Jueves, 8 de agosto de 2019 (Continuación)

India Annexes Kashmir and Brings Us Back to Partition

Pakistani kids are taught in and out of school that Kashmir is our “shah rug” (jugular vein). Indians believe that Kashmir is their “atoot ang” (indispensable body part). Urdu and Persian poetry is full of paeans to the beauty of Kashmir. If there is paradise on earth, “it is this, it is this, it is this,” the 14th-century poet Amir Khusro wrote. Since the time of Partition, 72 years ago, India and Pakistan have been fighting wars over Kashmir and calling each other the occupier and the oppressor of the Kashmiris.

Occasionally, there have been halfhearted pledges that the Kashmiri people should probably get to do what they want with their paradise.…  Seguir leyendo »

A protester blocking a train door during a general strike in Hong Kong on Monday. Credit Anthony Wallace/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Anyone who thought that the antigovernment demonstrations rocking Hong Kong this summer were just the doing of radicalized youngsters should think again. On Monday, the first general strike in the city in about 50 years brought the territory to a near-halt. The protesters making front page news are supported by Hong Kongers from all walks of life, whether or not they, too, take to the streets.

Hong Kong’s labor laws allow strikes only against one’s employer, not for general political causes. Yet the Confederation of Hong Kong Trade Unions announced that more than 350,000 people participated, calling in sick or taking the day off.…  Seguir leyendo »

Indian Paramilitary soldiers standing guard during the curfew in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, on Wednesday. Credit Dar Yasin/Associated Press

Kashmir, over which India and Pakistan have fought four wars since the partition of the Indian subcontinent in 1947, has been the battleground for competing, conflicting ideologies. For Pakistan, the Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir was a critical missing piece in its positioning of itself as the South Asian Muslim homeland. For India, the state became the symbol of secularism for India in its post-colonial nation-building project.

But with the rise and rise of India’s Hindu nationalists, the very idea of India is being redefined and repurposed. To assert this redefining of India as a muscular, majoritarian nation state, there could have been no better place than Kashmir: a United Nations-endorsed, internationally accepted, disputed territory with a Muslim majority fighting an armed insurgency against the Indian state for the last 30 years.…  Seguir leyendo »

Horas antes de que el presidente mexicano, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, arremetiera en su conferencia matutina contra cuatro medios de comunicación porque no le gustaba la cobertura a su gobierno, sujetos hasta ahora no identificados entraron por la fuerza a la casa de la periodista Lydia Cacho, mataron a sus dos perras y se robaron archivos, cámaras, memorias digitales y una computadora con material relacionado con sus investigaciones.

Las dos noticias circularon el lunes 22 de julio y el contraste evidenció las dificultades para la prensa mexicana en el nuevo gobierno. El ejercicio libre y seguro del periodismo en México es todavía una esperanza que López Obrador no ha convertido en realidad.…  Seguir leyendo »

Las pastillas para abortar y los cambios sociales del internet

Una tarde hace casi un año, justo cuando el Senado de Estados Unidos comenzaba a considerar la nominación de Brett Kavanaugh a la Corte Suprema, me registré en Day Night Healthcare, una farmacia en línea con sede en India, y ordené una caja de pastillas abortivas. Unas horas más tarde, recibí una llamada de un agente de servicio al cliente de Day Night que me advirtió algo. Me aconsejó que si mi banco llamaba para preguntar sobre la compra: “Dígales que aprueba el cargo, pero no diga para qué es. Si preguntan, diga que es equipo para el gimnasio, o algo así”.…  Seguir leyendo »