Hello, everyone. Good morning, afternoon or evening, and welcome to this edition of Notes from South Asia. You can find all the articles in the series here (along with my other diaries).
Today we will cover the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) contribution to India since 2014, post-election in Pakistan, and human trafficking of Bangladeshis.
India
The Last Decade
The Scroll has an entire series on the decade of Modi. So, I am going to make liberal use of that.
First, there is a look back post on Scroll’s birthday (they turned ten on Jan 26) tracking India’s journey through their reporting.
When Scroll began covering the news in January 2014, India was months away from the Lok Sabha elections. Acrimonious debates were taking place about whether Narendra Modi, the principal challenger to the ruling Congress regime, represented a new economic vision or carried the spectre of an old divide.
A decade later, the stories we have covered say it all.
Economic growth has not dented India’s fundamental challenges of unemployment and hunger. And the country stands divided like never before.
We know this because we have invested in ground reportage – our small team of reporters has travelled to almost every corner of India.
They go through milestone after milestone—from the lynching of Mohammad Akhlaq on the alleged crime of having beef in 2015, which set a precedent for further killings by cow vigilantes to police atrocities in Chatthisgarh to demonetisation to violence in Kashmir to jailing of anti-caste activists in 2018 and more— and if you read it you would get an overview of the past decade.
The clampdown on dissent in India in the past decade has come alongside a rise in crony capitalism. Well before international media trained its spotlight on the Adani Group, we investigated several allegations of the conglomerate benefiting from government favouritism. In 2018, Aruna Chandrasekhar reported on the questionable decision of the BJP-ruled Jharkhand government to dilute its energy policy to make it profitable for the Adani Group to supply electricity to Bangladesh.
Also in 2018, Sruthisagar Yamunan investigated the BJP’s claims that 23 of its workers and associates had been murdered in Congress-ruled Karnataka. He found one of those workers was still alive. Mridula Chari and Vinita Govindarajan produced an award-winning series on how the lack of pesticide regulation in India was resulting in the death of farmers.
The summer of 2019 brought another national election. Shoaib Daniyal produced insightful political reporting from West Bengal, a state that the BJP considered a prestige battle. In its bid to woo voters, then BJP president Amit Shah played a dangerous card – he announced that the Modi government would bring a new Citizenship law to make it easier for Hindu migrants from India’s Muslim-majority neighbouring countries to become Indian citizens.
But beyond this piece, they have a different series that look at the Modi government’s legacy in areas such as environment, healthcare, education and gender rights. The series lists the Modi government election manifesto promises and then looks at how much they have delivered.
So, what is the status of women in Modi’s India? Nolina Minj reports that sex ratio improved and crimes against women rose.
One of the aims of the programme was improving India’s child sex ratio. In 2014-’15, among newborns, India had 918 girls for every 1,000 boys. By 2022-’23, this had risen to 933 girls for 1,000 boys.
On the educational front, girls enrollment in secondary education saw a rise from 75.51% in 2014-’15 to 77.83% in 2019-’20.
However, experts say the campaign’s progress has not been consistent across districts. They have pointed to gaps in budgetary planning and monitoring and criticised the disproportionate use of funds in media campaigns.
Between 2014 and 2021, 58% of funds for the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao campaign were spent on media advocacy. [...]
Data from the National Family Health Surveys in 2015-’16 and 2019-’21 shows steady improvement in maternal healthcare indicators: births in health facilities under medical supervision rose by 9.8% and post-birth health visits by 15.6%.
Outside of maternal health, however, women’s health needs continue to be neglected. Almost 60% of women surveyed in 2019-’21 reported facing some trouble in accessing healthcare.
A 2022 study, which examined more than 23 lakh outpatient appointments in a Delhi hospital, found “extensive gender discrimination in healthcare access”. For every 100 visits, 63 were by male patients while female patients accounted for only 37 visits.
I believe that the improvement of sex ratio was not merely a result of Modi government work but the policies introduced since the 1990s (and before) by previous governments to improve gender imbalance and maternal health. Many of the programs the government depends on for maternal health, such as Asha workers or Anganwadi, were introduced by governments before Modi (INC-led governments). Going on an already upward trajectory does not indicate a transformation in policy. So, I think the article could have added that context.
As for environment, Modi government promised to improve forest cover but a lot of the improvement seems to be on paper. Vaishnavi Rathore reports that environmental protections were diluted under Modi.
But remote sensing data does not tally with the figures cited in the government reports. Experts have pointed out that commercial plantations like coffee and rubber have been included in the category of forests.
In 2016, the Modi government introduced a new law to raise more funds for compensatory afforestation, or plantations that compensate the loss of forests for development activities. While the funds available for afforestation increased tremendously – from around Rs 2,900 crore in 2009-’12 to around Rs 51,000 crore in 2019-’22 – they remain underutilised. Moreover, an investigation by Scroll found that several of these plantations simply did not exist on ground.
In 2023, amendments to the Forest Conservation Act, 1980, were criticised for changing the definition of forests in a way that would strip away protection for 28% of India’s forests.
India’s environmental regulations have been amended more frequently under the Modi government compared to previous governments.
In March 2020, a draft Environment Impact Assessment notification came under widespread criticism for allowing projects to operate without prior environmental clearances and for diluting other safeguards. While the draft EIA has not been implemented, the environment ministry has issued office orders which mirror its controversial provisions.
In its manifestoes, the BJP promised to ensure “speed and effectiveness” in the grant of environment clearances for industrial and infrastructural projects.
Between 2018 and 2022, the number of wildlife, forest, environment, and coastal zone clearances increased 21 times, from 577 to 12,496. Moreover, the average time for the grant of an environmental clearance also reduced from 600 days before 2014 to 162 days in 2017. Experts, however, point out that fast-paced clearances reduce the time for discussions on the environmental impacts of projects and thereby lower environmental safeguards.
If you read the series, the common link you will likely see between Modi performance on different sectors is that they promise big, do a lot of PR but deliver little. A lot of their claims also seem to be superficial and only on paper. On the ground, as far as the implementation goes, the condition is quite opposite. Though, I will be honest and say that a lot of these things need structural reforms that so far even INC-led coalitions have not performed.
(And yes, this is where it is different from Rs in the US or Tories in UK. The BJP government, except in the case of Muslims, does lip service to all the right things of female empowerment, Dalit empowerment etc. Even speaks of welfare and money for building houses, or health care, or direct money transfer, but the actual implementation is limited and PR is more. In the case of Muslims, they don’t hold back any more because that is the lay of the land.)
Women in the Hindu Supremacist/Nationalist Movement
The Himal Mag has a review of the women in the Hindutva (Hindu Supremacist) movement. (Everyone is asking to provide email IDs now for free articles. Sigh)
Kalyani Devaki Menon's timely book, Everyday Nationalism: Women of the Hindu Right in India, shows how women activists at the grassroots level engineer eclectic constructions of religion, national security, history and social responsibility to make Hindu nationalism appealing to diverse communities. She examines the ways in which women use narratives, ideas and practices to reach out to different social groups, and mould them succinctly to address their everyday fears, desires, needs and interests.
Through an ethnographic study of rightwing women in Delhi (1999-2000) Menon explores this expansionary power of Hindu nationalism, which has successfully marginalised religious minorities in India. Her data is based on participant observation, interviews and conversations with members of the movement, and she has also used pamphlets and other written material published by Hindu nationalists to support her research. The activist women studied by Menon were affiliated with multiple wings of the Hindu nationalist movement, mainly the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). For most women, the RSS constituted the core of the Hindu nationalist movement and other organisations derived their political significance by drawing upon the Sangh's ideological essence.
The violence and aggression latent in Hindu nationalist historiographies is introduced, especially in relation to anti-Muslim sentiments born out of communal politics in Gujarat and Kashmir. By focusing on the daily activities of Hindu nationalist women in Delhi, Menon shows how women "use these histories not only to recruit women into the movement to expand its base, but also to reiterate normative Hindu nationalist constructions of the past and 'naturalise' them in their social worlds". She specifically focuses on the iconography of Jijabai, mother of a famous Marathi king celebrated for resisting Muslim invasion and carving out an independent Hindu empire in the 17th century. RSS women use various narratives of Jijabai, especially her accomplishment in raising a valorous son, to underline the vital role of Hindu motherhood in creating a Hindu nation. By emphasising the power and position of Jijabai, instead of her heroic son, the women offer an alternative reading of a masculinist past.
The book is talking about 1999-2000, so it is about the core of the movement not how much it appeals to the women outside that core nor how things have changed in the past couple of decades (at least as far as I can make out). The review says that motherhood is big theme for these women. Tanika Sarkar however has written about how the militant roles that they can take up allow women to transgress their traditional gender roles in the cause of this movement while retaining their traditional social standing (if that makes sense)—source: Economic and Political Weekly, August 31, 1991, Vol. 26, No. 35 (August 31,1991), pp. 2057-2062. So, it is not just about motherhood either even if that is the narrative they use.
Pakistan
How to Ward off the Army?
Suhasini Haidar (yes, Indian) had a very good article in the Hindu a few days back about what the Pakistani political parties must do to protect democracy at home; and it contains a warning for parties globally as well (I think it was mainly directed at India).
To begin with, the importance of the Pakistani voter’s actions cannot be downplayed, especially those who came to vote despite the cynicism over a pre-selected outcome. This is the voter who knew from past elections that their votes may not be counted and their mandate not respected, but still chose to vote differently from what was expected. If Mr. Khan wants to respect that vote and thwart the establishment, then the answer is not to go it alone and sit in the opposition, but, instead, to find ways to be in the government. For the PML-N and PPP, to form a government that cuts out the PTI would be a travesty of the vote as well, as this was a voter who clearly rejected the previous PML-PPP government, also led by Shahbaz Sharif (2022-2024), before the elections.
Second, each of the three major parties and leaders have suffered in more or less the same way as the others. Nawaz Sharif and Asif Zardari have an even longer history of being jailed along with their family members, not to mention Benazir Bhutto’s struggles after her father was hanged. While none of them is blameless for the crimes they have been charged with thereafter, it is clear that those charges can vanish at the click of the establishment’s fingers, when one of the politicians is deemed serviceable or becomes the “laadla” (chosen son). Before he was disqualified for corruption in 2017, Nawaz Sharif had been sentenced to life imprisonment in 2000 on charges of hijacking and terrorism, and yet, returned as Prime Minister in 2013. It would be more pragmatic then, if all of Pakistan’s leaders were to decide to be on “the same page” with each other, rather than with the military, and drop the practice of jailing the opposition when they are in power.
She thinks all the political parties of Pakistan should form a unity government to cut out the army.
The Third in her list above is that Pakistan’s economy needs harsh reforms and only a unity government can manage that even if they don’t “remain unscathed.” One that has refused the people’s mandate will find it hard to survive or do anything (that is, the PML-N/PPP coalition that is going ahead is unlikely to succeed). Result: the repeat of the cycle.
Finally a note about voters.
There are other lessons going forward for not just Pakistan but also for other “hybrid” democracies around the world, where governance comes from a merging of democratic and authoritarian forces. The first is that an electorate can never be taken for granted. If voters are a part of the system, then no matter what propaganda, pre-poll measures, or post-poll rigging are employed, it is difficult to ensure 100% predictable outcomes. Pakistan’s first elections in 1970 were able to show just that, as the Awami League won the elections and insisted on forming the government even though Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was jailed. In choosing to muzzle the people of East Pakistan thereafter, its military rulers lost a large piece of their country.
I did not know that the religious parties and extremists had a poor showing in the Pakistani elections (she says that). Again, as she says, shows the voter knows their mind and have still chosen hope over cynicism. Finally,
The real lessons, however, are for the polity globally: in the larger laundry cycle of governance, democratically-minded leaders must learn to hang together against authoritarian forces, or risk being hung out to dry sooner or later.
Hussain Haqqani also said much the same thing. Of course Pakistan’s parties are not listening.
The New Episode: PML/N-PPP Coalition
Syed Irfan Raza has a report on the PML/N-PPP coalition announced at midnight on Feb 20: Consensus at midnight paves way for ‘PDM 2.0’
• Zardari named as next president, Shehbaz to be premier; PPP steers clear of federal cabinet
• PML-N to get National Assembly speaker slot, PPP will have its deputy speaker
• Senate chairmanship to go to PPP; deputy chairman to come from N-League
ISLAMABAD: After multiple rounds of talks spanning over one week, a consensus was reached between the PML-N and the PPP to share power in order to form the next government, claiming a comfortable majority in the lower house of parliament to clinch the slot of the prime minister.
In a joint press conference at Zardari House in the federal capital at midnight, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said the PML-N and the PPP have sufficient numbers to form the federal government, with PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif nominated as the candidate for the post of the prime minister.
Similarly, PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari will be the joint candidate for the president’s office. About other coveted offices, such as the National Assembly speaker and the Senate chairman, the PPP chief said decisions in this regard had been made but their announcement would be made at a later stage.
The press conference was held after the PPP chief rushed to the residence of PML-N leader Ishaq Dar where Shehbaz Sharif was already present. After a thirty-minute huddle, they departed for Zardari House from where they disclosed the details of the deal to the media.
The Dawn Editorial on the PTI’s (Imran Khan’s party’s) next steps.
Therefore, barring a very significant revision in the ECP’s announced results, the party seems destined to sit on the opposition benches. Is it prepared to do so? It needs strong leaders to guide the party in the assemblies and organise an effective opposition. Most of its old guard is gone, and its leader is in jail.
Perhaps the party really had not expected to be handed such a large mandate — this may explain the disarray within its ranks since the results. Perhaps it never intended to form the government, knowing well the difficult conditions in which it would be taking over; consider that neither did the PML-N and PPP seem too enthusiastic about their decision, till they were ‘convinced’ by higher powers.
However, even the opposition needs coherent strategies if it wants to assert itself strongly. Even with the number of seats the PTI officially has, it remains in a good position to make things quite difficult for the PML-N, especially when the PPP’s support for the government is subject to terms and conditions.
Will it be able to capitalise, though? The opposition’s success will hinge on a leadership that is reasonable and able to talk to other parties. Will the PTI be able to overcome itself?
Meanwhile, Repression Continues
Dawn may be the voice of the status quo. Be that as it may, the PTI is protesting the stealing of the mandate.
The Hindu reports that Pakistan has banned X for the past few days. PTI report.
Pakistan's media regulators have blocked the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, with users across the country on Thursday enduring the sixth day of sweeping disruptions, partial and complete shutdowns.
There was no comment on the outage by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and government officials have not responded to repeated queries from The Associated Press for comment.
Human rights activists have demanded a full restoration of internet services and access to social media. Washington has also urged Pakistan to lift restrictions on X.
The outage was first observed over the weekend when the political party of Pakistan's imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan announced protests against what it says were rigged Feb. 8 parliamentary elections.
Bangladesh
Human Trafficking
A lot of Bangladeshis get entangled in human trafficking (that is, become victims of it). As do other South Asians. Nuruzzaman Labu writes for the Dhaka Tribune about one such victim.
"Every day, they subjected me to beatings three times, my hands and feet bound before the onslaught. My mouth was taped over to stifle any screams of agony. Plastic or iron pipes were wielded mercilessly by our abductors, demanding ransom money from our families back home. Thus, day and night blurred into a lonely abyss. Trapped alongside 400 to 500 others in a grim room, we were afforded only a single meal. The torture has left me with fragmented memories, the trauma clouding my recollection. Yet, by the grace of God, I have survived to tell the tale. Those unfortunate souls who perished under the relentless brutality were callously disposed of, their bodies cast into the unforgiving sea."
This harrowing account comes from Laju Miah, a 24-year-old resident of Gaibandha, lured into the clutches of human traffickers with promises of a better life. Sold to the Libyan mafia, his dreams of reaching Italy shattered.
Laju's agonizing journey culminated in his return to Bangladesh on February 18, a testament to his resilience amidst unspeakable suffering. His ordeal was documented by a compassionate judge in a Comilla court on February 19.
Facing threats and extortion from a trafficking ring, Laju's father filed a case at the Chandina police station in Comilla, seeking justice for his son's torment.
Amitav Ghosh in his Nutmeg’s Curse mentions seeing Bangladeshis (or Bengalis) in Italy and interviewing them. And there have been stories in I think Guardian and other places about how dangerous these journeys are. Why do they make it? Ghosh asks the question expecting the people to answer that they are fleeing climate change but they don’t. Instead they connect everything to their decision. Climate change of course and losing fields and livelihoods but also government corruption and authoritarianism and inability to survive in the face of such callousness.
Zyma Islam and Mohammad Jamil Khan have a report on the same story for Daily Star too.
An undocumented Bangladeshi migrant worker choosing to enter Europe from Libya, will almost certainly be held captive by armed militias, tortured, and their families extorted for lakhs of taka. This is likely to happen even before the perilous boat journey across the Mediterranean, where hundreds perish every year.
As much as 63.2 percent of undocumented Bangladeshi migrant workers in Libya were forcibly held captive in torture camps by the traffickers at the North African state.
This was found by BRAC's Migration Programme, which interviewed 629 survivors who were rescued and repatriated to Bangladesh in 2022. Of them, 557 were rescued from Libya alone. A large section of them intended to illegally migrate to Europe.
Libya is a key entry-point to Europe. Data shows that 93 percent were held captive in Libya by the "middlemen" or human smugglers who the migrants had entrusted their passages with.
About 78 percent of the survivors reported that they were physically tortured while 125 said they were given only one meal a day.
According to sources in the law enforcement agencies, migrant workers spend Tk 5-7 lakh for this passage to Europe. Out of this, Tk 2-3 lakh are taken before the trip and the rest is extorted when the workers are held captive in the detention camps.
These are the people, along with Africans fleeing conflicts (instigated by former colonial powers as well as folks like UAE and Russia), who drown in the Mediterranean without much lamentation or consideration from Europe (or US). They don’t try for legal routes because legal routes are becoming more and more restrictive.
Myanmar War in Bangladesh
The Daily Star has a piece from Deutche Welle about how the war in Myanmar is affecting Bangladesh.
Fighting between Myanmar's junta and the Arakan Army (AA) rebel group in western Myanmar's Rakhine state has intensified. Casualties have also been recorded in Bangladesh, with two people killed by an errant mortar round this month and several injured by gunshots from across the border. Rebel fighters have recently taken control of the Myanmar border region, and are seeking to oust junta forces from elsewhere in the state.
Rohingya don’t yet trust the rebels. (Can you blame them?)
Bangladesh is also the home of more than a million mostly Muslim Rohingya refugees, which have been fleeing Myanmar for decades, and especially after Myanmar launched a brutal "clearance operation" in Rakhine state against them in 2017.
Talking to DW, several Rohingya refugees in the coastal Bangladeshi town of Cox's Bazar commented on the success of the AA rebels with skepticism. They do not believe that predominantly Buddhist rebel force is willing to do much to improve their fate, even if the rebels manage to oust the junta.
"Buddhists have indeed been fighting against the Myanmar government in Rakhine, but we want citizenship upon return," Rashid, a Rohingya camp leader, told DW.
"We have never heard from [the AA] that they will take us back by providing us citizenship."
Experts are hopeful since the National Unity Government (in exile) has promised safety for Rohingya. Bangladesh does not want more refugees from Myanmar.
Sigh. Some of the story seems to be from Germany. Still, you can take a look.
That is it for today. Until, next Friday, everyone. Stay safe. Be well. Take care.
As Suhasini Haidar said, may we learn to stand together against autocratic forces everywhere or we will be hung separately.