标签： Asia

India’s Ministry of External Affairs has issued a stern diplomatic reprimand to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani following the public circulation of his letter to imprisoned Indian activist Umar Khalid. The communication, penned in early December after Mamdani met with Khalid’s parents during their U.S. visit, surfaced on social media platforms several days ago.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal delivered a sharply worded statement urging foreign officials to respect judicial independence in other democracies. ‘We expect public representatives to be respectful of the independence of judiciaries in other democracies,’ Jaiswal stated. ‘Expressing personal prejudices does not behoove those in office. Instead of such comments, it would be better to focus on the responsibilities entrusted to them.’

Khalid, a student activist detained without trial since September 2020, faces allegations of orchestrating the February 2020 New Delhi riots. His case has drawn international scrutiny, with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identifying him as persecuted for ‘protesting religious freedom conditions’ and recommending India be designated a ‘Country of Particular Concern’ for religious intolerance.

The legal proceedings against Khalid operate under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), legislation permitting extended detention periods while severely restricting bail opportunities. India’s Supreme Court recently rejected Khalid’s latest bail application, maintaining his imprisonment.

Mamdani’s letter expressed personal solidarity, stating: ‘Dear Umar, I think of your words on bitterness often and the importance of not letting it consume one’s self. It was a pleasure to meet your parents. We are all thinking of you.’

Simultaneously, eight U.S. lawmakers including Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern (co-chair of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission) and Senators Chris Van Hollen and Peter Welch dispatched a formal letter to Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra on December 30th. The communication urged India to provide Khalid with bail and a fair trial ‘in accordance to international law.’

The controversy originates from the 2020 citizenship law amendments under Modi’s government that expedited citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim religious minorities from neighboring countries. Muslim exclusion protests prompted violent clashes in New Delhi, resulting in over 50 fatalities—predominantly Muslims—in the capital’s worst religious violence since the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.

Indian police arrested approximately 2,000 individuals following the disturbances, with critics alleging anti-Muslim bias in targeting activists and students. Among at least 18 detained leaders, Khalid has faced repeated bail rejections over five years despite international human rights organizations demanding his release. While some co-accused were granted bail on January 5th, Khalid and associate Sharjeel Imam remain imprisoned, with Amnesty International condemning their continued detention as based on ‘politically motivated allegations.’

A federal court in Chicago has dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. government over its evacuation procedures for Palestinian-Americans stranded in Gaza. Chief Judge Virginia Kendall of the U.S. District Court acknowledged the plaintiffs’ dire circumstances but ruled that the judiciary lacks both the authority and the diplomatic resources to evaluate or mandate executive branch foreign policy decisions, particularly those involving wartime evacuations.

The legal action, initiated in December 2024 by nine Palestinian-Americans with support from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and attorney Maria Kari, accused the Biden administration of violating constitutional equal protection rights. The plaintiffs argued that the government abandoned them and their families during the ongoing conflict, failing to implement standard evacuation protocols that would be extended to other U.S. citizens abroad.

Despite expressing sympathy for the plaintiffs’ ‘impossible positions,’ Judge Kendall’s ruling emphasized the constitutional separation of powers. She stated that determining the ‘when, how, and under what circumstances evacuations from war zones should proceed’ is a duty committed to the executive and legislative branches, not the judiciary.

The court noted evidence indicating that the U.S. government had developed an evacuation plan and that all nine plaintiffs had either been successfully evacuated or had declined offers that did not include their immediate family members. The State Department had previously reported assisting over 1,600 individuals, including citizens and eligible family members, in leaving Gaza via the Rafah crossing, though the criteria for evacuation were narrowly defined to include only spouses, parents, and unmarried children under 21.

The dismissal highlights the complex and often restrictive process for evacuation, which requires multi-level approvals from U.S., Egyptian, Israeli, and Palestinian authorities. At the time of publication, the U.S. Department of State had not issued an immediate response to requests for comment.

A complex geopolitical entanglement has emerged as the British government maintains co-ownership of a strategic Somaliland port controlled by the United Arab Emirates, raising serious questions about conflict of interest regarding the ongoing conflict in Sudan. Through its foreign investment arm, British International Investment (BII), the UK holds a minority stake in Berbera port alongside Emirati logistics giant DP World and the Somaliland government.

The port forms part of a network of UAE-controlled infrastructure across the Horn of Africa that multiple sources indicate is being utilized to arm the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Sudan. This connection creates a diplomatic dilemma for the UK, which has sanctioned RSF commanders for atrocities including mass killings and sexual violence in Darfur.

Somaliland itself represents a diplomatic flashpoint, being a breakaway region of Somalia that only Israel has recognized as independent—a move that has drawn widespread international condemnation. The territory has recently hosted high-level Israeli delegations discussing potential military bases, while simultaneously serving as a hub for regional power plays involving Yemeni separatists.

The UK government maintains that its investment through BII represents purely commercial interests focused on regional development. A recently published impact assessment commissioned by the Foreign Office described Berbera as “a strategic gateway to Somaliland and a potential alternative trade corridor for Ethiopia,” highlighting the creation of 2,500 jobs and $45 million in economic value.

However, policy experts argue that the UK cannot simultaneously condemn atrocities in Sudan while potentially benefiting from infrastructure that supports the conflict. Flight tracking data, cargo inventories, and multiple official sources indicate that Berbera’s facilities, including one of Africa’s longest runways capable of handling military aircraft, form part of the supply chain sustaining the RSF’s operations.

The situation illustrates the challenging balance between commercial investment and diplomatic principles, with British-made military equipment having been discovered in Sudan and the UK’s extensive commercial ties to the UAE facing increasing scrutiny amid the humanitarian crisis.

A complex pattern of protest participation is emerging across Iran’s Kurdish regions as nationwide demonstrations triggered by a severe economic crisis continue to unfold. While western provinces with Shia Kurdish majorities have witnessed the most violent clashes, the northern Kurdish towns that ignited the historic 2022 uprising have remained notably quiet—a phenomenon experts attribute to the lingering trauma of previous state repression.

According to documentation by the Kurdish-Iranian rights organization Hengaw, the most intense recent protests and government crackdowns have occurred in western provinces including Ilam and Kermanshah. This stands in stark contrast to northern Rojhelat Kurdish cities such as Saqqez—the hometown of Mahsa Amini, whose 2022 death in police custody sparked the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement—and Sanandaj, the provincial capital of Kurdistan, where significant street protests have been conspicuously absent.

Kurdish journalist Kaveh Ghoreishi confirms this geographical divergence, noting that activists attribute the hesitation in northern Kurdish areas to the devastating consequences they suffered during the 2022 demonstrations. The previous crackdown resulted in hundreds killed and wounded, thousands detained, and dozens facing capital charges, creating what Zhila Mostajer of Hengaw describes as ‘little capacity to endure further sacrifice.’

The current protest movement began in Tehran on December 28th, initially focusing on economic grievances including spiraling prices and currency devaluation before evolving into broader anti-government sentiment. Demonstrations have since spread across 111 cities in 31 provinces, though demands vary significantly by region according to Mostajer, who notes that while economic hardship affects all areas, Kurdish protests have maintained explicitly political objectives calling for regime change.

Kurdish political organizations have pursued a strategy of solidarity strikes rather than mass gatherings. On January 5th, seven Kurdish parties from the Dialogue Centre for Inter-Party Cooperation called for a general strike, which was observed in over 57 towns across Iranian Kurdistan according to Arash Saleh of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan. While injecting momentum into the national movement, most towns refrained from subsequent physical protests, possibly due to concerns about supporting Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah, who has been promoted as a leader by some Persian-language media.

Hussein Yazdanpana, leader of the Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK), emphasizes that different Kurdish regions have varying capacities for mobilization, with western areas now bearing the brunt of protest activity while northern regions recover from the 2022 crackdown. The conflict has already turned deadly, with four PAK fighters reportedly killed in clashes with security forces in Malekshahi on January 7th.

International dimensions have emerged as Yazdanpana calls for the implementation of statements by U.S. President Donald Trump, who initially vowed intervention if protesters were killed but later suggested some deaths resulted from stampedes—a claim disputed by Kurdish leaders. With documented protester deaths ranging from 25 to 42, including minors, and thousands detained, the situation remains volatile with significant potential for further expansion according to Kurdish political representatives.