12/05/2025

MONDAY | MAY 12, 2025

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Fragile India-Pakistan ceasefire holds

young children and flung them to family members who had managed to beat the crowd and board. Nisha Devi, her three children and her husband could not get a space on the train to return to their home in the eastern state of Bihar. “If I got on that train, it would have been like walking into a death trap with the children,” she said philosophically. – Reuters/AFP

Baton-wielding policemen blew whistles to try and restore order as people – mostly poor workers from central and eastern India – furiously elbowed each other to get on board. The train, sent by the federal government, took those lucky enough to secure a place to New Delhi, about 600km south of Jammu, free of charge. Some people lifted babies and

recent skirmishes has reached nearly 70, officials said. “More than me, my family is happy because my children and wife have been calling me every hour to check on me. Thank God, the ceasefire happened,” said Guruman Singh, a security guard in Amritsar. On Saturday, desperate crowds fought to board a special train ferrying people out of Jammu.

It is a sentiment that Marcos has tapped into since he started his campaign for the slate of senate candidates he is backing. The Duterte camp enjoyed a surge of sympathy when he was arrested by the International Criminal Court in March and taken to The Hague, but Marcos’ candidates appear poised to dominate the senate race. A strong mandate for Marcos would not only define his ability to govern decisively in the remaining three years of his term, but would also shape the 2028 presidential race, said Victor Andres “Dindo” Manhit, a political analyst and founder of Stratbase Group, a research and advisory firm. Marcos is limited to a single term under the Constitution and is expected to anoint a successor. If she survives impeachment, Sara Duterte would also be eligible to run in 2028. The midterm election comes amid a proliferation of disinformation. Up to 45% of discussions about the elections on social media have been driven by inauthentic accounts, Reuters reported last month. The use of fake accounts and paid influencers for political operations is widespread, but a top security official and a senator alleged last month that state-sponsored groups might be attempting to influence Filipinos. China’s Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Manila have rejected the accusations. – Reuters Trump praised both countries for agreeing to halt the aggression. “While not even discussed, I am going to increase trade, substantially, with both of these great nations. Additionally, I will work with you both to see if a solution can be arrived at concerning Kashmir,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. In the border city of Amritsar, a siren sounded in the morning to resume normal activities brought a sense of relief and people were seen out on the roads. The fighting started on Wednesday, two weeks after 26 men were killed in an attack targeting Hindus in Pahalgam, Kashmir. “Ever since the terrorists attacked people in Pahalgam, we have been shutting our shops early and there was an uncertainty. I am happy that at least there will be no bloodshed,” said Satvir Singh Alhuwalia, 48, a shopkeeper in Amritsar. Officials in Pakistan said there was some firing in Bhimber in Pakistani Kashmir at night but nowhere else, and there were no casualties. The two countries, born out of British colonial rule in 1947, have gone to war three times – twice over the region of Kashmir. India and Pakistan both rule part of Kashmir but claim it in full. India blames Pakistan for an insurgency in its part of Kashmir that began in 1989 and has killed tens of thousands. It also blames Pakistani groups for attacks elsewhere in India. Pakistan says it provides only moral, political and diplomatic support to separatists. The combined death toll in the

MANILA: In political rallies, senate hearings and voter surveys ahead of midterm elections in the Philippines today, China has been an unusual presence. The shadow of its giant maritime neighbour has loomed over the Philippines for years, but as the country’s two most prominent political clans flex their muscles to pick senators and local government leaders, relations with China have emerged as a political lightning rod. The outcome could end up shaping the country’s strategic positioning over the remaining half of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s six-year term, which began in 2022. “Will we allow ourselves to return to the time when our leaders wanted us to become a province of China?” Marcos asked voters at a rally in February, in a dig at predecessor Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sara, who is vice-president and a rival. During his 2016 to 2022 term, Duterte shifted foreign policy on China, adopting conciliatory rhetoric and downplaying disputes. The strategy drew concern from Washington and raised questions about the security alliance of the Philippines with the United States. In contrast, Marcos has moved to deepen ties with Washington. An April survey found that a majority of voters in the country of 110 million prefer candidates who assert sovereignty. AMRITSAR: A fragile ceasefire was holding between India and Pakistan yesterday, after hours of overnight fighting, as President Donald Trump said he will work to provide a solution regarding Kashmir. The arch rivals were involved in intense firing for four days, the worst in nearly three decades, with missiles and drones being fired and dozens of people killed. A ceasefire agreement was reached after diplomacy and pressure from the United States, but within hours, artillery fire was witnessed in Indian Kashmir, the centre of much of the fighting. Blasts from air-defence systems boomed in cities near the border under blackout, similar to the previous two evenings, according to authorities and residents. Late on Saturday, India said Pakistan had violated the understanding to stop firing and that the Indian armed forces had been instructed to “deal strongly” with any repetition. In response, Pakistan said it was committed to the ceasefire and blamed India for the violations. By dawn, the fighting and explosions reported at night had died down on both sides of the border, according to witnesses. Power was restored in most areas along India’s border towns after a blackout the previous night. o Trump offers more help for Kashmir solution

A man helps his child to board an overcrowded train at the Jammu Tawi railway station. – AFPPIC

Bangladesh bans activities of premier party

China takes centre stage in Philippine midterm polls

DHAKA: Bangladesh’s interim government has banned all activities of the Awami League, the political party of deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, under the country’s Anti-Terrorism Act, citing national security concerns. The decision, announced on Saturday, follows days of street protests led by the student-driven National Citizen Party, which emerged from last year’s uprising that toppled Hasina. Several right-wing parties, including Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition groups, joined the demonstrations, demanding the Awami League be designated a terrorist organisation. The ban would remain in place until the trial of the party and its

tensions and protests in recent months, after deadly protests forced Hasina to flee to India in August and an interim government led by Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus took charge. Yunus pledged reforms and said the general election could be delayed until 2026. The unrest began in July with student protests against public sector job quotas, but morphed into one of the deadliest periods of political violence since Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. In October, the government banned the Awami League’s student wing, Bangladesh Chhatra League, labelling it a “terrorist organisation” for its role in violent attacks on protesters. – Reuters 3,000 road fatalities annually, making the island’s roads among the most dangerous in the world. Yesterday’s bus crash was one of the worst in Sri Lanka since April 2005, when a driver attempted to beat a train at a level crossing in the town of Polgahawela. The bus driver escaped with minor injuries, but 37 passengers were killed. In March 2021, 13 passengers and the driver of a privately owned bus died when the vehicle crashed into a precipice in Passara, about 100km east of the scene of the crash yesterday. – AFP

leadership over deaths of hundreds of protesters at the International Crimes Tribunal is completed, the government said in a statement. The government also announced an amendment to the ICT Act, allowing the tribunal to prosecute not only individuals but also political parties and organisations. The change clears the way for the Awami League to be tried as a collective entity for alleged crimes committed during its time in power. The Awami League, which was founded in 1949, dismissed the decision as illegitimate, posting on its official Facebook page: “All decisions of the illegal government are illegal.” The country has seen rising

Bus carrying Buddhist pilgrims crashes, killing 15 COLOMBO: An overcrowded bus carrying dozens of Buddhist pilgrims crashed into a precipice in Sri Lanka yesterday, killing 15 and injuring at least 30. “We are trying to establish whether it was a mechanical failure or if the driver fell asleep at the wheel,” said a police official.

“Fifteen people have died and we have sent 30 to hospital,” who were mostly Buddhists, added the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media. The bus was travelling from the pilgrim town of Kataragama in the island’s deep south to the central city of Kurunegala, a distance of about 250km. Sri Lanka records an average of

Among the worst road crashes in the country in decades, the state-owned bus was travelling through the central hilly region of Kotmale when the driver lost control and it veered off a cliffside road before dawn, police said. It was carrying around 70 passengers, about 20 more than its capacity, police said, adding that an investigation was underway.