India witnessed the hottest March in 122 years. With temperatures several times crossing 49 degrees Celsius (120 degrees Fahrenheit) in northern India, heat waves amplified the existing divisions between the poor and well-off, reports Sanket Jain.
In March 2020, India’s health ministry tasked 1 million Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) with COVID-19 duty in rural areas. This, in a country where 65 percent of its 1.38 billion people live outside cities. Suddenly, ASHAs’ workload increased exponentially. Yet, they remain underpaid and now suffer stress-related chronic ailments, reports Sanket Jain.
Securing women’s rights was used to justify the U.S. military intervention in Afghanistan. However, the Biden administration’s irresponsible pull-out in tandem with the swift, untroubled Taliban return speaks volumes about Washington’s lack of interest to secure respect for human rights and improve women’s lives.
Editor's Note: The Taliban victory over the weekend and the evacuation of U.S. nationals cries out for context. That is why Toward Freedom is publishing this article that was submitted prior to the weekend's events. "Women are more mobilized, but they are not a powerful social movement. Afghanistan’s more liberal and left social forces are active underground and are not an organized force. These forces include the educated sections, who do not want extremist groups to drag the country into another proxy war. That proxy war would be between the Taliban, the U.S.-backed government in Kabul, and other militant groups that are no less dangerous than the Taliban or the U.S. government."
The strike, which marks its 1-month anniversary today, continues unabated. It started as a response to a tax reform project that would have devastated middle- and low-income households. Yet, this is not the core of social discontent among Colombians.
Copyright Toward Freedom 2019
