Representational Photo

The Tragic Loop of Bangladesh Politics: Did the People Vote for Change or Replacement?

Bangladesh’s political future depends on whether the BNP can discipline its own networks before citizens conclude that elections only rotate predators. It must act against extortion, land grabbing, political violence, campus capture, and intimidation, not as public relations damage, but as regime-defining threats.

When Fish was on the Ballot: Elections 2026 Saw Spicy Debate Over Bengal's Plate, Pride and Palate

In the run-up to the Bengal elections, 2026, the fish debate did exactly that. Banerjee stitched fish to language, secularism and regional pride, painting the BJP as a Hindi-heartland force that would impose vegetarian norms. The BJP countered by showcasing its own non-vegetarian leaders from Assam and elsewhere, eating “macher jhol” on camera, and promising “Bengal’s way of life will not change.”

Lessons from a Downed Aircraft: What Iran Did to America's AWACS Fleet at Saudi Air Base

Iran did not defeat U.S. airpower in this conflict. It demonstrated, with one strike against one aircraft, what happens when force architecture built around high-value irreplaceable platforms meets an adversary that has spent years studying exactly which targets to hit. The E-3 destroyed at Prince Sultan is not primarily a story about one aircraft. 

Sri Lanka-Pakistan Ties in a New Era: Focus on Security Coordination, Military Education

The newest symbol of Pakistan-Sri Lanka defence cooperation is Exercise Shake Hands-II, launched on April 27, 2026, in Tarbela, Pakistan. The two-week exercise brings together Pakistan Army’s elite Special Services Group (SSG) and Sri Lankan Special Forces. The purpose of the drill is to enhance interoperability, exchange operational experience and improve professional capabilities in counter-terrorism scenarios. 

More on Spotlight

Forging farmer-student solidarity: Joining hands to strengthen participatory democracy

The return of active engagement with agrarian issues in university spaces is central to forging student-farmer solidarity, contends Arsh Ajmera for South Asia Monitor

Is China orchestrating Afghanistan's future through its proxies?

Afghanistan wants Beijing to formally apologize for China’s spy-cum-terror module caught operating in Kabul violating international norms before the Chinese detainees are released. However, China will consider this demand an affront, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

South Asia: Structural transformation, trade openness and self-sufficiency

The region’s dependence on imports for production, as well as the contributions of its exports through value chains place some of its economies in an influential position within the global production and trading network, writes Partha Pratim Mitra for South Asia Monitor

Terrorists may not seize power in Pakistan, but enabling environment for extremism remains

The legacy of the Pakistani state’s sponsorship of some terror groups - mainly those used to help pursue its objectives in Afghanistan and India - means that the infrastructure of terror will prove difficult to dismantle (though Islamabad has made progress in curbing terror financing networks, amid strong international pressure), writes Michael Kugelman for South Asia Monitor

Was Nepal’s parliament dissolved at Beijing’s behest?

Dissent within Nepal’s Communist Party was brewing for a long time but dissolving parliament without a provision in the Constitution is unprecedented. China has invested too much in Nepal to let go of control of Nepalese politics, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor

India's swelling farm protests: Battle of attrition amid trust deficit

If contract farming is an idea whose time has come, it is necessary to ask why did it take off from 2002-03 and then sharply decline by 2011-12 in this vanguard agrarian state, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor

Sustainable consumption in South Asia: Making use of sustainable opportunities from the pandemic

More importantly, the South Asia region needs to realise that workers and farmers have a key role to play in promoting sustainable consumption as they are both the end consumers as well as the producers at the start of the supply chain, writes George Cheriyan & Simi T.B. for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh war of 1971: Pakistan's blinkered vision

But it is interesting to note that 49 years hence, there seems to be no change in how the nation views the civil war and a bloody separation of its eastern province, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor

Pakistan should be compelled to apologise to Bangladesh for 1971 genocide

The ‘uncultured’ state of Pakistan has not apologized yet for the 1971 genocide.  It should be compelled, writes Farabi Bin Zahir for South Asia Monitor

Biden's Asia policy: Will India be able to cultivate its proximity with Washington?

New Delhi also needs to recognize that the rules of diplomacy are changing and that country, especially the US under Biden, would not hesitate to make remarks about human rights violations or on communal tensions and certainly, the changes in the status of Jammu and Kashmir. None of these would qualify, for Biden’s Administration, as being ‘internal matters,’ writes Amb Amit Dasgupta (retd) for South Asia Monitor

Afghanistan, Bangladesh or undocumented Indians in US: Plight of displaced people needs attention

On this International Migrants Day, it is worth noting that not every migrant succeeds in an adopted land. For evidence, one need not go beyond the Indian American community. While the community’s many successes and accomplishments have been well-documented, a less-publicized fact is the plight of hundreds of thousands of Indian nationals in the United States, writes Frank Islam for South Asia Monitor

BJP’s fixation with polls made it ignore India's farmers

What the BJP may have realized, therefore, from these sporadic eruptions of protests is that electoral success is not the be-all and end-all of politics, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor

Bangladesh's self-defeating 'sculpture politics': Who gains?

Many people want to know why the ruling Awami League is perpetuating this "sculpture politics". Why is this issue being given so much importance so as to forget the numerous other challenges Bangladesh is facing? writes Akmal Hossain for South Asia Monitor

RCEP and India: Read the fine print before joining

India for the time being has chosen to call for an adjournment on the multidimensional chessboard of multilateral trade/strategic agreements which can be seen as a wise move, writes Kumardeep Banerjee for South Asia Monitor

Much preaching, but little support for Bangladesh in the Rohingya crisis

Little help has been extended to Bangladesh to resolve the Rohingya problem. Even in international forums like the UN, no one voted for Bangladesh when it brought a resolution condemning human rights violations in Myanmar, particularly against Rohingya Muslims, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor