South Asia

Photo: Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena summoned Canadian High Commissioner David McKinnon and expressed Sri Lanka’s deep concern over the adoption of Private Member Bill 104. Credit: @MFA_SriLanka, Official Twitter Account of the Foreign Ministry of Sri Lanka.

Canada’s LTTE-Inspired Myopic View On ‘Genocide’

By Sugeeswara Senadhira

The writer is Media Advisor at the Presidential secretariat.

COLOMBO (IDN) — Genocide is the intentional destruction of a particular group through killing, serious physical or mental harm, preventing births and/or forcibly transferring children to another group and this term has been applied to the experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada, particularly in the final reports of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls inquiry.—The Canadian Encyclopedia.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 14 May 2021

Photo: One of the biggest government-run COVID-19 hospitals in the Indian capital. Source: News Click

A Story of Nightmare for Patients in India's Government-Run COVID-19 Hospital

By Tarique Anwar

This report was first published in News Click on May 8, 2021.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The healthcare staff at Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Delhi frantically clear the facility of bodies. One of the biggest government-run COVID-19 hospitals in the national capital, it is swamped by patients, triggering chaotic situations for doctors and paramedics who are scrambling to cope with the virulent infection amid a shortage of beds, oxygen, ventilators, doctors and other medical professionals.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; South Asia; 09 May 2021

Photo: Health workers in front of the Jumbo Covid facility in Pune on May 5. (Express photograph by Arul Horizon)

Modi Govt. Abdicates Responsibility in the Face of Skyrocketing Death Toll

Viewpoint by Prabir Purkayastha*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic continues its brutal march across India. Figures of new infections reached 355,828 on May 3—which accounted for more than 62 percent of the world’s new infections on that day. As hospitals run out of beds, ICU capacity, and even oxygen, these factors have been contributing to the already skyrocketing death toll in the country. Dead bodies in mortuaries, crematoria and burial grounds speak of the awful toll of the pandemic.

: South Asia Bureau; THE WORLD; South Asia; 05 May 2021

Photo: Indian-Australians Stranded in India. Credit: The Canberra Times.

Australians Blast Government For "Racist" Indian Flight Ban

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — A controversial ban on flights from Covid-hit India landing in Australia, has blocked around 9,000 Australians from returning home. Most of them are Australians of Indian origin, while there are also a handful of Australian elite cricketers, coaches, and other officials currently taking part in the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket extravaganza.

This unprecedented move of banning its own citizens from returning home has angered many Australians, who have also branded this move by Prime Minister Scott Morrison government as "racist" because no such bans were imposed on flights from the UK and US during the peak of the pandemic there.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 May 2021

Photo: Prime Minister Narendra Modi meeting the Norway Prime Minister Erna Solberg on the sidelines of India-Nordic Summit, in Stockholm, Sweden on April 17, 2018. Credit: India PM's Office

In Norway, Even Prime Minister Not Above COVID Law

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran

NEW DELHI (IDN) — On April 9, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg was fined 20,000 kroner ($2,352) for breach of COVID rules during her 60th birthday celebration on February 26.

It was nothing remotely like the Shashti Abda Poorti (celebrating completion of 60 years of age) seen in India.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 01 May 2021

Photo: In 'good old days', India and Russia signed agreements for the cooperation and use of GLONASS-K satellite at CeBIT 2011—a global navigation satellite system, providing real time position and velocity determination for military and civilian users. CC BY-SA 2.0

When from Russia With Love Was About Bonding, Not Bond

By Shastri Ramachandaran*

NEW DELHI (IDN) — Amidst the raging epidemic and desperate clamour for vaccines, along with oxygen and hospital beds, comes news that Russia’s Covid-19 vaccine, Sputnik V, is expected in India by May end. Russia has also been forthcoming with a lot of other support and assistance as India finds itself desperately short of medicines, oxygen and hospital beds for battling a huge second surge of the coronavirus where the daily infections exceed 300,000 and deaths are at an all-time high.

: Shastri Ramachandran; THE WORLD; Russia; 30 April 2021

Photo: Terrorist attack in Sri Lanka. Credit: Sri Lanka government.

A Counterpoint to 'Geopolitics of the 2019 Easter Sunday Crime in Sri Lanka and Cover-Up by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake'

Viewpoint by Muttukrishna Sarvananthan PhD*

POINT PEDRO, Sri Lanka (IDN) — I have read with great interest Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake’s well-crafted conspiracy theory on the Easter Bombings in Sri Lanka in a two-part viewpoint dated November 2020 and April 18, 2021. There are a few factual inaccuracies or deliberate hyperbole to insinuate that the United States of America (USA) was directly or indirectly responsible for the carnage.

: South Asia Bureau; OPINION; 24 April 2021

Photo: Capt. Matthew Dixon, who deployed with the 1st Battalion, 87th Infantry of the 10th Mountain Division, receives a combat patch during his deployment to Afghanistan during the spring of 2020. U.S. ARMY

The US to End its War In Afghanistan, “The Graveyard of Empires”

By Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) — President Joe Biden of the United States announced that its war in Afghanistan, the US’s longest war ever, will end on September 11, 2021.

A glimpse of Afghanistan’s history—dubbed as “the country where Empires go to die” will help us understand why many empires failed in that country.

Afghanistan, rightfully called a “graveyard of empires”, is a mountainous landlocked country located along the ancient Silk Road between Asia and Europe, and surrounded by powerful nations such as India, Pakistan, and Russia.

: Somar Wijayadasa; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 23 April 2021

Photo: Catholics, Buddhists and Muslims hold silent protest to demand the truth about the Easter Sunday massacre. Credit: SL Time, Colombo Page News Desk.

Two Years On: Geopolitics of The 2019 Easter Sunday Crime in Sri Lanka and Cover-Up

The Weaponization of Religion Amid Hybrid Cold War in The Indian Ocean Region

Viewpoint by Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake

The writer is a cultural and medical anthropologist with research expertise in international political economy, peace, and development studies in South and South-East Asia. Her research spans issues in gender and women’s empowerment, migration and multiculturalism, ethno-religious identity politics, new and old Diasporas and global religion, particularly, transnational Theravada Buddhist networks in the Asia-Pacific region. Darini was a Senior Lecturer at the Open University of Sri Lanka. Her Bachelor’s degree is from Brandeis University and her MA and PhD are from Princeton University.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 18 April 2021

Photo: Sri Lankan boat intercepted by India.

Taking Lessons from LTTE New Narco-Terrorism Network Takes Shape in South Asia

By Sugeeswara Senadhira

The writer is Director (International Media), Presidential Secretariat, Colombo.

COLOMBO (IDN) — Indian security officials believe the interception of a Sri Lankan boat carrying 300 kilograms of heroin, five AK-47 guns and ammunition off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala in South India on March 25 points to a network of narco-terrorism with strong links to a group in Sri Lanka. The Indian officials told the Media the network of narco-terrorism has created sleeper cells in Sri Lanka and other neighbouring countries, and exports drugs to foment trouble. They added that the drug income is then used to fund illegal activities, including extremist activities.