More than 1,000 people gathered at the Juman Park in King Abdullah Economic City as the country’s first yoga festival kicked off on January 29. The event will continue till February 1
Pakistan's Literary Festivals Inject Oxygen into Constrained Intellectual Spaces, but Cross-Border Exchanges Remain Frozen
Inspired by the Jaipur Lit Fest, Pakistan’s first literary festival took place in the country’s largest city Karachi in 2010. Subsequently replicated in Lahore and Islamabad, such festivals now take place around the country, from the agricultural and industrial hub of Faisalabad, formerly Lyallpur, to the port city of Gwadar on the Balochistan coast.
An Unending Struggle for Justice: A Rare Insight into the Everyday Lives of Migrant Workers in India
While the overall picture is depressing, Ramaswami also describes hopeful strands within the social fabric of workers’ lives such as the mutual support and 'bhaichara' (fellowship) between men across ethnic, religious and caste boundaries that become more fluid within the city. The inter-religious and inter-caste ties forged between workers can be seen as small glimmers of hope in the context of the rising tide of Hindutva politics over the past decades.
Suman Kalyanpur: A Silken Echo Falls Silent
Today, as we bid farewell to the Dhaka-born singer once fondly called the “Dhake ki malmal,” one is reminded that the softest fabrics often endure the longest. Her voice was just that. Fine, delicate, yet enduring beyond time. And now, as that voice falls silent, it leaves behind not an emptiness, but an echo. An echo that will continue to drift through radio waves, old recordings and the private corners of memory.
Aurat March is About Women's Identity: Movement for Gender Justice in Pakistan and Across the Region
Two girls stood silently holding a placard that read: ‘Forcing your daughter to get married is forcing her to get raped.’ The message speaks to a reality across the South Asian region where the priority for most families is to get their daughters married. On a sheet where attendees were penning messages to their mothers -- words they could not say aloud -- an anonymous note read: “Would you rather see me married or alive?”
More on Culture and Society
Modi speaks about how a 90-year-old Argentinian woman spread Indian culture in Argentina and Latin America
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday spoke in his monthly radio address of Indian culture was being spread in far-away Argentina and Latin America by a 90-year-old woman who had studied the Indian scriptures and was introduced to Indian culture when she came to India
Songs behind the veil, poetry on Twitter - Afghans go virtual in challenging Taliban’s tyranny
“We are keeping our Kabul alive, at least virtually,” Habib Khan, an Afghan journalist, now in exile, tweeted, asking people to join him in a Twitter Space to listen to "live music from Afghan artists, enjoy Afghan poetry and Afghan talks".
Pakistan's cricket isolation to end; Australia to tour with full squad
The shunning of Pakistan as an international cricketing destination because of security fears is about to end with Australia announcing a tour of Pakistan, possibly in March, with a full-strength squad
Justice Ayesha Malik becomes Pakistan's first woman judge in apex court
Justice Ayesha Malik on Monday took oath as a judge in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, becoming the first female judge in the country’s judicial history to reach the top court
Sri Lankan hit song adapted for poll campaign in local Indian elections
The peppy beat of Sri Lankan singer Yohani de Silva’s “Menike Maga Hithe”, which had taken the Indian music scene by storm, has been adapted by the ruling BJP in important local elections in the country's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh as its campaign song
India to open campaign against Pakistan once again in Melbourne in men's T20 Cricket World Cup 2022
The Covid-19 pandemic is having a positive spinoff for cricket lovers, at least. Australia will host the ICC Men's T20 World Cup in 2022 as reigning champions in October-November
Sri Lanka’s zoo workers threaten to starve animals over allowance demand
Sri Lanka’s economic crisis is having its fallout in unexpected areas. Employees in Sri Lanka’s National Zoological Gardens in capital Colombo have threatened to stop feeding the zoo animals there, demanding payments of their allowances and removal of officials who are accused of misappropriation of funds
Daughters have right to inherit father's property if no will, says India's Supreme Court
In a significant verdict for gender equity, India's Supreme Court has said the daughters of a male Hindu, dying intestate, would be entitled to inherit the self-acquired and other properties obtained in the partition by the father and get preference over other collateral members of the family
Ten-year salary plus generous compensation: Pakistani business community rises in support of lynched Sri Lankan manager's family
In a laudable gesture of restitution for a heinous act of their compatriots, Pakistan’s business community has come forward to assist the widow of the Sri Lankan manager who was lynched last year in Sialkot's industrial area
In emotional reunion, Indian and Pakistani brothers meet after 74 years
Some India-Pakistan stories do have a happy ending. Two brothers, one Indian and one Pakistani, who were separated during the India-Pakistan partition of the subcontinent in 1947, were reunited after 74 years in Kartarpur, the Sikh pilgrim center in Pakistan, local media reported
Murals in the dead of night: Afghan women resist Taliban’s imposition of dark days
For Kabul, murals aren’t just paintings. It is also a general expression of protest, resentment against both their past and present rulers
Kashmiri girl turns reporter to highlight poor road conditions
An undated video of a little girl from Jammu and Kashmir who turned reporter to show the poor condition of roads, especially those leading to her home, has created a storm on the internet, with people complimenting her for her coverage
Indian Army provides food to migrant labourers in Jammu and Kashmir amid heavy snowfall; evacuates pregnant women
In a widely appreciated gesture, hundreds of migrant labourers were provided cooked food and winter clothing by the Indian Army amid biting cold and heavy snowfall in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir
Supreme Court of Pakistan to get its first female judge
The Judicial Commission of Pakistan (JCP) has confirmed the appointment of Justice Ayesha Malik to the country’s top court amid strong protest by lawyers who have been opposing her elevation as it supersedes several senior judges
