Looking at articles on India, I found one that surprised me on working conditions and injury. The article found that weavers, complaining of eye injury, have been partially blinded as a result of toxins in the silk. Recently, there were more chemicals added to the silk to make it heavier more attractive, but in doing so, the chemicals ended up impairing the weavers (at least 40) who were weaving the silk. This surprised me, because this instance, combined with an article from a previous entry (about death and injury as the result of faulty equipment used at the University of Delhi) are just two instances of wrongful injury or death – an accident.
The BBC article writes that one of the victims was quoted as saying, "Immediately, our eyes started to burn and our vision got blurred.” It seems that this is in response to China becoming more appealing in terms of its weaving capabilities, and that India was trying to compete with finer silk, in order to increase trade.
Another article that I found that relates to a previous entry is about a Kashmir civilian who was killed as anti-India protesters threw stones at him. In a “Lottery-esque” killing, Shafiq Ahmed Sheikh was hit in the head several times with stones, and died at a nearby hospital. In the India-administered region of Kashmir, many Pakistani Muslims are very opposed to India’s reign. Police say that throwing rocks and stones is a popular form of protest in the region, and that in order to suppress the violence, police are banning any public gatherings of four members or more. These instances of “stone-pelting” are seen as un-Islamic, but is just one of the modes that protestors choose to publicly condemn Indian-administration of the Kashmir region.
The third article that I found is one about a summit between the prime ministers of India and Pakistan in the coming days. Both prime ministers are quoted as being hopeful about the summit, and that, “winds of change are blowing across the world.” The relationship between the two countries has been strained since the bombings in Mumbai, where Indian officials blamed Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taib, though Pakistan denied any official involvement.
While I see this summit as a step in the right direction, I am too realistic to think that any tangible changes will be made, or any concrete differences will exist as a result of this summit. I think that both countries have too much invested in current relationship that they will not be willing to surrender or sacrifice any ground. Now, especially, with the volatile relationship with Kashmir, I just don’t see any real change coming as a result of this summit.
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