What is the ‘golden ring’ axis?

China continues to consolidate power and strengthen ties with Asian countries

SALEEM SAMAD

In a geopolitical response to the decline of the Western influence in South Asia and West Asia, China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey envisage a “golden ring” axis to expand their hegemony on South and West Asia.

The vision of the golden ring of China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey was first disclosed recently by Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan.

The effort to forge an alliance surfaced after Afghanistan refused to be drawn into the golden ring axis. Kabul does not trust their immediate neighbour Pakistan and the nation has not forgotten the ruthless Russian occupation installing a puppet regime.

Afghanistan squarely blames Pakistan’s elite security agency in Rawalpindi GHQ for aiding and abetting ruthless Taliban militia.

Kabul is equally not comfortable with the Islamic Republic of Iran. The assassinated General Qasem Soleimani of the elite Al Quds military had recruited Afghan Shia militia to fight the Kabul government, which Iran believes is a stooge of the Americans, and thus an enemy of Islam.

Contrary to US perceptions, the Kremlin realizes the importance of Pakistan for a peaceful settlement of the Afghan conflict. Unfortunately, Afghanistan seemed to have disappeared from the White House radar in the run-up to the US Presidential Elections.

The US author Robert D Kaplan wrote in his book, The Revenge of Geography: “Pressure on land can help the United States thwart China at Sea.” But post exit from Afghanistan, America will lose that advantage since its “pivot Asia” will be largely reduced to the high seas.

Well, the US has been an undisputed global power since the collapse of the Soviet Union. China has risen from Mao’s anti-capitalist policy into a strong rival to the US. The Trump administration’s aggressive foreign policy is pushing away China and pulling closer allies who were never their loyal partners in economic development.

China has strengthened its ties with countries that were ignored or bullied by America. Therefore, the emergence of a new golden ring of China, Russia, Iran, Pakistan, and Turkey is becoming a reality.

China has fathomless pockets to fund economic development, and forging ties with Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey to join the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

In 2019, Iran formally joined China’s “One Belt One Road” initiative. Tehran announced that it has partnered with Beijing for the strategist Chabahar port in Iran. It will make Iran an integral part of the BRI, linking China with Europe via Turkey.

Turkey, despite being an ally of the NATO military alliance, has drifted from Washington in recent times.

Ankara’s occupation of Northern Cyprus for more than four decades, military assistance to rogue rebel General Haftar opposed to UN-backed Libyan government, intermittent military strikes against Kurds -- the bravehearts who fought the dreaded Islamic State marauder -- has angered not only the US, but also European nations.

America could have said “checkmate” when US aircraft carriers and hosts of battleships were joined by naval forces of Taiwan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia to take strategic control of the South China Sea, where China wanted its hegemony of the disputed sea.

Meanwhile, after the Galwan Valley face-off between India and China, India has readied its naval fleet in the Indian Ocean, rallying with US frigates from the Seventh Fleet, a tacit threat to China maritime for oil shipment from Iran. The manipulative geopolitical strategy in Asia may yield dividends which could be measured with a yardstick. Eventually, it needs to be understood about who will reap the maximum gain from the golden ring axis.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 27 July 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship, and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Shahjahan Siraj, plastic bag killer

SALEEM SAMAD

If citizens are talking about Bangladesh's independence, if they are talking about the pro-democracy movement in 1969, if they are talking about the protest against misrule during post-independence, surely they are talking about career politician Shahjahan Siraj.

Once a fiery student leader of the mid-1960s has changed political hats, changed political allegiance, but maintained his political clout.

In post-independence, I met him in 1973 at Dainik Gonokantha newspaper office in Wari, in the old Dhaka. The newspaper was founded by Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), an opposition party. The only daily newspaper in Bangladesh was sold at a double price at the newsstand.

In later months he remembered me very well, possibly for asking curious questions. At Gonokontha office I also introduced to JSD stalwarts Serajul Alam Khan, ASM Abdur Rab, Kazi Aref Ahmed, Monirul Islam, Hasanul Haque Inu, Sharif Nurul Ambia and host of other student leaders.

His chequered political career led him to win five general elections to parliament from Kalihati, Tangail. After winning the 2001 parliamentary elections, he was made Minister of Environment and Forest (10 October 2001 - 6 May 2004) in the cabinet of the pro-Islamist regime of Khaleda Zia.

During his tenure as the environment minister, the production and use of plastic shopping bags were banned in Bangladesh, polluting two-stroke three-wheeler taxis were withdrawn from the road, and tree plantation turned into a social movement.

The politician accepted a challenge to contribute to an environmental cause. At that moment the minister was approached by Hossain Shahriar, an environment journalist who is also executive director of the Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO).

Meanwhile, the capital Dhaka suffered from water-logging in the monsoon season. The newspaper blamed tons of discarded plastic bags dumped indiscriminately has clogged the city drains and unable to remove the rainwater quickly.

Environmental groups say the millions of polythene bags, food packages disposed of every day are blocking drainage systems in cities, posing a serious environmental hazard.

The eminent politician and a journalist concluded that plastic bag production, sale, and use have to be axed to save the people from a health problem.

Together they developed a long-term plan to ban plastic shopping bags, commonly known as polythene bags.

Environmental campaign activists argue that, without tougher environmental legislation, it will be very difficult for the government to attain any success in its fight against plastic bags.

The non-degradable shopping bags were introduced into Bangladesh nearly four decades ago, quickly replacing jute bags and paper bags (known as tonga) produced from recycling paper.

The production of the plastic bag has thrown out tens of thousands of self-employed workers producing paper bags, recycled bags from heavy packaging materials, and also traditional bags made from jute, the golden fibre.

Environment Minister Shahjahan Siraj explained that the decision to ban plastic bags has been finalised to save the metropolis from an imminent environmental disaster.

Researchers found that plastic bags in agricultural lands have reduced fertility in the soil, raising concerns about farm produce.

They also posed a serious threat to human health, especially to people involved in the production and recycling of polythene.

Industry leaders debated that the dangers were exaggerated, though they admitted the plastic bags were the main cause of water-logging.

Minister Shahjahan Siraj dismisses the industry leaders' claim, saying the losses would be temporary. He stated: "We will be able to employ far more people through reviving the declining jute industry, producing environment-friendly jute bags."

The minister while pushing the giant ball up the hills was warned of the repercussions from the trade bodies. Simultaneously the Commerce Ministry, Industries Ministry, and hosts of lawmakers stood against Shahjahan Siraj's initiative.

Journalist Hossain Shahriar along with a team of bureaucrats selected by Shahjahan Siraj after months of hard labour, finally placed a draft law to ban the plastic bag in the parliament.

The use and production of plastic bags continued unabated under the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act 1995.

The enactment of the 2020 law ensures a complete ban on the production, import, marketing, sales, display, storing, distribution, transportation, and use of polythene of less than 55-micron thickness for business purposes.

The enforcement of the complete ban on the sale and use of plastic bags in the Dhaka, the consumers were getting used to alternative shopping bags instead of plastic bags.

All shopping malls, grocery chain stores, superstores, clothing stores, bookstores do not give plastic bags as such violations invite hefty penalty and imprisonment.

The new consumerism culture is a major shift from plastic bags to alternative biodegradable low-cost bags is visible.

Thus Bangladesh became the first country in the world to implement a ban on plastic bags and many other countries begin to follow suit.

Shahjahan Siraj died at the age of 77 after prolonged cancer ailments on 14 July 2020.

First published in the Daily Asian Age, 24 July 2020

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. Email: saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter @saleemsamad

Will a vaccine save the economy?

SALEEM SAMAD

Development Economist Dr Atiur Rahman sharing his mind said that once the availability of the coronavirus vaccine becomes a reality, the world economy will recuperate and Bangladesh will also make a dramatic turn-around.

However, a challenge remains of generating new employment and regenerating the labour market. The challenge could be bridled with a long and short term economic preparation, by an energetic team of planners and social managers selected.

The government has to develop a recovery plan of action to generate jobs and employment in both formal and non-formal sectors, says Atiur Rahman, a former governor of Bangladesh Bank.

Atiur says the expectation from the discovery and availability of the coronavirus vaccine has increased exponentially.

Meanwhile, over 100 influential global leaders have joined Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus after he launched an international campaign to make the Covid-19 vaccine a global common good.

The campaign on behalf of Nobel laureates and organizations of Nobel laureates, civil society leaders, and world moral leaders urged all the global leaders, international organizations, and governments to adopt legal measures and declare Covid-19 vaccine as a part of the global domain.

What the founder of the “bank for the poor” meant was that the vaccine should be available at a cheaper price for the developing countries, but not for the West only.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc across mother earth, there is an explosion of research activities and clinical trials to find cures and vaccines, says Prof Yunus.

The platform urged the World Health Organization (WHO) to design a World Action Plan on the Covid-19 vaccine and appealed to set up an international committee responsible for monitoring the vaccine research.

The research for a vaccine is a long process. The estimated time for the development of a Covid-19 vaccine is about 18 months or so.

Prof Yunus’s campaign has received pro-active responses from more than 25 Nobel laureates, scores of former presidents, former PMs, creative artists, social justice activists, business leaders, leaders of international organizations, academics, and hosts of political and faith leaders from all the continents.

Obviously, private sector research laboratories engaged in the development of vaccines will be expecting a return on their investments. The research results should be in the public domain, making it available to any pharmaceuticals that pledge to produce vaccines under strict international regulatory supervision.

Prof Yunus believes that if the vaccines are free from patent rights, the price will be affordable in the third world. Most of the developing countries’ hospitals are overwhelmed providing health care to coronavirus patients on their shoe-string budget.

The pandemic exposes the strengths and weaknesses of health care systems in different countries, as well as the obstacles and inequalities of access to health care.

Therefore, the campaign understands the cash-strapped developing countries will not be able to buy the vaccine in bulk. The global leaders demand that the availability of vaccines is a right and there must be free universal access to the vaccine for all.

Governments, foundations, international financial organizations like the WB, and the regional development banks have been urged to develop a strategy on how to make the vaccine available free of cost to inhabitants from all walks of life, be they from urban or rural areas, men or women, or living in rich or poor countries.

The campaign underpins the moral responsibility of the global leaders to develop an unambiguous procedure to determine what would be a fair level of this return in exchange for putting the vaccine in the public domain.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 20 July 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com

Are extremists exploiting the pandemic?

Social Media Photo: Bigstock

SALEEM SAMAD

Conspiracy theories and disinformation are spreading at an alarming rate

When Sara Khan, lead commissioner for an independent Commission for Countering Extremism (CCE) in a flagship report “Challenging Hateful Extremism” talked of how effective existing British laws are in dealing with hateful extremist activity -- policy-makers and government officials in Britain were dumbfounded.

The report, launched on June 10, observes that the far right to the far left and Islamist groups have fully exploited the global coronavirus crisis to promote dangerous conspiracy theories and disinformation, mostly online.

A private study has been posted by the United Kingdom government’s official website, which says CCE advises the government on new policies to deal with extremism, including the need for any new powers.

The non-governmental organization, CCE, supports society to fight all forms of extremism and has closely worked with the British Police Department.

The extremists joined in separate social media space, joined by #CovIdiots across all spectrums. From far right and far left, all are agog in 5G conspiracy theories on platforms such as Telegram, a multi-platform messaging service platform.

Conspiracy theories need just the right ingredients to take off within a population, and the Covid-19 pandemic has been a breeding ground for them.

The independent commission has pulled together several other pieces of research to draw a broader canvas of the extremist threat during the pandemic. A narrative spread like wildfire on social media that the wireless network 5G technology fuelled the coronavirus pandemic.

The conspiracy theory on the Covid-19 outbreak believes that the virus pandemic is part of a strategy conceived by global elites - such as Bill Gates - to roll-out coronavirus vaccines with tracking chips that would later be activated by 5G, the technology used by mobile technology networks.

Such mindless #CovIdiots in Bangladesh are equally active in social media. They are active in posting conspiracy theories in attempts to inject into the novice minds of young and old, rich and poor that coronavirus is a Western conspiracy by Christians and Jews responsible for funding research in Wuhan labs.

Well, wearing masks, using sanitizers, washing hands, and testing for coronavirus are selling points of multinational companies and their accomplices in the country.

What about those millions who are infected, hospitalized, and dying from coronavirus? The #CovIdiots mysteriously remain silent and dish out stereotypical responses to such pressing issues.

The study further emphasized that hateful extremists have used divisive, xenophobic, and racist narratives to sow division and undermine the social fabric of Britain.

Unless the British government urgently invests in counter-extremism measures, extremists will seek to capitalize on the socio-economic impacts of Covid-19 to cause further long-term instability, fear, and division in Britain.

For a democratic government, in the United Kingdom, the impact of extremist propaganda and disinformation shouldn’t be undermined. These conspiracy theories are harmful, dangerous, and are used by extremists to cause division and breed hate, reiterated Sara Khan.

Now a social media strategy needs to be developed to challenge dangerous conspiracy theories based on the harm they cause. This will enable practitioners on social media platforms to better challenge harmful conspiracy theories before they escalate.

Bangladesh shouldn’t miss the opportunity to join the global effort to classify dangerous conspiracy theories. 

A fresh counter-extremism strategy must include an assessment of how extremism manifests locally, the harm it causes, the scale of support for extremist narratives, and how best to pre-empt extremist activity.

The assessment should also include the people most vulnerable to extremist narratives, to deliver vital interventions to engage and support these guiltless people. 

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 13 July 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Deep-rooted issues hamper Bangladesh’s recovery

Even as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise, healthcare workers in Bangladesh struggle to get their hands on good quality personal protection gears. The tendency to cover up irregularities and mismanagement has led to a prevailing culture of corruption.

SALEEM SAMAD

Recently, Bangladesh crossed the grim milestone of 1,62,000 confirmed coronavirus cases. With a population of 160 million, the developing economy has been grappling with formidable challenges that have only been exacerbated by the outbreak of COVID-19.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), a civil society organisation dedicated to fighting against corruption, has squarely blamed the government’s poor coordination for the current crisis.

The rot within

Data shows that 26 percent of the frontline healthcare workers in Bangladesh, including doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, did not receive personal protection gears, even as the number of COVID-19 cases has been on the rise. Also, the protection materials supplied to government hospitals were deemed to be of inferior quality.

At least six doctors who brought up the issue via Facebook posts were suspended or transferred to non-COVID hospitals as punishment for speaking out. Eventually, at the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Anti-Corruption Bureau and anti-crime forces were shaken from their siesta. They raided dozens of places – including government warehouses – to find fake protective materials and stolen medical products.

“If the government wants to tackle this crisis, the right to get and publish accurate information must not be diminished,” said Dr. Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of TIB. The tendency to cover up irregularities and mismanagement through restrictions on disclosure of information encourages corruption.

Stitch in time

In the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, TIB analysed seven indicators of governance, including rule of law, responsiveness, capacity and effectiveness, coordination and participation, accountability, transparency, and control of corruption. “The government failed to make adequate preparations even after getting three months’ time,” noted Dr. Iftekharuzzaman.

“The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have been largely ignored in the budget allocation for the health sector,” remarked Dr. Fahmida Khatun, executive director of the think tank Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD). “The outbreak is a lesson for us, which has made it clear how much strength we have to tackle the crisis,” she said.

The Daily Star, an independent newspaper, in an editorial recently wrote: From the onset of the pandemic, citizens have been confused and frustrated about the government’s lack of vision and direction in addressing the health and socio-economic implications of COVID-19 holistically. The newspaper came heavily on the government’s casual handling of the risk of spread at the initial stages, declaring general holidays and non-binding lockdown.

The arbitrary policy decision at every stage, the editorial observed, have left ordinary citizens as well as experts in bewilderment as to what the government is thinking and what it wants to achieve in the near and far future.

Prof Abul Kalam Azad, Director General of Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) drew flak from ruling party leaders when he recently said, “COVID-19 situation in Bangladesh will not go away in two or three months, rather it is likely to stay for two to three years.”

First published in the Health Analytics. 10 July 2020

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, and health fact-checker, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at ; Twitter @saleemsamad

No quick fix democratic reforms in Pakistan

Photo: Reuters

SALEEM SAMAD

When Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, in an off-the-record briefing with journalists in March 2018, was quoted as saying that the 18th Amendment was “more dangerous than Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Six-Points political agenda, except the veteran politicians of the 60s,” none in the Islamic Republic understood what the Rawalpindi GHQ chief meant.

The Six-Points was deemed a threat to national security and unity of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan by the Hawks of Rawalpindi GHQ. The Hawks believed that when the Awami League in a landslide victory in 1970 elections won an overwhelming majority, both in provincial assembly as well as in national assembly.

Hawks understood regional parties which won in three other provinces of Balochistan, Sindh, and North-East Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) also would be upbeat to demand greater autonomy. The implementation of the Six-Points would be fuel in fire to the simmering independence movement in Balochistan, a princely state forcibly occupied in March 1948.

What is the 18th amendment?

After an unceremonious exit of General Pervez Musharraf in 2008, Pakistan’s new civilian government and opposition parties were united in creating several hurdles for the military to seize power again.

During his iron-fisted reign, Musharraf toppled an elected government, dismissed judges, suspended the constitution, and imposed emergency rule to consolidate his power.

In 2010, President Asif Ali Zardari enacted sweeping constitutional reforms that undid provisions that military dictators had introduced to tighten their grip on power and legitimize their coups.

Under the 18th amendment, the president no longer had the authority to dissolve parliament and impose an emergency rule on his own. The courts no longer had jurisdiction to validate suspensions of the constitution and powers were transferred from the presidency to a prime minister and their cabinet. The amendment also transferred power from the centre to the provinces, restored parliamentary democracy, and closed off paths to generals overturning the civilian rule.

Now, a decade on from that landmark move, there are fears that the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan, who is backed by the military, is seeking to roll back the changes, which are widely seen as the bulwark of the democratization process.

The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has called for a review to “fix” what it perceives as flaws in the 18th amendment, including restoring federal authority over legislation and finances.

Ian Bremer recently wrote in Time magazine: “Army leaders equate the new powers granted to provinces with the ‘Six-Point’ movement, which led to the creation of Bangladesh, a stinging blow for Pakistan’s military.”

Opposition politicians have accused the powerful military of manipulating the 2018 elections to help the PTI win. The opposition parties also condemned Imran Khan’s political catchphrase “Naya Pakistan.”

Amid the coronavirus outbreak which gripped Pakistan, it has immensely delayed the politics of “quick fix” of the 18th amendment.

Michael Kugelman, South Asia senior associate at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars in Washington DC, argued that reining in the amendment would “amount to a demoralizing defeat for the forces of democracy in a nation where such forces have long struggled to secure a sustained foothold.

“The 18th amendment has long endured like a brave and bold achievement that showcases the very real potential for strong democracy in Pakistan.”

Fortunately, the Naya Pakistan government does not have a two-third majority in both the national assembly and senate that it would take to repeal or amend the 18th amendment.

As Ian Bremer writes, the Pakistani army has long had concerns over the 18th amendment.

So it did not surprise that Khan’s government, which relies on the army’s support to remain in power, has been pushing to make revisions to the law.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 6 July 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Journalists’ junket to China

Is China weaponizing the free press?
SALEEM SAMAD

In a rare glimpse inside the dragon nation, the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) claims China has built its discourse power beyond borders and engineered a change in the global news landscape.

How? The new report “The China Story: Reshaping the World’s Media” was launched on June 25, by IFJ, a global network of affiliated journalists unions spanning the Asia-Pacific, Africa, Europe, Latin America, North America, and the Middle East to protect media rights and promote freedom of expression worldwide.

IFJ, the world’s largest voice for journalists, does not hesitate to say Red Republic’s media-warriors is increasing its global footprint in the world’s media and its strategy showed clear signs of targeting journalists to “outsource its influence” in developing countries with ineffective or repressive governments, yet also clearly cut across both the developed and developing world.

Journalists from 58 countries were asked whether they received overtures from Beijing. There’s evidence that hundreds of senior journalists, media practitioners from both developed and developing nations, had taken part in all paid extravaganza trips to mainland China.

The research said 67% of the respondents surveyed had been approached by Chinese entities under the media outreach campaign program in almost every continent. The media outreach initiatives include journalism exchange programs, union cooperation, content sharing, training courses, and media acquisition.

The global research details how unions described a recent emphasis on organizing Chinese tours for Muslim journalists, even from non-Muslim countries, with selected some being taken to the Xinjiang province, where at least 1 million Uyghur are reported to be in political indoctrination in so-called re-education camps, in an attempt to rewrite the global narrative of the Muslims in former East Turkestan.

What they have to do in return is speak in favour of the Uyghur camps or cheer China’s coronavirus response, and write editorials and opinion columns drum-beating China’s grand infrastructure scheme, the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI).

Almost half of all respondents (44%) in African countries, Latin America, and Asian countries said they have received tangible support, such as the donation of computers and recording devices for journalism unions, as well as educational aid and agreement for content sharing and a series of training programs.

On the other hand, some journalists expressed concern about the increasing role of Chinese propaganda in the media space in their respective countries.

China’s hegemony in global media footprint has won the hearts of chiefs of state media outlets, especially television, radio, official news agency, and press information department.

In a bizarre truth, the lucrative media exchange program and skill development training courses have also been offered to the press wing of prime ministers’ and presidents’ offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

IFJ has reasons to raise an alarm regarding China’s influence on the government’s media institutions. Well, the IFJ report did not indicate whether the Chinese media outreach program had a hidden agenda of espionage.

In the Philippines, journalists voiced suspicions that Beijing’s ultimate aim was to influence the Filipino government itself through close cooperation with President Duterte’s communications team.

Stating Australian media exposure with China, the report says:“The results have, in many cases, produced stories that faithfully echo Beijing’s position on issues ranging from the South China Sea to technological developments in China.

“With increasing numbers of Chinese journalists working globally, it also provides insight and understanding of the powerful place China’s media now occupies and one that should not be underestimated.”

The report recommends that journalists’ unions can play a role in educating and preparing journalists to better educate the public on how to detect biased news.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 29 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Need pedestrian-friendly cities to fight coronavirus

Photo: Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune

SALEEM SAMAD
When many metropolitan cities worldwide ease lockdown restrictions, some city authorities are closing their roads to vehicles, making bicycle lanes, widening pavements, and handing over parking spaces to eateries and coffee joints.

Meanwhile, neighbouring India plans to make 100 cities more pedestrian-friendly after coronavirus lockdown. The Indian government commits to making its streets and markets more accessible to pedestrians and cyclists as it emerges from one of the world’s strictest coronavirus lockdowns, a move urgently needed to curb pollution and improve liveability.

Bangladesh urban planners and city authorities should give additional effort to make cities more pedestrian-friendly once the coronavirus lockdown is relaxed.

Dhaka cannot be said to be a walkable city. Moving in the city is dangerous for pedestrians. Every day, numerous pedestrians are victims of a road mishap in crazy traffic. A pedestrian has to negotiate several hurdles as if overcoming obstacle course training for security forces.

If this is the scenario of Dhaka, imagine the walkability in the cities of Chattagram, Barishal, Khulna, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, Cumilla, or Sylhet.

As the people of the region are likely to live with the coronavirus and have to abide by health guidelines, hundreds of city dwellers have opted to ride motorbikes and bicycles to maintain social distance. 

The volume of both self-driven modes of transport has been reported to have significantly risen in the streets.

If the pedestrian-friendly city is implemented, the commuters will also incorporate more walking. For sustainable urban living, cities should also promote public transit and bicycle lanes.

If pedestrian-friendly walkways are built, the major shift in urban living will have a positive impact on traffic, dramatically improve air quality, and improve overall health and life quality.

Making safe walkways was never a priority of the city authorities. The authorities prefer roads for the plying of private vehicles, instead of rapid public transport besides the upcoming mass transit metro-rail which will commute from north and south.

When the commuters exit from the metro-rail stations, for short distances, most people will prefer to walk to their work, home, or business. 

Any urban development means construction, which unfortunately does not have transparency and accountability. A safe walkway for pedestrians was also never a high profile program, for which city planners nor the city authorities will get public applause.

The challenges remain that for the city planners and city authorities, policy planning is always anti-poor and biased towards the elite. As if the cities have been built exclusively for the elites and rich.

One visible example is enough to prove the city planners’ bias. There are several kilometres of rickshaw-free roads in the city, but there is not a kilometre where motor vehicles are restricted.

Every time there is a media outcry and street agitation of a vehicle hit and run of a student, the authorities will promptly build a speed-breaker or a foot-over-bridge. 

That’s a quick-fix solution of a problem, instead of a pedestrian-friendly walkway as a solution for road mishaps.

A smart cities program is the need of the hour. The city planners should include stakeholders from street vendors to students, from commuters to city dwellers, for measures like road closures, barricades, and repurposing of parking spaces.

Hopefully, the city planners soon will include Dhaka among the most walkable cities such as New York, Vancouver, and Sydney. 

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 22 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Pandemic has exposed deep-seated weaknesses in Bangladesh

Photo: Reuters

SALEEM SAMAD

A senior staff member along with many others of a grocery chain outlet in Dhaka were hailed as “corona warriors” by a leading English newspaper. The daily did not hesitate to describe that “our humanity, empathy, and responsibility is being tested by the coronavirus pandemic.”

Shila Aktar, a customer relationship officer at a grocery outlet had a fever, but other signs of coronavirus were absent. With fever, she went from one government hospital to another -- over four consecutive days.

She tried day and night to access the dedicated helpline. Also, she desperately tried online registration with no luck.

On the third day, she had an outrageous experience at a government-dedicated Mughda Hospital for Covid-19 patients. The Ansar Battalion sold Tk20 tickets at the exorbitant price of Tk2,000 to 3,000 in connivance with the hospital staff.

Hearing her ordeal, a journalist wrote an angry post on Facebook. Promptly, the lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury responded pro-actively. The following day, the guards were removed and an additional booth to collect 150 additional samples a day was opened adjacent to the hospital.

On the fifth day, despite feeling weak, she stood in a queue from 6am in a make-shift booth in Bashabo, in the city. Finally, her sample was taken.

The issue did not end there. Now the waiting period began to get her virus test report. After four days she received a heartbreaking message online and also phone SMS that she was positive. 

“Dear Shila Aktar, your test for coronavirus is positive. Please stay at home. Be positive.”

The test for the coronavirus is a nightmare for millions in the country. Well, the government and private resources have been inadequate, coupled with widespread corruption in medical supplies and a lack of transparency in health care management.

As the crisis in Wuhan enlarged last winter, the “learned” heath minister Zahid Malek assured the nation that the country is fully prepared to overcome the pandemic.

When the virus finally struck on March 7, there were only a few ventilators in the country. The country had few virus testing labs, and no dedicated hospitals for infected patients when the first virus was detected in early March.

Despite media warnings, based on input from infectious disease experts, the airport authorities and immigration departments were lax in checking the entry of thousands of people, and also didn’t follow the quarantine protocols.

Well, the government never used the word “lockdown” or “curfew” and the police and civil administration all over the country failed to keep the people at home, maintain social distancing, wear masks, or practise basic hygiene.

The worst-case scenario was that the doctors, nurses, and health care staff often did not have enough PPE, including gloves and masks and safety materials.

Some state hospital senior doctors who have taken to social media to criticize the poor quality of medical supplies were punished. Even those who complained of poor living facilities in designated hotels were also punished.

Caught in a catch-22 situation, between lives and livelihoods, after 66 days, the government partially opened offices, factories (including export industries), shops, public transport, domestic flights, and restaurants. Several media reports say all the establishments flouted health guidelines with impunity.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been rated among the top 10 women leaders for the commendable job in coronavirus management by the prestigious Forbes magazine. She recently wrote in the British newspaper, The Guardian, that Bangladesh is unlikely to be the only country struggling with health, economic, and climate emergencies this year.

Most governments have proved dangerously unprepared for the crisis, which has exposed deep-seated weaknesses in public-health and social-security systems in rich and poor countries alike.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 16 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

Healthcare, humanity, and hospitals

Testing for coronavirus has been a nightmare for millions in Bangladesh, coupled with widespread corruption in medical supplies and poor transparency in healthcare management

SALEEM SAMAD

A senior staff of a grocery chain outlet in capital Dhaka, along with many others, was hailed as “Corona Warriors” by the Business Standard published from Bangladesh. The paper was emphatic in celebrating the role of these “heroes” at a time when “our humanity, empathy, and responsibility is being tested by the coronavirus pandemic.”

Testing for coronavirus has been a nightmare for millions in the country. The government and private resources are inadequate, coupled with widespread corruption in medical supplies and poor transparency in healthcare management.

Desperate times

Shila Aktar, a Customer Relationship Supervisor at Agora grocery outlet, had fever and weakness, but other signs of coronavirus were absent. She went from one government hospital to another. On the fifth day, she decided to stand in a queue at another make-shift booth in the city. Finally, her sample was taken.

Shila had desperately tried all helplines – announced as public health messages on public and private televisions, FM radios, newspapers, SMS, as well as embedded ringtones on mobile phones. At last, she took to Facebook to share the suffering of hundreds of people who had to wait in long queues for several hours at the state hospitals to get themselves tested.

She recounted her terrible experience at the government-dedicated Mughda Hospital for COVID-19 patients, not far from her home. The Ansar Battalion guards sold Taka (BDT) 20 tickets at an exorbitant price of Taka 2,000 to 3,000 in connivance with hospital staff union leaders. Her angry Facebook post brought the matter to the attention of a local lawmaker, Saber Hossain Chowdhury. The following day, para-police guards were removed and additional booths were opened adjacent to the hospital to collect further 150 samples a day.

Then began the waiting period to get her virus test report. After four days, she received a heartbreaking message online and also via phone SMS: “Dear Shila Aktar, your test of coronavirus is positive. Please stay at home. Be positive.”

Shila was unknowingly wandering for more than nine days infected by the contagious virus.

Leadership lessons

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been rated among the top 10 women leaders for their commendable responsibility in coronavirus management by the prestigious Forbes magazine. Despite working with goddess Durga’s ten hands, she was in a dilemma as to what should be her nation’s priority: lives or livelihood?

As the crisis in Wuhan grew, the ‘learned’ heath minister Zahid Malek assured the nation that the country is fully prepared for any eventualities to overcome the pandemic. Thousands of panicked migrants returned home from epicentres; they were checked with ancient thermal scanners and hand-held thermometers, which broke down in weeks.

Despite media warnings, based on inputs from infectious disease experts, the airport authorities and immigration department were lax in checking the entry of thousands of people, who didn’t follow the quarantine procedures.

When Bangladesh’s first virus infection was detected on 7th March, there were only a few ventilators, a couple of virus testing labs, and no dedicated hospitals for infected patients. While the government never officially announced a ‘lockdown’ or ‘curfew’, the police and civil administration in the country failed to keep the people safe at home or ensure that they maintained social distancing, wore masks, and practised hygiene.

The most worrisome part was that the doctors, nurses, and healthcare staff did not have enough Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits. The suppliers had no fear of delivering low-quality and even fake materials. Scores of doctors and nurses were infected and were either placed in-home quarantine, isolation centres, or hospitals. Nearly half a dozen doctors succumbed to the deadly virus.

Some state hospital senior doctors who took to social media to criticise the poor quality of medical supplies were punished. Even those who complained of poor living facilities in designated quarantine hotels were punished.

When Cyclone Amphan from the Indian Ocean struck southwest of Bangladesh in May, people were afraid to move to the shelters as they were not built with social distancing in mind.

Caught in a catch-22 situation, between lives and livelihoods, the government has partially opened offices, factories (including export industries), shops, public transport, domestic flights, and restaurants. For now, the fate of parks, cinema halls, convention centres, religious and cultural festivals is on hold.

Regular products that were once sold on the streets have vanished. Now we have hawkers selling hand gloves, sanitizers, face shields, PPE gowns, and goggles to eager customers, who are unaware of the quality of these products.

First published in the Health Analysis Asia, 12 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, health fact-checker in Bangladesh. Recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter: @saleemsamad

China Should Apologise Tiananmen Massacre

Symbolic Graphics

SALEEM SAMAD

Quietly the infamous day passed off without large vigil to mark the 31st Tiananmen Square massacre on 4 June.

Hong Kong is the only territory of mainland China where a candlelit vigil, mass commemorations are held for the event since 1990. The event attracted tens of thousands of participants and visitors from all over the world.

Hong Kong police have banned the annual vigil marking the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre for the first time in 30 years, citing coronavirus pandemic restrictions.

The candlelight vigil was in memory of tens of thousands pro-democracy movement were brutally suppressed on 4 June 1989 at ancient Qing dynasty Tiananmen Square built-in 1651, ending months of unarmed student-led demonstrations in China.

The governing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never acknowledged the massacre.

About 180,000 troops and armed police marched into Tiananmen Square and crushed a student protest calling for democratic reform following the death of a progressive leader in CCP, who had been deposed by Chairman Deng Xiaoping.

Well, no death toll has ever been officially released, but rights groups and Chinese in exile estimate hundreds, if not thousands were killed when China's elite People's Liberation Army was deployed to crack down on unarmed protesters in Beijing.

Surely there was global outcry and media made screaming headlines around the world, with iconic images such as the "Tank Man" bravely defying the troops on the square.

China's hardliners exploited that event to oust reformers who had been sympathetic to the demonstrators. The hawks have rewritten history and demonizing political opposition and dissidents.

Tiananmen Square has brought the hardliner bigwigs of CCP into drawing board to rethink the state policy and implemented methods of repression and strict state control, according to Zhang Lifan, who was a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 1989.

Post Tiananmen, many of China's reformers (including the head of the Communist Party himself) were condemned to lifelong house arrest, while some dissidents fled to the West in collaboration with a network of exiled Chinese in Paris who advocates on how to bring democracy to China.

China's state authority censorship increased manifold with a particular emphasis on purging the protest from Chinese news and history books. Within a year of the massacre, the Chinese government "had closed 12 percent of all newspapers, 13 percent of social science periodicals and 76 percent of China's 534 publishing companies," according to Minxin Pei's From Reform to Revolution.

China's hawks were initially perturbed by the Tiananmen pro-democracy struggle and further frightened by the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. America's victory in the Cold War and the outright dissolution of the USSR shook Beijing hardliners.

The Tiananmen syndrome has impacted proactively upon open-door policy in trade, commerce, and investment. The economic policy has catapulted China to become an Asian giant and gradually came at par of Western countries.

Amid anti-American conspiracy theories, which portrayed the devious United States continually undermine the Chinese people. The purge of pro-American reformers in China left few reform advocates in positions of power, rest were toppled and send into exile.

The hawks also adopted "hyper nationalists" concepts and soon became official Party doctrine in the Patriotic Education Law in 1994, which China later tried to impose on Hong Kong.

Behind the curtain, the reformers in China keeping their heads low, silently watching the Hong Kong's pro-reform protests and of course giving up hopes of Chinese apology to the families and survivors for the massacre and another ten of thousands thrown into dark dungeons in punishment to dare challenge the CCP hawks. #

First published in The New Nation, 10 June 2020

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com; Twitter @saleemsamad

Of Racism and Whitening Cream Culture

SALEEM SAMAD
A complex over darker complexion

An Indian actor got called out for protesting racism while endorsing whitening creams in TVCs (television commercials). Instead of echoing her protest, hundreds of voices on social media blasted the glamour actor for “shameless” and “pseudo-liberal” jibes against racism in the United States when they advertise whitening creams to be bold and beautiful.

The global outcry after the first-degree murder of African-American George Floyd in the street of Minnesota in the US has once again raised eyebrows among policy-makers, social scientists, and civil rights defenders.

Social and political tensions that have long been simmering just beneath the surface of the global economic order have begun to boil over, as evidenced most vividly by the protests in the US over the death of a black person, by four police officers in Minneapolis.

Ignoring coronavirus health safety advice, from London to Auckland, Toronto to Berlin, and Copenhagen to Madrid, demonstrators gathered in thousands to express solidarity with the #BlackLivesMatter protests against police brutality in America.

The fault-line has been ignored by politicians of both camps of Democrats and Republicans.

In the lockdown during the virus outbreak, in mid-March, more than 40 million workers have filed unemployment claims in the US, and more and more families are pushed to the brink of poverty.

American civil rights activists often cry wolf, arguing violence breeds violence, and repression breeds retaliation. The cautionary messages of rights defenders usually fell into deaf ears of politicians and society leaders.

Life seems to be simplified in black and white colour code. Profiling a person having black or white hearts, so are bank loans or utility bills defaulters blacklisted. It is expected the priests and Muslim clerics are in white, while the executioners in prison wear black.

Deposed Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s speeches were laced with satire and a sense of humour which made him a controversial statesman. He once said: “Racism will never end if people still use black to symbolize bad luck and white for peace.”

There is no reason for the white supremacist to admire the dictator Mugabe but his quotes from speeches will be remembered when he says: “Racism will never end if people still wear white clothes to weddings and black clothes to funerals.”

In a country where a government, politicians, national institutions, and state policy surreptitiously incite racism to settle scores in a plea to crack down on opposition and dissidents, such state policies further marginalize minorities for their belief, faith, ethnicity, race, language, and culture. Social scientists warn that where there is racism, the parameters of repression and inequality in society remain visible.

The social construction of racism is built in our hearts and minds. Unknowingly, millions developed a perception that evil is black and angels are draped in white. Unfortunately, such a colour-coded concept is in children’s storybooks and school textbooks.

Indian actor Abhay Deol criticized his glitz colleagues in the Bollywood industry, saying that “woke Indian celebrities” have been speaking out on #BlackLivesMatter but failing to speak up on similar instances within the country.

The tradition in South Asia is for young women eligible for marriage to apply turmeric on their face and hands, an ancient tradition enabling her skin to glow when seated at the ceremony -- or use whitening creams to be fair and beautiful.

Whereas, in the west, women love to have their skin tanned in the summer, bathing in sunshine.

The day when the demand for skin whitening cream sale plummets, only then can a nation be redefined to be non-racist.

It’s high time to admit the vanity of a false distinction.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 9 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. He could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com. Twitter @saleemsamad

‘National Hero’ Nuclear Scientist A ‘Prisoner’ In Pakistan

SALEEM SAMAD

Pakistan’s ‘national hero’ scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, who got his nation the secrets for a nuclear bomb has pleaded with the country’s Supreme Court to be allowed freedom of movement .

Khan was on Time magazine’s cover “The Merchant of Menace” in 2005 that exposed his sinister role in not only securing the secrets for Pakistan’s bomb by subterfuge and theft but also in selling the same to Iran, North Korea and Libya.

In a handwritten letter to apex court about a fortinight ago,  the architect of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, Abdul Qadeer Khan, said that he is being kept prisoner and also being restrained from pleading for his free movement.

The 84-year old ‘deactivated’ nuclear scientist presently under house arrest also requested Pakistan’s apex court to safeguard his fundamental rights and allow him to be heard.

Presently he has no access to the internet, phone, computer device, and even visitors are barred to enter his residence.

Khan’s last public appearance was on 4 February 2004, when he appeared on national television and admitted to having helped supply materials necessary for making nuclear weapons to rogue nations, North Korea and Libya.

Several years ago, influential Abdul Qadeer Khan used to take a stroll into a park across the street from his mansion in Islamabad’s King Faisal Mosque and feed the monkeys that lived in the woods.

In his driveway sits a large Jasmine bush, trimmed into an odd but unmistakable shape – a mushroom cloud. Some say it was a sadistic gesture to have a nuke cloud in front of his palatial house was a dream to nuclearise the Muslim countries.

Once he was catapulted to fame as a national hero after Pakistan detonated five underground nuclear bombs in 1998 amid high tension with neighbouring India over disputed Kashmir.

Hand-painted portrait of “Father of Nuclear Bomb” adorned on the backs of trucks and buses all over the country, also celebrated in textbooks. He was twice awarded Pakistan’s highest civilian honour, the Hilal-e-Imtiaz medal.

Khan was born in Bhopal, India, in 1936, 11 years before the independence of Pakistan. When he immigrated to Pakistan in 1952, Khan had developed an interest in science and loathing for India.

He has told his biographer of witnessing the massacre of Muslims by Hindus that followed the partition in 1947 after the end of British Raj, which Rawalpindi’s military hawks interpreted his extreme form of patriotism.

Overzealous of India’s nuclear programme, Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto appointed ‘Doctor Nuke’ to run Pakistan’s nuclear-research establishment, to develop a weapon.

In a decade, Khan stopped walking in the wooded park in Islamabad to feed the monkeys. The national hero turned a multimillionaire, owner of a fleet of vintage cars and properties from Dubai to Timbuktu.

Whether motivated by greed or ideology or both, Khan decided to go into business for himself. The father of the nuclear bomb masterminded a clandestine and profitable enterprise selling to rogue leaders in Libya and North Korea, the technology and equipment to produce nuclear arsenals.

He donated $30 million to various Pakistani charities and had enough money left over to buy his staff and colleagues cars and pay for the higher education of their children.

With his accumulated fortune, he paid to restore the tomb of Sultan Shahabuddin Ghauri, an Afghan who conquered Delhi, Khan put up a portrait of himself next to the Sultan.

White House claimed that Khan’s customers were the notorious regime of Iran and North Korea – two countries identified by Bush administration as members of the “axis of evil”.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna says so far it has not found definitive proof that Iran has a weapons programme. Well, not enough proof that Khan gave those countries including Islamic Iran the rudimentary but effective designs for nuclear warheads.

Western intelligence could not find solid evidence of business with Al Qaeda and there is reason to suspect the link had existed. The Rawalpindi GHQ intelligence apparatus had worked closely with Khan in his role as the government’s top nuclear scientist, are known to sympathise Osama bin Laden.

It remains a mystery how Pakistan’s nuclear blue-eye nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan outwitted Western intelligence to build a global nuclear-smuggling network that made the world a more dangerous place. #

First published in news portal The Easternlink.com on 7 June 2020 

Saleem Samad, is an independent journalist, media rights defender in Bangladesh. He is recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. Twitter @saleemsamad; he could be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com

Sino-India ‘war-cry’ at the roof of the world

Indian PM Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping Photo/REUTERS

SALEEM SAMAD
No bullets were fired! So far, Chinese and Indian troops exchanged brickbats and hurled bullies.

Normally, India and Pakistan skirmishes trade thunderous artillery fire and weapons drawn on each other -- often inflicting civilian casualties.

Presently, both China and India claim transgression of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) over Galwan Valley in Ladakh. The valley was once a flashpoint in the 1962 Sino-India war.

An earlier Sino-India border dispute in 2017 or Doklam stand-off refers to the faceoff between the Indian Armed Forces and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) over the construction of a road in Doklam near a tri-junction border area, known as Donglang, or Donglang Caochang (meaning Donglang pasture or grazing field), in Chinese.

After a month of the stand-off, both India and China withdrew their troops from the Doklam theatre.

As the Galwan valley stand-off continues, China is increasingly taking a more belligerent position. Of the flashpoints, three were in Ladakh in the Kashmir region, while another is at Nuka La Pass, which connects India’s north-eastern state of Sikkim with China’s Tibet.

The question is: Why are the two Asian giants hurtling down the path of war at the Himalayan frontiers?

When the military of the two countries are in a face-off, Xi Jinping tells PLA to “prepare for war” to thwart the coronavirus impact on national security.

The winter in Galwan Valley is brutal. Even during clear weather at any time of the year, border patrol at 15,000 feet above sea level is treacherous.

There are several theories to why this border tension exists when the world is trying to control the coronavirus that came from China.

First, China allegedly changed its claims over the Galwan Valley thrice. Now, Beijing says that the entire Galwan Valley belongs to China.

“India in recent days has illegally constructed defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory in the Galwan Valley region, leaving Chinese border defense troops no other option but making necessary moves in response, and mounting the risk of escalating stand-offs and conflicts between the two sides,” blames China’s official newspaper the Global Times.

Second, China is annoyed after the Indian authority’s plan for a huge economic zone in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, offering attractive packages to shift manufacturing plants from China, when companies are worried about the second wave of Covid-19 sweeping the country.

The media report in Indian newspapers has visibly irritated the bigwigs of the Chinese Communist Party, with the strategic ambition of India to replace China’s role in the global industrial chain only expanding. Thus, the Global Times editorial has expressed its rage against the “Make in India” campaign to become the world’s next destination for brand factories.

Third, Narendra Modi’s administration last year revoked the autonomous status of the part of Kashmir under its control. Indian-administered Kashmir is the only Muslim-majority region in India and has continued to be claimed by China’s staunch ally, Pakistan.

While India and Pakistan have fought wars over Kashmir, China has always stood beside Pakistan and supported Kashmir nationals’ right to self-determination.

The fourth sore point between China and India is Tibet, a region that China says is its rightful territory. Tibet’s spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and the so-called Tibetan government in exile, have its headquarters in Himachal, India.

Fifth, ignoring the Sino-India relations, Narendra Modi nominated two BJP lawmakers to 'attend' swearing-in of Taiwan virtual celebration of president Tsai Ing-wen swearing-in ceremony.

Meanwhile, China is in no mood for dialogue. Beijing is blaming India, and China’s newspaper the Global Times has been publishing aggressive and anti-India rhetoric. It claims that India has “illegally constructed defense facilities across the border into Chinese territory.”

“Not since 1975 has a bullet been fired across the shared border. As a result, the theory that Sino-Indian clashes are flashes in the pan and unlikely to lead to more extensive fighting has become a widely held consensus,” Professors Sumit Ganguly and Manjeet S Pardesi wrote in the Foreign Policy.

First published in the Dhaka Tribune, 1 June 2020

Saleem Samad is an independent journalist, media rights defender, and recipient of Ashoka Fellowship and Hellman-Hammett Award. His twitter is @saleemsamad and can be reached at saleemsamad@hotmail.com