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WORLD 21
AsianVoiceNewsweekly
28 Aug - 3 Sep 2021
in brief
ACTOR PANKAJ TRIPATHI TO BE HONORED IN MELBOURNE Pankaj Tripathi who has given life to iconic characters on screen will be honoured at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne with the Diversity in Cinema award. This award is for artistes who have left an indelible mark in the industry through their different roles, across all formats, portraying incredible versatility with their varied performances. Trpathi keeps his characters and performances real and modest, and it is this quality that makes him a performer extraordinaire. He has made his presence reverberated in films as well as web series. He has also been nominated for the Best Performance (Male) in the film category for “Ludo” and for the Best Performance (Male) in Web series for “Mirzapur Season 2.” His short film “Laali” has also made it to the festival this year.
INDIAN AMERICAN VYING FOR SALISBURY COUNCIL SEAT Nalini Joseph is hoping to win a spot on the city council in Salisbury, Massachusetts, this November, and put her decades of experience in the courts to good use. Nalini wants to bring her experience and her ability to reach agreements regardless of political and ideological viewpoints to the city level as a council member, a Salisbury Post report notes. If elected to council in November, Nalini, 53, will be the first Indian American to serve, the report said. She was born and grew up in India after her father moved there to begin a ministry. After high school, Nalini moved to the US to attend Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She found her way to Salisbury in 2011. In the last 14 years, Nalini has served as district administrator of the Guardian ad Litem Program, which advocates for abused and neglected children through the state’s district courts, for Iredell and Alexander counties, the publication continued.
NO-MASK RULE: SINGAPORE JAILS UK NATIONAL A UK man living in Singapore was sentenced to six weeks in prison after he repeatedly refused to wear a face mask in public. Benjamin Glynn, 40, was found guilty on four charges of breaching coronavirus protocols. He refused to wear a mask on a train in May and at a court appearance in July. Glynn, who represented himself in court, was accused of causing a public nuisance and using threatening words towards public servants. He was earlier subjected to a psychiatric assessment ordered by the judge as a result of his conduct and remarks in court, according to local media outlet CNA. The judge told Glynn he was “completely misguided” in his belief he was exempt from Singapore’s laws on wearing masks. It is mandatory in Singapore to wear a mask outside home for everyone aged six and above
AFTER MOLEST OF YOUTUBER, ANOTHER VIDEO SHOCKS PAK After a video of a woman YouTuber being assaulted by hordes of men on August 14 in Lahore recently went viral, another clip has surfaced apparently from the same day of another woman being assaulted in Pakistan. In the video, which was shared on social media, two women are seen travelling with a child in a rickshaw when a man jumps onto the footboard of the vehicle and apparently kisses her on the cheek. Startled, the women scream but no one intervenes. The News International reported that the rickshaw appears to be surrounded by men carrying the national flag, which indicates that the incident took place during Pakistan’s Independence Day celebrations. The video triggered anger on social media, with many people calling for the government to take strict action against sexual harassment.
7 die in crush as thousands try to get a flight out of Afghanistan KABUL: The Taliban fired in the air and used batons to make people line up in orderly queues outside Kabul airport on Sunday, witnesses said, a day after seven people were killed in a crush at the gates. On Sunday, there were no major injuries as gunmen beat back the crowds and long lines of people were being formed, the witnesses said. Britain’s defence ministry said seven Afghans, including a toddler, were killed in the crush around the airport as thousands of people desperately tried to get a flight out, a week after the Islamist militant group took control of the country. Sky News showed footage of soldiers standing on a wall on Saturday attempting to pull the injured out from the crush and spraying people with a hose to prevent them from getting dehydrated. “Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible,” the ministry said in a statement. A Nato official said that at least 20 people have died in the past seven days in and around the airport. Some were shot and others died in stampedes, witnesses have said. Panicked Afghans have tried to get on flights abroad, fearing reprisals and a return to a harsh version of Islamic law the Sunni Muslim group exercised when it was in power two decades ago. The WHO and Unicef called for a humanitarian air bridge to deliver aid to Afghanistan to help more than 18 million people in need. Leaders of the Taliban, who have sought to show a more moderate face since capturing Kabul last Sunday, have begun talks on forming a government. The US and other foreign countries, including Britain have brought in several thousand troops to manage the evacuations of foreign citizens and vulnerable Afghans, but have stayed away from the outside areas of the airport. “Our forces are maintaining strict distance from the outer areas of the Kabul airport to prevent any clashes with the Taliban,” the Nato
official said. A Taliban official said that “we are seeking complete clarity on foreign forces’ exit plan”. “Managing chaos outside Kabul airport is a complex task,” the official said. Another Taliban official blamed the US for the chaotic evacuation. “America, with all its power and facilities... has failed to bring order to the airport. There is peace and calm all over the country, but there is chaos only at Kabul airport,” Taliban official said. Afghans who fled the country this week have spoken about their despair at leaving loved ones behind and the uncertain future ahead. “It was very difficult to leave my country,” a veiled woman said in Doha. “I love my country.” On Saturday, the US and Germany warned their citizens in Afghanistan to avoid the airport. American officials cited the possibility of another threat: an attack by the Taliban’s Islamic State rivals. With the risks rising, 5,800 US troops at the airport had been “metering” the flow of Americans, Afghan allies and other foreigners through the gates, according to Major General William Taylor of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff. Taylor said that in the past week the US has evacuated 17,000 people, including 2,500 Americans. Australia ran four flights into Kabul on Saturday night, evacuating more than 300 people, including Australians, Afghan visa holders, New Zealanders, US and British citizens, PM Scott Morrison said. The Taliban’s swoop into power came as US-led forces were withdrawing after a 20year war that President Joe Biden sought to conclude. Biden has come under heavy criticism at home and abroad for the way the war has ended. On Saturday former President Donald Trump called it “the greatest foreign policy humiliation” in US history, even though his own administration negotiated the withdrawal deal last year. Taliban meet Karzai in talks to form govt A Taliban commander and senior leader
Pakistan to allow fully jabbed Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur Sahib Islamabad: Pakistan has decided to allow fully-vaccinated Sikh pilgrims to visit Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur from next month with strict Covid-19 protocols, ahead of the 482nd death anniversary of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev on September 22, media reports said. On this occasion, three-day rituals will be held at the shrine from September 20. Guru Nanak died in Kartarpur on September 22, 1539. Pilgrimage to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara was suspended in March 2020 because of the Covid-19 outbreak. The decision to open the Kartarpur shrine was taken by the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) due to the approaching death anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak Dev on September 22. Dawn newspaper reported that the NCOC meeting unanimously decided to allow Sikh pilgrims to visit Kartarpur next month under strict Covid-19 protocols. Due to the Delta variant, India was in category C in Pakistan from May 22 till August 12, and a special approval
was required for people coming from the country, including Sikh pilgrims. However, fully-vaccinated persons with certificates will be allowed to enter Pakistan provided they show Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) test reports which should not be more than 72 hours old. Apart from this, a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) will also be conducted at airports and in case of a positive result, the individual will not be allowed to enter Pakistan. Besides, as per NonPharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs), a maximum of 300 people will be permitted to assemble at a time at the darbar. According to an official of the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), Pakistan had introduced three categories to deal with the coronavirus spread.
of the Haqqani Network terrorist group, Anas Haqqani, has met former president Hamid Karzai for talks, a Taliban official said, amid efforts by the Taliban to set up a government. Karzai was accompanied by the old government's main peace envoy, Abdullah Abdullah, in the meeting, said the Taliban official. He gave no more details. The Haqqani Network is an important faction of the Taliban, who captured Kabul. The network, based on the border with Pakistan, was accused over recent years of some of the most deadly terrorist attacks in Afghanistan. Taliban destroy statue of foe, stoking fear A statue of a prominent anti-Taliban fighter killed by the group before they took power for the first time in the 1990s has been decapitated in Bamiyan city, residents said. Abdul Ali Mazari, a political leader who represented ethnic Hazara community, was declared a national martyr in 2016 more than two decades after the Taliban said he had died in a gunfight aboard a helicopter. “We are not sure who has blown up the statue, but there are different groups of Taliban present here, including some... who are known for their brutality,” a resident said. Pictures of the damaged statue being shared on social media showed it largely intact, but with the head resting at the plinth. Another resident said a group of Taliban fighters used a rocketpropelled grenade to destroy it earlier. “The statue is destroyed and people are sad — but also scared,” she said.
Afghan resistance force ready for conflict but open to negotiations
Kabul: Former Afghan government forces forming a resistance movement in a fortified valley are preparing for “long-term conflict”, but are also seeking to negotiate with the Taliban, their spokesman said. Since the Taliban took control of the country, thousands of people have made their way to Panjshir, Ali Maisam Nazary said. There, Ahmad Massoud, the son of Mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud who was assassinated by al-Qaida two days before the September 11, 2001 attacks, has assembled a fighting force of 9,000 people, he added. The National Resistance Front’s main goal is to avoid further bloodshed and press for a new system of government. But Nazary said the group is also prepared for “long-term” conflict, and if the Taliban do not negotiate. “The conditions for a peace deal with Taliban is decentralisation - a system that ensures social justice, equality, rights, and freedom for all,” said Nazary, the NRF’s head of foreign ties. Talks between local leaders from Afghanistan’s north and authorities in Pakistan were taking place until just days ago, he said. He added that Masood had different views to Amrullah Saleh, latterly the country’s vice-president who is also holed out in the valley and vowed to lead an uprising, on Pakistan. “Mr Saleh is anti-Taliban and anti-Pakistani. He is in Panjshir and he is respected. That does not mean he is a part of this movement. The aim right now is to defend Panjshir and its people,” he said.
