Riot police clashed with protesters in Belarus overnight after a government exit poll predicted Sunday President Aleksander Lukashenko, an authoritarian who has ruled the Eastern European country since 1994, had overwhelmingly defeated a pro-democracy opposition candidate. Why it matters: It's a precarious moment for the former Soviet republic, where decades of repression and a complete disregard for the coronavirus pandemic threaten to topple "Europe's last dictator." Rights groups said at least one protester was killed and dozens more wounded in a "police crackdown," per AP. The state of play: Opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a teacher who replaced her husband on the ticket when he was arrested for launching his campaign, is claiming victory based on results from 20 polling stations, where a spokesman told the Globe and Mail her vote share was "two, three, four times" that of Lukashenko. The government exit poll that triggered Sunday's protests, which had been ongoing at a smaller scale for weeks, showed Lukashenko with 79.7% of the vote and Tikhanovskaya with 6.8%. The country's Central Election Commission said that more complete results would be coming on Monday, according to Politico. In the meantime, thousands of Belarusians have taken to the streets in cities all over the country to protest the allegedly rigged results. They've been met in many instances with riot police and other security forces, who have been documented on social media deploying tear gas and violently attacking protesters. Convoys of military personnel were filmed moving into the capital of Minsk, where main roads into the city have been blocked off. The internet was also reported to have been shut down late Sunday. What they're saying: "As neighbors of Belarus, we call on Belarusian authorities to fully recognize and uphold basic democratic standards," the presidents of Poland and Lithuania said in a joint statement. "We urge to refrain from violence and call for respect of fundamental freedoms, human and citizen rights including the rights of national minorities and freedom of speech." "We are convinced that closer cooperation with the European Union is in the interest of Belarus, we want the doors for this cooperation to remain open and stand ready to continue to provide further support to Belarus in deepening its relations with the united European family." European Council President Charles Michel tweeted: "Violence against protesters is not the answer #Belarus. Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, basic human rights must be upheld." European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen called on Belarusian authorities to ensure an accurate vote count and said the EU is "ready to support the process of de-escalation and dialogue that would lead to democratisation and a closer, more intense EU-Belarus Partnership." White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said at a briefing Monday that the Trump administration is "deeply concerned" about the Belarus election and urged the government to "respect the right to peaceably assemble and refrain from the use of force." On the ground

MAIDAN SHAR, Afghanistan — In one of the most heavily contested provinces in Afghanistan, the government's control ends just two miles from the governor's residence. Beyond that point, Taliban influence reigns. The balance of power in Wardak province held relatively steady for years. But since the signing of a U.S.-Taliban peace deal in February, Taliban influence has grown here and in other key parts of the country. An uptick in violence, aimed at giving the militant group leverage in upcoming talks with the Afghan government, has caused hundreds of civilian and combatant casualties, and is undermining local government officials. “It’s created a great distance between us and the people,” said Esmatullah Azim, a local politician in the province. He said fewer civilians are approaching him for help with compensation or for an explanation of the violence. Instead, they’re turning to the Taliban. “The people blame the government for the delay in peace talks. They are hungry for peace and want it any way and anyhow. Instead, day by day, the Taliban are getting stronger.” Under the U.S.-Taliban agreement, the Afghan-Taliban peace talks were slated to begin in March. But they were delayed for months by a presidential power crisis in Kabul, increased levels of violence and a controversial prisoner exchange that was finalized only Sunday. The talks are now expected to launch this month in Doha. U.S. officials have said they will bring a drop in violence. Washington Post reporters traveled to Maidan Shar this month during the three-day cease-fire for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha. Wardak lies along one of Afghanistan’s most dangerous highways, but during the cease-fire, the road was free from clashes and Taliban fighters temporarily disbanded their checkpoints. The cease-fire was a brief reprieve during an otherwise intensely violent period. Police at the security outposts that mark the end of government control and the beginning of Taliban influence have reported increased assaults by the militants. And in districts beyond the government’s reach, civilians report heavier use of government artillery. More than 3,400 civilians have been killed and wounded since the signing of the U.S.-Taliban deal, according to Afghan government figures. The casualties are comparable to those of the months leading up to the agreement, which were among the highest on record. Local officials warn that the persistent violence is helping the Taliban. They fear the militants are now in a stronger position as they enter delicate negotiations with Kabul to redistribute power across the country and shape the government that will rule postwar Afghanistan. Naimatullah Naimat, the head of the emergency room at Maidan Shar’s main hospital, said he’s seen the number of wounded coming for treatment increase. “It wasn’t only me — all Afghans had the same expectation, that there would be a decrease in the violence,” he said. “But unfortunately that hasn’t been the case.” Naimat said patients from rural parts of the province blame the government for their injuries and the deaths of loved ones. “If there is an operation in a village [that causes casualties], people think it’s the government who is killing them,” he said. Data collected by the United Nations suggests otherwise. The U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan attributed more civilian casualties in the first half of the year to anti-government armed groups than to government forces. Taliban forces were responsible for 43 percent of all civilian casualties, the mission said in its most recent U.N. report; government forces were responsible for 23 percent. The U.S.-Taliban deal did not require a reduction in violence, but U.S. officials said violence was “expected” to remain low after the signing. The week before the signing saw a drop in violence of more than 70 percent. But within days, it surged again, the only relief being two temporary cease-fires for holidays. Officials in other contested provinces echoed Azim, saying increased violence following the deal has undermined local governance. “The people have lost trust in the government,” said Hamidullah Nawroz, the head of Ghazni’s provincial council. “Instead, their trust in the Taliban has increased.” Nawroz clarified that he doesn’t believe most Afghans in his province trust the Taliban to be just rulers. But the deal with the United States gave legitimacy to the militants in the eyes of many Afghans, and has made them appear to be a more reliable source of security than the government. Before the deal was made public, Nawroz said, people in his province had hoped some form of a power-sharing government would rule postwar Afghanistan. “Now people think it’s inevitable the Taliban will take complete control.” Hundreds of Afghan troops and police have been killed or wounded over the past five months. At the height of the violence in June, 291 security forces were killed and 550 wounded in a single week, according to Afghanistan’s national security council. In Wardak on a recent afternoon, half a dozen police were stationed at a dusty checkpoint just beyond the governor’s compound, atop a mound of discarded concrete and mesh barriers that delineate the end of government-controlled territory. “There’s fighting every night,” said Jamshed Afghan, a 19-year-old police officer. “And every day we hear that the Taliban overran another checkpoint.” He said he believes clashes with Afghan forces have increased since the U.S. deal because the Taliban no longer devote resources and fighters to U.S. targets. And with fewer U.S. airstrikes, the militants are under less military pressure. Afghan pointed to a handful of places along the perimeter of the outpost where recent Taliban attacks have killed members of his unit. A small gap in a line of concrete barrier walls, he said, was “where they shot our friend.” Muhammed Azim, 27, was killed just days before the Eid cease-fire. He left three small children. “Of course it brings our morale down,” Afghan said. “The Taliban are becoming stronger, and without the Americans they can turn their faces to us completely.” Sharif Hassan in Kabul contributed to this report. © The Washington Post 2020

The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), a nonprofit organisation working to secure a future for all Nigerians, has called on the USA and other responsible world governments to urgently intervene in what it described as allegedly genocide targeted at Christians in Nigeria. In its newly released report, ICON said that Nigeria is a ticking time, warning that if Nigeria Implodes ‘so will the whole of Africa. The report launched August 3, provided proofs of the religious persecution and genocide that has been occurring in Nigeria over the last 20 years including recent testimonies of some of the more than 60,000 victims in Nigeria; and statements from witnesses who are targeted specifically for their Christian faith, among a comprehensive collection of other data and statistics. In a video teleconference call, ICON’s cofounder, Kyle Abts, introduced the report, entitled “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter: Genocide in Nigeria and the Implications for the International Community,” saying, “The first hand accounts of the ongoing religious persecution and genocide are shocking and cannot be tolerated. While the country’s own government has failed to stop the violence, Nigeria has been transformed into an epicenter of terrorist activities and a ticking time bomb. This report shows us that action is needed now and intervention by the United States is critical.” The study employed data from January 1, 2000 to January 31, 2020, to exposes how Book Haram killed more than 43,000 Nigerians, the vast majority being women and children. It raised awareness of the continuing onslaught by Fulani Militants, saying that the militants have killed nearly 19,000 Nigerians, primarily Christian farmers. Invariably, data collected, between 2000-2019, shows that deaths resulting from Fulani Militant attacks include 17,284 across the country, 13,079 in predominantly Christian states (Benue, Kaduna, Plateau, and Taraba). That means three of every four Fulani Militant victims during this time were Christians. ICON also stated that Nigerian government claims to be “on top of the situation,” but regretted that terrorist attacks continued to ravage different parts of the country, adding that perpetrators appear more emboldened by the government’s complacency. “The ongoing violence and brutality perpetrated against innocent Nigerians by Islamist terrorists like Boko Haram and Fulani Militants has to stop; it’s that simple. “President Buhari and his administration are attempting to dictate the narrative and condition the world, really, to believe that Nigeria’s Christians are safe from terrorism, which is simply untrue, as our report verifies. A United States Special Envoy is key to turning things around in Nigeria,”stated ICON co-founder, Stephen Enada. ICON has been advocating for the U.S. to send a Special Envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad region for several years. Earlier this year, the organization partnered with the International Organization for Peace Building and Social Justice (PSJ) to launch the Silent Slaughter campaign. Silent Slaughter is a global campaign created to shine a light on the humanitarian crisis in Nigeria and advocate for peace. The goal is to engage global partners to hold President Buhari accountable. Silent Slaughter supports a peaceful, unified Nigeria and believes unequivocally that sending a U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad region is key to achieving this. Others participating ICON’s recent teleconference include Dr. Gregory Stanton, chairman and founding partner of Genocide Watch; Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom; Reverend Johnnie Moore, president of the Congress of Christian Leaders and commissioner of USCIRF; and Former Congressman Frank Wolf. “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter” report has received praise from multiple political and religious individuals, proving the document’s validity. Endorsements for the document include the Family Research Council, Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom, Genocide Watch, International Christian Concern, members of Benue State Government, the U.K. Parliament, and more. Tony Perkins of Family Research Council said: “ICON’s newly released report is both distressing and urgent. With forewords by three internationally respected human rights experts—Rep. Frank Wolf; Baroness Cox, House of Lords; and Archbishop Benjamin Kwashi—this remarkable report paints a devastating picture of the ongoing slaughter that threatens to decimate Africa’s largest and most prosperous country. Page after page contains meticulously curated facts and figures, including original certification of incidents, legal briefs, maps, charts and graphs. “This amounts to a clear-eyed presentation of death and destruction carried out by savage jihadis, most notably Boko Haram and Fulani radicals. It is my opinion that this grim evidence calls for immediate action. I hope and pray it is acted upon by responsible international governments and organizations willing to take every step necessary to save the lives of innocent men, women, and children.” “I have had the painful privilege of visiting some of the worst affected areas and have heard directly from survivors of attacks. They have shared – with immense bravery and with tears – personal tragedies of mass slaughter, torture, amputations, rape, forced displacement and destruction of homes, churches and farmland. The longer these massacres and atrocities are tolerated, the more the perpetrators are emboldened. We give them a ‘green light’ to carry on their killings and destruction with impunity. I therefore strongly commend this timely report and hope that appropriate actions will result, as a matter of urgency,” Baroness Cox, U.K. Parliament added. The International Christian Concern stated that it was alarmed by the evidence presented in Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter. “The book helps to shed light on the horrific and large-scale persecution going on in Nigeria— a tragedy that continues to escalate but consistently fails to garner appropriate international attention.” Nina Shea of Hudson Institute’s Center for Religious Freedom observed: “ICON’s data sheds important light on the brutal onslaught of Christian communities in large parts of Nigeria. It’s an important compilation showing that Nigeria has become one of the world’s hotspots of Islamic extremism and that now more Christians have been killed for their faith there than were slaughtered in ISIS’s genocide in Iraq and Syria, combined. So far, our secular media and foreign policy establishment have missed this story. I hope our policy makers and ordinary citizens study this critical report and take action to help. Thank you, ICON, for exposing this horrific persecution and working for justice for these religious believers!” For Dr. Gregory Stanton, Genocide Watch; “This is a historic document that ICON has put together. It’s very much like the document the Knights of Columbus put together when we were trying to demonstrate to Congress that ISIS was committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims and other religious groups in Syria and Iraq, which, as you know, resulted in a unanimous resolution stating such.” Source: New Telegraph, Nigeria

Unidentified gunmen have killed about 20 people in an attack on a cattle market in eastern Burkina Faso, the government said in a statement. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack in the village of Fada N'Gourma, around which the army is carrying out a search operation. "Unidentified armed individuals burst into a cattle market in Namoungou village in the region of Fada N'Gourma and attacked the population," the governor, Colonel Saidou Sanou, said in a statement on Friday. "According to an initial toll, around 20 people have been killed and numerous others wounded." Gunmen killed 25 people in an attack on another cattle market in the eastern village of Kompienga in May. Burkina Faso has been battling armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS) since 2017. Hundreds of people have been killed in the past year in the Sahel nation, and more than half a million have fled their homes due to the violence, which has also raised ethnic and religious tensions. In the past five years, more than 900 people have been killed by armed groups, while some 860,000 people have fled their homes. The Sahel country is taking part in a regional effort to battle an armed uprising along with Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Chad. Their militaries, under-equipped and poorly trained, are supported by 5,000 French troops in the region. Unrest in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger killed approximately 4,000 people last year, according to United Nations figures. © Al Jazeera 2020

A new report reveals that a genocide of approximately 62,000 Christians has taken place in Nigeria since the turn of the century at the hands of the Islamic terrorist groups Boko Haram and Fulani militants – in what is being called the “Silent Slaughter.” The report “Nigeria’s Silent Slaughter: Genocide in Nigeria and the Implications for the International Community” chronicles more than 60,000 testimonies of victims in Nigeria – many being witnesses who were specifically persecuted for their Christian faith – along with data and statistics confirming the mass murders. It was released by The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON). No more silence … ICON co-founder Kyle Abts is dedicated to exposing the atrocities endured by Nigerian Christians at the hands of terrorist groups – so the violence and genocide will be confronted and finally end. "The firsthand accounts of the ongoing religious persecution and genocide are shocking and cannot be tolerated,” Abts insisted in a video teleconference call, as reported in his organization’s press release “While the country's own government has failed to stop the violence, Nigeria has been transformed into an epicenter of terrorist activities and a ticking time bomb. This report shows us that action is needed now, and intervention by the United States is critical." Data compiled shows that between January 1, 2000, and January 31, 2020, more than 43,000 Nigerians were murdered by Boko Haram – known as one of the world’s deadliest Islamic terrorist groups. Additionally, nearly 19,000 Nigerians – mostly Christian farmers – were slaughtered by the Fulani during that time. According to the report, 17,284 of these deaths were from Fulani attacks – 13,079 carried out in predominantly Christian states, indicating that three out of four victims were Christians. Even though Nigerian officials insist that they are “on top of the situation,” this could not be further from the truth, as ICON co-founder Stephen Enada asserts that terrorist attacks persist across the nation – with the attackers appearing to grow more brazen, due to the government's complacency. "The ongoing violence and brutality perpetrated against innocent Nigerians by Islamist terrorists like Boko Haram and Fulani militants has to stop; it's that simple," Enada said in the release. "President Buhari and his administration are attempting to dictate the narrative and condition the world, really, to believe that Nigeria's Christians are safe from terrorism, which is simply untrue – as our report verifies. A U.S. Special Envoy is key to turning things around in Nigeria." In order to stop the needless and merciless killing, ICON has asked the U.S. to send a special envoy to Nigeria for several years as the organization has ramped up efforts via its global Silent Slaughter campaign to expose the nation’s humanitarian crisis and bring peace. Overwhelming support and calls to action Congress of Christian Leaders president Rev. Johnnie Moore – who also serves as USCIRF commissioner – as well as Genocide Watch chairman Dr. Gregory Stanton and former Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) were just a few of the participants in ICON’s teleconference last week, and many other influential leaders are supporting the campaign. "ICON's newly released report is both distressing and urgent,” Family Research Council President Tony Perkins stressed. “This remarkable report paints a devastating picture of the ongoing slaughter that threatens to decimate Africa's largest and most prosperous country. [The exhaustive document] amounts to a clear-eyed presentation of death and destruction carried out by savage jihadis – most notably Boko Haram and Fulani radicals. "It is my opinion," Perkins continued, "that this grim evidence calls for immediate action, [and] I hope and pray it is acted upon by responsible international governments and organizations willing to take every step necessary to save the lives of innocent men, women and children." Baroness Cox of the United Kingdom Parliament also urged immediate action to stem the genocide. "I have had the painful privilege of visiting some of the worst-affected areas and have heard directly from survivors of attacks,” Cox shared. “They have shared – with immense bravery and with tears – personal tragedies of mass slaughter, torture, amputations, rape, forced displacement and destruction of homes, churches and farmland. The longer these massacres and atrocities are tolerated, the more the perpetrators are emboldened. We give them a 'green light' to carry on their killings and destruction with impunity. I therefore strongly commend this timely report and hope that appropriate actions will result – as a matter of urgency." International Christian Concern (ICC) also issued a statement validating the perpetuated crisis detailed in the report. "ICC was alarmed by the evidence presented in 'Nigeria's Silent Slaughter,'” the organization serving the persecuted Church proclaimed. “The [report] helps to shed light on the horrific and large-scale persecution going on in Nigeria – a tragedy that continues to escalate, but consistently fails to garner appropriate international attention." Nina Shae, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute's Center for Religious Freedom, also expressed gratitude for the report exposing the continued atrocities on believers perpetrated by Islamic terrorist groups in Nigeria. "ICON's data sheds important light on the brutal onslaught of Christian communities in large parts of Nigeria,” Shae pointed out. “It … shows that Nigeria has become one of the world's hotspots of Islamic extremism and that now more Christians have been killed for their faith there than were slaughtered in ISIS's genocide in Iraq and Syria, combined. So far, our secular media and foreign policy establishment have missed this story. I hope our policy makers and ordinary citizens study this critical report and take action to help.” Genocide Watch’s Stanton said he hopes ICON’s “historic” document will generate action – similar to an earlier report exposing brutal genocides. "[ICON’s report] is very much like the document the Knights of Columbus put together when we were trying to demonstrate to Congress that ISIS was committing genocide against Yazidis, Christians, Shia Muslims and other religious groups in Syria and Iraq, which – as you know – resulted in a unanimous resolution …" Stanton pointed out. ©2006-2020 American Family Association - All Rights Reserved. OneNewsNow.com

Imran Khan terms India's revocation of Kashmir's autonomy as 'illegal and unilateral'. Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistani Prime Minister has reiterated a call for the world community to intervene in the Kashmir dispute by demanding Kashmiris' right to self-determination be implemented, one year after New Delhi revoked a special constitutional status for, and imposed a siege on, Indian-administered Kashmir. Khan addressed the legislative assembly of Pakistan-administered Kashmir in the city of Muzaffarabad on Wednesday, reiterating the Pakistani government’s support for the long-standing dispute to be settled via a United Nations-mandated plebiscite. "Today, [Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi is exposed in the world," said Khan. "And the biggest thing to come from that is that the world is now looking at Kashmir." On August 5, 2019, Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy, promising that the move would facilitate economic development by bringing the territory into the country's administrative mainstream. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Indian security forces have enforced a virtual siege of the territory, implementing widespread curfews and lockdowns, controlling citizens' movement, banning protests and cutting off the region's mobile internet connectivity. Cross-border shelling India and Pakistan have fought two of their three full-scale wars since gaining independence in 1947 over Kashmir, which both claim in full but administer separate portions of, divided by the Line of Control (LoC). Since 2003, a ceasefire has been in effect on the LoC, but it is frequently violated by both sides. On Wednesday, Pakistan's military said Indian shelling in the Tatta Pani sector of Pakistan-administered Kashmir killed a woman and wounded six others. Pakistan says Indian forces have violated the ceasefire 1,877 times this year, resulting in 15 civilians killed and 144 wounded. Speaking in Muzaffarabad, Khan said the world community had earlier ignored the plight of Kashmiri civilians, but was now beginning to pay attention after the alleged rights abuses, documented by several rights groups and the United Nations, by Indian security forces. "[Modi] knew that in the world, India is a very big market right now, with 1.25 billion people and that the world would want to keep good relations with such a big market," he said. "So he thought the world would remain silent." 'Illegal and unilateral' Earlier, Khan issued a statement on the anniversary of India's action, terming it "illegal and unilateral" and the result an "unprecedented, inhuman military siege and communication blockade". "It is a crime against humanity that has destroyed lives, crippled livelihoods, and imperiled the very identity of the people of Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir (IIOJK)," he said in the statement. A day earlier, Pakistan's government released an updated official map of its territory, reiterating its claims to Kashmir and two other, smaller disputed territories. The new map updates the official nomenclature on the Kashmir dispute, terming Indian-administered Kashmir to be "Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir", and stating that the dispute must be resolved in line with a 1948 UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for a plebiscite. India similarly rejects Pakistan's claims over territory it currently administers, claiming the entirety of Kashmir as its own territory. The Indian government does not, however, recognise the applicability of the UNSC resolution, which accords Kashmiris a right to self-determination. Earlier in the day, Khan led a protest rally in Muzaffarabad, walking alongside political leaders from the territory. Similar protests were held across the country. Speaking on Wednesday, Pakistan-administered Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider called for Pakistan to do more on the diplomatic front to push for a resolution to the Kashmir dispute. "The foreign ministry should sit with us, the government of Kashmir, and trust us - we will never harm your cause, we should all work together," he said. © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

March in Pakistani city was held by Jamaat-e-Islami political party to express solidarity with the people of Kashmir. Dozens of people have been wounded after a grenade explosion at a pro-Kashmir march in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, according to local officials. Wednesday's attack in the Gulshan-i-Iqbal area targeted a rally organised by Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), one of Pakistan's major religious parties. The provincial health department said in a statement at least 39 people were wounded, including one person who was in a critical condition. An ethnic Sindhi armed separatist group, the Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement emailed to Al Jazeera. In June, four people were killed including two soldiers in three consecutive explosions claimed by the SRA. The group wants Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, to break from the Pakistani federation. It has also announced its alliance with the Balochistan Liberation Army, a rebel group fighting for greater autonomy for the Balochistan region in southwestern Pakistan. Siraj ul Haq, JI chief and a senator, condemned the attack, calling it a "deplorable" act. The JI rally was organised to express solidarity with the people of Indian-administered Kashmir on the first anniversary of India's controversial decision to revoke the state's semi-autonomous status. On August 5, 2019, India's government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy, promising that the move would facilitate economic development by bringing the territory into the country's administrative mainstream. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Indian security forces have enforced a virtual siege in the territory, implementing widespread curfews and lockdowns, controlling citizens' movements, banning protests and cutting off the region's mobile internet connectivity. In a speech marking the occasion on Wednesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan reiterated a call for the world community to intervene in the Kashmir dispute by demanding Kashmiris' right to self-determination be implemented. "Today, [Indian Prime Minister] Narendra Modi is exposed in the world," said Khan. "And the biggest thing to come from that is that the world is now looking at Kashmir." © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

Recent abductions of a journalist and an activist have underscored Pakistan’s worsening rights conditions as the country’s security forces pressure the news media and human rights groups. When Prime Minister Imran Khan boasted last year that Pakistan had one of the “freest presses in the world,” journalists were quick to object, saying that intimidation of reporters across the country was intensifying. It has only gotten worse since. Two years into Mr. Khan’s term, censorship is on the rise, journalists and activists say, leaving the country’s heavy-handed military and security forces unchecked as they intimidate the news media to a degree unseen since the country’s era of army juntas. The security forces frequently pressure editors to fire or muzzle reporters, journalists say, while the government starves critical news outlets of advertising funds and refuses to settle previous bills worth millions of dollars. The abduction of a prominent reporter by state security officers in late July, coupled with the disappearance of a rights activist in November, has heightened those concerns. In June, Pakistan’s Military Intelligence agency admitted that it had detained the activist and that he is awaiting trial in a secret court on undisclosed charges. “Disappearances are a tool of terror, used not just to silence the victim but to fill the wider community with fear,” said Omar Waraich, the head of South Asia for Amnesty International. “In Pakistan, the military’s intelligence apparatus has used disappearances with impunity,” Mr. Waraich said, adding: “Civilian politicians look on helplessly, affecting concern and promising to investigate. Unable to uphold the rule of law as Imran Khan vowed to do, their authority erodes.” On July 21, the reporter, Matiullah Jan, had just dropped off his wife at her job in an upscale neighborhood in Pakistan’s capital Islamabad when several men, some in plain clothes, others in counterterrorism police uniforms, dragged him from his car, bundled him into one of their vehicles and sped away. Mr. Jan, 51, is a vocal critic of Mr. Khan’s governing party, the judiciary and the military, which critics accuse of working together to preserve their power and stamp out dissent. Footage from a security camera clearly shows the police’s involvement in the abduction, working alongside men in civilian clothes that many believe are Pakistani intelligence officers. The footage culminated in a pressure campaign on social media and Mr. Jan was released 12 hours later. He released a vague statement saying he had been abducted by forces that are “against democracy.” Multiple requests to the Pakistani government and military to comment for this article went unanswered. Pakistan’s security forces have not publicly commented on Mr. Jan’s abduction. Under Pakistani law, state-directed abductions like Mr. Jan’s are lawful. The detentions often go unexplained, leaving the families of the victims wondering for months or even years whether their loved one was killed in something as commonplace as a hit-and-run accident or secretly detained by the security forces. While Pakistan has long had a poor track record on press freedom, it has gotten notably worse under Mr. Khan’s administration, which has been widely seen as a high-water mark for military influence in the past decade. Pakistan slipped six spots since 2017 — the year before Mr. Khan took office — to 145th place out of 180 countries in the 2020 world press freedom index compiled by Reporters Without Borders. In the last five years, 11 journalists have been killed in Pakistan, seven of them since Mr. Khan was sworn in as prime minister two years ago. Anchors have frequently seen their newscasts cut off in the middle of broadcasting — a level of censorship not seen since the era of military dictatorships in Pakistan. Instead of establishing an outright dictatorship, human rights groups say, Pakistan’s generals are effectively imposing their will through their allies in a government that they helped usher into office. During the 2018 elections, the military was accused of meddling to ensure victory for Mr. Khan and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party and to virtually dismantle the party of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who had tried to curb the military’s powers. The military has denied those accusations. As those elections drew near, the military accused reporters of being anti-state, an allegation that was swiftly condemned by the Committee to Protect Journalists. After a series of articles detailing the military’s political and electoral interference, the security forces disrupted the distribution of Dawn newspaper across the country. Over the past year, the country’s remaining critical news outlets have been gutted by the combination of a devastated national economy and the sudden elimination of government advertising dollars. Media organizations have laid off dozens of journalists, and the combination of heavy pressure and job insecurity has led many reporters to avoid critical or controversial subjects. Like many Pakistani reporters, Mr. Jan claims that he lost his job as a popular talk show host just months after the election because of his hard-hitting reporting. He now runs his own YouTube channel. “This is the first time in the 31 years of my career where I’ve seen a structural takeover of the media industry,” said Talat Hussain, a former Geo TV news anchor who has been critical of the military and government. Mr. Hussain said his company fired him under pressure from the military shortly after Mr. Khan’s election. He has remained unemployed, with newspapers and TV shows refusing to host his work. “We have dealt with fairly tyrannical regimes that were elected and dealt in repression, but it was episodic,” Mr. Hussain said. “This time it is structural and complete and it’s hard to breathe.” Eventually, the authorities came after Mr. Hussain’s former boss. In March, Mir Shakil-ur-Rehman, the owner of the Jang Group, which owns Geo TV and The News newspaper, was detained over accusations of corruption, which Mr. Rehman has denied. Mr. Rehman has been held for over 100 days without charges, and several bail hearings have been postponed. When the rights activist Idris Khattak, 56, disappeared late last year, there was no video footage to give his family the clarity that Mr. Jan’s family had. In November, Mr. Khattak’s 21-year-old daughter, Talia Khattak, left Islamabad to go on a trip organized by her university. Her father told her he would call her to check in multiple times a day. During their last call, Ms. Khattak said her father sounded nervous and there was a commotion in the background. He promised to call back in “two or three days” before hastily hanging up the phone, an unusual gap of time for him. “Those two or three days have turned into eight months,” Ms. Khattak said in an interview. As the coronavirus rippled through Pakistan in the months after his disappearance, the family’s panic deepened — Mr. Khattak’s health issues, including diabetes, have proved dangerous in those stricken by the virus. Mr. Khattak’s disappearance was unusual. He retired about five years ago from his advocacy work with groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Mr. Khattak’s work focused on state-sponsored abductions. But he had since lived a quiet and seemingly uncontroversial life, his daughter said. Finally, in June, a rare admission came from the Military Intelligence agency: Mr. Khattak was in its custody and would be tried in a secret military tribunal. “When you take someone, when you abduct them, those people have families behind them. You’re ending all their lives,” Ms. Khattak said. “That they can just do this, with no repercussions, is unconscionable.” The authorities have not allowed Mr. Khattak’s family members to speak with him. In the eight months he has been gone, they have received no word about his health or that he is getting his medication. The abduction of her father has thrown Ms. Khattak into a murky political game as she tries to challenge the most secretive and repressive parts of the Pakistani state. “Whenever there is a journalist or activist in Pakistan speaking up on sensitive issues, they disappear like this,” she said. “Papa didn’t do anything illegal — all Papa did was speak up.” © 2020 The New York Times Company

Black Lives Matter, Palestinian and other activists express solidarity with Kashmiris ahead of revocation anniversary. Black Lives Matter, Palestinian, Uighur, Indigenous and Rohingya activists have come out in support of the people of Indian-administered Kashmir, calling for a "global spotlight on the suffering and their resistance", ahead of the one-year anniversary of the revocation of the region's autonomy by India's Hindu nationalist government. On August 5, 2019, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government abrogated Article 370 of India's constitution that granted the Muslim-majority region a special status, with powers to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence, foreign affairs and communications. The region was placed under an unprecedented security lockdown and internet shutdown for months following the decision, drawing condemnation from rights organisations and the United Nations. "I am sending this strong word of deep solidarity with my precious brothers and sisters in Kashmir facing a vicious Indian occupation generating levels of dominations, social misery and suffering," said Harvard University Professor Cornel West in a video message released on Tuesday by the Stand with Kashmir group. "Let's cast a national global spotlight on both the suffering and the resistance." Days before the anniversary, thousands of Indian troops were ordered to impose a two-day curfew in Kashmir, blocking main roads with razor wire and steel barricades, citing intelligence reports of looming protests. Kashmiris have called for the anniversary to be marked as a "black day". 'A brutal occupation' About 7,000 people were taken into custody whereas hundreds remained under house arrest or behind bars without charge. "This is a message to my Kashmiri brothers and sisters who are enduring a brutal occupation and being repressed by the most violent means," Mariam Barghouti, a Palestinian activist and writer, said in the video message for the US-based Kashmiri diaspora group. "I know that the plight for self-determination is difficult and oppressors rely on making their violence invisible and that they rely on making us invisible but your voices are heard and your shouts and screams as difficult as they are to utter are heard." A year on, life remains hard in Kashmir with several checkpoints still in place and half a million jobs lost in the region by the end of 2019, according to the Kashmir chamber of commerce. Kashmiris fear New Delhi's decision to allow Indians from other states to buy land and compete for local jobs are aimed at demographic change in the region of nearly eight million people. Beyond sharp words from Malaysia, Turkey and UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet, international reaction over the August 5 decision, has been largely muted. "As a Rohingya, going through a process of what is called a genocide and living in fear of not being able to protect loved ones, I would never understand why the international community takes so long to respond," Yasmin Ullah, a Rohingya activist, said. Kashmir has been split since 1947 between India and Pakistan, both of which claim it in full. India accuses Pakistan of sending fighters over their de facto Kashmir border to conduct attacks and also of supporting rebels on the ground, charges that Islamabad denies. In Pakistan, anti-India protests are planned throughout the country while all major cities in Pakistan will hold solidarity marches, along with a one-minute silence. Activists from around the world have expressed solidarity with Kashmiris, with Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accusing India of turning the Muslim-majority region into an "open-air prison". "Right now Kashmir is the largest militarised region in the world and right now Kashmiris are stripped of a very basic human rights and forms of self dignity," Aydin Anwar, an Uighur activist, said. "For the Kashmiri cause, I urge you all to continue to remain strong and courages to find against the appaling occupation." 'False claims' Ashok Koul, the general secretary of the governing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), defended last year's government move. "The last one year has been very good for Jammu and Kashmir. Militancy has reduced and the number of locals joining militancy has also come down," Koul told Al Jazeera. But official data show a growing number of Kashmiri youth joining rebel ranks. Koul dubbed allegations of human rights violations in Kashmir as "false claims". "Since 1947 this has been the business for diaspora groups and the activists to run these false campaigns. They have been doing it and these campaigns are their bread and butter." © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

Al Jazeera condemns 'troubling escalation' in crackdown on press, urges authorities to immediately cease criminal probe. Malaysian police have raided Al Jazeera's Kuala Lumpur office and seized two computers, the news network said, condemning the incident as a "troubling escalation" in the government's crackdown on press freedoms. The raid on Tuesday came after authorities in Malaysia announced they were investigating Al Jazeera for sedition, defamation and violation of the country's Communications and Multimedia Act. The probe relates to a 101 East programme that aired on July 3 and examined the Malaysian government's treatment of undocumented migrant workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Giles Trendle, the managing director of Al Jazeera English, said the network was "gravely concerned" by the raid and called on the Malaysian government to cease its criminal investigation against the network's journalists immediately. "Conducting a raid on our office and seizing computers is a troubling escalation in the authorities' crackdown on media freedom and shows the lengths they are prepared to take to try to intimidate journalists," Trendle said in a statement. "Al Jazeera stands by our journalists and we stand by our reporting. Our staff did their jobs and they've got nothing to answer for or apologise for. Journalism is not a crime." The raid comes nearly a month after Malaysian police questioned seven of Al Jazeera's journalists over the 101 East episode, titled Locked Up in Malaysia's Lockdown. Since the film's release, Al Jazeera said its staff and the individuals interviewed in the programme had faced abuse, death threats and the disclosure of their personal details on social media. A Bangladeshi man interviewed for the short film, Mohamad Rayhan Kabir, was arrested on July 24 and authorities said he would be "deported and blacklisted from entering Malaysia forever". Malaysian officials have criticised the 101 East investigative report as being inaccurate, misleading and unfair. Saifuddin Abdulla, the communications minister, also said Al Jazeera had failed to seek a permit to shoot the film. But the network strongly refuted those allegations, saying 101 East is a weekly current affairs show that does not fall in the category of films requiring a licence. Amnesty International Malaysia expressed concern over Tuesday's raid in a Twitter post, saying: "The government's crackdown on migrants and refugees, as well as those who speak up in their defense, is clearly meant to silence and intimidate and should be condemned." The Committee to Protect journalists, meanwhile, urged the government of Prime Minister Muhyddin Yassin to "stop treating journalists as criminals." "Malaysian authorities must stop harassing Al-Jazeera and drop all investigations into the broadcaster’s reporters and staff," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative. In May, another journalist and an activist were questioned over their reporting on the arrests of hundreds of migrant workers during Malaysia's lockdown. Tashny Sukumaran, a correspondent working for the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post, was questioned after she reported on the roundups, while an activist for refugees, Wan Noor Hayati Wan Alias, was also called in about a Facebook post on the treatment of migrant workers and refugees. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Committee to Protect Journalists CPJ) have urged Malaysia to drop the case against Al Jazeera and to allow journalists to do their jobs. "There has been a distinct pattern under the COVID-19 crisis of media workers targeted under Malaysia's Communications and Multimedia Act and Penal Code for simply doing their job," the IFJ said in a statement in July. "It is urgent for Malaysia during the pandemic to prioritise the public's right to know and for the media to be able to report freely and fairly without the threat of persecution." CPJ's Shawn Crispin called the probe against Al Jazeera a "witch-hunt" and said Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin's government "should stop treating journalists as criminals and allow the press to report on issues of public interest without fear of reprisal". © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

Two-day curfew imposed across Kashmir before the first anniversary of India's abolition of the region's special status. Authorities have imposed a curfew in Indian-administered Kashmir, a day ahead of the first anniversary of India's controversial decision to revoke the disputed region's semi-autonomy. Officials announced a two-day "full curfew" on Monday citing intelligence reports of looming protests in the Muslim-majority region of seven million people, where locals have called for the anniversary to be marked as a "black day". Police vehicles patrolled the main city of Srinagar after dark on Monday and again on Tuesday morning, with officers using megaphones to order residents to remain indoors. New razor-wire and steel barricades were placed on main roads on Srinagar, and on Tuesday thousands of government troops fanned across the city and surrounding villages. "Police in vehicles moved through our locality and from loudspeakers ordered us to stay indoors for two days - as if we were not already caged," Imriyaz Ali, who lives in the Srinagar old town, told AFP news agency. "I saw mobile phones of two of my neighbours taken away by soldiers when they got out to buy bread from a local baker early in the morning," said one villager by phone from Nazneenpora village. 'Siege day' Shabir Ahmad Dar, 40, who works in a juice factory, told Reuters he was stopped at one of Srinagar's several checkpoints on Tuesday morning and was told by soldiers to return home. But the Kashmir authorities defended the new security measures. "A series of inputs have been received suggesting that separatist and Pakistan-sponsored groups are planning to observe August 5 as Black Day and violent action or protests are not ruled out," Shahid Iqbal Choudhary, a civil administrator, said. Pakistan has said it will observe the anniversary of Kashmir's loss of autonomy as a "siege day" in solidarity with Kashmiris. The curfew is similar to the one introduced just before Kashmir's semi-autonomy was stripped on August 5 last year. A total communications blackout was imposed, with phone and internet lines cut and tens of thousands of fresh troops moved into the valley in one of the world's most militarised regions. About 7,000 people were taken into custody - including three former chief ministers. Hundreds remain under house arrest or behind bars to this day, mostly without charge. Change in demographics India's government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi also downgraded Jammu and Kashmir state and divided it into two federally governed territories following the revocation of Article 370 which granted special status to the Himalayan region, which is ruled in parts by India and Pakistan. The two countries, which have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, claim Kashmir in its entirety. Since then, New Delhi has brought in a slew of new laws which locals say are aimed at shifting the demographics in the Muslim-majority region, many of whom want independence from India or unification with Pakistan. Many locals are also angry because for the first time, people from across Indian states are being granted rights to buy land and are eligible to compete for local jobs. After the August 5 decision, Indian authorities enforced an information blackout and a harsh security clampdown in Kashmir for months. As some of the restrictions were eased, India enforced another harsh lockdown in March to combat the spread of coronavirus epidemic, deepening the social and economic crisis in the restive region. "Indian government claims that it was determined to improve Kashmiri lives ring hollow one year after the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir's constitutional status," Meenakshi Ganguly from Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "The authorities instead have maintained stifling restraints on Kashmiris in violation of their basic rights." The status of Kashmir has been a key dispute between Pakistan and India since the two split after the end of British colonial rule. They each control part of Kashmir and have fought two wars over their rival claims. Initially, the anti-India movement in the Indian-administered portion of Kashmir was largely peaceful, but after a series of political manipulations, broken promises and a crackdown on dissent, Kashmiris launched a full-blown armed revolt in 1989. First published by Al Jazeera August 4, 2020. © 2020 Al Jazeera Media Network

Modi to mark anniversary of Jammu and Kashmir power shift with groundbreaking for controversial Hindu temple. It’s never easy being a jewel in the crown, and the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir has proved to be no exception. Medieval Mughal Emperor Jahangir once described it as a paradise on earth. More recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said it was “the crown jewel of India”. Yet the state and its people have endured endless hardship and upheavals, with little relief in sight. The removal of the state’s special status on August 5 last year sent the pristine area in a new direction with much of its autonomy removed. The move downgraded India’s only Muslim-majority state to being centrally administered for the first time, bringing fresh insecurities to its people. The state was then put under curfew. A long winter in the mountainous state stretched the agony until the coronavirus brought more anxiety in March. China and Pakistan, which have long staked claims over the region, protested at the United Nations Security Council over the change in status but got little global support. Some even saw China’s recent incursions into Ladakh stemming from the events of August 5. Now, India’s government plans to celebrate August 5 with Modi leading a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of a Ram temple, something that’s been long cherished by many Hindus. The new temple comes after seven decades of litigation between Hindu and Muslim groups over a plot of land that Hindus claimed was the birthplace of Lord Ram in the ancient religious town of Ayodhya. In 1526, Mughal emperor Babur built a mosque after demolishing the original Ram temple, Hindus claim. The issue has remained contentious. In 1992, a mob of Hindu volunteers climbed on the mosque and damaged its dome. Ensuing communal riots claimed hundreds of lives. In November, a five-judge Supreme Court bench unanimously ruled in favor of the temple, giving Muslims a separate plot of land for a new mosque. For the ruling party, both the change of status in Kashmir and building the temple fill election promises while bolstering support from the majority of Hindu voters. The removal of Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir and the construction of the temple have been among the main aims of the Bharatiya Janata Party since its foundation in 1980. The ground-breaking ceremony will help the party package both issues for its core electorate, send a message to non-Hindus as well as its belligerent neighbor Pakistan and to others around the world. Pakistan, which aspired to rule Jammu and Kashmir since it was carved out of India in 1947, invaded and occupied parts of the state in 1948 and fought three wars with India to increase its stake. Pakistan has not given up on Kashmir. Pakistan says it will confer its highest civilian award, the Nishan-e-Pakistan, on Syed Ali Shah Geelani, 90, chairman of the All Party Hurriyat Conference, which is a conglomerate of pro-separatist parties in Jammu and Kashmir. It will also name an engineering college in Islamabad after Geelani. Reports say Prime Minister Imran Khan may address the assembly of what India calls Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. For decades Pakistan has supported separatist parties in Jammu and Kashmir and helped terrorists intrude into India with funds and weapons. Frequent bombings, grenade attacks and shootings were among the reasons the Indian government gave for taking over the state administration. After independence in 1947, India gave the state a special status in 1949 under which its assembly had powers over most aspects of governance except defense, foreign affairs, currency and communication. The state assembly could veto any law passed by the national parliament. Only permanent local residents were allowed to buy property there. Over the decades, the region’s alienation from the rest of India increased, and with it growing resentment. Frequent attacks on security forces made matters worse. The area’s special status started to be seen as a shield protecting activities including smuggling across the huge mountainous borders. The Modi-led BJP government made its move last year, promising peace, development, new investments and jobs with the change in status. But the new order left most state-level political leaders redundant. “The middle ground of politics or Kashmiri sub-nationalism has been wiped out. There are now only pro-India and anti-India forces left in Jammu and Kashmir,’’ said Altaf Hussain, a Srinagar-based journalist. The state’s top political leadership was detained soon after August 5. Some individuals were released in March as a countrywide lockdown was announced to contain the pandemic. Former chief minister Omar Abdullah, who was freed on March 24, said he would not contest an election to a downgraded and powerless assembly. Another former chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, is still detained. Senior Congress party leader and former union minister Saifuddin Soz on July 29 pleaded with the Supreme Court, saying he was being held illegally. His claim was denied by the central government and rejected by the court. However, the NDTV television channel showed him inside his Srinagar bungalow, guarded by a local uniformed policeman. On a slightly positive note, central rule has helped neutralize the militants, a key government objective. Attacks on security forces have dropped sharply and the local population was often seen to be complicit against the central security forces. “Militancy is on the back-foot and most of the militants, especially in south Kashmir, have been neutralized by security forces,’’ said Ayjaz Wani, a research fellow at the Observe Research Foundation in Mumbai. But letting people from outside the state settle there has jolted the locals and given rise to insecurity about jobs and dilution of the local culture. “The economy has been the worst hit in the past one year,’’ said Wani. He pointed to a government advertisement for 8,575 jobs for junior staff on July 10, which had 135,790 applications within a week. The number could soar to half a million, he said. Jammu and Kashmir was also hit by curfews. Phone and internet services were cut for seven months, to be followed by the pandemic, which affected students and job-seeking youth the most. The central government is now contesting a lawsuit in the Supreme Court to avoid upgrading telecom services in the state to 4G from the present low-quality 2G. The Election Commission is preparing for local elections after reviewing constituencies. This too is being viewed with suspicion by local leaders because they could lose their traditional vote banks, often drawn on religious lines. First published by Asia Times July 30, 2020. © 2020 ASIA TIMES.