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‘Things might improve’: Young Kashmiris set for first local elections in decade

People walk at a busy market in Srinagar, Indian-controlled Kashmir on Aug. 16, 2024. (File/AP)
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Updated 14 September 2024
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‘Things might improve’: Young Kashmiris set for first local elections in decade

  • Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018
  • Unemployment is about 18 percent, nearly double India’s average
Updated 14 September 2024
Sanjay Kumar

NEW DELHI: Nasir Khuehami and his family have never participated in a mainstream election in Jammu and Kashmir, but he is currently campaigning to mobilize others to take part in next week’s vote — the first in a decade and taking place in a new political setting after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government stripped the region of its autonomy in 2019.

Polling will be held in stages between Sept.18 and Oct. 1 to elect a local assembly — a truncated government with a chief minister, who will serve as the region’s top official, and a council of ministers — instead of remaining under the direct rule of New Delhi.

The result will be announced on Oct. 8.

“I don’t care which regional party wins, what matters is that the people of Kashmir should have someone who is their own,” Khuehami told Arab News.

The 26-year-old national convenor of the Jammu and Kashmir Students’ Association is visiting different districts of the valley to mobilize students ahead of the vote.

“For the last 10 years there have been no elections in Jammu and Kashmir. In the last five years, after the abrogation of special status, even democracy was suspended, and it is bureaucrats who run the region. There has been no accountability,” he said.

“When we compare these bureaucrats with our own elected leaders, we find that our representatives are accountable, they listen to us, and they understand us ... This accessibility we miss now.”

Kashmir has been without a local government since 2018 when Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party brought down a coalition government, forcing the assembly to dissolve. A year later, Modi’s government abrogated Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted the region its semi-autonomy, and downgraded it to a federally controlled territory.

Indian officials have repeatedly said that the move was aimed at tackling separatism and bringing economic development to the region, but Khuehami said people on the ground have yet to witness it.

“All the development agenda has fallen flat,” he said. “How many development activities took place, how many universities were created, how many exams were canceled? This is the reality.” He added that he was hopeful that, after the election, “things might improve.”

Ummar Jamal, a 23-year-old law student from the University of Kashmir was also looking forward to the vote, even though the powers of its elected administration will be limited, as the region is now a union territory.

“There was a sense of despondency after the abrogation of Article 370. I believe people are celebrating the election process (now). They are enjoying the celebration of democracy. I hope that after elections our representatives will be better placed to address our issues,” he said.

“Unemployment is very high. Why are the youth coming out in large numbers to campaign and vote? Somehow, they feel the public representatives may get these unemployment issues addressed.”

Indian-controlled Jammu and Kashmir is part of the larger Kashmiri territory, which has been the subject of international dispute since the 1947 partition of the Indian subcontinent into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.

Both countries claim Kashmir in full and rule in part. Indian-controlled Kashmir has, for decades, witnessed outbreaks of separatist insurgencies to resist control from the government in New Delhi.

The two main regional parties — the National Conference and the People’s Democratic Party — are going to challenge Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party. The Congress, India’s main opposition party, is in alliance with the NC.

“There is a strong sense of anti-BJP sentiment because people feel that the BJP is trying to alter the regional identity. Youngsters are supporting the regional parties like NC and PDP which are speaking the language of the people and expressing their aspirations,” said Tariq Mir, 33, a PR manager and writer based in Srinagar, Kashmir’s largest city.

“The main issue is the question of the Kashmiri identity ... People want a peaceful life with dignity.”

But they also seek new prospects, as unemployment in the region stands at around 18 percent — nearly double India’s average.

Aqib Manzoor, a law student at Central University of Kashmir, said that while many hope for the restoration of the region’s statehood, the creation of jobs in the private sector, tackling corruption, and giving them more freedom of expression are also key issues.

“Though hopes remain very high, time will tell whether these issues and concerns of youngsters will be addressed, or just remain unaddressed like in the past, when the state assembly had enough powers to bring real changes on the ground,” he said.

“The center and all parties should prepare to seize the new opportunity for the future of a prosperous state that addresses the concerns and aspirations of (those who are) the future of the nation.”

Topics: India Kashmir Indian PM Narendra Modi

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Zelensky to unveil ‘victory plan’ to Ukrainian lawmakers after presenting it to Western allies

Updated 12 sec ago
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Zelensky to unveil ‘victory plan’ to Ukrainian lawmakers after presenting it to Western allies

Updated 12 sec ago
KYIV, Ukraine: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was set to at least partially unveil a plan to win the war against Russia to his country’s Parliament on Wednesday after weeks of dropping hints about the blueprint to lukewarm Western allies, including US President Joe Biden.
The plan — comprising military, political, diplomatic and economic elements — is considered by many as Ukraine’s last resort to strengthen its hand in any future ceasefire negotiations with Russia. Thus far, however, no country has publicly endorsed it or commented on its feasibility.
Zelensky is keen to get the “victory plan” in place before a new US president is sworn in next year, though Ukrainian officials say neither presidential candidate will necessarily improve Kyiv’s standing in the war.
Zelensky’s presentation to Parliament, announced on Monday by presidential adviser Serhii Leshchenko, comes during a bleak moment in Ukraine. The country’s military is suffering losses along the eastern front as Russian forces inch closer to a strategically significant victory near the crucial logistics hub of Pokrovsk.
At every turn, Kyiv is outnumbered by Moscow: The country is struggling to replenish ranks with an unpopular mobilization drive; its ammunition stocks are limited; and Russia’s superiority in the skies is wreaking havoc for Ukrainian defensive lines.
It’s not clear how much of his victory plan Zelensky will reveal on Wednesday; Leshchenko indicated that it would be fully unveiled, while other officials suggested that the president would not divulge its most sensitive elements to all lawmakers.
Either way, the plan essentially puts Kyiv’s future in the hands of its allies. Without it, any deal with Russia would almost certainly be unfavorable for Ukraine, which has lost a fifth of its territory and tens of thousands of lives in the conflict. Kyiv would be unlikely to ever recover occupied territory, or receive reparations for widespread destruction across the country.
Several elements of the plan have already come to light: making Ukraine a member of NATO; allowing the country to use Western long-range weapons to strike deep inside Russia; providing resources to strengthen Ukraine’s air and other defenses, and intensifying sanctions against Russia.
Ukraine’s surprise military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August was also part of the plan, Zelensky told reporters. He said the 1,000 square kilometers (386 square miles) of territory captured by Ukraine — along with other provisions of the plan — will likely serve as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Russia.
NATO’s Article 5 states that an attack against one member is considered an attack against all. Ukraine’s inclusion in the alliance would deter Russian President Vladimir Putin from invading again, Ukrainian officials argue. Western leaders have so far been reluctant to guarantee an invitation, fearing escalation from Putin.
Ukrainian officials were expecting feedback from Western allies at a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at Ramstein Air Base in Germany, during which defense leaders from 50-plus partner nations gather to coordinate weapons aid for the war. Scheduled for this past weekend, the summit was postponed after Biden canceled his attendance in response to Hurricane Milton in the US
Zelensky has since toured Western capitals to present other key allies an outline of his vision. But none so far have given any indication they will support the plan. Some expressed concerns over the tight deadline set by Zelensky, who gave allies just three months to adopt the blueprint’s main tenets in late September.
Thus far, the US has been Kyiv’s main backer during the two-and-a-half-year war. But Biden has balked at the request to use long-range weapons to strike specific targets inside Russia, fearing a possible escalation in the war. Meanwhile, an intensifying conflict in the Middle East between Israel and Hezbollah that risks embroiling Iran has diverted Washington’s attention.
Many expect Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris to continue Biden’s policy and maintain the status quo. Under Biden, US assistance to Kyiv, though substantial, has consistently arrived too late to make a significant difference for Ukrainian forces.
Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump has only said that he’d end the war quickly, without saying how.
Meanwhile, Brazil and China have proposed alternate peace plans that Zelensky has rejected, saying they would merely pause the war and give Moscow time to consolidate its battered army and defense industry.

Southern Africa endures its worst hunger crisis in decades due to El Niño

Updated 2 min 8 sec ago
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Southern Africa endures its worst hunger crisis in decades due to El Niño

Updated 2 min 8 sec ago
CAPE TOWN, South Africa: Months of drought in southern Africa triggered by the El Niño weather phenomenon have had a devastating impact on more than 27 million people and caused the region’s worst hunger crisis in decades, the United Nations’ food agency said Tuesday.
The World Food Program warned it could become a “full-scale human catastrophe.”
Five countries — Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe — have declared national disasters over the drought and resultant hunger. The WFP estimates that about 21 million children in southern Africa are now malnourished as crops have failed.
Tens of millions in the region rely on small-scale agriculture that is irrigated by rain for their food and to make money to buy provisions. Aid agencies warned of a potential disaster late last year as the naturally occurring El Niño led to below-average rainfall across the region, while its impact has been exacerbated by warming temperatures linked to climate change.
“This is the worst food crisis in decades,” WFP spokesperson Tomson Phiri said. “October in southern Africa marks the start of the lean season, and each month is expected to be worse than the previous one until harvests next year in March and April. Crops have failed, livestock have perished and children are lucky to receive one meal per day.”
The five countries that declared drought-related disasters have pleaded for international aid, while Angola on the west coast of Africa and Mozambique on the east coast are also “severely affected,” Phiri said, showing the extent to which the drought has swept across the region.
“The situation is dire,” Phiri said. He said the WFP needs around $369 million to provide immediate help but has only received a fifth of that amid a shortfall in donations. The WFP has begun helping with food assistance and other critical support at the request of various governments in the region, he said.
Phiri said southern Africa’s crisis came at a time of “soaring global needs,” with humanitarian aid also desperately required in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.
Other aid agencies have said the drought in southern Africa is especially harsh, with the United States aid agency, USAID, saying in June it was the most severe drought in 100 years during the January to March agricultural season, wiping out swathes of crops and food for millions.
El Niño, a weather phenomenon which warms parts of the central Pacific, has different impacts on weather in different parts of the world. The latest El Niño formed in the middle of last year and ended in June. It was blamed, along with human-caused climate change and overall ocean warmth, for a wild 12 months of heat waves and extreme weather.
In southern Africa, food prices have risen sharply in many areas affected by the drought, increasing the hardship. The drought has also had other damaging effects.
Zambia has lost much of its electricity and has been plunged into hours and sometimes days of blackouts because it relies heavily on hydroelectric power from the huge Kariba Dam. The water level of the dam is so low that it can hardly generate any power. Zimbabwe shares the dam and is also experiencing power outages.
Authorities in Namibia and Zimbabwe have resorted to killing wildlife, including elephants, to provide meat for hungry people.
Scientists say sub-Saharan Africa is one of the most vulnerable parts of the world to climate change because of a high dependency on rain-fed agriculture and natural resources. Millions of African livelihoods depend on the climate, while poor countries are unable to finance climate-resilience measures.

Xi says China willing to be a partner, friend with the US

Updated 7 min 20 sec ago
Reuters
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Xi says China willing to be a partner, friend with the US

  • Xi pointed out that China-US relations are among the most important bilateral relations in the world
Updated 7 min 20 sec ago
Reuters

BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping said a successful partnership between China and the United States is an opportunity for the two countries to be enablers for each other’s development rather than an obstacle, according to state media on Wednesday.
“China is willing to be a partner and friend with the United States. This will benefit not only the two countries, but the world,” Xi said in remarks from a letter to the 2024 annual awards dinner of the National Committee on US-China Relations, according to a CCTV news report.
Xi pointed out that China-US relations are among the most important bilateral relations in the world, which have a bearing on the future and destiny of mankind, according to the letter.
The two countries have been at odds over national security concerns, ongoing trade spats as well as China’s actions in the South China Sea and intensified military drills around Taiwan.
Trade relations soured over the past year and have centered around issues including restrictions on electric vehicles and advanced semiconductors.
“China has always handled China-US relations in accordance with the principles of mutual respect, peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation, and has always believed that the success of China and the United States is an opportunity for each other,” Xi said.

Topics: China United States of America (USA) China-US

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North Korea says 1.4 million young people apply to join army

Updated 4 min 45 sec ago
Reuters
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North Korea says 1.4 million young people apply to join army

  • Photographs published by KCNA showed what it said were young people signing petitions at an undisclosed location
  • Announcement comes at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are running high
Updated 4 min 45 sec ago
Reuters

SEOUL: North Korean state media said on Wednesday around 1.4 million young people had applied to join or return to the army this week, accusing Seoul of a provocative drone incursion that had brought the “tense situation to the brink of war.”
The young people, including students and youth league officials who had signed petitions to join the army, were determined to fight in a “sacred war of destroying the enemy with the arms of the revolution,” the KCNA report said.
Photographs published by KCNA showed what it said were young people signing petitions at an undisclosed location.
North Korea’s claim of having more than one million young people volunteering to enlist in the country’s Korean People’s Army in just two days comes at a time when tensions on the Korean peninsula are running high.
North Korea has made similar claims in the past when there have been heightened tensions in the region.
Last year, state media reported on 800,000 of its citizens volunteering to join the North’s military to fight against the United States.
In 2017, nearly 3.5 million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to join or rejoin its army, the reclusive state’s state media said at that time.
It is very difficult to verify the North’s claims.
According to data from the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), North Korea has 1.28 million active soldiers and about 600,000 reservists.
The IISS also said it had 5.7 million Worker/Peasant Red Guard reservists with many units unarmed.
In the latest sign of the growing tensions, North Korea blew up sections of inter-Korean roads and rail lines on its side of the heavily fortified border between the two Koreas on Tuesday, prompting South Korea’s military to fire warning shots.
Pyongyang had said last week it would cut off the inter-Korean roads and railways entirely and further fortify the areas on its side of the border as part of its push for a “two-state” system, scrapping its longstanding goal of unification.
The two Koreas are still technically at war after their 1950-53 war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty.
North Korea has also accused Seoul of sending drones over its capital and the two Koreas have clashed over balloons of trash floated since May from North Korea. Pyongyang has said the launches are a response to balloons sent by anti-regime activists in the South.
South Korea’s government has declined to say whether its military or civilians had flown the alleged drones over Pyongyang.
“If a war breaks out, the ROK will be wiped off the map. As it wants a war, we are willing to put an end to its existence,” the KCNA report said, referring to the South’s official name the Republic of Korea.
South Korea’s defense ministry warned on Sunday “if North Korea inflicts harm on the safety of our people, that day will be the end of the North Korean regime,” Yonhap news agency reported.

Topics: North Korea

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US concerned by reports of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia

Updated 16 October 2024
Reuters
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US concerned by reports of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia

Updated 16 October 2024
Reuters

WASHINGTON: The United States is “concerned” by reports of North Korean soldiers fighting for Russia in Ukraine, a White House spokesperson said on Tuesday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky this week accused North Korea of transferring personnel to Russia’s armed forces, saying his intelligence agencies had briefed him on “the actual involvement of North Korea in the war” in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has dismissed the allegation as “fake news.”
White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said the involvement of North Korean troops in Ukraine, if true, would mark a significant increase in the North Korea-Russia defense relationship.
“Such a move would also indicate a new level of desperation for Russia as it continues to suffer significant casualties on the battlefield in its brutal war against Ukraine,” Savett said in a statement.
Washington says North Korea has supplied Russia with ballistic missiles and ammunition. Moscow and Pyongyang have denied arms transfers but have vowed to boost military ties, possibly including joint drills.
The US Army’s Indo-Pacific commander, General Charles Flynn, told an event in Washington that North Korean personnel being involved in the conflict would allow Pyongyang to get real-time feedback on its weapons, something that had not been possible in the past.
“That’s different because they are providing capabilities and – open source reporting – there’s manpower that is also over there,” he said at the Center for a New American Security.
“That kind of feedback from a real battlefield to North Korea to be able to make adjustments to their weapons, their ammunition, their capabilities, and even their people – to me, is very concerning,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a treaty with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un when he visited Pyongyang in June, and said it included a mutual assistance clause under which each side agreed to help the other repel external aggression.
 

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict North Korea

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