South Asia

Recent Mosque attacks raise Questions about the Affinity between White Supremacy and Far-Right Hindu Nationalism

By Zeinab Farokhi, University of Toronto | – (The Conversation) – During Ramadan, a man attacked a mosque in Markham, Ont. He allegedly yelled slurs, tore up a Qu’ran, and attempted to run down worshippers in his vehicle. Some people on Twitter have raised the idea that the attacker was connected to Hindu extremist groups; […]

Climate Crisis

India lets 2 Gigawatt Solar Tender, as Solar soared 27% in 2022

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – India has invited bids on a 2 gigawatt solar power tender. The country has 64 gigawatts of installed solar capacity now. With other sources, especially wind, it has 169 gigawatts of renewable energy today. India’s goal is to have 500 gigawatts from low-carbon sources by 2030. So it is about […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban is not playing Straight with the west over Easing of Sanctions – and Women and Girls are paying much of the Price

The Conversation

By Kambaiz Rafi, SOAS, University of London | – The economic and political isolation of Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August 2021 has worsened a humanitarian crisis in the country. The World Food Program has projected that between November 2022 and March 2023 the number of food-insecure Afghans would rise to 20 million – […]

Afghanistan

The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan (Review)

Marc Martorell Junyent

Review of Ahmad Shuja Jamal and William Maley, The Decline and Fall of Republican Afghanistan (London: Hurst and Co., 2023). Munich, Germany (Special to Informed Comment) – The Republic of Afghanistan unraveled quickly after May 2021 when US-led foreign troops prepared to abandon the country. This defied the forecasts of most experts on the capacity […]

Afghanistan

Art As Therapy: Afghan Women Paint Their Experiences Under Taliban Rule

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

women Afghanistan Taliban patriarchy male chauvinism art creativity

Afghanistan

Women’s Sports Going Downhill In Afghanistan As Taliban Denies The Right To Ski

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Mansoor Khosrow | – ( RFE/ RL ) – The majestic mountains in the central province of Bamiyan are known as Afghanistan’s skiing capital. But due to a new Taliban ban, women are no longer welcome on the slopes. Hundreds of amateur and professional skiers took to the mountains to hone their skills far […]

Afghanistan

The Taliban’s War Against Afghan Women And Girls

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi / Abubakar Siddique | – ( RFE/RL ) – Fahima witnessed many of her rights and freedoms disappear in 2022 as the Taliban imposed sweeping restrictions on Afghan women. An aid worker in Afghanistan’s southern province of Uruzgan, Fahima was employed in one of the few fields that the militant group […]

Afghanistan

Muslim Authorities Condemn Taliban Ban on Women in Universities, as NGOs Close in Protest

Michael Jansen

By Michael Jansen | – ( The Irish Times ) – Four global aid agencies have suspended services in Afghanistan in response to a Taliban ban on women working at non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In a joint statement, Care, Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and the International Rescue Committee said: “We cannot effectively reach […]

Afghanistan

U.S.-Trained Afghan Soldiers Angry Over Their Plight Are Ready To Join Russia’s War Against Ukraine

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty

By Michael Scollon ( RFE/RL ) – Lost status and a desperate existence in Iran are driving thousands of former Afghan troops — many of them elite commandos trained by the United States — to consider fighting as mercenaries in Ukraine and other battlefields. Many ex-Afghan security personnel accuse the United States of abandoning them […]