By Umar Manzoor Shah
SRINAGAR, India, Jun 3 2025 – In the war-worn borderlands of Jammu and Kashmir, the silence that followed the May 10 ceasefire between India and Pakistan is not the comforting kind—It is uneasy.

After a week of heavy cross-border firing that left at least 16 civilians dead and thousands homeless, the ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump brought a fragile halt to the violence. But for people living along the Line of Control (LoC)—in villages like Uri, Kupwara, Rajouri, and Poonch—the damage goes far beyond broken homes.

The official statement, calling for an “immediate and full cessation of hostilities,” might have quieted the guns, but the psychological and material scars remain deep and fresh. Funeral fires still burn. Children refuse to sleep. Schools remain shut. The trauma lingers like smoke in the air.

‘We Buried her Before the Ceasefire’

Twenty-four-year-old Ruqaya Bano from Uri was meant to be married this week. Instead, she stood over her mother’s grave, clutching the embroidered dupatta of her bridal dress. Her mother, Haseena Begum, was killed by a mortar shell that landed in their courtyard.

“She was helping me pack my wedding clothes,” Ruqaya says, her voice thin. “She smiled that morning and said, ‘Soon this house will be full of music.’ Hours later, we were digging her grave.”

Four others died in the same barrage in Uri, all civilians. Many more were wounded—some critically. As the schools remain shuttered, the young are left to process trauma with no support.

For some, words have vanished entirely.

Eight-year-old Mahir sits on a thin mattress at a relief camp in Baramulla, his eyes fixed on a blank wall. He hasn’t spoken since the shelling began.

“He watched his cousin, Daniyal, die when a shell landed near their cowshed,” says Abdul Rasheed, Mahir’s uncle and a farmer from Kupwara. “Now, if a dog barks or a door slams, he hides under the bed.”

His reaction is not unique. Dozens of children along the LoC have reported symptoms of acute stress: sleeplessness, mutism, bedwetting, and panic attacks. Trauma is not just for soldiers. In Kashmir, it enters homes with shrapnel.

The region’s chief minister, Omar Abdullah, consoles the family of a government official who was killed due to Pakistani shelling on May 10 in Kashmir.

The violence began in the wake of the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, including 13 soldiers. In retaliation, the Indian Air Force carried out strikes on militant camps across the LoC. Pakistan responded with heavy artillery fire, forcing an exodus from border villages.

In towns like Rajouri and Samba, panic set in quickly. Families packed into cars in the dead of night. Long queues formed outside fuel stations. ATMs were emptied. Grocery shelves went bare. Government schools and public buildings turned into temporary shelters overnight.

Relief workers describe chaotic scenes. “There were mothers with babies and nothing to feed them,” said Aamir Dar, a volunteer from a Srinagar-based relief NGO. “The fear was absolute.”

After two days of frantic diplomacy by Washington, President Trump announced on Truth Social that India and Pakistan had agreed to halt the fighting.  “Statesmanship has prevailed,” he wrote.

Within hours, the rumble of artillery ceased. Indian fighter jets returned to base. A tense quiet settled along the LoC. But for those who had lost homes, limbs, or loved ones, it was too little, too late.

Government officials, including Jammu and Kashmir’s Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, toured the worst-hit districts. Relief operations began slowly, and criticism mounted over the sluggish response. “We haven’t received even tarpaulin sheets,” said Rahmat Ali from Mendhar. “The help is not matching the need.”

Grief Among the Ruins

In Poonch’s Salotri village, 70-year-old Naseema Khatoon stands before the blackened remains of her two-room home. Her husband died in 2019 during a similar flare-up.

“Now the house is gone,” she says, barefoot on scorched earth. “How many times do we begin again?”

Despite their grief, villagers are trying to help one another. Young men form lines to pass down sacks of rice. Medical volunteers have set up makeshift clinics. University students from Srinagar have launched online campaigns to crowdsource food and medicine.
Hope, though faint, endures.

The Night Fear Took Over Jammu

Even Jammu city, far from the immediate border, was not spared the anxiety. On the night of May 9, alarms blared about an alleged missile threat to the Jammu airport. Panic swept the city. Mobile networks briefly collapsed. Families crowded into bunkers.

“It reminded me of the Kargil War,” said Rajesh Mehra, a retired teacher. “We slept in our clothes with bags packed, ready to leave.”

Though the threat turned out to be a false alarm, public confidence was badly shaken.
The Indian Air Force flew in emergency supplies. Special trains were arranged for those stranded. As the dust began to settle, some families returned home—only to find them in rubble.

In Tangdhar, a school functions now under a torn army tent. The air smells of diesel and fear. Thirteen-year-old Laiba, a student, holds a pencil but stares at the floor. “I want to be a child again,” she murmurs. “Not someone who remembers bombs.”

The shelling left behind more than memories. Fields are littered with unexploded ordnance. Houses have cracks from shockwaves. Local hospitals are stretched to the brink.

The army has cordoned off danger zones. But until the shells are cleared, a casual step can mean disaster.

Back in Uri, Ruqaya Bano lays a garland on her mother’s grave, freshly dug beside their walnut tree. “She always said peace would return. Ruqaya whispers, “No guns, no fear. Maybe that day is still far off. But I hope it comes. For everyone.”

She wipes her tears, then picks up a hammer to help rebuild their shattered home.

The ceasefire, while welcome, is merely the first step toward lasting peace. In these villages, peace is not just the absence of war. It’s the presence of dignity, safety, and memory. This is the kind of peace in which children can laugh again. Where weddings are celebrated, not postponed by gunfire. Where people sleep without fear and wake without sorrow.

A Long Shadow

Kashmir has remained a flashpoint between India and Pakistan since 1947, with both nations claiming it in full. The region has seen at least three wars and countless skirmishes. Since the start of the insurgency in the late 1980s, over 100,000 people have been killed.

In August 2019, the Indian government revoked the region’s special constitutional status and bifurcated it into two union territories. Since then, Delhi has claimed a return to normalcy, but local voices tell another story—one of militarized quiet, silenced dissent, and growing fear.

Last October, for the first time in over five years, local municipal elections were held. It was a step toward restoration, but a small one.

For now, the ceasefire is holding. But like the mortar scars on the walls of these villages, the emotional damage remains etched deep. The silence that follows war is never just silence—it carries the weight of every scream, every loss.

Note: Names of survivors have been changed at their request to protect their privacy.
IPS UN Bureau Report

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By Chido Mpemba
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jun 3 2025 – History rarely remembers those who waited quietly. In Africa, it is those who dare to act, to resist, to lead, and to dream aloud who have shaped the continent’s most defining moments.

As we marked Africa Day 2025 last week (May 25), under the African Union’s theme “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations”, we are reminded that justice is not a destination; it is a continuous demand for truth, for dignity, and for leadership that reflects the realities of our people.

Now more than ever, that demand must be inclusive.

The Africa We Want, as envisioned in Africa’s Agenda 2063, cannot be built without the full power of its majority: its women and youth. Yet these very groups, the bearers of innovation and agents of transformation, remain disproportionately underrepresented, underfunded, and undervalued.

Credit: Victor Audu/Office of the Youth Envoy.

Statistically, Africa is young and female. Over 60% of the population is under 25, and women make up more than half of the continent [according to UNFPA’s ‘World Population’ report]. Yet, in 2024, only 7 African countries had parliaments with more than 35% of female representation. Youth-led initiatives receive less than 1% of global development financing.

Across many member states, youth continue to be excluded from policy co-creation. This is not by accident. It is the residue of a history that placed power in the hands of a few and promised progress sometime in the distant future.

But even history has its rebels.

Chido Cleopatra Mpemba

Special Advisor on Youth and Women to African Union Chairperson.

African women like Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, Albertina Sisulu, Miriam Makeba, and Wangari Maathai redefined protest, politics, and the planet. These were not just cultural icons; they were architects of resistance.

In post-independence Africa, women did not wait for seats at the table—they built their own. They organised, campaigned, and led, long before policy frameworks began to mention “gender parity.”

At the multilateral level, African women have broken barriers too. Ms. Amina J. Mohammed, the second African woman to serve as UN Deputy Secretary-General after Ms. Asha-Rose Migiro of Tanzania reshaped the narrative. At the African Union, Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma became the first female Chairperson of the AU Commission, setting institutional standards for gender parity that continue to influence today’s leadership structures.

In politics, the story is equally powerful.

Ms. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, the first elected female President in Africa led Liberia and ignited a movement. Through the African Women Leaders Network (AWLN), she continues to ensure that leadership is no longer viewed as exceptional for women, but essential. A ripple effect followed.

Credit: Victor Audu/Office of the Youth Envoy

Since then, women have led as president in countries like Ethiopia, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Mauritius and Namibia. Slowly, a new normal is taking shape—one that includes us.

However, leadership is not only about occupying these positions. It is about shifting paradigms.

Ms. Bineta Diop, the former AU’s Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security, exemplifies this shift. Her work in championing the Convention on Ending Violence Against Women and Girls in Africa, which was a landmark policy recently adopted by Member States, centres on women’s safety as a continental priority. It is also a powerful act of justice and repair, because no reparation is complete without safety, freedom, and dignity for women.

This vision is now being reinforced at the highest level of the AU. The newly elected Chairperson of the AU Commission, Mr. Mahmoud Youssouf, brings not only political experience, but a deeply personal understanding of gender equity.

A father of six daughters, he has spoken openly about the importance of championing the rights and leadership of young women and girls across the continent. His vision, rooted in fairness, generational inclusion, and institutional reform, signals a new era of AU leadership that reflects the aspirations of everyday Africans.

Credit: Victor Audu/Office of the Youth Envoy

At the same time, Africa’s youth are also rising, and doing so boldly and loudly. From climate action movements in the Sahel to tech innovation hubs in Kigali and Nairobi, young Africans are leading the way and not just waiting for invitations.

They are digitally savvy, socially conscious, and politically engaged. They are demanding more than just words. They are tired of rhetoric. They want access. They want capital. They want power.

We must respond not with more panels and promises, but with structural change. That means enshrining youth quotas in public office. It means directly funding grassroots, youth and women-led organisations. It means rethinking leadership, not as something one can only get after age 40, but as something one grows into through mentorship, access, and vision.

It also means acknowledging that reparations are about the past and restoring the future, the future stolen through systemic exclusion. This includes the exclusion of women and youth from economic, political, and social space. If we are serious about justice for Africans and people of African descent, we must be committed to redistributing opportunity and power.

As we marked Africa Day, let us move beyond celebration. Let us commit to reclamation of history, of voice, and of leadership. Let us tell the stories of what we have survived and what we are building, which is a continent where girls can lead revolutions, where youth can set national agendas, and where justice is actionable.

We are not waiting to be included. We are here to transform!

Chido Mpemba, until recently the AU Special Envoy on Youth, is now the Special Advisor on Youth and Women to African Union Chairperson.

Source: Africa Renewal, United Nations

IPS UN Bureau

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By Jomo Kwame Sundaram
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jun 3 2025 – With two-fifths of the world economy, East Asia can inspire others by creatively responding to the US President’s tariff challenge by promoting fair, dynamic and peaceful regional cooperation.

No winners in economic war
Trump’s Liberation Day tariff announcement on April 2nd poses a common challenge that everyone needs to take seriously. Dismissing it as crazy or stupid for rejecting conventional policy wisdom is useless.

Jomo Kwame Sundaram

Politics and economics have been said to be war by other means. This old insight helps make sense of our times. His announcement emphasised it is about world domination, not just tariffs.

His first shot was arguably fired when Canada arrested Huawei’s founder’s daughter at the behest of the first Trump administration. Others suggest different starting points.

Obama announced the US ‘pivot to Asia’ to contain China. The Nobel Peace Laureate also undermined the multilateral World Trade Organization (WTO)’s ability to settle disputes by blocking arbitration panel appointments.

Trump’s approach is termed transactional. It presumes ‘zero-sum games’ and ignores cooperative ‘win-win’ solutions. Its implications mean we live in perilous times.

His penchant for ‘shock and awe’ is well-known. As if demanding instant gratification, Trump seems uninterested in the medium-term, let alone the long-term.

He insists on bilateral one-on-one transactions – weakening ‘the other’ by refusing collective bargaining. He rejects plurilateral and other collective arrangements but embraces cooperation to share costs. China is different but exceptionally so.

ASEAN
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) did not include all in the region when it was formed in 1967.

Malaysia had recently had conflicts with all other founding members. Indonesia and the Philippines both opposed the new British-sponsored Malaysian confederation established in 1963, and in 1965, Singapore seceded from it.

Like the European Union, ASEAN helped resolve recent conflicts. But ASEAN soon got its act together, even before the Vietnam, Cambodian and Laotian wars ended in 1975.

In 1973, ASEAN leaders agreed that Southeast Asia should become a zone of peace, freedom, and neutrality (ZOPFAN). But its progress has been mixed.

The Philippines removed all US military bases before the end of the 20th century, but now has eleven, with four new ones in the north, facing Taiwan.

ZOPFAN is especially relevant now as several Global North powers have a military presence in the South China Sea. Worse, several Asian leaders have made generous concessions to ‘circumvent’ personal legal ‘problems’ with US authorities.

The recent ASEAN summit will be followed by a second one later in 2025. Two ASEAN precedents, established in response to earlier predicaments, remain relevant.

Bandung
The 1955 Bandung conference of Asian and African leaders of newly emerging nations, which led to the birth of the Non-Aligned Movement, remains relevant.

Europe recently celebrated the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. Now rejecting peaceful coexistence with its erstwhile liberator, Europe insists on fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian.

Military interventions after the first Cold War now exceed the number during it! Despite its rhetoric, the Global North seems uninterested in freedom and neutrality.

Western pundits deemed the world unipolar after the 1980s. However, many now see it as multipolar, with most in the Global South preferring not to be aligned with any particular world power.

Major Western powers have increasingly marginalised the UN, undermining its capacity for peacemaking. Few in the West, especially in NATO, remain seriously committed to the UN Charter despite giving much lip service.

But realistically, ASEAN cannot really lead international peacemaking. It can only be a pro-active, pro-UN voice of reason for peace, freedom, neutrality, development and international cooperation.

East Asia
Meanwhile, the world economy is stagnating, mainly due to Western policies since 2008. ASEAN+3 (including Japan, South Korea, and China) is especially relevant now with its Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The earlier ASEAN+3 Chiang Mai Agreement responded to the 1997-98 Asian financial crises. After years of Northeast Asian encouragement, ASEAN nations agreed to move from bilateral to multilateral swap arrangements.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) has progressed little since its creation over three decades ago.

More recently, the governments of Japan, China, and South Korea met without ASEAN in late March to prepare for Trump’s tariffs.

Sadly, key ASEAN leaders can hardly envision regional economic cooperation beyond yet another free trade agreement.

Trump has declared he wants to remake and rule the world to make America great again. His tariffs and Mar-a-Lago proposals should be seen as long overdue wake-up calls that ‘business as usual’ is over.

Will East Asia rise to the challenge and go beyond defensive actions to offer an alternative for the region’s economies and people, if not beyond?

The UN-led multilateral system still largely serves the US, but not enough for Trump. Thus, the US still invokes multilateral language self-servingly, e.g., it claims its unilateral tariffs are ‘reciprocal’.

Hence, despite his blatant contempt for them, Trump is unlikely to withdraw from all multilateral organisations and arrangements, especially those which serve him well.

IPS UN Bureau

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