This story first appeared in The Friday Times – Naya Daur

With all its strengths and challenges, the Aurat March is here to stay

Aurat March 2023 is here, and so is its unabashed opposition and antagonism from the state and sections of society.

Every year close to the International Women’s Day, March 8, there ensues an onslaught of feminists, especially those at the forefront of the Aurat March (AM) organisation. Every year without fail, parts of the mainstream media erupt in frenzy against AM and its allies, while social media explodes with anti-feminist fury.

From 2018 to 2020, AM progressively increased its outreach and media impact, despite a far greater backlash from a wide range of social groups, including opposition from some of the purportedly liberal voices. As the noise increased, so did the diversity of AM participants. Six years on, it is now pertinent to take stock of how the society, state, and feminist collective behind AM have changed. Or not.

In 2018 when the younger generations of Pakistani feminists in Karachi made a move to organise the Aurat March – women’s day rallies as we used to call it in the 1980s and 90s – we were all taken aback by the success – in terms of diversity and volume of participation. The participants revolted against the patriarchal social order and, for the first time, used humour and satire effectively in slogans and speeches.

The system had to respond, and it did. Women were attacked from all fronts – the religious zealots, hyper-nationalists, netizens, and even liberals. For the rest of the month, feminists were made to face ferocious attacks on their integrity by the media and conservative religious quarters. Their agency and motives were questioned, and they were denounced as agents of the West on a mission to destroy the moral order of Islamic Pakistan.

The ripples that AM created in 2018 were enough to shake feminists – or feminist-leaning liberals who weren’t yet ready to be labelled feminists – from slumber. By 2019, there was a visible excitement to make it the next big thing in town and be part of it. And voila – a diverse range of social classes and ideological groups joined the Aurat March in 2019.

That year, women repeated the Mera Jism Meri Marzi slogan in unison after it became the ultimate thorn in the eyes of the religiously inclined, social conservatives, and section of liberal ‘democrats’ alike. The attacks on AM increased manifold.

But that did not deter women from raising it again in 2020. That’s when Khalilur Rehman Qamar made a joke of himself days before the March by melting down using abusive words on live TV – a first in the history of television in Pakistan. The next day, feminist collectives in Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad, Hyderabad, and Quetta raised the slogan in their meetings in an ultimate act of defiance. That year, the Aurat March was joined by Pakistani women in many capitals, including London and Washington D.C., who organised solidarity events on March 8.

If antagonism and attacks on AM were increasing, women’s enthusiasm and rebellious energy were increasing at double the speed. By 2021, however, the backlash had become too strong, dangerous and violent after the Lal Masjid extremists vandalised the AM mural in Islamabad, the March participants were attacked, and the organisers were accused of blasphemy. In 2022, the March was changed to a jalsa in Islamabad with a lesser number of people attending. In almost all the cities that year, the manifestos and slogans of Aurat March and Aurat Azadi March showed a shift from radical dissent to a more accommodating and non-confrontational tone from the organising bodies and participants. The slogans had become far more sanitised, and Islamabad had even retreated on Mera Jism Meri Marzi. The defensive attitude of AM organisers and participants, which was with good reason, was too conspicuous to ignore.

The ‘Rosa Luxemburgism’ of Pakistani feminism that had created the AM fabric is seemingly either losing its ground or is retreating from its original position of forceful rejection of religion-inspired patriarchal values governing women’s bodies. There is, however, still a sliver of the inking of denunciation of the bourgeois standards of morality. It might have been part of strategic expediency in the wake of a violent Islamist backlash, but it has still changed the initial flavour of the resistance. The ideology must find a way to meet the strategy and expediency somewhere midway. Without this, AM would remain short of becoming a movement while being reduced to a project with too many project leaders competing with each other.

Opposition by the state is one of the many challenges that AM faces. Days before the event, the civil administration of at least two cities – Lahore and Islamabad – refused AM the no-objection certificate for holding the event due to ‘security concerns’ and ‘controversial’ placards. This probably alludes to the placards insisting upon the autonomy of women’s bodies and asserting their sexual agency. Not to forget that these were essentially the slogans that Islamabad’s jalsa willingly allowed to forego in 2022 in the hope of greater acceptance from a wider spectrum of society. Some feminists were lamenting that the new feminist movement had pitched itself against religion ‘needlessly’, leaving a vast space for Islamist parties. The 2000-strong Haya March, a counter rally by Jamat-e-Islami women, has been attacking AM for its supposed anti-Islam and anti-culture shades. It is a debate for another day that the party Haya March women belong to does not allow women to be head of the party.

To sum it up, relinquishing the dissent might not be the best strategy to win support or dilute the opposition. That it is counterproductive should be clear from the administration’s denials to hold Aurat March in two big cities. Also, it is important to have an honest debate within the feminist collective on ideological differences to agree on minimum feminist agenda without compromising group-specific values and principles of secularism, democracy, and dissent against patriarchy and imperialism. But far more important is to retain the ability to work together despite the unavoidable competition for attention owing to the new social media order.

With all its strengths and challenges, one thing is clear: Aurat March is here to stay. You may love or hate it but you can’t ignore it.

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This story first appeared in Arab News

Pakistani foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto’s biting words to his Indian counterpart on the sidelines of a UN meeting in New York last week came when he was asked to respond to India’s repeated labelling of Pakistan as “the host of Osama bin Laden” and the “perpetrator of terrorism.”

Pakistan’s top envoy replied: “Osama Bin Laden is dead but the butcher of Gujrat is still alive… and he is the Prime Minister of India.”

For BJP supporters in India, this was painful plain-speak. On a global forum, Bhutto had spoken the unbearable truth about Narendra Modi. His words sparked nationwide protests in India, and are still echoing across the subcontinent.

The harsh exchange was rooted in facts. The Indian press courageously and widely reported the butchering of sections of Muslims in parts of Gujrat with Modi’s silent approval or benign neglect in 2002. It led to Modi being banned from entering the US. Subsequently, climbing to power ‘cleansed’ him abroad and at home. Indian courts cleared Modi’s partners in crime who patronized rapists targeting Muslim women in Gujrat. It was the Modi re-election that prompted this domestic cleansing.

But last week, in a war of words, Bhutto reminded the UN press corps that PM Modi had the blood of Indian Muslims and Kashmiris on his hands too.

Pakistan’s young foreign minister was reflecting a harsh reality; one that other cabinet members had stated while presenting the dossier documenting the Indian state’s involvement in last year’s terrorist attack in Lahore. India was playing the ugly terrorism game by both conducting terrorism against Pakistan and by propagating Pakistan as the one conducting terrorism against India, recalled Minister of State for foreign affairs Hina Rabbani Khar. She acknowledged the unique challenge of Pakistan alone dealing with a terrorism-fanning Modi’s India. What Khar had recalled diplomatically, her minister recalled bluntly.

Given the usually mild-worded Pakistani criticism of Indian policies on terrorism, Kashmir, Pakistan and Hindutva, Bhutto’s words were a stark departure from the past. After his grandfather Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s scathing criticism of India’s Kashmir policies in the 60’s, it was Imran Khan whose plain speak on Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), RSS and the fascist ideology irked the Indian government enough to have a western diplomat approach a senior general requesting him to ask the then Prime Minister to refrain from labelling his Indian counterpart a fascist.

By the end of 2020, Khan had cleared Pak-India back channel talks suggested by security stakeholders. His ministers in the Economic Coordination Committee had cleared the import of cotton and sugar from India in March 2021, while the cabinet shot it down within 48 hours.

Pakistan’s India policy has wavered. Overall, Pakistan continues its multiple track policy. Four are important; one is the bilateral level engagement in accordance with the Indus Waters Treaty arrangement; two is the interaction and information exchange with Indian counterparts on nuclear facilities and the LOC situation since the March 2021 cease-fire agreement; three is the limited engagement as a SAARC member on matters ranging from climate change to pandemic threats and four, the engagements in multilateral forums including SCO, ASEAN, on military to economic matters.

Nevertheless, the absence of a comprehensive well thought-out India policy has meant ad hoc or fragmented initiatives or responses. They have ranged from opening Kartarpur corridor to the global broadcast of Indian terrorist Kulbashan Yadav’s attacks in Pakistan, to considering import of Indian products, to refusing bilateral dialogue on substantive issues. In recent months, PM Shehbaz Sharif has expressed Pakistan’s willingness to begin dialogue if Kashmir is also discussed.

And the latest: Pakistani foreign minister’s blunt calling out of the Indian PM in New York. For all the protestations against his harsh comments, Bhutto refused to retract his statements.

“I was referring to a historical reality. The remarks I used were not my own..I did not invent the term ‘Butcher of Gujarat’ for Mr. Modi,” he said in his Dec. 20 interview with Bloomberg.

Bhutto’s words were not a substantive departure from Pakistan’s general orientation of the India policy. It’s his blunt statement of facts bereft of all diplomatic niceties that has shocked many Indians. Its sharp impact will be blunted in the coming days but the challenge of Pakistan’s India and Kashmir policy will persist. Despite the many dimensions of Pakistan’s interaction with India, a future path of substantive engagement and cooperation seems missing.

Bhutto’s bold words notwithstanding, Pakistan must formulate a comprehensive and coherent India and Kashmir policy. It will have to be a policy that factors in Pakistan’s commitment to solving the Kashmir question, not ignoring it.

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This story first appeared in The Financial Express

BY DOULOT AKTER MALA

Multitudes of people now overlook medical treatments, unless in utmost emergency, as higher cost of living fired up by inflation is squeezing overall consumer spending, including healthcare bills.

It evidently cuts both ways, like a double-edged sword: economic growth is curtailed and public health is affected, ultimately to the detriment of productivity in the economy.

Health-service providers have found a fall in out-patients in the private hospitals for regular check-ups, pathological tests and other diagnostics.

According to government data, inflation climbed up to 7.48 per cent in July against 5.36 per cent in the corresponding month last year. And food inflation peaked at 8.19 per cent.

In case of emergencies, people in middle-and lower-income groups are rushing to public hospitals or unauthorized heath- service providers to get low-cost healthcare services.

There is no official survey or data yet on how many people skipped regular checkups or compromised medical care to manage higher household expenditures.

In a spot survey through visiting several public and private hospitals in Dhaka, this correspondent found the proof of many of the middle-and lower- income people being compelled to compromise on health expenditures in recent times.

Public hospitals and institutes, including BSMMU on the highest rung, are awfully occupied with in-and out-patients and have scarcity of equipment and manpower.

At the National Institute of Cancer Research and Hospital (NICRH), located in the city’s Mokhakhali area, five radiation machines out of six are out of order. Cancer patients who cannot afford treatment in private hospital are getting appointments after 12 or 15 months in the lone government institute for cancer patients.

However, the radiation treatment after such a long interval would be of no use for them, according to oncologists.

Poor services, logistics, equipment and insufficient doctors in government hospitals prompt the patients either to go to the private hospitals or abroad for treatment. Those who cannot afford these options, choose unauthorized low-cost clinics and diagnostics.

Health experts expressed their concern over such trend on skipping regular check-up and obtaining services from the undesirables in the lifesaving sector — often risking life, as reports have it. It may leave long-term negative impact on wellbeing of people, thus denting productivity.

And, the recent price hike of essential commodities heightened the tendency among people in low-and middle-income brackets.

Morzina Begum’s is a case in study. The middle-aged woman came from Pabna to the capital city’s Mohakhali Cancer Hospital. She was leaving the hospital premises heartbroken, as her grave disease worsened owing to, as doctors said, skipping three routine follow-ups during the last one year.

“I was supposed to come here every three months for checkup. But, It becomes hard to manage treatment costs as living cost is surging beyond the limit,” she laments.

She said all of her family members prefer to cut spending either by compromising healthcare cost or trimming regular household expenses.

Shaiful Hassan Shameem, a radiation oncologist of NICRH, said he was noticing such trend of skipping regular follow-up that may prove life-threatening for the cancer patients.

“Many of the patients, mainly of low-income group, are coming for follow-up after skipping two-three schedules,” he said.

Globally, cancer treatment is comparatively expensive, though cheaper in government hospitals, compared to that of other types of treatments.

Dr Shameem says some patients like Ms Begum were scheduled to visit for follow-up after surgery but they are skipping the schedules in recent times, making their heath conditions worse.

The situation is no different in other hospitals, too. However, private hospitals have noticed a decline in regular follow-up patient arrivals.

Hospitals providing quality and world-class treatment facilities, including Square, Labaid, and Evercare officials, have also noticed people skipping regular treatments, except for emergency, in the hospitals.

Md Esam Ebne Yousuf Siddique, Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Square Hospital Ltd, says there is rush of emergency patients in hospital but outpatients are fewer in recent times.

“We have noticed a downturn in pathology, radiology and other diagnostic tests, too,” he adds.

However, he mentions, the hospital has kept its charges unchanged during the last three years despite hike in prices of all commodities in local and international markets.

Hossain Shikder, a computer operator working in a private firm in Motijheel, came to BIRDEM hospital’s dental unit with acute pain. He was suffering from mild pain with sensitivity in his teeth during the last three months.

“I tried home remedy first, later tried to bear the pain as it became difficult to manage treatment cost from my handful amount of monthly income,” he says.

“Already school fees of my child are due for two months — how can I spend money for myself?” he posed the question.

Director-General of Heath Care Service Professor ABM Khurshid Alam, says rush of patients has increased in the government hospitals across the country.

“I am not sure whether the patients are switching from private hospitals for higher cost, but many patients are now coming for treatment who were panicked earlier to come to hospital fearing Covid infection,” he adds.

Health economics researcher at Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Dr Abdur Razaque Sarker raises another flip side of healthcare system in the country. In Bangladesh, he says, people spend 64 per cent of their household costs for purchasing medicine that are available at doorstep pharmacy without prescriptions of doctors.

“Prices of medicines for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are higher in Bangladesh, and consumption of such medicine increased alarmingly,” the researcher says, as reports say there have been spikes in medicines prices without tangible deterrence.

During the last 12 month, it has been found around 52 per cent of the cancer patients going to the public hospitals while 48 per cent to private hospitals, he mentions.

“Lower-income people are struggling to pay the catastrophic medical bills amid surging cost of living,” he says on a grave note of concern about public health.

Several recent studies reveal that inflation has started taking a toll on healthcare services globally, even in developed countries like America, too, in the wake of disruptions by the pandemic and the Ukraine war close on its heels.

A recent study by West Health and Gallup has found one in four Americans having skipped treatment for rising cost of healthcare services.

Overall, 26 per cent of adults report delaying or avoiding medical care or purchasing prescription drugs in the prior six months due to higher healthcare costs.

The survey found that those who are cutting spending on non-healthcare-related expenses — including food, gas and electricity — are substantially more likely to be cutting spending on healthcare as well.

According to a study by the Ministry of Health, Bangladesh’s out-of-pocket (OOP) healthcare expenditure, borne directly by patients, is 68.5 percent — the highest among SAARC nations.

About 64 percent of the OOP expenditure goes for medicine, whereas it is 28 per cent in India.

It says as much as 60 per cent of the patients take medicines by self-medication.

Bangladesh has set target for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2032. As per Health Financing Strategy 2012-2032, it has also a target to halve the OOP expenditure to 32 per cent by 2032.

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This story first appeared in The Hindu

Attack on Imran Khan | Why Pakistan’s neighbours should be concerned

In this episode of Worldview, we bring to you what is happening in Pakistan right now after an assassination attempt on former PM Imran Khan during a rally 

An attempt to assassinate Pakistan’s former PM Imran Khan during a rally throws Pakistan into further turmoil as his supporters blame the military, demand elections

On Nov 3, Opposition leader and former PM Imran Khan,who has just launched a Haqeeqi Azadi or real freedom movement- calling for immediate elections, was shot at in both legs during a rally in Wazirabad, about 100 kms from Lahore- he is now stable, and recovering from his injuries in hospital- atleast 1 person was killed in the shooting and several others, including Khan’s aides were injured.

Imran Khan is not just former Cricket Captain and former PM but an international personality, and statements have come in from the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the OIC, condemning the attack- this is clearly an event the world is watching closely, as is India

Let’s take a step back- 2022 has certainly been a year of dramatic developments in Pakistan, for Imran Khan, and for the Pakistani military’s credibility:

Cascading crisis in Pakistan

– In April this year, PM Khan stepped down after losing a confidence vote, and a political drama that lasted nearly a month

– Since then he has held a number of public rallies, bringing in massive crowds across the country

– At the rallies, Khan criticised his political rivals, the government of PM Shehbaz Sharif, but also the Pakistani military and the ISI – probably a first

– In May, Imran Khan said he had received information of a planned attempt on his life- he said he had made a video recording naming his would be assassins- including PM Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah and an Army General Faisal Naseer- whom he referred to as Dirty Harry

– In particular, he made the reference repeatedly to a cipher- diplomatic telegram that he claimed showed that the US had ordered his ouster as PM- which he blamed the military for carrying out

– In August, the government banned News TV ARY that was seen as pro-Khan, and arrested its executive and filed cases against its journalists

– In October, Imran Khan was also disqualified from public office, with the possibility that he may not even be allowed to contest elections due in 2023

– Two days later, a former Pakistani journalist with ARY known to be close to Khan was shot dead in Kenya- and media reports began pointing fingers at Pakistani military intelligence

– Next, the unexpected happened- for the first time ever Pakistan’s ISI chief Gen Nadeem Anjum held a press conference refuting all the charges- .

– And then- the assassination attempt- reports are suggesting that the man who shot Khan, and has been arrested is not the only shooter at the rally- with some suggesting automatic weapons fire was heard as well

The big question that will haunt Pakistan now is clearly- who is behind the attack. There is no question that Khan has made powerful enemies in many quarters- but previous assassinations and deaths of leaders in Pakistan have happened without a conclusive investigation, including PM Liaqat Ali Khan in 1951, the plane crash that killed military ruler Gen Zia Ul Haq in 1988, and former PM Benazir Bhutto in 2007. Threats against other leaders in the past have led to many leaving politics and leaving the country.

What does this mean for the Pakistan government ?

1. Political instability- as calls for the government to resign and accede to Khan’s demand for general elections grow.

2. Military instability- Army Chief General Bajwa is set to step down on November 29, and his successor is unclear. Amidst reports that there are divisions within the army with several Khan sympathizers, and major protests against the army itself on the streets, the institution is facing unprecedented challenges

3. Security instability- with the situation in Afghanistan threatening to spill over, the emboldening of terror groups given safe haven on both sides of the Af Pak border could lead to more terror attacks inside Pakistan.

4. Economic instability- Pakistan is still grappling with the worst floods in decades, that have slashed growth figures to 2% this year, while inflation is projected to cross 20%, and foreign exchange reserves have emptied out. Meanwhile, Covid losses, food and energy shortages after the Ukraine war, and debt repayments, particularly to China will make Pakistan unstable for the foreseeable future

5. Regional and international instability- Here is why most other countries including India, must care:

– In times of economic strife, Pakistan’s radical islamist groups have grown more powerful, leading to more terrorist groups and recruits spreading in the region- particularly the cross border spillover to India

– Pakistani groups and terrorists are implicated in attacks not just inside Pakistan, but in India, US, UK, France, and many parts of Asia.

– Pakistan is also the lynchpin for China’s Belt and Road Initiative, particularly for Central Asian countries, which need connectivity to the sea through the CPEC. This may actually help India, which is promoting the alternative routes through Iran- Chabahar port and the INSTC

– Pakistan’s total external debt is 37% of its GDP at present, and a default would cause instability within the international credit market.

– The region has already instability in Afghanistan under the Taliban, Iran with protests over the compulsory Hijab growing every day, and economic turmoil in Sri Lanka. India and Pakistan have made little movement on talks in seven years. And lastly, Pakistan is a nuclear power

The attack on Imran Khan has been claimed by a lone wolf, and even as the conspiracy behind the shooting is investigated in Pakistan, it is necessary for the international community to keep an eye on all the extended repercussions of instability and violence inside Pakistan spreading across its borders as well.

READING RECOMMENDATIONS:

1. Pakistan: A Personal History by Imran Khan

2. Reimagining Pakistan:: Transforming a Dysfunctional Nuclear State Hardcover – April 20, 2018 by Husain Haqqani (Author)

3. Making Sense of Pakistan by Farzana Shaikh

4. The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience Paperback by Christophe Jaffrelot

5. Pakistan’s Political Parties: Surviving between Dictatorship and Democracy (South Asia in World Affairs series) by Mariam Mufti and Sahar Shafqat

6.The Nine Lives of Pakistan: Dispatches from a Precarious State by Declan Walsh

7.Pakistan: Origins, Identity and Future by Pervez Hoodbhoy

8. India’s Pakistan Conundrum: Managing a Complex Relationship by Sharat Sabharwal

9. Pashtuns: A contested history by Tilak Devashar

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This story first appeared in rediff.com

Part 1: ‘We have lost 10 months of our lives’

‘I have to treat patients and there they don’t like Indians. The patients don’t like me, they are not going to come to me, then what is the point of studying there?’

“My year has been wasted, from January till now. We have had no practicals and nothing is in my hands,” Afsha Khan, who now hopes to study at a medical university in the republic of Georgia, tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar in the concluding part of a two-part interview.

What is the way out for you students?

We have got admissions in Georgia, but the problem is, we are like 20,000 students from Ukraine who have got admissions here.

So the wait for a Georgian visa is endless. I applied in late July, so I was expecting to be called this month.

There are 3,500 visa interviews, it is increasing.

Georgia is the only country that is accepting us without having our original transcripts.

They are giving us a grace period by taking us based on the electronic portal. It is also tough to get visas right now.

My original date of reporting at the University in Georgia was September 26, my original visa interview I was expecting in the first of October, but till now I haven’t received a call.

We were supposed to have orientation at the Georgia university, but they have been nice and said they understood our situation.

Meanwhile, I am not stressed about the initial course, because I have completed this semester and I would be repeating it. I won’t be missing anything new.

The only problem is my year has been wasted, from January till now. We have had no practicals and nothing is in my hands.

What about the other countries? Is it tough to get in or what are the impediments?

Armenia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan are offering a lot, but I also have to see the quality of education.

The quality of education is important.

Also, they are not offering clinical exposure and that is important.

One also has to see the environment; some countries are not welcoming Indians.

I have to treat the patients and there they don’t like Indians.

So the patients don’t like me, they are not going to come to me, then what is the point of studying there? In Ukraine, the people were nice.

The clinical exposure we got was fantastic. They were like, ‘You come, see us’.

Everything was different over there. I don’t want to go to any country where my clinical exposure is zero.

In a few of these countries, they don’t even have a hospital with the university. They only have a tie-up.

In Ukraine, if we didn’t understand anything, our sir would take us to the hospital and explain it to us clinically, which helped tremendously.

We could put our knowledge to practice to understand.

Everything in medicine is about practicals because even if you mug up, you need to put it in practice and that helped.

This is the problem with countries like Armenia, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Another important point is the US and UK don’t recognise these universities, so it is pointless studying there.

I have been preparing for the US, UK medical exams. I would enroll only in a university recognised by the World Directory of Medical Schools.

So any university with WDMS accreditation is essential. I also have to keep options for specialisation.

What is the one thing you have learned in these eight months since you left Ukraine?

I’ve not learnt nothing academically because we lost an entire year.

Other than that, in life, I have learned to be patient.

I’m very patient, I was so stressed to escape from the war situation.

Once I came home to Mumbai, I told my parents I’m not going to do anything.

My university also told us, it is a war-torn country what am I expecting, they can’t do anything, even my consultants were saying they cannot do anything.

We have given exams and still it is of no use. Also, one thing, the Indian government had told us we could do our clinicals in India.

If we were able to do them and got our clinical marks, then any country would have taken us.

Imagine, we paid the semester fees, we invested, we studied and despite it we were not allowed to give clinicals.

The Ukrainian medical council also raised a red flag. If we had done clinicals in India, then how could their professors evaluate us and give us marks? They couldn’t recognise our marks and insisted we had to remain in Ukraine for the clinical exams.

We couldn’t remain there since the war broke out.

Later, the Indian government told us we could go to the hospitals to learn and knowledge and not get marks.

I enrolled along with others and the Maharashtra government has been dragging its feet.

They told us local students are enrolled in the hospitals, how can they accommodate us?

This was around May, so I left it. The course in India is for 4.5 years and one year is the internship.

In those 4.5 years, they cram everything since they have only limited years.

Ours is six years so we are taken through the same course slowly.

The professors here are going to teach as per my capacity and what I have learned.

They will have to adhere to their syllabus, so I left pursuing trying to do any clinicals here. It would have been beneficial if I were to do clinicals in Ukraine.

What do you see your future right now?

Right now I just want to go and complete my second year.

When I was in Ukraine, I was firm about my future and which exam I wanted to clear as per the schedule.

USCR, US clinical rotation I was preparing for; that is allowed once I got my license in my third year.

This option is available for European countries. However, now everything will change, once I go to Georgia, so I have to plan all over again.

What are your prospects of getting a student visa in Georgia?

I have to apply even though it is a transfer visa because I don’t have transcripts, otherwise, it would have been easy.

Yet they have been lenient with us as compared to European Union countries.

On one hand, they have shown supporting Ukraine, but where international students are concerned these countries have taken a stand of no transcript, no admission and visa.

It is a big process of getting out of the university, cancelling TR (termporary residency) in these current times as we are stuck in our homeland.

The people in Ukraine are fighting for survival. How can they do anything special for us students?

Guess EU countries are now feeling all transfer students will run to their universities so they are behaving tough, unlike Georgia.

Are you optimistic? Do you feel hopeful?

After June, when my exams got over, I was just doing research on which country I should go to.

Every evening my Abba would come home. I would ask him which new country I can go to.

Every university has unique eligible criteria. Each wants proficiency in the English language and wants us to appear for that exam. They don’t even know English in those countries like Romania, Poland and others countries.

They know we are in an MBBS course, it is not a fresh start and yet wants us to appear for an entrance exam.

There is no guarantee of a seat.

It is risky that I am applying for Georgia, because my future depends on those transcripts.

Now if I sit back and wait for my transcripts, then I would be doing nothing and if I go and don’t get my transcripts it will be a huge problem.

I feel frustrated because our government is doing nothing to help us.

I can’t expect the Ukraine government to do anything for us because they themselves need help at the moment.

I expect some intervention from the Indian government. Some help to get us admissions because our year is getting wasted.

They could have done something to save our year, but they have left us in the lurch.

We have been left to fend for ourselves.

How are your parents coping?

My mom is fine with anything I do. She has told me she trusts me completely. Because she has seen me doing everything on my own.

My father also believes in that, but he sees what I am doing, he asks questions to understand the prospects and most of all, the budget.

According to my dad’s affordability, I am choosing the options.

My batchmates, some are opting for Uzbekistan because it is also cheaper than Georgia.

My fees will be $6,000 annually while in Uzbekistan it is $3,000 per year.

Georgia has an ECTS system, has its own hospital, theory is different and clinicals are separate.

It is exactly like Ukraine. Only two, three of my friends are coming to Georgia.

So far we have had online interviews and I fared very well. They asked me about my mental health.

I fared well, but told them I cannot think straight because I am completely stressed about my year, my future.

They then asked about why I chose Georgia and I told them everything honestly.

Then the second interview was with anatomy professors. They asked me 13 out of 15 questions.

They knew my level as per the marks. The next step is my visa and after I go there will be an English proficiency exam.

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This story first appeared in GorakhaPatra

A group of think tanks ranging from Prime Ministers, foreign dignitaries, representatives of recently-elected local authorities to young activists, rappers and musicians were brought together by the Kantipur Conclave in Kathmandu recently. It was indeed a two-day of packed events, intense and some very motivational series of presentations on discourses that ranged from national to global issues. Starting from the inaugural session with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s address and ending in the closing session with a conversation with former PM and opposition leader KP Sharma Oli was indeed somewhat strategic. It was able to assess the nerves of the largest players in the upcoming national elections in November 2022.

Prime Minister Deuba said that the upcoming election will increase the faith of the citizens in the republican system. He expressed that the elections would succeed in a transfer of power in a peaceful manner. He also stressed that such a process would strengthen the rule of the law in the country. Oli claimed that although his party was endeavouring to enter the battle field with no coalition he would return back to power. Wonder if that was the smooth and peaceful transfer of power that the current Premier had in mind. The inaugural and the culminating sessions of the Conclave endorsed the ongoing confusion and dissatisfaction the general public face because of inter-and intra-fighting within and among the political parties and the politicians.

Diverse topics 

Leaders claiming victory for their philosophy is one thing but claiming victory for personal attachments to power is quite another. Unfortunately, the governing coalition and opposition do not seem to emerge out of nepotism, corruption and petty politics. The new leadership coming out of the old parties also does not seem to have yet materialised. In between the current and former prime ministers’ sessions there were a series of sessions that focussed on topics such as climate crisis, digital age, geopolitics, boundaries of music, export and import, women leadership among others.

Majority of the speakers were youth achievers in their sectors. Listening to the works they have been involved in and the aspirations they have for Nepal being based in the country and doing global level work with the help of the new technology and digital access, one could come out of the two-day conclave being convinced that Nepal will be in good hands if the youth are let to lead with proper laws and policies put in place to help them fulfil their dreams.

Both the septuagenarian leaders of Nepal tried to convince themselves and their audiences that they would still be in power after the upcoming elections. However, most of the Nepali leaders who were far younger than Deuba and Oli, and spoke during the sessions between the two sessions, seemed to be not at all that bothered on who their competitors were.  They were thoroughly involved in the work they were doing, be it technology, science, education, music or politics and seemed to be full heartedly convinced to lead Nepal towards prosperity and happiness in their own way without the need to threaten each other.

Girish Khatiwada, a Nepali singer who is known to be the first rapper of the country, in a very matter of fact manner, expressed a profound wish that most from his generation and younger generation very much had in their hearts. He said he knows simple music, is a noise organiser, has faced a lot of challenges but keeps going because he enjoys what he does. The Deputy Mayor Sunita Dongol expressed similar wish during the all-women leaders’ session. She said that she had been given a non-discriminatory upbringing by her parents and when she wanted to get into the politics, she filed her nomination without consulting anyone as she did not want to give people a chance to try to stop her.

Stereotyped comments

She said that being a young woman leader, she often faced gender stereotyped comments directed more towards her physical looks rather than her professional capabilities. However, she never let such attitudes come her way and was determined to excel in her job. The discourses that the Kantipur Conclave clearly highlighted the fact that the youth are capable and ready to take up effective leadership roles in many fields if they were not stopped by the elder generations. It is therefore time now for the senior citizens within each political party to remove the hurdles they are creating for capable women and men cadres within their parties who have not had a chance to show their abilities yet.

Although Nepal’s septuagenarian and octogenarian leaders are still eying for coveted seats, the time has come for the younger and more capable cadres in each political party to take up the people’s agenda. Commitment to new leadership and new thinking should be made in order for the country to progress towards the path of development. There are ample examples of new approaches and new leaderships as demonstrated by people like Prakash Saput, Sobita Gautam, Phulbati Rajbanshi, Minkumari Lama, Swapna Suman, Dr Jiwan Baniya and several more in all walks of life. The trick now is to identify people in politics who can actually lead the country from all forefronts and help Nepalis to move towards wellbeing and prosperity.

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SAWM programmes, with UNICEF

Bhubaneswar: UNICEF Odisha in collaboration with South Asian Women in Media (SAWM) India, a network of women journalists in South Asia has launched the Young Women Journalist Mentorship Program 2022. To mark the occasion, a two day orientation workshop was held in Bhubaneswar on September 3 and 4 on the theme ‘Working Women and their Children’.

The workshop aimed to empower young women journalists, build their self-confidence, hone their reporting and writing skills, and connect them with mentors for guidance. As many as 16 young women journalists from tribal, rural, and underprivileged communities across the state have been selected as mentees to be mentored by four senior journalists of Bhubaneswar under this initiative. The young journalists will be supported with guidance and financial aid to travel to remote districts and report on stories from the field.

The workshop was graced by guests MSME Department’s Principal Secretary Ranjana Chopra, Sambad Group’s Radio Television and Digital Wings Head Tanaya Patnaik, OTV’s Co-founder and MD Jagi Mangat Panda, independent journalist Monideepa Banerjie, formerly with NDTV, and Swati Bhattacharjee, President SAWM along with four senior women journalists of Odisha as mentors. Radhika Srivastava, Communication and Advocacy Specialist UNICEF delivered the welcome address.

Ranjana Chopra said, “This is a welcome step taken by SAWM and UNICEF. Women are excelling in all fields including media. Across all sectors, there is a need of much stronger representation of women. The mentees in the programme will have a great opportunity to interact with senior journalists and learn from them and make a mark for themselves in journalism in Odisha.”

Tanaya Patnaik said, “Journalism is a demanding yet challenging job. Hats-off to those women who have chosen journalism as their career. It can be a very rewarding job and young women journalists should step forward to learn, go to the field and grow”.

Sharing her experience and encouraging the young women, Jagi Mangat Panda, Co-founder and MD of OTV said, “Every career has its own challenge so is in journalism. But you need to be focused on your goals and should not be distracted by any means. Being a journalist, you should always bring both sides of the story with strong narratives.”

Enlightening on the guidelines while reporting on children, Radhika Srivastava said, “While reporting on children, every journalist should follow the ethical guidelines and cover children issue with sensitivity. Through their stories, journalists can ensure voices of children, especially from poor, tribal, underprivileged and marginzalised families are heard”.

Monideepa Bannerjie shared her experience in journalism and the hurdles she has come across to be in the profession for 40 years. She talked about the unequal job conditions the women journalists are facing these days and risking their lives for this profession.

In this workshop, the young women journalists shared their experiences and challenges they are facing in the field.

Young Women Journalist Mentorship Program

This story first appeared in GorakhaPatra

Mayor Balen Shah has been immersing himself in some of the most difficult issues in Kathmandu that urban cities face. Solid waste management, street vendors and excavation and removal of illegal properties are some of the major issues that he has taken up as soon as being elected as Mayor of Kathmandu. Street vendors are essential inhabitants of urban cities. They serve the urban people with easily available goods and services at competitive prices. Their livelihood depends on the volume of people they serve. 

A street vendor is a person who sells various goods such as vegetables, clothes, kitchen utensils, etc. They do not have a permanent space they rent so their “business” is unregistered and excludes tax payment. Many shopkeepers in Nepal complain that the street vendors often earn more than them. Most street vendors come from the below poverty level and are often migrants who move around selling their goods, make profit and again move on somewhere else. They are part of the informal economy which keeps the lives of the majority of the poor people of Asia and Africa alive. Some street vendors could be stationary occupying the same spot every day to sell their goods.

Street vendors increasing 

While registered shopkeepers pay rent for the space they occupy and tax to their municipalities, the street vendors don’t and often earn more than the rent paying shop keepers. Even with carts and baskets they pull or carry they occupy certain space every day to go about their businesses.  As the urban poor increase in cities, the street venders increase too. The National Policy for Urban Street Vendors of India notes that its street venders constitute about 2 per cent of the population of a metropolis. Research also mention that there is a steady increase of street vendors in most Asian cities.

While Metropolises like Kathmandu struggle with removing the street vendors it is important to review what may have gone wrong in the first place. As the capitalist market economy blooms, so does the urban population including the urban poor from both the local and migrant communities. Therefore, a capitalist ecosystem where an integrated approach of coexistence of street vendors in the city’s social and economic life may be the need of the day that people like Mayor Balen Shah and Mayor Chiri Babu Maharjan may need to look into. Due to a lack of jobs people from different parts migrate into cities and the Kathmandu Valley lures most of the aspiring youth and labour workforce from the hills, the mountains and the Terai.

As job availability has become more and more difficult, people opt to become street vendors. The shrinking jobs in the formal sector, lack of skills and education pushes more and more urban poor into street vending. Entry into street vending trade is easy as it does not require formal education, registration, tax payment or rental space payment. As the urban poor increase and street vendors increase their families start moving in and working with them. The number of women street venders is increasing in the Kathmandu valley. While initially only men were seen in this profession, now more and more women are increasing together with their children.

These street vendor’s lives are always in precarious conditions as they are always at the risk of being evacuated by the government and need to develop skills of claiming their “space” on the footpaths, streets, bridges, flyovers or under the flyovers. Apart from this they are also at risk of several types of abuse due to lack of security and protection.  Most of the Asian countries do not have proper laws related to the street vendors. According to a research, Street Vendors in Asia by Sharit Bhowmi, India, Malaysia and the Philippines have policies for the regulation and protection of street vendors in Asia. The research states that among the three only Malaysia seems to be sincere in implementing the policy.

Malaysia is the only country where there is a provision to give licenses to the street vendors thus they are provided facilities for conducting their trade. The government also provides credit facilities for them.  India is one of the countries with large numbers of urban poor and street vendors. The Street Vendors Bill was adopted in 2014 and the National Policy For Urban Street Vendors in 2009. In his article Integrating Vendors in City Planning Avik Munshi mentions that the Street Vendors’ Bill is a big step towards recognising the rights of street vendors not only to get space but also to participate in decision making about the city.

While the Mayors are evicting the street vendors, it is important to review what laws, rules and  regulations prevail in Nepal that are directly related to the lives of the street vendors. Just evicting them as they are not tax payers is not enough. It is important to provide physical space in selected areas where they can conduct their business. It is also important to note that it has been a traditional and cultural practice of Nepali people to having vegetables and different food items delivered at home that has been integrated in their life style and will be difficult to get rid of.

Therefore, a proper planning and strategy needs to be developed. Such planning should include the commercial, social and political perspectives to understand how different groups function in different areas. Spatial structures need to be developed based on the need of the people of any city. This includes both the well-off and the urban poor. No human should be driven off or stopped from earning to live just because they do not have a permanent space. Planners should not focus only in making policies and designing spaces. They should look at the integrated social and human values of people no matter which class cast or category they belong to.

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This story first appeared in Rediff

‘Just waiting outside the prison gate, thinking that your mother is inside those walls even though you know she is innocent, affects your psyche.’

But life turned upside down for the film-maker and columnist when her mother Professor Shoma Sen was arrested in March 2018 for her alleged involvement in the Bhima Koregaon case. Professor Sen was, as a consequence, suspended from her post as head of the English literature department at Nagpur University.

From prison visits, to dealing with extensive paperwork, to worrying about her mother’s deteriorating health, Koel has been dealing with multiple challenges.

“The first two years were extremely difficult; it took a long time to get accustomed to the fact that I had to go to jail to meet her.

“Many of the people who are in prison are undertrials. But this fact is ignored. You are considered the ‘family member of a criminal’ because you are waiting to see someone who is in prison. They look at you as if you are guilty,” Koel tells Rediff.com Senior Contributor Neeta Kolhatkar in a multi-part interview.

We heard of your mother’s condition for the first time from Sudha Bharadwaj (a lawyer, an activist and a trade union leader, Bharadwaj — who was arrested and charged in the Bhima Koregaon case — was released earlier this year on conditional bail; she and Professor Shoma Sen were incarcerated at the same time at Pune’s Yerawada Central Jail and Mumbai’s Byculla Jail). It is only through a co-inhabitant or their families that we learn of the conditions in jails. Does your mother talk to you about her health problems?

Yes, she tells me.

But, as a daughter, I know there are things she doesn’t talk about because she is concerned about the impact it will have on me. For instance, there were things that Sudha told me about Ma that Ma herself hadn’t shared — instances like when Ma felt giddy after her blood pressure went down.

I understand Ma’s predicament. She hides those kinds of things from me because she is a mother. She is always thinking about what she should tell me and what she shouldn’t.

That’s why, when I came to know about this incident, I asked Sudha to tell me how Ma really is and what her problems are so that I am better prepared.

Have the authorities taken any steps to give her medication or ensure a complete medical check-up?

To be honest, the authorities are not bothered; they don’t care about what’s happening to the prisoners.

It is up to Ma to try and see that she is taken to (Mumbai’s) J J Hospital for her treatment (Professor Sen is now a prisoner at Byculla Jail). She has to keep telling them that she has a specific ailment; she has to keep detailing her medical problems.

Also, they are always taken to an intern at a government hospital because prisoners, though they don’t say it, are considered second class citizens. The interns are young and don’t have much experience.

Aur qaidi ko check karna matlab pehle se hi doctor log dar jatey hain (Doctors are petrified because they have to check a prisoner).

Sudha too mentioned that doctors are scared to examine them because they are coming from a prison. Now imagine explaining your symptoms to the doctor under these circumstances.

I don’t think Ma is getting good treatment for her eyes.

She has glaucoma and, before she was arrested, she was under treatment from one of the best ophthalmologists; not everyone can treat this eye condition.

Also, for this ailment, the doctor needs to see her in person. I don’t even know which doctor in J J is responsible for her treatment.

At our end, we are continuing with the medication from our doctor. But he hasn’t been able to examine her since she was arrested so we don’t know how her condition is now. No tests have been conducted.

These kinds of things make you worry constantly about her health.

Sometimes, Ma mentions some good things too. Once, we were lucky to get a good doctor. Otherwise, this is the way they are treated.

In how many jails have you visited Professor Sen in the four years since she was arrested? What were these visits like?

She has been in two jails only; the first one was Yerawada in Pune and second is the Byculla Jail in Mumbai. So I have visited only women’s prisons.

The first two years were extremely difficult; it took a long time to get accustomed to the fact that I had to go to jail to meet her.

Just waiting outside the prison gate, thinking that your mother is inside those walls even though you know she is innocent, affects your psyche a lot.

The presence of the prison walls, the prison structures, the uniformed people, the way they look at you — all of it gives you a huge shock. You go through immense pain.

Even the way you, as a visitor, are treated is — to a certain extent — violent. Many of the people who are in prison are undertrials. But this fact is ignored. You are considered the ‘family member of a criminal’ because you are waiting to see someone who is in prison. They look at you as if you are guilty.

The fact that someone you know is inside makes you, in a strange way, feel guilty too.

You are grappling with all these mixed emotions and with the overwhelming hope that you might get to see and speak with your loved ones.

There have been times when children have not been allowed to meet their mothers who are in prison; the wailing child is left outside because a certain timing, or a certain requirement, has not been met.

When you see such things, you feel luckier than most because so many people are facing problems and challenges that are so much worse.

I have also had nice moments at Yerawada where I have had conversations with women.

What about Byculla Jail?

The visits to Yerawada were more frequent because Ma had just been shifted there. We made many visits to give her clothes and medicines. All of us, including Ma, had to get used to the fact that she was inside prison; it was a shock for her too.

The move to Byculla was very sudden. She was shifted immediately after the case was taken over by the NIA (National Investigation Agency). That shift happened between January-February 2020 and, soon after, the national lockdown was imposed because of the pandemic.

Since then, I have been able to visit her only four or five times.

There have been annoying circumstances at the Byculla Jail, especially about regulations. They keep bringing up something new every single time.

When Ma was shifted to Mumbai, I had to get a police verification to prove that I am her daughter despite the fact that I had met her at least 15-20 times at Yerawada. My records are there in their prison system. So why do they force me to do this new paperwork to prove I am her daughter all over again?

During the lockdown, there were limited days on which I could visit her. Yet, they made me run around for this new police verification.

As a result, I was allowed to meet her only once a month whereas I could have met her four times if I didn’t have to follow up on the paperwork which already existed in their records.

It just gets so frustrating; you end up feeling helpless.

How did all this affect you? How did you keep yourself together?

I used to get anxiety attacks and faced bouts of depression because of these situations. I had to be put on medication initially and, yes, it has taken a toll on my life and my work.

In the initial phase, till 2020, I was bad shape.

Slowly, one becomes stronger and resistant to the hoops they keep putting you through, like unnecessary paperwork and chasing for permissions.

On rare occasions, when the person on the other side is ignorant, the process has been smooth.

Usually, the police see the kind of case your family member is arrested for — if it is under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) or MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act), then they make the rules more stringent.

Since ours is a UAPA case, compulsory police verification has to be done.It is a form of harassment.

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This story first appeared in Institute of Commonwealth Studies

By Nupur Basu
(Independent journalist, award winning documentary film maker, and educator from India.)

On World Press Freedom Day, May 3, 2022, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) came out with a numbing statistic on India. It ranked India at 150 out of 180 countries in its World Press Freedom Index, a 17 point fall from its ranking in 2016, just six years back.

The report said : “The violence against journalists, the politically partisan media and the concentration of media ownership all demonstrate that press freedom is in crisis in the world’s largest democracy.”

Last year in 2021 the World Press Freedom Index had ranked India at 142 out of 180 countries. At that point it was down 10 points in 10 years. This time it is a whopping 17 points.

The rapid and year on year decline of press freedom in India is not only reflected in these numbers but on Ground Zero. India has become one of the most dangerous countries to report from in the world and that is a major blow to its democracy.

The results of this decline in press freedom are visible in many ways – the vilification of journalists, police cases registered against them, defamation and sedition suits, imprisonment under draconian and bizarre terror laws and even killings. Increasingly journalists speaking truth to power are being intimidated for going against the ruling BJP government’s narrative and its Hindutva nationalist moorings. The ire against journalists  could be on any issue, ranging from corruption in high places, the government’s economic failures, to coverage of gang rapes and mismanagement during the pandemic.

According to Reporters Without Borders there has been a 35% rise in women journalists being sent to prison for their work worldwide. The pressures and mounting challenges to women journalists and editors are becoming ever more acute. Former American President Donald Trump’s favourite phrase for dubbing news critical of him as ‘fake news’…and his infamous description of the media as the ‘enemy of the people’ appears to have found easy acceptance among Indian politicians who have borrowed and used that narrative here in India freely to discredit media professionals who are trying to do truth telling. Indeed, the phrase – fake news – has become the new weapon of those in power to discredit and disown journalists’ stories if they are unflattering to the government.

As one example of this repressive trend: during the first phase of the COVID-pandemic a First Information Report ( FIR ) was filed against Supriya Sharma, Executive Editor of Scroll.in for doing a story from the Prime Minister’s constituency of Varanasi on how COVID relief had not reached a poor family. A case under the SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act was filed against her because a Dalit woman whom she had interviewed in her story turned around and denied the comments in the interview.

Supriya Sharma is a well known, award – winning journalist who travelled to the ground during COVID times and narrated the problem that she witnessed first-hand. There was no mala fide in her reporting. One can only imagine what pressure the Dalit woman had been under to deny her story. The Allahabad High Court had to step in and stop the police from arresting Sharma . Nearly two years on, the case has yet to be closed.

There were other attempts to intimidate journalists across the country in the first and second phase of the pandemic, when the public health situation was critical at times . It was clear that the government was not happy to see any truth telling on the desperate plight of the poor migrant labour after the all-India lockdown in 2020, and the gut -wrenching oxygen scarcity and large number of deaths in the second phase of the pandemic in 2021. The government even tried to introduce forms of censorship on the COVID coverage. But India’s Supreme Court thankfully ruled against it.

In another recent event, two young women journalists who had gone to Tripura to cover an incident of communal conflict were held by the police for allegedly reporting ‘fake news’ and “spreading hatred” with their reporting. Finally the courts had to intervene to grant them bail and the women journalists were released. Similar cases have been reported in other parts of the country, including the nation’s capital, Delhi, where women journalists were detained by the police while they were out covering riots.

In 2021 journalists covering the story of a poor Dalit girl who was gangraped in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, saw a television woman journalist’s phone messages being monitored and made public as she was trying to get to the root of the story. (During the same coverage a male journalist Siddiq Kappan was arrested on serious terror charges as he was heading to Hathras. Kappan, a journalist from Kerala, has been in prison without bail for the last 18 months. )

We asked Sujata Madhok, General Secretary of the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) what she thought of the growing intimidation of women journalists in India .

“The situation of women in Indian Media is paradoxical. On the one hand there are far more women in the media than ever before, particularly in the big cities. They can be found in every kind of media, newspapers, periodicals, online news media, YouTube and most visibly on television. They have broken many glass ceilings. Yet their very success makes them targets of attack, particularly on social media.  A few media women have had cases filed against them for stories that are inconvenient to the government. (Many male journalists too are facing such cases and some are behind bars.) They are forced to rush to the courts for protection against arrest and prosecution. Such litigation is expensive and harrowing to deal with” Madhok told us.

Recently when the entire Pegasus scam erupted globally, India was very much at the centre of the media story. Pegasus, an Israeli Spyware, was allegedly purchased by the authorities and installed in the mobile phones of several Indian journalists. These included women journalists such as Rohini Singh who was doing stories on alleged corruption of people in the highest echelons of power. As yet there has been no admission from the government as to who actually authorised this surveillance. The matter is pending in court. The government denies having had any hand in the surveillance. But it is a well-known fact that the Israeli company selling this spyware deals only with governments. Attempts to spy on journalists and find out their sources are all contributing factors to India’s ranking in the World Press Freedom Index crashing down to 150.

In effect, all red lines have been breached when it comes to the safety and security of women journalists. This is true globally, and India is no exception. Velvet Revolution, a documentary produced by the International Association of Women in Radio and Television (IAWRT), which I directed along with five other women directors, showcased the increasing vulnerability of women journalists across the world. In the last decade both state and non-state actors seemed to have become trigger-happy with women journalists, in terms of their persecution and even murder. The red line which was there before had proverbially vanished.

In India it was crossed with the gruesome killing of journalist/activist Gauri Lankesh in India’s Information Technology city, Bangalore, on September 5, 2017. Gauri had just put her edition to bed and was returning to her house from work in the evening when masked men riding motor bikes approached her gate and fired seven bullets into her frail and petite frame. She died on the spot.

The trial of Gauri’s assassins is finally scheduled to begin on 27 May, 2022, a delay of four and a half years . Altogether 18 people are on the charge sheet and 17 have been arrested. They all have alleged links with a radical group that claims to propagate Hindutva. The judge has asked for the accused to be presented in court or join online on video from the jail premises.

Even after Gauri’s brutal assassination, online trolls continued to abuse her. The journalist was no more. But the haters continued to spew hate on a corpse. They also proceeded to publish and spread the names of other women journalists who were next in line for elimination. This is a shocking development: these are effectively public death warrants against women journalists and activists being put out on social media in India in the 21st century; yet the social media platforms putting out those hate-filled messages and the government remained mute.

Women journalists are subject to what the United Nations has called “double attacks”. They are threatened both offline and online. Online abuse has reached dizzying proportions. The social media has been weaponised against women journalists and online misogyny has become endemic. Rape, kidnap threats, death threats have become a daily diet on the Twitter handles of women journalists. Indian women journalists such as Arfa Khanum, Rana Ayub, Neha Dixit, Bhasha Singh, Barkha Dutt, Sagarika Ghosh, Saba Naqvi, and Nidhi Razdan are all regularly subjected to vicious attacks on the social media platforms.

In India this online assault has played out in abhorrent ways with women journalists’ photographs morphed with the bodies of porn artists and their telephone numbers and addresses published. The recent cyber crimes in India of #Sulli Deals and #Bulli Bai apps that had put women journalists, particularly Muslim women journalists, up for auction, was another new low in digital crime in India.

Senior journalist and author Saba Naqvi who was targeted wrote on Twitter on January 2, 2022: “Feeling nauseated to get calls from the media saying my name also on the #BulliDeals.Told its still active and any Muslim woman who speaks out is listed. In solidarity with all women out there and the only silver lining is that so many brave young women annoying hate mongers..communal misogyny is a separate mental condition”. @_sabanaqvi

According to Sujata Madhok, General Secretary of the Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) – “In a deeply political and polarized country, media women who speak truth to power are considered fair game for any kind of abuse on platforms like Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp and other social media where anonymity emboldens abusers. The ruling BJP’s IT Cell, for instance, unleashes hundreds of trolls on leading women journalists for their comments on political and social developments. Other groups too launch such attacks. However, online anonymity makes it difficult to identify abusers. Predictably, the threats are sexist and often pornographic in nature.  Several women journalists have complained of threats of rape and murder. Some of the worst hate attacks are against minority Muslim women journalists.’’

Despite the outrage against such attacks, there is very little justice for the complainants. Journalist Rana Ayub, a global opinion writer for The Washington Post, has been viciously targeted by trolls in the last decade for her critique of the policies of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The author of the self-published book ; “Gujarat Files –  anatomy of a cover up” which was based on a sting operation during the Gujarat riots when Narendra Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat, Rana has been continuously trolled and abused by right wing Hindutva groups and even by the right wing media. Recently she was the subject of raids by the Enforcement Directorate on charges of “money laundering” of charity funds raised for COVID victims. She has firmly denied these charges. The United Nations condemned the vilification of Rana and Nobel laureate Maria Ressa expressed her solidarity with her.

However, the official harassment continues. In April 2022 Rana was stopped at Mumbai airport and not allowed to board a flight to Italy where she had been invited to deliver a keynote address at the International Journalism Festival 22. She had to secure a court order to be allowed finally to board the flight after a harrowing bureacucratic procedure.

While delivering the keynote address at IJF 22 at Perugia, titled “When the state attacks: journalism under fire in the world’s biggest democracy”, Rana Ayub recounted the mental agony that she had undergone due to this sustained targeting which she said had triggered panic attacks and severe depression.  “Ï have put my entire family in jeopardy with my journalism” she said, adding, however, that she would continue to report from India on all that was going wrong with India’s democracy. “Ï am proud of the fact that the government is scared of my words . I would not like for me to be admired by any political party in India, I would not like that. Over my persecution no political party has stood up in solidarity with me and I take that as a badge of honour. There is an unpopular truth that we must speak and I am here to speak that.”

The Chair, Julie Posetti, Global Director of Research at the International Centre for Journalists (ICFJ) described the attacks on Rana by government agencies and right wing trolls as “extremely reprehensible” and said that all world governments and international media should to take note. “We have been studying Rana’s case and analysed the 8.5 million twitter posts directed against Rana- the hostility, the misogyny, the reprehensible attacks and the ways in which they come torrentially ..”

Posetti told the audience: “We demanded ..because we had to ..that Rana could fly and she did and she is here..and she’s here because she has a compelling reason to be here..she has a compelling and important story to tell ..its a story of state-based harassment and vilification and unfortunately its becoming a very familiar story around the world. But in India, the world’s biggest democracy, it is an essential story for us to hear and ensure we are understanding the myriad challenges when it comes to producing journalism as a freelance woman journalist, who is Muslim and who is attempting to hold power to account in the context of what Rana refers to as potential genocide.”

The UN Secretary General said recently that a survey done by the UN had revealed that 72% of women journalists were being intimidated and harassed for just doing their daily job. Digital media in particular has been the vehicle to heap abuse on women journalists for the truth telling they are doing. But the more they abuse, the more the women are coming out with more and more ground breaking and important stories.

Recently, a top scientist in India said that women journalists were the “real heroines ” of the COVID coverage in the country . They went relentlessly into the field in the most difficult times…to hospitals, morgues, burial grounds and burning ghats. and recorded the hopelessness and human suffering unleashed by the pandemic. They did stories on India’s poor public health infrastructure to deal with a health emergency like a pandemic, the subsequent deaths amounting to over 4 million according to the Lancet . The Indian authorities have rubbished this figure and posted COVID death statistics which are ten times lower than this figure.

Truth telling by women journalists ,in the face of repressive tactics unleashed by governments and other undemocratic forces, comes despite the atmosphere of intimidation, arrests, raids, espionage and death threats . This is indeed good news for journalism.

But two questions beg answering:
Are women journalists in India doing a much more dangerous job than they set out to do?
And will those trolling, criminalising, arresting and killing them get away with impunity?

Clearly institutions like India’s Supreme Court, the Commonwealth, the United Nations must urgently draft stringent laws and punishments and do all in their power to end this unbridled impunity and ensure that persecutors are brought to justice. And media rights organisations in India and around the globe must continue to highlight the erosion of press freedom in India in the coming months.

The Gauri Lankesh murder trial for one will be watched keenly when in begins in the fourth week of May.

(The author of this piece Nupur Basu is a senior journalist and documentary filmmaker)

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