Analyses
Asia
  • After the Exodus: The Hong Kong Diaspora Engaging in UK Politics
    Owen Au 3 December 2024
    Hong Kong, once a vibrant city celebrated as an international financial hub, is now witnessing a significant new wave of mass exodus. While official data on the scale of this migration is unavailable, estimates suggest that between 200,000 and 500,000 people have left the city over the past few years. Hong Kong has long been familiar with migration; cross-border employment and split families are nothing new to Hongkongers. However, the mass migration taking place is still something worth a glance at – not only because of the factors driving it but also because, for the first time, it has created a Hong Kong diaspora.
  • Pakistan’s Half Widows Call for Justice
    Iqra Khan 21 November 2024
    “I just hope that both of my children are returned to their tribe,” says Masta Bibi, a partially blind Pashtun woman in her seventies. Originally from Mirali in North Waziristan, Pakistan, she is the mother of two missing sons: Bilal, who disappeared 11 years ago, and Ihtesham, who vanished two years ago. Her home was destroyed during a military operation targeting terrorist groups that sought refuge in the ex-FATA region after September 11, 2001. Despite her frailty, she attended the Pashtun Qaumi Jirga, held from October 11 to 13 in Jamrud, Khyber, with a lingering hope for justice.
  • Can Sri Lanka Balance IMF Reforms with Relief for Its Citizens?
    Maria Tavernini 19 November 2024
    The sweeping majority secured by Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s leftist coalition in the snap parliamentary election on November 14 marks a major shift in the country’s electoral landscape. Cutting across ethnic and religious differences, Sri Lankans swept the National People’s Power (NPP) front to a landslide victory, granting Dissanayake’s alliance a total of 141 seats out of 225.
  • Silent Endorsement? Political Inaction Fuels Cow Vigilantism in Modi 3.0
    Akash Chopra 14 November 2024
    On October 20, 2024, tensions erupted in Jammu, Kashmir, when accusations of cow smuggling triggered a violent clash, part of an escalating wave of Gau Rakshak (cow protection vigilante) aggression across India. Under Prime Minister Modi’s third term, commonly known as “Modi 3.0,” these self-styled cow protectors have become increasingly emboldened, often targeting marginalized groups – particularly Muslims and Dalits involved in the livestock trade. Modi 3.0 has seen a noticeable rise in such incidents, with vigilante groups frequently operating with implicit political backing as they enforce cultural and religious norms around cow protection.
  • How Caste and Religious Polarization is Weakening the Left’s Electoral Power in India
    Abhijan Choudhury 10 October 2024
    Once a formidable force in Indian politics, the Left has steadily declined over the past 15-20 years. It previously governed the states of West Bengal, Kerala, and Tripura, and maintained a significant presence in the national parliament. Today, it has lost two of those states and become a marginal player. In this year’s national elections, a combination of three Left parties won just eight seats out of 545 in the Lok Sabha, the popular chamber.
  • BJP’s Majoritarian Push in Uttar Pradesh
    Abhijan Choudhury 27 September 2024
    India’s ruling Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has repeatedly been accused by the opposition and civil society of pursuing divisive politics and promoting a sectarian agenda aimed at dismantling the country’s secular foundations to establish a majoritarian state. The recent incident involving the Kanwarias, pilgrims devoted to Lord Shiva, should be viewed in this context, rather than dismissed as trivial, as has been done with similar cases in the past. It once again highlights that the party and its leadership are focused on securing power by appealing to the majority community while sidelining minorities.
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    Bangladesh’s New Era: Muhammad Yunus Leads Transitional Government Post-Hasina
    Maria Tavernini 9 August 2024
    On August 5, after weeks of deadly anti-government protests that rocked the Asian country and killed over 300 people, PM Hasina, 76, was forced to step down and has fled the country “for her own safety,” ending more than two decades at the helm of the country. It is a watershed moment for Bangladesh, whose people – and most remarkably young people with no political affiliation – have managed to oust what was widely perceived as an authoritarian leader whose brutal policies disenfranchised many citizens during her long rule.
  • Rohingya Refugees Facing Exclusion and Deportation
    with India’s Citizenship Amendment Act
    Kristina Kironska 12 July 2024
    The Rohingya have been forcibly displaced throughout Asia, including India, with repatriation to Myanmar deemed impossible. How are they being treated in India, a country lacking refugee laws and international commitments? According to Indian laws and the policies of the current BJP-led government, they are viewed as “aliens” who pose a security threat and are excluded by the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act. Do Indians endorse this view?
  • Modi’s Third Term: A Pyrrhic Victory Amidst Growing Opposition
    Maria Tavernini 28 June 2024
    The re-election of Narendra Modi, who has taken oath as prime minister for a rare third consecutive term, came with a bitter taste and mixed feelings. As is often the case in India, opinion and exit polls that foresaw a landslide victory for the incumbent prime minister failed to accurately predict the outcome of the world’s largest elections, which were held in seven phases from April 19 to June 1. When poll results started to roll in, it was clear that Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had lost their parliamentary majority for the first time in 10 years.
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