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First Post
7 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Pakistan gets law to arrest Baloch citizens for 90 days only on suspicion
The Pakistani-administered Balochistan Assembly passed a law that allows security forces to detain Baloch civilians for 90 days without any judicial recourse. Activists compare it to laws in Nazi Germany. read more Earlier this week, the Balochistan Assembly passed the Counter-Terrorism (Balochistan Amendment) Act 2025, prompting a widespread alarm among human rights groups and Baloch civil society . What makes the law controversial is the fact that it allows Pakistan's military and intelligence agencies to detain individuals, especially Baloch civilians, for up to 90 days without charge. The authorities are allowed to detain them solely on suspicion. Shortly after the law was passed in the Balochistan Assembly, legal experts and human rights activists warned that the legislation bypasses judicial safeguards and effectively legalises the atrocities and practices already being committed by the Pakistani security forces in the shadows. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Under the Act, Pakistan's Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) can now operate with expanded powers. They can issue detention orders and conduct ideological profiling of the suspects. Not only this, but military officials will now be sitting on the oversight panel, eroding civilians' control over law enforcement. Why is it concerning? Apart from this, law enforcement agencies are also granted increased authority to search, arrest and seize property without any form of prior judicial approval. With these provisions, activists are now arguing that the law paves the way for widespread abuse and mass surveillance. It is pertinent to note that enforced disappearances have been a persistent issue in Balochistan, where families have waited for decades to get any information about their loved ones. The Baloch activists insisted that the new law effectively codifies these practices, placing entire communities under constant fear of state violence. 'This Act transforms Balochistan into a legalised detention zone,' the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said in a statement after the legislation passed. The group condemned the legislation, calling it a step towards full militarisation of civilian lives. Not only this, the group compared the tactics authorised by the Act to those used in Nazi Germany and the modern-day Xinjiang region . What makes it more concerning is the fact that the law violates Article 10 of Pakistan's Constitution, as well as Pakistan's obligations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). In its statement, BYC called on the United Nations, international human rights organisations, and global civil society to intervene and pressure Islamabad to repeal the law. 'Silence now is complicity,' the group averred. With inputs from ANI.
Mint
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Mint
Congress points to passage from Shashi Tharoor's own book to slam his praise for Modi Govt over Op Sindoor
The Congress party continues to criticise its Member of Parliament (MP) Shashi Tharoor for his praise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government abroad on India's military action in Pakistan. This time, the Congress pointed to, Tharoor's own book where he had criticised the Modi government for 'shamelessly exploiting' the 2016 surgical strikes. Tharoor, who is taking India case post Operation Sindoor in foreign countries, has with his remarks seemingly riled his party for showing support for the Modi government over recent military actions across the border in Pakistan and Pakistan-ccupied-Kashmir (PoK). Tharoor, who is leading a multi-party delegation in a global outreach programme, said in Panama earlier this week that India has changed its approach in recent years. The Thiruvananthapuram MP said what has changed in recent years is that the terrorists have also realised they will have a price to pay. The remarks didn't go well with many Congress leaders who reminded Tharoor about surgical strikes under the UPA government with Udit Raj even dubbing him 'super spokesperson' of the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP). Congress Media and Publicity Department chairman Pawan Khera, one of the party leaders targeting Tharoor, shared a page of Tharoor's book 'The Paradixical Prime Minister: Narendra Modi And His India' The book by Tharoor is about the Prime Minister Modi and was released on 26 October 2018 by former prime minister late Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Arun Shourie, and Pavan Varma. "The shameless exploitation of the 2016 'surgical strikes' along the Line of Control with Pakistan, and of a military raid in hot pursuit of rebels in Mayanmar, as a party election tool – something that the Congress had never done despite having authorised several such strikes earlier -- marked a particularly disgraceful dilution of the principle that national security issues require both discretion and non-partisanship," reads the page in the book shared by Khera on X. On 29 September 2016, teams of Indian Army Para (Special Forces) crossed the Line of Control into Pakistani-administered Kashmir to attack targets up to a kilometer within territory held by Pakistan. The raid, which later went on to be known as Surgical Strike, was carried out ten days after four militants had attacked an Indian army outpost at Uri, Jammu and Kashmir on 18 September 2016, and killed 19 soldiers. After the visible unease in the Congress, however, Tharoor said on 20 May that his remarks were about India's reprisals for terrorist attacks across the Line of Control (LoC), and not about past wars.
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pakistani intelligence sources say Kashmir troop withdrawals agreed
Intelligence sources in Islamabad have told dpa that India and Pakistan have agreed to reduce their troop deployments along the disputed border in Kashmir. The numbers of troops stationed there are to be reduced to the level they were at before the recent confrontation between the two countries, the intelligence sources said on Tuesday. The process is to begin in the coming days, they said. The two neighbouring countries have conflicting claims to the Himalayan region of Kashmir and each controls a part of it, separated by a military line of control. A reduction in troops would be an important step towards maintaining the ceasefire agreed by the two rival nuclear powers after mutual airstrikes earlier this month. Shortly after the ceasefire was announced, the Indian army stated that both countries would consider reducing their troop numbers in the border regions. The armed clashes between the neighbouring states were triggered by a terrorist attack in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir on April 22, which left 26 people dead. New Delhi accused Pakistan of involvement in the attack, which Islamabad denied. Two weeks after the attack, the Indian army attacked several targets in Pakistan and the Pakistani-administered part of Kashmir. This led to fierce fighting on the border and mutual airstrikes. On May 10, both countries unexpectedly announced a ceasefire.
Yomiuri Shimbun
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
As India, Pakistan Hail Military Feats, Kashmiris Are Left to Grieve
Saumya Khandelwal/For The Washington Post The family of Nargis Begum, who died this month after being hit by shrapnel, gathers at her home in Rajarwani, Indian-administered Kashmir, on Thursday. URI, Indian-administered Kashmir – The night of May 8 returns to Sanam Bashir as a jumble of disjointed images. Her family was packed into three cars. The road was so dark, she said, and the artillery fire deafening. 'It felt like the night of judgment,' said Bashir, 20, who was huddled in the back seat with her little cousin, 4-year-old Muheeb, her aunt and her mother, Nargis Begum. Bashir doesn't remember the shrapnel striking the roof of the car, but she can't forget her aunt's sharp cry, or the hot blood that poured from her mother's neck. Begum was dead by the time they reached the hospital. At least 27 people were killed, including 11-year old twins, and more than 50 injured in the Indian-administered territory of Jammu and Kashmir over four days of fighting between India and Pakistan. The sudden violence was the worst to hit the contested region in decades and, as in previous rounds of conflict, civilians bore the heaviest cost. Days into a fragile ceasefire, The Washington Post visited villages less than 10 miles from the Line of Control – the de facto border that snakes over mountains and across rivers, carving Kashmir in two. Years of relative calm were shattered last month when militants gunned down 26 civilians near the popular tourist town of Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi said the attack had links to Pakistan, which it has long accused of supporting violent separatists. Islamabad denied any involvement. The region held its breath. India's retaliation came on May 7, when it launched its deepest strikes inside Pakistan in more than half a century, killing at least 26 people. For the next three nights, the nuclear-armed neighbors edged ever closer to war – trading strikes on military sites and sending waves of drones into each other's cities. After a U.S.-brokered truce on May 10, both countries trumpeted their military achievements and downplayed their losses. Along the Line of Control, where families have long lived in the shadow of conflict, the Pakistani shelling was more intense and indiscriminate than anyone could remember. Reports were similar in Pakistani-administered Kashmir, where at least 16 people were killed by Indian fire. More than 450 homes or shops were damaged in and around Uri, and at least a third of the population fled their homes. After the ceasefire, people were returning to sift through the wreckage of their lives. Although the Indian army said last week that it had agreed with Pakistan to extend the ceasefire, residents remained on edge. At Begum's house in the hamlet of Rajarwani, her loved ones were still in shock. 'If the government had built bunkers or told us in the morning to evacuate, she would have been with us today,' said her son, 27-year-old Saqib Bashir Khan. The family of eight has always been poor. Begum earned $12 a month preparing meals at a school; her husband is a day laborer without steady work. Begum's relatives received $7,000 in compensation from the local government for her death, but they said they can never be made whole. 'The government ignores the poor when they are alive,' said Hafiza Begum, her sister-in-law. 'But now that she is dead, they are giving money. What use is any wealth now?' In the nearby village of Bandi, Mohammed Anwar Sheikh is waiting for help to come. 'Firing used to happen, but it never rained down on our homes,' said Sheikh, 40, whose modest three-room house is near an Indian military camp. A shell tore through his main room, blasting the windows, splitting the television in two and leaving deep hollows on the brightly painted yellow wall. The notebook his son used for his English homework was in shreds. Indian soldiers had visited three days earlier to collect shell fragments, he said, and assured him he would be reimbursed for the damage. He sent his wife and six children to a relief camp an hour and a half away when the fighting began. Each night, he huddled with his few remaining neighbors in a makeshift bunker that afforded them only partial protection. In the predawn hours on May 9, he recalled, the firing intensified. When the projectile hit his house, 'it felt like an earthquake,' Sheikh said. 'I just prayed to God.' Among the family's losses were a flock of pigeons and some chickens they had lovingly raised together. Police and civil personnel have been deployed across the area to assess damage and compensate civilians. But locals said they were struggling to meet their basic needs and couldn't understand why they had been left so vulnerable. A local government official, speaking on the condition of anonymity for fear of unwanted scrutiny, said that building bunkers should be a priority now but admitted that the bureaucratic process is slow. And nobody here knows how long the peace will hold. Further on from Sheikh's home, tucked in the lush foothills beside a narrow stream, is the village of Lagama. The walnut and pear trees are still standing on the property of Mohammed Shafi Pathan, 63, but his family's home is now unlivable. The retired soldier fled with his wife, son and three grandchildren on the night of May 9 as explosions thundered through the valley. Early the next morning, the police called to tell him his house had been hit. He returned to a scene of devastation: Shrapnel had pierced through a tin roof, landing on the staircase and gouging out a large chunk of concrete. Plastic drums of rice were covered in gray ash. The stench of explosives was still sharp. 'Not a single item can be salvaged,' Pathan said, stepping over a scatter of blankets, toys, clothes, spoons. Life along the border is never easy. Poverty is widespread and the specter of conflict is always near. Civilians contend daily with a heavy Indian military presence and frequent checkpoints. Armed convoys regularly roll through. The latest fighting has established again that 'Kashmir is a flash point and has potential to force all of South Asia into a big war,' said Sheikh Showkat Hussain, a political analyst based in Srinagar, the seat of power in the Indian-administered part of the territory. Kashmiris, trapped in a situation beyond their control, suffer the most, Hussain said. 'Now it is the job of big global powers to help defuse tensions permanently,' he said. There are new coffee shops and hotels in Srinagar, part of a years-long effort by New Delhi to revive the local tourist industry. But the unprecedented drone attacks by Pakistan have cast a pall over the city. On a recent evening, boatmen at Dal Lake – framed by imposing mountain peaks – sat gossiping or fishing. There was no one to tempt with a ride; the tourists had disappeared after the attack in Pahalgam. In the central square of Lal Chowk, 21-year-old Muskan, who goes by one name, was taking photos with her brother. The militant attack had pained Kashmiris, she said, but they were distressed too by the ensuing Indian security crackdown and reports of attacks on Kashmiri students in India. 'There should be no fear,' she said. 'Neither for us, nor for the tourists.' In Uri, a ghost town until a few days earlier, vendors were back on the streets, selling eggs, scarves and plastic goods. A bunker is being built at a government office. But some locations remain off-limits. At a checkpoint, Indian soldiers blocked Post reporters from traveling to the village of Salamabad, which is said to have sustained heavy damage. 'The latest conflict has changed everything,' said Pathan, the retired soldier. 'We can neither live nor die in peace.'
Asia Times
17-05-2025
- Politics
- Asia Times
Nuclear nightmare: Will India-Pakistan's precarious peace last?
India and Pakistan stepped back from the brink of catastrophe on May 10 after a US-brokered ceasefire brought rapidly escalating hostilities between the two countries to an end. But tensions are still running high. The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, said on May 12 that India has only 'paused' its military action against Pakistan and would 'retaliate on its own terms' to any attacks. The latest episode in the long-running conflict between these nuclear powers was triggered on April 22. Militants from a group known as The Resistance Front, which India says is a proxy for the Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist group, killed 26 tourists in the picturesque resort town of Pahalgam in Indian-administered Kashmir. India alleges Pakistan's involvement, which it denies. The fact that India and Pakistan were able to agree to a ceasefire as escalations spiralled is reason for optimism. It shows that internal calculations and international pressure can pull the two parties back from the brink. However, the ceasefire represents an incredibly precarious peace. Can it be sustained? Recent experience shows that sustained ceasefires are possible between the two states. In February 2021, India and Pakistan's militaries signed a ceasefire to end four months of cross-border skirmishes. The agreement was a reaffirmation of an original ceasefire understanding from 2003. Only two violations were recorded across the line of control separating Indian- and Pakistani-administered Kashmir for the rest of the year, dropping to one in 2022. This compared to 4,645 such incidents in 2020. The reduction led to optimism that armed rebellion in Kashmir, which both India and Pakistan claim in full, was in persistent decline. In March 2025, just one month before the deadly Pahalgam attack, security sources in India estimated that there were only 77 active militants operating on the Indian side of the border. The drop in violence was a result of combined international and domestic pressure on Pakistan. The Financial Action Task Force, an organisation that monitors countries' efforts to tackle terrorist financing and recommends financial sanctions against non-compliant states, added Pakistan to its 'grey list' in 2018. This listing forced Pakistan to introduce a string of policy measures to curb terrorism financing. Pakistan was removed from the list in 2022 due to significant improvements in its counter-terrorism framework. But, as the Kashmir conundrum is at the heart of Pakistani national identity, it has often been employed as a political strategy to shore up domestic support. And in recent years, as Pakistan's powerful army has grappled with overlapping economic and political crises, this strategy has been rolled out again. The popularity of Pakistan's army, for example, diminished significantly following the arrest of Pakistan's leader, Imran Khan, in 2023. This has prompted Army Chief Asim Munir to use tensions with India to deflect attention. Munir has called Kashmir 'our jugular vein,' and has promised not to 'leave our Kashmiri brothers in their historical struggle.' These comments followed an increase in the number and frequency of insurgent attempts to cross the border into India after India's May 2024 general elections were held peacefully in Kashmir, a rare occurrence since the separatist insurgency began in 1987. These cross-border operations are allegedly carried out by Pakistan's so-called Border Action Teams, comprised of Pakistani special forces and militants from insurgent groups. Pakistan has never acknowledged the existence of such teams. By April 1, tit-for-tat firing across the line of control had already surpassed the total number of incidents in 2023 and 2024 combined. The latest ceasefire was agreed in the context of hostilities escalating beyond previous levels. Military strikes were launched outside Kashmir itself at military bases deep in Pakistani territory and in north-western India. Certain actions by Islamabad were also widely interpreted as attempts to signal the country's nuclear capabilities. These included the decision to convene the National Command Authority, the body responsible for control and use of Pakistan's nuclear arsenal. The move may not have been a genuine alert. But the possible willingness to resort to nuclear threats is particularly concerning as, unlike India, Pakistan does not have a 'no-first-use' nuclear weapons policy. India, as an aspiring political and economic power, has clear interests in preserving the ceasefire. New Delhi wants to project itself as rational and responsible, worthy of a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. At the same time, some of the decisions taken by India after the Pahalgam attack may compel further support for the insurgency in Kashmir. This brings with it the risk of further escalation between India and Pakistan in the future. India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty, which governs the use of water from the Indus River. Pakistan lies downstream from India and is heavily dependent on the river for irrigation and public consumption. Intervention from global powers such as the US may again be able to prevent future hostility from spiralling out of control. However, substantive talks are unlikely. The US, which is in advanced negotiations with New Delhi over reducing tariffs on Indian imports, has offered to act as a mediator. This has been welcomed by Pakistan. But India maintains that, on the question of Kashmir, it would prefer bilateral talks rather than involving a third party. While the Trump administration initially signalled a hands-off approach to relations between India and Pakistan, deeming it 'none of our business', it is now clear how rapidly matters can escalate between them. The US and other interested parties like China will probably continue in their efforts to regulate and manage the conflict, openly or covertly, even if deeper resolution appears unlikely. Alex Waterman is lecturer in peace studies and international development, University of Bradford and M Sudhir Selvaraj is assistant professor, peace studies and international development, University of Bradford This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
