The moral decay of Sri Lankan Buddhism, Southasian eyes on the Palestinian genocide and more

In recent weeks, perhaps you didn’t even notice the report released by a retired Indian judge on the lives of Palestinian children, documenting a systematic campaign of targeted violence that supports numerous fact-finding reports increasingly describing Israel’s actions in Gaza and the West Bank as genocidal. Maybe this is because our collective senses have been dulled by near-daily reports of death, as the rest of the world bears witness. For Sri Lankans (and many Southasians), these reports are hauntingly familiar. That’s why we feel it’s vital to keep our attention on Palestine, especially as governments turn a blind eye in favour of lucrative contracts or foreign income. We also have a deep dive on the slow and steady rot within Sri Lanka’s sangha after a sexual assault case featuring one of Sri Lanka’s top Buddhist monks, a free documentary screening and more in this week’s edition.

Raisa Wickrematunge

Senior Editor, Himal Southasian

This week in Himal

Tisaranee Gunasekara writes that the recent case of child sexual abuse involving a top Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has unmasked the decay of the Sri Lankan sangha, which has increasingly become intertwined with Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism and political power over millenia.

We're screening Kesang Tseten's The Riyalists from 1-8 July for Screen Southasia - if you'd like to receive the screening link for this and future documentaries, just register on our site (for free) and sign up for the Screen Southasia newsletter.

This week in Southasia

UN report raises fresh questions about Southasia's ties to Israel

A recently released report from a UN Commission of Inquiry has documented a campaign of violence and human rights violations against Palestinian children by Israeli forces and settlers. The report found over 20,000 children had been killed and tens of thousands injured in Gaza and the West Bank since October 2023, many of them intentionally targeted by snipers and quadcopters. The commission was led by a retired Indian judge, Srinivasan Muralidhar, who said they found ‘indisputable’ evidence of Israeli forces targeting children, adding that the report substantiates their finding that the Israeli force’s actions in the war amount to genocide. The report also detailed attacks on infrastructure essential for children, including hospitals and schools.

Muralidhar’s strong statements after the report’s release are in stark contrast to how India and some Southasian countries have continued to support Israel despite the escalation of violence towards Palestinian citizens, including children. India has both supplied and purchased weapons from Israel in recent years, with Modi expressing support for Israel during a state visit in February. Sri Lanka has been happy to step in to replace Palestinian labour in construction and farm-work in Israel after October 2023, while the Sri Lankan government has turned a blind eye to the setting up of Chabad houses in tourist hotspots, beefing up security around them while arresting anti-Israel Muslim citizens. As a remittance-dependent economy like Sri Lanka, Nepal too has signed government-to-government labour agreements with Israel and has cooperated with the country on technology and military training, though it has remained neutral or voted against Israel at the UN.

Elsewhere in Southasia:

Air-strikes from Pakistan forces kill 36 Afghans including civilians, injure more than 160 others, after militant group Jamaat-ul-Ahrar assault on federal paramilitary Sindh Rangers base in Karachi as tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan continue
India asks WhatsApp to freeze planned rollout of username feature in the country flagging cybersecurity risks, weeks after blocking Telegram in growing crackdown on anonymous messaging
Former ruling party official appointed president of the Maldives’s Election Commission, despite prior corruption allegations, support of India Out campaign, raising questions about impartiality
Former Navy Commander Wasantha Karannagoda arrested by Sri Lanka's Commission to Investigate Allegations of Bribery or Corruption over recruitment of Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Yoshitha to the Sri Lanka Navy in 2006, sending him for Royal Naval Academy training despite not meeting required qualifications
Heatwave and supply shortages causing 10-12 power outages due to load-shedding in Bangladesh, sparking protests, rural Bangladesh particularly affected
Editor of Kolkata-based daily The Telegraph denied passport renewal after being deleted from West Bengal electoral rolls during SIR, poor West Bengal residents impacted by SIR report having to file extensive paperwork to continue receiving cash and welfare benefits
At least five lose their lives, 15 injured after landslide causes jade mine collapse in northern Myanmar
Pakistan’s Secretary to the Ministry of Defence Lieutenant General Muhammad Ali arrives in Sri Lanka to participate in armed forces defence dialogue, discussions on regional security, military collaboration and defence training on the agenda
Myanmar has filed action against 21,639 people between 2024 and May 2026 for political attacks, ‘inappropriate’ content and misinformation, with nearly 20,000 prosecuted under counter-terrorism charges; government committee formed to monitor criticism of junta rule online
New research on glacial flood risk identifies 11,000 people at risk in the event of glacial flooding in Bhutan, housing, roads and farmland also potentially impacted
Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission initiates inquiry into reports that over 35,000 registered members of Rastriya Swatantra Party were minors, sparking criticism; RSP claims the figures are an error