39 minute read
SOAS : A Censored Campus
31 OCTOBER 2022 SOAS : A Censored Campus
Student occupiers hold a rally in the face of eviction, March 2022 (Credits Sam Landis)
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Sam Landis, BA Social Anthropology & International Relations
Since the onset of term on 26 September, SOAS management, under the direction of Adam Habib, has suppressed freedoms of expression, assembly and protest guaranteed to students and workers. e authoritative tactics adopted this year follow i those taken during of the 2021/22 academic year, which saw decades of iconic artwork on the walls of our student union painted over, our main building shuttered in the midst of a peaceful and contained student occupation, and the hiring of thirty private baili s to forcefully and violently evict occupiers. Despite SOAS capitalising on its history of student activism, protest, and political culture, , management has made it clear that legitimate action focused on bettering the conditions of students and workers will not be tolerated.
is year began with three days of planned strike action from UNISON, the largest trade union in the United Kingdom which represents cleaners, registration workers, IT workers, and others at SOAS. In the face of rampant in ation, the lowest measure for which is 9.8%, UNISON has asked for a 2% pay rise above in ation (an estimated 11.8% total rise) but were o ered an inadequate 3% pay rise below in ation (a 3% total rise) - e ectively a pay cut. In protest, UNISON voted to strike, the rst two days of which fell on the beginning of SOAS welcome week. Keeping with tradition, UNISON planned to set up a picket line at the university to encourage students and sta to stand in solidarity with workers, and raise awareness about the situation. Picket lines are essential tools for striking union members to give visibility to their struggle, and are used to place pressure on the institutions denying them fair pay and adequate treatment. SOAS UNISON was shocked to receive an email from COO Khadir Meer days before the planned strike action, stating that picket lines would not be allowed on the main SOAS campus due to fears of ‘harassment and intimidation’. Shunned to the front gates, SOAS hired a barrage of over ten private security guards to prohibit students and sta from constructing a picket line on campus, ensuring strike action would remain on the sidelines.
Within the rst few days of welcome week, the private security hired to contain the picket line informed students that they were not allowed to hang or distribute yers on university property — undermining their ability to engage others in conversations surrounding industrial action and the negligence of management — and partook in several e orts to threaten and intimidate students. One individual helping with UNISON’s strike organisation was told they would be “broken in half”, similarly , when a group of students moved
to the main campus area to resist the suppression of UNISON’s picket, students were swarmed by eight private security guards who physically tried to restrain them from entering, and recording their faces with ashing body cameras. e in ux of funding directed towards private security both this year and last year, speaks to the larger nancial priorities of SOAS management, which also spent copious amounts of money to remodel our campus while denying workers’ a pay increase to combat the cost of living crisis . is remodelling removed a number of bulletin boards on campus previously used by sta , students and societies to hang yers, replacing them with charmless SOAS murals. Additionally, management installed an enormous SOAS banner on the side of the Paul Webley Wing where students used to project lms. e main building was also still under construction once welcome week began, leaving many unaware how to nd the temporary entrance — a side-door tucked in a corner along a driveway. e irony of pushing picket lines o campus to minimise disruption while no one knew how to enter the main building on the rst day of school is not lost.
While things have calmed down a bit since the rst two weeks of the academic year, e orts to censor students are ongoing, including the threatened removal of the Global Majority tents set up for a “liberating education” week during 10-14 October. It’s safe to say that once another strike is announced, tensions will are again. As the year progresses, we must recognise that management’s tactics are concerted and led by a man who had dedicated his career to undermining student resistance. As the administration continues to ood your email with surveys about how SOAS cares about student voice, and creates new salaried positions designed to ensure students feel heard and valued, remember what’s happening on the ground. SOAS is becoming a censored campus, we must unite in resistance against our authoritarian management.
Despite SOAS capitalising on the lengthy history of student activism, protest and decolonial sentiment at the university to market itself, management has made clear that legitimate action focused on bettering the conditions of students and workers will not be tolerated.
31 OCTOBER 2022 Management Balance the Books whilst Sta Pay the Price
Picture of Unison Picket Line 26th September 2022 (Credit: Twitter User @jess_walsh)
Ciaran Hay, Political Economy of Development Msc
Sitting down with Consuelo Moreno it becomes immediately apparent that the SOAS cleaners, security, library assistants and other sta are facing pay and working conditions that are unsustainable. Moreno is one of the leading gures in the workers union ‘SOAS Justice 4 Workers’, and is explaining some of the challenges that the sta have endured. ere has reportedly been a historic stand-o between the sta and the SOAS Administration stretching back 16 years; in recent months, these tensions have been exacerbated due to the cost of living crisis. e SOAS support workers were recently o ered an inconsequential 3% pay rise. In the face of soaring in ation rates this would amount to a real-terms pay cut. In light of this development, ‘SOAS Unison’ organized a co-ordinated action during ‘Welcome Week’ calling on the SOAS Administration (and all universities) to o er ‘decent’ pay to its workers. is was supported by the on campus trade union ‘SOAS Justice 4 Workers’.
While pay was the headline demand for the protests witnessed in the last week of September, other grievances were also being highlighted by the co-ordinated direct action. Following an alleged gross mismanagement of human resources during the covid pandemic, the plight of the sta deteriorated signi cantly. It has been claimed that the SOAS administration has laid o 41% of the support sta in an attempt to reduce a substantial de cit. Reportedly, the cleaning sta were reduced from 52 people before the pandemic to just 21. is has forced the remaining sta to pick up the workload le by their ousted former colleagues, which continues to increase as a result of a larger cohort of incoming
students. e sta claim they are experiencing regular bouts of sickness from the additional stress. is is leading to further pressure on an already depleted workforce.
e sta have also highlighted their systematic exclusion from the workplace. A number of the team members are not uent in English and despite an agreement made four years ago for english lessons to be included in paid working hours, the sta are yet to receive this provision. e sta have been o ered English lessons that they are invited to attend in their free time as an alternative which fall outside of working hours. As a result, they o en clash with the additional employment commitments that a number of team members are currently undertaking which is a result of the real-terms pay cut that has been in icted upon the sta . e failure of the university to facilitate su cient language training has supposedly been compounded by the migration of the email system from Gmail to Outlook. Sta are now unable to translate their emails as they did before, creating further barriers to workplace participation. e introduction of provisions for o cial communication in multiple languages is a concession being asked of a university that claims on its website to ‘provide bespoke language training for diverse organizations’.
When approached for comment on the recent protests on campus the SOAS Press O ce stated that they ‘are disappointed that Unison decided to take strike action’ although ‘they recognise the right of unison members to take strike action’. e SOAS Press O ce also claimed that the administration is ‘supporting an open and constructive dialogue with UCU/Unison on improving pay and pensions in an a ordable way’. Our sources claim that the Unions have still not received a response to the demands laid out for fair pay in the aforementioned protests. Furthermore, we have been informed to expect further strike action in the future if a settlement is not met with the university administration.
Pay disputes and the ‘cost of living crisis’ have been a recurring issue throughout the summer of 2022. is issue has a ected workers across industries but has had a disproportionate e ect on migrant workers and others facing barriers to workplace participation. is includes a signi cant number of people within the SOAS sta . Moreno revealed that conditions were similar for the sta at other Universities. However, they made it clear that they expected SOAS University to be a leader and lay out a foundation of respectful working conditions for other institutions to follow. Moreno also spoke of the solidarity movements now forming between sta at a number of institutions which are rapidly growing in strength and numbers.
When Moreno was asked about the ways in which students sympathetic with the strikes could show their support, they made it apparent that questioning the reputation of SOAS within public discourse and social media has been a method historically used by the student body. e importance of not crossing the picket line and supporting the organization of trade union activity on campus was also highlighted. However, a large proportion of students approached o -the-record were unaware of the reasons for the strike action. As SOAS helpfully proclaimed in one of their most recent promotional videos, ‘we can only tackle the world’s problems when we come together’.
NATIONAL NEWS National News We must never accept this as normal : The killing of Chris Kaba
Emily Holdcroft, BA Social Anthroplogy
Credit: Misan Harriman
On Monday 5th September 2022, Chris Kaba was shot and killed by a MET police o cer , only known as NX121. Just 24 years old, Kaba leaves behind a pregnant ancee, the grief for his unjust death felt widely across his family, community and beyond.
e MET police claim the car was linked to a rearms incident that had happened the previous day, and thus o cers were instructed to follow the registered vehicle when coming across it. Since the shooting, it has been con rmed there was no rearm found in the vehicle and that Chris Kaba was never a suspect. Although many media outlets falsely reported a ‘high speed police chase’, the latest statement read at the opening of the inquest into Kaba’s death contradicts these claims. e statement read ‘ e o cers did not activate their lights or sirens while following the vehicle. e intention was to use a ‘enforced stop extraction’ on the Audi.’ is suggests Kaba was not even aware that he was being followed by police until ‘contact was made’ with o cers in a marked ARV.
ere has been no speci cation on what occurred between this interaction and the decision to re a single shot through the front windscreen of the vehicle. He was pronounced dead, from a wound to his head, at 12.16am on Tuesday 6th September 2022. A er nally being able to view the body camera footage, Kaba’s family and those waiting for justice have many unanswered questions, but for the time being have stepped back from the public light to be able to deal with the mental weight of the ongoing investigation.
A er protests and outrage from the families and those supporting their ght for justice, the o cer that killed Kaba was suspended but has not yet been charged, with the MET police stating there will be a six to nine month wait for the investigation to be completed. e family highlighted how it took over a week for just the results of the forensic examination of the car to reach them. With the police marking their own homework , Kaba’s family have well-founded anxieties around whether the full truth will be revealed. A er the shooting of Azelle Rodney in 2005, the MET review of its use of the ‘hard stop’ tactic, involving the interception of vehicles in confrontation of the suspect,stated that the practice should be brought to an end , yet a er the inquest into Mark Duggan’s killing, it was highlighted that this recommendation had never been followed. e same method of a forcible stop was used on Kaba.
In the campaign led by Kaba’s cousin, Je erson Bosela, the family have stated new demands for the Independent O ce for Police Conduct (IOPC) including wanting answers surrounding whether the o cers knew it was Kaba inside the vehicle and con rmation that the o cer who shot him will be interviewed without delay. In addition, they have stated they expect a charging decision within weeks, not months. Speaking on the investigation, Bosela has said, ‘An urgent decision on criminal charges is critical for this family and many others to have faith in the system that is supposed to bring them justice’.
As Kaba’s family and many others have spoken about, the actions of the MET in using such fatal violence against an unarmed man; in addition to their deeply unsatisfactory reaction a er the killing, only highlights further the continuing institutionally embedded racism. Kaba is one of the many young black men to lose their life at the hands of the police, others including Dalian Atkinson, Rashan Charles, Edson Da Costa, Darren Cumberbatch, Shane Bryant, Nuno Cardoso and Kevin Clarke. All these men died in contact or custody with the police in the last ve years, yet the o cer who was charged with Atkinson’s murder in 2021 was the rst o cer to be convicted with manslaughter as the result of police contact in more than 30 years. Bosela’s worries surrounding the integrity of legal processes, speaks to the reality of justice o en never served in BIPOC communities; as made starkly visible in the lack of justice for the previously named victims. In addition, heavily racialised databases such as the ‘gangs matrix’, containing data of black children as young as twelve, as well as the recently revealed strip-search of child Q, bring to light the ever increasing brutality of policing systems that seep into every aspect of life, particularly for Black communities.
Many on social media have also drawn a stark comparison between the instant arrest of those speaking, or simply showing, anti-monarchist sentiment publicly. In a similar time period, Maringela, a 22 year old woman was arrested for holding a sign reading ‘Fuck imperialism, Abolish Monarchy’, yet no-one has been arrested for shooting Kaba. e drastically contrasted prioritising of action by the police only speaks further to a system that works to perpetuate neocolonial control as highlighted by critiques from community resistance groups Copwatch and Forever Family. As many have voiced online, the heckling of King Charles holds more value, and incites a stronger reaction, than the state killing of a Black man in the UK today.
While Kaba’s family continue the wait for justice, they continue to organise and campaign with the wider community through conferences, sharing information, petitions to pressure action and providing spaces to remember and honour Chris Kaba. Bosela’s words aptly summarise the devastating gravity of Kaba’s death, ‘How can a young man, sitting in a car, unarmed, be shot in the head by police in London in 2022? (…) We must never accept this as normal.’
The Summer of Strikes Continues
Jeremy Corbyn and UniteTheUnion members at a protest (Credit Marsha Thompson)
Archie Thomas - BA Politics and International Relations
roughout this summer, the UK was hit by a wave of industrial action in what has been termed the ‘Summer of Strikes’. With many disputes still unresolved, strikes are set to continue well into the autumn.
Over the summer, national rail strikes from unions RMT (National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers) and ASLEF (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen), brought the biggest national rail strike since 1989. e CWU (Communication Workers Union) organised industrial action from BT and Royal Mail workers. Other industries a ected by the Summer of Strikes included the aviation, maritime, and legal sectors.
is wave of strikes falls upon a backdrop of rapidly rising in ation and stagnant wages. e consumer price index, a measure of the cost of goods and services commonly bought by households, recorded a massive 9.9% increase in prices in the twelve months to August this year. Meanwhile, workers have seen less than 1% median income growth in thirteen years from 2008 to 2021. While above average in ation has hit many countries this year, its e ect is particularly notable in the UK. TUC (Trades Union Congress) analysis of OECD gures found that real terms wages are forecast to shrink by 6.2% in the next two years, by far the worst outlook among G7 nations.For many , this is the reality of the ‘cost of living crisis’ and is the primary cause of this wave of strikes.
e strikes that garnered the most attention this summer were the series of national rail strikes. Facing job losses and swathing cuts to pay , union members voted overwhelmingly for industrial action. . RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said, ‘Railway workers have been treated appallingly, and despite our best e orts in negotiations, the rail industry with the support of the government has failed to take their concerns seriously’. e now former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said, ‘It is incredibly disappointing the RMT have decided to take action that could drive passengers away [...] We once again want to urge the unions to come to talks with the rail industry so we can work together.’
Despite multiple rounds of negotiations, the outlook for a negotiated solution is not hopeful. As recently as 12 October, Lynch claimed that talks had yet to tackle the issue of pay, with this, further strikes will likely be called well into the autumn.
e outlook is similarly bleak in the dispute between CWU workers and Royal Mail. Royal Mail announced on 14 October that they would be cutting 10,000 jobs by next August, 6,000 of which will come from redundancies. e company claims this is a ‘direct impact of eight days of industrial action’, increasing projected yearly losses to £350m. CWU workers have been striking over pay since the summer , conditions, and what the CWU General Secretary Dave Ward has described as Royal Mail turning ‘into a gig economy style parcel courier’. e union described the job cut announcement as an ‘intimidation tactic’ and stated that Royal Mail’s losses were ‘the result of gross mismanagement and a failed business agenda’. e CWU will continue as planned with the nineteen days of industrial action, which started early in October and is due to include disruption over the ‘Black Friday’ period.
is ‘Summer of Strikes’ has been all the more notable considering that trade union restrictions in the UK are among the strictest in Europe. Despite this, former Prime Minister Liz Truss had pledged to go further by introducing minimum service levels on critical national infrastructures, such as rail, energy, post, and education. She had also pledged to increase ballot thresholds from 40% to 50% of employees. e former PM insisted that there is a need fo r ‘decisive action to limit trade unions’ ability to paralyse our economy’. Lynch has described this move as ‘the biggest attack on trade union and civil rights since labour unions were legalised in 1871’ and claimed it would ‘make e ective trade union ism illegal in Britain’. e Labour Party said the proposed restrictions would only ‘exacerbate and escalate divisions’, and do nothing to tackle the cost of living crisis.
Industrial disputes and strike action this summer received the public attention in decades. Despite the increase in disruption, public opinion has remained favourable towards unions and striking workers. Whilst some limited settlements have been achieved through strike action ( like barristers who have received a 15% pay increase , disputes over rail and mail, among others, seem far from resolved. With these disputes still ongoing , and the rapidly darkening economic picture , strikes will surely continue well into the autumn.
NATIONAL NEWS Succession in a time of Crisis
Merve Demirci, BA History
Following the forced closure of food banks , halting of protests , and the cancellation of medical appointments , support for the monarchy is on the wane. e aforementioned services were all suspended in the wake of the Queen’s death and subsequent funeral , a move which angered many, and led to the resurfacing of the monarchies unsavoury past.
e closure of food banks during the bank holiday had an even greater impact this year than on previous occasions. According to the Independent Food Aid Network, 95% of organisations reporting an increased need for their services due to the cost-of-living crisis. Despite the outrage seen online, some held di ering views such as a Twitter user who commented: ‘Food banks that open on Monday will open on Tuesday. Why exactly is that a scandal?’
On the contrary, international views were also critical of the closure of food banks. ‘I heard that the monarchs take an oath to serve with wisdom and mercy, and I don’t know how merciful it is to have people beg for bread.’ voiced an American tourist in a brief interview.
Nationwide anger grew from the cancellation of health care appointments on the day of the Queen’s funeral. e backlog facing covid hit NHS system meant some patients had to wait almost 2 years for their surgery or treatments. Although urgent appointments continued, NHS sta members were reportedly verbally abused because of the cancellations, with much of growing public resentment being directed at them. National Rail strikes on the other hand, were halted in respect for the Queen’s funeral. While some argued that it was a political strategy to gain more support
within the country, others expressed their anger over the government funding millions of taxpayers money to the funeral whilst ignoring rail workers just weeks prior. SOAS student Abimbole, who is studying Arabic and Development, expressed that ‘ e loss of taxpayer money is more controversial here.’
e impact of closures has allowed many to re ect on the monarchy’s controversial past. Abimbole also expressed the thoughts of many ethnic groups within Britain commenting:
“Being a black person, I don’t really have a personal connection.” Brexit uni ed the country’s desire for self reliance , and at times of self support, the closure of social safety networks and institutes by the governing powers has led to a greater feeling of isolation within the public. At the very least, these were a reminder that the issues this government faces persist long a er the end of mourning period, and will most likely continue in the future, all while the backlash is most noticeably being felt by the monarchy.
King Charles III gloomy expression to the arrival of Queen Elizabeth II co n to the Palace of Westminster, 14 September 2022 London (AFP)
Trussell Trust food banks see rise in demand (SWNS)
What we could have expected from Liz Truss
On September 6 2022, Liz Truss was announced as the UK’s next conservative prime minister. In the run up for the top job in Westminster, her slogan was ‘trusted to deliver’ but recently , the word trusted would not describe the general feeling towards her government and its and economic policies in particular. So, what is to be expected under a Truss administration?
e answer is not entirely clear. Her economic philosophy known as ‘Trussonomics’, includes tax cuts aimed at gearing Britain into higher growth as well as plans to make the City ‘the most competitive place for nancial services in the world.’ Initially, her ‘plan for growth’ included a package of £45bn tax cuts for the highest tax payers, funded by public borrowing. e plans were announced on September 23 by the ex Chancellor of the exchequer Kwasi Kwarteng .
Trying to implement these in a cost of living crisis, and at a time of global in ationary pressure, led to the policies being ill received by the general public . Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey, increased interest rates by 0.5% in response and UK government bonds came under pressure. In an economic climate of in ation, stagnating wages and rising interest rates, the policy did not sit well with markets, MPs or members of the public. Even those set to bene t from the higher tax rate cut, remarked that that tax cuts were ‘unasked for’ and ‘inappropriate’ in a cost of living crisis. Mark Carney, the former Bank of England Governor said ‘doubling down on inequality was surprising.’ e partial U-turn on the mini budget saw the pound regain credibility on the international stage, but whether Truss’s credibility does so, remains in question.
Kwarteng was sacked on October 14 a er the pair’s cherished plans to bring down corporation tax and to axe the higher rate were retracted in the face of backlash from wider society. Truss staked much of her campaign on cutting corporation tax. Her pledge to freeze UK corporation tax at 19% instead of increasing it to 25% as planned by former chancellor Rishi Sunak was also reversed. Pressure is being piled on her to resign by business gures and at least three Tory MPs publicly, a er the U-turns announced in mid October have damaged her credibility.
What remains of the mini budget is government support to households over energy bills, national insurance cuts and permanent stamp duty cuts. Keeping the UK safe throughout a tough winter has remained somewhat on the agenda as Chancellor Jeremy Hunt settles into his new role as Chancellor . With energy bills looking to rise to £6500, the Tory governments original energy price guarantees for this winter and the winter of 2023 would cap domestic households energy bills at £2500. Continuing with the U-turn pattern, Hunt has announced that the government is cutting back to save billions of pounds with the price guarantee for households only remaining universal until April.
As part of a wider package of energy supply reforms, Truss vowed to li the fracking ban of 2019 in hopes that it would reduce the UKs reliance on imported gas. is decision has been described as a ‘political gamble,’ that risks further angering Tory MPs and voters who hold concerns over whether fracking shale gas can actually produce su cient gas without causing earth tremors.
Truss claims that the plans for high growth are what the next generation deserve. In terms of plans for the education system, she has said, ‘ rough a laser-like focus on improving maths and literacy standards we will make a real di erence to children’s lives and by giving families greater choice and exibility when it comes to childcare we will also save them money.’ e university sector body has claimed that in ation has cut the value of tuition fees by a third and demanded urgent action to support institutions that were being ‘squeezed hard’. Universities are already facing disputes over sta pay and pensions, Steve West (head of Universities UK), said leaders who are willing to secure a sustainable model for funding higher education were needed but the government did not immediately comment in response.
Although Truss told Keir Starmer she will ‘absolutely’ not be making cuts in public spending to balance the books, a er Jeremy Hunt became chancellor, central parts of her agenda have changed. He told the BBC that she has changed ‘the way we’re going to ge t there,’ but not the ‘destination.’ Labour claims the spending squeeze will represent a return of ‘austerity’, as public services are struggling to deal with backlogs caused by Covid19, in ation and an ageing population. e Labour leader sent an email around, ‘Changing the Chancellor doesn’t undo the damage made in Downing Street. We need a change in government. With my leadership, Labour will secure Britain’s economy and get us out of this mess.’
International News 8 months into War, Russian Invasion in Disarray asion in Disarray
Neel Sengupta, Msc Labour, Activism& Dev
Map of Ukrainian occupied territories and o ensives as of 13 October 2022. (Credit: Institute for the Study of War)
In the 8 months since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the con ict has shi ed in tone and material reality. e rst months were chawracterised by a defence on the part of the outnumbered and supposedly outgunned Ukrainian Armed Forces against concerted Russian e orts to seize the capital of Kyiv and to push past the eastern frontline around the Dnipró river. e surprise success of Ukrainian forces and the poor planning and execution of the Russian o ensives, particularly against Kyiv, led to the Ukrainian recapture and stabilisation of their northern border and the slow liberation of Russian occupied territory in the regions of Chernihiv, Kharkiv and the suburbs of Kyiv.
ese Ukrainian counter o ensives led to the discovery of the brutal reality of Russian occupation. A Human Rights Watch report in April documented looting, summary executions, and sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians, including children. A report by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine published on 23 September, con rmed those early ndings and found similar war crimes across 30 occupied settlements and received ‘consistent accounts of ill-treatment and torture, which were carried out during unlawful con nement,’ according to Erik Mose, the head of the UN’s investigation team. Of particular note is the situation in the liberated settlements of Buch, Hostomel and Borodianka, which were occupied by Russian Armed Forces for about a month. Ukrainian and UN investigations found dozens of mass graves where civilians had been tortured, and buried. e UN investigation also documented a wide range of sexual violence against Ukrainian civilians, with Mose stating that ‘the age of victims of sexual and gendered-based violence ranged from 4 to 82 years.’
Ukraine’s steady consolidation of territory and materiel would have been unlikely without the large supply of arms and military equipment Ukraine has received from NATO and European countries. According to a brief for MPs by Claire Mills, as of the 14 October the UK has committed £2.3 billion in military assistance since February, along with a long-term training program for the Ukrainian armed forces to potentially train up to 10,000 soldiers over 4 months. e EU has also provided £2.5 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine and is working on a similar training program. e US has provided approximately £16.8 billion in military assistance since February 2022 and authorised the transfer of US-origin equipment from 14 NATO allies and US partners. Of particular note among all of this military assistance is the provision of various long-range artillery and rocket systems, which have allowed Ukraine to target and destroy Russian supply lines, logistics and military infrastructure well behind the frontlines. In the intervening months, Ukrainian forces rearmed with the weapons sent to them from NATO and other partner nations and have steadily degraded the Russian armed forces ability to maintain a coherent defence against small probing attacks and incursions throughout the summer, while preparing for a major counter-o ensive.
On 29 August the Ukrainian Armed Forces and government announced the start of their long awaited countero ensive along the Dnipró river. Ukrainian forces had fended o Russian attacks in the southern part of the frontline, and in the ensuing two weeks of heavy ghting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukrainian troops had retaken more than 6,000 square kilometres from Russian control since the start of the o ensive including several key cities in the Kharkiv region. As the counter-o ensive progressed into October, Ukrainian forces continued to gain ground and liberate new villages across the east and south of the front, along with eliminating or forcing the surrender of several small pockets of encircled Russian forces.
roughout the war, the Russian military has responded to strategic and tactical defeats with missile and artillery strikes against civilian population centres, in addition to war crimes on the ground. e most recent strikes took place through the week of 10 October a er the Kerch land bridge connecting occupied Crimea to the Russian mainland was bombed in an event disputed by both the Russian and Ukrainian governments. Directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, Russian cruise missiles were launched against cities from Kyiv to Lviv, Ternopil and Zhytomyr in western Ukraine, well away from the frontlines. According to Ukrainian o cials at least 11 people were killed and many more injured, alarmingly , the strikes also suspended Ukrainian energy exports to Europe.
Zelenskyy has renewed his calls for Western powers to provide additional air defence, and countering repower in order to protect Ukrainian civilians from Russian attacks.
Pakistan Faces Worst Flooding in over a Decade
Credit Macropakistan.com
Credit ABC News
Mahina Wasim, BA Politics
One-third of Pakistan is underwater. As of June 2022, Pakistan has been enduring severe monsoon weather which saw area-weighted rainfall 67 percent above normal levels in that month alone. Up until August 27th , rainfall was 2.9 times the thirty year average for the region . Severe ooding and landslides resulted from this, having detrimental e ects on infrastructure, property, and human life. e Pakistani government has designated 72 areas as ‘calamity a ected.’ Given the current rainfall, these gures are still uctuating, and more districts are anticipated to be declared calamities.
Pakistan’s Balochistan and Sindh provinces, which are in the south and center, have been especially a ected. As of 27 August, Balochistan has experienced 5.1 times its 30-year normal rainfall, while Sindh had recorded 5.7 times its average. Balochistan, Sindh, and south Punjab saw hill torrents, and most of Sindh’s districts were submerged with water, leading to mass destruction.
e Pakistani government calculates that 33 million of the country’s residents are impacted by the rains, oods, and a ere ects like landslides. Additionally impacted or in danger are the more than 421,000 refugees who reside in calamity-declared districts. About 6.4 million people were anticipated to be in need of assistance as of 27 August. e National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) reported that between 14 June and 27 August, at least 1,033 people died and 1,527 were injured, with the number of casualties rising as the rainy season continued. More than 662,000 homes have sustained partial damage, compared to roughly 287,000 total losses. More than 719,000 livestock, a vital source of nutrition and livelihood for many families, have perished, with 69 percent of them dying in Balochistan and 28 percent in Punjab. 2 million acres of orchards and crops have also been impacted.
Infrastructure damage has had a signi cant negative impact and has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis. People’s ability to ee to safer locations has been hampered by damage to roughly 3,500 km of roads and 149 bridges, which has also jeopardized the distribution of help to those in need. e incapacity of the current infrastructure to handle the tremendous volume of water has further ampli ed ash oods and rain-induced landslides. Major dam reservoirs are rapidly lling or already over owing, creating a signi cant risk to residents nearby and further downstream. Many rivers, including the Indus River, which runs the whole length of Pakistan, are at high ood warning levels and/or have exceeded their banks. ere have also been reports of internet disruptions, with the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority attributing extensive internet cuts in central and northern Pakistan on 19 August to ber optic network technical issues brought on by the intense rain and ooding.
Despite having a very low carbon footprint, Pakistan is one of the ten nations that are most vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, according to Climate Watch and the Global Climate Risk Index 2021.“My ask is very simple. It is that climate-a ected countries whose carbon footprint is less than 1% of global GHG emissions should not be having to bear the burden of other people’s contributions,” Senator Sherry Rehman, Pakistan’s minister for climate change said in an interview. “Here we are a icted with an event catastrophe that nobody has seen before in living memory and we are bearing the burden of it pretty much on our own with some help from friends.” She has repeatedly stressed that the most signi cant factor contributing to the crisis is climate change.
According to data recorded and released by the NDMA, the 2010 oods, which a ected 10 million people, this year’s oods hit more than 30 million people. Livestock damage in 2010 amounted to $0.27 million, whereas it has cost nearly $0.7 million currently and is likely to rise. In certain locations, 45% of crops had been lost, including the cotton crop, which is a major source of Pakistan’s GDP, as opposed to 11% in 2010. is has devastating economic reparations for the country, with climate change expected to only worsen over time. Even while national e orts to assist those impacted are already underway, international cooperation is essential to e ectively handle the e ects of the continuing rains and oods.
Kabul : Hazra Community Su ers Attacks on Schools
Bombs placed in cars parked outside the girl’s school exploded (Credit: Kiana Hayeri / New York Times)
In recent years, the Dasht - e Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul has witnessed some of the region’s most destructive attacks. In May of 2021, an attack on an all-girls school led to the deaths of ninety people, most of the students. ese attacks con rmed fears that the American troop withdrawal would leave Afghan women, and the political and social gains they made, particularly vulnerable to the Taliban’s onslaught.
. e neighbourhood had already been deemed vulnerable to ISKP (Islamic State-Khorasan Province) armed attacks before the Taliban takeover, but its residents now fear the worst under the current regime. e settlement in western Kabul is mostly home to ethnic Hazaras, a marginalised population within Afghanistan. A long history of persecution, including a genocidal campaign during a religious war from 1891-93, laid the foundations of the remaining Hazara communities within Afghanistan. e majority of Hazaras follow the Shi’a school of Islam and thus constitute a religious minority in a country where the majority practise Sunni Islam.
A report by the Minority Rights Group shone a light on the systematic discrimination, targeted violence and enforced displacement, which has led the Hazara to lose much of their population. Islamic State loyalists (previously claimed by the Taliban and now the ISKP) have primarily targeted the Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood’s education centres, mosques, hospitals and businesses. Taliban authorities who took over Kabul in August, have stated that they would increase protection for Shia mosques and other facilities. However, the Taliban have a long history of committing serious abuses against Hazaras. According to Human Rights Watch, Taliban o cials have singled out Hazara journalists for arbitrary detention, and elsewhere the community has had to endure forced evictions.
For the Hazara community in Kabul, and most impor-
tantly for young girls pursuing their education, an emboldened hard-line Islamist government threatens to eradicate years of social gains and hard-fought freedoms. As noted by the O ce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), both the previous presidential republic and the current Taliban regime have deliberately sidelined the Hazara regime in relation to matters of governance and policy-making.
ese attacks showcase how Afghan nationalism, in both its presidential and Islamic forms, fails to equally protect both secular citizens and followers of Islam. e contradictions of Afghan nationalism are most evident in its targeting of vulnerable groups, particularly the Hazara community and its women, students and young girls. It is evident from these attacks that Sunni militants target Hazara community centres and educational establishments as a means of imposing a regime of domination. is domination serves to crudely portray the Sunni militants as powerful and militaristic by nature, whilst rendering the Hazara students as victims of a traumatic attack.
Hazara women, and Afghan women more generally, are not by any means passive, although the o cial regime attempts to characterise the community as so. Since the Taliban took power in August, Afghan women have been at the forefront of resistance against government oppression. ey have held peaceful protests ghting for their basic rights, chanting “Bread, Work, Freedom”. In these protests, women have demanded the right to safe education and the reopening of girls’ secondary schools. ey have demanded the right to social and political participation in society, o en at great personal risk. e bravery of Hazara women, particularly at a time of immense grief, continues to be a source of inspiration for many like-minded people around the world
ese attacks con rmed fears that the American troop withdrawal would leave Afghan women particularly vulnerable to the Taliban’s onslaught.
Opinion editors: Emily Holdcroft and Naeema Mahmood Opinion
The West’s Hypocrcisy Regarding the Iranian Protest
Hiba Ul-Hasan BA History and Unzeela Manzoor BA Politics and International Relations
Credit: A protester holds a portrait of Mahsa Amini- Ozan Köse/AFP/Getty Images (October 2022)
Hiba: It would seem evident that, given the circumstances of her killing, and Iranian laws that violate UN human rights rules, there should be a focus on condemning and holding the Iranian regime responsible?
e news outlets did rst focus on the barbaric means used by the Iranian government to enforce its ‘rules,’ especially because the protests triggered by this event resulted in greater violence by the police against peaceful protestors. Various videos circulated on social media depicting the nature of the protest in which Iranian women and girls took to the streets in solidarity with Maha, resulting in widespread international support. Other than these marches and a few news pieces, little international governmental action has been taken against the Iranian regime.
e protests in Iran were taking place before international coverage. However, due to the in uence of social media, news of Maha’s death and the protests in Iran reached the international community faster. Iranian women living across the world are sharing stories and experiences of their sisters living in Iran. is is due to the Iranian censorship of social media that came about a er videos circled of women cutting their hair, and burning pieces of fabric during protests. University students and girls have also been at the forefront of the protest despite knowing the risks they are taking for opposing the government.
For Iranian women, this dress code is a prevalent part of their daily lives. ey live in fear of being taken into custody by the Morality police and having a similarly unfortunate fate as Maha, like many others who have been subjected to the police’s violence. ey should, like all women around the world, be able to have the freedom to dress how they want. Whether that means wearing a hijab and dressing modestly or not. Women should be able to do either of these things without fear that they will be discriminated against, mocked or subjected to violence. Every individual has the right and freedom to dress how they see t without anyone else imposing their opinion.
Unzeela: Recently, there have been international waves of solidarity starting to pour in. Videos of women from around the world chopping their hair have been surfacing on social media. is was meant to be a means of ‘reclamation’ and a symbol of ‘rebellion’, which is both moving and powerful. With Oscar-winning actresses joining in on the initiative, this trend has made headlines and, subsequently, so has its cause. While it is pertinent to draw as much attention as we can to the matter, it is important to gauge our own positionality before we partake in acts of solidarity.
What is absurd is that these activists reign from Europe, particularly France and Israel. e policies of both countries are rooted in islamophobia and target Muslim Women who wear the Hijab. is adds a layer of hypocrisy and performative-ness to the act. What doubles down on this is the ‘minute of silence’ observed by French MPs in the national assembly in remembrance of the Iranians who lost their lives. As if it was not the same MPs who passed the law banning the Hijab in schools in the French assembly last year.
e protests in Iran are for liberty and choice. at choice extends to women who do not want to wear the Hijab. Empty shows of support from nations and, activists who are robbing Muslim women of the same choice in their own backyards, does nothing for the movement. Instead, it takes space away from the voices that should be at the forefront. e international community must play an important role in advancing the Iranian revolution rather than hijacking it.
