On May 17, 2016, 13 persons, including 11 cadres of the Federal Alliance, an alliance of 30 ethnic and Madhesi parties formed on July 31, 2015, and two Policemen, were injured when Police clashed with the demonstrators outside Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli's residence at Baluwatar in the national capital, Kathmandu. On May 15 and May 16, the Alliance had picketed Singha Durbar (Lion's Palace, which houses the Prime Minister's and other Government offices) as part of its protest program to pressure the Government to meet their demands, which include provisions for proportional representation and rewriting of the newly promulgated Constitution of September 20, 2015.
On April 20, 2016, seven Policemen guarding polio workers were shot dead in two separate target killing incidents in Orangi Town of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. Ehsanullah Ehsan, the 'spokesman' of the Jama'at-ul-Ahrar (JuA, Group of the Free), a breakaway faction of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), while claiming responsibility for the attack in an email statement sent to Agence France-Presse(AFP) asserted, "We have carried out both attacks on the polio teams in Karachi, this was a part of ongoing attacks on Police and law enforcement agencies."
On April 30, 2016, a Hindu tailor, identified as Nikhil Joardar (50), was hacked to death at his tailoring shop in the Dubail area under Gopalpur upazila (sub-District) of Tangail District. Hours after the incident, Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the killing saying he 'blasphemed' against Prophet Muhammad.
Despite shrill assessments across the board and an enveloping sense of apprehension promoted by polarizing politics, the past year has been astonishingly peaceful in India in terms of terrorist and insurgent violence. Total terrorism/insurgency related fatalities across India at 772, are at a dramatic low - certainly the lowest since 1994, when the South Asia Terrorism Portal began maintaining data for this category. Indeed, since 2012, total fatalities across the country have remained below the 'high intensity conflict' threshold of a thousand fatalities per year. It is useful to recall that fatalities remained above 2,000 for 18 of these 22 years; out of which they were above 3,000 for 11 years; above 4,000 for five years; and over 5,000 in 2001.
She stood her ground. Many cannot
“I won’t marry before I complete my studies. So will my little brother. We will work with dignity and ensure that we reach a stage where we can support our family,†says Sarika Kumari, who stood defiant against her parents’ will to get her married off, and instead went on to continue her studies. But the number of child brides across the districts in Bihar still is a grave reality."
On April 5, 2016, three villagers were killed by Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist) cadres in two separate incidents in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh. As per preliminary information, three villagers from the Kudur area in Kondagaon District were abducted by the Maoists on April 4, and two others were abducted on April 5, from the same area. Subsequently, the Maoists held a Jan Adalat (kangaroo court) around 15 kilometers from Kudur in the Tilam-Becha area, which falls in Narayanpur District. There two of the abducted civilians were "brutally beaten to death", while the rest three were released by the ultras. In a separate incident, a villager was killed by the Maoists in Kanker District allegedly for refusing to support them. The victim was "brutally beaten with sticks to death by rebels at his native place Kadgaon" subsequent to his abduction.
Northeast: Widening Tranquility
Peace prevailed over much of India's Northeast through 2015, with 62 civilian fatalities in the year, as against 245 such fatalities recorded in 2014. Fatalities had been rising since 2011, with 79 civilians killed in the year, as against 77 in 2010; rising to 90 in 2012 and further to 95 in 2013.
On early reports, at least 72 people have been killed and more than 300 injured in a suicide blast inside the Gulshan-e-Iqbal Park in the Iqbal Town area of Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab Province, on March 27, 2016. Lahore's District Coordination Officer Muhammad Usman stated, "The bomber managed to enter the park and blew himself up near the kids' playing area where kids were on the swings". Significantly, a large number of people, mostly Christians were present in the park, celebrating Easter [Christendom's holiest day].
Telangana: Diminishing Rebel Spaces
At least eight members of the Venkatapuram 'area committee' of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), which operates in the Bhadrachalam area of Khammam District in Telangana, were killed in an encounter with Security Force (SF) personnel along the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border on March 1, 2016. The Telangana Greyhounds had launched the operation after receiving information about the presence of Maoist leaders in the region, resulting in the encounter which took place in the Sakler area of Sukma District in Chhattisgarh State. Along with the dead bodies of the eight slain militants, SF personnel also recovered an AK-47 rifle, three Self-Loading Rifle (SLRs), several .303 rifles, and ammunition from the encounter spot.
As the State Government consolidated the stabilization process through 2015, Tripura emerged as the most peaceful State in the entire Northeastern region of India in terms of insurgency-related fatalities. While 273 such fatalities were recorded across the region, including 62 civilians, 49 Security Force (SF) personnel and 162 militants, Tripura did not account for single insurgency-linked death. Even Mizoram, one of the least insurgent-affected States in the region, and which has been at peace since the collapse of the insurgency in 1986, witnessed three fatalities (all SF personnel) in 2015.
On February 11, 2016, Karachi Special Investigation Unit (SIU) personnel shot dead two bank robbers, identified as Arsalan Iqbal and Dilawer aka Murad aka Tiger, in an encounter in Korangi Town in Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh. The Sindh Government had announced a reward of PKR 1 million for their arrest. Giving details of the robberies, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Mohammed Farooq Awan of SIU Karachi disclosed that during the current year the duo had committed three bank robberies. They had looted PKR 1.2 million from the Allied Bank Branch in Korangi Town on January 8, 2016, the first robbery incident of the year. In the second incident on January 20, 2016, the two, along with over half a dozen other robbers, looted PKR 375,000 from JS Bank in Block-7, in the Gulistan-e-Jauhar area of Gulshan Town. The third case of robbery was reported on January 28, 2016, when nine armed robbers, including Iqbal and Dilawar, barged into JS Bank branch near Sohrab Goth in Gadap Town and looted PKR 4 million.
At least 12 persons, including four Frontier Corps (FC) officials, were killed and another 38 persons injured on February 6, 2016, when a suicide bomber blew himself up near an FC vehicle in the Multan Chowk area of Quetta, the provincial capital of Balochistan. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)'s 'central spokesperson' Mohammad Khorasani claimed the incident, declaring, in an email statement, "The TTP's Special Task Force (STF)'s unit carried out the attack that targeted the convoy of Security Forces."
Political Wranglings and a Spike in Extremism
On January 25, 2016, a Dhaka Court ordered Bangladesh's former Prime Minister (PM) and head of the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Begum Khaleda Zia to appear in court on March 3, 2016, to answer the charge of sedition. Momtaz Uddin Ahmad Mehdi, a lawyer with the Bangladesh Supreme Court (SC) and a supporter of the ruling Awami League (AL) had filed a case alleging that Zia's remarks about the Liberation War of 1971 were seditious.
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Terror Untamed
Shocking memories of the gruesome attack on December 16, 2014, at the Army Public School (APS) Peshawar were revived when terrorists stormed the Bacha Khan University in the Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on January 20, 2016, killing at least 21 persons and causing injuries to another 35. The victims included 17 students, two gardeners, a caretaker and a professor. The attack ended with all the four attackers shot dead after a three hour operation. Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Mardan Range, Mohammad Saeed Wazir, who led the operation, declared, "Our cops fought bravely to shoot dead all the four attackers one by one. They were wearing suicide jackets but none of them could succeed in blowing himself up." The mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, Khalifa Umar Mansoor akaAurangzeb, of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)'s Geedar faction claimed the attack through a post on his Facebook page. However, the 'central spokesperson' of the TTP, Muhammad Khorasani, denied any involvement stating, "The TTP and itsamir Maulana Fazalullah have nothing to do with the attack." The TTP has three prominent factions - Jamaat-ul-Ahrar (JuA), the Geedar faction and the Mehsud faction (also known as Sajna faction). The parent TTP is led by Mullah Fazlullah.
Mizoram: Unresolved Challenges
On January 8, 2016, a meeting convened by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (UMHA) on the issue of repatriation of Brus in six relief camps in Tripura remained inconclusive. "We informed the Home Ministry officials that the Brus refused to return to Mizoram despite repeated arrangements made by Mizoram Government in the relief camps for the repatriation," Mizoram Chief Secretary Lalmalsawma stated. Lalmalsawma also disclosed that the time or venue of the next meeting was not fixed to discuss the issue in future as the Mizoram Government is of the opinion that it would be a futile exercise if more repatriation attempts are made in future.