Middle-aged women are dangerous because they have nothing left to lose. They have played by the rules—be pretty, be pleasing, be quiet—and they have discovered that the rules do not protect them. So they stop playing. And that terrifies those who still believe the game is real.
- Victoria Dutchman-Smith, "Hags: The Demonisation of Middle-Aged Women"
Pakistan: Respect Rights in Response to Balochistan March
Free Those Detained for Peaceful Protest, Restore Internet Access
(New York) – Pakistani authorities should exercise restraint in responding to demonstrations in Balochistan province, release all detained for peaceful protest, and restore internet access, Human Rights Watch said today.
Since July 28, 2024, Pakistani authorities have detained hundreds of people in response to the Baloch National Gathering, a march seeking to raise awareness of human rights concerns in Balochistan. Some protesters reportedly attacked security forces, killing one soldier and injuring others. Baloch activists have alleged that government security forces have used excessive force to prevent protesters from reaching the port city of Gwadar, the end point of the march. Government authorities have imposed an internet shutdown on Gwadar.
“Pakistani authorities should uphold the right to peaceful protest and assembly, and when nonviolent means prove ineffective use only the minimum force needed,” said Patricia Gossman, associate Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “It’s vitally important for the authorities to protect protesters’ rights while preventing the situation in Balochistan from spiraling out of control.”
The Baloch National Gathering has called for accountability for the numerous cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan over many years. Such “disappearances” have long been a feature of the conflict between the government and armed militants in Balochistan. Pakistan’s security forces have also carried out enforced disappearances to silence peaceful critics of the government.
The nongovernmental organization Human Rights Commission of Pakistan reported that some of the march’s organizers received threats to call off the march or face arrest or enforced disappearance. Since July 28, protesters have blocked roads, demanding the release of detained colleagues.
Pakistan never fails to raise its voice for Kashmiris and Palestinians, claiming to champion human rights. But what about the Baloch people? The Ahmadi Muslims? The Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, and other minorities suffering discrimination and violence within Pakistan?
Where are the protests for missing Baloch students? Why is there silence when Ahmadis are declared non-Muslims by law, their mosques attacked, their graves desecrated? Why no outrage when minorities are forcibly converted, attacked, or denied justice?
You can’t demand justice abroad while turning a blind eye at home. Real solidarity means standing for all oppressed voices, not just the ones that fit your political narrative.
yet the cries for peace and humanity only echo when India retaliates.
the world weeps when terrorist camps are reduced to dust—but stayed silent when our people were turned to ashes. was our blood not red enough to stain headlines? did it not matter, just because it flowed quietly through classrooms and prayer halls in Poonch? where was the outrage when bombs fell on unaware children in response to us shelling their terrorists? when prayers were silenced mid-sentence in Gurudwara?
was peace not a global concern then?
was humanity not an international concern when our unarmed citizens were hunted down and killed right in front of their family—mercilessly shot in the name of religion—when all they wanted was to enjoy a vacation with their families in the hills of Pahalgam?
do only terrorists deserve mercy? not the child clutching his dead father’s shirt? not the mother who still sets a plate for the son who’ll never come home?
why does the world stay silent when we mourn, but raise its voice when we defend?
do the hands that carry weapons of hate deserve more compassion than the hands that held their daughter’s as they died?
KATHMANDU — Scientists have for the first time in 185 years confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal, thrilling conse
Scientists have for the first time in 185 years confirmed the presence of the Asian small-clawed otter in Nepal, thrilling conservationists and researchers looking for clues to its existence here.
The last time the Asian small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinereus), the smallest of the world’s 13 known otter species, was recorded by scientists in Nepal was in 1839.
“After years of speculation about its presence in Nepal, we can finally confirm that the small-clawed otter lives on in the country,” said Mohan Bikram Shrestha, the lead author of a short note published in the latest edition of the bulletin of the Otter Specialist Group at the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority.
Although historically three species of otters are believed to occur in Nepal, modern researchers had until now only confirmed the presence of smooth-coated otters (Lutrogale perspicillata) and Eurasian otters (Lutra lutra), with a question mark hanging over the small-clawed otter. During that time, reports have come in, never confirmed until now, of small-clawed otter sightings in Makalu Barun National Park in Nepal’s eastern Himalayas and Kailali and Kapilvastu districts in the western plains...
“As it was found in a fragile and injured state, the forest officers decided to feed and nurse it, but they didn’t know which species it belonged to,” Shrestha. The forest officers, led by Rajeev Chaudhary, shared the images and video of the animal, known locally as saano owt, with the IUCN Otter Specialist Group. The members of the group then confirmed it to be a small-clawed otter.
The discovery comes after the species was confirmed for the first time in 2022 in the Darjeeling area of neighboring India, which shares a similar topography with eastern Nepal. “Following the discovery in Darjeeling, we had been keeping our eyes open for the species in eastern Nepal, but it showed up in the west,” Shrestha said.
There have also been reports of sightings of the animal in the eastern parts of the country, but none of them have been confirmed.
The Asian small-clawed otter is classified as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List. Its range stretches from Indonesia in the east to Nepal in the west...
As for smooth-coated otters, although their presence in the country has never been in question, sightings of them still excite conservationists. This was especially the case in Chitwan National Park, where their reappearance in September 2023 after two decades spurred calls for more research.
“This is an incredibly significant finding,” Sanjan Thapa, deputy coordinator of the Otter Specialist Group’s Himalayan region, said of the latest development. “We had long suspected that the Asian small-clawed otter might still survive in Nepal, but without concrete evidence, its status remained uncertain.”
Thapa, part of the team that confirmed the 2023 sighting of the smooth-coated otter in Chitwan, said researchers tend to feel a bit edgy about a species when it hasn’t been reported for more than 50 years.
“We had received suggestions that we remove the small-clawed otter from the Nepal otter list as it hadn’t been found for a long time,” he said. “However, we decided not to do so in the hope that it would be rediscovered sooner or later.”
The discovery adds to the challenge of saving Nepal’s otters as the country prepares to finalize and implement an action plan for otters, Thapa said. “Now that we have concrete proof that the small-clawed otter is also found in Nepal, we need to incorporate it in our policies and programs,” he said.
Both Eurasian and smooth-coated otters are protected under the country’s Aquatic Animal Protection Act. The newly rediscovered species, however, isn’t on the list. “The first step would be to add the species to the list,” Thapa said."
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