Himal Southasian

31/08/2024

"How did a middle-aged Bangladeshi refugee, abandoned by her husband and, later, her own family, come to have this effect on teenage children in a small town in sub-Himalayan Indian Bengal? It is possible that this happened because Maya-mashi spoke in plants. Compulsively, every day, she expressed herself in botanical idioms and proverbs. Her Bangla was a thing of leaves and fruit and stems and roots – her forest."

A personal essay by Sumana Roy on how a sharp-tongued refugee made a forest of the Bangla language.

Being around Maya-mashi was like living in a forest. She was short enough to be taunted as a dwarf, thin enough to have her shadow be mistaken for a reed’s. Pov

28/08/2024

The Bangladeshi feminist activist Noorjahan Bose’s memoir of her pioneering life recounts a host of stories born of female autonomy – all while spanning Partition, the Liberation War and the post-independence history of Bangladesh. Read Sarah Anjum Bari's review essay here:

Noorjahan Bose’s memoir of her pioneering life recounts a host of stories born of female autonomy – all while spanning Partition, the Bangla Language Movement, the Liberation War and the post-independence history of Bangladesh

26/08/2024

Veteran journalist and Afghanistan analyst Kate Clark (Afghanistan Analysts Network) explains how Afghans have been living under the Taliban’s ultra-conservative rule while grappling with global isolation and a crumbling economy. Tune in to the latest episode of our podcast State of Southasia episode with Nayantara Narayanan:

Veteran journalist and Afghanistan analyst Kate Clark explains how Afghan people have been living under the Taliban’s ultra-conservative rule while grappling with global isolation and a crumbling economy

21/08/2024

The Taliban celebrate the third anniversary of their 2021 takeover of Afghanistan. If global powers hoped that withholding recognition of the Taliban government would force it to moderate its behaviour and act against other militant groups, that strategy has failed. Conditional engagement offers a better way forward.

By Salman Rafi Sheikh.

20/08/2024

Summary: Chinese scholars have critically examined Southasian languages and literature for decades, and more recently have looked towards the region for its own economic development. Yet, too many scholars of Southasia in China rely on second-hand research.

20/08/2024

Global isolation of the Taliban has contributed to a proliferation of terror groups endangering Afghanistan, Southasia and the world. Conditional engagement offers a better way forward.

Salman Rafi Sheikh writes:

Global isolation of the Taliban has contributed to a proliferation of terror groups endangering Afghanistan, Southasia and the world. Conditional engagement offers a better way forward.

16/08/2024

📢 FRESH!

Refugees from the war in Myanmar live in fear of harassment, imprisonment and deportation in the border areas of Northeast India and Thailand, writes Makepeace Sitlhou

Refugees from the war in Myanmar live in fear of harassment, imprisonment and deportation in the border areas of Northeast India and Thailand

16/08/2024

Here are some of this week’s news stories in Southasia — from Afghanistan to Myanmar, to Pakistan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Sign up for the Southasia Weekly newsletter to get the complete list of the week’s regional news — along with Himal Southasian’s latest stories and upcoming events! Link in bio.

14/08/2024

The Narendra Modi government must reckon with Bangladeshi anger over its support for Hasina even as the United States, China and Russia all reassess their approaches to Dhaka, writes Kamal Ahmed. (Link in bio)

08/08/2024

07/08/2024

In Mustang, in the Nepali Himalaya, archaeological finds offer staggering insight into the pre-Buddhist history of human civilisation in the Himalaya – yet this past is being obliterated by neglect and folly.

Amish Raj Mulmi () writes on how Mustang’s deep past is being lost just as it is being found.

Read here: https://www.himalmag.com/culture/samdzong-mustang-nepal-himalaya-archaeology-pre-buddhist-history-human-civilisation

07/08/2024

📢 FRESH!

In Mustang, in the Nepali Himalaya, archaeological finds offer staggering insight into the pre-Buddhist history of human civilisation in the Himalaya – yet this past is being obliterated by neglect and folly

Amish Raj Mulmi writes:

In Mustang, in the Nepali Himalaya, archaeological finds offer staggering insight into the pre-Buddhist history of human civilisation in the Himalaya – yet this past is being obliterated by neglect and folly

05/08/2024

05/08/2024

The Modi government's support to Sheikh Hasina in the 2024 Bangladesh election re-opened old wounds over killings by Indian forces along the border, the unequal sharing of water between them and India’s strongarm trade tactics.

From May 2024, by Kamal Ahmed:

After a decade of Modi’s reign in India, people in Bangladesh are angry at their government cosying up to a Hindutva regime in New Delhi and tired of India’s influence in their domestic matters

05/08/2024

📹HAPPENING TODAY!

Join us for a Q and A with Priyanka Chhabra, director of Iqraar Naama, the story of a Partition refugee from Lyallpur and his memories of the home he left behind.

Sign up for the conversation and future screenings here: bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia

02/08/2024

📢 FRESH!

Separatist groups in Indian-administered Kashmir did not call a poll boycott for the first time in a generation, and voters took the chance to rebuff the Modi government and the BJP

Auqib Javeed writes:

Separatist groups in Indian-administered Kashmir did not call a poll boycott for the first time in a generation, and voters took the chance to rebuff the Modi government and the BJP

01/08/2024

With mainstream Sri Lankan parties feeling compelled to pander to Sinhala Buddhist voters, Tamil-led parties have been pushed to take more hardline positions to address Tamil voters’ frustrations - historically and today

01/08/2024

Former prime minister Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike blindfolded in protest during the Aragalaya protests around Sri Lanka’s economic crisis in 2022.

In 1956, Bandaranaike passed the Sinhala Only Act which marginalised Tamils and eventually led to targeted anti-Tamil violence. Uditha Devapriya () writes about the complex dance of Sinhala and Tamil nationalist politics in , ahead of planned elections slated to be held this year.

31/07/2024

📚From this month’s Southasia Review of Books podcast episode, where Himal Assistant Editor, Shwetha Srikanthan speaks to about his two fantastic novels and on writing fantasy and science fiction from Sri Lanka.

📖📚Southasia deserves its own Review of Books, and as far as we know, there is nothing else like this out there in the region. We hope you will continue to support us in spotlighting a wide variety of books and issues in depth – contemporary and canonical, from across Southasia and beyond. Sign up to recieve the newsletter in your inbox, every month!

31/07/2024

Shahidul Alam, a renowned photojournalist, educator and activist based in Dhaka, has been documenting the protests and the government’s brutal reprisal. Alam has managed to get his dispatches out to the media despite an internet shutdown imposed to try and contain the protests, which has since been partially lifted.

The events and circumstances described in the dispatches have been changing rapidly and there have been several developments since Alam penned each of them.

Read all dispatches here: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/shahidul-alam-bangladesh-quota-protest-2024-sheikh-hasina-dhaka-dispatch

29/07/2024

📢🎙️FRESH!

The Bangladesh government has been at war with its people. The protests in July against quotas in public service jobs that began in university campuses came to symbolise Bangladesh’s deep discontent with the Sheikh Hasina government and the country’s slide towards a single-party autocracy. Hasina’s government, which had already shown its unwillingness to brook any dissent, retaliated – first with scorn and disregard for protesters’ demands and then with brute force.

In this episode of State of Southasia, Himal's assistant editor Nayantara Narayanan speaks to the political scientist Ali Riaz, who says that after the government displayed absolute disregard for people’s lives, it has further lost legitimacy in people’s eyes.

Listen here and on our channels on Spotify, Soundcloud, Youtube and Apple Podcasts.

Political scientist Ali Riaz details how the Sheikh Hasina government has displayed absolute disregard for the lives of its citizens, causing the political ground to shift in Bangladesh

26/07/2024

🎬🎥🎞️ This month, we’re screening Iqraar Naama (The Agreement), directed by Priyanka Chhabra. Iqraar Naama tells the story of Charandas Bangia, a Partition refugee from Lyallpur (now Faisalabad in Pakistan), who eventually settles in Amritsar. Through this journey spanning 74 years, older than both these sovereign countries, he collected, archived and preserved every official piece of paper that told this story of love and loss; of ‘home’.

The documentary is available to stream from 29 July (Monday) to 5 August (Monday).

We will also host a Q/A discussion with the filmmaker on 5 August (Monday).

Sign up with link in bio and keep an eye out for the movie links this coming week!

26/07/2024

Photojournalist and activist has been documenting the repression of the anti-quota protests in , in dispatches he sent to the media through the internet shutdown now republished in Himal Southasian. They show the extent of the violence that Sheikh Hasina’s government has unleashed on its own people. Hasina, the flailing tyrant, is lashing out to survive against an enraged public that has shaken free of its fear of a repressive regime, he writes. The Bangladesh government has been trying to spin the story of the protests by calling much of international reportage “fake news” and blaming the violence on miscreants who have misled students. Of all the Bangladeshi students’ demands, having police personnel and university administrators resign looks most likely. Having the prime minister apologise is most unlikely.

Read all the dispatches. Link in bio.

22/07/2024

22/07/2024

🐘🐆Anant Ambani’s wedding has been dominating news coverage and social media feeds, from the event’s star-studded guest list to celebrity performances to the details seen on the couture-wear, including bride Radhika Merchant’s hand-painted lehenga which featured elephants and swans, reflecting the young Ambani’s love for animals.
This has brought attention back to our recent investigative piece on Ambani’s wildlife sanctuary, which raised concerns about the sourcing of these animals as well as important questions on India’s environmental laws and wildlife management. Elephants from Ambani’s sanctuary were seen in the backdrop of their pre-wedding celebration in Jamnagar.
From Himal’s March 2024 archive. Link in bio.

21/07/2024

Protesters outside the headquarters of Bangladesh’s state broadcaster, which was set alight after police fired rubber bullets at them. Student protests for a reform of the quota system in government jobs have spiralled into national unrest because of long-standing public disaffection with the prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League over the economy, corruption and autocratic behaviour.
For nearly a week now, protesters have continued and escalated their demonstrations despite attacks from ruling-party factions and supporters. The government’s response, involving both law-enforcement forces and party men to suppress the growing rebellion, has included indiscriminate use of live ammunition and brute force.
Hasina’s ill-considered comment calling the student protesters “razakars” fanned the flames of disaffection among the already beleaguered Bangladesh citizenry. Hasina, who has led her party for 43 years of its 75-year history, has now put the Awami League and the state against the people of Bangladesh.
Read the full analysis. Link in bio

21/07/2024

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates India’s victory in the final of the 2024 T20 World Cup, where he was named the player of the tournament. Bumrah is a paragon of the democratisation of Indian , embodying a certain post-liberalisation social mobility and cricket’s changing caste demographics.

Read Vaibhav Vats’ essay on the many facets and many meanings of Jasprit Bumrah, throwing new light on not just the sport but also the society and politics that surround it.

21/07/2024

📢 FRESH!

The turmoil facing Sheikh Hasina’s regime in is not entirely surprising. The quota protests and Hasina’s unfeeling dismissal of them was the last straw for a citizenry battling high unemployment, inflation and corruption

Kamal Ahmed writes:

Bangladesh’s quota protests have spiralled into national unrest because of long-standing public disaffection with Hasina and her Awami League over the economy, corruption and autocratic behaviour

19/07/2024

The best fast bowler India has ever produced, Jasprit Bumrah also stands out for his sobriety and self-effacement in an Indian men’s team steeped in individualism and hyper-masculinity, as well as in a political era of unabashed bigotry.

Vaibhav Vats:

The best fast bowler India has ever produced, Bumrah also stands out for his sobriety and self-effacement in an Indian men’s team steeped in individualism and hyper-masculinity, as well as in a political era of unabashed bigotry

18/07/2024

EV Ramasamy and CN Annadurai, founders of the Dravidian movement.

In view of the Hindu Right’s assertive presence in Indian public life, ideas from the movement have acquired a new lease – but how much do they resonate with the citizenry at large?

Two books in recent years help us examine the so-called Dravidian model of government, which has been marketed as a veritable antidote to the politics of the Hindu Right. But, how would the Dravidian model look if we assess its outcomes keeping in focus major instances of caste conflict resulting in violence against Dalits? The sad fact is that while Dalits have laid claim to the Dravidian model, the latter has not sought to work their concerns into its framework, writes V Geetha.

Read the full insightful analysis. Link in bio.