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About
this
Newsletter
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The
Khyber is a
bi-monthly newsletter focusing
on South
Asian affairs. This not-for-profit venture consists
of a collation of news from national, regional
and international streams.
The Khyber was launched to bring
oft-neglected policy discussions into mainstream academic discourse,
and hopes, like the Pass from which its name is borrowed, to provide
easy access for the information-thirsty traveller into this strange,
misunderstood, frustrating but important part of the world.
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May
31,
2010 | A South Asian Affairs Brief
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 Bangladesh's Dark
Brothel Steroid Secret
Every country has secrets it does
not want foreigners to discover, and I have just found one in
Bangladesh.
It is a vast brothel, where 800 women and girls lead
painful and degrading lives, in the otherwise pleasant town of Tangail,
a place of flowering trees and atmospheric old bazaars, a couple of
hours drive from the capital Dhaka.
[...] competition
is intense, and the prostitutes are forced to take some desperate
measures to survive.
Most, I learn, take a body building steroid called
Oradexon. They take it because they say it makes them stronger, larger
and more attractive. They say that Bangladeshi men like big women.
But it is also the same drug that farmers here use to
fatten up their cattle before taking them to market.
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Hundreds
of
acres
of rubble, the city reduced to fields of
blasted concrete and steel....a
shattered chocolate-box of a landscape that
had once been home to tens of thousands of people seeking refuge from
the war raging in the Afghan hinterland.
Read
the
full
story.
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Two
countries branded as rogue nations, Iran and North Korea, are
conveniently located next to each other.
Mark
Landler
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 Frayed ends of sanity :- On
May
28 when terrorists associated with what is called the ‘Punjabi
Taliban’ attacked
various places ofworship of the Ahmadiyya community in Lahore,the TV
channels were out in force covering the gruesome event. However, that
did not stop them from running happy-go-lucky commercials of
their
corporate sponsors during breaks, giving the whole event a rather
surreal feel.
- The
Latest Commission of Inquiry in Sri Lanka :- Louise
Arbour of the International Crisis Group is reported to have said
during an interview in the BBC that the government violated the laws of
war by blurring the line between combatants and civilians, and that its
killings of civilians were not accidents. Perhaps in
response to
this, a Commission on Lessons Learnt and
Reconciliation set up to investigate allegations
of
humanitarian
standards
and
human rights violations
during the war.
 When
Afghans seek medical aid, tough choice for U.S.:- Marine
patrols and the Taliban fight daily, and
helicopters are needed to evacuate
the wounded.Under
NATO rules, any Afghan
civilian
wounded
as a result of military activity is treated in the Western military’s
medical system. Black Hawk helicopter crews often scramble and collect
them. But each day, Afghans seek help for other injuries and ailments —
for heart attacks, for trauma from vehicle and agricultural accidents,
for twisted backs, cut hands, spiking fevers, infections, insect bites
or dental pain.
- China
Announces
Development Plan for Restive Xinjiang Region :- Over the last year, Xinjiang has emerged
as a prominent weak
spot in the system of Chinese authoritarian control, with ethnic
tensions at a constant boil. This month, the central government held
a high-level
policy
conference on Xinjiang and announced steps to
invigorate the economy and, in the words of Chinese officials, ensure
“leapfrog development and lasting stability.”
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A
Pashtun
Paradox
from
Peshawar :- The real problem with American
society is that "we’re
supremely greedy, stupid and lazy" when it comes to our politics
and
government. Most of us invest next to nothing in thinking about issues
and voting intelligently, let alone other more robust forms of
political participation,” said Dr. David Michael Green, Associate
Professor of Political Science at Hofstra University in New York.
 Nepal Avoids Crisis in Deal to Extend Parliament :-
Faced with a
midnight deadline, Nepal’s
Maoists reached a broadly worded deal with
leaders of major political parties in which the Maoists
agreed to extend the term of Parliament, the
Constituent
Assembly. In exchange, Prime Minister Madhav Kumar
Nepal agreed to resign at an unspecified time in the future to “pave
the way” for a new government.
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All
3
buried
militants identified as innocent civilians :-All the three
persons, killed and labeled by the Indian Army as “unidentified
militants” on
April 29th evening and subsequently buried by residents of Kalaroos
village in a local graveyard, turned out to be innocent civilians
when respective family members identified them during a day-long
procedure of exhumation and autopsy under heavy rains in Kupwara
district.
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 Afghanistan- War lessons and fallacy :- The U.S. engagement in Afghanistan is now
in its ninth year. It is also without any doubt the highest
foreign
policy
priority
for the U.S. administration. Yet
understanding our engagement there seems to have become more convoluted
as time goes by. Part of this confusion comes from the political
leadership both in Washington and in the European capitals where
strategies remain opaque and doubtful to the common person.
- Pigeon held in India on suspicion of spying :-A white-coloured bird was found
by a local resident in India's Punjab state, which borders Pakistan,
and taken to a police station
40 kilometres from the capital Amritsar.The pigeon had a
ring around its foot and a Pakistani phone number and address
stamped
on
its
body in red ink.
- India's
Heat Wave- Karma ? :- People say
human genes evolve due to the surrounding
environment. And national culture is supposedly shaped by many elements
including the climate we live in, since it impacts food,
clothing
and
entertainment
options. So, what has the
blazing heat taught us North Indians, and how does it make us different
from those in
cooler climes and more temperate zones?
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 Bangladesh-Eco Symbol ? :- From the port of Sadarghat, the
Bangladeshi capital Dhaka unfolds itself in an inclement palette of
greys and browns. The Buriganga River, stretching out in each direction
like a puddle of mercury, is dotted with hundreds of river craft, some
dredging trash from the riverbed, others weighed
down
with
passengers
and piles of vegetables.
- Dragons and Paper Tigers
:- At
a
time
nuclear
proliferation is a major area of concern for the
international community and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)
Review Conference is underway in New York at the United Nations,
reports that China is all set to allow its state entities to supply two
new nuclear reactors to Pakistan should be a matter of grave concern.
This
action of China will be in clear violation of the Nuclear Suppliers
Group (NSG) guidelines that forbid nuclear
transfers
to
countries
not signatory to the NPT or adhere to
comprehensive international safeguards on their nuclear programme.
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