The former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden has told the Council of Europe that the NSA spied on human rights organizations, but did not identify which groups. If Snowden’s assertion is accurate, it is an example of behavior the US government condemns around the world.

“If it’s true that the NSA spied on groups like Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, it’s outrageous, and indicative of the overreach that US law allows to security agencies,” said Dinah Pokempner, general counsel at Human Rights Watch. “Such actions would again show why the US needs to overhaul its system of indiscriminate surveillance.”

Protection of human rights defenders has been a priority for the US State Department and such actions would fly in the face of closely held values of freedom of association and expression, Human Rights Watch said.

South Africa’s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe on Tuesday officially launched the Nelson Mandela International Day Campaign 2014 at the Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory in Houghton.

Celebrated across the globe in honour of the late Mandela’s birthday on July 18, Mandela Day was formally recognised by the UN General Assembly in 2009, and today represents an international call to contribute to the global movement for good by effecting positive change within communities.

Ultimately, the day seeks to empower communities everywhere through the slogan ‘Take Action; Inspire Change; Make Every Day a Mandela Day’.

Speaking at the launch, Deputy President Motlanthe said this year’s Mandela Day was unique because Mandela had passed last year.

“This is all the more reason we have to up the ante, ensuring that this day is imbued with durable meaning that reverberates across time and space.

“In 2014, let us all support the Nelson Mandela International Day Campaign, mindful of both the global contexts and the contexts of our own communities. This is not about doing good; it is about building the cultures that will make a difference in the world.”

The Deputy President said the day should be used to eradicate poverty and should inspire everyone to be a public servant of the people.

“This is the day that inspires all humanity to honour Mandela,” he said, adding that it unites the haves and have-nots to work together to build a better world.

“It promotes a broader ethic of service. It tells us all in whatever societal spacing or sector we are in, that we find liberation for ourselves not only as we take responsibility for the liberation of others.”

The Deputy President, who is retiring from government this year, said the day should be a reminder of public service obligations.

“It tells those who work in government that they should see themselves as public servants, rather than as government officials.”

Mandela’s long-time friends, including Ahmed Kathrada, and some of his family members including Mandla Mandela — who recently gathered at his ancestral home in Qunu for a traditional ritual to mark the end of their mourning period — were also present at the launch.

Nelson Mandela Centre of Memory Board of Trustees chairperson, Njabulo Ndebele, said: “We give thanks to Mandela’s life and devotion to humanity. We can look to Mandela as an inspiration for a better world.”

Ndebele said this year’s Mandela International Day was significant, especially as the country marks 20 years of freedom.

His legacy has allowed the country to have a common future. The day has the power to unite a divided nation, Ndebele said.

His words were reiterated by the CEO of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, Sello Hatang, who said the day should not only be about doing good, but that it should be about serving the people – like Mandela did.

“His passing should not be the end of his legacy. Like he said – ‘it’s in our hands’.”

Mandela, who died in December, was a leader in the anti-apartheid movement and was President of the country from 1994 to 1999.

History behind Mandela Day

The idea of Mandela Day was inspired by Nelson Mandela at his 90th birthday celebrations in London’s Hyde Park in 2008 when he said: “It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now.”

The United Nations officially declared 18 July as Nelson Mandela International Day in November 2009, recognising Mandela’s “values and his dedication to the service of humanity” and acknowledging his contribution “to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world”.

The Mandela Day campaign asks that individuals, groups and corporates pledge 67 minutes of their time on 18 July and everyday thereafter to give back.

This can be by supporting a charity or serving the community – no matter how small the action, the aim is to change the world for the better, just as Mandela has.

The focus themes for this year are food security, shelter and education.

India’s education system is poor in quality and produces what can be called functional illiterates. The term ‘functional illiteracy’ refers to inadequate reading and writing skills that leave a person unable to effectively manage any employment task. On the other hand, enrolment in elementary schools is nearly cent per cent, thanks to the Right to Education Bill enacted in 2009; mandating free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14. Also, the fund allocation to primary education has doubled in the last two years.

The question arises: Why then is the Indian education system producing functional illiterates? About 200 million people in India go hungry every day, constituting 25 per cent of the global poor who survive without food daily. While rich are becoming richer, the poor are becoming poorer. Though GDP grew on an average 8 per cent, but poverty alleviation took place at a miniscule 0.8 per cent. Nearly 40 per cent of the world’s severely malnourished children under five years live in India. When the stomach is empty, how can one expect young minds to concentrate on studies? National Food Security Bill should have preceded the Right to Education Bill.

Naturally, the dropout rate in schools is very high in India. Nearly 25 per cent of those enrolled in primary level dropout of school and 50 per cent of those in the middle level dropout of schools and 60 per cent of those who move beyond middle school dropout at the high school and higher secondary levels. While food and health are essential for better absorption of the subjects taught in schools, there appears to be some problem with the subjects taught in schools itself. As the employment opportunities are limited after high school education, most of the people go for higher studies. In India, the number of people going for formal degree courses in engineering, arts and science far outnumber those going for vocational courses. Unfortunately, even after graduation, more than 40 per cent of engineering graduates and 20 per cent of MBA graduates lack the requisite skills to find employment. Once again higher education in the country seems to suffer from fundamental structural issues.

Moreover, Education does not consist of passing examinations or knowing English or mathematics. It is a mental state. Education in India today is more of training for equipping students for jobs. As per the Indian Gurukul concept, education should be comprehensive and holistic in order to make them competent for management of entire life, consisting of business or profession, transactions, relationships, family and retired life. Education is really a character building, consisting of ethics, morals, values, culture, humanism and also the ability for business or profession. While it is not possible to replicate the Gurukul system now wherein students stay with the Gurus, we can certainly introduce many elements of that system by giving emphasis to truthfulness, honesty, positive attitude, courtesy, helpfulness, selflessness, love for animals, respect for nature, patriotism to the country and contribution to the well-being of society. Unfortunately, education today is neither preparing students for jobs nor does it prepare them to face life. Even those who manage to get a job struggle to retain the same as their EQ levels are pretty low. They also do not know how to handle a crisis be it in the job or in their personal lives.

Though abject poverty can be attributed as the main cause, the curriculum can be the second important culprit. Why should a boy or a girl living in a rural area learn algebra or for that matter some abstract science. Can we not give them context and culture specific education? Consider a child of a fisherman. Why can’t the education be made relevant to fishing and through the fishing context can’t we teach science, maths and commerce to them? Education should not take the children away from the rural setting in which they are born and brought up. A farmer’s children can be taught subjects related to agriculture, a fisherman’s children may be taught fishing and so on. Considering the fact that India has more children who drop out of schools before they reach 8th standards than those who cross over to higher secondary and college levels, we need to devise new methods of education that can cater to the school dropouts.  Skill building and livelihood training should help the illiterates and school dropouts make a living by creating opportunities for themselves and others in their own rural settings. This kind of education does not take the talented children away from their roots. The culture and tradition gets preserved. Skills needed to improve the rural areas are imparted through this method.

In the current system of education, only those who cross 8th standard become eligible for further studies through the formal education. This is where NSDC envisages imparting of skills to school dropouts and the certificates obtained through such programmes should help them catch up on the missed opportunities by getting back to formal education through community colleges. In any case 60 per cent of people in India can find opportunities in core sectors like agriculture, constructions, hospitality and healthcare. Skill building and vocational training in these areas will go a long way in improving productivity in India and thereby enhancing the living standards of people. This cannot be completely left to the government. Corporate, NGOs, and educational institutions should join hands with the government to impart context and culture specific education that builds skills and enhances livelihood opportunities of the masses. Unfortunately, we spend disproportionately large amount of money on formal education which badly needs structural reforms. We need to revise the curriculum to ensure holistic development of individuals. This has to start with the curriculum change at the school level. There is a need for changes in the education system in India so as to encourage freedom, creativity and innovation from the school level itself.

There is a need for changes in the education system in India so as to encourage freedom, creativity and innovation from the school level itself. Education system in India restricts innovation. As a result India ranks 66 out of 140 countries in terms of local dynamics of innovation as per the UNDP report. Restricting freedom at early age in schools by expecting children to write exactly as written in text books reflects later in industry, which leaves less scope for innovation due to lack of creativity. Before creativity would come inquisitiveness, to seek answers – listening and questioning skills would be the second stage and then would come creativity. In our Gurukul System – Guru conducted the test from time to time in different forms to evaluate the extent of learning – today students have to learn (or memorize) to pass the test. The present emphasis in mere training should be replaced by multidimensional inputs. The focus of education should shift away from passing exams to building skills, knowledge and right values and attitudes.

No education system even in the West is perfect and is subject to continuous improvement. Since every man of whatever race is endowed with the dignity of a person, he has an inalienable right to an education corresponding to his proper destiny and suited to his native talents, his cultural background, and his ancestral heritage. At the same time, this education should pave the way to brotherly association with other peoples, so that genuine unity and peace on earth may be promoted. For a true education aims at the formation of the human person with respect to the good of those societies of which, as a man, he is a member, and in whose responsibilities, as an adult, he will share. Hence, well expressed and apt for all countries irrespective of cultural differences. Education need and purpose has to override human greed….my opinion only!  By and large, our Education system is good; the root cause lies not in education system, but in our failure to recruit good, really talented and really committed teachers, right from University level to school level.

While we are recruiting people backed by God Fathers at university level (of course, here and there some exceptions may be there), third rate people who will work for paltry sum of salary are being recruited at primary school level( say for Rs. 3,000 to Rs. 4,000 pm or even less). Under these circumstances, expecting creative younger generation is very difficult, even to dream. Several age old diseases need proper medicines, such as cancer, etc. Similarly, landing of aero plane in bird’s way is another challenging problem to avoid air crashes and so on so forth which calls for lot of creativity. Our students spend a very few waking hours of any day, and very few days of the month in classroom or studying. They enjoy many days of holidays (60+ days of summer) every year outside the classroom. They spend more time with their parents, siblings, relatives, and friends than in school.

Questions arise: How can education be so powerful as to affect the creativity of any student who wishes to be creative? Why can’t he be creative after class or during the holidays? Do we? Restricting freedom at early age in schools by expecting children to write exactly as written in text books reflects later in industry, which leaves less scope for innovation due to lack of creativity. We need have no fears here. Nine out of every ten school children in 10+2 do not go on to college, and fewer still go on to higher education, leaving behind a large number of creative students.  It appears that in India technology based schooling is still not an issue of argument. We are still talking in terms of experiential learning and understanding of fundamentals rather than rote learning.

Dr Gursharan Singh Kainth
Director
Guru Arjan Dev Institute of Development Studies
14-Preet Avenue, Majitha Road
PO Naushera, Amritsar 143008

Today in the Central African Republic, government and community leaders are struggling to help the country find the path of peace.

On Monday in Kigali, I will join the people of Rwanda in commemorating the 20th anniversary of the genocide, the reverberations of which are still being felt across an arc of uncertainty in Africa’s Great Lakes region — and in the collective conscience of the international community.

Each situation has its own dynamics. So does the Syrian conflict, which each day claims new victims. But each has posed a complex, life-and-death challenge: what can the international community do when innocent populations are being slaughtered in large numbers and the Government is unable or unwilling to protect its people — or is among the very agents of the violence? And what can we do to prevent these atrocities from occurring in the first place?

The genocides in Rwanda and Srebrenica were emblematic failures of the international community. The scale of the brutality in Rwanda still shocks: an average of 10,000 deaths per day, day after day, for three months, with hateful radio broadcasts inflaming and inciting Rwandans to kill Rwandans.

The international community has since made important strides in acting on the lessons of these awful events. We are now united against impunity, epitomized by the establishment of the International Criminal Court. International and UN-assisted tribunals, including the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, are pursuing accountability and having a discernible deterrent effect on would-be violators of basic international norms. In a landmark judgement, a former head of state has been convicted of war crimes.

The international community has endorsed the “responsibility to protect”; States can no longer claim that atrocity crimes are a domestic matter beyond the realm of international concern. Growing numbers of governments and regional organizations are creating mechanisms dedicated to genocide prevention. The United Nations and its partners are more frequently deploying human rights monitors to trouble-spots — “eyes and ears” that show Governments and non-state actors alike the world is watching. And since such crimes take planning, we are targetting the key risk factors, from the lack of institutions to grievances left unaddressed.

We are also acting more robustly to protect civilians, including from rampant sexual violence. Assertive peacekeeping approaches have defeated one of the most brutal militias in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The United Nations opened the gates of its peacekeeping installations in South Sudan to shelter tens of thousands of people from deadly threats. Twenty years ago, such steps would have been unthinkable. Today, this is deliberate policy, an example of our new “Rights Up Front” initiative in action — a lesson of Rwanda made real. These situations remain fragile, but the thrust is clear: more protection, not less.

However, this work has faced regular setbacks. The end of the civil war in Sri Lanka in 2009 led to tens of thousands of deaths and a systemic failure by the United Nations to speak up and act. For more than three years, the international community has remained divided over the response to the situation in Syria, providing only a fraction of the necessary humanitarian funding while fueling the fire with arms to both sides in the mistaken belief in a military solution.

The world needs to overcome these moral blind spots. Member States may have rival definitions of national interest, or be unwilling to take on new financial or military commitments. They may be daunted by complexity and risk, or concerned that discussions about an imminent crisis in other countries might one day focus on their own situations. But the results of this indifference and indecisiveness are clear: the bloodshed of innocents, shattered societies, and leaders left to utter the words “never again”, again and again – in itself, a sign of continuing failure.

Over the past decade, the Central African Republic has struggled for global awareness of its plight, and over the past year has suffered the collapse of the state, a descent into lawlessness, and gruesome mass killing that has instilled widespread terror and sparked an exodus. People are exploiting religious identity in the fight for political objectives, threatening a longstanding tradition of peaceful coexistence between Muslims and Christians.

I appeal to the international community to provide the military support urgently needed to save lives, get police back on the streets and enable people to return to their communities. The African Union and France have deployed troops, but efforts by the European Union to launch a force have so far come to naught. There is an equally pressing need to start a political process in which reconciliation figures prominently. Any further spread of violence may engulf the wider region.

When the collapse of a country is this profound, the challenge may seem insurmountable. Yet history proves otherwise. The sustained support of the international community has helped Sierra Leone and Timor-Leste make dramatic transformations. Rwanda has registered notable gains in development, and other countries have healed after unspeakable violence. The Central African Republic can walk the same path. I will continue to stand with the Government in charting a course that can build the stable and prosperous country its resources and traditions can make possible.

In Rwanda, I will visit the genocide memorial and pay tribute to the victims — as I have for other tragedies that have challenged the world, from Auschwitz and Cambodia decades ago, to others in our time. The international community cannot claim to care about atrocity crimes and then shrink from the commitment of resources and will required to actually prevent them. Global leaders should do more to prevent the preventable, and to counter the cruelty taking place before our eyes. People everywhere should place themselves in the shoes of the vulnerable, from Syria to the Central African Republic, and ask themselves what more they can do to build a world of human rights and dignity for all. Let us show people facing dire threats that they are not alone or abandoned – and that the lifeline they need is on its way.

Ban Ki-moon is Secretary-General of the United Nations.

The Third European Roma Summit, organized by European Commission (EC) with much fanfare on April four at Brussels, reportedly did not deliver any concrete outcomes to end Roma apartheid; distinguished religious statesman Rajan Zed, stated in Nevada (USA) today.

Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, asked: What could one expect from a Roma Summit with presenters like Romania President Traian Basescu, who was reportedly found guilty of discriminatory remarks about Roma population and fined by country’s official National Council for Combating Discrimination in February?

Reports suggested that talks at this Roma Summit included showcasing landmark achievements, commitments renewals, drawing road maps creating new frameworks, designing action plans, promises and claims, etc., but we did not think that this Summit would make any significant impact on the apartheid conditions European Roma faced day after day, Rajan Zed noted.

Very little progress had been made since the last European Roma Summit at Cordoba in Spain on April eight, 2010, where reportedly lofty claims were made and dreams sold, Zed pointed out.

Rajan Zed stressed that if Europe “really and wholeheartedly” wanted Roma social and economic integration, inclusion, and improvement in their daily lives on the ground; a big change of heart, serious motivation, effective implementation, honest feeling of responsibility and firm political commitment were urgently needed, which European Union clearly lacked.

If somebody had fallacy about Roma plight, he/she just had to visit one of their encampments and their sufferings would be easily visible to the naked eye, Zed added.

Actions, and not discussions, were needed to end the centuries of severe discrimination and abuse of Roma and achieve their social inclusion. It was simply immoral to let this around 15-million population of Europe continually suffer and face human rights violations, Rajan Zed said and added that it was moral obligation of Europe to take care of its frequently persecuted Roma community.

Zed further said that, moreover, there was reportedly insufficient involvement and participation of Roma people in the April four Summit. We needed to listen to Roma and not just talk about them.

EC President Jose Manuel Durao Barroso reportedly admitted during the Summit that many Roma people were still living in utmost poverty and suffered social exclusion; in some places Roma children were sent to a school for mentally disabled; they still faced discrimination in hospitals, companies and schools; and they remained without adequate housing, without a future.

EC Vice-President Viviane Reding kind of summarized the European Roma issue when she said: “Roma integration politicians unfortunately do not win elections”.

Highlighting commitments, strategies and recommendations yield nothing until translated to realities on the ground, Rajan Zed argues.

Zed indicated that the alarming condition of Roma people was a social blight for Europe and the rest of the world as they reportedly regularly faced social exclusion, racism, substandard education, hostility, joblessness, rampant illness, inadequate housing, lower life expectancy, unrest, living on desperate margins, language barriers, stereotypes, mistrust, rights violations, discrimination, marginalization, appalling living conditions, prejudice, human rights abuse, racist slogans on Internet, etc.

Pakistan is among the top producers of cotton, rice, sugarcane, wheat, mango, kinnow (tangerine) and some other crops. The country is also among the top ten largest producers of milk. However, nearly 10 percent of food grains and up to 40 percent of fruits produced goes stale before reaching the market. Only 5 percent of total milk produced in the country is packed in tetra packs. This on one hand deprives growers of their rightful return and on the other hand does not allow the country to earn foreign exchange, needed most desperately for the economic growth.

In an attempt to help the farmers boost production and yield, the State Bank of Pakistan (central bank) embarked upon ambitious agri-lending program. Now the annual disbursement to farmers is inching close to Rs400 billion or US$4 billion. The endeavor is fully supported by insurance companies operating in the country. This initiative has helped Pakistan in joining ‘club of wheat exporting countries’.

At the close of current sugarcane crushing season, refined sugar output is likely to touch 4.7 million tons with exportable surplus of 0.5 million tons. The country is also likely to get nearly 13.5 million bales of cotton. Pakistan is already exporting huge quantity of rice, especially ‘Basmati’, with unique aroma. However it continues to import edible oil worth US$2 billion annually.

To further reinforce support to farmers the central bank offers loans for construction of modern warehouses on concessional interest rate. The need for warehousing facilities can be gauged from the fact that Pakistan produces nearly 40 million tons of different cereals, out of this wheat alone accounts for 25 million tons. As against this, the country has warehousing capacity of around 5 million tons. Storage of grains in ‘technical not fit warehouses’ is the single biggest reason of nearly 10 per cent going stale and not being suitable for human consumption.

In yet another initiative the central bank has formed a working group for developing ‘Warehouse Receipt Financing’. The working group will have representatives from leading commercial banks, Islamic banks, International Finance Corporation (IFC). The central bank aims at working closely with Pakistan Mercantile Exchange (PMEX), financial institutions, farmers and other stakeholders to structure and rollout system of warehouse receipt financing in the country on fast track basis.

Deputy Governor of the SBP, Saeed Ahmad recently chaired a meeting on formulation of the Group. Talking to the representatives of different stakeholders, he said “Adoption of warehouse receipt financing system would facilitate development of efficient and accessible rural financial system. Development of physical trade and marketing system of commodities would improve performance of the agricultural sector. Financial institutions would find it profitable to lend money for the construction of new warehouses”.

This initiative offers tremendous opportunities to companies involved in this trade around the globe. These entities can form joint ventures with Pakistani entrepreneurs by involving IFC; mobilize funds globally or by listing the companies at the Karachi Stock Exchange. Central bank already has a plan for extending soft-term loans for the construction of warehouses. Those interested in construction of warehouses can also approach National Bank of Pakistan enjoying the largest share in lending to farmers for inputs and developmental work.

By Kathy Kelly

On the 28th of March, 2014, at about 4 p.m., the Afghan Peace Volunteers heard a loud explosion nearby. For the rest of the evening and night, they anxiously waited for the sound of rocket fire and firing to stop.  It was reported that a 10 year old girl, and the four assailants, were killed.

Four days later, they circulated a video, poem and photos prefaced by this note: “We had been thinking about an appropriate response to the violence perpetrated by the Taliban, other militia, the Afghan government, and the U.S./NATO coalition of 50 countries.

So, on the 31st of March 2014, in building alternatives and saying ‘no’ to all violence and all forms of war-making, a few of us went to an area near the place which was attacked, and there, we planted some trees. — Love and thanks, The Afghan Peace Volunteers

Plant Trees Not Bombs in Afghanistan

It was the jolting vibrations
that shook our senses,
direction-less,
nonetheless directed by fellow humans.
Our eyes darted from mysterious fears
of losing one another.
“There’s been an explosion. Don’t come this way!”,
torn by our unspoken wish to huddle together,
as if madness could be scattered
among the fragile shells of ourselves.
as if we could
dream the unknown away.
We couldn’t,
the vision of connecting with other humans via Skype
stressing our time schedule,
as if there was a timetable
that could be kept in war,
as if sanity could be pursued
when our sight was wet.
My temper broke again,
Ali began to punch the wall,
Abdulhai bravely confessed disappointment with self,
and then, Faiz’s tears opened Ali’s river,
of sobs that were hard for me to hear,
though I knew then
that I was embracing love’s defiance.
I saw that yesterday too.
Each of us,
not far from the burnt out and rocket damaged house of death,
planting trees,
with the street kids Martin, Mahdi and Bahran,
then the officials, the police, students, a street girl named Gulsom.
They wanted life too
Finally, an Afghan lady came,
stoically holding a sapling,
not a word,
but a hundred hurts and wishes
were in her posture.
With steady hands used to making bread,
she planted roots for all of us

Kathy Kelly (Kathy@vcnv.org) co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence (www.vcnv.org).  While in Kabul, she is a guest of the Afghan Peace Volunteers, www.ourjourneytosmile.com

By Gaurav Dixit

An Italian citizen was arrested on March 30 while trying to smuggle 1.3 kg of opium out of Afghanistan. He was arrested by police while trying to board a flight to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from Kabul International Airport. According to officials, 46 people have been arrested so far in 2014 on charges of smuggling narcotics.
Europe and the US are major destinations for the opium and hashish produced in Afghanistan, besides countries in South and Central Asia. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates Russia to be the largest consumer of Afghan opiates with around 1.7 million users. Recent reports point to more and more seizures of heroin and hashish in parts of Western Africa. It is the newly-created route to expand the narcotics smuggling, which goes through the trans-Atlantic route from South America to Europe via West Africa.

Iran, through western Afghanistan, is perhaps the most active route to reach users in Iran and further ahead to other Central Asian regions. This is the busiest opium smuggling route, and much of the seizures happen around this route. The volume of flow is also relatively higher along this route. Police in 2014 have seized so far more than 100 kg of opium and related drugs which were to be smuggled to Iran.

In another incident, the Afghan police foiled an attempt to smuggle more than 130 kg of drugs to Iran in Nimroz province in January. Several transit trucks crossing various countries are used to smuggle drugs to Iran. Many private vehicles are also used to smuggle narcotics products. Police seized 60 kg drugs from a car in Zaranj city, capital of Nimroz Province. The mode of transportation is fast changing, according to the security measures taken.

Afghan opium and its smuggling to neighbouring countries and Western economies is one of the major challenges faced by the international community. The illicit economy of Afghanistan has always been a real threat for the country and its neighbouring states, as it not only distorts its market but also finances many insurgent groups in Afghanistan and other Islamic republics around the landlocked nation, primarily the Taliban.

The opium economy is a serious concern for the US-backed international community working in Afghanistan. Congresswoman Diana Feinstein, said at a Congressional hearing that America needs to internationalise counter-narcotics efforts in Afghanistan, as US funding declines in Afghanistan. The major impact of the drawdown of the forces and decline in funds and aid will be faced by the Afghan national security forces, that are responsible for security and law and order issues in Afghanistan. Afghan forces could be left handicapped due to meagre funds and aid in their fight against the Taliban, who are largely funded by the illicit opium economy.

Afghanistan’s two major Taliban-affected provinces – Helmand and Kandahar – are also the largest in opium production, and produce nearly three-fourths of the total Afghan opium. Opium is accounted to have provided approximately 30 percent of the financial support to Taliban and various other anti-state elements.

John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, felt the urgency to tackle the narcotics crisis in Afghanistan in a more pragmatic manner. He underlined the narcotics problem in Afghanistan as the key to many problems in the country. He highlighted the issue of narcotics as the major national security concern because it distorts the Afghan economy, spoils its financial sector and undermines the legitimacy of the Afghan government by stoking corruption, nourishing criminal networks, besides funding the Taliban.

Despite numerous policies and programmes to control the narcotics economy in Afghanistan, the international community along with their Afghan counterparts failed to thwart it in a comprehensive manner. Paradoxically, since the international occupation in Afghanistan, heroin production in the country has increased nearly 40 times than during the Taliban rule in 2001.

According to the United Nations International Drug Control Program (UNDCP), there was unprecedented increase in the production and cultivation of opium in Afghanistan in 2013. The area under cultivation has also reached new heights with around 200,000 hectares under poppy cultivation, much higher than during the peak of Taliban insurgency during 2007-08.

There is no doubt the international community and the local Afghan administration under President Hamid Karzai’s government failed to combat the menace of opium economy. The new phase in Afghanistan after the drawdown of international troops and change of guard at the presidential level will be a major factor in how Afghanistan will handle its opium crisis.

The opium economy, which supports a large chunk of anti state insurgency, is directly dependent on the very insurgency to flourish. This symbiotic relationship needs to be disrupted in order to achieve a peaceful Afghanistan. Secondly, a proper alternative agricultural and livelihood plan needs to be incorporated in order to deter the farmers from cultivating poppy.

Beyond the agricultural fields, a nexus of large number of powerful traffickers, traders and middlemen is involved in the illicit economy, which at times forces the farmers to farm opium. A competent and effective law and order system is required to curb the scope and reach of this nexus.

Above all, it is the Taliban which requires to be countered, either through peace talks or through other modes of engagement in order to curtail the growing menace of the opium economy. A lot will depend on how the successor of Hamid Karzai lists the illicit economy in his priority list. However, any messing with the issue will only worsen the peace process in Afghanistan, which largely depends on the opium economy.

(Gaurav Dixit is an independent strategic analyst based in New Delhi. He can be contacted at gauravdixit04@gmail.com)

This article was published at South Asia Monitor and reprinted with permission.

For the last few weeks the tragic disappearance of the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777-200 Flight MH370, carrying 227 passengers, including five Indian citizens and 12 crew, has held attention worldwide. The international passenger flight, also marketed as China Southern Airlines Flight 748 (CZ748) through a code-share, disappeared on March 8, 2014 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. The ongoing search for the missing airliner has engaged maritime and air assets of more than 20 countries.

Commenting on China’s search and rescue (SAR) efforts, a prominent Indian strategist said Beijing had demonstrated “impressive maritime capabilities and the strong political will to use them”. On the other hand he felt that India’s “hesitant response” to the situation had “brought into sharp relief the diminution of India’s defence diplomacy”. While China’s SAR response, including the ongoing search in the Southern Indian Ocean, is indeed praiseworthy, it needs to be seen in a larger ‘situational’ context when being compared with the Indian effort within a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR) and ‘Military Operations other than War’ framework.

Indian Response

A total of six aircraft and six ships with their integral helicopters from the Tri-services Andaman & Nicobar Command, the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), the IAF and the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) were deployed to comb the designated search areas spanning across the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Additional naval assets from the ENC were kept on standby for immediate deployment. Six ships (three each from the Indian Navy and the ICG) have been deployed with INS ‘Kesari’ and ‘Saryu’ conducting SAR as part of a multinational group in the Andaman Sea. The Indian Navy deployed INS Satpura, Sahyadri and Batti Malv, while the ICG deployed ships ‘Kanaklata Barua’ and ‘Bhikaji Cama’ in the Andaman Sea and CGS ‘Sagar’ to undertake the search in the Malacca Strait. The ICG was tasked to search the 200 nautical miles which form part of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone.

The air effort for searching the area includes the deployment of two recently acquired P8I Long Range Maritime Patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy, two C130J Hercules aircraft and one Mi-17 V5 helicopter of the IAF in the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea. The Short Range Maritime Reconnaissance Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy and the ICG were also deployed for the search operations. An Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) was established by Malaysia, on March 22. One P8I of the Indian Navy and one C-130J of the IAF were relocated to the Royal Malaysian Air Force base at Subang to operate under the ARCC. Both aircraft are likely to undertake 10-hour sorties. The Indian Navy’s satellite Rukmini or GSAT-7 has also been activated to try and pick up any clue that may lead investigators to the missing Boeing 777-200.

A command and control structure was also put in place for the operations with the Commander-in-Chief Andaman and Nicobar Command being nominated as the Overall Force Commander, and Headquarter Integrated Defence Staff made responsible to coordinate the entire effort between the ministry of defence and the three services. The Indian Navy has been designated the lead service. A Joint Operations Room at Port Blair has been activated to monitor the progress of the search operations, and a Defence Crisis Management Group activated at Headquarter Integrated Defence Staff.

Assessment

Besides the more obvious issues, of 154 of the 227 passengers aboard MH370 being Chinese, the destination of the flight being Beijing, the location of the point where the radar coverage of the airliner was lost being closer to China, the comparison of the Indian and Chinese SAR efforts in the context of ‘defence diplomacy’ or the articulation of a Humanitarian Action and Disaster Relief response by maritime assets should involve the consideration of some additional issues. First of which is the Chinese response to Typhoon Haiyan.

Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan, known as Typhoon Yolanda in the Philippines, was a powerful tropical cyclone that devastated portions of Southeast Asia, particularly the Philippines, on Nov 8, 2013. More than 4.2 million people across 36 provinces were impacted with 6,268 fatalities. A week after Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, China in response initially pledged 10 million yuan ($1.6 million) in-kind aid, and $200,000 in cash. Despite being a close neighbour, no maritime assets were offered/deployed for HA/DR by China. Some experts contended that Chinese bitterness and negative public opinion about the Philippines’ recent actions in the South China Sea had prompted the PRC regime not to supply aid beyond the minimum demanded by neighbourly compassion. Facing criticism both at home and abroad for its token humanitarian gesture, which was considered as unbecoming of a rising global power, the Chinese not only increased the financial assistance but also deployed some maritime assets, including a hospital ship. Since Typhoon Haiyan, China has been keen to set its HA/DR record straight.

Territorial waters

There was no apparent ‘hesitancy’ in India’s response, particularly when it became clear that MH370 may have flown towards the Indian mainland over the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. The Malaysian prime minister’s request for assistance was more likely for confirming the data from Indian defence radars along the suspected route of MH370. There is also the issue of India declining a Chinese request to allow its ships to enter Indian territorial waters in the Andaman Sea to search for the MH370, over concerns that it might result in military snooping. The request had entailed the dispatch of four ships, including two frigates and a salvage vessel. Besides the fact that India had superior SAR assets on location, analysts need to ask the question whether China would allow Indian ships in its territorial waters close to its naval installations? China’s maritime interests in the region have been well established.

India, like China would like its growing international role and presence, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, to be seen as proactive, responsible, constructive and peaceful to the global order. Humanitarian Action and Disaster Relief operations are a key construct of this approach.

(Monish Gulati is a Senior Fellow with the Society for Policy Studies. He can be contacted at m_gulati_2001@yahoo.com)

This article appeared at South Asia Monitor and is reprinted with permission.

By C Uday Bhaskar

Afghanistan went to the polls on a rainy Saturday, April 5 , amidst considerable uncertainty, visible enthusiasm and deep anxiety about the violence and disruption that the Taliban had threatened. Yet the stoic determination of the Afghan electorate prevailed, and notwithstanding pockets of violence and reports of many voters being turned away, more than seven million voters exercised their franchise – which is more than 50 percent of the estimated 12 million eligible voters. This by itself is a strong rebuff to the Taliban who have described the election as a fraud engineered by the hated US and its Western allies.

Yes, there was violence and bloodshed despite the robust security arrangements that saw as many as 350,000 Afghan security and police personnel deployed to oversee the election. Prior to the polls, a German photojournalist was killed, ironically by a police official, and on the actual polling day some areas reported violent disruption and attacks. Afghan Interior Minister Omar Daudzai stated that four civilians, nine police and seven soldiers had been killed in violence during election day but also added that many attacks had been thwarted.

The elections were a long-drawn process with a total of eight candidates in the fray to replace President Hamid Karzai. However, among them only three are seen as serious contenders for the hot seat in Kabul. They include Abdullah Abdullah – a Tajik leader and former foreign minister and the second best known name in Afghan politics; Zalmai Rassoul – a former foreign minister and national security adviser and perceived to be Karzai’s candidate; and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai – a former finance minister and a respected technocrat but with a limited political base.

As per the election schedule, counting of votes will be completed by April 20 and preliminary results are expected by the 24th. However, none of the three top aspirants are expected to obtain more than the required 50 percent of vote to declare a clear winner, and as in the last 2009 election many complaints are expected about booth capturing and invalid votes. The review period will go on till April 27 and final results are expected only on May 14. And if the predicted result occurs, meaning that no candidate receives more than 50 percent, then a run-off will be held on May 28 and the final result can go into June-July.Thus, this will be a very long process and the Saturday election is only the first step.

Yet, what is extraordinary is the manner in which the common Afghan voter and the women in particular have defied the Taliban threat and demonstrated both courage and conviction in the democratic process and the power of the ballot over the bullet. There are many complex challenges that the new president in Kabul and his government will have to address, and none more urgent than the physical security of the citizens and the precarious fiscal-cum-economic health of the nation.

At the politico-diplomatic level, the new team in Kabul will have to take a call on the nature of the relationship with the USA, which had become very strained and brittle in the latter years of President Karzai. Concluding the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will be on top of the agenda, since the US will not keep its troops in Afghanistan minus this agreement and the new government in Kabul cannot afford to have zero US military presence in its first year in office given the complexity of the security challenges.

The key interlocutor for the security and stability of Afghanistan is Pakistan, and the role being played by the Pakistani military intelligence – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and its affiliates who either control or influence the militant groups across the Durrand Line. Currently, the Nawaz Sharif government in Pakistan is engaged in some very opaque peace deals with the Pakistan Taliban or Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and astute observers aver that Islamabad is making a familiar Faustian bargain. The Pakistan Taliban, it appears, is being appeased so that its constituency in Afghanistan can further the Islamabad- supported right-wing ideology and agenda. Paradoxically, these furtive deals with the Taliban are being negotiated by the civilian government in Islamabad despite the reservations of the Army HQ in Rawalpindi, and this when the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) in Pakistan was commemorating the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto at the hands of the Taliban.

An objective editorial in leading Pakistani daily, the Daily Times (April 4), merits extensive citation, wherein it candidly noted: “If this is how things are being dealt with, the expectation that Pakistan would eventually distance itself from Afghanistan’s internal politics seems more distant than ever. It does not seem we are sincere to the idea of an Afghan-led, Afghan-owned solution. It is turning out that the assurances we have been giving to the international audience of our intent to first put our house in order – messed up because of our fingers in the Afghan pie, were mere rhetoric. It now also seems the lessons we should have learnt about the homegrown terrorism that has literally torn the country apart have quickly been forgotten in the renewed push for a (Taliban) government in Kabul of our choice. As the time draws near for the US-led NATO forces’ withdrawal from the region, our policy of intervention through proxies in Afghanistan is gaining traction. Deflecting the TTP’s attention from Pakistan by getting them engaged in Afghan affairs expects us to allow the organization to retain control over the sanctuaries established to recruit, train and export terrorists across the border. So instead of getting rid of the terrorists we are helping them to entrench themselves deeper.”

For India, this contradictory policy pattern of Islamabad is both well-known and cause for some concern. Supporting right-wing Islamist ideology that distorts religious tenets to further obscurantist policies, including the shooting of young Malalas for daring to go to school, has eaten into the entrails of the Pakistani state and large sections of its society. Nurturing such groups in Afghanistan to ostensibly protect Pakistan’s interests is deeply inimical to the kind of progress and stability that Kabul is seeking to enable through the democratic process.

Against this backdrop, the Saturday election is a commendable demonstration of the determination and grit of the Afghan people in the face of severe odds. The sub text in a rain-drenched Kabul is that the blood and treasure that has been poured into Afghanistan after the enormity of 9/11 will not be in vain. The new leaders of Afghanistan will have an onerous task ahead of them.

(C Uday Bhaskar is Distinguished Fellow at the Society for Policy Studies. He can be contacted at cudaybhaskar@spsindia.in)

This article appeared at South Asia Monitor and is reprinted with permission.

By Tigran Gevorgyan

Officials in Armenia say the decision to back Russia by opposing a United Nations General Assembly motion on Crimea was truly in the national interest. Critics of the move, however, say it shows just how much Yerevan has fallen under Kremlin influence.

In the March 27 vote, 100 states voted for the resolution declaring the Crimean secession from Ukraine invalid. The 11 that opposed it included Russia and just two former Soviet states, Armenia and Belarus, which were joined by Cuba, North Korea, Venezuela, Sudan and a handful of others.

One long-term Moscow ally in the region, Kazakstan, abstained while two others, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan opted not to vote.

“The decision to vote was made in Armenia’s interests. We will never allow the principle of territorial integrity to violate the principle of self-determination,” Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan told reporters two days after the vote.

In Yerevan, politicians from the government’s Republican Party were keen to deny suggestions aired in the newspapers that the decision to back Russia was made under pressure.

Eduard Sharmazanov, party spokesman and deputy speaker of parliament, invited journalists to his office just two hours after the vote to explain the government’s reasoning.

“There’s nothing to be surprised about. Armenia has often said that it supports the right of nations to self-determination through the free expression of their will,” he said. “Besides, Russia is our strategic partner and ally.”

Armenia has a longstanding and close relationship with Russia. It hosts a permanent Russian military base, which will remain until 2044 at least, and in January it signed over control of its natural gas distribution network. (See Russian Energy Giant Captures Armenian Market ) Last year, like Ukraine, Armenia backtracked on plans to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union and instead announced that it was joining the Moscow-led Customs Union (Old Alliance Trumps EU Hopes)

Developments in Crimea resonate particularly with those Armenians who see direct analogies with Nagorny Karabakh.

Run by a separate Armenian administration since the war of the early 1990s, Karabakh and adjoining areas are still considered part of Azerbaijan by the international community. Crimea is seen by many as a precedent for formal recognition, or annexation by Armenia.

Karabakh’s foreign ministry hailed the March 16 referendum in Crimea, which led swiftly to annexation by Russia. The vote was an “another example of a people enacting their right to self-determination”, it said. (See Armenians Seem Determined to Misread Crimea for more on the way the Ukraine situation is viewed.)

Not everyone sees such direct parallels between Karabakh and Crimea.

Vahan Badasyan, an opposition politician in Nagorny Karabakh’s parliament, points out that one key difference is the fact that the Crimean vote was a consequence of Russian intervention.

“There was no referendum in Crimea; there was just a vote held under the pressure of Russian military aggression,” Badasyan told IWPR.

In Armenia itself, the opposition Dashnaktsutyun party backed the government’s position on the UN vote, but the second largest party in parliament – Prosperous Armenia – did not do so, and said Moscow had “annexed” Crimea.

“Armenia should have avoided voting on the General Assembly resolution on Ukraine,” Prosperous Armenia legislator, Vardan Oskanyan, who was foreign minister from 1998 to 2008, said in a statement. “Armenia should have realised that it might end up on a list of mainly authoritarian, internationally isolated countries.”

Prosperous Armenia’s leader, Raffi Hovhannisyan told reporters, that the authorities had made the wrong move, and should instead “behave as befits the government of an independent state”.

Although ties with Moscow have always been close, President Serzh Sargsyan’s surprise announcement last September about joining the Customs Union created suspicions that that he was caving in to Russian pressure. The UN vote has been seen as further proof of Kremlin influence and the erosion of national sovereignty .

“Of course our country could have abstained or just not voted at all, said Alexander Arzumanyan, ambassador at the United Nations before becoming foreign minister in 1996-98, and now an opposition politician. “It isn’t in Armenia’s interests to end up on the list of countries with authoritarian regimes. This development shows that we are continuing to lose our sovereignty.”

Stepan Grigoryan, a former Armenian delegate to the Collective Security Treaty Organisation – a Moscow-led defence pact – warns that backing Russia on the Crimean issue is bound to harm relations with Europe and the United States.

“It’s clear that the pressure now being placed on Russia will extend to Armenia as well. It’s easy to pressure Armenia since we don’t have the resources that Russia has,” he told IWPR. “Although there won’t be a sea-change in US or European attitudes to Armenia, we will see a shift. It’s obvious that Armenia will suffer as a result of this vote.”

Tigran Gevorgyan is a freelance journalist in Armenia. This article was published at IWPR’s  CRS Issue 730.

Libya’s parliament has asked Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thinni to form a new cabinet within one week, parliamentary spokesman said, Al-Jazeera reported.

“The General National Congress (GNC) appointed Abdullah al-Thinni as the prime minister under a condition of forming a government within week,” Omar Hmeidan told Reuters news agency on Tuesday.

Once a cabinet had been formed, the congress would decide whether Thinni and his minister could stay until a general vote expected for later this year, he said.

Thinni’s had earlier written to parliament asking for more powers and a longer mandate but denied media reports that it had resigned at a time of deepening turmoil that has hit the North African state’s lifeblood oil exports.

The government in Tripoli has been strugging to enforce security across the country since the removal and death of Muammar Gaddafi nearly three years ago.

Several armed groups which had fought against Gaddafi’s rule have been seeking greater representation in the running of the government.

“The government refuses to continue as a cabinet in charge of day-to-day affairs with limited powers,” and may resign, GNC spokesman Omar Hmidan said, quoted by the official Lana news agency.

Last month the GNC ousted prime minister Ali Zeidan after the military failed to prevent rebels from sending a tanker loaded with oil out from a port they have blockaded.

The ship was later captured by US forces and returned to Tripoli.

Zeidan was temporarily replaced by former defence minister Abdullah al-Thani, whose government’s mandate is renewable every two weeks until a permanent replacement can be appointed.

Government spokesman Ahmed Lamin confirmed the cabinet had requested wider powers but denied it had threatened to resign.

Ukrainian riot police on Tuesday cleared a regional administration building and public square in the eastern city of Kharkiv of hundreds of pro-Russia protesters, detaining scores in the process, officials said.

“Seventy criminals were taken into custody during the operation,” Ukraine’s acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, told the parliament in televised remarks Tuesday morning.

In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry issued a stern warning against the use of force on pro-Russia protesters in eastern Ukraine and alleged the direct involvement of private U.S. military experts.

“According to our information, Ukraine Interior Ministry and National Guard troops including militants of the illegal armed group the Right Sector are being brought to the southeast regions of Ukraine,” read a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s official website Tuesday. “A special concern is connected with the fact that about 150 U.S. experts from the private military organization Greystone dressed in the uniforms of [Ukraine] special unit Sokol are involved in the operation.”

“The organizers and participants in the operation are assuming huge responsibility for the creation of threats to rights, freedoms and lives of peaceful residents of Ukraine,” the statement said.

Acting Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, who coordinated the operation to clear the protesters, offered a more detailed picture of the events in Kharkiv on his Facebook page.

Separatists stormed and captured the administration building at about 2 a.m. local time, Avakov said. About 200 separatists smashed windows and broke into the building, setting some areas of the ground floor on fire, he said.

Then, shortly after 6 a.m., a special law enforcement unit and a Ukraine National Guard unit moved in from central Ukraine and began clearing out the activists, he said.

“The brutal and lavishly paid aggression of the pro-Russia ‘protesters’ knew no limits,” Avakov wrote. “The attackers threw stun grenades at the National Guard soldiers, as the police units were shot at with traumatic weapons.”

The government forces did not open fire in return, according to his report, and three policemen were injured in the overnight events. There were no injuries or casualties among the separatist activists, Avakov said.

He accused local police of largely neglecting their duty to maintain law and order in the city.

“Much of what I saw looked more like a sabotage than [police] service,” he wrote. “Kharkiv police should undergo radical changes.”

Security and defense analyst Dmitry Tymchuk said Avakov’s account of Kharkhiv police abandoning their duties could explain why relatively small groups of pro-Russia protesters had managed to seize several administrative buildings in at least three major industrial centers in eastern Ukraine in the previous two days.

“As much as 70% of regular police in the eastern regions of Ukraine neglected their duty and allowed pro-Russia protesters to seize buildings, make absurd declarations of independence and demand the holding of an illegitimate regional referendum about joining Russia,” Tymchuk, head of the Kiev-based Center for Military and Political Research, said in a phone interview with The Times.

By Alexander Müller

Hungarian Prime Minister and leader of the Fidesz party Victor Orban claimed victory in the country’s general elections, leading to a consecutive four-year term in office.

Orban’s centre-right Fidesz party won 45% of the vote, translating into 135 of 199 seats in parliament. Meanwhile the far-right Jobbik party also performed well, recieving 21% of the ballots cast while the centre-left opposition alliance garnered 25%.

This marks Hungary’s first election under its new constitution and electoral system. Overall voter turnout slightly exceeded 60 percent.

The main issues leading up to Sunday’s election had been the economy, crime, and corruption.

Orban claims that the election confirms his party’s program of supporting families, creating jobs, and fighting for national sovereignty.

Orban also stated that the elections confirmed Hungarians desire to remain a member of the European Union, albeit with a stronger national government.

Fidesz supporters accredit the victory to Mr. Orban’s leadership prowess. However, the opposition accuses the prime minister of undermining democracy, curtailing civil liberties, and regulating free speech. Critics have also accused Orban of curbing democratic checks and balances on the state and regulating the freedom of the media. The government published content that made journalists liable for heavy fines, inviting self-censorship.

However, Orban retained his popularity among Hungarian voters—a popularity which has been traced to his populist and Eurosceptic approach.

Experts are speculating what this outcome implies for EU-Hungary relations. There had been repeated rows with the EU and foreign investors regarding heavy taxes and increased state control over the energy sector.

Moreover, Prime Minister Orban’s foreign policy has been repeatedly characterized as “heading East”, implying greater ties with Russia. The Hungarian government also courted authoritarian regimes in China, Saudi Arabia, and Azerbaijan.

This strategy had been dubbed the “Eastern Opening”. The Hungarian government continues to pursue trade ties and export relations with Middle Eastern and Asian partners, given Europe’s economic problems and the huge growth potential in Asia

By Hamdi Fırat Büyük

The leader of Serbia’s Progressive Party (SNS), Aleksandar Vucic, stated that the new government after the snap elections would be set up by April 25th and added that there will be 19 members in the cabinet that will focus on employment, private sector, the EU, and public reforms.

Serbia’s Progressive Party (SNS) led by the current Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic took 48.44 percent of the votes in the parliamentary elections, winning 158 seats in the 250-seat National Assembly.

The other parties’ votes in Serbia’s early election are as follows: the currently ruling Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS)—14.05 percent of the votes for 44 seats, the New Democratic Party (NDS) led by former President Boris Tadic—5.86 percent for 19 seats, and Tadic’s former party, the Democratic Party (DS)—5.46 percent for 17 seats, according to the Republic Electoral Commission.

Vucic announced that the talks with all relevant political factions in Serbia would be held next week, adding that these would primarily focus on the government plan and agenda and the steps that need to be carried out.

He said that he would first confer with (leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians) Istvan Pasztor on Monday, followed by a meeting with (leader of the Socialist Party of Serbia) Ivica Dacic on Tuesday and added that the New Democratic Party (NDS) would also be invited to the talks but that this does not necessarily mean a coalition would be achieved with them.

Also, the Party of Democratic Action of Sandzak led by the current development minister, Muslim Bosniak Dr. Sulejman Ugljanin, is expected to be part of the new cabinet with again one seat.

”I do not know how many ministers in the government would come from SNS lines, this is not so important, but there will certainly be a number of experts in the government,” he said.

He noted that the electoral promises have not been forgotten but that fundamental reforms is going to take time; Serbia would not immediately become a land of milk and honey.

”We need reforms and drastic savings will be made in terms of budget expenses and by this I am referring to everything that people are rightfully annoyed by, such as the fact that EUR 40 million are spent on daily wages in public companies, but I can promise that nothing will remain the same,” Vucic said after the session of the SNS presidency which covered the plan and agenda of the future government.

The first session of Serbia’s parliament will be held on April 16th or 17th and the speaker will not necessarily have to come from SNS lines.

By David Gagrinski

International media monitors and NGOs working on media freedom issues say harassment of reporters, attacks on media outlets in Crimea and the shutdown of six Ukrainian channels constitute a concerted effort to deprive the population of objective news sources.

Self-defence units and paramilitary forces in Crimea are abducting, attacking, and harassing activists and journalists, Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported. Local authorities in Crimea have a responsibility to ensure these forces cease their actions, disband, and disarm, the organisation wrote.

“Crimean authorities are allowing illegal and unidentified armed units to run the show in the peninsula, and to commit crimes that go uninvestigated and unpunished, as if there is a legal vacuum,” said Rachel Denber, HRW’s deputy director for Europe and Central Asia. “The local authorities have clear legal obligations to provide protection and security to those in their jurisdiction.”

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Crimea’s illegitimate government has “censored” at least 18 independent regional and Ukraine-based broadcasters since March 3rd.

Leading independent broadcasters, including Ukraine TV stations, Channel 5, Channels 1+1 and Inter, were taken off the air and were dropped by cable providers “substituted with that of Russian state-controlled TV channels,” the Institute of Mass Information reported.

Sergey Aksyonov, de-facto prime minister of the breakaway region, said Ukrainian media provokes ethnic strife and Russian language citizens in the peninsula asked that they be shut down.

“Extreme censorship, shutting down media outlets and press hubs and attacks and intimidation of journalists must stop immediately,” warned the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

However, Crimean authorities continue attacks on free media. They took off the air the only Tatar language TV channel ATR, founded by local Tatars in 2006, broadcasting also in Russian and Ukrainian languages. The channel was the most reliable source for about 300,000 Tatars living in Crimea. ATR, which used to cover the whole peninsula and neighbouring Kherson district, was also dropped by cable providers and can only reach its audience via the internet.

Zinaida Galimova, an ATR viewer who returned to Crimea in 1992 from Central Asia, where her family was sent by the Soviet regime, said the channel was the main source of information for Crimean Tatars.

“Now we are in information vacuum, because only few people have access to the internet,” Galimova told SETimes. “If nothing changes, Crimean Tatars will hear their mother language only at home.”

ATR journalist, Shevket Namatulaev, said the illegitimate government started attacks on the TV channel two months ago. People equipped with modern Russian weapons and wearing green camouflage showed up at the station and declared themselves as “Crimea Defence Forces,” he said.

“These are so-called ‘green people,’ who have been occupying the government buildings and Ukrainian military bases with groups of Kazakhs from the Don and Kuban districts,” Namatulaev told SETimes. “When they occupied ATR TV building, they said they are defending journalists from provocations. Since then, ATR newsroom has been watched by these people.”

Namatulaev said armed forces do not allow journalists in Crimea to do their jobs, especially to cover wrongdoing by local authorities.

“While covering the March 16th referendum, I was following and recording the car that was transporting referendum bulletins, when another car with the masked people stopped and raided our TV crew without showing us any documents,” he said.

Dozens of Ukrainian and international journalists have been assaulted, beaten, and their equipment has been seized or broken by armed and masked men in Crimea, CPJ has reported based on accounts from international and local media monitoring groups and journalists.

Armed men have seized crew equipment from The Associated Press, accusing them of “being spies,” the news service reported.

According to CPJ, a Bulgarian freelance journalist who witnessed the seizure of the AP’s equipment “was held at gunpoint and his cell phone and camera seized.”

“We call on parties in Crimea to respect the law and to stop trying to intimidate and obstruct the media,” said Nina Ognianova, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia programme co-ordinator.

By Casey Hynes

While the Burmese government’s crackdown on illegal logging looks like a good idea on the surface, many experts are warning of far-reaching effects

Burma’s recent announcement of a ban on exporting unprocessed timber logs seems like good news for the country’s environment and economy. The proposed ban is meant to stimulate development of a domestic wood-processing industry and curb logging rates, which would protect Burma’s forests. Concerns have been raised in recent years over resource extraction projects that benefit other countries but leave little for the locals, and damage farmland and the environment in the process. So a move to curb logging and protect the country’s forests appears to be a positive. But many say the ban won’t be as effective as it claims to be, and that a reduction in logging could have farther-reaching effects on the country’s working elephant population.

A major problem cited regarding the ban has been the pervasive corruption that exists in the in the logging industry. Illegal logging and smuggling of wood to outside countries is a lucrative trade, and the Democratic Voice of Burma reported that the government has not released any official plan outlining the ban or providing guidelines for a more robust wood-processing industry inside the country. Voice of America reported that according to the Environmental Investigation Agency, illegal logging exports are worth US$6 billion. That’s a a huge chunk of change, and not one illegal traders are likely to give up easily. Burma is not a country known for transparency, making it suspect that the government can or will curb illegal activity for the sake of preserving the forests.

However, developing a domestic processing industry would mean that more money stays in the country, rather than seeing large quantities of raw timber shipped to other countries for low rates.

Foreign companies are already making moves toward establishing their own processing factories in the country, according to The Irrawaddy. These include companies from India and Singapore, which were recently granted licenses to operate in Burma.

A conservationist group announced plans to create a national park in Kachin state to protect the highly endangered Myanmar Snub-nosed monkey from the havoc being wreaked on the area by logging projects that send large quantities of timber to Chinese buyers.

As TIME reported earlier this week, slashing logging allowances will mean that many of the 5,000 working elephants in the country will be left without jobs and vulnerable to exploitation when they are released into the wild. Their handlers will also be jobless. Deforestation has meant less area for these animals to roam free, which could bring them into conflict with local communities, endangering both humans and elephants.

There is also a high risk of them being poached and killed for their tusks and hides. TIME quoted Tin Win Maw, founder of Green Valley Elephant Camp in Shan State for retired timber elephants, as saying that the government has camps for retired elephants but not enough resources to protect them all nor enough medicine to treat those that are sick and injured from their years of use in the logging industry. The TIME piece also suggested that the animals could be smuggled into Thailand to be used in tourist camps. These camps are often of dubious quality when it comes to how the elephants are treated.

AlJazeera reported that elephant handlers who own large numbers of elephants that are used for logging work may be forced to sell them off if demand decreases, leaving them open to abuse and exploitation. The government needs to take this into account, and make provisions for the care of these animals. If nothing else, the slaughter of elephants for their ivory tusks and hides won’t do the government’s efforts to appear progressive and democratic in the international eye any favors.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Marziyeh Afkham says the country’s appointee for the post of ambassador to the United Nations, Hamid Abutalebi, is qualified for the position.

“In our viewpoint, the ambassador who has been introduced is qualified for the position and has had important diplomatic posts in European countries and Australia and has had a good, effective and positive performance during his past diplomatic missions,” Afkham said.

Aboutalebi’s appointment by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has been criticized by the Barack Obama administration, which has described the nomination as “extremely troubling.”

Afkham said Iran has done the necessary correspondence for Aboutalebi’s visa application through the appropriate channels, and will make further decisions based on formal and diplomatic response regarding the issue.

Archbishop Carlos Nanez of Cordoba, Argentina, explained that the recent baptism of a baby who is being raised by her biological mother and the woman’s lesbian partner is not an endorsement of their lifestyle.

Rather, he said in statements to CNA, the case “is like that of any other person who asks for baptism.”

“The one that is receiving baptism is the girl. It is her right,” he underscored.

His comments came in response to the baptism of Umma Azul at the Cathedral of Cordoba on April 5. Azul is the biological daughter of Soledad Ortiz, a woman who contracted a civil marriage with her same-sex partner Kartina Villarroel under Argentinean law last year.

Denying media reports that he had met with the lesbian couple and even authorized that they receive the sacrament of Confirmation, Archbishop Nanez said that “they came here without speaking to me and were directed to a parish where they had to fulfill the necessary requirements for preparation for baptism.”

He added that he has spoken about the case with Cardinal Antonio Canizares, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, “so the Holy See is aware of this.”

The archbishop noted that one of the commitments made by the parents and godparents of a child who is baptized is to raise him or her in the faith.

“When it comes to this, I think the people’s goodwill is what is at stake,” he said. “Many people come to us to have their children baptized and we vouch for their goodwill, but we do not have the absolute certainty that they are going to respect this, or that their lives are completely consistent with the values of the Gospel.”

“The Church in that matter demonstrates that she is a merciful and wide-reaching mother, in order to open the doors of salvation,” he continued. “Baptism is a right of every human person, and I think that the Holy Father as well, ever since he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires, always advocated for great openness in administering these sacraments.”

Archbishop Nanez warned that media reports on the baptism have been distorted.

“This is about the baptism of a girl who has the right to receive this sacrament, and as much as possible we strive to ensure that the conditions are met for its correct administration,” he said.

“The media is often manipulated,” the archbishop stressed, “and we have to take a critical view. Not everything that the newspapers or the press says is true.”

Addressing a group of Italian priests in August 2006, then-Pope Benedict XVI also defended the baptism of children whose parents may not be entirely adherent to the Church’s beliefs.

He described baptismal preparation as “a missionary commitment that goes beyond the boundaries of people who are already ‘faithful.’”

“Baptism, its preparation and the commitment to giving continuity to the baptismal promises, already puts us in contact with those who are not convinced believers,” he said. “It is not, let us say, a task of preserving Christianity, but rather an encounter with people who may seldom go to church.”

Pope Francis has similarly defended the baptism of children whose parents are not in a valid marriage.

“The child has absolutely no responsibility for the state of his parents’ marriage,” he reportedly told Italian magazine 30 Giorni during his time as a cardinal in Argentina in 2009. “And often a baptism can be a new start for the parents as well.”

By Manoj Joshi

A small cottage industry of sorts has developed over what India’s foreign and security policies would look like in the putative government headed by Narendra Modi.

By and large, there seems to be a tendency to make a straight-line extrapolation from Modi’s image as a strongman and a decisive leader.

On Sunday morning, Reuters put out a despatch citing to anonymous officials close to the Modi camp noting that India “will get tougher on territorial disputes with China and in its old rivalry with Pakistan.”

The report, terming Modi a “Hindu nationalist” cited his campaign speeches promising to protect the country. However, the report also cited a strategist involved in formulating the BJP manifesto to say that foreign policy will be economy driven, with the view of building “India’s economy so solidly that you can deal with other countries on our own terms.”

The strategist also declared that “The Chinese will understand the new PM is not a wimp and they won’t do anything adventurous.”

Complexity

We could pick up some hints from the one instance, where Modi clearly laid out his thinking – in the Sir Creek dispute with Pakistan.

In December 2012, Modi created a stir when he charged that the government was planning to “give away” Sir Creek to Pakistan. Sir Creek is a complex issue, which involves not just the laying out of the border for the 100-odd kms that it runs, but also deciding how the as yet undefined maritime boundary between India and Pakistan should be drawn up.

A joint survey has revealed that the Sir Creek has shifted eastwards – towards India – in the last 50 years, and so, in any settlement, India could lose some 50-100 sq kms in the marshy uninhabited swamp.

But if this could be traded off with Pakistan’s acceptance of a baseline point from where the maritime boundary begins and moves to the sea, this alleged loss could be traded off for gaining thousands of square kms of maritime territory.

This area is believed to have deposits of gas and oil, but till an official boundary is determined, it would be difficult to get companies to invest in exploration.

It was one thing for Modi to take a stand as the Chief Minister of Gujarat; it would be quite another for him to do so as Prime Minister.

There can be little doubt that from the point of view of personality, Modi’s approach to foreign and security policy will be very different. The question is just how different ?

Aggression

Modi’s domestic policy in relation to the challenges of Islamist radicalism and Maoist insurgency could involve a tougher response from the state. We could speculate that Modi could send the Army in to sort out the Maoists in the jungles Chattisgarh, reminiscent of the Rajpakse government’s dealing with the LTTE in Sri Lanka.

Likewise, Islamist radicals of the so-called Indian Mujahideen can expect little quarter from a Modi government. As for external policies, glib analysis today suggests that Modi will adopt a tit-for-tat policy with China and Pakistan on the borders, be tough with the US, seek stronger ties with Japan and Europe and emulate China in terms of economic policy.

He may have a great deal of freedom to act in domestic policy, but when it comes to external policies, there is only so much even the toughest and most decisive prime minister can do.

First, there are variables outside your control when it comes to issues and developments outside your borders.

Second, even if you wish to shape them in a particular way, a great deal depends on the instruments at your command – be they economic, military or covert. It would be a brave person to suggest today that everything is fine with all three of our principal instrumentalities.

India’s economic health remains fragile and is in urgent need of reform. The same could be said of our national security machinery. Capabilities have hollowed out and the much-needed restructuring and reform have simply not taken place. As a result the UPA government, for example, could do little by way of retribution against Pakistan in the wake of the November 2008 terror attack on Mumbai.

As for our covert capabilities, they are strictly limited because of past neglect of covert operations. Beyond that there are other issues to consider.

Toughness as policy is fraught with all manner of danger. After all, Nehru decided on a “tough” policy with China in September 1962 when he ordered the Army to “throw out” the Chinese from Indian territory. When it comes to external policies, it is not just a matter of the capacity of the instrumentalities at your command, but also those in the hands of your adversaries. And, you can be sure, the Chinese are no wimps.

Nothing can be more destructive for a government than to have a tough posture fall flat on its face.

Caution

A galaxy of former diplomats, generals and bureaucrats have come close to the BJP in the run up to the general elections so Modi will not lack for advice in formulating foreign and security policies. But the famously distrustful Modi is not close to any of them.

If anything, his view of foreign affairs is likely to be shaped by the outlook of his contacts in the world of commerce. This is not a bad thing, because, the key to any “tough” or decisive policy rests on the state of the Indian economy.

If the country flourishes economically, the foreign and security policy levers in Modi’s hands will strengthen. That India has so far neglected to anchor its foreign policy on a strong national security posture is well known.

Also, less understood is the fact that it will take a decade plus of sustained high economic growth, as well as deep restructuring of India’s foreign and security instruments, before India can manage to develop that legendary 56-inch chest.

(The writer is a Distinguished Fellow at Observer Research Foundation and a Contributing Editor of Mail Today)

Courtesy: Mail Today