The non-compliance of court orders would not only lower the public confidence on the judiciary in Nepal, but it will also pose threats to judicial credibility and rule of law, writes Jivesh Jha for South Asia Monitor
If Jamaat comes to power it will likely begin with populist moves such as anti-corruption drives, predicts Ahmedur Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi writer and editor who has been living in Norway since surviving a 2015 attack. He says he fears mobilisation of religious groups to push for declaring Bangladesh an Islamic republic and enforce Sharia law. The result would be shrinking freedoms for women, curbs on cultural life, and serious threats to freedom of expression, religious minorities, and secular political and cultural spaces.
The threat from ISIS-K is real and growing. A resurgence in Pakistan would have serious implications for the broader region, including India. The danger is compounded if Pakistan once again attempts to clandestinely redirect ISIS-K towards Kashmir. What may appear as an isolated terror incident is, in fact, part of a wider pattern that demands sustained vigilance. Pakistan’s internal security instability risks creating openings for cross-border terror movements, potentially hardening new militant modules aimed at India and beyond.
The optimistic view is that the “Twin Election” will force a compromise. The referendum provides a mandate for reform that even a BNP government cannot ignore. The “July Charter”, if ratified, creates checks on executive power that did not exist before. The students, even if they end up on the opposition benches, will form a moral pressure group that cannot be easily crushed. The cynical view is that Bangladesh is merely swapping a monopoly for a duopoly, or worse, a monopoly of a different colour.
All signs point to a BNP victory. In a competitive contest without the Awami League, the BNP’s organisational depth and electoral reach make it the frontrunner. Yet victory alone may not translate into authority. The absence of the Awami League, the continued influence of Sheikh Hasina from exile, the rise of Islamist alternatives, and the central role of unelected institutions mean that any new government will inherit a fractured polity. The 2026 election may revive the BNP’s fortunes, but it will not by itself heal Bangladesh’s democratic wounds.
The non-compliance of court orders would not only lower the public confidence on the judiciary in Nepal, but it will also pose threats to judicial credibility and rule of law, writes Jivesh Jha for South Asia Monitor
South Asian nations would see a bilateral advantage in establishing trade and economic relationships with each other and the formal association of economic cooperation - SAARC- which they have set up would gain strength by giving each other more trade access and tariff concessions to their goods and services, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
It is clear that in the subcontinent, colonialism is a convenient bogey for the anti-English lobby, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
For the kind of person she has shown to be in the little time she has shot into prominence, Senator Harris will be a leader in her own right pushing for the national interests of America, not of any other country, writes Dr. Sridhar Krishnaswami for South Asia Monitor
In the pandemic period while the Pakistan government is providing temporary relief to many sectors in the country why is this key area of agriculture being ignored, writes Muhammad Abbas Khaskheli for South Asia Monitor
While Pacific and South China Sea are important, the Indian Ocean remains fundamental for India, writes Lt. Gen (Dr) Yash Malhotra (retd) for South Asia Monitor
India has major power ambitions. A strong strategic culture must be developed to guide India to fulfill such ambitions, writes Aneek Chatterjee for South Asia Monitor
The Rajapaksas have entertained several projects with Chinese support and money, which is bound to cost Sri Lanka its sovereignty dearly in the coming years, if corrective steps are not taken, writes N.S.Venkataraman for South Asia Monitor
It is high time the Chinese political and military leadership are made to realise that chronic hegemonism and doggedness in constantly trying to crawl and clutch Indian territories are not going to work anymore and that the LAC must be clarified, writes Anil Bhat for South Asia Monitor
For India, however, questions arise whether the RIC fits New Delhi’s objectives as it increases its strategic engagement with the United States, Japan, and Australia which goes against the RIC’s objective to undermine a growing American presence in the Indo-Pacific, writes Shantanu Roy-Chaudhury for South Asia Monitor
Given Sri Lanka’s strategic location in the Indian Ocean, India seeks to exert all its influence to rebalance the island nation away from the dragon’s embrace, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
Changing our transport behaviour is therefore the need of the hour. It becomes imperative that cycling and pedestrian walking is fully integrated with our existing public transport systems, writes Pankaj M Munjal for South Asia Monitor
The struggle for building a Ram Temple should be seen as a clash between civilizational values, writes Arun Anand for South Asia Monitor
India’s current policy reorientation suggests that for it to overcome its continental and regional challenges vis-à-vis China’s increasing assertion, it must also involve itself in Beijing’s geographic neighborhood, writes Don McLain Gill for South Asia Monitor
Is the Hindu rashtra already here, marking the end of Nehruvian secularism? Just as Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan is said to be keen on reviving the Islamic Ottoman empire, forsaking Kemal Ataturk’s secularism, is Modi leading India towards the pre-Muslim period of ancient India?, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor