The decision to build the much-awaited Padma Bridge, which is set to open for traffic on June 25, through its own finances has brightened Bangladesh's image in the world, writes Dr Malika-e-Abida Khattak for South Asia Monitor.
Assam Elections: Of Identity Politics, Development Spectacles and Voter Disillusionment
There is also a subtle but perceptible fatigue with the continued reliance on polarisation as a political tool. Identity-based mobilisation, while effective in the short term, risks diminishing returns when overused. If these undercurrents - internal dissent, governance gaps, and narrative fatigue - begin to converge, they may not immediately overturn electoral outcomes, but they could signal the early stages of a more substantive political challenge to the BJP
AI171 Crash Probe: India Owes the truth to the 260 who Died and Their Families
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be cognizant of the fact that the crash occurred in Ahmedabad, in his home state. People will come to their own conclusions as to whether they saw Modi standing up to American pressure or give in. India has not forgotten the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, that Warren Anderson and Union Carbide Chemicals went scot-free, that India settled for a meagre $470 million compensation – 25 years later – for the families of the thousands who died and the millions who were adversely affected.
Whither Commitment to Truth? How AI, Media, and Visuals Shape Our Sense of Threat
The social media takes advantage of the reward systems in the brain, especially the dopamine circuits within the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex. Using signals of micro-engagement, including the duration of time a user hovers over a video or the number of times a user rewatches a clip, algorithms develop a feedback loop that over time redirects the feed of a user to more intense or provocative content.
To Mediate - or not to Mediate: Not Necessary for India to be at Head of Table at Peace Talks
To step into the role of mediator in a conflict of this nature would inevitably test that balance. It would invite scrutiny, of intent, of tilt, of perceived bias. Even the most well-intentioned effort could be interpreted through the prism of existing relationships. In such a situation, neutrality is not merely a matter of policy; it becomes a matter of perception, and perceptions are notoriously difficult to manage.
More on Perspective
Boosting rail connectivity between India and Bangladesh is a win-win for both
While air remains a major mode of transportation for tourists—almost 77 percent, around 80 percent of Bangladeshi tourists used the land as the mode of transportation. Thus, an integrated, cross-border railway network as a faster mode of transport could bring enormous benefits to the region, including boosting regional trade.
Progress in India’s warship building, but not enough except in surface ships
There are not many developing countries like India having the capability to produce such a wide variety of warships ranging from fast-attack craft to aircraft carriers, writes Col Anil Bhat (retd) for South Asia Monitor
How to make a better India
India is the only country in the world that was ruled by Muslims for nearly 1,000 years and yet never become a Muslim country. A probable answer lies in the higher quality of Indian spiritual thought, writes Anil Rajvanshi for South Asia Monitor
Who really gained 'strategic depth' - Pakistan or the Taliban?
For a regime as isolated as the Afghan Taliban with weak resources at its disposal, acting against the Pakistan-based TTP is like giving up on the little leverage it enjoys so far. Furthermore, there is little indication of the group’s willingness so far to transform itself into an internationally accepted ruling regime by weakening its links with ideological fellow travellers
Sri Lanka's crisis: High costs of climate injustice and foreign investment dependence
The global chemicals industry is portraying the Sri Lankan crisis as related to a few months' stop in the import of chemical fertilizers in April 2021, not recognizing that the ban was related to Colombo’s debt crisis
Big-power rivalry is becoming more intense in the Indian Ocean Region
The role of China will have a direct bearing on the Indo-Pacific security matrix given China’s warm relations with most of the Indo-Pacific states
Kashmiri Pandits - Old and New: And how a film created a broad tent of a pan-Hindu identity
Why did the influential Purana Kashmiris not think of the 1990s Kashmir Pandit exodus as a personal issue and raise their voice? Why did they take part in the conspiracy of silence that seems to have cloaked the issue for 30 odd years?
Russia’s misadventure: Will it herald a setback for populists and return of liberal democracy?
One other unintended consequence of the potential failure of the Russian operation is that it could slow down - and possibly stop the triumphant march of the autocrats – or so-called strongmen - the world over, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor
The aura of Bhagat Singh - and the neglected historiography of British colonial violence in India
The manner in which Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru were, first, officially executed on March 23, 1931, and their bodies brutally chopped, marks one of the darkest chapters of British colonialism in India
Will the Ukraine war be a major inflection point for India?
In Washington, Price acknowledged Monday at a briefing that India developed defence ties with Russia because the US was not ready for such a relationship when the Soviet Union and India drew close
US showing some understanding of India's delicate balancing act
The Biden administration and India are evolving a delicate balance at the centre of which is China on how New Delhi reacts to the Russia invasion of Ukraine
A film on Kashmir reignites old wounds
Beyond the number of deaths and whether to define the Pandits’ barbaric displacement as genocide, this is a chapter of contemporary Indian history that has received woefully inadequate media and scholarly attention, writes Mayank Chhaya for South Asia Monitor
The medicalisation of death: Isolation of the dying is cruel
"The unbalanced and contradictory picture of death and dying,” tells the tale of a society lost in modern medicine and unmindful of where this is taking us, write M.R. Rajagopal and Jagdish Rattanani for South Asia Monitor
Rahul Bajaj was a visionary, an industrialist who promoted Gandhian values
He used his annual presence in Davos to make a convincing tour de horizon of the great strengths and resilience of the Indian economy, writes Amb Bhaswati Mukherjee (retd) for South Asia Monitor
