Your Briefing From Afghanistan And Pakistan

Expensive reader,

Welcome to Gandhara’s weekly publication. This briefing brings you the very best of our reporting from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Violence overshadows subsequent spherical of Afghan peace talks

Days earlier than the U.S. presidential inauguration, talks between the Afghan authorities and the Taliban are set to renew within the Qatari capital, Doha, on January 9.

Hopes for progress within the drawn-out talks is overshadowed by a rise in violence. Among the many dozens of Afghan safety forces, civilians, and Taliban fighters killed in assaults throughout Afghanistan this week, one other journalist, Bismillah Adel Aimaq, was killed in a focused assault in Ghor Province.

In telling remarks, Najia Anwari, a spokeswoman for the Peace Affairs Ministry, conceded that the negotiations have been “a sophisticated course of.” U.S. forces spokespeople in Afganistan publicly voiced their intention to defend Afghan forces from Taliban assaults and prompt such murders are a part of a Taliban assassination marketing campaign.

Hazara killings reverberate in Pakistan

In Pakistan, the Shi’ite minority is protesting the killing of Hazara coal miners in an assault claimed by the Islamic State militants. In Quetta, a whole bunch of Hazara mourners have joined a sit-in protest in sub-zero temperatures since January 3. They’re refusing to bury the 11 victims till Prime Minister Imran Khan ensures their safety.

“Nobody slaughters animals as fearlessly as they lower off the necks of our individuals. That is the homicide of all humanity,” one Hazara protester advised my colleagues from Radio Mashaal.

Allegations of homicide comply with Toronto demise

My colleague Frud Bezhan appears into the mysterious demise of Karima Baloch, an exiled separatist activist who died in mysterious circumstances in Toronto final month. Like different members of Pakistan’s long-oppressed ethnic Baluch minority, she had sought asylum within the West after threats have been made to her life.

Her house province of Balochistan is house to a simmering insurgency by separatists, and the two-decade riot and Islamabad’s harsh response have regularly bred tragedies.

The shortage of a definitive clarification of her premature demise has led to a suspicion of foul play amongst exiled activists, who’re demanding an intensive probe by the Canadian authorities.

Islamabad rapidly responds to Hindu temple destruction

In some optimistic information for minorities, the authorities in northwestern Pakistan acted rapidly by arresting the clerics and politicians who incited a mob to destroy a Hindu temple in Karak.

The Pakistani authorities introduced plans to rebuild the temple however, within the phrases of 1 rights activist, the destruction “is yet one more instance of persistent discrimination confronted by the beleaguered Hindu neighborhood in Pakistan.”

Identification theft generates income in Pakistan

The proliferation of digital know-how in Pakistan has its downsides, too. In an insightful piece, my colleague Anisa Ajmal studies on how girls are more and more turning into the victims of identification theft as distributors use their ID playing cards to revenue from promoting unlawful cell phone connections throughout Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“If police uncover {that a} SIM card used for against the law belongs to an harmless or illiterate individual whose ID card was wrongfully used, it’s extraordinarily laborious to [find the real perpetrator],” a journalist in Peshawar advised her, addressing the far-reaching penalties of identification theft.

Pakistani reporter turns to building work to outlive

In a revealing video report this week, we deliver you the story of Shakirullah, who turned to menial labor after his reporting profession ended amid mass layoffs.

He’s amongst hundreds of Pakistani media employees who’ve misplaced their jobs lately due to shrinking revenues and cost-cutting measures. Censorship and a rise of media possession by trade tycoons with partisan agendas has additionally undermined press freedom within the nation.

“The house owners inform us that they will’t afford to pay employees,” says Fida Khattak, the top of a journalist union in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. “But when we take a look at the TV and newspapers immediately, there isn’t a scarcity of ads.”

Afghan calligraphers preserves historic artwork

In one other video report, we deliver you the inspiring efforts of Afghan calligrapher Abdul Hakim Karimizada, who’s searching for to protect and promote conventional Islamic calligraphy.

Whereas residing on help from patrons, Karimzada’s contributions would possibly see his type of calligraphy registered with UNESCO, which might assist protect the centuries-old custom.

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Yours,

Abubakar Siddique

Editor