My fellow Sri Lankans,

In the northern and eastern parts of our great country live tigers, endangered tigers. While conditions for these tigers have gotten better over the past few years, now is not the time for us to give up on our tigers. I know many of you are concerned with the tiger maulings that were once prevalent in the past, but the tigers have become more tame. Poor treatment of our tigers may lead to the reopening of wounds that we’ve been trying to stitch up from our past. This is why it’s critical that we save our tigers, and allow them the dignity that tigers are entitled to.

A number of factors contribute to the endangerment of our tigers. First and foremost, the military continues to occupy the tiger’s land as if the tigers are our enemies. Too many tigers can’t be in the same place at the same time in an effort to voice their concerns. The tigers are being silenced. When facing abuse, no one will be able to hear their tiger roar. The police, who are supposed to protect our tigers have been abusing them. The tea plantations have been abusing them as well. Even their fellow citizens sometimes seek to abuse them. They are not allowed to roam free within their tiger territory. Some of their territory has been taken, yet has not been returned. Some of those that try to speak out for the tigers find themselves silenced by the state. If this pattern of abuse continues against our tigers, we stand to lose them.

In order to ensure that we do not return to the times when the tigers bear tooth and claw against their neighbors, their countrymen, and their government, we must take action. We must show the tigers that they are not alone in their struggle to live dignified lives. While the tigers are prohibited from gathering, the rest of us are not. I am calling on Sri Lankans that are willing to look past the bloody history with the tigers, towards a future of mutual respect and cooperation. I am calling on those Sri Lankans to gather in solidarity with our tigers. Gather at day or night, in the territory of the tigers or in your home towns. The important part is that we show the tigers that they are not alone, and we show the state and other Sri Lankans that we care about our tigers. While we may face resistance, the tigers will surely appreciate our gesture and may one day return the favor if you yourself end up on the receiving side of abuse. Good luck my fellow citizens, I hope to see you out there.

Help Received: Freedom of The World: Sri Lanka 2017 report & Freedom of The Net: Sri Lanka 2017 report

Sitting atop the beautiful mountain range of Nanga Parbat was a family of markhors. This family typically spent its day sleeping and grazing on the steep and elevated mountainside. Every once in a while Papa Markhor will travel to the other side of the Nanga Parbat mountain to speak with another family of markhors. He normally discussed the predators in the area that both families lived, the changing conservation laws, and hunters in the area. This was done to ensure that both families were well informed.

Today started very similar to other days: it was beautiful outside and the morning sun relieved some of the chill that the night had brought. Father Markhor was headed to the other side of the mountain. He kissed each of the baby markhors goodbye and promised his wife that he would return before the days end. With that sweet farewell he began his trek up the mountain.

When he didn’t return for many hours Mama Markhor became worried. She fed each of the kids and put them to bed. Late in the night Papa Markhor returned home limping and sharking from pain. He had been making his normal trek up the mountain when a huge snake stopped him. This snake had hissed at Papa Markhor, telling him that he could not pass. Without warning, the snake lurched at Papa Markhor, biting at his legs and sending him running to his family.Never again will Papa Markhor journey to the other side of the mountain and he won’t let his children travel either. It is far too dangerous with that large snake on the hunt.

Help Received: http://www.wwfpak.org/species/Markhor.php

Mothers, Brothers, Sisters, Friends:

I need your help. My child is being bullied. Our children are being bullied. How do we help them? What do we say to them? How do they face the bully that targets them because of their dark skin, or because of the way we pray in our home? They tell my son, they tell our sons, that they don’t belong here. They tell him to find another school. My son is afraid. Where can we go? He faces deadly threats if he stays. When we run, when we flee, will we be accepted? Will a new school ever be safe for my son? For our sons?

Friends and Family, we must face this bully! We must find a solution for our children and for ourselves. Please help me, post to this parenting blog and we can share advice and plan how we can put an end to the bullying we face everyday.

– A concerned Mother

 

 

https://cpj.org/blog/2017/06/myanmar-one-year-under-suu-kyi-press-freedom-lags-.php

 

Rohingya refugee finds home in Chicago

The inability to expose the corruption within our country is astounding. Self-censorship is rampant due to the continued wave of fear among journalists and citizens. Just within the last two weeks, give journalists were sent to trial and sentenced to 10 year long prison terms, all for exposing a chemical weapons factory run by the Myanmar government. Two more reporters were arrested for exposing the murder of 10 Muslims. It is beyond apparent that there is a need for proper exposure in order to avoid prosecution. I have sparked interest in creating a group of individuals who will create fake Facebook pages under the names of the journalists who have been sentenced to prison for exposing the government. In these fake Facebook pages, we will repost the articles that were censored, with hopes of creating more attention to the issues. We will attempt to log into these accounts on different locations in order to avoid being tracked. These issues need to be brought to light, and we will do whatever it takes to do so.

 

http://www.phillytrib.com/news/myanmar-under-suu-kyi-cracks-down-on-journalists/article_900df975-b759-5fa2-85af-431e8dc713af.html

The news of the conviction of Prime Minister Khaleda Zia surely came as a surprise to many. Though 5 years in prison may be a fair  sentencing we mustn’t forget our other friends within government and the BNP who chose to disregard the laws of this nation.

We should applaud our judiciary for addressing this corruption, and further to that, I would implore all law-abiding Bengalis to come together and show our their support for the rule of law and  distaste for government corruption on the first Saturday of the new month. To preserve the safety of the public and demonstrate our interest in law and order, I urge everyone to minimize interaction with police and allow them to continue their job protecting the citizens, undisturbed.

I hope to see all of my patriotic countrymen soon.

 

Referencing: https://www.iol.co.za/news/world/former-bangladesh-pm-khaleda-zia-jailed-for-corruption-13176434

My name is A.K. Raja, I am the owner of a local online news source in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India called “CHENNOW: Your news NOW”. We have a very large following of working class citizens and university students throughout the city. Chennai is a working class city as India’s largest producer of automobiles and second largest provider for IT services in the entire country. Though we are the automobile hub of the country, our leading cause of death is road accidents. We also have poor public transportation. To top all of this off, we are facing a real water crisis, and the government is not even able to provide even half of the amount of water necessary for our population of 4.6 million. Below you will find some of our Headlines for February 15th.

16 people were either injured or killed in an automobile/bus crash on Chennai’s National Hwy
45, yesterday afternoon. This is the 6th notable crash in the last 4 days in Chennai.

Tomorrow,the Indian National Cricket team will be practicing at the Chemplast Cricket Ground. Attend to Meet the team before they head to Sri Lanka for their next test.

At least 2.5 of Chennai’s 4.6 million residents could be facing water shortages in the next month. The
Chennai Square reservoir inflow is decreasing each day which poses a major problem for the city.

For the first time in history, the Pollution rates in Chennai have passed those of New Delhi.

Peaceful talks take place in the Indian territory of Jammu & Kashmir, Pakistan seeks to cooperate.

Expressions of love line the faces of Chennaiites as they celebrate happiness throughout the day
Of Our Public holiday Maha Shivaratri on 2/14.

Rights for women continue to make progress throughout the country

HR:https://propstory.com/top-5-infrastructural-problems-in-chennai/

Continued protests in Bangladesh over the imprisonment of BNP party Cheif Khaleda Zia.

The widespread protest has spread after a sentence of 5 years was passed down on Thursday in a case of corruption. The case has sparked activists and to take to the street and roads, blocking traffic in many cases as they denounce the court’s decision, in many cases resorting to violence. The police have begun an arrest spree targeting BNP leaders and activists. According to BNP “3,850 leaders and activists of BNP had been arrested across the country over the last week.” Meanwhile, there has been counter movements by the ruling Awami League to celebrate the court’s decision and have organized resistance to stop BNP protests.

With this level of division within the political parties of Bangladesh, it seems quite likely that there will continue to be unrest. My question would be because of the scale of the protests by the BNP, is the Awami league going to begin targeting and oppressing the citizens associated with the BNP especially now that so many of the party leaders activists are imprisoned? What do the coming months have in store for the political climate in Bangladesh?

khaledas-jail-protests-continue-2nd-day

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2018/02/09/india-tried-to-stop-cheating-in-school-so-half-a-million-students-just-skipped-exams/?utm_term=.597978c136aa

 

India has had problems among the provinces with rampant and shameless cheating on the final exams that determine whether, you, as a student will have the opportunity at a college education. The population of India’s students vying for the college slots is so much greater than can be serviced so the competition is fierce that many of the students often have top marks academically at their respective schools. the lengths the students, teachers, and parents will do to get an advantage there have been reports of family members or teachers scaling the exam buildings to funnel answer to the test takers or teachers with access leak answer guides to their students.

The issue has come a head where the government can’t turn a blind eye as they have been so this exam cycle they are placing accountability measures to prevent outside intervention and cheating on the exams, such as security cameras and guards in the rooms and outside the exam centers. This article focuses primarily on the Uttar Pradesh state, which is one of the most populous and extreme when it comes to this level of academic dishonesty. The Uttar Pradesh state is by no means an anomaly, and as a result of the crack down on exam centers as many as 600,000 students have decided to stay home then to try their hand at the college entrance exam. This boycott of the exam by students shows just how competitive these slots are that this many students have thrown in the towel without outside help.

New York Times, Richard C. Paddock, 13 December 2017: “Arrests of Reuters Reporters in Myanmar Add to Fears About Press Freedom”

Article Summary: Two Reuters reporters arrested on December 7^th, 2017 for attempting to obtain information via official government documents covering recent military campaign of killings, rape, and arson in Rhakine State in West Myanmar. Premise of charges is violation of Official Secrets Act (c. 1923, colonial hangover, protects information that is ostensibly essential to national security, prevents journalist access without explicit permission), since 80-90% of government documents are considered protected under this broad legislation.

The article states that prior attempts to change Official Secrets Act to allow greater press protection measures (c. 2014) were blocked by Home Affairs Ministry, which is controlled by the military. The article also summarizes additional cases where journalists were arrested under a variety of similar colonial-era laws such as unlawful association and more Official Secrets Act violations, highlighting and emphasizing the main purpose of the article, indicating a negative trend in press freedom in Myanmar.

Analysis: I drew three observations from this particular article, most of which we have already discussed in class. The first is the broad nature of the Official Secrets Act, which enables authorities to arrest, harass, and prevent journalist coverage of embarrassing actions on the part of the state. The second is the amount of influence held by the military in domestic politics, with the primary example being the Home Affairs Ministry blocking any alterations to the Official Secrets Act allowing for greater protections for journalists. The third observation is less explicit in the article but is probably critical to both a lack of legal accountability and military influence in domestic politics, the lack of a truly independent judiciary.

Help received: New York Times article (link provided), Microsoft Word grammar and spelling check, prior readings and class discussions on Myanmar readings and Freedom House reports.

Levi C. Harmon