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Notes from South Asia: Muslim Hate in India, Rohingya in Bangladesh, Nepalese Diplomacy [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-21  

Hello, everyone. Good morning, afternoon or evening, and welcome to this edition of Notes from South Asia. You can find all the articles in the series here (along with my other diaries).

We are back to business in bigotry land with multiple lynchings, while the poor suffer heat strokes, and Kashmiris endure land grab and occupation. In Bangladesh, Rohingya are facing mental health crisis (in India too) due to persecution while many Bangladeshis deal with heat in Dhaka and floods in Sylhet. Nepal meanwhile is trying to employ climate change diplomacy to get rich countries to support climate adaptation and mitigation efforts in the country.

India

The Hell for Muslims continues under Modi 3.0

It may have felt like a breath of relief to have Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) face a set back in Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra and find themselves losing seats in Rajasthan and Karnataka, but news since from across India suggest that the Hindu Supremacy continues unabated. Maktoob Media reports on one of the lynchings that took place a few days back.

Saddam Qureshi, who was among three Muslim men brutally assaulted by a cow vigilante mob in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur while they were allegedly transporting cattle, died in hospital Tuesday after battling for his life for 10 days. The two Muslim men with him were killed on 7 June – the day of the attack. Saddam, 23, had been in a coma until his death at Raipur’s Shri Balaji Super Speciality Hospital. “He (Saddam Qureshi) had a major head injury on the right-side of his brain due to which his head had swollen and blood circulation had decreased. We performed decompressive craniectomy surgery on his head and another gastro-related surgery. He has also suffered multiple fractures on his ribs, shoulder, pelvis, left hand and spine,” Indian Express quotes Dr Deepak Jaiswal, medical superintendent of the hospital, as says. At 5 am on 7 June, Friday, two Muslim men, Guddu Khan, 35, and Chand Miya Khan, 23, were found dead, while Saddam Qureshi, 23, was left with critical injuries. The trio were residents of Banat and Lakhnoti villages in western Uttar Pradesh. “They were 15 men. They threw them (Guddu and Chand) from the [Mahanadi bridge into the riverbed] after killing them,” Saddam said in a video circulating on social media in which he is lying in a bed in a half-conscious state. “I jumped [from the bridge to save my life].” Police had earlier said they were waiting for Saddam Qureshi’s recovery to record his statement.

The Hindu had reported that they were cattle traders and attacked by cow vigilantes (as you can see from the clipping above).

Gafira Qadir of Maktoob Media writes more about hate crimes against Muslims, some of them from authorities.

The day after the oath-taking ceremony, the Lucknow Development Authority (LDA) began demolishing thousands of Muslim homes in Akbar Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, where the INDIA bloc secured 43 seats. Muslims have lived there for generations. They are crying for help, but their pleas seem to fall on deaf ears—even those of the Opposition, which many voted for in these elections, reportedly to “save” India’s constitution and combat hatred. On the INDIA bloc receiving the most votes in UP, Ram said that In India, people have been struggling, particularly in UP, facing issues from farming crises to unemployment. “UP chose the alliance of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi, who campaigned on protecting the constitution and supporting marginalised sections and minorities. Various factors influenced the UP elections, including these key issues.” Miles away, just days after a leader of Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind was hacked to death in UP’s Pratapgarh district, imams from two different mosques were murdered by unknown assailants. This string of killings of Islamic clerics within a week raises serious concerns in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP was stunned by the election results. The BJP faced a significant defeat to the Samajwadi Party (SP) of the INDIA alliance. Reports suggest that caste and religious minorities played a crucial role in dismantling the BJP’s stronghold in many constituencies. This result was unexpected for both the party and political observers. However, despite hopes for a victory over hatred, old prejudices still remain. Ayodhya, a focal point of BJP’s election campaign, chose a SP candidate over the BJP. This outcome did not sit well with the ruling party and its supporters. Subsequently, videos surfaced on social media showing threats and abuse directed at people from Ayodhya and other UP areas.

I saw news stories and videos of people attacking mosques, hospital (Hindu but they dared treat Muslims) and a Muslim owned shop in Telengana and Himachal Pradesh respectively around Eid. Both are Indian National Congress (INC) ruled states. In Telengana, many BJP local leaders were arrested for instigating the attack but I don’t have any update on Himachal Pradesh.

If murder and hooliganism are not bad enough, the governments in Madhya Pradesh (as in Uttar Pradesh) have taken to bulldozing homes of Muslims based on spurious complaints. Iram Siddique reports for the Print.

Bhopal: Among the 11 houses bulldozed in Madhya Pradesh’s Mandla Saturday over allegations of cow slaughter and illegal construction were the houses of Akeel Ahmad and his two brothers, Asif and Adil. Their father, Jaleel Ahmed Qureshi, said that the police visited Akeel’s house two days before the demolition drive, drank water from the fridge, and conducted a search of the house. Jaleel claimed that the police found nothing, and yet the houses of his three sons were razed. Akeel, Asif and Adil, along with eight others, have been booked under section 4, 5 and 9 of The Madhya Pradesh Govansh Vadh Pratishedh Adhiniyam, 2004. According to Superintendent of Police for Mandla district, Rajat Saklecha, the FIR was registered after enough evidence was found with cowhides kept in the back, and bones and beef stored in the refrigerators of these homes. Of the 11 houses demolished by the Mandla district administration, seven belonged to members of Jaleel’s family, including his sons and other relatives. Jaleel has accused the villagers of hatching a conspiracy and targeting his family over a land dispute.

The government claims that these are homes built on government land. That is, unauthorised constructions. Funnily enough, the same alacrity is not shown towards a lot of the palatial homes in Delhi. Besides, how is sending people to the street a government function? It is against both the Constitution of India and Supreme Court judgements.

A Hurt and Dangerous Fascist

MK Narayanan, former director, Intelligence Bureau and former National Security Advisor, asks Indians to expect Modi to double down.

Already, the signs are there for all to see. The new Cabinet and Council of Ministers remain essentially the same. This is as good a sign as any that the Prime Minister does not think it necessary to effect a change or even consult anyone in any such exercise. Again, everything points to the Prime Minister dealing with his new Cabinet and his new Council of Ministers in the same fashion as previously. It appears extremely unlikely that any major shifts from past practices, or in terms of future legislation, will occur. The past practice of asserting arbitrary authority to achieve ends that the Prime Minister considers desirable, is hence, likely to continue. This will remain the Prime Minister’s leitmotif this time around as well. More to the point, there seems to be little hope that the Prime Minister, while pushing for multi-polarity on the global stage and seeking a greater say for the Global South internationally, would apply the same logic to the situation in India. The Prime Minister does not see the election results as a verdict for a change in direction. Rather, he possibly believes that more of the same might have produced better results. Hence, there is little hope that the Prime Minister would moderate the use of central investigative agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and the Enforcement Directorate against all and sundry. Again, Mr. Modi will be fixated on urban India, which in this election gave him maximum support. He is unlikely to make concessions to working-class voter families, and informal workers, especially those in the rural areas. The announcement of ‘Kisan Nidhi’ should not, hence, be viewed as a nod in favour of rural farm workers. A hurt, but not wounded, Narendra Modi is likely to be a far greater threat to democracy and democratic traditions, than was the Mr. Modi at the end of March. Nothing could have been more galling for him — that of his own majority in Varanasi shrank from the more than four lakh votes he got in 2019 to 1.5 lakh votes this time. Equally disappointing would have been the fact that in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the Samajwadi Party (SP). Also after having spent so much time and effort on the Ram Temple issue, the BJP lost the Faizabad seat (where Ayodhya is located), to a relatively unknown opponent from the SP. Even lesser mortals would have reason to feel chagrined that fate had dealt such a cruel blow. Being Modi, he would seek avenues to overcome this insult. Hence, the worst is yet to come.

The author blames the opposition for not seizing the initiative and forming a government. While I don’t blame them for that, I do blame them for not cracking down on Hindu Supremacy in their states and not protesting it actively elsewhere.

Death By Heat

North India has been suffering greater than ever heat waves this summer (report from Economic Times). Well, rest of India too but since monsoons have arrived, it has been North India.

The summer of 2024 has become increasingly deadly, with over 100 lives lost and the health of thousands of Indians severely impacted by extreme weather conditions. And the season is not over yet! India has recorded over 40,000 suspected heatstroke cases amid a prolonged heatwave, reported Reuters. Simultaneously, parts of the country, including the northeastern region, are dealing with severe floods triggered by heavy rain.

Tabassum Barnagarwala reports for Scroll that doctors are struggling to certify heatstroke deaths. On June 1, government teacher Wasi Akhtar, 48, walked to the Baluadih Urdu medium government school in Bihar’s Jamui and logged his attendance before 9 am. A day before, the maximum temperature had soared to 44 degrees in Jamui. The India Meteorological Department had sounded a heat-wave alert for parts of Bihar since May 29, warning of hot nights which gives no time for the body to cool down. Schools had been shut because of the heat wave. But teachers were still asked to report for duty. “After a while, Akhtar went to inform the headmaster that he was not feeling well,” his elder brother Mohammed Shamim said. “He collapsed there.” Shamim rushed to the school and saw that other teachers were spraying water on Akhtar to revive him. “His body was very hot when I touched it,” he said. Akhtar was rushed to a local doctor who said he could not treat a case of heatstroke. A second private doctor, Dr Tasneem Ahmed, put him on intravenous saline drip for some time and then asked the family to take him to a bigger hospital. Akhtar’s blood pressure was high but the ECG report was normal, the doctor observed. The family then travelled to Durgapur, over 80 km and two hours away, but Akhtar died before they could reach a hospital. His death caused an uproar. Government teachers in Jamui staged a protest against the rule that makes it mandatory for teachers to report for duty even during heat-wave conditions. Local activist Pushpraj Shastri said the protest forced the police to send Akhtar’s body for a post-mortem at the government-run Sadar hospital. The verdict of a heat-related death would entitle Akhtar’s family to Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia, but Shamim said they have “little hope”. “Usually government doctors label such cases as heart attacks.” Many teachers in southern Bihar suffered heatstroke, and some died in the three days between May 30 and June 1 due to extremely high temperatures, according to Markandey Pathak, president of TET-STET Uteern Niyojit Teachers’ Association. “But most have not been counted as heatstroke victims,” Pathak told Scroll. The association has recorded the deaths of eight teachers between May 1 and June 10. “Most of them died during a heatwave,” Pathak said. In cases when an autopsy was done or treatment was given, hospitals have been reluctant to provide medical documents, said Jagat Bhushan from Ekta Parishad, a non-governmental organisation in Bihar. “This is the administration’s attempt to undercount heatstroke deaths,” Bhushan said. Doctors hesitate to certify deaths as heat related because, they lack the required forensic facilities, haven’t had exposure to guidelines from the government health ministry, and think that families’ claims about environmental factors need police verification. They think not certifying a death as heat related is the safer option. Finally, Midhat Fatimah reports for DW that the heatwaves affect Dalits most. A nationwide heat wave that began in May has brought unprecedented temperatures to northern and western India . The India Meteorological Department issued red alerts at the end of May warning about the "very high likelihood" that many people would experience heat illness and heat stroke, and urging "extreme care" for vulnerable individuals. Despite the heat wave, however, Kanchan Devi is forced to make her living outdoors, baking bricks in the state of Haryana. Temperature warnings do little for informal laborers such as Devi. The twenty-something-year-old only has a piece of cloth wrapped around her head to protect her from the sun. Devi, who belongs to the Dalit community — a historically marginalized group from the lowest level of India's centuries-old discriminatory caste hierarchy — squats for hours at a time as she works at the furnace to produce bricks. Last month, Devi experienced dizziness at work during the heatwave and was subsequently hospitalized due to low blood pressure. The point is that, people of the underprivileged caste groups (and Muslims) are more likely to be found in informal labour that involves being out in the heat in the day for hours at a time like construction, and hence, they are likely to feel the ill effects of heatwaves more. Due to moderate rains yesterday, there is a brief relief from heat in North India but Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) says that the heat will be back in two days.

Land Dispossession in the Name of Development

Junaid Manzoor Dar reports for Article-14 on the pain of Kashmiri apple growers faced with the prospect of losing their land to railway expansion in Kashmir.

Officials showing up to survey land without prior intimation has caused a great deal of pain and anxiety for apple growers about the expansion of a railway network in Kashmir and the loss of their orchards. While the union government heralds the 324.4 km of new track as the next big leap in connectivity and development in the conflict zone, the mostly marginalised farmers with small land holdings fear the loss of livelihood and their way of life.

Note that this happens in other places too not just Kashmir. In Ayodhya (of the notorious Ram Temple), people’s shops and homes were removed to widen roads and they were given little compensation. In many places, such as in Amaravati in Andhra Pradesh, the infrastructure has not been built due to political delays. However, Kashmiris, due to prejudice, lack the support a person in Ayodhya might have limited as it is (not sure even that limited support will manifest if we continue as we have been).

ANANTNAG/SHOPIAN: On 4 March 2024, Muzafar Ahmad Malik, a 42-year-old apple grower from Shopian district in south Kashmir, was lying on a bed in the government district hospital, recovering from a heart condition and agonising about the government’s plan to build a railway line that would subsume his 10 kanal (one acre) orchard. "It was not the fear of death that had brought my abuji to tears, but the impending death of our way of life, the lifeblood of our land," said Mehvish Muzafar, Malik’s daughter, recalling the incident a month later. “For generations, our hands have worked these trees, and now they want to replace them with tracks. Our sweat and toil mean nothing to them,” she said. “Seeing orchards destroyed for tracks and roads feels like our lives are being destroyed too.” Malik’s wife said the earnings from their apple orchard paid for his medication and the education of their four daughters. “If the government proceeds with the rail line construction through our land, where will we go?” she said. With 75% of India's apple production coming from Kashmir, the industry contributes 10% to Jammu and Kashmir’s gross domestic product and employs 3.5 million people, 23.35% of the population. The union government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to enhance connectivity in the Kashmir valley by laying down 324.4 km of new railway track inside Anantnag, Kulgam, Shopian, and Pulwama in the south and Baramulla and Kupwara in the north. The proposed rail network has become a source of worry and anxiety for apple growers in Kashmir, especially after officials started turning up to measure their land without prior notice or consultation. The loss of their orchards would not only disrupt their livelihood but their entire way of life.

It is of course illegal to not notify people in advance.

Sections 4 and 11 of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 mandate a formal public notice about the acquisition of public land, consultation with the village councils, and a social impact assessment. Deputy commissioner of Shopian, Faz Lul Haseeb, and Bijbehara Nusrat Aziz, the tehsildar of Bijbehara tehsil in Anantnag, did not respond to Article 14’s questions about the alleged lack of notice and consultation. Protests have occurred in parts of south Kashmir, including Baramulla in the north and Anantnag, Shopian, and Pulwama in the south.

The government seems to think the railways will bring jobs and development. And that apple can be grown in other lands. Wonder what will happen to the farmers though? Will they be given other lands and compensation for loss of income until their new trees start bearing fruit? Plus, there is this.

However, studies published in 2017 and 2019 have highlighted that compensatory afforestation is a contentious practice that often exacerbates environmental degradation rather than mitigating it. The practice is criticised for masking ongoing land grabs, encroaching upon community-held lands and common property resources, and "adding to environmental damage instead of mitigating or compensating it". "Many of the firms involved are state-owned, yet are routinely allowed to violate statutory obligations, exposing the pitiful state of environmental compliance in India," said the study published by the World Rainforest Movement in 2019.

Since government did not appropriately compensate Tribals in Adivasi dominated states such as Chhattisgarh—where industries are not allowed establishment without consent and consent was obtained through fraud—and even farmers in other states, I have little hope that the apple farmers of Kashmir can expect anything better.

They destroy India in the name of Bharat and the right calls it civilisation and development.

Bangladesh

Suffering of Rohingya

Dil Afrose Jahan writes for the Dhaka Tribune about mental health crisis among the Rohingya.

Six-year-old Jannatul Foriza is a second-generation Rohingya refugee born at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh who is the middle-born among three siblings. Her father, international award-winning photographer Mohammed Salim Khan, was born in 1993 at the same refugee camp to parents who sought refuge in 1992. He has been spending his days in constant uncertainty as he reflects on the challenges of a life confined within its walls, a life he has never known beyond. Unknown of his roots, the father of three daughters never reached the soil of Myanmar and does not want his children to have the life he has lived through. “I do not want to give them life-like ‘mine’ in the refugee camp because we do not have access to high-level education, and we are spending life with limited resources,” said Salim Khan with grief in his voice. Moreover, Salim felt deep pain inside his heart when he first heard his daughter Foriza, along with other neighbouring children, adopt the ethnic identity of “Rohingya” as slang. Leaving him in deep shock, Foriza “name called” her relatives who fled to Bangladesh in 2017 with the existing stereotypes that she came across through social media. Pointing out the cultural sensitivity, Salim shared that the drama and social media content adopted the ethnic identity of the Rohingya population living in the refugee camp with the stereotype and the “Rohingya” -- the word used as a negative metaphor, in other words, Rohingya is a slang in the host community.

It appears Bangladeshis use Rohingya as a slur.

Like Foriza, thousands of children and young adults are dealing with the impact of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD after the influx. “I am apprehensive about my daughter’s future. She has learned her ethnic identity is used to address stereotypes that the host community has adopted. The social media content or drama, she watches there my ethnic identity portrayed to address anything “bad,” said Salim. “I have never been to Myanmar. However, as an adult, I carry a sense of belonging within the community. What about my daughter, who is a second generation here and learning her ethnic identity is recognized as bad? We do not have anything left with this identity. What about later? Do they feel shame or fear of sharing their ethnic identity? Then what are we doing? How can creative people be so insensitive?” Salim asked these questions of those recently honoured with the prestigious Nansen Prize for the Asia-Pacific region by the United Nations, recognizing their unwavering advocacy for refugees and stateless people.

It is horrible that they are restricted to camps and a barely there life even after decades. That host countries are not doing much to let them live.

It is the same for Rohingya in India who are limited to camps, cannot get jobs, and are subject to routine attacks by Hindu Supremacists and the Hindu Supremacist government. The Hindu had two articles today on them: one from an NGO person on the mental health crisis among Rohingya suffering persecution in India and one from Shashi Tharoor, on our lack of refugee and asylum law and how it affects refugees with Rohingya as example. However, since the India section was already so long, I skipped it. They are both worth a read (I will share clippings in comments).

Fire and Water

Nahian Rahman writes for the Daily Star about Living in a furnace: Is there any way to beat the heat?

Stepping outside in Dhaka these days feels like venturing into a furnace. A scorching sun beats down on a city choked by concrete, and temperatures routinely surpass 35 degrees Celsius—a far cry from the balmy days many of us remember. This relentless heat isn't just uncomfortable; it's a growing public health crisis. Studies by the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) paint a concerning picture: rising temperatures are linked to a surge in heatstroke and dehydration cases, particularly among vulnerable populations like the elderly and children. The culprit behind this urban inferno is a well-documented phenomenon known as the "urban heat island (UHI)" effect. Dhaka, like many rapidly urbanising cities around the world, has prioritised development at the expense of green spaces. Lush parks and verdant gardens have been replaced by towering buildings and sprawling infrastructure, all constructed from heat-absorbing materials like concrete and asphalt. This transformation has fundamentally altered Dhaka's microclimate. The city now acts like a giant heat sink, absorbing and trapping solar energy throughout the day. With limited vegetation to provide shade and cool the air through evapotranspiration, these heat-soaked surfaces continue to radiate the energy long after sunset, creating a microclimate significantly warmer than surrounding rural areas. This urban heat island effect not only exacerbates the discomfort of daily life but is also overburdening our healthcare system due to heat-related illnesses. Dhaka's predicament is far from unique. Similar stories of scorching cities are unfolding across the globe. A 2019 study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters found that the UHI effect in Beijing, China, could be as high as 8 degrees Celsius warmer than surrounding areas. This extreme heat contributes to a rise in respiratory problems, with a direct correlation between UHI intensity and hospital admissions for asthma and other respiratory illnesses. In Ahmedabad, India, a 2012 study documented how the UHI effect can raise nighttime temperatures by as much as 7 degrees Celsius compared to rural areas. This dramatic rise in nighttime temperatures translates to a significant increase in energy consumption as residents resort to air conditioners for relief. The overburdened power grids struggle to meet this surge in demand, leading to blackouts and further exacerbating the heat crisis.

Meanwhile, people in the Sylhet region are suffering from heavy floods. Apparently, a million are stranded. The Daily Star editorial exhorts the government to take steps before the flood turns devastating.

The Eid holiday has not been the joyful experience that people in Sylhet and neighbouring areas probably expected it to be thanks to the evolving flood situation there. The region was just beginning to recover from the flash flood that hit on May 29 and lasted until about June 8. But any relief experienced was short-lived, as a second wave of flooding has hit the region amid Eid celebrations after torrential rains combined with onrush of water from upstream India. Reportedly, large parts of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts have been inundated, affecting lakhs of residents. With a forecast of continued rainfall over the next two days, the situation is likely to worsen further. Sylhet is particularly vulnerable. According to the district administration, 21 out of the 42 wards in the city have been flooded. Additionally, floodwaters have entered 102 unions in all upazilas of the district, inundating a total of 1,323 villages. The situation in Sunamganj is no better, as major rivers in the two districts continue to swell. With many vital roads submerged, and neighbourhoods under knee-to-waist-deep water, life has come to a standstill. Power outages and communication disruptions could further complicate the situation. Many are predicting a repeat or even exacerbation of the devastating flood situation that Sylhet had experienced in 2022. Driving this fear is the fact that in the first 18 days of this June, Sylhet recorded more rainfall than the entire month of June in 2022. The total rainfall by the end of this month might exceed 2,000 millimetres, according to an estimate, potentially setting a new record.

A lakh is a hundred thousand.

Nepal

Tanka Dhakal reports for the Himal South Asian magazine: Global warming turns up the heat on Nepal’s climate diplomacy

IN HELAMBU, in Nepal’s mountainous Sindhupalchowk district, Dawa Lama Hyolmo, a 61-year-old farmer, was working on her steep, sloping, terraced field. She dug the soil, carefully mixed in compost as fertiliser, and planted potato sprouts. “Since there hasn’t been enough snowfall this year, I’m worried about how it will grow,” she said one early morning in March. “Last year, there wasn’t enough rainfall when the potato plants needed it.” Lama was referring to climate-change induced shifts in weather patterns and how they are affecting agricultural activities in the Himalayan foothills under Mount Dorje Lhakpa, where she lives. The same concerns were echoed by António Guterres, the secretary-general of the United Nations, when he visited Nepal in October 2023. “We must put an end to the fossil-fuel age,” Guterres said from the heart of the Himalaya. “We must act now to protect the people on the frontline,” he urged, drawing attention to the dramatic retreat of glaciers across the Himalayan range. “We cannot retreat.” The impacts of climate change are hitting mountain communities in Nepal hard, with clear evidence of increased burdens in high-altitude regions like Helambu due to the rapid melting of glaciers and more frequent climate-related hazards. Guterres’ message applied not only to Nepal but also to other countries on the front lines of the climate crisis, including in Southasia. But as Nepal and other poor countries like it try to respond and adapt to the climate crisis, they depend on rich countries responsible for the vast majority of global carbon emissions to come through with financial and technological aid to help front-line groups. Climate action plans and targets set by the Nepal government, guided by scientific recommendations, often come with the caveat that they can only be achieved if international support arrives in time to protect vulnerable communities. “To achieve this, we need a strong presence in international forums with the power to negotiate,” Bimala Rai Paudyal, Nepal’s former foreign affairs minister, said. “We have to prioritise climate change in our diplomacy, or we can simply call it climate diplomacy.” With rich countries and donor agencies prioritising climate change adaptation-related activities in Nepal, in 2021 the government and its development partners agreed to adopt a Green, Resilient, and Inclusive Development (GRID) approach to economic growth. According to a Country Climate and Development Report by the World Bank, without comprehensive and scaled-up climate action, Nepal’s gains in human development and poverty reduction will be jeopardised. Investments into strategies such as GRID aim to respond to such challenges.

Climate change brings erratic weather not just heat waves. As you could see from the stories about flood in Assam, Shillong (North East India) and Bangladesh. Or the stories in the piece above.

The Kathmandu Post reports on the sluggish progress of monsoons across the country and how it is hurting Nepalis suffering under heat. (I got the phrase sluggish progress from the Hindu, which used the phrase to describe monsoons in India).

The southwest monsoon entered Nepal on June 10, three days earlier than usual. However, despite this early arrival, the monsoon has not advanced beyond a few districts of the Koshi Province even after nine days. “Generally, it takes two days for the monsoon to reach the Kathmandu Valley after entering eastern Nepal,” said Pratibha Manandhar, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division. “This year, we have not yet issued a second release about the monsoon progress.” Met officials and locals from Western Nepal, especially those in the Tarai districts, hoped for relief from the scorching heat. They expected that monsoon rains would arrive within days after entering the eastern part of the country. However, the monsoon clouds did not advance from the Koshi Province until Wednesday evening, leaving people struggling with the scorching heat. Maximum temperatures in several districts of western Nepal have remained over 40 degrees Celsius for the last several weeks, making daily life difficult, especially for the poor people who have to work outdoors during daytime to make ends meet. Badly affected by the heatwave, several schools in the districts have extended their leave.

Menstrual Huts and Patriarchy in Nepal

Menuka Dhungana reports for the Kathmandu Post that a girl was raped and others have died from snake bites in menstrual huts in Nepal.

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