Subject: South Asia Daily: Backlash to Abdullah's Accusations; Indian Intelligence Bureau Targets Greenpeace; Pakistan Condemns U.S. Drone Strike
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Date: Thu, 19 Jun 2014 09:09:27 -0400 (EDT)

Backlash to Abdullah's Accusations; Indian Intelligence Bureau Targets Greenpeace; Pakistan Condemns U.S. Drone Strike

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Backlash to Abdullah's Accusations; Indian Intelligence Bureau Targets Greenpeace; Pakistan Condemns U.S. Drone Strike

Backlash to Abdullah's Accusations; Indian Intelligence Bureau Targets Greenpeace; Pakistan Condemns U.S. Drone Strike

 <p>  <i>&nbsp;</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>Afghanistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Bonus read: Women's  Rights as Bargaining Chip in Afghan Politics," Lynne O'Donnell (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgSAe64b style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">SouthAsia</a>).</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Response to Abdullah's  accusations </i>  </p><br><p>  More than 100 people went on strike in Kabul on Thursday to  show support for presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, who on Wednesday  demanded an immediate stop to the vote-tallying process to investigate inflated  ballot totals (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgWA9afa style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgaA968e style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Tolo</a>).  Speaking on behalf of the strikers, Mohammad Hashim Rad told <i>Pajhwok Afghan News</i> that they had  "gathered here to protest electoral fraud and election law violations by the  [Independent Election Commission]."   </p><br><p>  The United Nations also reacted to Abdullah's press  conference announcement, issuing a statement that asked Abdullah and his  opponent, Ashraf Ghani, to abide by the national electoral system. "We believe  the electoral process should continue as laid out in the laws passed by the  National Assembly," said Jan Kubis, the special representative for the  secretary general for Afghanistan (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgeA9793 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NYT</a>).  </p><br><p>  Abdullah believes that as many as two million of the seven  million votes estimated to have been cast on Saturday are the result of ballot  stuffing (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6Gb7MPocGOoMPDYAeb8c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">BBC</a>). If  Abdullah rejects the official results of the vote, it could throw the election  that both Western and Afghan officials consider crucial to the legacy of the  war in Afghanistan into chaos. <i>Bonus  read: "Crisis of Confidence in the Afghan Election Process," Ioannis Koskinas (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgiA3f41 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">SouthAsia</a>).</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Taliban strikes NATO  trucks</i>  </p><br><p>  Three Taliban suicide bombers targeted NATO fuel trucks at a  terminal in Torkham in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday, setting 37  vehicles on fire and engaging in a gun battle with the police (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgmA9be7 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">AP</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgqA6799 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Pajhwok</a>).  Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, claimed that they were responsible  for the attack. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, the spokesman for the provincial governor,  said two assailants were killed in the gun battle and one blew himself up; he  also said two NATO truck drivers were wounded in the assault. Most NATO cargo  shipments go through the border crossing in Torkham to get to Pakistan's port  city of Karachi.  </p><br><p>  <i>-- Emily Schneider</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>India</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Indian Intelligence Bureau targets Greenpeace </i>  </p><br><p>  India's Intelligence Bureau (IB) has recommended the  government cancel the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration  of Greenpeace, a non-profit organization that exposes global environmental  problems, according to news reports on Wednesday (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhJAb9b8 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">IBNLive</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDgzA8312 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Times  of India</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDg3A25c3 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Hindu</a>).  The report alleges that Greenpeace has engineered anti-nuclear and other  protests against economic projects in India, and that it is "actively aided and  led by foreign activists" to serve interests of western nations. The report  claims Greenpeace has allied with Sierra Club, an U.S.-based environmental  organization, in an attempt to eliminate fossil fuel use in India. The report  states further that Greenpeace has rallied against the proposed Jaitapur  Nuclear Power Plant (JNPP) in the western state of Maharashtra and has "written  letters to eight European banks not to provide financial help to support JNPP."  </p><br><p>  The IB also asked the government to re-assess the  organization's tax compliance and place foreign donations to the Greenpeace on  the "prior category" list. This is an attempt to require permission  before any funding money flows in for its activities. This report follows another  IB report issued earlier this month, when it had recognized Greenpeace as a  "threat to national economic security." Denying the accusations, Bharti Sinha,  communications director of Greenpeace, said: " ... we are being targeted as an  NGO which follows all the laws of the country."  </p><br><p>  <i>Delhi elections: AAP claims BJP poaching its MLAs</i>  </p><br><p>  Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party  (BJP) on Wednesday for allegedly making efforts to recruit AAP's legislators to  form a government in Delhi (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDg7Aa320 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">DNA</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTcPoXQwrmDg_Acabe style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhDA64f0 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Livemint</a>).  AAP demanded fresh elections in Delhi and tweeted: "BJP tries to lure  opposition MLAs unethically. AAP MLAs refuse." The BJP refuted the claims  on Thursday that it was trying to poach AAP's legislators to achieve a simple  majority in the Delhi legislative assembly rather than going to fresh polls.  BJP's Prabhat Jha said some AAP legislators who were upset with Kejriwal had  approached them to offer support.  </p><br><p>  Delhi has been under the President's rule after AAP leader  Arvind Kejriwal quit as chief minister on February 14, when he alleged the BJP  and Congress were blocking the introduction and passage of the Jan Lokpal, an  anti-corruption bill.   </p><br><p>  <i>Karunanidhi slams Modi's move to promote Hindi on social  media</i>  </p><br><p>  M. Karunanidhi, leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam  (DMK) party, criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central  government's directive to bureaucrats to use Hindi as the language for posting  and tweeting on social media websites, in a statement on Thursday (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhHA430c style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">IBNLive</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgT8PoXQwrmDhdA4f7a style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Times  of India</a>, <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhNAf3ac style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">NDTV</a>,  <a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhQA0a04 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Indian  Express</a>). The 90-year-old Karunanidhi asked Modi to focus on India's  economic and social development rather than imposing Hindi on non-Hindi  speaking people, and said the move was "an attempt to treat non-Hindi speakers  as second class citizens."  </p><br><p>  Karunanidhi questioned why Hindi should be given priority  over other official languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of Constitution,  which lists the 22 languages the Government of India has the responsibility to  develop. The southern state of Tamil Nadu has a decades-long history of  opposing Hindi imposition. The DMK chief said: "Language battlefields have not  yet dried. History has recorded anti-Hindi agitation," and referred to  assurances given by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru that English  would remain an official language as long as non-Hindi speakers want.   </p><br><p>  -- <i>Neeli Shah and Jameel Khan</i>  </p><br><p>  <b>Pakistan</b>  </p><br><p>  <i>Pakistan condemns U.S.  drone strike, continues military operation</i>  </p><br><p>  Pakistan on Thursday condemned the recent drone strikes that  took place near Miramshah in North Waziristan, saying there was no connection  between the U.S. strikes and the ongoing Pakistani military operation (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhTAd0f6 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).  Tasnim Aslam, spokesperson for the Foreign Office, said that it was misleading  and wrong to attach the drone strikes to the ongoing military operation, adding  that the strikes had a negative impact on Pakistan's efforts to bring peace and  stability to the region.   </p><br><p>  Meanwhile, at least 23 suspected militants were killed in  the ongoing Zarb-i-Azb operation launched by the Pakistan Army in North Waziristan  (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhWA9429 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">Dawn</a>).&nbsp; Cobra helicopters targeted 15 militants in  the Zartatangi mountains, east of Miramshah, late Wednesday and eight Uzbek  militants were killed by military snipers on a road in the same area. The army  launched the current, widespread military operation against the Taliban in the  tribal areas after an attack on the airport in Karachi earlier this month. <i>Bonus read: "The Return of the Drones?"  Emily Schneider and Bailey Cahall (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgT8PoXQwrmDhbA000e style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">SouthAsia</a>).</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Heat wave kills 53  pilgrims</i>  </p><br><p>  Severe temperatures of around 115 degrees Farenheit for a  fourth consecutive day caused fatalities among pilgrims who had traveled to the  small town of Sehwan in Sindh province to celebrate the Sufi saint &nbsp;Hazrat Qalandar lal Shahbaz Qalandar (<a href="http://link.foreignpolicy.com/5253172ac16bcfa46f6bd4c71n0r9.16gd/U6LgTsPoXQwrmDhaA9ae3 style="font-weight:bold;color:#ea1414" target="blank">ET</a>).  At least 12 people died on Wednesday, according to Dr. Moinuddin Siddiqi, the medical  superintendent of Sehwan hospital, who said that all victims except one had  died due to heat stroke. Wednesday's deaths raised the total death toll to 53.  The local administration has claimed that they would provide the pilgrims with  cold water and make other necessary arrangements to help fight the elements,  but according to <i>Express News</i>, that  has not been done.&nbsp; The celebrations have  attracted 500,000 to 600,000 people, mainly from Punjab and Sindh provinces,  according to unofficial estimates.   </p><br><p>  <i>-- Emily Schneider</i>  </p><br><p>  <i>Edited by Peter Bergen</i>  </p><br> 

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