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Al Jazeera
4 days ago
- Politics
- Al Jazeera
Police raid Kashmir bookshops after India bans titles for ‘secessionism'
Police in Indian-administered Kashmir have raided bookshops after authorities earlier this week banned 25 books, saying works like those by Booker Prize-winning writer Arundhati Roy propagate 'false narratives' and 'secessionism' in the contested Muslim-majority region. In compliance with the order, police officials on Thursday also searched roadside book vendors and other establishments dealing in printed publications in the main city of Srinagar and across multiple locations in the region to confiscate the banned literature, police said. However, officials didn't specify if they had seized any such material. 'The operation targeted materials promoting secessionist ideologies or glorifying terrorism,' police said in a social media statement. 'Public cooperation is solicited to uphold peace and integrity.' The raids came after the government accused the writers of propagating 'false narratives' about Kashmir, 'while playing a critical role in misguiding the youth' against the Indian state. Authorities on Thursday also seized Islamic literature from bookshops and homes after a similar directive in February. Kashmir has been divided between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Both claim the Himalayan territory in full. Rebel groups have fought since 1989 against the Indian rule of Kashmir, demanding independence or its merger with Pakistan. Since 2019, Indian authorities have increasingly criminalised dissent and shown no tolerance for any narrative that questions India's sovereignty over Kashmir. The order banning the books was issued by the region's Home Department on Tuesday – the six-year anniversary of New Delhi's imposition of direct rule – although the ban took time to be brought to wider attention. The ban threatens people with prison time for selling or owning works by constitutional expert AG Noorani and noted academicians and historians like Sumantra Bose, Christopher Snedden and Victoria Schofield, among others. The order declared the 25 books 'forfeit' under India's new criminal code of 2023, effectively banning the works from circulation, possession and access within the Himalayan region. Bose, a political scientist and author whose book Kashmir at the Crossroads was among the banned works, rejected 'any and all defamatory slurs' on his work, the Press Trust of India news agency reported. 'I have worked on Kashmir – among many other subjects – since 1993,' Bose said. 'Throughout, my chief objective has been to identify pathways to peace so that all violence ends and a stable future free of fear and war can be enjoyed by the people of the conflict region, of India as a whole, and the subcontinent. 'I am a committed and principled advocate of peaceful approaches and resolutions to armed conflicts, be it in Kashmir or elsewhere in the world,' he said. Roy's 2020 book of essays, Azadi: Freedom, Fascism, Fiction, was also included in the ban. Roy, 63, is one of India's most famous living authors, but her writing and activism, including her trenchant criticism of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, have made her a polarising figure. Historian Siddiq Wahid said the edict contravenes the constitution, 'which allows for the freedoms of speech and expression'. 'The list of banned books numbers several that are authored and published by individuals and institutions whose reputations depend on supplying evidence, logic and argument towards the conclusions they draw,' Wahid told the AFP news agency. 'Does that count for anything anymore?' Indian-administered Kashmir elected a new government in September and October, its first since it was brought under New Delhi's direct control, with voters backing opposition parties to lead its regional assembly. However, the local government has limited powers, and the territory continues in practical terms to be governed by a New Delhi-appointed administrator. Chief cleric and separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq said the ban 'only exposes the insecurities and limited understanding of those behind such authoritarian actions'. 'Banning books by scholars and reputed historians will not erase historical facts and the repertoire of lived memories of people of Kashmir,' Farooq said on the social media platform X. Banning books by scholars and reputed historians will not erase historical facts and the repertoire of lived memories of people of Kashmir. It only exposes the insecurities and limited understanding of those behind such authoritarian actions, and the contradiction in proudly… — Mirwaiz Umar Farooq (@MirwaizKashmir) August 7, 2025
Telegraph
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Thailand adopts Ukraine-style drone warfare to strike Cambodian forces
The quadcopter hovers above a metal roof before releasing its bomb. Seconds later, the target explodes in a burst of smoke and fire. Last week, drone warfare spread from the muddied trenches of eastern Ukraine to the sweltering Thailand-Cambodia borderlands. But while the footage circulating on social media may look similar, there was a key difference. Ukraine's use of cheap UAVs was, initially at least, an attempt to create some kind of parity with Russia's vast superiority in men and material. Rebel groups in Myanmar also took an early lead over the better-equipped junta in the race to develop drone technology by turning commercial devices into killing machines. But the Thai-Cambodian border clashes saw a complete role reversal, with Thailand dominating on drones despite having a military that dwarfs that of its neighbour. The shift from being a desperate, ad-hoc rebel technology to a mainstay of modern military might underlines the revolution that drones have been on the battlefield – and should, analysts say, act as a wake-up call for the West. 'Normally, the narrative with drones is that it empowers the weak actor,' Marcel Plichta, a former US defence department analyst and expert on drone warfare, told The Telegraph. 'That's Ukraine holding off Russia, or the rebels in Myanmar. 'So without any context, you would think that Cambodia would benefit from this drone revolution. But to date, the Cambodians haven't really caught up to Thailand's drone capabilities.' Dr Rahman Yaacob, an expert on south-east Asian defence and security at the Lowy Institute think tank, said: 'Ukraine and Myanmar are similar... in that they use drones for a multiplier effect against their opponent. 'I think Thailand has been watching and learning, and now they've used drones to target critical points in the Cambodian forces. 'The first target is the command posts, and the second is the ammunition depots. Once you hit these two positions, it causes chaos for command and country. And once the supply chain is disrupted, the enemy cannot operate freely or launch country attacks.' Before Monday's ceasefire brought a halt to five days of fighting, Cambodia did deploy some surveillance drones. However, Thailand attacked its neighbour with quadcopters, FPV (first-person view) drones and one-time kamikaze drones, all sent to dominate the skies alongside more traditional weaponry such as F-16s. Most of these UAVs were likely to have been bought from US or Israeli arms companies, said Mr Plichta. But only last month, the Royal Thai Air Force successfully tested a new, locally developed kamikaze drone. Phnom Penh spends about $1.3 billion on defence, and its air force has roughly 1,500 personnel, 20 transport planes, and 26 transport and multi-role helicopters. In contrast, Bangkok spends $5.73 billion and has 46,000 airmen, plus 112 combat-capable aircraft – including 28 F-16s and 11 Gripens. Thailand's strategy also undermined some arguments in the West that drones are ineffective in jungle terrain. The latest conflict – which has so far claimed 35 lives – was centred on a disputed, heavily forested border along the Dangrek mountains. Mr Plichta said: 'There was this assumption – mostly from the West, it's not necessarily the view of Asian militaries – that drones wouldn't be useful in this kind of conflict, because of the density of the terrain [and] foliage. But clearly, that's not the case from the footage.' The five-day clash may well trigger a surge of investment in drones across the rest of south-east Asia, added Dr Yaacob, and could result in countries rethinking their air-defence systems. The Thai-Cambodian clash also reiterates just how quickly modern warfare is changing across the globe. Robert Tollast, a researcher in the Land Warfare team at Rusi, said the Thai military appeared to be 'far ahead of Nato armies in this field'. 'We're seeing the second state-on-state conflict, after Ukraine, where commercial multirotor drones are being used,' he told The Telegraph. 'The ramifications of this are stark for Nato and allies.' Mr Tollast said that Britain was taking delivery of a few thousand quadcopters in August, while America was looking at having about 10,000 this year. But in reality this is a small number – in Ukraine, 'these amounts would only last a matter of days'. As well as being behind on procurement, training and integration of these drones, the development of counter-drone systems also needs to accelerate. 'We're getting there, with exquisite systems like the UK's Radio Frequency Directed Energy Weapon, but a lot is experimental,' said Mr Tollast. 'The British Army and allies have been hamstrung by bureaucracy and safety regulations that have slowed training and trials for these systems. The US is in a similar position, but [is] planning to rip down a lot of the red tape to train with drones.'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At least 7 killed in explosions and attacks outside police stations in southwest Colombia
BOGOTA, Colombia (AP) — Seven people, including two police officers, were killed in Colombia on Tuesday, as rebel groups detonated bombs near police stations in the city of Cali and the neighboring Cauca province, Colombia's National Police said in a statement. Military and police spokespeople blamed the attacks on the FARC-EMC, a group led by former members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia who broke away from the group after it signed a peace deal with the government in 2016. Authorities said the rebels placed bombs in cars and motorcycles that were parked near police stations, while also waging some attacks with gunfire and grenades. Colombia's police said there were a total of 24 attacks on Tuesday in the city Cali and the surrounding provinces of Cauca and Valle del Cauca, in which 28 people were also injured, including 19 civilians. The attacks on the police stations come just days after Miguel Uribe, a conservative presidential candidate, was shot during a rally in Bogota. Authorities say they are investigating who was behind the attack on Uribe, who is in a critical condition in hospital in Bogota. Colombia's government has struggled to contain violence in urban and rural areas as several rebel groups try to take over territory abandoned by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia following its peace deal with the government. Peace talks between the FARC-EMC faction and the government broke down last year after a series of attacks on indigenous communities. The government is currently holding talks with another faction of the group, that is led by commander Luis Alberto Alban, known also as Marcos Calarca. ____ Follow AP's coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at Associated Press, The Associated Press
