The Himal team started this week thinking about translation, with the kick-off of our annual Fiction Fest, where we listened to authors and translators grapple with how to convey the magic of a story without losing its true flavour and essence. If that’s something you’ve thought about too, you can catch the discussion now on our YouTube channel, and scroll on to read some of the stories on the website.
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This week’s newsletter features rare protests in Afghanistan against the Taliban, an exploration of Tibetan migrant life, great short stories in translation and more. Scroll below to dive in!
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Raisa Wickrematunge
Senior Editor, Himal Southasian
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This week in Himal
Tsering Shakya writes about ‘Sunset 100’, a rare exploration of Tibetan diaspora and migrant life in Toronto, Canada.
Read three stories from Fiction Fest, celebrating the best of Southasian fiction in translation, below, and look out for more in the coming week! And in case you haven’t yet, sign up for a conversation with acclaimed Hindu-Urdu translator Rakhshanda Jalil on writing across languages on 17 June at 7 PM IST here.
Rounak Bhat
Ashik Kahina
Gaya Nagahawatta
This week in Southasia
Afghanistan’s dress code rules and broader crises
On 9 June, Taliban police reportedly used live ammunition to break up a rare protest against the detention of women for violating dress code rules in Herat, with at least two reported dead. Up to 150 protesters, including men and women, gathered in solidarity with a dozen women arrested in the past week for not wearing a full chador or burqa with a face-covering. The acting head of the UN mission in Afghanistan told the UN Security Council that about 30 women had been detained by the Taliban for failing to comply with their dress code. This is part of a broader clampdown on women’s rights since the Taliban coup in 2021, with restrictions on women’s access to education, employment, public space and healthcare, and recently laws legitimising domestic abuse and child marriage.
While these updates make headlines, less reported on is the interlocking set of crises making life harder for Afghans, from higher prices due to closure of the border with Pakistan and the war in West Asia, to shortages in nutrition supplies in rural health clinics due to aid cuts, to flooding which has led to 300 deaths and 2000 homes destroyed in the past 10 weeks. In the meantime, cross-border conflict is escalating. On 10 June, the Taliban claimed 13 civilians including children died in air raids attributed to Pakistan, after weeks of relative calm. Around 3448 refugees entered Afghanistan on a single day as Pakistan and other countries continue to step up deportations of Afghan refugees. These crises have led to greater scrutiny of the non-profit sector in Afghanistan, which continues to be plagued by a shortage of funds but also inefficiency, corruption and wastage.
Elsewhere in Southasia:
- Delhi high court dismisses cases against independent digital news outlet Newsclick and editor Prabir Purkayastha, judge describes case as ‘gross abuse of the process of law’
- At least 11 people lose their lives in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, around 72 arrested in clashes between police and the recently proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee during protests over political rights, legislative seats for refugees from India-administered Kashmir
- Six Christian Naga men found dead after being taken hostage for nearly a month as tensions between Kuki and Naga tribal communities escalates in Manipur, India
- US oil firm that received at least USD 100 million from India’s Reliance Industries revealed to have son of Donald Trump as stakeholder; deal meant to smooth tensions between India and US administration regarding purchase of Russian oil, US media reports
- Former Taliban commander sentenced to 42 years in US prison for abduction of American journalist and two others in 2008
- At least 40 civilians killed and thousands of homes torched in Myanmar military massacre near UNESCO heritage town Bagan
- Pakistan Supreme Court reinstates former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s right to defence in 2017 defamation case filed by current PM Shehbaz Sharif as Khan serves prison sentence
- UN officials flag “push-ins” of Muslim migrants from India along Bangladesh-India border; Bangladesh Border Guard reports at least 30 incidents since beginning of June
- Colombo court orders five-member medical board to examine former Sri Lankan intelligence chief Suresh Sallay, detained for role in 2019 Easter Bombings Protest under controversial Prevention of Terrorism Act after torture allegations, government says new antiterrorism law in two months
- US President Trump reportedly considering bid to purchase Chagos Islands from Mauritius in order to secure Diego Garcia naval base, despite competing claim from the Maldives
Revisit the below archival stories from Himal adding more context to this week’s news updates from Afghanistan, Pakistan and India
The Editors
Laxmi Murthy
Salman Rafi Sheikh
Snap Southasia
