Politics

Timeline Of India-Pakistan Conflicts

Timeline Of India-Pakistan Conflicts

As India and Pakistan recently announced to adhere to the ceasefire agreed in 2003 after a war, let’s look at the conflicts between the two nations since partition.

Crux of the Matter

Recent Ceasefire
India and Pakistan recently announced to follow ceasefire. The ceasefire, originally in 2003, was also brought after a war. With that in the background, now would be the right time to look at the two nations’ conflicts.

October 1947- 1st Kashmir War

  • 1st Indo-Pak war as Pakistani tribesmen invaded Kashmir.
  • Kashmir sought Indian aid and acceded to India.
  • 1 Jan 1949: LoC established after the ceasefire.

August 1965

  • Retaliation by India after Pakistan initiated ‘Operation Gibraltar’.
  • In the operation, Pakistani soldiers attempted to start an ‘insurgency’ in Kashmir by disguising themselves as local Kashmiris.
  • War ended in January 1966.

1971 – Bangladesh Formation

  • Early 1971: East Pakistan (Bangladesh) declared independence from West Pakistan.
  • As India announced support for East Pak, West Pak attacked Indian airbases.
  • India invaded West Pak and defeated it in 13 days. Also, East Pak is now officially Bangladesh.

Read Summachar coverage of India-Bangladesh ties: History Of India & Bangladesh

May 1999 – Kargil War

  • Pakistan occupied territories across LoC on the Indian side.
  • India launched airstrikes.
  • July 1999: India regained the occupied territories.

Read Summachar coverage of the Kargil War: 21st Kargil Vijay Diwas

February 2019 – Balakot

  • In a car bomb attack in Kashmir by Pakistan’s terrorist group Jaish-e- Mohammed, 40 Indian officers were killed.
  • 26 February: India launched air strikes on Jaish camps in Balakot, PoK.
  • Pakistan captured Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman as his jet was destroyed – returned to India after 60 hrs in captivity.
Curiopedia
  • An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the Latin arma, meaning “arms” and –stitium, meaning “a stopping”.
  • The United Nations Security Council Resolution 47, adopted on 21 April 1948, concerns the resolution of the Kashmir conflict. Both India and Pakistan raised objections to the Resolution. However, they welcomed mediation by the UN Commission.
  • During World War I, on December 24, 1914, there was an unofficial ceasefire on the Western Front as France, the United Kingdom, and Germany observed Christmas. There are accounts that claimed the unofficial ceasefire took place throughout the week leading to Christmas, and that British and German troops exchanged seasonal greetings and songs between their trenches.

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Qatar World Cup Controversy Heats Up

Qatar World Cup Controversy Heats Up

With FIFA World Cup being only a year away, the focus on its hosts Qatar has once again intensified. A recent report has further increased protests over Qatar hosting the event due to its depiction of abysmal labour conditions in the nation. In that light, let’s look at the issues concerning Qatar hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Crux of the Matter

Recent Report
As per a recent report of The Guardian, 6,500 migrant workers from India and other South Asian nations have died in Qatar since 2011. Notably, 2011 was also the year when Qatar won the hosting right for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


Upcoming Event

  • Large scale infrastructure work initiated in Qatar as the event comes up next year.
  • Fall from height, suffocation, etc. cited as the most common death causes for the labourers.
  • However, ‘natural’ causes like heart failure, etc cited as the most common cause – 69% of Indian, Bangladeshi and Nepali workers’ deaths cited as ‘natural’.

Intense heat and abysmal working conditions are reported as the factors in such natural deaths. As per reports, however, no autopsies are done in such cases.

Controversy Around Qatar World Cup
Qatar would be the 1st Arab and 1st Muslim majority nation to host a World Cup. However, controversy and protests occurred right after it was awarded the 2022 World Cup due to its human rights track.

Reasons Qatar’s hosting of World Cup has been criticized:

  • Workers are not paid a salary on time.
  • Kafala system – strict control of employers on workers with non-existent labour rights.
  • Workers trapped with passports often being held back by the employers.
  • The concept of male guardianship prevalent – women need male accompaniment for several fundamental activities.
  • Homosexuality is punishable with imprisonment.
  • Alcohol ban – led to questions of conflict for fans coming from non-Islamic nations.
  • Widespread allegations of corruption in awarding Qatar the event – former UEFA President Michel Platini was arrested in 2019 over alleged corruption for the mentioned.
  • Qatar has been accused of supporting terrorism. It reportedly supports ‘Hamas’ – group with an aim to destroy Israel.

2018 FIFA World Cup hosted by Russia was criticized similarly due to its poor rights record, especially towards Putin critics.

Curiopedia
  • Qatar in July 2020 announced that it would also like to stage the Olympics, possibly in 2032. The Olympics have never been hosted in the Middle East, and Qatar will also be the first nation in the region to host the FIFA world cup.
  • The Qatar Stars League also known as Qatar Premier League (QPL), is the highest professional league in Qatari football, with the next tier being the Qatargas League. The league’s first season was played in 1963, although the first official season occurred in 1972.
  • Qatar is a World Bank high-income economy, backed by the world’s third-largest natural gas reserves and oil reserves. A high-income economy is defined by the World Bank as a country with a gross national income per capita of US$12,536 or more in 2019.

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Delhi HC Notice To Rahul And Sonia Gandhi In National Herald Case

Delhi HC Notice To Rahul And Sonia Gandhi In National Herald Case

As Delhi HC has sought response from Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case, let’s take a look at how an alleged scam occurred in a newspaper established before partition.

Crux of the Matter

Response Sought
Delhi HC has asked for response from Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the National Herald case. The response has also been sought from

  • Congress GS Oscar Fernandes.
  • Sam Pitroda.
  • Suman Dubey.
  • Young India (YI).

The order from the HC came after a private complaint filed by BJP MP Subramanian Swamy. Further hearings for the case have been stayed till 12 April.


What Is National Herald?

  • Newspaper launched by Jawaharlal Nehru in 1938.
  • It was published by Associated Journals (AJL) – also founded by Nehru.
  • 5000 other freedom fighters were also AJL stakeholders although that number dropped to 1,000 as of 2010.

What Is The Controversy?

  • NH was closed in 2008 – had ₹90 crore debt then.
  • AJL was provided ₹90 crore loan by Congress to help it survive.
  • Young India Ltd (YIL) was formed in 2010 of which Rahul and Sonia Gandhi held 76% of shares.
  • YIL also had Indian Overseas Congress chairman Sam Pitroda as one of directors.
  • In 2010 only, YIL took over AJL. Thus, YIL also became the owner of the ₹90 crore debt AJL originally owed to Congress.

As the AJL also failed to repay the loan, all of its equity was transferred to YIL. YIL now thus acquired AJL. In return, YIL paid ₹50 lakh for acquiring the equity.

Swamy’s Complaint

  • 2012: Subramanian Swamy filed complaint for fraud in Court.
  • Swamy called the loan to AJL ‘illegal’ as the law reportedly does not allow a political party to provide loans.
  • He also claimed that Congress, through YIL, illegally gained assets of AJL worth ₹2,000 crores by just paying ₹50 lakh.

It appears that YIL was in fact created as a sham or a cloak to convert public money to personal use.

Metropolitan magistrate Gomati Manocha claimed in 2014

Court has also noted that other AJL shareholders were not involved in any decisions.

Read more about the Harshad Mehta scam here.

Curiopedia
  • The paper carried on its masthead the words ‘Freedom is in Peril, Defend it with All Your Might‘ taken from a cartoon by Gabriel from Brentford, Middlesex that Indira Gandhi had forwarded to Nehru. In 1938, K. Rama Rao was appointed the paper’s first editor.
  • The Discovery of India was written by India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru during his imprisonment in 1942–1945 at Ahmednagar fort in present day Indian state of Maharashtra by the colonial authorities during the British Raj before the independence of India. The book was written in 1944 but published in 1946. 
  • In 1955, Nehru was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour. President Rajendra Prasad awarded him the honour without taking advice from the Prime Minister as would be the normal constitutional procedure.

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Germany Witnesses Farmers’ Protests Again

Germany Witnesses Farmers' Protests Again

As German cabinet recently passed legislation to amend laws regarding farming, protests, occurring in its anticipation, were increased in magnitude. Let’s take a look at what the legislation is, and how it has been received there.

Crux of the Matter

Protests
Germany recently passed farm laws which have drawn protest from the farmers across the nation. Several states have witnessed tractor rallies.


Reason?

  • The legislation would reduce the use of glyphosate herbicide, and stop its use completely 2024 onwards.
  • It also restricts the use of fertilizers and insecticides.

The law has been brought to check Germany’s insect population decrease. It has reduced drastically due to excessive use of pesticide. Insects are considered vital for ecological balance.

Major Reaction
The protest are lead by ‘Land schafft Verbindung’ (LsV) (Country Creates Connection) movement, which claims that the laws were passed without consulting the farmers. LsV claims that the restrictions would inflate costs, which would increase food imports and harm the local farmers. They also claim that food import causes more carbon emission and may not qualify German food standards.

  • Farmers have demanded to repeal the legislation and analyse the impact of other infrastructure on insect population instead.
  • Opposition groups like the Green party have claimed that insect population reduction is caused more by ‘industrial-scale farming’.
  • The Left party has blamed ‘market inequality’ for the crisis, blaming monopoly of large corporations which “prohibit fair prices and render ecological solutions infeasible.”
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Britain China And HK Equation Since 99-Year Lease End

Britain China And HK Equation Since 99-Year Lease End

After looking at Britain’s announcement of citizenship for Hong Kong citizens amidst draconian Chinese ‘Security Law’ and Britain’s involvement in their history since opium wars, let’s take a look at what happened after the lease of HK ended and it became a part of China.

Crux of the Matter

Lease End
On 2 February 2021, the UK opened a ‘special visa scheme’ for hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong citizens. The scheme provides a chance to HK citizens to shift to the UK and eventually get British citizenship.

Read the first part of the article:: Britain-China History Amidst Possible Hong Kong Exodus


‘Sino-British Declaration’

  • 1984: UK and China signed the ‘Sino-British Joint Declaration’ for Hong Kong.
  • As per the deal, HK became a part of China from 1 July 1997 onwards.
  • However, it’d retain its “social and economic systems” for at least 50 years.

‘1 country, 2 systems’

  • The arrangement of HK retaining its systems while being considered as Chinese territory was known as “1 country, 2 systems”.
  • Allowed HK to continue as a capitalist economy.
  • Granted free speech, press, etc not provided in mainland China.
  • Relations between HK and China have been strained from the start but conflict not full-blown.
  • China still effectively approved HK leaders.

2014 Onwards

  • Intensified conflict since 2014, when China passed a law regarding the Chief Executive’s election.
  • Earlier it had promised completely democratic election for HK by 2017.
  • The law effectively allowed only Chinese approved candidates to run for the elections.

Protests have been going on in HK since 2019 when China attempted to bring the Extradition law. The final straw came in June 2020 when it passed the ‘Security Law’ in HK. It legalizes extradition and ‘hyper-surveillance’ in HK while cutting down on most of the civil rights in HK.

Read more on the Hong Kong Security Law: What Is Hong Kong Security Law And It’s History?

Curiopedia
  • Admiral Charles Elliot was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China. He was a key founder in the establishment of Hong Kong as a British colony.
  • ‘Unequal treaty‘ is the name given by the Chinese to a series of treaties signed between the Qing dynasty and various Western powers, Russia, and the Empire of Japan during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The agreements, often reached after a military defeat, contained one-sided terms requiring China to cede land, pay reparations, open treaty ports, or grant extraterritorial privileges to foreign citizens.
  • The Treaty of Nanking (Nanjing) was a peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between the United Kingdom and China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese later called the ‘unequal treaties’.

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