Southasiasphere, 20 March: Imran Khan’s attempted arrest, UN appeal for Afghanistan aid and more

In this episode, we talk about the attempted arrest of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and details of the case against him, involving state gifts. We also discuss a fresh UN High Commissioner for Refugees funding call for Afghanistan, where the dire humanitarian situation means 20 million people - almost half the population - are experiencing food insecurity. In “Around Southasia in 5 minutes”, we discuss the spread of adenovirus in West Bengal, protests around toxic smoke at the Brahmapuram waste dump in Kochi, Nepal’s new president, trade union action in Sri Lanka opposing the IMF’s conditions for a bailout loan, a new Human Rights Watch report on political prisoners in Bhutan, and news of Zangkar Jamyang, a Tibetan writer and language rights activist, who disappeared in 2020 and has resurfaced in a Sichuan prison. For “Bookmarked”, we’ll be discussing A path home, a graphic novel about Naga repatriation. Episode notes: Sri Lanka’s great IMF lie: https://www.himalmag.com/sri-lanka-imf-development-food-insecurity-debt-economic-crisis/ Refusal and responsibility: https://www.himalmag.com/refusal-and-responsibility-tibetan-intellectuals-2022/ Returning spoils of colonial conquest: https://www.himalmag.com/returning-spoils-of-colonial-conquest-2021/ A Path Home - graphic novel On Naga repatriation https://rradnagaland.org/novel/ Full episode and transcript: https://www.himalmag.com/imran-khan-attempted-arrest-un-appeal-afghanistan-aid-graphic-novel-on-naga-repatriation/ Listen on Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/cfUx6 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mEtnNPOcUXNJaylY5OkH0?si=TrWbRtooQWSIhf3-pP_0Nw Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/southasiasphere-20-march-imran-khans-attempted-arrest/id1464880116?i=1000605299207 Youtube: https://youtu.be/-xayhndIjlQ