Author: ITas

NEW DELHI — As India gears up for Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, people are divided over whether they should celebrate by setting off firecrackers, which worsen the country’s chronic air pollution.

Diwali, which will be celebrated Thursday, is marked by socializing and exchanging gifts with family and friends. Many Indians light earthen oil lamps or candles. But every year the festivities are tinged with worries over air pollution, as smoke-emitting firecrackers cause toxic smog that can take days to clear.

The capital, New Delhi, which is among India’s worst cities for air quality, is particularly impacted by the problem and is usually shrouded in toxic gray smog a day after Diwali. Authorities there and in some other states have banned the use and sale of firecrackers since 2017, asking people to opt for more sustainable options like environmentally friendly firecrackers and light shows, but the rule is often flouted. Firecrackers can be easily bought from roadside stalls and stores.

Some residents in New Delhi say the ban doesn’t make much difference, while others see it as a necessary measure to fight pollution.

Vegetable vendor Renu, who only uses one name, loves celebrating Diwali in the city. Every year her kids set off firecrackers at night. She tells them to be careful but not to refrain from using them.

“Diwali is a day of celebration and happiness for us which comes only once a year, and I feel the ban should not be there,” she said.

Others are against it.

Unlike most kids, Ruhaani Mandal, 13, doesn’t light firecrackers. She acknowledges it is fun but says it is hazardous for people and animals.

“I have seen firsthand the struggle of my father, who has lost his sense of smell due to pollution, and I see how his health worsens after Diwali celebrations,” she said.

New Delhi and several northern Indian cities typically see extremely high levels of air pollution between October and January each year, disrupting businesses and shutting schools and offices. Authorities close construction sites, restrict diesel-run vehicles and deploy water sprinklers and anti-smog guns to control the haze and smog that envelopes the skyline.

This year, thick, toxic smog has already started to engulf New Delhi. On Wednesday, authorities reported an AQI of over 300, which is categorized as “very poor.”

Several studies have estimated that more than a million Indians die each year from air pollution-related diseases. A high level of tiny particulate matter can lodge deep into the lungs and cause major health problems, including chronic respiratory diseases.

New Delhi’s woes aren’t only due to firecrackers. Vehicular emissions, farm fires in neighboring states and dust from construction are the primary causes of the capital’s air pollution woes. But health experts say the smoke emitted from firecrackers can be more hazardous.

“The smoke that is produced by firecrackers contains heavy metals like sulphur, lead and toxic gases like carbon monoxide and fumes of heavy metals that are dangerous to our respiratory system,” said Arun Kumar Sharma, a community medicine professor at New Delhi’s University College of Medical Sciences.

Meanwhile, authorities in New Delhi have largely failed to enforce a strict ban on the use of firecrackers to avoid offending millions of Hindus across the country, for whom Diwali is one of the biggest festivals. To sidestep the ban, many sellers offer firecrackers online, some with the convenience of home delivery.

Shopkeeper Gyaanchand Goyal said the ban on firecrackers has disadvantaged sellers like him and affected their biggest source of income during the festive season.

“The government enforces a restriction on firecrackers solely to demonstrate their commitment to the environment. Other than that, I don’t think there are any other consequences of this ban,” he said.
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washington — Militant groups have intensified attacks against polio vaccination teams and their police escorts in Pakistan amid a dramatic resurgence of polio cases in the country.

Officials say because of the deteriorating security situation, polio vaccination teams cannot reach communities in high-risk areas where polio is endemic.

On Tuesday, militants attacked two health centers in the tribal districts of Orakzai and Waziristan that are being used in the polio vaccination campaign. Two police officials were killed in the attack in the restive region along the Afghan border.

According to local officials in North Waziristan, militants took guns from the police officers guarding the polio team and warned the health workers not to take part in the anti-polio campaign.

Pakistan Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, in reaction to the latest violence, said in a statement, “The terrorists’ attack on the polio team is an attack on the safe future of Pakistan.”

Violence has heightened safety concerns among front-line polio workers in the country.

“When I go out as part of [a] polio vaccination team, I am not sure I will return home safely,” Fahima Bibi, a front-line polio worker supervising vaccinations in northwestern Pakistan, told VOA.

But Bibi said she is determined to do the job.

“The cause is bigger and needs bigger commitment and sacrifice,” she told VOA.

Bibi’s concerns for safety are shared by many of her co-workers.

According to the Pakistan National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, 225,440 female vaccinators are working in the immunization workforce, going door to door to administer polio drops to children. They travel to hard-to-reach and remote, conservative regions in Pakistan, breaking cultural barriers.

Ihtesham Ali, minister of health in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, expressed concern Wednesday over the surge in attacks. He told VOA that the “security situation in the southern districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is quite bad. And it is affecting access to communities. It is creating difficulties in our access for polio vaccinations.”

‘A fearful environment’

Most of the recent cases in Pakistan were reported in southwestern Balochistan province, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.

World Health Organization officials in southern Balochistan province say militant violence has affected polio campaigns in the province.

“Polio teams go house to house in a fearful environment,” said Dr. Nayyar Khan Loni, a WHO official in Balochistan. He said that the recent attacks in Balochistan have forced polio teams to rush the vaccination of children in some areas.

He said immunization campaigns have been modified because of security concerns. He attributed the recent polio outbreak in Balochistan to several factors, including cross-border mobility with Afghanistan and misinformation among certain parents about polio vaccines.

Campaign against polio vaccinators

Pakistan’s hard-line extremist group Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has sustained a violent campaign against polio vaccinators and security forces guarding polio team workers in Pakistan for nearly 15 years. Militants spread false claims that polio vaccines are part of a Western agenda to sterilize Muslim children. Also, militants target polio teams suspected of being government spies.

In January, at least five policemen were killed and more than a dozen injured in a major attack on polio teams and security personnel in northwestern Pakistan.

According to the Emergency Operations Center in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, militants have carried out 23 attacks against polio teams and security escorts in Pakistan this year.

Overall, militant-sponsored violence has increased in Pakistan since the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.

According to independent think tanks tracking violence in Pakistan, militant violence has killed more than 1,000 Pakistanis, half of them security forces, in the first 10 months of this year.

The Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition identified 16 incidents of violence against or obstruction of health care in Pakistan in 2022, an increase from seven in 2021. Nearly 90% of these incidents involved threats and violence against polio vaccination workers, undermining health care providers’ ability to meet vaccination targets.

Experts say the TTP has ignored local and international religious scholars’ fatwa (edicts) that support polio vaccination in Pakistan.

Fakhar Hayat Kakakhel, a Pakistan-based researcher on militancy, said that because of military operations, militants lost space and polio vaccination teams gained more access to conflict areas.

“After August 2021, when the Pakistani Taliban regrouped in the region and got space, they restarted their anti-polio vaccination campaigns. And now we are seeing a sudden surge in cases of polio,” he said.

Sindh province health officials say the security situation in Sindh is not like Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, but police are providing security to polio teams in Karachi and other parts of the province.

“Police are patrolling the streets in Karachi so that polio teams feel safe. We do not have any security issue, but [the] police department is with us,” Shumaila Rasool, spokesperson for Emergency Operations Center in Sindh, told VOA.

Afghanistan and Pakistan launched synchronized polio immunization campaigns on Monday. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries in the world where the spread of polio has never been stopped.

VOA Deewa reporter Usman Khan contributed from Peshawar.
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ISLAMABAD — China has increased diplomatic pressure on close ally Pakistan to take action against the militants responsible for repeated attacks on Chinese workers, warning that the violence is “unacceptable” and poses “a constraint” on Beijing’s investments under its Belt and Road Initiative, or BRI.

The rare public warning accusing Islamabad of consistent security lapses concerning Chinese workers was issued by Beijing’s ambassador, Jiang Zaidong, while addressing a seminar in Islamabad this week. Analysts said the remarks reflect China’s increasing frustration with the security risks facing its workers in the South Asian nation.

Jiang referenced suicide car bombings in March and October of this year, which resulted in the deaths of seven Chinese personnel. It raised the number of Chinese workers killed in Pakistan to 21 since the countries launched a massive bilateral connectivity project as part of the BRI about a decade ago.

“It is unacceptable for us to be attacked twice in only six months,” the Chinese diplomat stated, speaking through his interpreter. He stressed the need for Islamabad to take “effective remedial measures to prevent the recurrence of such terror acts and ensure that perpetrators are identified, caught, and punished.”

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC, considered the flagship project of the BRI, has brought more than $25 billion in Chinese investment to enhance Pakistan’s infrastructure, facilitating improved bilateral trade and further integrating of the broader South Asian region.

Jiang urged Pakistan to take action against “all anti-China terrorist groups,” stating that “security is the biggest concern” for Beijing and “a constraint on CPEC” projects. He added that “without a safe and sound environment, nothing can be achieved.”

The CPEC has built roads, highways, primarily coal-fired power plants, and the strategic deepwater Gwadar port on the Arabian Sea in the country’s southwestern Balochistan province.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, while addressing Tuesday’s seminar organized by the Islamabad-based independent Pakistan-China Institute, assured the Chinese ambassador that his country was taking action against terrorists and tightening the security of Chinese nationals.

Dar stated that Pakistan would share the progress with China in high-level talks next month.

“The Chinese are very clear; no matter how lucrative an investment is anywhere, if the security issue is there, they do not send Chinese personnel. Your country is the only exception,” he told the audience, quoting Chinese leaders as telling Pakistani counterparts in recent meetings.

Critics argue that Pakistan’s financial difficulties and political instability have discouraged China from making new investments in the CPEC.

Michael Kugelman, an expert on South Asian affairs based in Washington, told VOA that Beijing’s security concerns have made it challenging for the mega project to regain momentum anytime soon.

“When the Chinese envoy publicly upbraids Pakistan for not providing proper security, you know there is a big problem,” said Kugelman, who directs the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center.

“I imagine the objective moving forward will be carefully working to maintain and advance existing projects but being cautious about agreeing to new ones until China feels less concerned about security risks,” he added.

After the launch of CPEC projects, Pakistan’s military formed a specially trained unit of over 13,000 troops to safeguard these initiatives nationwide. But the attacks on Chinese nationals have led to concerns regarding the effectiveness of this military unit.

Hasnain Javed, a Beijing-based Pakistani foreign research associate, noted that China had never before publicly criticized Islamabad.

“This is a strong rebuttal and a serious dissatisfaction over the poor security around CPEC,” Javed told VOA in written comments. “Now, when the military is the main guarantor, particularly for security, the Chinese seem to be running on low patience.”

Most of the recent attacks on Chinese workers and engineers have been claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, a prominent separatist group waging insurgent attacks in Balochistan.

The group, which is made up of militants from the Baloch ethnic minority, accuses China of helping Pakistan to exploit the province’s natural resources and has been calling for Beijing to withdraw its CPEC and other investments.

Both countries reject the allegations, saying Baloch insurgents are on a mission to subvert development in the impoverished province and undermine Pakistan’s close ties with China.

The BLA, listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States, has lately intensified guerrilla attacks in Balochistan, killing hundreds of Pakistanis, primarily security force members, in recent months.

During his visit to Pakistan earlier in October, Chinese Premier Li Qiang also highlighted the significance of security for economic development and cooperation.

A post-visit joint statement quoted the Chinese side as stressing “the need and urgency to take targeted security measures in Pakistan to jointly create a safe environment for cooperation between the two countries.”
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LUCKNOW, INDIA — Millions of Indians began celebrating the annual Hindu festival of lights, Diwali, by symbolically lighting a record 2.51 million earthen oil lamps at dusk on Wednesday on the banks of the Saryu River in a northern Indian city they believe to be the birthplace of the deity Lord Ram.

Diwali is the most important festival of the year in India — for the Hindu majority in particular. It is marked by socializing and exchanging gifts with loved ones. Many light earthen oil lamps and candles, and fireworks are set off. In the evening, a special prayer is dedicated to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi, who is believed to bring luck and prosperity.

A Guinness World Records team presented a certificate to Uttar Pradesh state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, acknowledging the unprecedented number of oil lamps, exceeding last year’s 2.2 million. Drone cameras closely monitored the event.

The celebrations took place within the northern city of Ayodhya where Prime Minister Narendra Modi nine months ago opened a controversial Hindu temple built on the ruins of a historic mosque following a Supreme Court decision, seen as a political win for the populist leader. The establishment of the temple dedicated to Lord Ram fulfilled a long-standing demand by millions of Hindus.

On Wednesday, thousands of volunteers lit lamps, called “Diyas,” along riverbanks, lanes, fronts and roofs of homes.

“More than 30,000 volunteers, primarily college students, worked meticulously to maintain the systematic pattern of burning lamps for the prescribed time,” said Dr. Pratibha Goyal, vice chancellor of Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Avadh University, who coordinated the massive effort.

The earthen lamps lit along 55 riverfront steps of the river Saryu created a captivating display throughout 1.5 kilometers (1 mile). As the lamps remained lit for over five minutes, government spokesperson Shishir Singh said Ayodhya achieved its seventh consecutive world record for the largest display.

Singh said that around 91,000 liters of mustard oil were used to light the lamps.

The event transformed Ayodhya into a city of lights amid devotional bhajan singing. A laser show depicting scenes from the epic Ramayana added to the immersive experience, and an eco-friendly fireworks show lit the skyline. Traditional decorations, including elaborate arches and grand gateways along the main highways, were in abundance, capturing the festive atmosphere as folk cultural performances drew pilgrims to the streets.

The festival also featured a massive praying ceremony performed by 1,100 priests along riverbanks.

Security was tightened across the city. Paramilitary commandos, bomb detectors, dog squads, face-recognition technology and monitoring drones were deployed throughout the city, police officer Rajkaran Nayyar said.

Major Hindu festivals such as Dussehra and Diwali are associated with tales of Lord Ram extolling the virtues of truth, sacrifice and ethical governance.

Diwali’s main festival celebrations will be held across the country on Thursday.
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Religious political parties in Bangladesh have become active in national politics since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ouster. VOA’s Sarah Zaman reports from the capital, Dhaka, on their impact. Videographer: Rubel Hassan
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ISLAMABAD — Taliban judicial officials said Tuesday that four people, including a woman, were publicly flogged in eastern Afghanistan for allegedly committing offenses such as “illicit relations” and “running away from home.”

The United Nations has condemned such punishment being increasingly inflicted on Afghans under Taliban rule.

The Supreme Court of the de facto radical Afghan rulers announced the latest punishments Tuesday, saying they were done in Nangarhar province after a local court sentenced the four “criminals” to 39 lashes each.

The Taliban’s top court reported earlier this week that five Afghans, including a woman, were flogged in public 39 times each in Parwan and Faryab provinces for committing acts that are considered crimes in Afghanistan, including adultery and homosexuality. It stated that the individuals were also sentenced to jail terms ranging from six months to one year.

Since regaining power in 2021, Taliban leaders have imposed a criminal justice system in line with their strict interpretation of the Islamic law of Sharia, leading to the public flogging of hundreds of Afghan men and women. This has drawn persistent outrage and calls from the U.N. to halt the practice for being in breach of international laws and human rights.

Richard Bennett, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has stated in his latest report, released Tuesday, that the use of corporal punishment by the Taliban amounts to “torture and other ill-treatment.”

Bennett documented an “alarming increase” in such punishment since the beginning of 2024. He quoted the Taliban’s Supreme Court as reporting that 276 Afghans, including 46 women, were publicly punished between January and August.

“While the vast majority reported in the 80 official announcements were for crimes such as theft and adultery, individuals were also punished for ‘crimes’ such as sodomy, homosexuality, running away from home, and aiding a woman’s escape from home — underscoring the specific risks faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other gender-diverse persons and cisgender women,” the U.N. envoy reported.

Bennet said that the Taliban publicly flogged 63 people, including 15 women, in a single day in June, saying each person was lashed 15 to 39 times.

He questioned the enforcement of the criminal justice system by the Taliban, saying that the situation is worsened by the absence of legal protections, including access to lawyers and denying other due process rights. “There are credible reports of courts in several provinces denying defendants, including children, access to their lawyers,” Bennett said.

The report also detailed an alarming rise in cases of sexual violence against Afghan women in Taliban custody.

The Taliban defend their policies, including restrictions on Afghan women’s access to employment and work, saying their governance is in line with the Sharia. They reject international criticism of the Taliban government as an interference in the internal affairs of Afghanistan.

No country has officially recognized the Taliban as the legitimate ruler of the war-torn, impoverished South Asian nation, citing human rights concerns and the treatment of Afghan women.
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ISLAMABAD — Officials in Pakistan’s violence-stricken Balochistan province said Tuesday that gunmen attacked workers at the site of a dam, killing five and wounding two others.

The deadly shooting occurred in the Panjgur district of the sparsely populated Pakistani province renowned for its abundant natural resources. Residents reported that the assailants fled the scene on motorcycles immediately after the attack.

A provincial government spokesperson, Shahid Rind, confirmed casualties, saying district authorities launched an investigation into the attack. The two injured men and bodies have been transferred to a local hospital, he said.

There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the violence in Balochistan, where several separatist groups are active and routinely target Pakistani security forces as well as government installations.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned Tuesday’s attack. “Those who attacked the personnel working on the dam are enemies of the development in Pakistan and Balochistan,” Sharif’s office in Islamabad quoted him as saying.

Earlier this month, heavily armed assailants stormed a coal mine in the impoverished province’s Duki district and killed 21 coal workers.

The Baloch Liberation Army, or BLA, has been blamed for or claimed most of the recent attacks. The insurgent group, listed as a global terrorist organization by the United States, claims to be fighting for the province’s independence.

The BLA also took credit for a suicide car bombing in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi in early October that officials said resulted in the deaths of two Chinese engineers and several local security personnel.

Separately, gunmen killed a police officer Tuesday in an attack targeting a health office in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where polio vaccination teams had gathered as part of an ongoing national immunization campaign.

The deadly shooting in the Orakzai district prompted authorities to suspend the anti-polio drive in the area. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but provincial authorities suspected Islamist insurgents could be behind it.

Militants active in the area have previously targeted polio teams and their police escorts, suspecting them of spying for the government.

The attack on polio workers comes as the number of active paralytic poliovirus cases in Pakistan surged drastically to 41 this year, up from only six in 2023.

Meanwhile, Russia’s embassy in Islamabad said on its social media platform X that it was “verifying reports about the alleged abduction of a Russian citizen” in the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A report in The Moscow Times has identified the missing man as a tourist cyclist and a resident of the city of St. Petersburg. Pakistani officials have not commented on the reported abduction being claimed by militants loyal to the banned Pakistani Taliban outfit.

Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, both sit on the border with Afghanistan, have experienced almost daily militant attacks. The violence has killed more than 1,000 Pakistani civilians and security forces this year alone, according to the Islamabad-based independent Center for Research and Security Studies.
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NEW DELHI — A huge explosion of fireworks injured more than 150 people at a religious festival in a temple in southern India, a report said Tuesday.

The explosion occurred Monday night when a fireworks storage facility near Veerarkavu temple caught fire, the Press Trust of India reported, citing the police. It happened in Kasargod, which is nearly 580 kilometers (360 miles) northwest of Thiruvananthapuram, the Kerala state capital,

The injured were treated at various hospitals in Kasargod, Kannur, and Mangaluru districts. Eight of them had serious injuries.

There is a huge demand in India for firecrackers, which are used in religious festivals and weddings. Fatal accidents occur nearly every year as people work in makeshift factories without proper safety measures.

An explosion at a fireworks factory in southern India July last year killed eight people. In 2018, a massive fire at a firecracker factory in New Delhi killed 17 workers. A year earlier, a blast killed 23 people while they were making firecrackers in a village in Madhya Pradesh state in central India.
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Ahead of the busiest annual travel season in India, more than 400 hoax bomb threats have triggered domestic and international travel chaos during the past two weeks, with Indian airlines grounding and diverting planes and incurring huge financial losses.

Some flights were escorted to safety by fighter jets as the unprecedented wave of bogus threats caused disruption to scores of flights and India’s air travel industry. The threats created panic among air passengers, authorities said.

Heightened security measures were enforced at most airports shortly after the first spate of threats surfaced in the second week of October. Investigating agencies quickly began probes to trace and determine the sources.

India’s junior civil aviation minister, Murlidhar Mohol, told local media that most of the hoax bomb threats originated from outside the country.

“Up to 80% of the threats this month came from abroad. Police in different states are investigating some threats that originated in India,” Mohol said on October 23.

On October 17, police in Mumbai arrested a 17-year-old boy for allegedly posting bomb threats to four flights on X, formerly Twitter. Police also questioned another minor as a suspect in the cases of the threats to airlines, it was reported.

On Saturday, a 25-year-old man was arrested in New Delhi for emailing hoax bomb threats to some Indian airlines and to Indira Gandhi International Airport.

Fresh threats, however, continued to arrive largely via emails and through anonymous social media accounts on platforms like X and Meta, authorities said.

On Sunday, fresh hoax bomb threats targeted at least 50 flights of Indian airlines.

On Monday, threats affected more than 60 flights across multiple Indian airlines.

Although Indian airlines like Air India, IndiGo, Spicejet and Vistara have been mostly targeted by the hoax threats, American Airlines and Air New Zealand have also received threats since the second week of October.

Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu deemed the burst of economic harassment and threats a “serious concern” even if the threats of violence seemed to be hoaxes.

“The safety and security of the people are the foremost aspect. … Those responsible for the threats would be identified and duly prosecuted,” Naidu said on October 21.

The Indian government was planning to introduce stricter legislative measures to tackle the growing trend of bomb threats, including a law to categorize such threat-making as a criminal offense with the accused facing prosecution and the offenders being placed on no-fly lists, Naidu said.

On Saturday, India sent a warning to social media platforms, including X, calling the spread of the threats “dangerously unrestrained.”

In a statement, Indian authorities warned the social media platforms of “consequential action as provided under any law” if they do not comply with the “prompt removal of misinformation.”

“The instances of malicious acts, in the form of hoax bomb threats to such airlines, lead to a potential threat to the public order and security of the state,” the statement said. “Such hoax bomb threats, while affecting a large number of citizens, also destabilizes the economic security of the country.”

Hoax bomb threats are not a new trend in India. In recent years, some airports and airlines have received similar bogus threats. But their frequency in the past two weeks has been unprecedented, leading to significant responses from authorities and investigators.

The police have managed to trace only three persons in India who are accused of sending around a dozen such threats over the past two weeks. Investigators are yet to determine who sent more than 96% of this month’s threats. The investigators reported that by tracking IP addresses some of the threats appeared to have originated from Germany and the United Kingdom.

Airlines, passengers suffer

India’s aviation industry has been massively impacted by the bomb threats. Following international protocols, the airlines had to act on every threat. Dozens of international flights originating from India were diverted and some made emergency landings in third countries such as Canada, Germany or Turkey.

Sanjay Lazar, an aviation professional and former Air India crew member, told VOA that protocol requires each bomb threat to be treated with the “utmost seriousness.” He says the threats lead to financial losses and substantial inconveniences for airline companies and passengers.

“An aircraft on the ground is evacuated and taken to a remote bay, then the bomb squad checks it, security sanitizes it, and it takes three to four hours for an entire process to be completed. This costs money, both in man hours wasted and additional man hours and costs spent in the checks and more importantly, in the reduced utilization of the aircraft,” said Lazar, the CEO of Avialaz Consultants, an aviation consultancy firm.

“It also brings about wastage of pilots and crew duty time limits, which entails fresh crew in case of long delays. It also costs airlines by way of passenger meals and, in some cases, hotel accommodation.”

Air India said that on October 15, its flight from New Delhi to Chicago with 211 passengers was forced to make an emergency landing in Iqaluit, a remote northern city in Canada, following a threat. A Canadian Air Force aircraft later transported the passengers to Chicago.

On October 20, Afghanistan refused permission for an emergency landing to a Frankfurt-bound Vistara flight after it received a bomb threat. The flight had to return to India.

In two separate incidents, around the middle of the month, authorities in the U.K. and Singapore had to send fighter jets to escort two Air India flights that had received bomb threats, authorities said.

The investigators said that the motive behind the threats had yet to be determined.

Lazar, the aviation expert, said the threats may be driven by a ‘’malicious intent’’ to invoke chaos and fear among persons traveling to and from India, and cause economic damage.

“The miscreants may want to create huge losses for airlines and inconveniences for the general public. Their actions would also show India in a poor light,” he said.

Lazar described the threats as “cyber terrorism,” and that the government needs to enforce laws “to the fullest” to punish the perpetrators.

“India should ensure that, like the U.S., hoax bomb threats are treated as a federal offense, are investigated the way FBI does and causes mandatory jail time for those involved,” he said.
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Islamabad — Pakistan and neighboring Afghanistan simultaneously launched fresh vaccination campaigns against polio Monday amid a resurgence in cases in the only two countries globally where the virus continues to be endemic and paralyze children. 

The World Health Organization reported 64 polio infections this year: 41 from Pakistan and 23 from Afghanistan, up from six each in both countries in 2023.

Pakistani officials said the weeklong house-to-house nationwide campaign that was rolled out Monday enlists 400,000 polio workers, who aim to vaccinate over 45 million children under five against the paralytic disease.

“This is Pakistan’s third nationwide campaign this year, launched in response to the alarming increase in polio cases across 71 districts,” said Ayesha Raza Farooq, the prime minister’s point-person for polio eradication.

More than half the infections in 2024 are located in southwestern Balochistan province, which sits on the Afghan border and is “facing an intense transmission” of the poliovirus. The southern province of Sindh has recorded 12 cases this year, while other regions in Pakistan, a country of more than 240 million, have reported the remaining cases, according to Pakistan’s polio eradication program.

Anwarul Haq, the coordinator of the National Emergency Operations Center for Polio Eradication, urged parents to cooperate with health teams in protecting their children against the crippling disease, stressing that there is no cure for polio. “With the threat at an all-time high, we must act as one nation to keep our children safe through vaccination,” he stated.   

Local and WHO officials attribute the resurgence of poliovirus in Pakistan to vaccine boycotts in rural areas stemming from the false propaganda that these initiatives are a Western plot to sterilize Muslim children.

Additionally, anti-state militants in violence-hit districts bordering Afghanistan occasionally attack vaccinators and their police escorts, suspecting them of spying for the government. The violence has resulted in the deaths of dozens of polio workers and police personnel, including at least two vaccinators and seven police members killed this year.

Afghanistan 

Meanwhile, health officials in Taliban-led Afghanistan announced Monday the opening of a three-day polio-vaccination campaign, saying it aims to reach 6.2 million children under five in 16 of the country’s 34 provinces. The target areas are primarily located close to the border with Pakistan.

The latest round of this year’s anti-polio campaign in Afghanistan began after nearly a two-month delay because Taliban authorities abruptly halted house-to-house vaccine deliveries in the southern province of Kandahar without publicly stating any reason. Instead, de facto Afghan authorities stressed the need to conduct vaccinations for children from site to site and mosque to mosque.

In a report released last month, an independent monitoring board of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative believed that the Taliban’s action had stemmed from their “administration’s concerns about covert surveillance activities.” The report quoted Taliban officials as explaining that their leadership is living in Kandahar and has concerns about their security.

Kandahar, regarded as the unofficial capital of Afghanistan under Taliban rule, is where the militant group’s reclusive supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, resides and governs the country through his decrees based on his strict interpretation of Islam.

The Taliban chief has banned most Afghan women from public and private sector workplaces and barred girls from receiving an education beyond the sixth grade.

WHO officials say eradicating polio in Afghanistan requires comprehensive integration of large migrant populations into the vaccination program. They say it is also crucial to reach out to groups that refuse vaccination and establish a female public health workforce dedicated to the polio initiative to tackle multiple challenges facing polio-eradication efforts in the impoverished country.
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Tbilisi, Georgia — The Georgian opposition has announced a major rally for Monday, urging followers to take to the streets to contest what they call a fraudulent election that handed victory to the ruling Georgian Dream party.

Speaking alongside opposition leaders at the presidential palace, President Salome Zourabichvili called the vote “totally falsified.”

The preliminary results, with 99% of precincts reporting, showed the ruling Georgian Dream leading with 53.9%. The Coalition for Changes had 11.3%, Unity-National Movement secured 9.83%, Strong Georgia gathered 10.1%, and Giorgi Gakharia’s For Georgia party garnered 7.7%. Other minor parties took the remaining vote.

Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, who is a member of Georgian Dream, on Sunday described his party’s victory as “impressive and obvious,” and said “any attempts to talk about election manipulation … are doomed to failure.”

Georgian Dream, now headed for a fourth term in office, will take 89 seats in parliament, one less than it secured in 2020, the commission said, with four pro-Western opposition parties receiving 61 seats in total.

However, the opposition claims the election was rigged. Western countries have expressed concerns, describing the results as a setback for Georgia’s democracy and a worrying shift toward Moscow.

“There is overwhelming evidence provided by international observers and local NGOs indicating that this election was neither free nor fair,” Elene Khoshtaria of the Coalition for Change, told VOA.

“Secondly, there is a stark contradiction between the international exit polls and the official election results. And thirdly, there is a clear rejection by the people, which will be evident at tomorrow’s demonstration, that we will not accept Russian-style, manipulated election results,” Khoshtaria added.

Tina Bokuchava, leader of the Unity-National Movement, told VOA, “We are not going to accept the results of these falsified elections.

“We believe the [voting] verification machines were used for duplicate voting, among other methods. Additionally, the environment leading up to the election was marred by intimidation, vote-buying, confiscation of IDs, and pressure tactics,” Bokuchava said. “These actions either prevented many people from voting altogether or forced them to vote under such intense pressure that it doesn’t truly reflect the free will of the people as it should be expressed at the ballot box.”

In a significant move, three of the four main opposition parties have declared they will not take their seats in parliament, refusing to legitimize what they describe as a stolen election.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, executive secretary of Georgian Dream, responded to the opposition’s decision to forgo parliamentary mandates, saying, “If they say they won’t enter parliament, then let them stay out. We will continue working for our homeland and prevent any sabotage of our country by agents.”

President Zourabichvili, standing beside leaders of the major opposition parties, except Gakharia’s For Georgia, said, “I do not recognize these elections. Acknowledging these results is akin to accepting Russia’s control over Georgia.”

“No one can take away Georgia’s European future,” she said.

The OSCE election watchdog, ODIHR, noted “numerous irregularities” and highlighted an election environment affected by the controversial “foreign agent” law adopted in June, which impacted freedoms.

“Contestants could generally campaign freely,” the OSCE said in its preliminary findings report, while also noting “reports of pressure on voters, particularly on public sector employees, remained widespread in the campaign.”

The ODIHR report further stated that the election “unfolded amid entrenched polarization in an environment marred by concerns over recently adopted legislation, its impact on fundamental freedoms and civil society.”

International response

The European Union voiced its concerns, with EU High Representative Josep Borrell urging Georgian authorities to investigate electoral irregularities.

“We urge the Georgian authorities to conduct a transparent investigation into all allegations of electoral irregularities,” Borrell said.

European Council President Charles Michel said the EU is planning to put Georgia on the agenda during its next meeting.

“These alleged irregularities must be seriously clarified and addressed. We reiterate the EU’s call to the Georgian leadership to demonstrate its firm commitment to the country’s EU path,” Michel added.

Georgia received candidate status of the EU last December.

Foreign Ministers of Germany, Norway, Latvia, Poland, France and Sweden also expressed concern over reported intimidation and manipulation, calling for steps to restore trust in the electoral process and uphold democratic principles.

On Sunday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement praised Georgia’s “vibrant democracy.” However, regarding Saturday’s vote, “international and local observers noted a pre-election environment marked by the ruling party’s misuse of public resources, vote buying, and voter intimidation, all of which contributed to an uneven playing field and undermined public and international trust in the possibility of a fair outcome,” he said.

“While international and local observers agreed that Election Day was generally well administered, we note reports of irregularities and sporadic violence. International observers have not declared the result to be free and fair. We condemn all contraventions of international norms and join calls from international and local observers for a full investigation of all reports of election-related violations,” Blinken said.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova responded to Zourabichvili’s statement on her Telegram channel, saying, “As long as countries and nations think independently and do not unquestioningly follow the orders of their Washington curators, they have a future.”

The election took place amid an atmosphere many described as tense and filled with fear.

Led by Russian-backed businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili, Georgian Dream has created a powerful electoral machine that relies on state resources and budget incentives to secure votes, observers say. The party’s core supporters include “budget voters,” public sector workers and social assistance recipients, especially in rural areas where employment options are limited. The party relies on these voters, many of whom fear the loss of a job or benefits if the party loses.

The campaign strategy of Georgian Dream was centered around the theme of stability versus conflict, portraying the opposition and their Western supporters as part of a “global war party.” This narrative played into the deep-seated fear of war among Georgians — a country that has endured conflicts with Russia multiple times, most recently in 2008.

The opposition, meanwhile, asserted that a vote for the ruling party, was a vote for Russia.

“The fear of war played a significant role,” Lasha Bakradze from Unity-National Movement told VOA. “Georgian Dream effectively instilled the language of hatred and fear. Unfortunately, we thought avoiding this narrative was the right approach, as it seemed absurd that anyone in Georgia would want war, but it turned out to be a miscalculation.”
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Polls closed in Uzbekistan’s parliamentary election Sunday that featured no real opposition to the Central Asian country’s strongman president, despite a recent overhaul of the electoral system and years of reform that have included economic liberalization and easing censorship.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev retains a tight grip on power in the country of 37 million. Since taking office in 2016, he has enjoyed broad support for a slew of political and economic reforms that relaxed the repressive policies of his predecessor, longtime dictatorial leader Ismail Karimov.

Over 71% of voters had cast their ballots by 5 p.m. (1200 GMT), election authorities said, well above the 33% needed for the vote to be valid. Preliminary results are expected on Monday and the final ones within 10 days.

Mirziyoyev has released some political prisoners, allowed the emergence of some independent news media and bloggers, and eased the tight controls on Islam that Karimov imposed to counter dissident views.

But reform appeared to stall last year, following a constitutional referendum in April that reset presidential term limits and could pave the way for Mirziyoyev to stay in office until 2037. Parliament rarely opposes laws drafted by Mirziyoyev’s Cabinet, while rights groups say thousands of people in Uzbekistan remain imprisoned on false charges.

Mirziyoyev’s government in 2022 claimed to have eliminated what rights groups said had amounted to systemic forced labor, but some concerns have remained.

Under changes introduced last year, Uzbekistan switched to a mixed election system, with half of its 150 lawmakers elected from party lists and the other half elected individually. The new rules also stipulate that 40% of those running for parliament must be women.

However, all candidates running in Sunday’s vote have been nominated by the country’s five registered parties. There are differences in focus among the parties, some of which stress issues such as the business climate or environmental protection, but none of them oppose Mirziyoyev.
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ISLAMABAD — Pakistani officials reported Saturday that a suicide bomber targeted a security checkpoint in a volatile region near the border with Afghanistan, killing at least eight people and injuring several others.

The attack occurred in the town of Mir Ali in Pakistan’s militancy-hit North Waziristan district. At least two soldiers, four police officers and two civilians were said to be among the dead.

Multiple area security officials confirmed the casualties, reporting that the bomber detonated a motorbike rickshaw filled with explosives at the checkpoint.

The explosion also injured five security personnel, with local hospital sources describing the condition of some of them as “critical.”

Militants allied with the banned Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, reportedly claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing. It came a day after fierce clashes with militants in districts surrounding North Waziristan killed at least 16 Pakistani security force members and injured many others.

Pakistani officials have reported a dramatic surge in TTP-led gun attacks and suicide bombings in the country, particularly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa border province, where North Waziristan is located.

The violence has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Pakistanis, half of them security forces, in the first 10 months of this year, according to independent research reports.

Islamabad says TTP operates out of sanctuaries in Afghanistan and has intensified cross-border attacks since the Islamist Taliban regained power in the neighboring country.

The Taliban government in Kabul has persistently denied allegations that the TTP or any other transnational militant groups are present on Afghan soil.

TTP, commonly known as the Pakistani Taliban, is listed as a global terrorist organization by the United Nations and the United States.

The group sheltered leaders of the Afghan Taliban in Pakistani border areas and joined them in staging years of insurgent attacks on U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan until those departed in August 2021.
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New Delhi, India — India’s enormous garment sector churns out billions of dollars’ worth of new clothes each year, but some local fashion lovers are switching to secondhand to assuage worries about the industry’s environmental impact.  

It is a tiny drop in a massive ocean, but hipster shoppers in the capital New Delhi say their example is slowly shifting the throwaway attitudes rampant among India’s middle class.  

New Delhi is dotted with markets offering secondhand clothes, a thrifty alternative for those on low wages — or making an ethical choice.  

“It’s an environmentally conscious decision,” said Yuvika Choudhary, a 21-year-old student shopping for vintage clothes.  

There is rarely an effective system for recycling clothing in India, with waste overflowing in towering landfills.  

Kriti Tula, 36, used repurposed fabric to found the fashion brand Doodlage in 2012.  

When she started, she was worried about telling shoppers her products were made from waste.   

But a decade later she said there was a greater awareness of the importance of sustainability.  

“It’s important to circulate things that are already existing,” Tula said. “The only way to circulate them is to think of ways to rent, to thrift and to repair.”  

India is the world’s fifth biggest garment exporter, with the trade worth $15 billion in 2023, according to the World Trade Organization.  

The industry employs 45 million people, according to the government-backed Invest India agency, nearly the same as the population of Spain. 

‘Consumption’ 

Some in India turned to thrift shopping after being restricted at home during the COVID-19 pandemic and finding online stores promoted on social media.  

Neha Butt, 33, first ran her secondhand clothes business on Instagram before opening a physical store in the capital New Delhi in 2022.  

She said her Huckleberry Hangers store would have been unthinkable before the “help of Instagram and because of climate awareness.”   

The market is microscopic compared to the industrial production of new garments, but shoppers say it is more about the message that it sends — and changing attitudes has to start somewhere.  

Swati Sambyal, an expert in the circular economy, warned that effective resource management required tackling the mass generation of textiles in the first place.  

“When it comes to textile waste as an issue, we also have to address both generation as well as consumption patterns,” she said.  

Sambyal said some brands were shifting to using natural textiles, including ones made from banana and pineapple fibers, in a bid to reduce their environmental impact.  

But in the end, she said, nothing will change unless the consumer changes too.  

“It depends entirely on the consumer,” she said. “It’s at their will and decision.”
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Georgians headed to the polls Saturday in a ballot many citizens see as a make-or-break vote on the opportunity to join the European Union.

The pre-election campaign in the South Caucasus nation of 3.7 million people has been dominated by foreign policy and marked by a bitter fight for votes and allegations of a smear campaign. Some Georgians complained of intimidation and being pressured to vote for the ruling party, Georgian Dream, while the opposition accused the party of carrying out a “hybrid war” against its citizens. 

Ahead of the parliamentary election, Bidzina Ivanishvili — a shadowy billionaire who set up Georgian Dream and made his fortune in Russia — vowed again to ban opposition parties should his party win. 

Georgian Dream will hold opposition parties “fully accountable under the full force of the law” for “war crimes” committed against the people of Georgia, Ivanishvili said at a pro-government rally in the capital Tbilisi Wednesday. He did not explain what crimes he believes the opposition has committed. 

Georgians will elect 150 lawmakers from 18 parties. If no party wins the 76 seats required to form a government for a four-year term, the president will invite the largest party to form a coalition.

Many believe the election may be the most crucial vote of their lifetimes; it will determine whether Georgia gets back on track to EU membership or embraces authoritarianism and falls into Russia’s orbit. 

“It’s an existential election,” Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said.

Georgians want “European integration, want to move forward and want policies which will bring us a better, more stable, future,” Qristine Tordia, 29, told The Associated Press shortly after voting in the capital, Tbilisi.

Around 80% of Georgians favor joining the EU according to polls and the country’s constitution obliges its leaders to pursue membership in that bloc and NATO.

But Brussels put Georgia’s bid for entry to the EU on hold indefinitely after the ruling party passed a “Russian law” cracking down on freedom of speech in June. Many Georgians fear the party is dragging the country towards authoritarianism and killing off hopes it could join the EU.

The opposition parties have ignored Zourabichvili’s request to unite into a single party but have signed up to her “charter” to carry out the reforms required by the EU to join. 

Zourabichvili told the AP on Thursday she believed most Georgians would mobilize to vote “despite some instances of intimidation, despite the use of state resources … and the use of financial resources” by the government.

Georgian Dream took out billboards across the country contrasting black-and-white images of destruction in Ukraine with colorful images of life in Georgia alongside the slogan, “Say no to war — choose peace.”

The governing and opposition parties told voters they would pursue EU membership even though laws passed by Georgian Dream have put that hope on hold.

“The EU decided to stop Georgia’s integration process unilaterally,” said Vakhtang Asanidze, who spoke to AP at a pro-government rally in Tbilisi. He said he saw no reason why Georgia could not join the EU in spite of the laws. 

At the EU summit last week, EU leaders said they have “serious concerns regarding the course of action taken by the Georgian government.”

While Georgian Dream has adopted laws similar to those used by the Kremlin to crack down on its critics, voters at the pro-government rally said they did not view the election as a choice between Russia or Europe.

“We remember everything about Russia, including Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” said Latavra Dashniani at the rally, referring to Russia’s occupation of 20% of Georgian territory after the two countries fought a short war in 2008. 

Voting for the ruling party, she said, would ensure Georgia enters Europe “with dignity,” alluding to its conservative values, including opposition to rights for LGBTQ+ people.

Polls opened in the parliamentary election at 8 a.m. local time and will close 12 hours later. 

Georgian Dream stands against three coalitions: the Unity National Movement, the Coalition for Changes Lelo, and Strong Georgia.

The Gakharia for Georgia party, set up by former prime minister Giorgi Gakharia, said it will not go into an alliance with anyone but will support the opposition to form a government. 
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islamabad, pakistan — The party of Bangladesh’s ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina may soon begin street agitation against the interim government of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus, according to a party leader.

“We are planning to demonstrate and start our political activities,” Shafiul Alam Chowdhury, organizing secretary of the Awami League, told VOA on Friday.

Chowdhury is among dozens of Awami League leaders who fled Bangladesh after a student-led mass uprising toppled Hasina’s regime in August. The iron-fisted leader was serving her fourth consecutive term when she was forced to resign on August 5 and flee to India in a military helicopter.

Since the fall of the regime, dozens of party leaders have been arrested, many in connection with the violent crackdown on protesters that killed hundreds across the country between July and August. Thousands of Awami League workers and supporters have gone underground, fearing mob attacks.

On Wednesday, the interim government banned the Awami League’s student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, declaring it a terrorist organization.

Earlier this month, the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal issued arrest warrants for Hasina and 45 others linked with the ousted regime.

Speaking to VOA over the phone, Chowdhury said the party is working to unite its ranks and is reaching out to other like-minded political forces to launch protests against the interim government.

“After two weeks or one month, we can move,” the Awami League leader said when asked how soon his party was planning to take to the streets.

Major political parties in Bangladesh back the interim government agenda to reform institutions that they say the Awami League destroyed through massive political interference in the past 15 years.

However, political parties are also publicly pushing the Yunus government to ensure a swift return to democracy. One of the country’s biggest political parties is dissatisfied with the progress so far.

“This government is going a bit slow,” said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, secretary-general of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

“The election commission, they have resigned. But they [the interim government] have not formed the new election commission,” Alamgir told VOA at his residence in Dhaka earlier this month.

Ten commissions, comprising civil society activists, retired officials and academics, are tasked with proposing reforms in key areas including the judiciary, police, constitution, electoral system, mass media and labor rights.

Six of the commissions announced in September must submit their proposals by December 31. However, reviewing those proposals, seeking political consensus for them and implementing them may take several months.

Alamgir, whose party has called out the interim government for embarking on reforms without a timetable, worries a delay in elections will prolong the political vacuum in the country, giving the rival Awami League the opportunity to regain lost political space.

“The fallen fascist Awami League, they have their support [base]. They are a very big, old political party, so they have support here. They will also get time to consolidate and create problems here,” veteran politician Alamgir told VOA.

Bangladesh’s election law requires the government to form a search committee that selects members for the election commission. The interim government recently announced it would follow the existing law but has not given a date for the formation of such a committee.

“Please try to understand that we are not a political force, and for the first time, we are working in a group,” said Asif Nazrul, Bangladesh’s chief law adviser, defending the interim government’s slow progress.

“We don’t have the necessary experience. We have commitment, we have a hardworking attitude, we have integrity,” Nazrul told VOA late last month at his official residence in Dhaka.

One of the major handicaps of the interim government, analysts said, is that it lacks a supportive security and administrative system because much of what is in place is from the last 15 years of Hasina’s rule.

“The government is operating without having full control of the law enforcement and bureaucracy,” political analyst Zahed Ur Rahman said.

To rid the system of the remnants of the Awami League, the interim government has been transferring and reassigning police officers and bureaucrats in and out of the capital, Dhaka.

To chart a course for Bangladesh and calm political nerves, Yunus’ team has been ramping up engagement with political parties. The Awami League so far has been shut out of the consultations.

“They should be given the political space. They should be given the right to do politics. They should also be given [a chance] to participate in elections in future. That’s what I agree.” said Rahman, who is also a member of the electoral reform commission.

But Rahman warned that bringing the Awami League to the table anytime soon could cause a backlash.

“Calling Awami League for [discussing] reforms, I think, will have some severe reaction in the society.”

The Awami League is not interested in sitting down with the interim government either, Chowdhury said.

“This [interim] government is totally unconstitutional,” he said. “If we protest them, demonstrate all over the country, this [interim] government will be no more.”
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