Author: Arif ArifArman

Antariksh Singh: The world of pop culture, with its pulsating beats and flashy visuals, often carries within it the strains of political undertones. In Canada’s thriving Punjabi music scene, rappers like Shubh don’t merely represent a contemporary hip-hop culture; they inadvertently echo sentiments of a bygone extremist movement, Khalistan, which has long lost traction in India. Yet, it has found resonance among a section of the Sikh diaspora in Canada. How has this ideology, once marginalized and isolated in India, become part of mainstream dialogue in another country? Canada has been home to Punjabi immigrants for generations. Through their trials…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In a strongly worded letter addressed to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the Baloch Human Rights Council of Canada (BHRC-Canada) has raised questions about the government’s uneven approach to two distinct cases. The organization expressed its concern regarding the apparent double standards in dealing with the deaths of Karima Baloch and Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Dr. Zaffar Jawaid, President of BHRC-Canada, underscored this contrast in his letter, stating, “Prime Minister Mr. Justin Trudeau’s conspicuous silence regarding the high-profile, unexplained death of Ms. Karima Baloch – a prominent Balochistan human rights defender – stands in stark contrast to his impassioned…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Seven years ago, in 2016, India had alerted Canada about Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s alleged involvement in “organising secret training camps for Sikh extremist groups associated with Khalistan movement in Milligan Hills in British Columbia”. The Indian authorities are said to have provided training videos to their Canadian counterparts, but no action was taken , officials told ET. Nijjar, whose killing in Canadian soil in June has snowballed into a row between India and Canada, was affiliated with separatist group by the name of Khalistan Tiger Force (KTF). ET takes a look at Nijjar’s journey from his involvement in…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In the hustle and bustle of New York’s United Nations General Assembly, where world leaders converge to discuss the globe’s most pressing issues, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found himself standing alone, his once-dazzling smile now fading amidst the mounting pressures of international diplomacy. The spotlight had firmly fixed on Trudeau due to a startling allegation he made earlier in the week, one that sent shockwaves across diplomatic circles and raised eyebrows around the world. Trudeau claimed there was credible evidence suggesting the Indian government’s involvement in the extrajudicial killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. The…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: UK’s visiting professor of Economic Policy at Oxford University, Stefan Dercon, has said even elite in Pakistan are losing ground and legitimacy, and they will have to change to kick-start the economy and remove dependence on getting dollar inflows from abroad. “The elite will have to change to build up common grounds because there is no quick fix. It can be done through political bargaining among the military, politicians, bureaucrats, intellectuals, and journalists. There is no quick fix,” former economic adviser to the Department for International Development (DfID) said while speaking on the second day of a conference,…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Opposition leader in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kazim Mesum has questioned the six-day visit of US Ambassador to Pakistan Donald Blome and expressed concern over what he called his ‘mysterious activities’, Dawn News reported on Sunday. During the six-day visit, US Ambassador visited different areas and met local representatives and Gilgit Baltistan government officials. As per the Pakistan-based news daily, the Ambassador’s tour was kept secret by both the embassy and local government as no details were provided to media about the visit. The only official information about the envoy’s visit came in a statement issued by the GB deputy speaker’s…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The three Indian martial arts athletes unable to compete at the Hangzhou Asian Games due to a politically-charged visa issue are “mentally broken” by the affair, team-mates told Reuters on Sunday. The absent trio – Mepung Lamgu, Nyeman Wangsu and Onilu Tega – come from Arunachal Pradesh, a state in the northeast of India which China claims as part of Tibet. The Wushu athletes were issued with stapled China visas instead of stamped ones, according to India’s foreign ministry, meaning they could not travel as India does not accept stapled visas as valid. “I trained in the camps…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A government report has attributed the plane crash involving a Yeti Airlines aircraft near Pokhara International Airport eight months ago to a combination of technical issues and human error. However, sources familiar with the situation argue that inadequate runway infrastructure, a lack of essential equipment at the airport, and delayed pilot instructions also played significant roles in the accident. The commission of inquiry tasked with investigating the crash submitted its findings to Sudan Kirati, the Minister of Culture, Tourism, and Civil Aviation. According to Buddhisagar Lamichhane, the commission’s member secretary, the final report has been submitted to the…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: An Islamabad district and sessions court on Friday remanded journalist Muhammad Khalid Jamil in the custody of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) for two days, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. The development comes after Jamil’s arrest on Thursday night. According to FIA, Khalid Jamil was detained on charges of spreading a “provocative narrative” against state institutions through his posts on social media. ABN News, the TV Channel with which Jamil is affiliated confirmed his arrest in a post shared on X. The first information report lodged by the agency said the accused was “found sharing and propagating highly intimidating content/tweets…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In a recent development, the Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of engaging in what they describe as “dangerous manoeuvres” within the disputed South China Sea region. This incident is the latest in a series of maritime tensions between the two neighbouring nations, CNN reported. The Philippine Coast Guard on Friday reported that while conducting a routine rotation and resupply mission near Ayungin Shoal, also known as Ren’ai Reef in China, they encountered eight Chinese boats. According to the Philippine Coast Guard, these Chinese vessels posed a threat to the safety of their crew members, although specific details of…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Indian Embassy in Nepal has announced that the India-Nepal development partnership is gaining momentum. The embassy highlighted this positive progress through a statement on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) on Saturday. According to the embassy’s statement, this momentum stems from the commitment made during the visit of Nepal’s Prime Minister, Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, to India in June 2023. During his visit, both countries expressed their dedication to increasing the quantum of electricity imported to India from Nepal to an impressive 10,000 MW over the next decade. To facilitate this ambitious goal, an additional 180 MW of electricity export…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), which is the power regulatory body of Pakistan, has exposed Chinese coal-fired power plants to using lower-quality imported coal. According to reports, the plants had pledged to use coal with a calorific value of 6000 (CVs). Not a single imported consignment meets the required standards and still they claim multi-billion rupees of capacity payments that are being collected from the public, reports The News International. This revelation came to light during a public hearing conducted by Nepra on Thursday to review the existing mechanism, last revised in 2016, the newspaper reported.…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: When the Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially announced the Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s visit to China on Constitution Day (Ashoj 3), it raised eyebrows as Minister for Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation, Shakti Bahadur Basnet, was conspicuously absent from the visiting delegation. Even Kulman Ghising, the executive director of Nepal Electricity Authority, a key figure in the energy sector, was not included in the delegation. Prime Minister Dahal is all set to commence his week-long visit to China, starting Friday . Officials from the Ministry of Energy have clarified that the Energy Minister was excluded because there…

Michael Rubin:Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau sparked a diplomatic crisis by accusing India’s government of complicity in the June 2023 murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canada-based Sikh leader, in suburban Vancouver. The Canadian government alludes publicly to supposed intelligence that it neither details nor releases. Trudeau’s publication of the matter comes against the backdrop of declining popularity and a frosty reception at the G20 Summit. After Trudeau’s comments, both Canada and India expelled senior diplomats from the other’s embassies. Canada has reportedly sought U.S. support in the spat. The Biden administration denies rebuffing Canada, but appears wary of antagonizing…

Meezan Zahra Khwaja: The city of Lahore is beautiful, residents and visitors agree. But most days, it becomes hard to find that beauty as it is blanketed under a dense haze of vehicular smoke and industrial emissions. It is no wonder that this beautiful city is now ranked among the most polluted cities in the world. One of the major causes of this unwanted honour is the high air pollution to the point of being toxic. As I write this in mid-September, the Air Quality Index (AQI) — an index that measures how polluted the city’s air is — is…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A local court in Islamabad on Thursday summoned former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on September 25 in a case related to his alleged ‘un-Islamic’ marriage with Bushra Bibi, Pakistan-based The Express Tribune reported citing Express News. Civil Judge Qudratullah in an order issued to the Superintendent Attock Jail directed the latter to ensure that Imran Khan is presented before the court, The Express Tribune reported. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been imprisoned in jail after being convicted in the Toshakhana case. He was arrested from his Zaman Park residence in Lahore on August 5. During…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Satya Narayan Sharma, a member of an Indian NGO — Rajasthan Samgrah Kalyan Sansthan (RSKS) — recently addressed the ongoing 54th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), shedding light on the significant impact of India’s Citizenship Amendments Act (CAA). During an intervention made by him, Sharma highlighted the concerns of refugee communities hailing from neighbouring Pakistan, who, after being displaced, found refuge in India. He underlined how the CAA has played a pivotal role in granting Indian citizenship to minorities from Pakistan, providing them with a fresh start and a renewed sense of security. Sharma…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Taiwanese defence ministry, on Friday (September 22) called recent Chinese military movements around the island “abnormal” while also reporting an increase in such activity over the past week or so. The ministry also particularly flagged amphibious exercises as well as drills Taipei has observed in the province facing the island. The Taiwanese defence ministry, early Friday, said that they detected 32 Chinese aircraft within the previous 24 hours out of which 17 planes crossed the median line – an unofficial barrier between the two sides – according to a map it published. Two of the aircraft also…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A Huawei Technologies unit is shipping new Chinese-made chips for surveillance cameras, a fresh sign that the Chinese tech giant has found ways around four years of US export controls, says two sources who were briefed on the unit’s activities. The shipments to surveillance camera manufacturers from the company’s HiSilicon chip design unit started this year with at least some of their customers being Chinese. China accused the US of infiltrating Huawei servers starting in 2009, part of a broad-based effort to steal data that culminated in tens of thousands of cyberattacks against Chinese targets last year. Meng…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Javed Ahmad Beigh, a prominent socio-political activist, has drawn attention to the dire human rights situation faced by Shias in Pakistan, particularly in the illegally occupied region of Gilgit Baltistan, where a significant Shia population resides. In an exclusive interview with ANI, Beigh emphasized that Shias in Pakistan live under a constant shadow of fear due to an unannounced crackdown by the state on this minority group. He pointed out that Shias have long been treated as second-class citizens in Sunni-dominant Pakistan, and the situation has recently deteriorated further. “Many people across Gilgit and Baltistan have been killed.…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Wednesday announced the schedule of a sit-in in Lahore against the rising inflation, Pakistan-based ARY News reported. The JI will begin its three-day sit-in in Lahore on Thursday, with the party workers gathering outside the governor’s house from Al-Hamra hall. JI chief Siraj Ulhaq, senior leaders including Liaquat Baloch, Ameerul Azeem and other provincial leaders will address the sit-in. Earlier, JI held a sit-in against the inflated electricity bills and rising inflation. According to the details, the sit-in was part of the JI protests against the exorbitant electricity bills, according to ARY News report.…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A research analyst came down heavily on Pakistan for openly recruiting mercenaries and terrorist organizations to pursue its own interests and political agenda in South Asia. Luce Plaid was speaking at the 54th Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on Tuesday. She said, “Among the list of UN-designated terrorist entities present on Pakistani soil, the most prominent terrorist groups supported by the military are the Lashkar-e-Tayyiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. While officially banned, they continue to flourish within Pakistan’s borders under the aegis of the Pakistani army.” “In a geopolitical context where the fight for influence is…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: UK Member of Parliament (MP) Theresa Villiers on Monday spoke about the success of India’s recently concluded G20 Summit and the need for stronger ties between the UK and India. The MP also spoke about the rising Chinese interference in UK politics and the need for counter balance of the Global South. She was speaking at the ‘Indo-Pacific dialogue: Jammu Kashmir 2019 and beyond event’ held by the Indo-Pacific All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the UK Parliament. The event’s keynote speakers included Georgetown University Professor Christine Fair, an affiliate of the London School of Oriental and African Studies…

INTERNATIONAL DESK: In a stunning exposé that peels back the layers of clandestine terror networks, India Today’s special report reveals a dramatic shift in the once-secure sanctuaries for enemies of India. The world of terror in Pakistan is undergoing a seismic transformation, marked by a series of high-profile casualties and an internal power struggle that threatens to upend the status quo. A Bloody End in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) The investigation begins with the chilling image of Rayaz Ahmed, also known as Abu Qasim, lying lifeless in a mosque in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). His life was brutally cut short on September…