Covering Policy Issues from South Asia
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Digital Security Bill passes amid free speech concerns0
- Blog
- September 21, 2018
Tribune Desk September 19th, 2018 File photo of the session room inside the Bangladesh Parliament Syed Zakir Hossain/Dhaka Tribune The new law brings tougher punishment for illegally accessing and destroying any important information related to the state affairs Parliament has passed the much-talked-about Digital Security Bill, 2018, which provides for stiff penalties for a wide variety
In Kashmir, a photo of a militant’s body being dragged by security forces sparks outrage0
- Blog
- September 20, 2018
Retired generals insist that this is standard procedure since militant bodies are often booby trapped. via Twitter Sep 14, 2018 Rayan Naqash On the evening of September 13, a photograph of security personnel dragging a body with rope tied to its feet went viral in the Kashmir Valley. Earlier that day, two gunfights had broken
‘Breaking people’s will’: In Kashmir, gunfights leave a trail of destroyed homes and rising anger0
- Blog
- September 20, 2018
20 September, 2018 Kashmiris see the destruction of their property by government forces as a ‘form of punishment’. Rayan Naqash The 70-year-old shopkeeper from Khudwani in South Kashmir’s Kulgam district does not remember the exact date his house was reduced to rubble. He only remembers furious knocking in the dead of the night, sometime this
Bangladesh: Chief Justice Ousted after Resisting PM’s Demands, Memoir Says0
- Blog
- September 20, 2018
Pulack Ghatack Dhaka 2018-09-20 Surendra Kumar Sinha, Bangladesh’s former chief justice, talks with reporters in front of his home before leaving for Australia, Oct. 13, 2017. Monirul Alam/BenarNews Bangladesh’s former Supreme Court chief justice was forced to leave the country and resign after refusing requests by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and other senior government officials
Catholic schools dread Bangladesh’s education policy0
- Blog
- September 20, 2018
Legal enforcement could see some shuttered due to financial strain while threat of state meddling grows Students perform a traditional dance during an interfaith youth gathering at Notre Dame University in Dhaka on Dec. 2, 2017 during Pope Francis’ visit to Bangladesh. Catholic educators say church-run institutes have been struggling to cope with the nation’s education policy implemented
India: Efforts Begin in West Bengal to Update National Register of Citizens0
- Blog
- September 19, 2018
Jaishree Balasubramanian New Delhi 2018-09-18 West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrives at Parliament House in New Delhi, Aug. 1, 2018. India’s Hindu nationalist BJP government has launched a campaign in West Bengal to elicit support for its plan to draw up a citizens list to identify millions of migrants who, it claims, do not belong
Commentary
Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity (APAPPS): What is in it for the CPEC?0
- Commentary
- May 31, 2018
by Qura Tul Ain Hafeez 31/5/2018 China intends to extend the CPEC into Afghanistan which is a positive move towards regional economic integration. So, it has played a vital role in bringing the two countries to the table. Pakistan recently had its 4th meeting of Afghanistan-Pakistan Action Plan for Peace and Solidarity
NUCLEAR WEAPONS: PAKISTAN’S NATIONAL SECURITY ASSETS0
- Commentary
- May 31, 2018
by Usman Ali Khan 31/5/2018 In the 1970s, the then prime minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, famously declared that “We will eat grass, even go hungry, but we will have our own,” while referring to the attainment of nuclear weapons. Forty years after that declaration, we attained this capability by ensuring the
A MILLION IS TEN TIMES MORE THAN A LAC/ LAKH0
- Commentary
- May 31, 2018
by F R Chowdhury 31/5/2018 Most Bangladeshis still remember late Sirajur Rahman of BBC. In those dark days of Bangladesh when it was still under illegal occupation of Pakistan Army, people in Bangladesh used to eagerly wait for BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) news to know about the progress of the liberation war.
Bangladesh: Sheikh Hasina continues the heroic offensive against drugs0
- Commentary
- May 28, 2018
M A Hossain 28/5/2018 Every sensible media in Bangladesh and abroad are highly applauding Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her heroic drive against drugs. As the daughter of the founding father of the country, Hasina has exhibited her guts in instructing the members of the law enforcing agencies, especially Bangladesh police
20 Years of Overt Nuclearization and Deterrence Stability in South Asia0
- Commentary
- May 28, 2018
By: Ahyousha Khan 28/5/2018 May 2018 will mark 20 years of “overt” nuclearization of South Asia wherein one is reminded of the nuclear tests at Chagai and Pokhran-II, which established nuclear deterrence between India and Pakistan. However, it pertinent to mention that the nuclearization of South Asia started with India’s so-called peaceful explosion
Sheikh Hasina Complicit in Secret Detentions by Bangladesh Intelligence, Says Source0
- Commentary, Issue 25 – Summer 2018, Issues
- May 28, 2018
Interviews with a close political colleague of the prime minister are the first time that evidence has pointed towards the prime minister’s direct involvement. Under the current regime, there have been hundreds of secret detentions by law enforcement authorities, many involving the opposition. Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed speaks with a reporter during the
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Featured
End of Year Editorial; Evolving Political Dynamics in South Asia
By M. Adil Khan, Guest Editor 2018 has been an eventful year for South Asia especially at the political level. During 2018 several countries in the region have had their elections and these elections have altered their political pictures. In others preparations for elections are underway and yet in others sub-national elections and their outcomes
2018 Bangladesh General Election: A Time for Stock-taking and Pondering the Stakes
By Adil Khan and Habib Zafarullah* 4 December 2018 The 2018 Bangladesh General Election scheduled on December 30, 2018 marks the end of two consecutive terms of the ruling Awami League (AL), first ever by any political party since 1991, the year a combined opposition movement against a decade long dictatorship resurrected and re-introduced