SOCIETY

What Happened: In 2010, “conscious” hip-hop burst onto Kashmir’s music scene, only to be squeezed out of the limelight by increasing restrictions. In the wake of the central government’s 2019 decision to revoke Kashmir’s special status, a new generation of rappers is channeling their frustration into music – and reaching a global audience.

Our Focus: Rappers like Tufail Nazir feel “insecure and threatened” whenever they produce political content, but feel compelled to address such issues nonetheless. “One cannot ignore conflict because we have grown in an abnormal environment,” Nazir said, adding, “Every conscious rapper is playing smart about politics and conflict seeps into their music.”

What Comes Next: The rappers deny any political agenda, but their music, which deals head-on with the difficulties of life in Kashmir, makes the Indian government nervous. The fate of Kashmiri hip-hop can thus serve as a bellwether for freedom of expression in the Indian territory. Will this be a brief blooming doomed to be cut short, or will the second coming of Kashmiri hip-hop be allowed to take root?

INTERVIEW

Bolor Lkhaajav, a book editor at The Mongolia Society, Indiana University Bloomington, on the growing disillusionment of Mongolians, especially youths: “In recent years, Mongolia’s high politics, corruption, and bribery cases have dampened many people’s trust in the government and the law enforcement.”

Northeast Asia

Zhou Xiaoxuan, also known as Xianzi, first raised sexual harassment allegations against a CCTV host in 2018. Two years later, she’s still waiting for a full day in court. The case she brought had its first hearing in December 2020, only to be abruptly adjourned. The rescheduled hearing, supposed to be held on May 28, was cancelled the morning of. No date has been set yet, but Zhou’s many supporters – and China’s feminist community – will be watching closely for the next development.

South Asia

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Southeast Asia

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, will this week pay a visit Indonesia. The trip is aimed at shoring up relations with Southeast Asia’s largest nation, and will also involve talks at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta. Falling in the same week as a regional tour by a senior U.S. official, the visit reflects both the EU’s mounting concerns about China, and the broader European turn toward engagement with the “Indo-Pacific.”

Central Asia

Centerra Gold's Kyrgyz subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the United States, a move which will at least temporarily freeze the Kyrgyz government and other creditors from wringing cash out of the beleaguered mining operation. Bishkek claims it is not nationalizing Kumtor, but its seizure of the lucrative gold mine last month certainly looks like a step toward nationalization.

African leadership visits to China since 2009 are a showcase for African agency in the China-Africa dynamic.

SOCIETY

Oralman, a Kazakh word meaning “returnee,” used in reference to ethnic Kazakhs who have moved to Kazakhstan since independence.