Everywhere I went I was greeted with great warmth and hospitality. It is a symbol of the decades-long ‘Enduring Friendship’ between the peoples of Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
When Poison Enters the System: Impunity, Vigilantism and South Asia’s Internal Security Failure
Across South Asia, the difference between prejudice and collapse is not the existence of hate. Every society has it in varying shades. The difference is whether the majoritarian state internalizes hate against the ‘other’, whether FIRs get diluted, trials get delayed, mobs get garlanded and impunity driven violence against minorities becomes low-cost. When that happens, the poison is not outside the system. It becomes the system.
In the Quiet Spaces Between Strangers, Sonia Bahl’s Eighteen Inches Apart
And perhaps this is precisely what many readers, particularly South Asian readers navigating fractured contemporary lives, have been missing without fully realising it: fiction willing to slow down long enough to notice the fragile, passing intimacies through which people continue surviving one another.
Robert A.F. Thurman, an academic with a Buddhist monk’s soul
Thurman said that Tibet was not an individual nation-state question but something that goes far beyond that. “It is not about a people yearning for freedom from an invading state. It is about a very valuable society struggling to keep its centuries-old tradition of intellectual evolution alive.” He said that while he was hopeful that the problem would be resolved soon, “and during His Holiness’ lifetime,” it was hard to put a timeframe to it.
A White Strip Exposes New Political Faultlines in Cosmopolitan Mumbai
The perceived push from a political leadership that has roots in Gujarat, the split in the locally rooted Shiv Sena that was engineered, the resentment it brewed among ordinary citizens and the history of Maharashtra -- which was born on May 1, 1960 after a bitter struggle that split the erstwhile Bombay State into two distinct linguistic states of Maharashtra and Gujarat -- are all complex and contributory factors to the evolving political unrest in middle-class Mumbai.
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Nationalism a dominant frame in global media narratives; India no exception
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Who is afraid of AI? It will always be a slave rather than a master
There is no feeling or empathy in AI. It can churn huge numbers and will be able to analyze, “think” and react to external inputs but has no wisdom and feelings. Till that happens humans will always have an upper hand.
Ameen Sayani: The father of radio entertainment in the Indian subcontinent
Since his was the only hit parade of its kind for at least two and half decades, Sayani became a formidable name within the Hindi cinema industry.
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The whole world now recognizes the spirit and zeal for our culture and heritage. Bangladesh's people's sacrifices will be truly appreciated and commemorated when every nation imbibes the sense to pay proper homage to their linguistic heritage.
The ubiquitous influence of social media and rise of unsocial beings
Facebook has become a tool for spreading hatred, sexual perversion and extremism. When people comment on sensitive topics like religion and gender, many cross the line of decency.
Studying the science of migratory birds - and what they tell us about the state of the environment
Keeping track of the migratory birds visiting the university campus, and how the impact of climate change would impact the migration of migratory birds, are among the subjects being promoted for research in universities across the globe. These include Beijing University, Royal University of Bhutan, University of SJP in Sri Lanka, HNB Garhwal University in India which are in the network of the Green TERRE Foundation.
Dhaka's hazardous air quality: Official indifference aggravating public health crisis
In response to public interest litigation filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB), Bangladesh's High Court recently issued a nine-point directive to authorities to tackle the capital's life-threatening air pollution.
Nepali journalists express solidarity with Gaza colleagues; Hindutva influence questioned
During the conversations that took place afterward, the journalists discussed why Nepal’s government, press, and civil society have not been more vocal about what they termed as a genocide being enacted by Israel in Gaza.
Midnight's Third Child: Stories of Bengal that evoke a sense of yearning and connectedness
The essays cover distinct areas, exploring minority experiences and a wider Bengal, including, inevitably, West Bengal.
The art of Nandalal Bose and his message of nationalism
A democratisation of art, drawing from folk culture that is in direct contact with the realities of those who live close to the cycles of nature, represents a modern outlook that draws inspiration from contemporary reality.
Of wars, their hyped virtual reality and pocket wars
The hyped technology has led us into a frenzied time where we either switch between TV channels or move our fingers on our smartphone screen for the next reel or newsfeed. Stuck within the labyrinth of visual images we are yet to find a new strategy to recover the lost humanity.
