LOS MARGINADOS: marzo 2022

Ukraine: A short history of its creation | Explained News,The Indian Express Dear Express Reader, Named after one of Ukraine’s most famous movie and theatre directors, the Les Kurbas Academic Theatre is housed in a beige five-storey building, which looks less baroque than the rest of Lviv. Closer than 300 metres from the city centre, it has suspended its programmes to provide shelter to Ukrainians fleeing the war launched by Russia, now on for more than a month. Founded in the 13th century, Lviv was named by the King of Ruthenia after his son Lev, which meant lion. Which is why it is called the Lion City locally. Now, a month into the war, as Russia destroys Ukrainian cities, Lviv, which has been largely untouched so far, despite three explosions on the outskirts on Saturday, has become the world’s entry point into the country. Among the westernmost cities of Ukraine, Lviv is also reflective of the crossroads of history and geography, and the clashing geopolitics of world powers, that mark this region. If the Russian invasion has turned most of Lviv’s residents against an overbearing Moscow, the remnants of the city’s Soviet past are still visible. Like most of Ukraine, people here know both Russian and Ukrainian; the younger generation has picked up English from Hollywood films and TV shows, but hardly any of the elderly know it. Unlike the Latin script used in the rest of Europe, Ukrainians use Cyrillic, like Russia. And while being part of the West is a dream that has got new wings, in a city that is nearly all white, one of Lviv’s favourite street foods — like in large parts of the former Soviet republic — is kebab, a throwback to the bloc’s Caucasus links. However, the heavy Russian hand has ensured — at least for now — the levelling of these many different layers into one common, Ukrainian identity. Across Lviv, like the Les Kurbas Academic Theatre, people have opened their doors to countrymen fleeing the war; others have picked up arms to join it. Mayor Andrii Sadovyi says the city, with a population of around 7.1 lakh, has provided shelter to around 2 lakh people since the war began. More than 37 lakh have passed through on their way to other countries. Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenksyy, the face of the country’s fightback, is everywhere. While nobody brings him up, unless asked, his photos can be seen at volunteer centres, on tote bags, as posters in bars and on street billboards. At the theatre, a dozen-odd temporary beds are lined along the walls, including on the stage, sheltering about five families from Kharkiv and capital Kyiv. The theatre’s lead actors are its principal volunteers; two of them sing Ukrainian folk songs for the refugees, hoping to ease their pain. The story of Alina Gaivoronskaya, 29, among the refugees at the theatre, is common now, with other families that have been split and uprooted. A sales manager from Kharkiv, among the first cities targeted by Russia, she left her home on the 11th day of the war, when bombing came to her neighbourhood. Gaivoronskaya first moved to the outer part of the province and, when war reached there too, managed to take a train to Lviv. “When I left, my home was not damaged, but now I don’t know,” she says, worried for her parents who live outside Kharkiv and have not been able to leave. Gaivoronskaya, who doesn’t know English, hopes to make her way to Germany. “It’s safe,” she says, adding helplessly, “I don’t know what I will do.” Antony Tsiona, 24, a documentary filmmaker, is helping translate what Gaivoronskaya is saying. From Kyiv, he is capturing the experiences of those like her, to convey the trauma of his countrymen. Tsiona’s parents, both actors, met at the theatre, and his father is now its director. In its appearance, Lviv is like any other quaint town in these parts, with cobble-stoned streets not really conducive to driving, small cafes and bars, grand churches, university buildings, opera houses, museums. The difference lies in the ancient trams still trundling across the city, the old Soviet vehicles visible on the streets, jostling with the Porsches, BMWs and Bentleys — 31 years after Ukraine left the Soviet Republic. In a street on the eastern part of the city, an old man is selling Soviet-era coins — 1 ruble can be bought for 20 Ukrainian hryvnia. In his bag, he carries a small album, containing an old photograph of him shaking hands with what seems to be former US president George H W Bush. A closer look reveals it is Bush Senior’s wax model. H W Bush had been the US president in 1991, when the Soviet Union came apart. He is most remembered in Ukraine for giving a speech weeks before the country voted for independence, warning against “suicidal nationalism”. This was seen as support for the USSR, which was hoping to retain influence over its rebellious republics. The coin-seller isn’t the only one out on the business-as-usual Lviv streets. There are musicians playing at most open spaces, with the plaza in front of the Lviv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theatre a coveted spot, couples walking dogs, youths taking selfies. On Friday, the war has been particularly easy to forget; it has been almost 72 hours without any air siren. The sirens are sounded at detection of any in-bound Russian aerial attack. On Friday, the peace is finally broken around 4:30 pm, but perhaps lulled by their relative safety, few pay heed. And yet, war has been inching closer. Russia has attacked a military station and an airport near the city, and on Saturday, hit a telecommunications tower, while its ally Belarus has deployed forces that are seeking to march into Lviv from the north. Outside the city’s limits, a group of youth are readying themselves for just such an eventuality. Neither members of armed forces or the territorial defence that many civilians have joined, they are volunteers teaching locals self-defence. Maksym Stodolia, 20, a journalist who lives on the outskirts of Lviv, is a member of the Galizian Arma, which is coordinating training in self-defence and medical aid, and supply of donations like night-vision goggles and bullet-proof vests to soldiers on the frontline, and medicines and surgical equipment to cities facing Russian pounding. There are many such organisations across Ukraine now. Stodalia says the Galizian Arma was created by army veterans with battle experience, and now has over a hundred volunteers. They have converted an arts school for young children into their base. On Friday, they had two American volunteers over to teach basic first aid. Medicines coming in from all of Europe are sorted and delivered to Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Dnipro cities, among others. Stodalia says he desperately wanted to join his friends on the front. “But they told me to stay in Lviv and help, send medicines, and other important things.” Volunteers say that while help has been unprecedented, sometimes the quality is an issue. Stodalia shows a combat helmet that has seen the Vietnam War and is now unusable. Alex Manzyuk, 34, who handles medical aid, says often all they can retrieve from donated medical kits are gloves and gauges, even as demand has been rising. Germany is the leading donor, sending the best quality equipment. Among those helping out is Carlos Fransisco, who has this evening brought food and tea for seven soldiers who have come from Peru, his native country. He claims to have coordinated movement of more than 200 soldiers from Peru and other nations to the frontlines. Tony Soza, 42, has come from Lima. Soza says he was a soldier with the Peruvian army for 15 years, and later joined American private companies which were part of the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan — during 2006-2009, and 2012-2013, respectively. These tours paid him US$1500-$2000 per month. In Lviv, he was not looking to fight, but help, Soza says. For now, along with six other soldier friends, he is providing security for evacuation of the Peruvian Embassy staff. He says they are doing it for free, but with their “expenses” covered. However, Soza adds, he is open to joining the war, “for good money”. He claims another group from South America is already on the frontlines in Ukraine. After the Ukrainian government announced an International Legion, asking foreigners to join the fight against Russia, it is believed to have received nearly 40,000 applications. Military experts say the actual number of foreigners on the frontlines though is no more than a few thousand. The other big group here from different parts of the world is journalists, whose number runs into hundreds. With the war also being fought on the information front, Ukraine has set up a media centre in a three-storey bar in Lviv. Important officials hold regular interactions, facilitating information about refugees and providing needed help. Alcohol sales were banned within city limits after the war began, till Saturday, and the stacked bars across Lviv would not sell any. However, as many marvelled, being in the city felt like a vacation, given the abundance of choice and availability of what was needed, unlike the eastern parts which have borne the brunt of Russia’s attack. There are sobering reminders of this though, especially in news of journalists killed on the front. The latest to die is a Russian journalist who used to work for an independent media platform, taking the toll to five in the past month. Lviv itself is prepared for the long haul —and the cost of that. Two days before the war began, Bohdan Tykholoz, a philosopher and literary critic, wrote in the local newspaper Lviv Now that Ukraine will win and Russian President Vladimir Putin will lose. He wrote about how for Ukrainians it was about fighting for their homeland. He talked about Putin’s mortality and Russia’s feet of clay. “Our forests will become hiding places, fields battlefields, cities and villages traps and labyrinths, every stone a weapon, every action resistance, and every word a manifesto of dignity and freedom,” Tykholoz wrote. “We will win because we can’t lose.” It’s war Feb 24: Russian forces launch a “special military operation”, invading Ukraine’s Donbass region from Crimea in the south and Russian territory in the east. Russia also bombs several cities, including Kharkiv, port city of Odessa, and Ukrainian capital Kyiv – Explosions are also heard in Lviv oblast (province) Feb 25: Russian forces enter from the north towards Kyiv, from the east towards Kharkiv and Sumy. Iin the south they reach Kherson, and move to Mariupol March 1: Russian troops continue to make progress along these ingress lines, continuously pounding many of these cities with cruise missile, rockets, artillery shells and ballistic missiles. They reach the outskirts of Kyiv March 11: Airport and airfield in Lutsk hit by Russian missiles. Lutsk is about 150 northeast of Lviv, and a little over 110 km from Polish border March 13: Russia fires missiles at the International Peacekeeping and Security Center, also called Yavoriv military base, 30 km northwest of Lviv, and just 10 km from Poland’s border. A military training facility, it has hundreds of International Legion volunteers training. The attack kills 35 and injures over 130. No foreigners are killed March 18: Russia attacks airport just outside Lviv. Missiles target an aircraft repair plant. No casualties – Russia’s progress towards Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mariupol, Chernihiv, Sumy etc has largely been stalled. But street fighting and shelling is on. Regards Team Express

domingo, 27 de marzo de 2022

PB Mehta writes: Ukraine invasion has revealed a new world disorder

PB Mehta writes: Ukraine invasion has revealed a new world disorder Dear reader, There has been intense diplomatic activity in the subcontinent in the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida was in Delhi last weekend while Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar on Friday. The visit marked 70 years of India-Japan relations, which had received a fillip in 2006 with the two countries forming a "strategic and global partnership". It was announced during Kishida's visit that Japan will invest 3.5 trillion Japanese Yen (JPY) — the target of 3.5 trillion JPY set under the 2004 Investment Partnership has already been met. More investment and cooperation has been promised in a host of areas, including digital security and green technologies. However, the big takeaway is on the strategic front. Despite the differences in their respective approaches to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Delhi and Tokyo "presented a united front vis-a-vis China" ('Friends with benefits', March 21). Delhi refused to join Tokyo in condemning the Russian invasion, but reiterated its commitment to "the rules-based order". Clearly, the Quad is holding together despite India refusing to toe the line followed by the other members on Russia. Wang's visit, seen by many experts as a reconciliatory overture by Beijing, is significant in this context. However, can India continue its tactical stance on Russia if President Putin refuses to end the war? What are the implications of such a stance, explained in terms of self-interest? Pratap Bhanu Mehta ('The new world disorder', March 23) says "India and China's equivocation on Ukraine is appalling". Mehta writes that making a case against "Western hypocrisy" and for national self-interest are "worthy causes'', but point out that these do not address a core point: What kind of world order do they (India and China) want to build, which also serves their self-interest? He pretends a bleak scenario for the world after the war. "The self-serving stance of all the great powers make it more likely that the world will be marked by more miscalculations, conflict and hubris, rather than a dampening of conflict and more cooperation," he writes. Meanwhile, representatives of the Bucharest Nine nations (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Czech Republic) in India, in an article published exclusively in this newspaper, write that the membership of their countries in NATO does not pose a threat to Russia. The statement counters the claim that Putin was justified in ordering the invasion of Ukraine since NATO expansion in the East threatened Russia's security. "It (NATO) is a defensive alliance, one that seeks no territory," the article states. The Bucharest Nine nations, according to the article, were forced to stay in the Soviet bloc during the Cold War - "Our countries have been for decades either forcefully occupied and annexed by the Soviet Union (for example, the Baltic States), subdued by it against their will and invaded (Hungary in 1956, former Czechoslovakia in 1968). The tragic events of the Second World War and its aftermath placed us against the will of our people on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain and deprived us of the self-determination promised in the United Nations Charter." The article draws parallels between the advent of electoral democracy in Bucharest Nine nations following the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the Soviet bloc, and "the waves of decolonisation that brought justice and dignity to other countries around the world". Sanjib Baruah ('Not the world's war', March 26) flags a race dimension in international relations in the context of the war in Ukraine. He draws attention to the large number of abstentions in the UN General Assembly vote that deplored the Russian invasion. The abstentions are significant for two reasons: One, countries that abstained in the UN vote constitute the majority of the world's population and two, they come from all regions except Europe and North America and include major non-Western democracies. This suggests that America's framing of the war in terms of democracy versus autocracy is flawed. Baruah writes that concepts such as "Europe' and "West" are "haunted by the memories of colonialism and racial segregation", which influences choices in both Asia and Africa. "One can't expect the struggle for recognition as privileged 'Europeans' to inspire warm sentiments of solidarity in non-Europe," Baruah writes. The past week saw the swearing in of new governments in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. The Express editorial ('The Second Term', March 26) outlined the challenges for Yogi Adityanath, who embarked on a second term as chief minister. Harish Damodaran ('A five-year plan for Punjab', March 26), outlines a roadmap for the Bhagwant Mann government to rescue the state from the agrarian crisis that has beset the state for some years now. His prescription for Punjab is to reduce its paddy and wheat growing areas, which is currently 85 per cent of the gross cropped area in the state, and instead, promote cultivation of cotton, maize, arhat, soyabean, pulses, oilseeds and mustard. This shift, he argues, is possible if the government undertakes procurement at the declared MSP (minimum support price). Meanwhile, free speech took a knock or two in Kerala. The Congress asked its leaders and legislators not to attend seminars organised by the CPM during its party conference scheduled in April. The Express editorial ('Ill-tempered party', March 22) called out the Congress's decision, which punctured its claim to be a party that stood for free speech. Later in the week, Filippo Osella, professor of Anthropology and South Asian Studies in the School of Global Studies, University of Sussex, was deported from India on his arrival at Thiruvananthapuram airport. The Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO), which comes under the Union home ministry, said the renowned scholar, who has been working on Kerala for nearly three decades and had arrived with a valid visa on the invitation of three public universities/institutions to present his research at a seminar, was deported on orders from higher officials. Till today, the Centre has not given the reasons for Osella's deportation. The Express editorial ('Spell it out', March 26) said "the incident is embarrassing for a country that claims to protect free speech". Thank you, Amrith Lal Amrith is part of the Opinion Desk