Peace & Justice

What the Sialkot Lynching Means For South Asia?

Viewpoint by Chulanee Attanayake and Chirayu Thakkar

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

COLOMBO | SINGAPORE (IDN) — On December 3, 2021, the South Asian headlines were dominated by the unfortunate lynching of a Sri Lankan factory manager, Priyantha Kumara. An Export Manager working in Pakistan since 2010, Priyantha Kumara, was beaten, killed and set on fire for removing posters with religious verses printed on them. The mob construed this as an act of blasphemy. The gruesome incident shook the conscience of many, with protests sparked within Pakistan and demands for justice in Sri Lanka.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 December 2021

Photo: The talks are aimed at bringing Iran back into full compliance with the 2015 deal and paving the way for the US to rejoin. Source: Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The US Conceding Alone Would Lead to Successful Negotiations

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The negotiations over Iran’s supposed nuclear bomb-building abilities seem to be stuck in a rut. On December 27, they re-started once again. Given the detailed undertakings by Iran made in the agreement negotiated by the administration of President Barack Obama before President Donald Trump sabotaged it, it should have only been a hop, skip and a jump to forge a final agreement once President Joe Biden decided to resurrect it.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 28 December 2021

Photo: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu during the Seeds of Compassion Interfaith Dialogue held in Seattle, Washington, USA on April 15, 2008. Photo by Tomas/Seeds of Compassion

Archbishop Desmond Tutu Was a "True Humanitarian and A Committed Advocate of Human Rights" — Dalai Lama

THEKCHEN CHÖLING, Dharamsala, India (IDN) — Immediately on being informed that his “respected elder spiritual brother and good friend” Archbishop Desmond Tutu had passed away, His Holiness the Dalai Lama composed a letter to the Archbishop’s daughter, Rev. Mpho Tutu.

“Please accept my heartfelt condolences,” he wrote, “and convey the same to your mother and other members of your family. I pray for him.

: Admin; OPINION; 28 December 2021

Photo: Gabriel Boric, Chile's Left-wing leader, designated President. Source: CounterCurrents.org

Chile's Left-wing Leader Wins Presidential Elections

Viewpoint by Yanis Iqbal

ALIGARH, India (IDN) — The 2021 presidential election in Chile has resulted in the victory of the Left candidate Gabriel Boric. With nearly 56% of the vote, he has won by a margin of more than 10 percentage points—most presidents had hitherto secured only four or five point leads.

In absolute terms, this is a record majority, with some 4.6 million votes cast for Boric, putting him almost 1 million votes ahead of the pro-Pinochet candidate, Juan Antonio Kast, who obtained 44%. These electoral outcomes were marked by political polarization.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 26 December 2021

Photo: Myanmar on the left and India on the right bank of Tio River. Rihkhawdar is the busy trading broader town on the Chin State of Burma side and Zokhawdar on Mizoram State of India side. CC BY-SA 4.0

India’s Marriage of Convenience with Myanmar

By Niranjan Marjani

The writer is an independent researcher and columnist based in Vadodara (formerly Baroda), India.

VADODARA, India (IDN) — The November 13 attack on an Assam Rifles convoy by two Manipur insurgent groups—the People’s Liberation Army and Manipur Naga People’s Front—in Churachandpur district of Manipur has the potential to further destabilise Northeast India. Insurgent groups’ links in the region to Myanmar mandate a rethink of India’s approach to the issue.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 23 December 2021

Photo: UNMAS, MINUSMA Mark International Day for Mine Awareness. Robots have been deployed for mine clearance by military authorities in many countries, but concerns are rising over regulation of autonomous weapons which use Artificial Intelligence. UN Photo/Marco Dormino

US, Russia Stall Attempts to Ban Killer Robots

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As the US withdrew the last of its troops from Afghanistan on August 31 following a deadly 20-year-old war, one of the messages coming out of Washington was clear: the US will curtail “boots on the ground” in all future conflicts—even though there are still more than 40,000 American troops stationed around the Middle East.

But the wave of the future may be 'killer robots'—mostly the deployment of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—in “shadow wars,” particularly against terrorist groups worldwide.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 21 December 2021

Photo: Wing Loong II at Dubai Air Show 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Pentagon’s 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon

The writer is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 21 December 2021

Photo: US President Biden met virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on 15 November 2021. Source: Los Angeles Times.

A New Cold War Between Russia and The West Is Unnecessary

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — George Orwell, the author of “Animal Farm”, the satire on how a dictatorship can slowly but steadily evolve in a democratic society, and “1984”, a novel about a future dystopian dictatorship, was the first person to use the phrase “Cold War” in a 1945 newspaper article, written just after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 21 December 2021

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres accepts, via video conference, the Lamp of Peace award from the Sacred Convent of Assisi in Italy. Credit: UN News

In A World of Choices, ‘Let Us Choose Peace’, Urges UN Chief

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — Secretary-General António Guterres received the Lamp of Peace award on December 18, a major honour from the Catholic Church, which he said recognizes the work of UN personnel “striving for peace around the world”.

Reminding that after the horrors of World War in the 20th Century, “the UN was created in the name of peace”, he affirmed that “we are united here today in our pursuit of peace”.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 19 December 2021

EU Countries Might Be Failing To Protect Whistleblowers

By Marie Terracol and Ida Nowers

BERLIN (IDN | Transparency International) — Whistleblowing is one of the most effective ways to detect and prevent harm. Still, only 47 per cent of European citizens feel they can safely report corruption, with 45 per cent fearing reprisals for speaking up. Far too often, those who witness malpractice are not empowered to say something, and when they do, face personal, professional or legal attacks, harming their mental and even physical well-being. Robust legislation is key to protect individuals who blow the whistle and ensure that the wrongdoing they report is addressed.