest of the world is a susceptible bridge of connectivity, how long before such a bridge falls entirely?

    The post Digital Siege of Balochistan first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Shanti Maheshwari: Brutally Silenced Forever

    Shanti Maheshwari in a bridal dress; her husband Ashok Kumar is behind the bars IMAGE/voicepk.net VIDEO/voicepk.net/Youtube
    From beautiful bride, to victim of marital rape, this is the story of Shanti, a 19-year-old whose husband has been charged under the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act of 2013. IMAGE/Inter Press Service (IPS)

    Shanti Maheshwari was a 19-year-old woman living in Karachi’s working class neighborhood of Lyari who got married to Ashok Kumar Mohan on June 16, 2025, after a two-year engagement. But for two days after her wedding, she was brutally, repeatedly, and unnaturally raped by her husband. Shanti was gruesomely wounded, and started to bleed internally.

    Her in-laws took Shanti to a health clinic but the doctor released her, and so they brought her home.

    On June 30, witnessing Shanti’s seriously deteriorating health, her family brought her back from her in-law’s house. Her parents came to know from Shanti that on June 17 and 18, she was a victim of “unnatural sexual acts,” i.e., sodomy.

    The assault complaint filed by Shanti’s brother Sayon with police stated that her husband “inserted a metal pipe” and then his “hand and arm” in her anus, and bit her breasts and neck. Her husband threatened Shanti with death if she revealed to anyone what he did to her.

    Najma Maheshwari, a social activist from Shanti’s locality, described the violence to which she was subjected to Zofeen Ebrahim of IPS (Inter Press Service):

    “Her insides were torn, she was bleeding profusely from her anus and writhing in pain. Hospital visitors urged us to move the gurney outside, complaining the stench was unbearable.

    “While cleaning her, medics removed worms from her gut—her injuries were that severe. I’ve seen much in my work, but never such horror or pain,”

    Najma (center), Sonya (head covered), and their brother (Najma’s right) were sitting on the pavement outside the trauma center where Shanti was fighting for her life. IMAGE/Seema Maheshwari

    (The violence done to Shanti brings to mind a similar case in 2012, a gruesome gang rape of a 23-year-old paramedical student in Delhi, often known as the “rape capital” of India. Amid huge protests, she was flown to Singapore for treatment, but could not be saved. As is customary for these type of victims, she was not identified by her own name but by courageous and noble names as: “Nirbhaya,” “Amanat,” “Damini,” and so on.)

    Shanti’s relative Sonia, who had arranged Shanti’s marriage, was surprised that despite her bleeding, the doctors released her from Anklesaria hospital where she had been taken.

    In South Asia, doctors are usually treated like God by most people. Why didn’t Dr. Rauf, Shanti’s doctor, care for the patient’s failing health? It’s not difficult to guess. The answer lies in three obvious reasons: Shanti was poor, Shanti was a woman, Shanti belonged to a minority — her Hindu name gave away her religion. These three factors might have caused the doctor to ignore Shanti’s critical condition. Of course, not wanting to get entangled in a medico-legal case could have been a factor, too, as there was clear evidence of anal trauma caused by sexual violence.

    Sayon and Najma took Shanti to the government-run Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Trauma Centre.

    Shanti was brought to the trauma center in “comatose” state, and placed on a ventilator. Her continual passing of stool worsened her wounds. The extreme violence inflicted on Shanti was verified by Karachi’s chief police surgeon Dr Summaiya Sayed who concurred that there was clear evidence of anal trauma caused by sexual violence.

    Mournfully, Najma remembers, “the last thing she asked for was a sip of water. Then she closed her eyes and never opened them again.” That was on 23 July.

    A Pakistani group Aurat March (Women’s March) issued a statement in the wake of Shanti’s painful and tragic death:

    “Shanti, a 20-year-old woman, has passed away today after 20 days of being in coma, and after 36 days of being brutally raped by her husband, Ashok Kumar.” “We had earlier posted about this case — about the horrible ordeal that Shanti went through, and the complicity of Ashok’s family, Anklesaria Hospital and Dr. Rauf, that has now resulted in her death.”

    In the Indian subcontinent, Pakistan tops the list with 85% of married women undergoing sexual or physical violence by their husbands, compared to India’s 29% and Bangladesh’s 53%.

    Globally renowned social activist and classical dancer Sheema Kermani of Tehrik-e-Niswan (Women’s Movement) Cultural Action Group joined with other women’s groups and civil society in protest. She said possibly Shanti would have survived if the doctor had treated her properly.

    In these kinds of horrible cases, celebrities come forward to express shock and show sympathy to the victims and her family or to condole the death. Some are genuine and others do it to enhance their fame. This time, actress singer Ayesha Omar was the only celebrity who mourned Shanti:

    “I’m sorry we failed you, Shanti. May justice be served.”

    “Praying that this misogynistic society can heal and transform for the better one day.”

    The Section 376-B of the Pakistan Penal Code considers rape a crime but it is not very clear on marital rape. Advocate of the High Court Mehwish Muhib Kakakhel points out: “A dedicated clause was proposed for inclusion in the Anti-Rape Act but was ultimately dropped due to complications around the issue.”

    She further noted: “Marital rape is usually not even considered rape because most people believe it is a woman’s obligation not to say ‘no’ to her husband,” she explained. “This mindset results in most cases going unreported.”

    To stop cases of marital rape, Muhib suggested: “Legal recognition would be a vital step in changing social norms and ensuring accountability.”

    However, laws are often made in social vacuum, and remain ineffective and even with strong laws on file protecting women, do not really protect women, because enforcement of these laws remains weak.

    Sexual and Reproductive Health education, along with mental health and emotional wellness programs are critical to change the fate of the Shantis of Pakistan.

    “Too many young people carry the trauma of childhood sexual abuse,” she said. “As they grow, that buried pain can manifest in troubling ways—some develop sadistic or masochistic behaviors, especially when exposed to unchecked pornography. It doesn’t heal them; it deepens the harm.”

    To fill this gap, she and a group of like-minded doctors at the Association for Mothers and Newborns (AMAN)*—the implementation arm of Pakistan’s National Committee for Maternal and Neonatal Health—developed Bakhabar Noujawan (Informed Youth), an online SRH program endorsed by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, launched in 2023.

    “We’re trying to introduce it in colleges, but convincing faculty is an uphill battle—they first need to grasp the course’s importance,” she said.

    Covering over two dozen culturally sensitive topics—from premarital counselling, child and cousin marriage, domestic violence, STIs, to teenage pregnancy—the programme doesn’t shy away from tough conversations. “We’re now developing a module on marital rape,” says Ahsan, head of AMAN. “The first draft is nearly complete.”

    Alongside SRH education, Sayed emphasized the need for mental health and emotional wellness programs.

    “Too many young people carry the trauma of childhood sexual abuse,” she said. “As they grow, that buried pain can manifest in troubling ways—some develop sadistic or masochistic behaviors, especially when exposed to unchecked pornography. It doesn’t heal them; it deepens the harm.”

    IPSNews

    Why did Ashok Kumar committed such heinous acts? Only a thorough psychological evaluation could throw some light on this terrible act. Delving into his motivations and intentions, could present a case history, when communicated to a wider audience, may prevent this somewhat in the future. Everyone knows, no such thing is going to happen, sadly.

    Shanti

    shanti, a word of Sanskrit origin, means silence, peace, …
    Shanti wasn’t at peace; her anatomy was torn due to sexual violence
    Shanti didn’t remain silent; she told her personal trauma to her parents
    Shanti’s milieu was poor; so the doctor’s conscience remained silent
    Shanti’s gender was female; so the patriarchy remained at peace
    Shanti, a teenager, was forced to lethal silence and finally … achieved shanti… deadly peace…

    The post Shanti Maheshwari: Brutally Silenced Forever first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Pakistan inducts first Chinese-built Z-10ME attack helicopters

    Pakistan has formally introduced Chinese-manufactured Z-10ME attack helicopters into service. Field Marshal Asim Munir, the Chief of Army Staff, presided over an induction ceremony for the new attack helicopters at Multan Garrison on 2 August. Afterwards, Munir witnessed a firepower demonstration by new Z-10MEs at the Muzaffargarh Field Firing Ranges. As per an announcement from […]

    The post Pakistan inducts first Chinese-built Z-10ME attack helicopters appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • Indo-Pak Leaders Should “Have a Nice Dinner Together”

    Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (left) and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi IMAGE/PPI/AFP/The News

    Troublemakers

    Many leaders1 are averse to running their countries in a peaceful and progressive manner. Instead of concentrating on the problems the majority of their people face, they create trouble by introducing or undoing things, in order to gain political mileage and divert the public’s attention from important issues requiring government focus. The Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one such leader.

    In the Indian Lok Sabha, on August 5, 2019, Modi’s Home Minister Amit Shah announced revocation of Article 370 which had granted limited autonomy to the Indian occupied Kashmir.

    Constitutional expert and eminent scholar A. G. Noorani told Akshay Deshmane what that revocation meant:

    It is utterly and palpably unconstitutional. An unconstitutional deed has been accomplished by deceitful means. For a fortnight, the Governor and other people told a whole load of lies. And I am sorry that the Army Core Commander (Chief) was also enlisted to spread this false thing of inputs from Pakistan. It was all a falsehood. They have undermined the Army’s non-political character. This is patently unconstitutional. Thing is that I had always predicted that they are out to fulfill their Saffron agenda: Uniform Civil Code, Ayodhya and Abrogation of Article 370. It remains to be seen how they accomplish the Ayodhya agenda.

    The Revocation of Article 370 was in complete violation of the 2018 Indian Supreme Court ruling which stated that Article 370 was a permanent part of the Indian Constitution and the only way it could be revoked was through the legislative body that had drafted the Article originally- only they could rescind it. That body, however, stopped functioning in 1957.

    India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru said in the Lok Sabha on June 26 and August 7, 1952.

    “I say with all respect to our Constitution that it just does not matter what your Constitution says; if the people of Kashmir do not want it, it will not go there. Because what is the alternative? The alternative is compulsion and coercion…” “We have fought the good fight about Kashmir on the field of battle… (and) …in many a chancellery of the world and in the United Nations, but, above all, we have fought this fight in the hearts and minds of men and women of that State of Jammu and Kashmir. Because, ultimately – I say this with all deference to this Parliament – the decision will be made in the hearts and minds of the men and women of Kashmir; neither in this Parliament, nor in the United Nations nor by anybody else,”

    — Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. 18, p. 418 and vol. 19 pp. 295-6, respectively in A. G. Noorani, “Article 370: Law and politics,” Frontline, September 6, 2000.

    That has never happened. The Kashmiri people have never been given a choice to decide their own destiny. Immediately after revoking Article 370, political leaders and thousands of Kashmiri civilians, including those who want Kashmir to be a part of India, were arrested. Kashmir and Jammu was locked down and all communication was blocked for eighteen months. Kashmir was cut off from the rest of the world.

    Pahalgam

    In September 2024, Kashmir Times’ editor Anuradha Bhasin told Al Jazeera:

    “For the last five years, all Kashmiris have seen is an arrogant bureaucracy and the important missing layers of a local government.”

    Rahul Gandhi, leader of the opposition in parliament, addressing a rally in the Jammu region said:

    “Non-locals are running Jammu and Kashmir.” “Your democratic right was snatched. We have given priority to the demand for restoration of statehood.” “If [Modi’s party BJP] fails to restore statehood after the elections, we will put pressure on them to ensure it.”

    Bhasin painted a gloomy picture:

    “The hands of the clock have never moved back. Whatever has been taken from the people, in terms of their autonomy or democratic rights, has never been given back. I doubt that would change in the near future.”

    In May 2024, Omar Abdullah, prior and the current Chief Minister since October 2024, had warned about presenting a rosy picture:

    “The situation [in Kashmir] is not normal and talk less about tourism being an indicator of normalcy; when they link normalcy with tourism, they put tourists in danger.” “You are making the tourists a target.”

    Praveen Donthi, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group:

    “New Delhi and its security agencies started buying their own assessment of peace and stability, and they became complacent, assuming that the militants will never attack tourists.” “But if pushed to the wall, all it takes is two men with guns to prove that Kashmir is not normal.”

    While Modi was in Saudi Arabia, on April 22, 2025, terrorists associated with The Resistance Front killed 26 tourists in Pahalgam, a beautiful hill station and a favorite destination for visitors. The victims were asked about their religion and were killed on communal basis.

    Modi cut short his Saudi Arabia visit and flew back to India’s capital city, Delhi where he didn’t mention Pahalgam at all.

    However, Modi’s divisive inflammatory rhetoric and strategy is well known to the Bihar-based Rashtriya Janata Dal who predicted Modi’s politics:

    “The pyres of the victims of the Pahalgam terrorist attack have not yet been lit, but the country’s Prime Minister will come to Bihar tomorrow to campaign and deliver speeches because Bihar is holding elections this year.”

    Modi, as if on an election campaign in Bihar, the second most populous state (with a large Dalit and Muslim population), gave a fiery speech:

    “Today from the soil of Bihar I say to the whole world. India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers. We will pursue them to the ends of the earth.”

    Veteran journalist Jawed Naqvi points out that in foreign countries Modi typically gives his speeches in Hindi but he gave this address using English to Bihar’s Hindi speakers (perhaps, to fully capitalize from the foreign press present.)

    The accusing finger immediately implied Pakistan, rather than question the security lapse of the Indian security forces or trying to determine the perpetrators. Pakistan has been involved in the past but, this time no proof exists of its involvement. The rhetoric reached fever pitch and culminated in India’s attack on its neighbor, and when Pakistan asked for evidence of the accusation, India didn’t provide it.

    Pakistan also offered to join a “neutral and transparent” investigation but India refused the offer.

    India blamed Pakistan’s military chief Asim Munir’s speech of April 15, 2025 for the Pahalgam tragedy.

    It’s a well known fact that Kashmir is the world’s most militarized zone with very numerous Indian check points all over the state. The question: where was Indian security? was not addressed by the government. Two months later, on June 22, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested two persons who provided shelter to three persons involved in the act, according to NIA allegations.

    Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri announced 5 major decisions taken by the Indian Government in April, 2025:

    1. Suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (1960) with Pakistan.

    2. Immediate closure of the Atari Integrated Checkpost.

    3. Cancellation of all SAARC Visa Exemption Scheme visas for Pakistani nationals.

    4. Expulsion of defense, naval, and air advisors from the Pakistani High Commission in New Delhi.

    5. Reduction of staff in both High Commissions from 55 to 30.

    The CCS reaffirmed India’s resolve to bring perpetrators to justice and hold their sponsors accountable.

    These are extreme measures that, if implemented, especially the water treaty suspension, will undoubtedly create more trouble and could result in a bigger war in the future.

    On July 28, Indian government said its security forces killed three persons responsible for the April 22 killing.

    Asim Munir

    On April 15, while addressing the Overseas Pakistanis (OPs), Munir came out as Indian Hindu Modi’s2 Pakistani version: full of hate, divisiveness, and communalism.

    “Our forefathers thought that we are different from the Hindus in every possible aspect of life. Our religion is different. Our customs are different. Our traditions are different. Our thoughts are different. Our ambitions are different.”

    “… we are two nations, we are not one nation.”

    The army, not popular in Pakistan for its constant interference in politics and disappearing critics and people as Balochis, seemingly, feels driven to frequently do something to make itself relevant. Munir’s speech to OPs was one such attempt.

    India blaming Munir for Pahalgam attack does not seem very credible. The oppressed people, Kashmiris in India or Balochis in Pakistan, don’t need any inciting speech to fight back; they’re just waiting for the right time because they don’t have the luxury of attacking at will, like the governments do, in the name of “national security.” The oppressed can’t reach the state so they attack innocent people to communicate their plight.

    In Pakistan, Baloch separatists have stopped buses and killed Punjabis after checking their IDs, perhaps in revenge as Punjab is Pakistan’s most populous and dominant province, and has a strong hold over the central government.

    The attacks are cruel, but these kind of ugly incidents may continually occur if governments involved refuse to negotiate and reach amicable solutions.

    War

    On 29 April, Indian government sources quoted Modi: “They [the Indian army] have complete operational freedom to decide on the mode, targets, and timing of our response,”

    On May 7, India struck some sites in Pakistan, that then counter-struck.

    India’s Israeli Ambassador Reuven Azar posted on X: “Israel supports India’s right for self-defense. Terrorists should know there’s no place to hide from their heinous crimes against the innocent.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Modi: “Israel stands with India in its fight against terrorism.”

    There can be no better person than Netanyahu, the great terrorist and genocider, to advice another terrorist.

    Trump’s ceasefire

    The four-day-war ended when US President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire on his Truth Social media site:

    “I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.”

    Propaganda

    In 2014, when Modi was to become Prime Minister for the first time, Amit Shah had bragged about BJP having 3.2 million WhatsApp groups who could instantly turn anything into believable stuff. In May 2024, BJP had at least 5 million WhatsApp groups and its infrastructure is so strong that any message relayed from Delhi could circulate all over India within 12 minutes.

    Kiran Garimella of Rutgers University who researches WhatsApp in India, warned that WhatsApp is not an open social media like X or Facebook which is worrying and a cause for concern for many people.

    “It is concerning that such a huge ‘hidden’ infrastructure plays a huge role in how the public consumes information.” “Only the creators of these groups know the extent to which the tentacles of this WhatsApp infrastructure are spread.”

    What is the result?

    War is like a game to the war inciters, war lovers, war media, and common people under the spell of the media frenzy and are most interested in the one question, who won and who lost?

    The winners

    There were two clear winners: Indian news media and the Pakistan army and its Chief of Army Staff: Asim Munir.

    False news stories and AI generated images came from both sides but India was way ahead in fake news:

    • Indian Navy destroyed sea port Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and financial center, with “over ten blasts.”
    • The city of Peshawar was turned to “dust.”
    • Pakistani soldiers were “deserting” and generals were “fleeing” the country,
    • Some channels announced destruction of 5 cities where as another settled for 26 cities
    • India’s fake news-master Arnab Goswami also declared a huge blast was heard outside Pakistan PM’s house and he was taken away to a place “20.5” kilometers (12.74 miles) away. Goswami also said it’s not clear whether it was for a safety reason or was it a coup.
    • Zee News declared a coup happened resulting in the arrest of General Asim Munir.
    • and so on…

    For a very long time now, most Indian media has turned into “Godi Media,” a term used by Ravish Kumar, the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award winner. (Kumar was NDTV India’s Managing Editor but left when it was bought by billionaire Gautam Adani, a Modi supporter and fellow Gujarati.)

    Kumar queried as to who should get an award for riveting fake news?

    • News Nation who gave news of Sharif on the run or,
    • Zee News who located Sharif, who was never missing?

    Sumitra Badrinathan, an assistant professor at the American University, observed in an interview with the New York Times that in India “previously credible journalists and major media news outlets ran straight-up fabricated stories [on the 4 day war].”

    The losers

    The victims of the bombings, dead or wounded, are always the first ones to endure the horrors of war. They are the losers.

    Pakistan said 40 civilians and 13 military personnel were killed. India’s figure was 21 civilians and 8 military and paramilitary personnel died. Hundreds of people on both sides got injured.

    The politicians and generals on both sides claimed victory. The war was of a very short duration, thus politicians and generals didn’t feel populace hostility or face dire consequences like resignations.

    Winner and loser honor

    That honor goes to Modi. He was a winner and also a loser.

    • Modi the winner. To his followers, Modi’s heroism enhanced when the Indian news media falsely started giving way too inflated stories of India beating Pakistan.
    • Modi also succeeded in cutting off whatever little cooperation existed between Indians and Pakistanis through arts and sports. The Indian government ordered all Pakistani songs removed from Spotify. All media streaming services, digital intermediaries, and OTT platforms were ordered to discontinue Pakistani films, web series, songs, etc. Pakistani TV channels and dramas, very popular in India, were banned and still are. Pakistani artists and sportspersons social media accounts were blocked and still are.
    • The extent of Modi’s hatred can be gauged from the following film posters: before and after.

    Indian actor Harshvardhan Rane and Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane in Indian film poster of Sanam Teri Kasam IMAGE/BrandSynario/Duck Duck Go

    In an Orwellian move, Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane was removed from the film poster of Sanam Teri Kasam IMAGE/Hindustan Times/Duck Duck Go

    The original film poster had Mawra Hocane but in the revised one, Hocane disappeared in an Orwellian manner. Shah Rukh Khan‘s movie posters of Raees with Pakistani actress Mahira Khan have faced the same fate.

    • Indian singer, actor, producer Diljit Dosanjh film Sardaar Ji 33 with the Pakistani actress Hania Aamir got banned in India. The Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar and Minister of Information & Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw to revoke passports of Daljit Dosanjh, Gunbir Singh Sidhu, Manmord Sidhu and Director Amar Hundal. Just for working with a Pakistani artist, thus displaying the toxic mixture of hate, idiocy, and faulty logic.
    • FWICE’s letter contained many lies about Hania Aamir who had lamented the loss of life: “I don’t have fancy words right now. I just have anger, pain, and a heavy heart. A child is gone. Families are shattered. And for what? This is not how you protect anyone. This is cruelty – plain and simple.

    Mind you, Modi personally may not be giving orders, but, people get emboldened to inflict damage as they know they won’t be stopped.

    Many fields of life, from economics to education and from culture to cricket, have suffered due to rigidity, egotism, and ideology of politicians on both sides. Pakistani military’s control over politicians has never let both countries cooperate and utilize fully the trade, talents, and technology. Hardly a 100 or so Pakistani artists and playback singers have ever worked in Indian films.

    Official trade between both countries has dropped and is routed through Singapore, Colombo (Sri Lanka), and Dubai (UAE), costing more money. Even in peace times, these routes are used for trade due to some or other reason. It’s foolish, but than you can’t make people with power to understand, because the powerful don’t allow discussions or arguments.

    Modi the loser. On May 10, 2025, at 6:55 A.M. Eastern Time (that is 4:55 P.M. Pakistan time and 5:25 P.M. Indian time) on his Truth Social site, Trump announced:

    “After a long night of talks mediated by the United States, I am pleased to announce that India and Pakistan have agreed to a FULL AND IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE. Congratulations to both Countries on using Common Sense and Great Intelligence. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    It was sobering news for Modi. Modi has created an image of himself as Indian superman with broad 56-inch chest who is globally famous giving hugs to presidents, prime ministers, billionaires, whether they want it or not. He has made 91 foreign trips till July 2025. He has made India a superpower not in reality but by creating such perception. Modi who likes to control the narrative and who desperately wanted to announce victory had to get a ceasefire order from Trump. Trump is such a character that you can’t argue with him because then you face more humiliation — not because Trump is more vitriolic than Modi but because US is economically much more stronger than India, who is economically heavily interconnected with the US.

    Imbecile

    Then there is Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. He got so carried away by Pakistan army’s downing of less than half a dozen Indian fighter planes that he equated it as a victory compensating for the loss of half the country (55% of its population in 1971) when East Pakistan seceded with Indian help to become independent Bangladesh.

    That is clearly just a fictional ego boosting comparison.

    Unpredictable Outcome

    Who could have predicted that Modi’s war would give Pakistan army and Munir a new lease on popularity?

    Avoid war

    Poet Sahir Ludhianvi’s poem O Decent People has a quatrain:

    whether the blood spilled is ours or theirs

    it is the blood of Adam’s progeny, after all

    whether the war is in the east or west

    it is the murder of world peace, after all

    War should be avoided at all cost. All wars between Pakistan and India inflict tremendous cost in lives and finances, and, affect the entire South Asian region.

    Both possess nuclear weapons which if, by mistake or bravado, get deployed in the war, would end in great disaster for the entire world. According to climatologist Alan Robock, 1,000,000,000 to 2 billion people would face starvation worldwide, in such case, there would be immediate climate changes, leading to much colder weather than the Little Ice Age and many other disasters, including destruction of ozone layer.

    Dinner date

    Trump advised Indian and Pakistani leaders to go for a dinner date.

    “Maybe we can even get them together a little bit, Marco [Rubio, the US Secretary of State], where they go out and have a nice dinner together. Wouldn’t that be nice?”

    Improve relations

    The population of South Asia, including Afghanistan, comprises 25% of global population. With China’s 17% added, the percentage shoots up to 42%.

    The World Inequality Lab study observed that income and wealth contrast in Modi’s India is worse, more than it was during the British colonial rule. Other countries in the region are not any better.

    Suggestions:

    • If 42% of people increase trade in way that exchange of dollars is minimized, either through barter trade or using own currencies, this would save them hustle for dollars and foreign exchange.
    • Increased trade also brings people closer and aids in creating more understanding and tolerance.
    • In the best interest of both countries and the entire South Asian region, it would be better if SAARC (South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation) is revived.
    • Visas should be issued to enjoy tourism and appreciate each other’s natural beauty of land, flora and fauna and cultures
    • Exchange student programs should be initiated
    • Joint cultural, artistic, sports, entertainment, and other such events should be organized and promoted.
    • India and Pakistan should avoid competing to get in the good books of US administration and try to sort out their problems themselves.
    • Pakistan feels insecure when Trump is close to Modi and vice versa.
    • India is the most populous country and Pakistan is the fifth most populated nation, both are made of many nations held together with very weak ties. They should concentrate on making that connection stronger by addressing the problems of various ethnic, caste, gender, and religious groups and by improving relations between the countries of SAARC.

    Gur Mehar Kaur, whose father died during one of the Indo-Pak wars when she was 2 year old, wishes peace:

    “… Only mutual cooperation can drive South Asia ahead. A peaceful subcontinent is the greatest gift we can give our families, our soldiers and ourselves.”

    “Hate is the most anti-national force that we face. The worst thing the BJP under Modi did was nurture a mob that can only be satisfied with blood, killings and hate. For 10 years, this mob has been empowered.”

    Notes:

    The post Indo-Pak Leaders Should “Have a Nice Dinner Together” first appeared on Dissident Voice.
    1    In the Shanghai Communique, 1972, the US declared:

    The United States acknowledges that all Chinese on either side of the Taiwan Strait maintain there is but one China and that Taiwan is a part of China. The United States Government does not challenge that position.

    For almost five decades, peace prevailed between China and the United States on the issue of Taiwan. The above policy was maintained without any serious incident. It could have gone on for decades but for some US generals and others who visited Taiwan in March 2022. Author Eve Ottenberg surmised, “to beat the war drums and provoke China.” Same year in August, Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan too, to incite China.

    The “world’s greatest democracy” seems devoid of a peace gene; it follows it’s own motto: “I war, therefore I am.”
    2    In 1924, 1,165 in-person hate speech events took place in India; 259 were openly calling for violence. Many important BJP leaders, including Modi, his Home Minister Amit Shah, and Yogi Adityanath, the rogue governor of largest state Uttar Pradesh, were involved in these events.
    3    The 2016, the Indian film Sanam Teri Kasam had a Pakistani actress Mawra Hocane as the female protagonist. The film was re-released in February and became highest-grossing re-released Indian film. They are making a sequel but now without Hocane because of the war. (VIDEO/Soham Rockstar Entertainment/Youtube)Dosanjh made a great move. He didn’t implore authorities for the film to be released in India but instead had it released worldwide, including Pakistan, where it became the second highest-grossing film in Pakistan’s history. It is also the highest-grossing Punjabi language film internationally. The film has made almost double the money it cost to make the movie. (VIDEO/White Hill Music/Youtube) Dosanjh’s actions will encourage those Indian and Pakistani artists who wants to collaborate to release their work worldwide to cover the cost and make profit internationally, rather than be at the mercy of local politicians’ whims. Indian film Abir Gulaal with Indian actress Vaani Kapoor and Pakistani actor Fawad Khan was to release on May 9 but was postponed indefinitely. The makers should think of forgoing the Indian market and releasing it worldwide if possible and if it won’t hurt them financially.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Repressive Laws Are Increasingly Being Used to Silence Activists Across Asia

    Josef Benedict and Rajavelu Karunanithi published a piece in the Diplomat of 18 July 2025 describing how from Hong Kong to India, governments are passing and weaponizing new laws to pursue and jail whoever speaks up for human rights.

    Four years ago, on the 32nd anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, plain clothes police arrested human rights lawyer and pro-democracy activist Chow Hang-tung outside her office in Hong Kong. Her alleged crime? Publishing two social media posts advertising a public vigil to remember the notorious crackdown in Tiananmen Square. At the time, Chow was the vice-chair of the now defunct Hong Kong Alliance in Support of the Patriotic Democratic Movement of China, the main organizer of annual Tiananmen vigils…

    Sadly, such repression is not unique to Hong Kong. Across Asia, authoritarian and democratic governments alike are passing and weaponizing new laws – in clear violation of international law and standards – to pursue and jail whoever speaks up for human rights. Today, on Nelson Mandela International Day, we call for the release of Chow Hang-tang, who is part of CIVICUS’ Stand As My Witness campaign, as well as other human rights defenders unjustly locked up in Asia around the world.

    The CIVICUS Monitor, which tracks civic space conditions across the world, now rates Hong Kong’s civic space as “closed,” the worst possible ranking. Hundreds remain behind bars as police systematically use the new laws to arrest and prosecute people on trumped-up charges. Often, the process itself becomes the punishment as activists spend years in detention before they are even tried…

    Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities are trying to take their repression international, by offering bounties for activists-in-exile charged under the National Security Law and by arresting the father of a prominent U.S.-based activist, Anna Kwok.

    ..Hong Kong’s National Security Laws have become something of a model for other Asian governments looking to stifle dissent.

    Look no further than India, often called the world’s largest democracy, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government resorts to similar laws to consolidate power and silence his critics. Dozens of activists have been jailed under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), a draconian anti-terror law. Under the UAPA’s provisions, activists remain in pre-trial detention for long periods and are denied bail, including human rights defender Khurram Parvez, who was arrested in November 2021. His trial has yet to start, four years on. [see also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/81468931-79AA-24FF-58F7-10351638AFE3]

    In neighboring Pakistan, the government also weaponizes anti-terror legislation against activists like Mahrang Baloch, who languishes in prison on terror charges for speaking out against ongoing violations of ethnic minority rights by the Pakistan security forces in Balochistan. [see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2025/05/28/un-experts-alarmed-by-arbitrary-detention-of-azerbaijani-human-rights-defender-mammadli/]

    In Thailand, more than 270 individuals have been arrested or prosecuted under lese-majeste or royal defamation laws since early 2020, many of whom have received long consecutive sentences from the courts. Human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa, for instance, received multiple convictions and 26 years in jail for calling for democratic reforms and reforms of the Thai monarchy. [see also: https://www.trueheroesfilms.org/thedigest/laureates/1e7ce01b-7927-41f1-b7d4-2c563ee235cc]

    Meanwhile, Cambodia’s Han Manet regime has used “incitement” laws as their weapon of choice to silence activists, journalists, and members of the opposition.

    With legal repression spreading across Asia, the international community must do more to push back and stand with these brave activists. Foreign governments must not only speak out when activists are convicted, but step in much earlier when these human rights defenders are arrested. Diplomats should visit wrongly arrested activists in detention, monitor their trials, and engage with their families. Foreign governments must also use international platforms like the United Nations Human Rights Council and bilateral meetings to highlight their cases and call for their release. 

    Activists-in-exile also need support and assistance, especially when they face transnational repression. The recent G-7 Leaders’ Statement on Transnational Repression was a good start, but strong rhetoric must now turn into serious action. Failure to undertake such actions will see a further regression of democracy and repression of civic freedoms in Asia and elsewhere.

    https://thediplomat.com/2025/07/repressive-laws-are-increasingly-being-used-to-silence-activists-across-asia/

    This post was originally published on Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards.

  • Humaira Asghar Ali in the Womb of Death

    Model, theatre artist, media influencer, and actress Humaira Asghar Ali IMAGE/24 News IMAGE/Humaira Asghar Ali Twitter/Duck Duck Go IMAGE/The Nation IMAGE/Humaira Asghar Ali Twitter/Duck Duck Go

    Humaira Asghar Ali Chaudhry (1992 – 2025) was a Pakistani social media influencer, actress, model, reality TV star, and theatre artist who was linked with socially conscious theater groups. She was also into sculpting and painting. She was a graduate of the prestigious National College of Arts (NCA) in Lahore with degrees in Fine Arts, TV, and Film. She earned her Masters in Philosophy from Punjab University.

    Humaira last accessed her Facebook account on September 11, 2024  and her Instagram account on September 30. The last time she used her phone was on October 7 when she called 14 people but, none of them picked up her call. She left messages. One of them was an Islamabad-based famous director.

    That was the last time she used her phone.

    Humaira had been living alone in an apartment in Karachi’s Ittehad Commercial area of DHA Phase VI since 2018. According to Humaira’s landlord, the last rent she paid was in May 2024. The landlord complained to the courts of not receiving rent since then, a court-appointed bailiff with police joined him to visit the flat on July 8, 2025. When no one opened the door, it was broken into, and they found Humaira’s decomposed body lying on the floor. Electricity to her apartment had been cut-off since October 2024, for non-payment of bill. Humaira’s greatly decayed unrecognizable body was transported to Lahore to her family. She was buried on July 11. Her funeral was attended by only a few people.

    Without being judgemental, actress Durefishan Saleem had a simple heartfelt message:

    “Been thinking about life a lot lately. Not in terms of big dreams or loud success, but in the small, quiet moments.”

    “I pray, with all my heart, that whenever [death] comes, for me or anyone, it doesn’t come in silence. Not in loneliness. Not in an empty room. But with love in the air. With familiar hands nearby. With someone who truly knew your heart.”

    The police report was released on July 18, said chemical examination of her remains found no psychotropic drugs, intoxicants, tranquilizers, or any poisonous substances in her system.

    She had three cellphones with over 2,000 saved contacts. With at least 75 people, she was in frequent contact and had had long conversations.

    Stylist Danish Maqsood worked with Humaira on two photo-shoots, one in 2023 and the other on October 2, 2024. Maqsood’s request to Humaira for releasing images on social media didn’t receive an approval from her:

    “When the request wasn’t approved, we tried calling her several times. After receiving no response, we messaged her on WhatsApp, but there was still no reply.”

    He informed some digital publications about Humaira’s disappearance. After great efforts, he succeeded in a couple of them reporting her missing but, Maqsood regrets: it failed to garner attention of most people in the industry.

    Humaira had not been in touch with her family for a long time. We don’t know if there were any family problems; speculation would probably be out of line.

    But there remain several questions:

    • In the nine months of her absence, why did none of the 75 people she often talked to become worried about her whereabouts?
    • Did any of the last 14 people she contacted try to call her back? If they did, why didn’t they follow-up?
    • In the world of celebrities, parties are as common as regular people going to the dollar store, why did no one notice her disappearance?
    • In one of her last calls, she called a director which may have been work related, did that director think about what state she was in, and did he follow up on her missed call?

    Entertainment industries worldwide do not have good reputation. Many people attracted to the glamor get exploited. The phrase rising Sun gets worshiped is very applicable to this industry. Once your star is down, you’re not allowed within the vicinity of the movie moguls’ sight; and you’re out of their mind. Then there are those who never find work which could lead to frustration, depression, and rejection that can lead to suicidal tendencies.

    On 19 June, the dead body of another actress Ayesha Khan (1941 – 2025) was found as result of the neighbors complaint of a strong odor emanating from her place. She had been dead for a week! It’s tragic that people are lying dead for days and months without anyone knowing about it.

    Most people working in the industry, including directors, actors, spot boys, lighting technicians, etc. don’t get paid on time.

    Film and TV serial director Mehreen Jabbar:

    “In the US, even with all their issues, there’s a fixed schedule for payments. People know when they’ll get paid. Here, you have to chase payments like beggars. Ask anyone and they’ll have horror stories. This is across every channel and production house. They [the crew members] do the hardest labour. But with no union, no rights, and no fair pay, they remain trapped. Working in Pakistan has become more disheartening. Compared to other places, the difference in professionalism and organization is stark.”

    Many artists have the same complain including, senior artists who have now started voicing their grievances in the media.

    (Renowned Indian singers Sunidhi Chauhan and Sonu Nigam said there are instances where they don’t get paid because Bollywood mafia controls things.)

    There is no doubt Humaira was desperately looking for work. One of her two bank accounts had only Rs390,000 or about $1,375. The call to her close friend Dureshehwar revealed she was looking for work:

    “I’m so sorry, I was traveling, caught up here and there. I’m so happy you’re in Makkah [on a pilgrimage]. Please pray a lot for me… Pray a lot from your heart for your cute friend/sister. For my career, please remember me in your prayers. You have to pray a lot for me.”

    Pakistani society is very conservative and is rough on women, particularly on single women. The Global Gender Gap Index 2025 lists 148 countries of which Pakistan is ranked 148. Only 24% women are part of the labor force.

    Sociologist Nida Kirmani gives an example of a woman named Saima who lived in a poor conservative neighborhood but found work in a very posh locality with a multinational department store where she made four times more money than most women, and even many men. She would put on an abaya (a loose overgarment) to cover her uniform but remove it once she reached her work because at work she would have seemed out of place in an abaya. Fortunately, her work company provided pick-and-drop service for their employees, otherwise, she would have faced verbal and or sexual harassment during her commute to work. Nevertheless, she still faced contempt from her neighbors and extended family members.

    Coming back to Humaira, the cultural critic Aimun Faisal points out:

    “It appears, at least to our moral gatekeepers, that there are no good women left in Pakistan.

    “And so, perhaps understandably, people celebrate their deaths, leave their decaying bodies unclaimed, and repurpose their broken corpses as stark reminders — cautionary examples used to sermonize virtue. They preach goodness from behind their monetized YouTube accounts, from behind verified Twitter accounts, from the benches of the superior courts, from their pulpits, and from their news channels, and drawing rooms. And for their guidance, we are eternally grateful.”

    Actor Osman Khalid Butt went after morality brigade and money makers:

    “Stop turning people’s real trauma into content. Stop projecting your morality onto someone who’s not here to defend herself. Stop the speculation and the judgment, and the deflection. For God’s sake, just stop.”

    Actress Mawra Hocane extended a helping hand:

    “If you’re in trouble or caught in spiraling thoughts, if I have known you briefly or extensively, if you’re a friend or an acquaintance, if you’re from my fraternity and you feel I will understand your pressures, please reach out!”

    Suggestion

    What Mawra should do is get some of her fraternity on board to form a hotline service that artists in crisis, depression, and other problems are able to access. Also the service should try to reach artists who have been active but have suddenly vanished, like Humaira.

    Humaira in the womb of death

    for nine months,
    life grows in the womb of a living being
    it grows into a fetus
    then turns into a human being
    where as lifeless Humaira resided
    nine months in the womb of death
    when she was found,
    one could say she was reborn but in a dead state
    she was dead …
    but became live fodder for news & social medias
    many …
    gossip-mongers, influencers, reporters, & others, cashed in
    voyeuristic vloggers and commercial cameras not far behind
    commercialism neither respects life, nor has regard for death
    and custodians of morality too …
    especially for a single woman from showbiz
    why did it happen –
    how can we stop more Humairas from happening?
    for such questions,
    the state has no interest,
    nor any intention to pursue
    the state resources are for
    the ruling class’ families, friends, and donors …

    VIDEO: Ahmad Ali Butt/ Youtube

    The post Humaira Asghar Ali in the Womb of Death first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • No, Pakistan Zindabad slogans were not raised at Muharram rally in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh

    Social media users recently shared a video claiming that slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ were raised by Muslims participating in a Muharram procession in Uttar Pradesh. The viral posts also contain derogatory words against the Muslim community.

    X user Deepak Sharma, who regularly shares disinformation and promotes communal propaganda, shared the video tagging the Deoria Police and wrote, “Do you hear what I am hearing? This crowd raising slogans of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ is not in Pakistan but in India, that too in India’s Uttar Pradesh. Betrayal is in their blood.”

    Right-wing X user Sandeep Mishra and several others on other platforms like Instagram and Facebook shared the same footage with claims that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans had been raised during a Muharram procession.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    Alt News found that the official X handle of the Deoria Police had tweeted about this and refuted the claim about ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans being raised. According to police, in the video recorded during a Muharram procession by the Five Star Club, slogans of ‘Five Star Zindabad’, and not ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ could be heard. 

    The police also mentioned that the procession was carried out peacefully in police presence.

    Alt News examined the video by playing it in slow motion. On listening carefully to the slogans being raised in the procession, it became clear that the chants were not that of ‘Pakistan Zindabad’, but ‘Five Star Zindabad’. However, due to the background noise, the slogans are not that clear.

    Apart from this, we noticed that many people participating in the procession wore green T-shirts with ‘5 STAR CLUB’ and ‘5 star’ printed on them.

    Upon further investigation, we also came across the Instagram page of 5 star club. Many videos taken during Muharram can be found on this page. Apart from these, in a post by Instagram user Israfil Ansari, too, members of the 5 Star Club can be seen participating in Muharram observation wearing the same green T-shirts in the presence of police personnel.

    To sum it up, slogans of “Five Star Zindabad” were raised in the video in question. However, some users falsely claimed that Muslims were raising ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans during Muharram.

    The post No, Pakistan Zindabad slogans were not raised at Muharram rally in Deoria, Uttar Pradesh appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Indonesia keeps options open with bewildering fighter smorgasbord

    If the Indonesian Air Force (TNI-AU) could have its way, it would be operating fighters galore from aerospace companies emanating from Asia, across Europe and all the way to the USA. However, fiscal realities mean such ambitions remain a pipe dream. In recent times, Indonesia has been linked to the following proposed purchases: American F-15EXs, […]

    The post Indonesia keeps options open with bewildering fighter smorgasbord appeared first on Asian Military Review.

    This post was originally published on Asian Military Review.

  • KPK’s Monsoon Myopia: What KPK hasn’t learnt from Monsoon

    On June 27 and 28, 2025, tragedy struck the Swat Valley again. The once tranquil and verdant slopes of the Fizagat and Khwaza Khela have seen catastrophic devastation as a massive flash-flood, triggered by torrential monsoon shower and cloudburst, washed away tourists, families and livestock along the Swat River.

    Videos circulating on the social media showed over a dozen of people including children clinging on a piece of land surrounded by water on four sides, as the water started to surge. By the time the rescue operations could be initiated, which are frequently delayed in Pakistan, eleven people lost their lives.

    According to the initial reports of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, dated 28th, there were four children, three women and several men among the eleven killed. The reports also reiterated that three individuals are still missing, with 59 rescued in frantic operations carried out by KP Rescue 1122. Local sources also confirmed the damage of 56 houses, of which 6 were completely destroyed. The flash-flood also killed 13 in the Punjab province, bringing the total to 32 killed in the entire country.

    Given that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had issued warnings days earlier, with many areas being demarcated as red-flagged, riverbanks remained opened for the tourists. Hotels, restaurants and homes that stood tall in illegal proximity to the riverbank operated despite learning from the disasters of 2010, 2020 and 2022 that wrecked havoc to the area. In 2022, the valley witnessed destruction due to massive flooding on the same Swat River, with officials marking ‘red Zones ‘ and promised enforcement. However, this year those red zones became death zones.

    The tragedy of the valley due to massive flash-floods is emblematic of a larger crises that unfolds every monsoon in the country. Every year, whether they are agricultural crops of Sindh engulfed by floodwater to the port city of Gwadar submerged underwater in Balochistan, Pakistan continues to respond to monsoons as if each flood were a surprise. The rescue operations are always late. While some officials are suspended and promises of Inquiries are made to cover up the failure of governance, the absence of planning, and a dangerous cultural tendency to forget.

    The Unready North: When the Rains return

    Every year, the plains, hills and valleys of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witness widespread devastation as floodwaters sweep away everything in their path: schools, homes, roads and even people. These cataclysmic events repeat every year with tragic predictability provoking one to question: What has KP learnt from its long-history of monsoon devastations? The answer, backed by field observations and available data is that while some slight steps had been taken for reactive systems, proactive measures to mitigate monsoon risks are largely absent.

    The most recent devastating floods hatched in our minds is that of 2022. According to the reports of the Provincial Disaster Management Authority, over 100,000 homes were completely destroyed and more than 289 people died in that very year, including several children and women. With thousands of acres of farmlands wiped out in districts like Swat, Tank, Charsadda and Dera Ismail Khan, the NDMA’s national damage assessment marked 2022 as one of the most catastrophic years in KPK’s recent history. However, much of the promised reconstruction, reforms and regulations remained unfinished after the floods — existing only on paper.

    Rescue 1122’s capacity has improved in parts of Swat and Peshawar. Public awareness campaigns, specifically through local mosques and radios have educated most of the local people in evacuation procedures. However, such campaigns aren’t successful long-term because they are dependent on donor funding which limits their reach and sustainability.

    While the Planning Commission recommended relocating communities living within 100 meters of active riverbanks of Swat and Kohistan after 2010 floods, yet many of the same villages were washed away in 2022. Despite warnings issued in the aftermath of the 2010 and 2022 floods, no systematic and concrete steps were taken for anti-encroachment drives. Satellite-based floodplain assessments by the Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA/SDC) in 2022 depicted that many of the destroyed commercial buildings and homes built in river buffer zones were in violation to environmental safety measures. This violation continued in 2024 and again in 2025. While the local authorities often blame local landowners and absence of adequate political support. The reasons are painfully evident: the residents are often poor farmers and laborers who build their houses on the same shaky spots due to the unavailability of alternative lands for houses and security. To date, no meaningful relocation policy has been implemented nor have any meaningful compensations been provided to help flood-affected families rebuild their lives on safer ground.

    Warnings Sound, but Prevention Falls Silent

    One of the few areas KP has shown progress is the early warning system. With collaboration between NDMA, PDMA and the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), a robust flood alert system was streamlined. In 2023, text message alerts were sent to the people living in flood-prone districts of Swat and Kohistan. Provincial Disaster Response Forces were on high alert and boats and tents were pre-positioned in seven districts.However, prevention rather than response exposed vulnerabilities.

    The rivers in KPK lack monitoring systems and they rely on basic rainfall forecasts. Punjab ,however, has real-time telemetry on several Indus tributaries. KPK’s most flash-prone rivers like Panjkora and Swat lack advanced river gauges. As a result, when the mudslides of the mid-July, 2023 washed away 30 houses, the NDMA repeatedly warned of hydrological sensors in these areas.

    A significant challenge is the ongoing encroachment of lands on riverbanks and floodplains. National Disaster Management Authority’s (NDMA) Monsoon Contingency Plan 2023 had termed the the northern districts of KPK — Swat, Kohistan, Mansehra and Dir — as flood-prone zones owing to their topography, deforestation and glacial melts. Despite court orders and government regulations, the construction on the bank of the Swat River continues. This has narrowed the river channel, magnifying the force and destructiveness of the floodwater. In 2022 deluge, the homes and hotels located in Bahrain and Kalam were completely washed away by the high-speed floodwater. As per the post-disasters reports of the Urban Unit, about 40 per cent of the homes that were destroyed in upper Swat were built within 50 meters of the river, directly violating the environmental safety guidelines.

    Infrastructure weaknesses continue to plague. The bridges built after the 2022 floods were damaged again in 2023 in Swat and Dir, revealing poor engineering. Temporary embankments constructed in 2023 were washed away by flash floods in 2024. Locals often blame the contractors for using substandard materials and leaving projects incomplete ahead of the monsoon season while contractors complain of lack of funds.

    Urban Drainage is also another glaring issue. Even moderate monsoon rains often leave parts of Peshawar submerged for days. The city’s storm-water drains (nullahs) are frequently choked with plastic waste. Despite allocations of budget for urban waste, many storm-water drainage projects in places like Faqirabad, Tehkal, Hayatabad remain uncompleted.

    The long road to recovery: education, health and policy gaps

    Community-based flood preparedness, which became successful in Nepal and Bangladesh are nearly absent. In many remote districts like Up Dir, elders rely on traditional knowledge and signs like river noise, animal behavior and sudden shifts in temperature to detect floods prior any text message alert are received in their phones. Such indigenous expertise are often side-lined in favour of advance models that fail to account for the on-the-ground rural realities.

    Notwithstanding that the mountainous districts of the province are inclined to GLOFs (glacial lake outburst floods), the mountainous districts lack a full-fledged and dedicated GLOF alert system in Kohistan and Upper Chitral. While federal government’s GLOF-II project, which primarily focuses on Gilgit-Baltistan, has some parts of KPK, but the reach is minimal.

    Warnings haven’t remained short in KPK. In 2018, NDMA and SUPARCO joined and warned of glacial melt and intensified GLOFs in the northern areas of the province. Local universities like the University of Peshawar’s Disaster Risk Management Centre have published researches urging the policymakers for greater investment in afforestation and slope stabilization, however, bureaucratic will to divert sources towards long-term progress seems lacking.

    The lack of climate adaptation Planning further aggravates the problems. Unlike Punjab and Sindh, where climate adaptation planning have been at least drafted, the province hasn’t formulated a climate adaptation roadmap, making the region inclined to excessive rainfall, landslides and glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs). A recent research by the Climate Analytics and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) keeps districts like Upper Dir and Chitral amongst the most vulnerable in the Hindu Kush Himalayan belt. With flash floods and GLOFs becoming common in future years, without proper planning and investment in infrastructure, entire communities remain at risk.

    The KPK Education Department’s report submitted to the National Assembly in 2023 pointed out that a staggering number of 1,180 schools were completely damaged in the 2022 floods. However as of 2024, only 430 of these have been reconstructed or repaired. According to Alif Ailaan’s Education Infrastructure Audit, Swat and Dera Ismail Khan have one of the highest proportions of children attending flood-affected schools.

    Figures from an another report, compiled by the KPK Education Department state that 142 schools were damaged in 2024, mainly in Upper Dir, Battagram and Swat while many of the schools that were already destroyed due to the tragic and devastating floods of 2022 awaited repairs. In many parts of the province, children continue to study in tents and open-air spaces. Temporary learning centres set-up by UNICEF and local NGOs have filled the gap, but the unavailability of proper infrastructure affects education quality and safety of the children.

    Medical preparedness is also deplorable in KPK during floods. In 2024, people in the villages of kohistan and Swat reported of skin infections, diarrhoea and snake bites after the floods. Mobile health teams arrive very late and Basic Health Units (BHUs) lack essential medicines. NDMA’s 2024 directives advised the pre-positioning of the medical supplies but district health officers often complain of funds arriving very late.

    A Cycle of Inaction with Deadly Costs

    Another joint report by the Asian Development Bank and UNDP in 2023, pointed out that budget for flood resilience in KPK stands at 0.5 per cent of the Annual Development Plan (ADP) which is insufficient to meet basic infrastructural upgrades. Despite the availability of donor funds, international technical support, implementation in the region remains abysmal. A monitoring report from the Asian Development Bank in 2024, says that KPK has the second-lowest fund utilization rate among the provinces for flood-related projects. Prolonged bureaucratic delays, and lack of interdepartmental coordination between PDMA, local government department, irrigation and communication departments further exacerbates the progress.

    Pakistan’s federal agencies have continuously warned that climate change will increase in intensity and monsoon rains would be more extreme in the years ahead, making Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the midst of both glacial melt and torrential monsoon showers threatening its southern and northern districts. Unfortunately, the province is yet to learn lessons.

    The cost of this inaction becomes very disturbing in the long-run. Economically, trillions of rupees are lost annually in precious lives, homes, livestock, and crops. Psychologically, the trust towards the state fades away. Socially, several generations of children lose out on education and environmentally, every flood gradually erodes the soil, depletes forest cover, making the future disasters more extreme.

    By far, flood mitigation policies in KP remain largely unimplemented. Residents speak of repeated promises, with rescue helicopters arriving when people had already been washed away and officials showing up more for photo opportunities than for decent solutions. Until the policymakers in Peshawar prioritize the development of proper drainage networks, resilient schools, urban planning policies and flood-proof infrastructure, tragedies like that of the Swat River will continue to repeat with deadliest consequences.

    The post KPK’s Monsoon Myopia: What KPK hasn’t learnt from Monsoon first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • Asim and Shehbaz in the Same Row but …


    Pakistan’s COAS Field Marshal General Asim Munir (second from right) and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (far right) offering prayers at Kaaba in Saudi Arabia during their reent visit IMAGE/Dawn

    In 1909, the renowned poet Muhammad Iqbal wrote Shikwa or Complaint to Allah.1

    The poem is a lament that Allah has neglected his followers, Muslims, the very people who spread Islam and gave Him global exposure.

    A couplet refers to Mahmud Ghazni,2 an eleventh century ruler, and his “slave” Ayaz:

    ek hee saf meiN khaDe ho gaye mahmud o ayAz
    na koi bandA rahA aur na koi bandA-nawAz

    — Muhmmad Iqbal, Shikwa or The Complaint to Allah in Bang-e-Dara, Rekhta

    they stood in the same row: Mahmud (the lord) and Ayaz (the slave)
    (praying to Allah), no more was there distinction of master and slave

    Malik Ayaz, according to Majid Sheikh, was not a slave but was a white European from Gerogia who was Mahmud’s “‘lakhtay’, a Pushtun polite word for ‘boy partner’.” According to S. Jabir Raza, there have been many other nobles with the name Ayaz. Many poets and authors, including Jalaluddin Rumi, have written about Ayaz.

    Anyways, proceeding forward to this 21st century, Asim Munir and Shehbaz Sharif also rule the area which was once under Mahmud’s rule. Sharif is neither “lakhtay” nor a “slave” of Munir. But nonetheless, the reltionship between COAS (Chief of Army Staff) General Munir and Prime Minister Sharif is not even that of equals.

    The parliamentary system of government in Pakistan officially endows the most power in the prime minister’s office and all others, including Chief of the Army Staff, work under the premier. However, since the 1950s, military has usurped the power and so the civilian governments rule at the mercy of the army — which gets a significant portion of the country’s budget, but also runs several businesse, and has overthrown and installed governments.

    Between May 7 and 10, 2025, India and Pakistan went to war. Both claimed victory. Munir and Sharif thanked Allah for the “victory,” by going to Saudi Arabia in the first week of June to perform Umrah, and to pay homage to the Saudi ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman or MbS.

    Like in Iqbal’s couplet, Munir and Sharif in the picture above, are standing as equal in front of their Allah. But a quick analysis clearly shows the contentment and happiness on them is not equal — more correctly, it is totally missing on Sharif’s face, who seems worried and frustrated. On the other hand, Munir seems very satisfied and delighted.

    What was Munir praying to Allah:

    “Ya Allah, I am going to thank you but first let me thank my enemy Narendra Damodardas Modi. I am here in Saudi Arabia, at this time, because of him. It’s due to him that my reputation, that was on a downward trajectory, suddenly picked up and went so high that I have now become a hero in Pakistan. Allah, you won’t believe but I feel like a superman, I have so much power. Please Allah, don’t be scared of me — I am not like Ayub Khan.3.

    “Allah, one more thing I have to tell you. Recently, I was made field marshal and was granted the baton of field marshal by President Asif Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. I am the second field marshal, Ayub Khan was the first one. Allah, isn’t it strange that both Sharif’s and Zardari’s parties [Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan People’s Party] have suffered at the hands of the army and yet they’re givng me more prestige. I tell you, now any if these two guys try to be clever with me, I’m going to use this very baton to spank their rears. By the way, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader, Imran Khan, is already rotting in prison.

    “Now Allah, before I part, I should thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

    President Asif Ali Zardari (centre) and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (right) jointly confer baton of field marshal upon Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir on May 22, 2025. IMAGE/Radio Pakistan/The News International

    (Munir received an invitation to attend the US army’s 250th anniversary on June 14, 2025. He is going to attend King Trump’s extravaganza. He must be feeling very happy but will also be very worried because commercial-animal that Trump is, will push him to be on the US side instead on China’s side.)

    What was Shehbaz praying to Allah:

    “Ya Allah, what is happening in your world? Why is it that I can’t exercise my due power as a prime minister? You can see the worry on my face, I can’t even close my eyes or at least pretend to close while offering prayers. Allah, look at this guy standing next to me — he seems to be in a post orgasmic state — calm, relaxed, and satiated.

    In 1959, Ayub Khan became Pakistan’s first field marshal and now Munir has become one. Everyone knows, the minute my government will try to carve our own policy, he’ll shove the baton we awarded him, up my you know what.

    Allah, please guide me as to how can we get rid of him. Should we put a case of mangoes in his plane or find some other way?” Please!

    ENDNOTES:

    1 Several poems of Iqbal in Urdu with English translation are at Dr. Allama Muhmaad Iqbal. Khushwant Singh, journalist and author, translated both “Complaint” and “Answer” in a book form with introduction and can be found here. See also Frances W. Pritchett critiquing Singh’s couple of stanzas.

    2 Extremist Hindus use many excuses to disriminate against Muslims. One of those excuses is Muslim invader Mehmud Ghazni’s raid of temple of Somnatha and destrution of an idol in 1026 CE But that lacks historical truth. See eminent historian Romila Thapar’s “Somanatha and Mahmud,” in Frontline magazine.

    3 In the 1960s, during military dictator Field Marshal General Ayub Khan’s rule, a joke circulated about Ayub’s love for power. On the Day of Judgement, Pakistan’s leaders lined up to see Allah. Allah would rise from his throne and pat Pakistani leaders but would not arise when Ayub Khan came. A question was raised as to why? Allah’s reply: “He would have grabbed my throne.”

    The post Asim and Shehbaz in the Same Row but … first appeared on Dissident Voice.

  • Times Now, Republic, others published reports based on fake ‘confidential’ letter that Pakistan PM was hospitalised

    A “confidential” hospital document dated April 27, 2025, with the emblem of the Pakistan prime minister’s office saying that the PM has been hospitalised in Rawalpindi, made it to several news reports and was widely shared on social media. According to this ‘letter’, the Pakistan PM was admitted to the Combined Military Hospital for medical evaluation of haemorrhoids (piles). 

    On May 1, Times Now World published a report titled, “Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif hospitalized with piles? ‘Confidential’ hospital note surfaces.” In the report, they claim that the alleged was “leaked” but, later, also mention that there was no official confirmation from PM Sharif’s office. However, despite this, the outlet went on to speculate whether “rising stress levels” were to blame in the aftermath of diplomatic unrest between India and Pakistan after the terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam on April 22, 2025.

    Republic also published a detailed article on the purported letter, even though they refer to it as a “rumour”. While the report mentions that the rumour has not received official confirmation, ut gives reactions of social media users.

    Several other news outlets, such as NewsX, News24 Hindi, and News18 Bangla, also published reportson Sharif’s health citing this letter.

     

    On April 28, 2025, social media users Shuvankar Biswas (@manamuntu), Jamin (@JaminrpP), (@SinghPramod2784) and @Amolk1985 also shared the alleged letter.

    Click to view slideshow.

    Similar claims were made by users across social media platforms.

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Fact Check

    First, we tried several keyword searches but found no credible reportage from Pakistan-based news outlets that reported on PM Shehbaz Sharif being hospitalised in April 2025. 

    Instead, we found several updates that indicate he was fairly active and meeting delegations throughout the last week of April. For instance, on April 26, Sharif presented awards at a ceremony in PMA, Kakul, Abbottabad.

    On April 27, Sharif along with other Pakistani government officials, met a delegation of the American World Liberty Financial in Islamabad.

    On April 28, he attended a ceremony acknowledging the success of the PM Ramzan relief package.

    On April 29, the Pakistan leader addressed an investment forum in Islamabad and the following day, he chaired a meeting with investors in Islamabad.

    On May 1, Chinese ambassador Jiang Zaidong met Sharif and exchanged views on the current India-Pakistan situation. This was also reported on CNN News18 bulletin. 

    Thus it was clear that he was not in the hospital.

    We then found that Asad Rehman Gilani, the alleged principal secretary to the prime minister (PSPM), whose signature is visible on the letter, was removed from his position on March 17, 2025, and transferred to the National Heritage and culture divison as secretary, according to a report by Pakistan-based outlet, Dawn. 

    Dawn’s report also said that the position of PSPM has been abolished and a Dr Tauqir Shah would serve the PM as an adviser in place of PSPM.

    An official at the Pakistan PMO also told Dawn that the viral “confidential” letter and claims that Sharif was getting medical treatment were fake. 

    To sum up, the Pakistan Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif, was not hospitalised during the last week of April 2025. The alleged “confidential” letter bearing the stamp of the Pakistan PMO is fake. Despite disclaimers, news outlets reported on this based on social media posts and reactions, resulting in unverified information being amplified

    The post Times Now, Republic, others published reports based on fake ‘confidential’ letter that Pakistan PM was hospitalised appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan

    A video, seemingly taken by someone in the audience during a public performance, in which event attendees are showing the middle finger to someone on stage has gone viral. Those sharing the video on social media claim that these gestures were made at Bollywood actor and filmmaker Kangana Ranaut during a concert. Ranaut is affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party and represents Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district in the lower house of the Parliament.

    On June 3, X user Amit Yadav (@Amityad6389) shared the viral video and claimed that members affiliated with Hindu organisations, upset with her over something, showed her the middle finger in public. (Archive)

    On June 4, media outlet LocalTak (@localtak) also shared the purported video alleging that members of a Hindu organisation protested against Ranaut during a show by showing her the middle finger. (Archive)

    Another X user, Amock (@amock2029), also shared the clip, claiming that the actor-turned-politician was disrespected. (Archive)

    Several other social media users have shared the same video with similar claims. 

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Fact Check

    We watched the video closely several times and noticed the words ‘Q High Street’ displayed on the stage in the video. Q High Street is a commercial property in Lahore, Pakistan.

    During our investigation, we also found that Q High Street had organised an automotive event, Pak Wheels Auto Show, on May 25. The event featured a performance by Young Stunners, a popular hip-hop duo in Pakistan. 

    We found several posts on Q High Street’s Instagram page, featuring Young Stunner’s performance. Noticeably, the backdrop of the videos here was identical to the one that went viral.

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Taking cue from this, we looked for full videos of the performance and found one on YouTube uploaded on May 29, 2025. At the 3:15-minute mark of the video, the same woman who is seen in the viral clip appears as the event’s emcee. It’s fairly clear that she is not Kangana Ranaut.

    Here’s the video:

    To sum up, the viral video is from an event in Lahore, Pakistan. It does not depict members of a Hindu organisation showing the middle finger to Kangana Ranaut. The woman appearing in the video is not the Bollywood actor. 

    (With inputs from Diti Pujara)

    The post Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan

    A video, seemingly taken by someone in the audience during a public performance, in which event attendees are showing the middle finger to someone on stage has gone viral. Those sharing the video on social media claim that these gestures were made at Bollywood actor and filmmaker Kangana Ranaut during a concert. Ranaut is affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party and represents Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district in the lower house of the Parliament.

    On June 3, X user Amit Yadav (@Amityad6389) shared the viral video and claimed that members affiliated with Hindu organisations, upset with her over something, showed her the middle finger in public. (Archive)

    On June 4, media outlet LocalTak (@localtak) also shared the purported video alleging that members of a Hindu organisation protested against Ranaut during a show by showing her the middle finger. (Archive)

    Another X user, Amock (@amock2029), also shared the clip, claiming that the actor-turned-politician was disrespected. (Archive)

    Several other social media users have shared the same video with similar claims. 

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Fact Check

    We watched the video closely several times and noticed the words ‘Q High Street’ displayed on the stage in the video. Q High Street is a commercial property in Lahore, Pakistan.

    During our investigation, we also found that Q High Street had organised an automotive event, Pak Wheels Auto Show, on May 25. The event featured a performance by Young Stunners, a popular hip-hop duo in Pakistan. 

    We found several posts on Q High Street’s Instagram page, featuring Young Stunner’s performance. Noticeably, the backdrop of the videos here was identical to the one that went viral.

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Taking cue from this, we looked for full videos of the performance and found one on YouTube uploaded on May 29, 2025. At the 3:15-minute mark of the video, the same woman who is seen in the viral clip appears as the event’s emcee. It’s fairly clear that she is not Kangana Ranaut.

    Here’s the video:

    To sum up, the viral video is from an event in Lahore, Pakistan. It does not depict members of a Hindu organisation showing the middle finger to Kangana Ranaut. The woman appearing in the video is not the Bollywood actor. 

    (With inputs from Diti Pujara)

    The post Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan

    A video, seemingly taken by someone in the audience during a public performance, in which event attendees are showing the middle finger to someone on stage has gone viral. Those sharing the video on social media claim that these gestures were made at Bollywood actor and filmmaker Kangana Ranaut during a concert. Ranaut is affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party and represents Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district in the lower house of the Parliament.

    On June 3, X user Amit Yadav (@Amityad6389) shared the viral video and claimed that members affiliated with Hindu organisations, upset with her over something, showed her the middle finger in public. (Archive)

    On June 4, media outlet LocalTak (@localtak) also shared the purported video alleging that members of a Hindu organisation protested against Ranaut during a show by showing her the middle finger. (Archive)

    Another X user, Amock (@amock2029), also shared the clip, claiming that the actor-turned-politician was disrespected. (Archive)

    Several other social media users have shared the same video with similar claims. 

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Fact Check

    We watched the video closely several times and noticed the words ‘Q High Street’ displayed on the stage in the video. Q High Street is a commercial property in Lahore, Pakistan.

    During our investigation, we also found that Q High Street had organised an automotive event, Pak Wheels Auto Show, on May 25. The event featured a performance by Young Stunners, a popular hip-hop duo in Pakistan. 

    We found several posts on Q High Street’s Instagram page, featuring Young Stunner’s performance. Noticeably, the backdrop of the videos here was identical to the one that went viral.

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Taking cue from this, we looked for full videos of the performance and found one on YouTube uploaded on May 29, 2025. At the 3:15-minute mark of the video, the same woman who is seen in the viral clip appears as the event’s emcee. It’s fairly clear that she is not Kangana Ranaut.

    Here’s the video:

    To sum up, the viral video is from an event in Lahore, Pakistan. It does not depict members of a Hindu organisation showing the middle finger to Kangana Ranaut. The woman appearing in the video is not the Bollywood actor. 

    (With inputs from Diti Pujara)

    The post Kangana Ranaut was not shown the middle finger at a performance; viral video is from an event in Pakistan appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Ankita Mahalanobish.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • NGOs address Pakistan on Afghan journalists and Baloch human rights defenders

    On 29 May the Committee to Protect Journalists and fourteen other organisations have urged Pakistan to immediately halt deportation of Afghan journalists and other vulnerable Afghan migrants. The fifteen advocacy groups expressed deep concern over Pakistan’s ongoing deportation plan, first announced on 3 October 2023, which targets undocumented Afghan nationals. The joint statement highlights the heightened risks faced by Afghan journalists, writers, artists, human rights defenders, and others who fled Taliban persecution and are now at risk of being forcibly returned.

    Among the signatories are prominent international organisations such as PEN Germany, CPJ, Unlimited Free Press, Front Line Defenders, International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), Nai – Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

    The organisations also called on the international community to provide safe resettlement opportunities for these individuals, recognising the dangers they face if returned to Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. Pakistan’s deportation policy has faced sharp criticism from local and international bodies, including the Pakistan Human Rights Commission, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM). These entities have urged Pakistan to uphold its international obligations and provide protection to those fleeing conflict and persecution.

    Despite repeated calls for restraint, the Pakistani government has accelerated forced returns in recent months. In April alone, more than 300,000 Afghans were deported, drawing further condemnation from human rights organisations.

    ——

    On 28 May Amnesty International along with four other human rights organizations wrote to the Pakistani prime minister, calling for an end to the “harassment and arbitrary detention” of Baloch human rights defenders (HRDs) exercising their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, particularly in Balochistan province. 

    The letter comes in the wake of Dr. Mahrang Baloch, one of the leading campaigners for the Baloch minority and the leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), and a number of other activists, being arrested in March on charges of terrorism, sedition and murder. ..

    The five organizations — Amnesty International, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), Front Line Defenders, International Federation for Human Rights, World Organization Against Torture — appeal to Pakistan’s Prime Minister to release Baloch human rights defenders and end the crackdown on dissent in line with Pakistan’s international human rights obligations;

    A dozen UN experts called on Pakistan in March to immediately release Baloch rights defenders, including Dr. Baloch, and to end the repression of their peaceful protests. UN special rapporteur for human rights defenders Mary Lawlor said she was “disturbed by reports of further mistreatment in prison.”

    Balochistan is the site of a long-running separatist movement, with insurgent groups accusing the state of unfairly exploiting Balochistan’s rich gas and mineral resources. The federal and provincial governments deny this, saying they are spending billions of rupees on the uplift of the province’s people. 

    see also: https://humanrightsdefenders.blog/2024/10/22/prominent-baluch-human-rights-defender-stopped-from-attending-time-event-in-us-and-then-assaulted/

    https://www.afintl.com/en/202505291879

    https://www.arabnews.com/node/2602563/amp

  • Not Operation Bunyan Marsoos, image held by Pakistan PM, army chief Asim Munir shows old Chinese military drill

    On May 24, Pakistan’s chief of army staff, Syed Asim Munir, hosted a dinner party “to honour the political leadership, steadfast commitment of the Armed Forces” during Operation Bunyan Marsoos, the offensive launched by Pakistan to counter India’s Operation Sindoor. One of the images from that party shows Munir and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif holding a framed picture of artillery in action. A metal badge attached to the frame says, “OP BUNYAN-UM-MARSOOS; Geljed Maki Launch Rocket Regiment of Pakistan Artillery”.

    It wasn’t clear who was presenting the image to whom but it was certainly linked to the latest India-Pakistan conflict. Pakistan’s operation, launched on May 10, targeted at least six Indian military bases. Meanwhile, the Indian armed forces have maintained that their strikes, launched on May 7, targeted only terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

    News outlets such as the Times of Karachi, Daily The Spokesman, Khabar Kada, Pakistan Today, and Daily Pakistan carried the image. The public relations wing of the armed forces, the Inter Services Public Relations Pakistan, also used the image in its press release

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Besides PM Sharif, President Asif Ali Zardari was also present along with the Pakistan’s deputy PM and foreign minister. Others in attendance included the national assembly speaker, ministers, governors, chief ministers, chiefs of air force and navy, senior political leaders, high-ranking government officials, and senior officers from the armed forces.

    Images from the party were also shared by X handle Pakistan Armed Forces News (@PakistanFauj). (Archives 1, 2)

    Click to view slideshow.

     

    Fact Check

    Several social media users pointed out on X that the framed image of artillery action was old and not related to Pakistan’s Operation Bunyan Marsoos. Some even pointed out that the image was of a Chinese military drill.

    Click to view slideshow.

    To verify this, we ran a reverse image search of the framed picture and found a report by Indian Aerospace Defence News (IADN) that featured an image very similar to the one Pakistan’s army chief and PM Sharif were holding. The four-year-old report was titled: “China deploys long-range rocket launcher as deterrent to India”. A watermark on the image said “China Military”.

    The report also mentioned that China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) had deployed an advanced long-range rocket launcher to the Himalayas to strengthen border defences and deter India.

    Taking a cue from the above, we ran a relevant keyword search, which led us to a 2019 blog post by China’s Ministry of Defence where the same image was used. The post made it clear that the image was from August 18, 2019.

    We then compared the framed image that Pakistan’s army chief Munir and PM Sharif were holding with the one issued by the Chinese milutart and noticed several similarities, such as the smoke pattern and the angle of the launcher. We highlighted the comparison below:

    Our findings indicate that the image on the left was most likely edited with two more launchers added to the original image. The angles of the three launchers on the left image and how they emit fire is identical and seem duplicated.

    Hence, the framed image that Pakistan’s army chief Asim Munir and PM Sharif were holding was edited and had nothing to do with Operation Bunyan Marsoos. It is five years old and completely unrelated to the recent India-Pakistan conflict.

    The post Not Operation Bunyan Marsoos, image held by Pakistan PM, army chief Asim Munir shows old Chinese military drill appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Oishani Bhattacharya.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Squabbling Siblings: India, Pakistan and Operation Sindoor

    On April 22, militants from The Resistance Front (TRF), a group accused by Indian authorities of being linked to the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, slaughtered 26 tourists in the resort town of Pahalgam in the Indian administered portion of Kashmir. This came as a rude shock to the Indian military establishment, which decided that rebellious sentiments in the region had declined. (In March 2025, an assessment concluded that a mere 77 active militants were busying themselves on India’s side of the border.)

    The feeling of cooling tensions induced an air of complacency. Groups such as the TRF, along with a fruit salad of insurgent outfits – the Kashmir Tigers, the People’s Anti-Fascist Front, and the United Liberation Front of Kashmir – were all spawned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s August 2019 revocation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, which granted Kashmir singular autonomy. TRF has been particularly and violently opposed to the resettlement of the Kashmiri pandits, which they see as an effort to alter the region’s demography.

    The murderous incident raised the obvious question: Would Modi pay lip service to the 1972 Shimla Agreement, one that divided Kashmir into two zones of administration separated by a Line of Control? (A vital feature of that agreement is an understanding that both powers resolve their disputes without the need for third parties.)

    The answers came promptly enough. First came India’s suspension of the vital Indus Water Treaty, a crucial agreement governing the distribution of water from India to Pakistan. Pakistan reciprocated firmly by suspending the Shimla Agreement, expelling Indian military diplomats, halting visa exemptions for Indian citizens, and closing the Wagah border for trade.

    Hindu nationalism proved particularly stirred, and Modi duly fed its cravings. On May 7, India commenced Operation Sindoor, involving what were purportedly precision missile attacks on nine militant camps in Pakistan and the Jammu and Kashmir area controlled by Islamabad. The operation itself had a scent of gendered manipulation, named after the vermillion used by married Hindu women to symbolise the durable existence of their husbands. Two female military officers – Colonel Sofiya Qureshi and Wing Commander Vyomika Singh – were tasked with managing the media pack.

    The Indian briefings celebrated the accuracy of the strikes on what were said to be the sites of Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and Hizbul Mujahideen. Thirty-one suspected terrorists were said to have perished, though Pakistan insisted that civilians had been killed in this apparent feast of forensic precision. India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would have none of it: Indian forces had only “struck only those who harmed our innocents”.

    The next day, it was operations against Pakistan’s air defence systems in Lahore that stole the show. The inevitable Pakistani retaliation followed on May 10, with the Indian return serve against 11 Pakistani air bases. What followed is one version: Pakistan’s military broke into a sweat. A cessation of hostilities was sought and achieved. Armchair pundits on the Indian side celebrated: India had successfully targeted the terrorist cells supported by Pakistan. If one is to read Anubhav Shankar Goswami seriously, Operation Sindoor was a stroke of genius, threatening “the Pakistan Army’s strategic shield against terrorists”.

    More accurately, this was a lovely little spilling of blood with weaponry between callow sibling throats, a pattern familiar since 1947. The two countries have fought four full-blown conflicts, two over Kashmir. Along the way, they have made the world a lot safer by acquiring nuclear weapons.

    There was something for everyone in this retaliatory and counter-retaliatory feast. India claimed strategic proficiency, keeping censorship on the matter tight. Pakistan could claim some prowess in shooting down five Indian jets, using Chinese weaponry, including the J-10.  With pride and pomp, they could even appoint Pakistani Army chief Asim Munir to the post of Field Marshal, an absurdly ceremonial gesture that gave the impression that the army had restored its tattered pride. It was to be expected that this was ample reward for his, in the words of the government, “strategic leadership and decisive role” in defeating India.

    The only ones to be notably ignored in this display of subcontinental machismo were the Kashmiris themselves, who face, in both the Pakistan and Indian administered zones, oppressive anti-terrorism laws, discriminatory practices, and suppression of dissent and free speech.

    Ultimately, the bickering children were convinced to end their playground antics. The fact that the overbearing headmaster, the unlikely US President Donald Trump, eventually brought himself to bear on proceedings must have irritated them. After four days of conflict, the US role in defusing matters between the powers became evident. Kashmir, which India has long hoped to keep in museum-like storage, away from the international stage, had been enlivened.  Trump even offered his services to enable New Delhi and Islamabad a chance to reach a more enduring peace. Praise for the president followed, notably from those wishing to see the Kashmir conflict resolved.

    In one sense, there seems to be little reason to worry. These are countries seemingly linked to sandpit grievances, scrapping, gouging, and complaining about their lot. Even amidst juvenile spats, they can bicker yet still sign enduring ceasefires. In February 2021, for instance, the militaries of both countries cobbled together a ceasefire which ended four months of cross-border skirmishes. A mere two violations of the agreement (how proud they must have been) was recorded for the rest of the year. In 2022, a solitary incident of violation was noted.

    A needlessly florid emphasis was made on the conflict by Indian political scientist Pratap Bhanu Meta.  This was an encounter lacking a “decisive victory and no clear political end”. It merely reinstated “the India-Pakistan hyphenation”. In one sense, this element of hyphenation – the international perception of two subcontinental powers in an eternal, immature squabble – was something India seemed to be marching away from. But Prime Minister Modi, despite his grander visions for India, is a sectarian fanatic. History shows that fanaticism tends to shrink, rather than enlarge, the mind. In that sense, he is in good company with those other uniformed fanatics in uniform.

    The post Squabbling Siblings: India, Pakistan and Operation Sindoor first appeared on Dissident Voice.

    This post was originally published on Dissident Voice.

  • India-Pakistan Escalation Of Conflict: Promoting Positive Peace

    Since the partition from India in 1947, Pakistan has been engaged in around a dozen significant and minor conflicts with India. Wars and negotiations are carried out based on the interests and directives of the respective central governments. Both Indian and Pakistani citizens are worried about a full-scale conflict, and the wounds of numerous wars are deeply felt at the local level. Recently, the population has been traumatized by Operation Sindoor and its subsequent retaliation. This research aims to promote peace by placing the people at the forefront, educating them about peace, and exerting pressure from the grassroots level up to the provincial and national levels to restore peace, unity, coexistence, security, and prosperity. The objectives are to promote positive peace between the two nations by empowering local people, fostering connections between them, and sharing the findings with interested parties.

    The post India-Pakistan Escalation Of Conflict: Promoting Positive Peace appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Video game footage of helicopters being struck shared with claims IAF downing Pakistan helicopters

    A video showing two choppers being struck down has been shared on social media with claims that the Indian Air Force downed two fighter helicopters in Bhuj, killing four Pakistani air force personnel.

    The video emerged as the conflict between India and Pakistan was on the brink. Pakistan retaliated with shelling and drones shortly after India carried out air strikes on nine terror bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir on the intervening night of May 6 and 7, 2025. Since these strikes, named Operation Sindoor to honour the 26 victims of the April 22 terror attack in Kashmir’s Pahalgam, the two nations continued with combat. Meanwhile, scores of unverified visuals have emerged on social media showing damage to infrastructure and claims of casualties on both sides.

    X user Aman Sah (@amnofc) shared the video and wrote, “Four Pakistani Air Force personnel were killed in the Bhuj area during an operation of the Indian Air Force, in which two Pakistani fighter helicopters were also destroyed.” (Archive)

    This video had garnered more than 1.7 million views at the time this article was written.

    X user Deepak Sharma (@SonOfBharat7), who has shared misinformation in the past, shared the video with a similar claim. (Archive) Another X user, @thevoicenm, also posted it. (Archive)

     

     

    Numerous X users have also been sharing such videos with similar claims. (Archive)

    Fact Check

    On taking a closer look, Alt News noticed that the combat scenes did not seem and guessed they might be from a warfare or combat game. We performed a reverse image search of a few frames taken from the video and landed on the same video uploaded on March 29, 2022, on SON STUDIO, a gaming channel on YouTube. The description of the video, titled “2 Military Ka-52 shot down by Air Defense System Milsim ARMA3 E11”, says that it is a dramatised, fictional gaming footage.

    We found many such videos on this channel that are footage of gaming or simulations. The channel’s ‘About’ section states that it makes military gaming simulation content for ‘Arma 3 (or EFBS)’.

    To sum up, the video being circulated with claims that four Pakistan soldiers were killed and two of their choppers struck down in Bhuj is a gaming simulation video. The footage is unrelated to the India-Pakistan conflict and was available online for three years before Operation Sindoor was launched. The claims are baseless.

    Also Read: ‘Operation Sindoor’: Video game clip shared with claim of shooting down Pakistani jet

    The post Video game footage of helicopters being struck shared with claims IAF downing Pakistan helicopters appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • 52 Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan in shelling? No; viral video is staged, says PIB

    Note: We have only used screenshots in this story, considering the graphic nature of the video, which could be triggering for some readers.

    A video showing deceased soldiers near what appears to be a boundary wall with fires around is being circulated by many social media accounts. In the video, it seems as though the person recording it is saying that there was heavy shelling at the border, in which Pakistan killed many Indian soldiers. Those sharing the video also claimed that 52 soldiers of the 20 Raj Battalion of the Indian Army were martyred.

    This video has emerged amid a sea of unverified visuals and claims on social media that try to show damage caused by India or Pakistan in the recent conflict that was triggered by the killing of 26 civilians in Kashmir. A fortnight after this, India launched Operation Sindoor to target terror bases in Pakistan. Shortly after, the Pakistan armed forces retaliated with shelling across border areas, also targeting Indian military infrastructure.

    Pakistan-based account War Analyst, withheld in India, shared the video claiming it showed footage from Pakistan’s strike on the Sangar post of Chirikot, and the visual was being shared among army folks in India on WhatsApp. The user wrote that India was covering up the loss of 52 Indian soldiers along the Line of Control while their families were mounting pressure on the Indian government to reveal these deaths.

    The video was shared by Conflict Watch with the same claim as well as RTEUrdu, a Turkish media outlet. RTEUrdu wrote that the video was taken by an Indian soldier.

    Fact Check

    Several things in the video raise doubts.

    • Firstly, the claims alleged that an Indian Army post faced heavy shelling. But in the video, the so-called post seems safe. If there was heavy shelling that caused a fire, far more damage would clearly be visible, which is not the case here.
    • Secondly, the tone of the person recording the video is funny, as though it is being enacted or forcefully dramatised. In such a situation it is more likely that someone recording the footage would worried or distraught.
    • Thirdly, the viral post claims that 52 Indian soldiers have been killed and their families are pressuring the government. But had this been true and the government were hiding it, news outlets in India would have surely carried stories on it. The Indian Army has said that it lost five soldiers.

    Importantly, the uniform worn by the soldiers in the viral video is old. The Indian Army does not don this uniform anymore; it was changed in 2022. A comparison of the old and new uniforms can be seen below.

    A report by The Indian Express from January 2022 also explained the difference between the old and new uniforms of the army. Below is a screenshot of their graphic.

    The fact-checking unit of the Indian government, PIB Fact-Check, also dubbed the video fabricated and said there was no unit called “20 Raj Battalion” in the Indian Army. It added that this was part of a propaganda campaign to create panic and mislead people during the conflict.

     

    Based on these findings, Alt News established that the video does not depict martyred soldiers from the recent India-Pakistan conflict. Claims that 52 soldiers were martyred in firing by Pakistan are unsubstantiated.

    The post 52 Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan in shelling? No; viral video is staged, says PIB appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Abhishek Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Image from 2011 shared with false claims that it shows corpses of 12 Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan

    A video showing a row of corpses on the ground covered in green is being widely shared on social media with claims that Pakistan killed 12 Indian soldiers in the recent conflict between the two countries.

    These visuals come amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the Indian defence forces carried out strikes on nine terrorist bases in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir under Operation Sindoor. In turn, shelling by the Pakistan Army on areas near the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the death of at least 16 people. The Indian Army said it lost five soldiers.

    In this context, the video of the corpses is being circulated by many Pakistan-based social media accounts to suggest that Pakistan managed to inflict major losses on the Indian side.  

    X user @PakistanFauj shared the video and wrote, “Pakistan Army carried out targeted action on Dharamshala 1 and 2 posts in Battal sector, killing at least 12 Indian soldiers. Both the posts were completely destroyed.” Verified X handles @KashmirUrdu and @A_MQQ_ also shared the video with similar claims. (Archived versions of these can be found here and here.)

    Click to view slideshow.

    Fact Check

    Alt News performed a reverse image search of some key frames from the video, which led us to a similar image uploaded on Getty Images on August 20, 2011. According to the caption, the bodies were of “suspected militants” killed by the Indian Army in Kashmir. The army had foiled an infiltration attempt in the Gurez sector of North Kashmir near the Line of Control.

    It is worth noting that the army personnel and the helicopter seen in the background of the Getty photo are not visible in the viral clip.

    We then looked for news reports on the incident and found one by Al Jazeera from August 20, 2011. Indian Army spokesperson Lieutenant General JS Brar told the publication, “On August 20, 2011, 12 terrorists were trying to cross the border in a boat and the Kishanganga river is the Line of Actual Control in some areas. During the firing, six terrorists fell into the river and six others were killed on the banks.” The picture featured in the report shows the dead bodies lying on the ground behind the soldier, exactly as seen in the viral video.

    In other words, the visual shared by social media users to claim 12 Indian soldiers were killed is actually 14 years old. The incident it captures is from 2011, when the Indian Army killed 12 terrorists who were caught infiltrating Kashmir. It has been wrongly linked to India’s Operation Sindoor and the conflict with Pakistan.

    The post Image from 2011 shared with false claims that it shows corpses of 12 Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan appeared first on Alt News.


    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Pawan Kumar.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • Viral memo ‘confirming’ radiation leak in Pakistan is fake

    Ever since India’s director general of air operations (DGAO), Awadhesh Kumar Bharti, revealed that the Indian Air Force hit several military targets in Pakistan on the intervening night of May 9 and 10, speculation on whether Kirana Hills, believed to be a major nuclear storage facility, was among the sites struck in the attack has been rife.

    Amid these speculations, a purported office memorandum issued by Pakistan’s ministry of climate change & environmental coordination, has gone viral on social media. This so-called memorandum ‘confirms’ a radiation leak at a facility in the ‘Northern Administrative Zone’. An image of the memo has been added below:

    Giving out specific details about India’s retaliatory strikes, DGAO Bharti said on May 11, “A decision was taken to strike where it would hurt and towards that in a swift, coordinated, calibrated attack, we stuck its air bases, command centers, military infrastructure, air defence systems across the entire Western Front. The bases we struck include Chaklala, Rafiq, Rahim Yar Khan, sending a clear message that aggression will not be tolerated. This was followed by strikes at Sargodha, Bhulari, and Jacobabad..”

    Kirana hills is approximately 8 km southeast of the Sargodha Air Base in Sargodha division in central Punjab, Pakistan.

    X user Abhi ™ (@Patelizm) shared the above document and wrote, “Govt of Pakistan confirms a radiation in Northern Pakistan.” (Archive)

    The memo was also shared on X with the same claim by verified users Amitabh Chaudhary, The Jaipur Dialogues, The Sphere Report and Nagrendra Pandey, among others.

    Pro-Right propaganda outlet OpIndia published an article titled, “Did India hit Pakistan’s nuclear site during Operation Sindoor? Viral ‘Radiological Safety Bulletin’ purportedly issued by Islamabad fuels speculations”. It said, “A document labeled “Radiological Safety Bulletin” … has surfaced on the internet, igniting a storm of speculation. It alleges a confirmed radiation leak at a facility located in Northern Pakistan… ”

    At the same time, the article also said, “The authenticity of the bulletin remains unverified and it could well be fake… ”

    Fact Check

    On a careful reading of the document, several spelling and formatting errors become apparent. The most glaring is the time of the alleged leak—‘24-55 hours’—which makes no sense. Other than that, the word ‘Confidential’ is spelt as ‘Confidental’; ‘Northern’ as ‘Norther’; ‘Following’ as ‘Pollowing’; ‘Safety’ as ‘Safet’ and so on.

    We have pointed out the discrepancies and errors below:

    Graphic by Atreyo Roy/ Alt News

    Readers should note that there is no available public record of any entity called the National Radiological Safety Division as mentioned in the letter. The agency that oversees matters related to nuclear energy, radioactive sources and radiation in Pakistan is the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority. PNRA is currently headed by Faizan Mansoor, who is the chairman. We could not find any mention of an ‘Engr. Malik Asad Rafiq’, who has issued the viral memo, on any credible source or government document.

    Also, at a press briefing on May 12, the Indian DGOA was asked by a journalist whether Indian strikes had hit Kirana Hills. “Thank you for telling us that Kirana Hills houses some nuclear installation, we did not know about it. We have not hit Kirana Hills, whatever is there,” he said.

    Alt News also spoke to Sourendra Kumar Bhattacharya, a visiting scientist at Academia Sinica, Taiwan, an expert on the subject. When we showed him the document, he said, “There is no Indium 192 radioisotope available in sealed source. There is IRIDIUM192, a radioactive isotope used in Oncological therapy and to detect structural damage. Indium 113 and Indium 115 are two STABLE isotopes of Indium available.”

    Thus, all our findings indicate that the viral document on a radiation leak in a nuclear facility in Pakistan is fake.

    The post Viral memo ‘confirming’ radiation leak in Pakistan is fake appeared first on Alt News.

    This content originally appeared on Alt News and was authored by Indradeep Bhattacharyya.

  • The Wire’s website, 8,000 X accounts blocked in India amid conflict with Pakistan

    New Delhi, May 9, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the nationwide block on access to The Wire independent news site as the latest act of media censorship following a militant attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir last month.    

    “Facts must not be the casualty in any conflict,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “Blocking The Wire’s website and the social media accounts of other news outlets is an alarming attempt to stifle critical journalism at a time when independent reporting is more essential than ever. We call on the Indian government to immediately lift the blockade on The Wire and cease using national security concerns as an excuse to suppress media freedom.”

    The internet block coincides with a significant escalation in tensions between India and Pakistan, which have traded fire across their frontier in disputed Kashmir this week. India blames its neighbor for the April 22 killing of 26, mostly Hindu, tourists.

    The Wire criticized the blocking as “arbitrary and inexplicable” and a violation of the constitutional guarantee of press freedom. Internet Service Providers told The Wire that they had received orders to block the site under a government directive issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

    The social media platform X said it had received executive orders to block over 8,000 accounts in India, including the Kashmir-based news outlets Free Press Kashmir and The Kashmiriyat and Maktoob Media, which focuses on human rights and minorities.

    Separately, on May 7, The Hindu newspaper said it had deleted a post on X, which reported that three Indian jets had crashed in Jammu and Kashmir, because it did not have “on-record official information.”      

    Journalist Hilal Mir has been placed under preventive detention until May 13 for allegedly spreading anti-national content and promoting secessionist ideology online.

    In late April, the government blocked one Indian and 19 Pakistani YouTube channels, one journalist was assaulted and two political commentators and satirists face legal action over their coverage of the Kashmir attack. The information ministry has banned live coverage of anti-terrorist operations, citing security risks.

    CPJ’s emailed requests to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for comment did not receive an immediate response.


    This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by CPJ Staff.

    This post was originally published on Radio Free.

  • India’s Attack On Pakistan Is Straight Out Of The Israeli Playbook

    As bombs rain down on Gaza and the world looks away, another settler colonial project is taking notes. From New Delhi to Tel Aviv, the ideological affinity between Israeli Zionism and India’s Hindutva movement has never been more pronounced as India strikes Pakistan.

    And with Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza facing little to no meaningful international accountability, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has every reason to believe that he, too, can escalate his ethno-nationalist project with impunity.

    When Israel bombs a hospital, the world debates whether Hamas was hiding beneath it. When India bombs a mosque, it shrugs – wasn’t it probably a ‘terror hideout’?

    The post India’s Attack On Pakistan Is Straight Out Of The Israeli Playbook appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • Pakistan Calls India’s Attacks ‘Unprovoked And Blatant Act Of War’

    The growing tensions between India and Pakistan reached a boiling point in the early hours of May 7 when India launched several attacks inside Pakistani territory. Eight Pakistanis were killed and 35 were injured in the “tri-service” early morning attacks by India, Director General Inter-Services Public Relations, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, said in a press conference. Chaudhry added that one of the victims was a three-year-old girl.

    The Indian Army launched the attacks as part of “Operation Sindoor” and targeted nine locations in the cities of Kotli, Muzaffarabad, and Bagh located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, and Bahawalpur and Muridke in the Punjab province.

    The post Pakistan Calls India’s Attacks ‘Unprovoked And Blatant Act Of War’ appeared first on PopularResistance.Org.

    This post was originally published on PopularResistance.Org.

  • “Forever War” Over Kashmir Escalates as India Bombs Pakistan

    Dozens of people have been killed in the worst fighting between India and Pakistan in more than two decades. India attacked nine locations in Pakistan and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir early Wednesday, killing at least 26 people, including a child. Pakistan described the attacks as an act of war and responded by shelling areas controlled by India. Tensions have been soaring between the two nuclear…

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    This post was originally published on Latest – Truthout.