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Afghan girls’ education advocate in Taliban custody

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Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have detained a prominent advocate for girl’s education and accused him of carrying out illegal activities.

The founder and head of PenPath, a community-based education support network, Matiullah Wesa was detained by the Taliban members after he stepped out of a Mosque in Kabul, the capital city. The Wesa has been arrested by the Taliban members at gunpoint and taken to an unknown place.

Wesa’s brother, Attaullah Wesa also appeared in a video shared in twitter that the Taliban forces had raided their home and forcefully took away their two other brothers along with cell phones and other material. However, the two were later released, but Wesa is still in custody.

Wesa’s brother said he is sharing this message from an undisclosed location to avoid arrest, and he also accused the Taliban of mistreating his mother and other family members.

The PenPath was founded with the sole aim to campaign for reopening schools and distributing books in rural areas, and since Taliban return, Wesa had all time pushed for girl’s education and dedicated himself to communicate the importance of girls’ education to village elders.

Since August 2021 that Taliban had put a ban on secondary schools for girls, Wesa has posted several videos on twitter and other social platforms from his continued visit to the remote areas to drum up support from locals.

Men and women ask for rights to education

“Men, women, elderly, young, everyone from every corner of the country are asking for the Islamic rights to education for their daughters. Penpath female volunteers call for girls’ education and their rights to education,” this is PenPath’s tweet on March 27.

We have been volunteering for 14 years to reach people and convey the message for girls education, it furthered, adding during the past 18 months we campaigned house to house in order to eliminate illiteracy and to end all our miseries.

On March 24, PenPath workers had voluntarily traveled to 24 districts across the country to speak to elders and locals and discuss girls’ schools and to share advice and solutions. “The whole nation is supporting the fact that girls need to go to school and their school to open without any delay. This is everyone’s wish,” PenPath said in its door to door education campaign.

On March 21, PenPath said that they are counting hours, minutes and seconds for the opening of girls’ schools. “The damage that closure of schools causes is irreversible and undeniable. We held meetings with locals and we will continue our protest if the schools remain closed,” it said.

In such hopeless situation, while girls schools are closed and facing many challenges Penpath succeeded to provide opportunities for 5180 girls to study online and home and through mobile school during the past one and half years, Wesa tweeted in March 14.

In one of the video clips, the detained Wesa briefed the local people and said “We spoke to locals and discussed that the only way to eliminate violence is through education. We should work for girl’s education to improve our life and we can compete with other nations.”

“We held meetings with locals and we will continue our protest if the schools remain closed.” Wesa tweeted.

Reactions to Wesa’s detention

There were several reactions by Afghan and foreign officials on the arrest of Wesa, and many labeled him “brave champion” who is advocating for the rights of education for all in Afghanistan.

Many people called on the Taliban to release him and the women must regain their rights to education and work.

Former President Hamid Karzai in a tweet expressed his disappointment at the arrest of Wesa by the Taliban. “Since 2009, Wesa and Pen Path have conducted appreciable activities for education across the country,” Karzai said, calling on the Taliban to release him in immediate time and instead work with him to expand education.

Meanwhile, EU special envoy Tomas Niklasson in a tweet said he is “deeply troubled” by the arrest of PenPath founder Matiullah Wesa by the Taliban. “Mr. Wesa has been advocating for access to education for Afghan boys and girls throughout the country since 2009, in dialogue with local communities,” he said.

“No one should be detained for speaking out in defense of their fundamental rights and the rights of others,” OHCHR Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said in a statement.

Laurence also called on the Taliban to immediately release activists detained for advocating for women’s rights.

Many experts say Wesa was aware that Taliban are opposing girls’ education and one day they will come for him and this could happen. However, Wesa never stepped back and decided to openly fight for girls rights and continued to campaign in public and also shared it on social media platforms.

His campaign was not like to hide behind his privileges and the Taliban must release him.

Wesa opens school in Kandahar in 2004

Wesa and his brother opened a school in Kandahar for the first time in 2004. It is not like they started a campaign for equal education when the Taliban returned to power in 2021. They have been fighting for girls rights since 2004, but the Taliban made it personnel. The Taliban already accused Wesa of doing illegal work in the pretext of a campaign.

Since the beginning of the journey, Wesa was known for finding local solutions to the local problems in various communities.

Reports also suggest that in the past 19 months under the Taliban rule, the Wesa under PenPath was able to reopen over 100 schools for girls in different provinces. These developments were made through mediation of the local tribal elders.

It is worth mentioning that the PenPath has 3,100 volunteer members and the founder Wesa, 31, has graduated from Jamia Millia Islamia University in New Delhi.

Commenting on Wesa’s arrest, the Taliban Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that he was arrested for his “illegal activities and provocative gatherings.”

Wesa will be released after an investigation is done, but prevented from providing further details and real cause behind his arrest.

Meanwhile, Taliban’s Head of Publications in the Ministry of Information and Culture, Abdulhaq Hamad in a tweet said that Wesa’s arrest that earned widespread reactions shows that “a major plot has been prevented,” with his arrest.

Hamad expressed unawareness of Wesa’s case but said that he was engaged in “suspicious” activities and said the government has full right to summon anyone for explanation.

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Afraid of the gun; Taliban supreme leader fears of a coup

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Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, has ordered the security institutions that without his permission, “no one can distribute or use the military equipment registered by the ministries of defense and interior, the directorate of intelligence and other independent institutions.”

Experts and analysts have considered this move by Hibatullah as last resort to weaken the position of defense minister, Yaqoob Mujahid, interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani and the head of Taliban intelligence, Abdul Haq Wasiq in order to prevent a possible internal coup that was initiated by these three top officials.

In the first article of the order, it is mentioned that no person can distribute military equipment registered in the reserves of the ministries of defense, interior and intelligence, or issue an order to distribute it without the order of Hibatullah.

This decree titled “Regarding the distribution, protection and supervision of registered military equipment”, specifies that whenever an Emirate entity (Taliban-related entity) needs weapons, ammunition, night vision cameras, telecommunications and other military equipment” must receive the approval order from the leader of the Taliban.

Also, in the second article of this decree, it is stated that whenever one of the military departments of the Taliban needs military equipment, it must send its request to Hibatullah’s office in Kandahar.

In the third article of the decree, it is emphasized that if the military equipment was distributed or used without the permission of the Taliban leader before the issuance of this decree, they must be returned to the reserves.

Ministries of defense, interior and head of intelligence department are banned from disturbing military weapons.

According to this article, Hibatullah entrusted the ministries of defense and interior, as well as the general directorate of Taliban intelligence, with the responsibility to report the list of available military equipment to the directorate of registration, and protection of military equipment.

This order of the Taliban leader has been considered as another step in the direction of concentrating more power in the hands of Mullah Hibatullah in Kandahar. Many have seen it as a sign of Hibatullah’s increasing distrust of senior Taliban officials in Kabul. Previously, some senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani, have openly disobeyed Hibatullah’s order to prohibit photography and filming and have not followed the order of their supreme leader.

(R) Defense Minister Mullah Yaqoob Mujahid and (L) Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.

Previously, several reports have been published about the sale of military equipment left over from the US troops and Afghan security forces during the republic government. Even the US-elected president Donald Trump, repeatedly mentioned this issue during his election campaigns. Not long ago, the government of Pakistan also announced that the Pakistan security forces have discovered and confiscated a car carrying US weapons smuggled from Afghanistan.

Pakistani media reported that this equipment included M4 assault rifles, night vision cameras and thousands of rounds of ammunition, which were transported in a truck carrying vegetables. Pakistani security officials have estimated the total value of weapons smuggled from Afghanistan in this truck to be 126,354 US dollars.

The cost of US’s remaining equipment in Afghanistan estimated over 7 billion US dollars

The Pentagon has already announced that after the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan, about 7 billion dollars of military equipment fell into the hands of the Taliban. This equipment reached the hands of the Taliban after the fall of Afghanistan on 15 August, 2021.

It has been reported that when the US forces left Afghanistan, there were 78 US-made aircrafts in the country, whose value reached 1 billion dollars. According to CNN, with the end of the US military presence, a total of more than 9,000 air-to-ground munitions worth more than six and a half million dollars have remained in Afghanistan.

The report also states that out of a total of 96,000 military vehicles, more than 40,000 units, including 12,000 Humvees (armored tanks), fell into the hands of the Taliban. Moreover, out of a total of more than 400,000 weapons that the US gave to the forces of the former Afghan government, about 300,000 remain in the country.

Almost all “communications equipment, including mobile base stations, portable and hand-held commercial and military radio systems, and associated transmitters and encryption devices, all remain in Afghanistan,” according to the report.

The report added that “almost all” of the equipment for night vision cameras, surveillance, biometric and positioning equipment,” a total of nearly 42 thousand pieces of specialized equipment, remained in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Five Mi 17 helicopters of the then Afghan army, which were transferred to Ukraine for repair before the collapse of the government, have also returned to Afghanistan and now are used by the Taliban.

It should be noted that the internal rivalries in the Taliban, especially among the different factions of this group, is one of the important reasons for Mullah Hibatullah’s distrust of some Taliban officials. Some officials, including interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and defense minister Mohammad Yaqub Mujahid, gained a lot of power, especially during the Taliban’s war against foreign forces, and Mullah Hibatullah may be worried that these officials are trying to expand their power, which is a clear threat to his position as the Taliban leader.

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China’s BYD prepares to launch latest SUV, the Sealion 07, in Europe despite EU tariffs

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BYD, the world’s largest electric vehicle (EV) maker, is set to launch its latest SUV, the Sealion 07, in Europe, undeterred by recent tariff increases on Chinese-made electric vehicles. This strategic move highlights BYD’s commitment to expanding overseas sales despite economic barriers.

Deliveries of the Sealion 07 are scheduled to begin in 2025, marking BYD’s seventh all-electric model in the European market, the company announced on Wednesday. Additionally, BYD plans to enter the South Korean market next year, adding to its existing presence in 95 countries worldwide.

This European expansion comes on the heels of the European Union’s decision last month to impose new tariffs—ranging from 17% to 35.3%—on Chinese electric vehicles following an anti-subsidy investigation. BYD’s EVs are subject to a 17% tariff, in addition to the standard 10% tariff applied to all pure electric cars imported from China. These tariffs, which took effect last month, will remain in place for five years. Meanwhile, U.S. tariffs on Chinese-made EVs increased from 25% to 100% as of September, citing similar concerns.

Despite the added costs, BYD’s vehicles continue to hold strong appeal in export markets. “BYD’s vehicles remain attractive even after the additional tariffs, so it’s not really a big problem for the company,” said Chen Jinzhu, CEO of Shanghai Mingliang Auto Service, a leading industry consultancy. “The Sealion 07 exemplifies how BYD’s cost advantage enables it to counteract such trade barriers in key export markets.”

Shenzhen-based BYD has yet to disclose the European pricing for the Sealion 07. On the mainland, the SUV—featuring a range of 450 kilometers—starts at 189,800 yuan (approximately US$26,272), with deliveries beginning in May.

According to a report last year from UBS analysts, BYD has a sustainable cost advantage of 25% over traditional European brands.

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Singles’ day promotions target overseas Chinese as China’s domestic demand slows

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After last year’s Singles’ Day shopping festival in China was dubbed the “quietest in history,” China’s e-commerce platforms focused on a new strategy this year.

For this year’s Singles’ Day event, major e-commerce companies such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo invested heavily in expanding overseas markets, targeting the estimated 100 million Chinese living abroad with offers like discounts and free or low-cost shipping.

The central question, however, is not whether these efforts will succeed in the short term, but rather if this shift can help platforms grow their user bases as online sales growth in China reaches a bottleneck.

“Domestic consumption is quite weak right now, and every company is certainly considering new ways to drive growth for Singles’ Day,” said an executive at a leading online retailer, who requested anonymity. “The overseas market is widely seen as a promising source for additional growth,” he added in an interview with Nikkei Asia.

Singles’ Day, a one-day sales event launched by Alibaba in 2009 as a celebration for singles, has since evolved into a month-long campaign with special offers and deep discounts, culminating on or around November 11.

This year, China aimed to revitalize its retail sector with the event. Total consumer goods sales rose by 3.3% year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2024, though high-end consumer spending remained stagnant. Cosmetics sales fell by 1%, while gold and silver jewelry sales declined by 3.1% year-on-year.

Last month, Alibaba’s Taobao launched a significant marketing campaign in Hong Kong and Taiwan, flooding subway stations with advertisements for “free shipping on orders over 99 yuan,” among other offers. According to the company, the campaign cost 2 billion New Taiwan dollars ($61.7 million) in Taiwan and 1 billion yuan ($138 million) in Hong Kong.

Following Alibaba’s move, JD.com announced it had invested 1.5 billion yuan to offer discounted product prices and cheaper shipping to Hong Kong shoppers. Bargain platform Pinduoduo took it a step further, offering free shipping via courier SF Express for Hong Kong shoppers, regardless of the item’s price. All products on these platforms are shipped from mainland China.

A spokesperson from Alibaba’s International Digital Commerce Group noted that since the overseas initiative launched in October, Taobao Hong Kong has achieved double-digit growth in both orders and gross merchandise value (GMV)—a metric that excludes canceled orders—on both a monthly and year-on-year basis.

The platforms are also targeting Chinese shoppers in Malaysia, Thailand, and Singapore.

This year, unlike in previous years, shoppers could combine online discounts with a subsidy program introduced by the Chinese government to boost domestic consumption, primarily for home appliances and household products. Analysts suggest these incentives will likely boost sales for JD.com, which is known for selling high-quality large appliances and offering after-sales services.

While JD.com has yet to release sales or GMV figures for home appliances during the shopping festival, it is expected to share its June-September results, along with Alibaba, later this week.

Last year, data provider Syntun estimated that total GMV on major e-commerce platforms grew by only 2.1% to 1.14 trillion yuan, falling short of the 2.9% growth forecast for 2022. Similarly, consultancy Bain predicted that Singles’ Day sales would reach 1.15 trillion yuan in 2023.

On Tuesday morning, Alibaba announced “strong GMV growth” and a “record number” of active shoppers for this year’s Singles’ Day event.

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