Tag: South Asia

South Asia
Kashmir

India: deadly repression at Ladakh autonomy protest

Amnesty International urged Indian authorities to promptly investigate the use of live fire during protests in Leh, Union Territory of Ladakh, after at least four people were killed and more than 50 injured. Clashes erupted as demonstrators pressed long-standing demands for statehood and constitutional protections for land and jobs. Police said they responded after the crowd turned violent, with vehicles and a ruling Bharatiya Janata Party office set ablaze, and claimed officers fired in self-defense. Authorities imposed a curfew in Leh and restricted mobile internet services. (Map via Wikipedia)

South Asia
Sri Lanka

UN Human Rights Council urged to maintain scrutiny on Sri Lanka

International human and civil rights groups urged the UN Human Rights Council to maintain its oversight of the situation in Sri Lanka. The appeal comes ahead of the council’s 60th session, where member states’ compliance with international human rights treaties is to be reviewed. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the International Commission of Jurists and the Asian Forum for Human Rights & Development called for the renewal of the Sri Lanka Accountability Project, led by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In their statement, the groups accused Sri Lanka’s government of lacking the political will to establish an independent prosecutorial mechanism to ensure accountability for human rights violations and international crimes. The call comes as excavations continue at a mass grave site where hundreds of ethnic Tamils who disappeared during the country’s civil war are believed to be buried. (Photo via JURIST)

South Asia
Nepal protests

Nepal: ‘Gen Z’ uprising brings down government

Protests in Nepal turned violent as security forces opened fire on demonstrators, resulting in at least 19 deaths and over 400 injuries. Young activists who had been protesting government corruption on social media started filling the streets of Kathmandu and other cities after the government blocked access to the online platforms. The subsequent deadly repression only enflamed the situation, and Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli resigned from his post after his home was set on fire. (Photo: हिमाल सुवेदी via Wikimedia Commons)

South Asia
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Pakistan: drone terror in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Amnesty International expressed concern over recurrent drone strikes conducted by Pakistan’s military, which have caused unlawful loss of civilian lives. The rights group stated that the strikes in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have resulted in the deaths of 17 people this year, hitting homes and even, in one case, a volleyball game. The statement urged authorities to investigate these incidents and hold those responsible accountable. (Map: Google)

South Asia
naxals

India boasts final drive against Naxal insurgency

India’s government claims to have killed a top Naxalite rebel leader as part of a month-long military operation targeting the Maoist guerillas. Nambala Keshav Rao AKA “Basavaraju,” secretary-general of the banned Communist Party of India–Maoist (CPI-M), was killedalongside 25 other insurgent fighters in a shoot-out in Narayanpur district, Chhattisgarh state. The Naxalites have waged an armed struggle for more than two generations in the impoverished interior regions of East and Central India, but New Delhi has now vowed to clear the country of the rebel movement by March 2026. (Photo via MIM)

South Asia
Baluchistan

Subcontinent tensions mount after Balochistan blast

A suicide attack on bus serving an army-run school in Pakistan’s Balochistan province killed five people, three of them children. Islamabad, which faces accusations it was involved in last month’s attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, quickly pointed the finger at neighboring India and Afghanistan. Both New Delhi and Kabul have denied the allegations. Balochistan has been the subject of a decades-long armed struggle for autonomy. Ethnic Baloch communities have accused Pakistani authorities of disenfranchisement, neglect and forced disappearances. (Map via Atheer)

South Asia
Indus

Delhi’s suspension of Indus treaty imperils regional stability

A militant attack at Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir left at least 26 people dead, including Indian and foreign tourists. The incident prompted an immediate and strong response from the Indian government, which blamed the attack on Pakistan-based groups. Within a day, India announced that it was suspending the Indus Waters Treaty—a World Bank-brokered agreement signed in 1960 that governs the use and distribution of waters in the Indus River basin between the two countries. The treaty includes no provision for unilateral suspension or termination, and diplomatic tensions escalated following India’s move. The implications extend to water security within Pakistan, where it may mean intensification of domestic inter-provincial tensions over water sharing. (Photo: Heartography/Pixabay via Jurist)

South Asia
Sentinelese

Isolated people under threat in Andaman Islands

A US national was arrested on North Sentinel Island, in India’s remote Andaman & Nicobar archipelago, for illegally seeking to make contact with the isolated Sentinelese people, an officially designated “particularly vulnerable tribal group” (PVTG). London-based Survival International expressed relief at the arrest, but called the news deeply disturbing, saying the adventurer’s actions “put the lives of the entire Sentinelese tribe at risk,” due to their lack of immunity to common outside diseases. Within days of the arrest, a journalist with local news channel Republic Andaman was found dead—apparently targeted for his reportage on illegal logging and mining in the archipelago. And far greater threats loom; Survival warns that isolated peoples could be wiped out if New Delhi goes ahead with its plan to transform Great Nicobar Island into the “Hong Kong of India,” with massive new port facilities and rapid urbanization. (Photo: Survival International)

South Asia
Baloch Yekjehti Committee

Call for UN to intervene in Balochistan repression

The international Baloch Human Rights Council (BHRC) called upon UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to urgently intervene in the repression of peaceful protests in Pakistan’s conflicted Balochistan province. The group urged the UN to secure the immediate release of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other members of the Baloch Yekjehti Committee, a local rights group. Dr. Baloch and several of her comrades were detained at a protest in provincial capital Quetta against enforced disappearances. Urging global action to hold Pakistan accountable, the BHRC described the arrests as “a blatant violation of fundamental freedoms and democratic principles.” (Image: BYC)

South Asia
Manipur

Amnesty: India must end Manipur violence

Amnesty International called on Indian authorities to take immediate steps to end ongoing ethnic violence and ensure human rights protections in the conflict-torn northeastern state of Manipur. The statement comes as N. Biren Singh resigned as chief minister of Manipur. Since May 2023, ethnic clashes between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities have left over 250 dead and more than 60,000 displaced. Villages, businesses, and places of worship have been destroyed, as vigilante groups operate with impunity. The resignation of Singh follows a Supreme Court-ordered forensic inquiry into leaked audio tapes that allegedly link him to instigating ethnic violence. Amnesty emphasized that Singh’s resignation provides an opportunity for authorities to break the cycle of violence and impunity that has plagued Manipur for nearly two years. (Photo: Asia Media Centre)

South Asia
Kurram

Pakistan: truce follows weeks of sectarian clashes

A ceasefire agreement was reached between two warring tribes in Pakistan’s restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province following weeks of clashes that left 130 people dead in Kurram district, along the border with Afghanistan. A Grand Jirga of tribal leaders was called to mediate the truce. The violence exploded when a convoy of Shi’ite pilgrims traveling to a shrine in Peshawar was ambushed by armed assailants, killing at least 42. The ensuing clashes pitted members of the mostly Shi’ite Bagan tribe against their Sunni neighbors, the Alizai, with shops and homes ransacked and whole villages displaced. A land dispute between the two tribes had also caused clashes that led to 50 fatalities in September, and ended when some 100,000 local residents marched for peace. (Map: USAID via ReliefWeb)

South Asia
Northeast India

India: new eruption of violence in Manipur

The state of Manipur in remote northeastern India has again erupted in protest, after the bodies of six women and children from the majority Meitei community were recovered. Meitei leaders say the victims were kidnapped and murdered by members of the Kuki minority. The demonstrations, which saw protesters torch the homes and offices of government officials, have led to several arrests. A proposed change to land-tenure law in the state in favor of the Meitei last summer set off months of protests, violence, and a communications shutdown. (Map via TFI Post)