Himal Southasian
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It takes a lot to produce in-depth, hard-hitting investigative journalism. Your support makes our independent, paywall-free journalism possible.
Become a Patron and support Himal!
Click here:
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📢The costs of Reliance’s wildlife ambitions
The conglomerate's effort to shelter abused elephants has grown into an enormous wildlife centre – raising concerns over the sourcing of some animals as well as over India’s wildlife management
@mrajshekhar
:
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350
628
On
#WorldPressFreedomDay
, we’re highlighting some pieces from our
#HimalArchives
: First up, an interview with Founding Editor
@KanakManiDixit
and
@RanaAyyub
on the traumas of social media violence and its chilling effect on the free press.
18
98
517
Are the cocaine hippos of Colombia coming to India?
📢 Part 2 of a saga as gripping as ‘Narcos’, releasing soon. Read part 1 of ‘The costs of Reliance’s wildlife ambitions’ here:
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🔍👀
So how did an Indian rescue elephant end up at a party with Ivanka Trump?
A Himal Southasian investigation on the way.
Register at to find out tomorrow.
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#Replug
| "Nagas’ near-complete conversion to Christianity – and that too within the span of just a century –was accompanied by the cultural erasure of traditional practices."
The early story of Christianity in Northeast
#India
by
@rdrck_wjnm
:
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274
The Punjab Police registered an FIR against
@ManzoorPashteen
, accusing him of sedition after his speech at
#AJCONF22
.
What about this anti-war civil rights activist terrifies the Pakistani state so much?
5
100
273
Thanks to everyone who pointed out our oversight on the COVID-19 Southasia map re J&K. While we tried to address the territorial dispute via a dotted LoC, we understand that you found the representation inaccurate. We sincerely apologise for the error and have updated the map.
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New in Himal: Zoya Anwer
@ZoyaAnwerNaqvi
navigates patriarchy on
#Karachi
streets in her new piece titled, 'The audacity of ‘sitting improperly’'
#Pakistan
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📢The costs of Reliance’s wildlife ambitions
Arraigned against the vast benevolence of Reliance’s animal-care effort are equally large concerns. First among them: were all 4700 birds and animals now at Vantara really in need of rescue?
@mrajshekhar
:
10
78
164
.
@maknoonwani
on the political and economic exploitation of militarily occupied Jammu &
#Kashmir
.
(Illustration:
@mirsuhail
)
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📢 HIRING CALL!
@Himalistan
is looking for an Assistant Editor. Join our diverse team and help publish some of the best coverage of this region!
Deadline for applications: 5 June.
More details:
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150
We’re excited to announce that Himal Southasian will soon be resuming publication from its Colombo home:
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📢PART TWO of 'The costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions' by
@mrajshekhar
, OUT NOW!
Part 1 looked at Vantara's history and elephants. 🐘
Now we look at other animals and what it has taken to get so many of them so fast. 🦛 🦜🐒🦘🦌
Full story here:
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Weren’t invited to the Ambanis’ pre-wedding celebration? 🎉(Us neither!)
Register at to get first access to an inside peek at the party preparations.
A Himal Southasian investigation coming out tomorrow.
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135
Nepal becomes the first Southasian country to recognise same-sex marriage. This is the latest in a series of progressive judgments from the Supreme Court, though implementation and broader societal acceptance has been slower.
This and more in our podcast:
2
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130
News is that ‘Salam - The First ****** Nobel Laureate’ ' will be released on Netflix 1 October. Check out our podcast with Zakir Thaver, the film's co-producer.
@salamdocufilm
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📢Himal is hiring!
Did you know? We verify every fact in every article we publish.
Join our team as a fact-checker and researcher and help make some of the best coverage of this region possible.
Deadline: 18 June 2023
More details:
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📢FRESH!
In our latest video story, Muslim women of Jahangirpuri share how the demolition drive was not just an attack on their Muslim identity but also their financial independence.
By
@asma_hafizz
and
@kamranyousuf_
.
FULL VIDEO:
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Reading several hot takes from several corners about Sri Lanka these days.
So we figured, we should replug this video of ours to remind international outlets to remain responsible in their reporting.
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52
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📢FRESH!
Who gets to write about Ambedkar?
@KyaHarish
on how six new reappraisals show the gulf between Dalit-Bahujan and anglophone writing on B R Ambedkar:
1
42
89
The most significant travel writings from the mid-20th century were cross-border accounts from the newly created India and Pakistan. These were attempts to resolve the enduring trauma of Partition.
A review essay by
@NaTurkNaHindu
:
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Testing rates per million for countries in
#Southasia
, as of 30 March 2020.
#coronavirus
#TestingForCovid19
#FlattenTheCurve
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With a focus on agricultural policy since the 1990s, 'Distress in the Fields' demonstrates how neoliberal interventions sowed the seeds of crisis faced by farmers today A review essay by
@TanyaMatthan
@TanyaMatthan
reviews 'Distress in the Fields':
1
22
85
📢 We are thrilled to announce the first edition of Himal Fiction Fest!
From 12-23 June, we will showcase emerging fiction in Southasia and provide a platform for readers, writers, publishers, editors, and agents across the region to engage in meaningful discussions.
2
23
86
The most significant travel writings from the mid-20th century were cross-border accounts from the newly created India and Pakistan. These were attempts to resolve the enduring trauma of Partition.
A review essay by
@NaTurkNaHindu
:
0
33
79
📢FRESH!
The reduction in World Food Program rations for Rohingya refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, is exacerbating their immense suffering. Food insecurity and malnutrition, already acute, are worsening.
A photo essay by
@SahatZia_Hero
:
1
28
79
Located in a narrow lane in front of Jama Masjid, Old Delhi, Hazrat Shah Waliullah Public Library is home to around 25,000 books including rare works in Urdu, Hindi, Persian, Arabic and English.
From October 2022, Oohini Mukherjee & Zeeshan Kaskar report:
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📢NEW!
Airwaves naturally disobey manmade borders, and this same defiance of nation-state divisions prevails in entire swathes of people bound by common connections to transnational radio.
A review essay by Preeti Raghunath:
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77
What has
#Southasia
been reading: 2021 Edition
Book recommendations from our contributors and Southasia’s prominent writers, translators, intellectuals and journalists:
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📢 UPCOMING EVENT!
The costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions: a conversation with Shibani Ghosh,
@mdmadhusudan
and
@mrajshekhar
, moderated by
@romangautam
.
Register your interest here:
Read
@mrajshekhar
's story here:
2
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📢Fresh!
It is the intertwining of enduring rural power relations, input-intensive farming and neoliberal policy that has produced the crisis facing farmers today.
@TanyaMatthan
reviews 'Distress in the Fields':
0
25
74
#COVID19
testing rates per million for countries in
#Southasia
, as of 7 April 2020.
#coronavirus
#TestingForCovid19
#FlattenTheCurve
1
63
67
Pandemic or poison? How epidemics shaped
#Southasia
's legal history by Mitra Sharafi (
@mjsharafi
):
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🔍HIMAL IS HIRING!
Join our team as a fact-checker and researcher, and help make some of the best coverage of this region possible.
Deadline for applications: 18 June 2023
More details:
0
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"Among the most remarkable aspects of Numani’s travelogue is his analysis of European writings on the Muslim world."
From December 2018: Sumaira Nawaz on a 19th-century travelogue from northern India that challenges colonial orientalism.
0
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'All That Breathes' is ultimately about this understanding articulated by one of the brothers: “You don’t care for things because they share the same country, religion or politics. Life itself is kinship.”
From March 2023,
@annavetticad
writes:
0
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#HimalArchives
| In this interview,
@RanaAyyub
talks to our Founding Editor
@KanakManiDixit
about the traumas of social-media violence and its chilling effect on the free press.
#WorldPressFreedomDay
0
9
62
Our latest interview with Nai Aue Mon, Programme Director of the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (
@HURFOM
) on how civil society is responding in the face of escalating violence in
#Myanmar
.
#MyanmarCoup
#WhatsHappeningInMyanmar
1
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Himal at Home: Celebrating the resumption of publication of Himal Southasian this week from our new home in Colombo, we put together a quietly enjoyable office-warming party yesterday, with friends, colleagues and well-wishers from around the city. More:
3
17
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📢New!
Indian parents and community libraries are turning to queer literature for children to help them be sensitive to varied sexual and gender identities.
@chintanwriting
writes:
@queerbeat_media
0
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📚 What Southasia read in 2023
Per
@Himalistan
tradition, we asked some of Southasia’s most astute writers, thinkers and intellectuals for their most notable reads on the region from the past year. Here’s what they had to say:
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"From the 1950s on, the Congress was, as indeed it had been during the twilight years of the Raj, a party of the gentry, and to a lesser extent of capital, masquerading as the voice of the proletariat."
Was the Congress ever really on the Left?
0
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📢FRESH!
“When I write,” he said, “I use the same hands that have carried shit.” The Tamil writer Pandiyakannan, the first novelist from the Kuravar community, offers an intimate portrait of the lives of manual scavengers.
Review by Ashik Kahina:
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28
55
"The government’s mapmaking processes were non-negotiable, deterministic and not without their silences."
From January 2023, Varun Sharma on how Adivasi communities in Chhattisgarh are using technology to resist, contest, and redefine borders:
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15
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📢FRESH!
A path-breaking personal essay calling for social acceptance and full rights for Nepal’s LGBTIQ+ community by
@PokharelBhojraj
(translated by
@MetroNir
)
1
17
52
Tracking
#Coronavirus
around Southasia: New confirmed cases in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 1400 total cases and 16 deaths in Southasia as of 23 March 2020, 8.30 am UTC.
#COVID19
#Covid_19
#Southasia
0
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📢 EVENT!
We'll be honest: We don't think
@BBC
has the moral highground to be preaching to Qatar.
But Southasians, whose labour made the
#FIFAWorldCup
and who are silenced by performative protests, do.
We talk to
@namrataraju
and
@bhadrarukum
!
JOIN US:
4
28
54
"Mixed languages are languages with split-ancestry which arose due to expressive needs in a multilingual community, and whose linguistic ancestry is difficult to define."
From July 2021:
@avtansa
on pidgins, creoles and mixed languages of Southasia.
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The food rations that we receive monthly were essential,” Laila said. “I don’t know how we can survive if the WFP provides fewer rations to us."
A photo essay by
@SahatZia_Hero
on food-aid cuts in Cox's Bazar:
1
16
51
📢 FRESH!
Demands for a caste census are shaking up politics and prompting a fresh reckoning with historical injustices in India. Everywhere that caste is endemic, overdue caste counts have the power to do the same.
Anil Varghese and Nawal Kishore Kumar:
2
15
54
Narrating these histories through the lens of the sultans and the Indian Ocean, Seema Alavi’s book leaves readers pondering whether today’s borders will ever adequately explain who we are now and whence we came.
A review essay by
@namrataraju
:
0
14
52
Where
@RanaAyyub
talks to our founding editor
@KanakManiDixit
on the dangers of doing journalism in India:
#WorldPressFreedomDay
0
9
50
Our senior assistant editor provides insights into the current Sri Lanka protests that paints a much more vibrant picture of the ongoing movement than the doom and gloom international media usually associates with the Global South.
Have a look at this thread 👇
Young protestors act out a wrestling match on a bed at the PM’s official residence. Much needed humour after a long day filled with tear gas and police brutality.
#SriLankaProtests
from
@BasnayakeM
’s twitter
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1K
1
18
51
📢 HIMAL SPACES
This Friday: Join us as we sit down with
@umairjav
,
@reema_omer
and
@MJibranNasir
to understand the political crisis unfolding in Pakistan.
LINK COMING SOON!
4
18
51
"When he saw the video, he remembered that his asthmatic son used to gasp for breath, too, when he had an attack and the family could not afford to replenish his inhaler."
An excerpt from 'Hussain Miyan’s last journey' by Banojyotsna Lahiri.
#fiction
0
6
49
Read Part 1 of
@mrajshekhar
's investigation 'The costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions' here:
Stay tuned for the second and final part of this story, coming to you soon! 🦛
1
24
51
UPDATE: New confirmed cases in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 4,197 total cases and 84 deaths in Southasia as of 1 April 2020, 9.00 am UTC.
#COVID19
#Coronavirus
#Southasia
2
34
49
📢 FRESH!
Shaunak Sen’s Oscar-nominated documentary looks at Muslim brothers caring for kites in Delhi, but also carries a veiled message on religious hatred in Modi’s India.
@annavetticad
's piece is a must read before you tune in for The Oscars!
2
10
51
Read
@mrajshekhar
's investigation on the costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions:
Readers like you help us stay alive and paywall-free. Become a patron to support Himal:
1
15
49
We’re excited to launch a new website and membership model. Will you join us on this journey?
#Southasia
#journalism
1
7
47
📢 FRESH!
"The 2021 coup is a proverbial slap in the face for everyone who believed that Myanmar’s military could be a force for good."
For our latest essay,
@Aung_Kaung_Myat
looks at the pitfalls of believing that militaries can ensure civil rights.
0
21
47
📢FRESH!
How should we define a Southasian 20th century?
Three recent volumes show historians moving beyond assumptions of a bounded Subcontinent, contextualising the 20th century by centring regional and local politics.
@LanzilloAmanda
writes:
1
14
48
In four years, Vantara has gone from about 50 elephants to a trust, a zoo, a gigantic assemblage of endangered species, and a workforce of 2700. This has required certain key personnel and extraordinary access to government systems.
@mrajshekhar
:
1
15
48
How did 'Dawn', a newspaper founded and established in Delhi, become Pakistan’s leading newspaper, and what led to the shift of its offices from Delhi to Karachi?
Video report by Najaf Abbas and Usman Ather:
0
25
47
📢 NEW EVENT
Join us TOMORROW as
@apar1984
from India,
@hijakamran
from Pakistan and
@harsha_maharjan
from Nepal come together in a cross border discussion on digital surveillance and data privacy in Southasia!
SET YOUR REMINDER:
2
19
46
0
19
44
🔭LOOKING FOR: An Assistant Editor!
There's still time to join our diverse team and help publish some of the best coverage of this region!
Deadline for applications: 5 June.
More details:
0
31
43
As the lockdown on
#Kashmir
reaches its 50th day, we at Himal Southasian are committed to refusing the silencing of Kashmiri voices by linking you back to 100 stories of/from/about the region.
#StayConnectedtoKashmir
#50DaysOfLockdown
@MirzaWaheed
0
30
42
"Caste has survived because of its atrocities, literally over the dead bodies of lynched lovers, over charred Dalit settlements, through the use of organised violence to enforce super-ordination and subordination."
From April 2010,
@meenakandasamy
writes
0
13
43
"The Great Andamanese call the period before British colonisation as “bibi poiye”, or the days when there were no dogs."
@avtansa
on the linguistic diversity of endangered languages in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands:
0
16
45
Around 20,000 people from the fisherfolk Mohana community in Pakistan used to live on houseboats by the Manchar lake.
Now, only 4000-5000 are living in the surroundings of the lake.
What caused this mass exodus? We take a look!
2
13
42
""Because of the current situation in Srinagar the government has ordered to lower the window shades till we land,” an attendant tells us upon enquiry."
@BasharatKashmir
,
@IqbalSonaullah
and
@MudasirAmin_
return home to report from
#Kashmir
valley.
0
30
39
Tracking
#Coronavirus
around Southasia: New confirmed cases in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 578 total cases and 6 deaths in Southasia as of 19 March 2020, 6.30 am UTC.
#COVID19
#pandemic
#Southasia
0
28
44
“When I heard that the fire broke out, I came back and saw my shelter was totally destroyed and there was nothing left,” Zomir Hussain said. “I need to rebuild my life from scratch.”
@SahatZia_Hero
's dispatch on the aftermath of the fire in Cox’s Bazar:
0
10
42
📢SOUTHASIAN CONVERSATION!
With the renewed scrutiny of the Adani Group, the world’s focus has mostly been on India. Join our panelists
@rathindra984
,
@rawanarraf
,
@t_d_h_nair
and
@ziahassanrupu
as we discuss the conglomerate’s record in Southasia:
1
14
41
📢NEW EVENT!
We are excited to announce our July
#ScreenSouthasia
film 'Sand and Water', which follows the lives and experiences of natives of Char Islands in Bangladesh. Directed by Shaheen Dill-Riaz.
Sign up here:
1
13
43
In Nikhil Menon’s ‘Planning Democracy’, the vision of economic planning shows the strain between technocracy and representative democracy in India.
A review essay by
@i_sarathpillai
:
1
11
43
"Once again, New Delhi has confined millions of Kashmiris to their homes, arrested thousands, and virtually cut off the region from communication with the outside world. And it is obvious why."
#StayConnectedtoKashmir
0
22
39
"Like many Rohingya elders, 92-year-old Shamshul Hoque has lived as a refugee for a large part of his life. In 2017, he fled from Myanmar with his family due to the military operation against Rohingya in Rakhine state."
A photo essay by
@SahatZia_Hero
:
0
12
42
“While Dalit professional photographers are still a rarity, studio portraits emerged as an important record not only of family histories, but also as a tool of self-representation.”
From August 2019:
@lax_always
reviews ‘Dalit: A Quest for Dignity’
1
8
41
“When I heard that the fire broke out, I came back and saw my shelter was totally destroyed and there was nothing left,” Zomir Hussain said. “I need to rebuild my life from scratch.”
@SahatZia_Hero
's dispatch on the aftermath of the fire in Cox’s Bazar:
0
12
41
The first two waves of the Covid-19 pandemic possibly claimed four million lives in India. Still, the question of healthcare remains absent from national politics.
@pratinavanil
reviews 'Pandemic India' by David Arnold:
2
15
41
What is evident in these postcards is the colonial entanglement with photography and the ethnographic knowledge-project of imperial forces that documented, catalogued and separated the people of colonised regions into native “types”.
By Jatin Gulati:
0
13
40
📢 SOUTHASIAN CONVERSATION!
This MONDAY, we talk about the Rohingya community and their ongoing struggles for survival, dignity and justice.
We engage some of the sharpest minds in the region to answers some of our most pressing queries.
SIGN UP NOW:
2
10
39
#COVID19
in Southasia: New confirmed cases reported in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 292,465 total cases and 6,968 deaths in Southasia as of 29 May 2020, 11.00 am UTC.
#Coronavirus
#Southasia
1
20
37
Introducing
#Dialectical
, a new series exploring the region’s languages, their connections, their shared histories, and perhaps their futures.
The first instalment:
@avtansa
looks at the impact of COVID-19 terminology on Southasian languages.
1
9
38
📢New!
Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka defies state crackdowns and continues to be a potent challenge to Sinhala Buddhist supremacy.
Read
@MarioArul
's piece on politics of commemoration in Sri Lanka.
#May18
#TamilNationalism
1
24
40
📢Starting TOMORROW!
Join us for Himal Fiction Fest, where we will showcase exceptional emerging voices in Southasian fiction, and bring together readers, writers, publishers, editors and agents from across the region.
Registration links here:
1
11
39
Your friendly reminder: The coverage of the Sri Lankan crisis deserves more than a few trope-y headlines.
In the following video, we explore how the international media fell short in fulfilling their obligations to the people's protests in the country.
1
25
39
UPDATE: New confirmed cases in Afghanistan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. 386 total cases and 2 deaths in Southasia as of 17 March 2020, 8.00 am UTC.
#COVID19
#pandemic
#Southasia
0
38
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📢FRESH!
Western cli-fi seems almost addicted to Southasia as a theatre for exploring its greatest concerns, yet often falls prey to stereotypes. But there is also a growing tide of climate fiction by Southasians themselves.
Evan Tims writes:
1
13
37
"A penchant for violence has replaced sober analysis of Pakistan’s contemporary crisis, let alone debate on ways out of it."
An excerpt from ‘Rule by Fear: Eight Theses on Authoritarianism in Pakistan’ by
@ammaralijan
.
@Folio_Books
2
21
35
As the clampdown in Kashmir continues but news about it slows down, we at Himal Southasian commit to
#StayConnectedtoKashmir
. Over the coming months we will link you back to 100 stories from by our colleagues in the media everywhere, to keep the region on our minds.
‘A storm has hit my life': the Kashmiri families torn apart by mass arrests
1
11
11
2
20
36
'Founded in 1952, the Awami Idara is surrounded by both homes and small-scale mills and factories, and seems designed not to impress visitors but to provide a welcoming, convivial space for local readers.'
From Janury 2023,
@LanzilloAmanda
writes:
0
16
37
For those who live in air-conditioned homes staying 'inside" is an option. But for the larger population, this ‘inside’, is not easily accessible. Here's how public shade has become an increasingly luxury good in
#Pakistan
.
0
18
35
@RanaAyyub
's
#GujaratFiles
looks at how caste,religion & communal politics shaped the 2002 Gujarat riots
#BookReview
10
30
34
"Because Andamanese languages remained uninfluenced by the diffusion of other big language families in the region, they have unique grammatical structures rarely available in other Asian languages."
@avtansa
on languages of the islanders in Southasia:
1
17
35
Watch this space and visit our website () for updates as we plan to resume publication as an innovative and independent digital outlet based in Colombo:
1
17
35
"To circumvent the parliament, Narendra Modi has issued a record number of ordinances."
From November 2021: Under the BJP's rule, the legislature is ceasing to be a place for debate,
@jaffrelotc
argues.
1
17
35