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The Wire
a day ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Thailand and Cambodia Reach Agreement For 'Unconditional' Ceasefire
Thailand and Cambodia have agreed to an unconditional ceasefire, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Monday. "Both Cambodia and Thailand reached a common understanding as follows: One, an immediate and unconditional ceasefire with effect from 24 hours local time, midnight on 28th July 2025, tonight," Anwar said following mediation talks in Malaysia. At least 35 people have been killed and around 200,000 displaced in the deadliest fighting between the two countries in more than a decade. Why were Cambodia and Thailand fighting? The dispute between the two Southeast Asian neighbours over their shared border dates back decades, but tensions have escalated since a Cambodian soldier was killed in a skirmish in late May. Last week's fighting was triggered when a Thai soldier lost his leg in a landmine explosion along the border on Thursday, with both sides blaming each other. In response, there has been heavy fighting, including airstrikes and missile attacks. Both countries also recalled their ambassadors, and Thailand closed all border crossings with Cambodia, allowing only Cambodian migrant workers to return home. Malaysia welcomes ceasefire Anwar proposed ceasefire talks soon after the long-standing border dispute flared into open conflict on Thursday. China and the United States also offered to assist in negotiations. On Saturday, US President Donald Trump spoke to both leaders and threatened to withhold trade deals with the two countries unless the fighting stopped. Anwar, in his capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), said acting Thai Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet had reached a mutual understanding to take steps toward restoring normalcy. "This is a vital first step," Anwar said after the talks, adding that both leaders had "expressed their positions and willingness to... an immediate ceasefire, a return to de-escalation and the restoration of peace and security." "The solutions that Prime Minister Anwar just announced will set a condition for moving forward for our bilateral discussion to return to normalcy of the relationship," Hun Manet said. His Thai counterpart said the ceasefire would "be carried out successfully in good faith by both sides." The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
'Israel Guilty of Genocide; A Place I Will Not Want to Call Home': Gershon Baskin
Video Karan Thapar 'They have created a reality in Gaza in which human beings cannot live. That is genocide. And that is what Israel is doing in Gaza.' Palestinians mourn during the funeral of people who were killed while trying to reach aid trucks entering northern Gaza through the Zikim crossing with Israel, at Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City, Saturday, July 26, 2025. Photo: AP/PTI Gershon Baskin, the Middle East Director of the International Communities Organization, who is one of the acknowledged and highly regarded voices of conscience in Israel, says: 'If it hasn't become one as yet, Israel is definitely on the fast road to becoming a pariah state'. He says Israelis increasingly feel less welcome wherever they travel. In a 25-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, to talk about his recent cri de coeur where he writes 'Israel is rapidly becoming a foreign land to me … a place that I will not want to call home, a place that I cannot call home', Baskin readily admitted and accepted that Israel is guilty of genocide. 'If you read the convention on genocide there's no question that what Israel is doing in Gaza is genocide. We're erasing a civilization. Ninety percent of the people in Gaza have no homes to go back to. They've been destroyed. Israel is now levelling half of Gaza. There are no schools, no universities, no public buildings, no libraries. Mosques are being erased. Churches were hit. Roads, infrastructure, water, electricity. They have created a reality in Gaza in which human beings cannot live. That is genocide. And that is what Israel is doing in Gaza.' The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
J&K: Army Official Allegedly Beats Up Nomadic Tribals Accused of Aiding Militants
Srinagar: The army allegedly beat up a group of nomadic tribals on Saturday (July 26) in the higher reaches of Jammu and Kashmir's capital Srinagar on charges of shielding suspected militants, The Wire has learnt. At least four victims, identified as Mohammad Liyakat, Mohammad Azam, Showkat Ahmad and Abdul Qadir, all residents of Rajouri district, suffered injuries of various degrees in the thrashing, which was allegedly led by an army official of the 50 Rashtriya Rifles. The official is in charge of a new base camp that has come up in the Dhagwan area in the higher reaches of Srinagar in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terrorist attack. Terming the incident a 'grave violation of human rights', ruling National Conference lawmaker from Rajouri's Budhal constituency and tribal leader Javed Choudhary, who is in contact with the victims, demanded action against the guilty. 'The administration should immediately register an FIR and rein in the forces responsible for these recurring atrocities against innocent tribal people. This pattern of intimidation and violence against tribal communities must stop,' Choudhary told The Wire, adding that the community will launch a mass agitation if the perpetrators are not punished. The Wire could not immediately verify the name of the army official who, according to the description provided by the victims, sported long hair and used a heavy wooden cane to beat up the tribal people. The army's Srinagar-based spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel M.K. Sahu could not be reached for comment. Srinagar's senior superintendent of police G.V. Sundeep Chakravarthy said that the police were trying to get in touch with the alleged victims, who are reportedly on the way to the capital city. 'It is a very far-off area. Once our team gets in touch with them, we will have clarity on the matter,' he said. Dhagwan is a high-altitude geographical barrier where Srinagar's Zabarwan range of mountains and the Lidder valley of Anantnag district meet. It has dense vegetation comprising pine and cedar forests, glacial water streams, deep ravines and steep mountains spread over thousands of hectares of land. The area serves as a summer home for nearly 200 families of the nomadic Gujjar and Bakkerwal communities, the poorest of the poor in Jammu and Kashmir, who graze their herds of sheep, goats and other livestock in the mountain pasturelands circling Kashmir during the summer and migrate to Jammu before the onset of winter. Three victims who spoke with The Wire over phone alleged that they were segregated into two groups, of which one group comprising 10-15 men were 'beaten up like animals', while others received minor thrashing. The victims claimed that two army soldiers held the victims by their arms while the superior official thrashed them 'without showing any mercy'. Recalling the ordeal, Liyakat said that a group of soldiers came to his seasonal home on Saturday morning, saying that 'sahab' was looking for him. He said that when he reached the camp at around 1 pm, around 40 other male residents had gathered outside it. The army official accused the tribal men of having information about militants and providing them food. He also issued an ultimatum to the residents to vacate their homes within two days. Speaking with The Wire over phone, Liyakat said that the officer accused him of sheltering militants who have turned the higher reaches of Kashmir into a dangerous battleground by inflicting heavy casualties on security forces in the years after the reading down of Article 370. Security agencies have been carrying out massive searches in the girdle of mountains surrounding Kashmir amid fears of infiltration by militants after the four-day-long Indo-Pakistani conflict in May this year. 'When I rejected his allegations, he said 'Go to Pakistan and get them [militants] from there'. Why will I go to Pakistan? He said 'our people have died in Pahalgam', but what have we got to do with it?' Liyakat said in a weak voice over the phone. Muhammad Yusuf, who received a minor beating, claimed that he pleaded with the army official to let go of Liyakat as he was going to be surgically operated on next week. He said that the officer didn't listen and thrashed him anyway. 'Now my second leg is also broken,' a distraught Liyakat said. 'I can't even stand up and go to the bathroom. They should have shot me there instead of putting me through this ordeal.' Dhagwan is also a haven for trekking enthusiasts and mountaineers as it connects Srinagar with the Dachigam national park, the Wasturwan meadow, the Overa wildlife sanctuary and Pahalgam. According to security agencies, the area has been used as a transit route by militants in recent years to move from south Kashmir into Srinagar. Following the terrorist attack in Pahalgam, the victims said that the army set up a new base camp in the area. 'We carried the wooden logs and other materials on our backs for the base camp. We do their work and serve them tea whenever they like. This is how we have been paid back,' said Yusuf. This is not the first incident where the army has faced accusations of using violence against the tribal people of Jammu and Kashmir, who have come under an intensifying political and security spotlight following the reading down of Article 370 in 2019. In December 2023, three members of the Gujjar community were allegedly tortured to death, while many others suffered grave injuries when the army launched an operation in the Poonch district of Jammu division, which has emerged as a militancy hotspot since 2019. The army had set up a court of inquiry with regard to the torture allegations. A brigadier and three other officers were removed from the command of the army camp where the tribal civilians were tortured. On November 20 last year, four civilians were detained for questioning in connection with a militant attack in the Kishtwar district of the Chenab valley in the Jammu region; they were allegedly tortured in custody. The army had ordered a probe into this matter also, but it wasn't immediately known whether any action was taken against the alleged culprits. Zafar Choudhary, a Jammu-based senior political analyst, said that the Gujjar community was having a 'strong feeling of either being specifically targeted or not being factored in as worthy of consideration as a human stock'. 'If the authorities think the exclusion of this community with a strong feeling of alienation and injustice was their political objective, then they have almost achieved it. If there is a case of rogue elements colluding with political interests at isolated smaller levels, then an all encompassing legal, administrative and political process must take place towards confidence-building, keeping in view overall strategic and security interests as specific to Jammu and Kashmir,' he said in a post on X.
The Wire
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Gurugram Police Releases Bengali Migrant Workers, Only Ten ‘Confirmed Bangladeshis' Remain, It Says
Government The police are yet to confirm the exact number of detainees released. They now say that verification is ongoing and 'only highly suspicious individuals will be picked up'. Women from an Assamese Muslim neighbourhood in Gurugram's Khatola village on their way to meeting their detained husbands. Photo: Alishan Jafri Gurugram police public relations officer Sandeep Kumar confirmed that all but ten detainees have been released. He claimed that these ten people are undocumented immigrants from Bangladesh and that the police have now initiated the process for their deportation. 'Nobody is there except ten individuals who are confirmed Bangladeshis,' he said. However, he did not confirm the total number of people who were detained and later released. When The Wire asked on what basis these individuals were identified as undocumented immigrants while the others were released, Kumar claimed, 'The ten suspects possess documents that prove they are from Bangladesh.' Asked if the authorities' drive to identify and deport undocumented Bangladeshi citizens will go on or intensify, he said, 'verification is going on and only highly suspicious individuals will be picked up'. When asked if the hundreds of people detained and released earlier were also 'highly suspicious', Kumar questioned the source of this figure, although he added that the drive is ongoing and that official numbers can't be shared at this point. Regarding the process of releasing detainees, he said, 'We contacted the district administrations of the areas the detainees claimed as their home. After verifying their citizenship through the respective district officials, we released them.' The detainees' release comes amidst growing public scrutiny and pushback from opposition leaders and civil society. Calling the detentions in Gurugram 'linguistic terrorism', West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee wrote that she was shocked to see 'these terrible atrocities of double-engine governments on Bengalis in India'. 'What do you want to prove? This is atrocious and terrible. We are not going to tolerate this.' In a video message on X, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra compared the drive to 'living in Nazi Germany'. Terming these ' wide-net detentions ' illegal, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi wrote on X, 'This government acts strong with the weak, and weak with the strong. Most of those who are accused of being 'illegal immigrants' are the poorest of the poor: slum-dwellers, cleaners, domestic workers, rag-pickers, etc. They have been targeted repeatedly because they are not in a position to challenge police atrocities.' On Friday, Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya visited Bengali migrants in Gurugram. Amanur Sheikh's shanty in the Bengali ragpicker colony near the Kapasheda border between Delhi and Gurugram. Photo: Alishan Jafri Large numbers of Bengali-speaking migrant workers have fled to Assam and West Bengal. When The Wire visited a neighbourhood in Gurugram's Khatola village known for its large Assamese Muslim population – and where residents claimed nearly 2,000 people used to live – it was almost entirely deserted. Only around a dozen women were present, who were about to visit their husbands and other male relatives held in detention centres. Barring a few people, the entire neighbourhood has apparently fled to Assam's Dhubri following the recent crackdown. And now after the release of detainees, many, including Sayra Bano and her family, are going back to Assam. All the migrant workers The Wire covered in its previous report from Gurugram have been released. Amanur Sheikh, brother of Hafijur who was detained in a Sector 10A 'holding camp', said that his brother has been released but that they are still living in fear. Rafukul Islam was released by the police on July 23 after being held in detention for over five days. He was detained on July 18 and taken to the Basapur City Centre vote camp, which the police refer to as a 'holding centre'. According to Islam, around 150 people were detained in that facility. He claimed that 15 or 16 among them were Hindus and were released earlier. The remaining detainees, he said, were Muslims from Assam and Bengal. 'There were 27 people I personally knew who were detained along with me. We were all picked up from the same neighbourhood. The police have released all of us,' he said. When asked what the police told them before releasing them, Rafukul replied, 'They didn't say anything. They just made us sign on a few papers and told us to go. They said, ' Tum log ab jao yahan se, tumhara ho gaya abhi ' ('You people can go now, it's done').' He also claimed that the police confiscated their mobile phones. 'A few people got their phones back, but the rest of us, including me, didn't get ours.' Following their release, Islam and the others left the National Capital Region and returned to their villages. Rafukul hails from the Kokrajhar district of Assam. 'When things return to normal, we will come back,' he said. 'Our livelihood is there, how can we stay away for long? What will we eat? But right now, we can't stay in Gurugram. Who knows when they might come and detain us again?' When asked on what grounds the police detained them, Islam said, 'The police asked us where we were from. When we said we're from Assam, they replied, 'No, no, you're from Bangladesh, go sit in the vehicle.' Then they took us to the centre.' The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
The Wire
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Wire
Telangana BJP's Internal Rivalry Subsides but Larger Issue of One-Upmanship Remains
Politics Talking to The Wire, new Telangana BJP president Ramchander Rao dismissed the conflict between Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Eatala Rajender as minor. Hyderabad: After a meeting with Union home minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on July 24, the newly elected BJP president of Telangana N. Ramchander Rao announced here on July 25 that the controversy surrounding a tussle between two of the party MPs from the state – Bandi Sanjay Kumar and Eatala Rajender – had ended. The former is also the Union minister of state for home. The issue had threatened to snowball into another major embarrassment for the party on the heels of Ramchander Rao's election as the state president a fortnight ago. Rao stole a march in the election ahead of all other aspirants at a juncture when the backward classes card is ruling the roost in state politics, especially with the decision of the Congress government to extend 42% reservation for the backward classes in the upcoming local body elections. Rao's election was marred by one more controversy. MLA T. Raja Singh quit primary membership of the party after he failed to get approval to enter the contest for presidentship. His resignation was readily accepted by the central committee of the party. He too belonged to a community which is listed among OBCs in parts of the country. Talking to The Wire, Rao dismissed the conflict between Sanjay and Rajender as minor and something which could be erased. But, he admitted that this was the first time a rupture in party has been visible to the public. He was evasive to a question on whether the party would seek the disqualification of Raja Singh as a member of the assembly upon his resignation from party. A rivalry unlike any seen in BJP before Bandi Sanjay and Rajender were among a handful of backward class leaders of the party who nursed ambitions for the party president's post but the national leadership gunned for Ramchander Rao, a Brahmin. Sanjay had already served one term as BJP state president a few years ago. Telangana BJP leaders Bandi Sanjay Kumar (L) and Etela Raja (R). Photo: X/@bandisanjay_bjp; Facebook/EatalaRajenderOfficial Sanjay and Rajender had common roots in Huzurabad assembly constituency which was part of Karimnagar Lok Sabha seat represented by the former. Rajender was MLA of the assembly segment for 20 years until his defeat in the last elections. He, however, won the parliament elections within six months last year from far off Malkajgiri, abutting the state capital. On a routine visit to Huzurabad for a bicycle distribution programme, Sanjay made light of the resignation of one of Rajender's supporters as the party in-charge of the assembly constituency. Hinting at Rajender, he said that no one was above the party and that every BJP leader has won their seat thanks to the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Rajender shot back at Sanjay, asking him to identify who backed him for him to be able to speak this way. Between the two is the race for domination in Huzurabad. While Sanjay was a two-time MP of Karimnagar parliamentary constituency, including Huzurabad, Rajender considers himself invincible in the segment, with a large following, although he no longer enjoys political ground there. The sense seems to be that Sanjay has scuttled Rajender's reach in the segment. Rajender was already simmering with discontent at being sidelined in the party after a hype was created that he could be the backward class chief ministerial candidate. When he joined the BJP after quitting the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) in 2021, his followers claimed that he was even being considered for a junior Union minister's post. But he was not even considered as minister after his election to the Lok Sabha. The elevation of Ramchander Rao as state president must have been heartburn for Rajender in these circumstances. At the same time, Sanjay has been projecting himself as a frontrunner for the post when Rao's term expires in 2028, months before the next assembly elections. Sanjay was relieved as the state BJP president ahead of the last assembly elections and hopes to make a comeback now. Several believe that the BJP is likely to go with a backward class leader closer to election time. Eatala Rajender. Photo: X (Twitter)/@Eatala_Rajender Rajender's party presidentship ambitions have baffled leaders in the party as its constitution does not permit anyone to assume office without a minimum of 10 years as ordinary members. They should hold active membership at least three times, translating to six years of service in that capacity. Active membership is given to those who enrol a minimum of 50 ordinary members. Rajender does not fulfil either conditions as he joined the party only four years ago. The BJP leadership in Telangana has had a tough time in convincing its MPs, MLAs and MLCs on various issues since a majority of them joined from other parties. Barring Sanjay and Union coal minister G. Kishan Reddy, the remaining six MPs are newcomers. All of them have a sound track record in electoral politics. In fact, Rajender and another MP, D.K. Aruna, have also served as ministers. Similarly, all but one of the eight MLAs and all three MLCs are also from other parties. Ramchander Rao who was MLC five years ago, is someone who fits the BJP's criteria. Rao had a four-decade association with BJP, rising from the ranks of the RSS student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. There were other home grown leaders like former MLAs M. Dharma Rao and Chintala Ramachandra Reddy, but they were sidestepped. The aspiration for the BJP's state president had soared among backward class leaders with the government's reservation move. The state unit of the BJP has also supported the quota but stopped short of taking up the 42% demand with the national leadership. Two Bills – one on education and employment and the other on local bodies – passed by the assembly seeking relaxation of the 50% ceiling on reservations are pending with the Union government. If the demand is met, the reservations for backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will go up to 63%. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
