An exasperated and anguished Syed Muazzem Ali, the outgoing Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, said “you people (the Indian media) have no interest in Bangladesh.”
The government is also engaging doctors, psychologists, lawyers, civil society organisations, NGOs, religious leaders and community representatives to facilitate de-radicalisation and reintegration. Young people are encouraged to participate in constructive social activities that promote communal harmony and reduce the appeal of extremist ideologies.
But it may be the smaller South Asian states that feel the most pressure. Countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Maldives are faced with a more polarised geopolitical environment. They want Chinese investment to boost development and keep close diplomatic and security ties with India and western partners.
A big development happened in 2025. Nepal started exporting electricity to Bangladesh through India's transmission network. This was the first time Nepalese hydropower was commercially transmitted to Bangladesh via Indian territory. The initial export volume was 40 megawatts. The significance of the agreement is much bigger. It showed that regional energy cooperation can overcome political barriers.
In the effort to combat this multi-dimensional challenge, democratic states are faced with deep policy constraints, many of which can be paralyzing. The fundamental paradox is how to maintain the open, democratic character of the digital commons while at the same time countering more advanced opponents who are not held back by democratic principles. Disseminating disinformation is a tactic governments use to influence public opinion that has the potential to conflict with the strong constitutional freedoms of expression that exist in liberal democracies.
An exasperated and anguished Syed Muazzem Ali, the outgoing Bangladesh High Commissioner to India, said “you people (the Indian media) have no interest in Bangladesh.”
So at the start of his 150th birth anniversary let us all remember Gandhi and try to follow his path of democratic style of functioning - taking everybody together and his appeal to higher emotions in all of us so that we show love and peace for our fellow countrymen, writes Anil K Rajvanshi
There is an interesting story in the Indian epic Ramayana about Shravan Kumar who carried his aged and blind parents in two baskets hanging on his shoulders, taking them to various holy places for pilgrimage, writes Anil K. Rajvanshi