Sanjoy Hazarika’s Lal Thanhawla: The Boy from Zarkawt, and the Making of Mizoram

The Political Biography of a Former Chief Minister: A Life That Mirrors Mizoram

The enduring lesson of Mizoram is not that the state won and the insurgents lost. It is that both sides eventually found a political space in which neither needed to win everything. That is the essence of accommodation and perhaps the most enduring lesson Lal Thanhawla’s life offers India.

The Empty Chair at Islamabad: When Taliban Saw Women's Rights Subordinated by Islamic Law

The Taliban, therefore, is not challenging whether Islam should shape women’s rights. Both the OIC and the Taliban begin from that premise. The disagreement is over what Islamic rights mean and, more importantly, who has the authority to define them. 

Who Defines Where Home is? Confronting Partition Trauma and its Aftermath Eight Decades Later

As of January this year, at least 296 Bangladeshis have died in border areas over the past decade, as India’s Border Security Forces (BSF) pushes “illegal Bangladeshis” across the border in the dead of night.

'The Election Commission Expose': A Seminal Moment for Indian Journalism

It is true that only a handful of newspapers have the resources and persistence to pursue big stories of the kind that came alive in the EC exposé. Nevertheless, to the extent that it inspires others to pursue even smaller news stories with steadfastness this could potentially redeem the otherwise sordid state of affairs in the Indian media.

More on Soft Power, Culture, Society and Gender

Sri Lanka's IPL players asked to return home to join street protests

Ranatunga, a highly respected figure in his country and a sporting icon for the young, requested the players to return to Sri Lanka t least for a week to join the protesters

All-black team to summit Everest to promote racial equality

'This is an amazing project,' Shanti Nepali, one among the eight filming crew, said. 'This project will not only raise awareness in the great outdoors in American society but in Nepal too..'

When the cricket economy grows in Pakistan, our respect will rise, says Pakistan Cricket Board chief Ramiz Raja

Raja told Cricbuzz that he was misquoted in the interview and that he is quite aware of the difference between India's and Pakistan's economies

Hyderabad-based cancer surgeon conferred with prestigious UK honour for improving breast cancer care

He founded South Asia's first dedicated comprehensive breast health centre and a breast cancer charity to raise awareness about the disease

Zojila Tunnel project - India's longest tunnel - Is powered by local Kashmiris

About 900 out of 1000 men working on the 13-km long Zojila Tunnel are from Jammu and Kashmir

Need to uplift Kashmir's youth by educating them, says India's Supreme Court; rejects loan denial to student studying in Bangladesh

“She is a younger person and is pursuing her 2nd year in MBBS in Bangladesh. There is lax on her part (sic), she is a youngster. Many young people make mistakes. Have we not done mistakes when we were young?” remarked Justice Chandrachud

'Asia's largest' tulip garden opens in Kashmir amid tourist rush

As Kashmir witnesses a massive rush of tourists amid easing of Covid restrictions in the rest of India, the tulip garden has been one of the major attractions vital to boosting tourism this season, tourism officials said 

Autistic Indian girl swims across Palk Strait, as Sri Lankan and Indian Navy provide security cover

Jiya Rai, the autistic daughter of a senior sailor of the Indian Navy, brought laurels to India by swimming across the Palk Strait from Talaimannar (Sri Lanka) to Dhanuskodi (India), a distance of 29 km, in 13 hours and 10 minutes

Pakistani girl wins 13th World Speed Reading Championship

Beating over 100 competitors from across the world, Emma Alam, a Pakistani girl, did her country proud as she won the 13th World Speed Reading Championship final which was held in a hybrid form due to the pandemic

Muslim family in India donates land to build 'world's largest Hindu temple', taller than Angkor Vat

Without the help of Muslims, it would have been difficult to realise this dream project for Hindus, the Mahavir Mandir Trust head added

Indian cricketer Suresh Raina, Sri Lanka's Sanath Jayasuriya get Sports Icon award from the Maldives

Former India cricketer Suresh Raina and former Sri Lankan captain Sanath Jayasuriya were felicitated with the prestigious Sports Icon award at the Maldives Sports Awards 2022 by the Maldives government

Jaipur 2.0: Keeping the flame of freedom alive

The Jaipur Literature Festival once again created that avenue where not only did the readers get a chance to listen to and interact with their favourite writers, but the writing fraternity too engaged in constructive conversations as opposed to destructive criticism, writes Saket Suman for South Asia Monitor

Sans music and female cast, Taliban controlled Afghan film company screens two documentaries

Afghan Film, Afghanistan’s state-run film production company, now controlled by a Taliban grandee, screened two documentaries as “entertainment programs” - but without featuring any female actor and music, a stark reminder of the tectonic cultural and social changes the country has gone through when the Islamists seized power in August last year

Pakistani girl evacuated by Indian embassy thanks PM Modi

If war brings out the worst in people, it also brings to the fore humanity's nobler instincts when India evacuated a stranded Pakistani girl along with Indian students from war-hit Ukraine resulting in the Pakistan girl publicly thanking Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Indian Embassy

‘Lunana, A Yak in the Classroom”: Bhutan’s Oscar entry to encourage its small film industry

‘Lunana:  A Yak in the Classroom’, a Bhutanese film, shot by just 35 local crew in a remote far western Bhutanese village,  was among five films nominated for an Oscar award last month in the International Feature Film category—a first for the Himalayan country of  750,000 people