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Kyrgyzstan: Same protests as every year

Ben Paarmann · 11:28 · Central Asia & Caucasus

lingua → zht · zhs

Two years have passed since Kyrgyzstan's ex-President Askar Akaev got ousted. This regime change, or “Tulip Revolution” to many heralded a new era of open politics in the small mountainous republic.

Although economic growth, a proper fight against corruption and several other key promises of Akaev's successor Kurmanbek Bakiyev didn't materialise, the country regularly experiences political protests organised by the opposition (Global Voices reported before, here and here).

It's protest time in Bishkek again. Says former Prime Minister Felix Kulov:

“What is our aim? Constitutional reforms and an early presidential election. We don't have any other aim. However, the ‘tails' [supporters] of Bakiev dislike this. It is very important for them to maintain their power by any means.”

To get an impression of the political climate in Kyrgyzstan, it's worth looking at a post CXW wrote for neweurasia in 2006. Sadly, I can't really see any change since this has been written:

Everyone has a theory of who is to blame - most commonly former President Akaev, as though those that are in power now never had any dealings with him. And what is to be done - Reopen factories! Immediate constitutional reform! Get more foreign investment! Protest!

Several blogs have been tracking the current protests in Bishkek:

Registan.net's Teo Kaye is based in Bishkek, equipped with his camera and a witty pen for his cartoon drawings, he gives an update on what's happened on the capital's main square. Teo notices new anti-Bakiyev graffiti and previously offered his analysis of the political situation:

While resigning under pressure is probably not something Bakiyev is going to allow, a repeat scenario of hasty constitutional reforms is more likely. The question of course is how far Bakiyev and Kulov will hold out for an agreeable compromise and accordingly, how controlled the amassed protestors will be.

Several bloggers from Kyrgyzstan also feature live reports from Bishkek. Check morrire (RU) for photos and opposition activist Edil Baisalov's LJ (RU). Although not updated at the moment, Kyrgyz Report had a nice background piece some while ago.

On the Kyrgyzstan pages of neweurasia, Tolkun and Mirsulzhan are offering their insights of the events in Bishkek. Both are very sceptical of the motivations of the opposition and - most of all - those of the protesters, most of which show up on the streets to earn promised money. Mirsulzhan reports:

The opposition has demonstrated its inability to organise big protests. The participants were sleeping in the military tents, complaining that they were not being fed.

and:

“If Bakiyev does not answer the requirements of the protesters’ demands, there will be unrest in the city…”, said two young girls on the square, who came from Kara-Balty. One of them added that a deputy (of something she didn’t know) has promised to pay them 1.000 soms each for a day of the protests (about 27 dollars).

Tolkun, reporting from Osh, says that the protests haven't spread to other cities. Also, he sees the government retaining the upper hand:

Summing up today’s events, I am likely to say that the score is 1:0 to government, as opposition has lost respect of some its people by the end of the day. People are dissatisfied and frustrated. However, it is just a beginning and it is too early to make conclusions. Let’s see what tomorrow holds for us.

Also weighing in is Sean Roberts on his Roberts Report. He is a hoping that the protests remain non-violent, but is worried because of the apparent stand-off between Felix Kulov and Kurmanbek Bakiyev, two men who have usually been on the same side.

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Sudan: Khartoum Explosion, Death By Stoning, Tortured Journalist & Chinese “Musical” Diplomacy

SudaneseDrima · 07:19 · Sub-Saharan Africa

lingua → es

Sudan has been witnessing interesting developments in the past few weeks. The most recent one is the Khartoum ammo truck explosion, which Mimz blogged about:

A little over 24 hours ago a series of extremely boisterous explosions took place in one of the military sites availed for storing ammo, in the Burri area of the capital of Sudan. The explosions occurred in three enormous gunnery-loaded trucks.

So this blast happened a few meters away from the University of Khartoum, students had to evacuate campus and basically run for their lives as they witnessed the thick, heavy black smoke approaching and heard the disturbing loud sounds of explosion.

Does this sound familiar?, she asks:

I'm sure now that this sounds familiar, doesn't it?
Chaos, chaos, chaos. Should I just pack my bags and leave? It's getting ridiculous.

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone

Aperadosini expressed her outrage at a sentence issued against 2 Sudanese women apparently guilty of adultery. They're both to be stoned to death:

What's disgusting isn't just the fact that they are being put to death in the most demeaning of manners, however, they haven't even been given the chance to adequately defend themselves. The women, who came from the African Fur tribe in Darfur, did not know Arabic and were not even provided with a translator during court proceedings and so were not given the chance to even defend themselves!!

Freedom of the press? Say that again

On the other hand Black Kush brings us news of a journalist he personally knows who has been tortured by the Sudanese authorities:

I told you before that I as following the clashes in Khartoum when it happened. Now the journalist who was beaten up was someone I personally know.

…Freedom of the press? Say that again.

Musical diplomacy

Last but not least, Fluent-Sudani highlights the latest Chinese efforts at building closer ties with Sudan. He posts a YouTube video of Chinese musicians singing a traditional Sudan nationalism song:

On the above video, a bunch of Chinese ladies are singing in a festival held in khartoum strengthening relations between Sudan and China.

I give them much credit for language perfection. What they are singing is a traditional Sudan nationalism song.

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Colombian Contrasts: Bush, Spanish Royalty, literature, kidnapping, internet week and free hugs.

Juliana Rincón Parra · 02:30 · Americas

lingua → es

Free Hugs in Medellin Julio Alejandro Camelo sums up the state of Colombia and its blogosphere succinctly in ColombiaHoy, where he zooms from celebrations to funerals, from excess in receiving foreign visitors to famine in the Choco region, from the value of family to corruption:

Colombia, en definitiva, es un país folclórico. Pasamos de lo trágico a lo cómico, quizás a lo intrascendente, con una facilidad que asombra.

Colombia is definitely a folkloric country. We go from tragedy to comedy to the, perhaps, insignificant with surprising ease.

This is certainly reflected in the selection of blog posts from Colombia.

Via BlogsColombia, a harsh critique was written by El Editor de el Planeta en Pantaloneta on blogger apathy, regarding the lack of blogger participation covering Bush´s visit to the capital city of Bogota:

Balance negativo para los blogs de Colombia. Su influencia en el paisaje mediático colombiano es muy débil. Muchos blogs acusan a los grandes medios del monopolio de la información, pero en este caso la culpa es de la timidez de muchísimos bloggers.

A point against Colombian blogs. Their influence on the media landscape in Colombia is very weak. Many blogs accuse mass media for monopolizing information but in this case the blame lies on the shyness of many bloggers.

To this, Carlos Raúl van der Weyden Velásquez of The Colombia Herald replied with a post full of videos and pictures of the citizen coverage of Bush´s visit [EN]:

It’s true, as for citizen journalism, Colombian blogosphere has long a way to go, but it’s not so easy when the police is more likely to seize your camera for taking pictures of the demonstrations rather than avoiding vandals to loot and destroy businesses.

However, Bush isn´t the only visitor who fell under bloggers' scrutiny: The Spanish Royal Family and their large entourage were also in the crossfire. Via Oh! Medellin, Caruri from equinoXio comments on their visit commemorating the Spanish language, a grammar handbook to be written in Medellin, literature, and its effect, or more appropriately, the complete lack of an effect on citizens.

Medellín, dos días después, se encontró en su misma soledad mediterránea –en el sentido estricto- supo que de toda esa efervescencia quedaron los titulares, las fotos, los videos, los archivos de noticias de sociedad, y la esperanza de que en alguna oportunidad, ojalá más arcana que lejana, en otros lares, regiones o países de habla española, se acuerden de que fueron don Álvaro Uribe y Vélez, y don Sergio Fajardo y Valderrama, los varones ilustres de las Indias Actuales quienes se gastaron una millonada –desconocida aún entre los plebeyos- para que la ciudad estuviera en muchas bocas mientras dura un suspiro.

Medellin, two days later, found itself in its own Mediterranean solitude - in the strictest sense- and knew that, out of all this effervescence, the only reminders left would be the headlines, pictures, videos, society blurbs clipped and archived and the hope that in some other opportunity, hopefully more arcane than far away, in some other place, region or Spanish speaking country, it will be remembered that don Álvaro Uribe y Vélez and don Sergio Fajardo y Valderrama, the esteemed gentlemen from the Modern Indies spent millions - unknown among the plebeians- so that the city´s name would be in many mouths just for a heartbeat.

Literature, or rather, the simple act of writing letters is the catalyst for Mauricio Duque Arrubla´s article where he prompts not only Colombian bloggers but also those from around the world to follow this initiative and tag their letters with the word “persistencia”:

Este será el lanzamiento de la convocatoria Cartas de la persistencia, abierta al público entre el 12 de abril y el 12 de julio de 2007. Se trata de una invitación a que todos los colombianos (los que viven dentro y fuera del país) le cuenten a alguien que ya no está, a quien está lejos, a un desconocido, a un familiar o a un amigo su victoria cotidiana y personal y la manera en que sacan fuerza para seguir viviendo a pesar de las situaciones adversas o los actos violentos.

This will launch the announcement of “Letters of Persistence”, open to all public between April 12th and July 12th 2007. This is an invitation to all Colombians (those living inside and outside the country) to tell someone who is no longer here, who is far away, a stranger, a family member or a friend about their daily and personal victories and the way in which they gather strength to go on living in spite of adverse situations or violent acts.

The Colombian blogosphere is also preparing for the Internet Week:

Con el propósito de incentivar la participación, movilización y sensibilización de los ciudadanos en las oportunidades de Internet y uso de las TICs (tecnologías de la Información y Comunicaciones), enREDo realizará la I versión de la Semana de Internet en Colombia del 14 al 17 de Mayo 2007.

With the express purpose to incentivate participation, awareness and mobility to citizens regarding internet oportunities and usage of Communication and Information technologies, enREDo is organizing the I version of Internet WEek in Colombia from May 14th to the 17th of 2007.

In Medellin, a blog has been made to organize bloggers for a meetup/event to compliment enREDo's Bogota activities.

Another call to action is made by Octav in Crítica Destructiva, this time regarding those who are kidnapped:

Hay más de 3 mil colombianos secuestrados en este momento, lo cual bajo ninguna circunstancia es admisible … Libertad inmediata y sin condiciones para todos los secuestrados.

There are more than 3 thousand Colombians kidnapped at this moment, which under no circumstance should be allowed … Immediate and unconditional liberty to all those who are kidnapped.

Jaime Restrepo from Atrabilioso, writes on statistics and although there are less kidnappings in number than in past years, there is still a very long way to go:

Mientras UN solo colombiano esté secuestrado, TODOS los colombianos estaremos secuestrados, pues solo será cuestión de tiempo para que ese flagelo se acerque y toque las puertas de nuestros amigos, de nuestras familias o de nuestra propia casa.

As long as there´s even ONE kidnapped Colombian, ALL Colombians will be kidnapped, since it is just a matter of time until this pain comes and knocks on the doors of our friends, our families or even our own.

Finally, in El Chaos, Evelio Ramírez reminds us that even though bad things happen in Colombia, there is a lot of good going on to balance it out. He posts a superbly edited video of the Free Hug Campaign that took place in Medellin.

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India: Child Abuse, The Other Half and NRIs

Kamla Bhatt · 02:08 · South Asia

lingua → zht · zhs

A few days ago a study about child sexual abuse in India was released and the findings of the study were pretty disturbing. If you recollect Mira Nair's movie “The Monsoon Wedding” had an underlying theme of child abuse in India, and that was probably the first time that this taboo subject was addressed by a mainstream filmmaker.
Pooja of Instablogs writes:

“The sanctimonious pride with which we espouse Indian family values has been proved to be a myth. The ugly truth is out - one out of every two Indian children has suffered some form of abuse…

The study surfaces an alarming figure of child abuse. It shows that 53 percent out of over 17,000 children reported one or more forms of sexual abuse. This is the first time the government has done such an exhaustive survey on the controversial issue of child abuse. “

(Photo Credit - Matthieu)

However another blogger Zoey is a bit skeptical about the statistical methodology and rigor employed in the study. She writes:

I'm a bit skeptical, primarily because none of the stories I've read have defined the exact boundaries of physical or sexual abuse, nor have they addressed the issue of methodological rigor.

While Zoey is skeptical about the statistical methodology she wonders if mainstream media will do any kind of thoughtful follow-up either about the statistical methodology or the child abuse issue.

From child abuse we move to the other half of India, the other India that has no business or IT graduates. Nita talks about the other India in her post The Spirit of India, which is essentially a photo essay. Through her pictures she highlights and shows how the other India lives in the city of Mumbai, where 37 percent of the population are migrants.

But, what about the other half of India that are engineer or management graduates and make a life outside India? How do these Non Resident Indians (NRIs) live? Ram Krishnaswamy writes in Churimuri that not All NRIs Aren't Rich:

If truth has to be told, my reading is that people living in India, especially the middle class, have a lot more spare cash than Indian NRIs. It is a myth that NRIs have a money tree growing in their back yards.

Ram, who lives in Australia gives a run down of how NRIs make it other societies and what it takes for them to survive. He writes:

By the third week in most young NRI households, all funds are gone and they are using their credit cards and waiting anxiously for the next pay packet.

In other words it is hand-to-mouth living for most young couples, in what is basically a Credit Card Society. There is no such thing as savings, especially with low interest rates it is just not worth saving anything in a bank.

We wind up this week's round-up with a look at Laurie Baker, a British architect who became an Indian citizen and spent many years working in India. Bakerji as he was fondly called pioneered low-cost housing in India. Arzan Wadia, an architect and blogger located in New York has an extensive post on Bakerji with links to other bloggers.

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Arabeyes: Esra'a Al Shafei - Your One-Stop-Cyber-Activist

Amira Al Hussaini · 01:50 · Middle East & North Africa

At the age of 20, Bahraini university student Esra'a Al Shafei sure has a lot of chores to juggle. And it isn't classwork that is taking her time and sapping her energy.

As a cyber-activist, Al Shafei's interests range from campaigning to free jailed bloggers to highlighting atrocities being committed against women and migrant workers in the Middle East. She is also active in promoting and fostering inter-faith relations in a bid to create a better tomorrow for our future generations. Despite fears of repercussions, her sight is fixed on achieving her goals and furthering her agenda, working relentlessly day and night behind a screen and tapping away at that keyboard to achieve her goals and make the world a better place.

What makes her tick? Why is she so involved in such causes and what does she hope to get out of it? To answer those questions and gain an insight into the mind and heart of an extremely brave woman, read on. (more…)

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