Iraqi Kurds hold and win a referendum for an independent state defying strong warnings from neighbouring countries and the central government in Iraq. The U.S., a close ally of the Kurds of northern Iraq, was against the timing of the referendum.
The September 25 decision of the Kurdish "autonomous" government in northern Iraq to go ahead with a referendum on setting up an independent state of Kurdistan, despite the advice to the contrary from its patron, the United States, has generated new and dangerous tensions in the volatile region. The only country that supported the holding or the referendum was Israel, a long-time ally of Kurdish separatists. The idea or creating a Kurdish state is not acceptable to any government in the region. The United Nations Security Council had issued a strong statement urging the Iraqi Kurds to not go ahead with the referendum. The statement expressed concern at the potentially destabilising impact of the Kurdistan regional government's plans to unilaterally hold the referendum".
Kurds, the fourth biggest ethnic group in the region, are without a state of their own. Kurds in Iran and Syria have been intermittently raising the spectre of secessionism since the end of the Second World War. Eastern Turkey hosts the largest number of Kurds. Kurds have a distinctive language and culture although a majority of them adhere to the Sunni school of Islam.
This story is from the October 27, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the October 27, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
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As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
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No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
