🇵🇰 🕳️ 🇦🇫 How Pakistan lost Afghanistan – Southasia Weekly #101

I’m writing this week as a landmark case has been opened accusing Myanmar’s military of using “genocidal policies” to destroy the Rohingya community. As a Sri Lankan, reading about the case reminds me of Sri Lanka’s own protracted history of (un)civil war and calls for accountability for the Tamil community from within and outside Sri Lanka. Then, too, the discussion revolved around whether the killings and enforced disappearances in the North and East of the country constituted genocidal acts on the part of the Sri Lankan state, and then, too, many pointed out the high standard of proof required to successfully prosecute such a case.  

This week, as discussion swells around the case on Myanmar, a report was released on conflict-related sexual violence in Sri Lanka, a poignant reminder that many questions around accountability on Sri Lanka’s war linger unresolved, adding to the pain and trauma of survivors. We work to draw parallels like these so that you, our readers, can gain a deeper understanding of Southasia, from Southasia. 

This week in Himal

Salman Rafi Sheikh writes that Islamabad has failed to recognise Kabul’s new regional ambitions, framing a divergence in strategic orientation as a national security issue.