The aspirations of Gen-Z are on the walls, calling for a more tolerant and pluralistic society, with a sense of justice. "All political parties have heard that and understand that the newer generation are the most important voting bank at this moment. They don’t believe in the binary we have lived in for such a long time."
Today in Pakistan universities have proliferated and where in 2000 there were about 1 million post secondary students, in 2020 there were nearly 5 million and they have expectations, and they are also more political. But it is also the 30 and 40 year olds, generations of Pakistanis who are frustrated with the lifestyle of the rich and corrupt, and of a military they increasingly see in a similar light.
In the larger South Asia context, air pollution does not follow national boundaries and therefore the solutions for all the airsheds cannot come from any one city or a country. The countries in South Asia – India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan - that share a common airshed are impacted by the transboundary pollution. More than half of the air pollution across major cities in South Asia is not local but transboundary in nature.
Regional bodies like the SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, have the potential to foster cooperation on climate adaptation, disaster preparedness, and trans-border pollution control. However, geopolitical tensions, particularly between India and Pakistan, hinder progress.
Rasool Bux Palijo has earned a place in the pantheon of leaders of South Asia who has earned lasting fame and created an ideological legacy in the struggle against martial law, feudalism, colonialism, and imperialism, writes Muhammad Abbas Khaskheli for South Asia Monitor
India, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives agreed to expand the scope of intelligence sharing, including terrorism and cybersecurity, at the meeting to discuss common security threats, writes Sugeeswara Senadhira for South Asia Monitor
Pakistani audiences seem unwilling to discard the supposedly "vulgar" stuff they are addicted to, given the common socio-cultural ethos of the subcontinent, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
The spread of COVID-19 infections in South Asia has not been uniform across countries; while some countries were successful in controlling the pandemic, others were not, writes Partho Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
The BJP governments in these states, in their quest to criminalize interfaith marriages, are going ahead with coming out with this law, despite not even a single case of ‘love jihad’ having been detected by the central investigative teams to date, writes Reeti Prakash for South Asia Monitor
Till the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) are confident and sufficiently armed to stabilize the country, it would be prudent for the US to retain troop strength between 5000-8000 in Afghanistan, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The Malabar naval exercises could be seen as an obvious manifestation of the desire among members of the Quad to keep trade routes open, military confrontations in check and keep the Indo-Pacific Region open for legitimate rules-based economic activity, writes Raghbendra Jha for South Asia Monitor
COVID-19 has brought into focus supply chain issues and with it a fundamental change in the way food availability and access is viewed, one that goes beyond the conventional focus on weather, area, production, and yield (APY) paradigm of crops, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor
These are challenging times with rising majoritarianism and nationalism and, with a large Muslim population, India must watch events in Europe closely, and ensure its secular fabric remains intact, writes Lt Gen P R Kumar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The number of ceasefire violations by Pakistan troops from January till November along the J & K border has broken all records of the past 17 years, writes Col Anil Bhat (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The police in Bangladesh have taken the role of judge, jury, and executioner, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
People in Umerkot live in communal harmony. While the Hindus arrange Iftari in the month of Ramazan and Niaz in the month of Muharram, the Muslims come forward to attend Hindu festivals, thus sending a message of love, peace, and harmony, writes Furqan Hyder Shaikh for South Asia Monitor
As the patron of the Taliban, Pakistan will wield more direct influence over Afghanistan as Washington winds down its involvement, writes Arul Louis for South Asia Monitor
India faces a grave challenge that has been accentuated by the pandemic. The crisis needs to be seen as a national imperative and addressed through a collective stakeholder approach with a sense of extreme urgency, writes Amit Dasgupta for South Asia Monitor
Conceding to the Islamist demand for stopping the installation of the Mujib statue at Dholaipar will be a huge political defeat for the Awami League, especially during the birth centenary of the founding father and a year before the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's independence, writes Subir Bhaumik for South Asia Monitor
