This week in Himal
This week, Jeff Joseph writes that ineffective advisories and the undercounting of heat-related deaths leaves millions of Indians vulnerable to extreme heat and the climate crisis. Joseph notes that Southasia is home to 29 percent of people living in extreme poverty, who are most at risk from heatwaves, adding that it is imperative for the region’s governments to act to help them.
For the next episode of the Southasia Review of Books podcast, host Shwetha Srikanthan speaks with Mumbai-based journalist Rahul Bhatia on his new book, The Identity Project: The Unmaking of the World’s Largest Democracy, on India’s transformation from democracy towards autocracy.
This week in Southasia
Maldives bars Israeli passport holders over war on Gaza
This week, the Maldives ratified a bill that barred Israeli passport holders from entering the country. The President’s Office said the bill was in response to “the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people.” The bill was stalled for months before changes were introduced to allow Israeli citizens with dual passports to enter the Maldives, and to add a provision that Israeli citizens could enter the country once the attacks on Palestinians stopped. The bill has been met with mixed reactions, with a US Congressman pushing legislation to cut off American aid to the Maldives when it was first introduced.
News of the bill made headlines after 100,000 protesters gathered in Dhaka to march for Gaza on 12 April. In Sri Lanka, a 22 year old received bail after being arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act for pasting a sticker condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza. The arrest was met with protests and thousands of stickers in support of Palestine distributed throughout Colombo in Sri Lanka. In October 2024, the US and Israel’s security council issued travel advisories warning of a terrorist threat to Israeli tourists in the eastern town of Arugam Bay due to rising tensions around the ongoing war in Gaza. Even as more citizens in the region and the mainstream press have shifted their position on the war in Gaza, governments like India and Sri Lanka have either remained silent or tacitly supported Israel through signing weapons and labour contracts with Israel’s government.
Elsewhere in Southasia
- Seven-member delegation of the Bangladesh National Party press for clear election roadmap in meeting with interim government chief advisor Muhammad Yunus, express dissatisfaction as Yunus refuses to give specific deadline for election
- Curfew lifted in Birgunj, Nepal after days of tension due to protests led by youth linked to Hindu organisations around arrest of two people for vandalism, communal disharmony during Hanuman Jayanti procession
- Myanmar’s military junta grants amnesty to 4800 prisoners to mark traditional new year, marked by muted celebrations as many still living in tent encampments after 28 March earthquake
- 550 prisoners return from Pakistan to Afghanistan via Spin Boldak crossing,over 8000 people return to Afghanistan in Kandahar province after 1 April, after Pakistan issues new deadline on deportation of Afghans
- Clashes reported between police and protesters in Nashik, Maharashtra after city authorities moved to demolish an ‘unauthorised structure’ built around a decades-old dargah, 15 arrested
- In rally ahead of delayed local government elections, Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake promises to grant Aswesuma social security benefits to 400,000 more families, resume ferry service between Mannar and Rameshwaram in Tamil Nadu
- China to impose visa restrictions on US officials in retaliation for visa restrictions imposed on Chinese officials last month in relation to Tibetan Autonomous Region, China’s Foreign Ministry says the issue an “internal matter”
- Two more Lhotshampa refugees deported from Pennsylvania to Bhutan, fate of 16 refugees unknown
- Three police officers killed, 16 injured in explosion targeting bus carrying police personnel in Balochistan
- India’s Supreme Court grants central government 7 days to respond to petitions challenging constitutionality of Waqf amendment bill, proposes staying some provisions of the bill in next hearing
Only in Southasia
This week, Maldivians were agog over the Minister of Homeland Security, Ali Ihusan, who shared a celebratory photograph after he was awarded his PhD. The only problem - the certificate he was holding, awarded by the European International University, was a 'professional doctoral certificate' - which the university said could be received after evaluating existing work experience, after paying 10,000 Euros in fees. One businessman said he received the certificate the very day he was accepted in the programme. Curiouser and curiouser - and quite embarassing for the Minister, who had begun using a Doctor title as soon as he had received his certificate.
From the archive
Who gets to write about Ambedkar? (July 2023)
14 April marks Ambedkar Jayanti, commemorating the jurist, social reformer and anti-caste activist. In light of this, Harish S Wankhede’s article from July 2023 is worth revisiting. Wankhede looks at six recently published works on Ambedkar’s life and legacy, showing the gulf between Dalit-Bahujan and Anglophone writing on Ambedkar.
