Covering Policy Issues from South Asia
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Bangladesh Again Denies Al-Qaeda Presence0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
By Shailaja Neelakantan on Jan 15, 2021 Bangladesh strongly rejected U.S. charges this week that al-Qaeda cells had committed attacks on the South Asian nation, although the U.S. State Department had documented such incidents in its annual reports on terrorism around the world. In a talk in Washington on Tuesday on al-Qaeda’s “new home base
Safe water costs 40 times more in coastal Bangladesh than cities0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
The Third Pole Water is everywhere in coastal Bangladesh, but is increasingly undrinkable as sea level rise caused by climate change is turning water sources saline Brajasundari buys water, a new experience in previously water-abundant Bangladesh, where salt water intrusion is affecting water sources [Image by: Riyan Talha] Riyan Talha, January 5, 2021 Twice a
India-Assam: Abolishing Madrasas or Converting Them into Dysfunctional Government Schools?0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
By Arshad Alam, New Age Islam 4 January 2020 The Assam government recently passed an Act by which government madrasas in the state will be converted into regular schools. The subsequent opposition within the state, has created an impression that the Assam government has shut these madrasas altogether. This is simply not true. What has
PAKISTAN: Pakistani Ahmadis accused of blasphemy over Islamic tombstones0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
Hardline Islamist party files police complaint against ‘declared infidels’ for hurting Muslims’ religious feelings Kamran Chaudhry, Lahore January 18, 2021 Ahmadi graves desecrated in Gujranwala, Punjab province, in July 2020. (Photo supplied) Ahmadis in a Pakistani town have been accused of blasphemy for inscribing Islamic phrases on gravestones. Police in Sharaqpur Sharif in Punjab
INDIA: India’s BJP uses bishops’ logo against Muslims, apologizes0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
Pro-Hindu party accused of trying to gain Christians’ political support for upcoming elections in Kerala state UCA News reporter January 18, 2021 Kummanam Rajasekharan, then president of the BJP in Kerala, leads a march in October 2017. The party is trying to improve its position ahead of state elections due in April. (Photo: IANS) Leaders
Biden nominates 20 Indo-Americans, 13 of them women, in key positions0
- Blog
- January 18, 2021
by Editor January 18, 2021 Newsin.asia Share on WhatsApp Washington, January 18 (The Mint): US President-elect Joe Biden has nominated at least 20 Indian Americans, including 13 women, to key positions in his administration days before he is scheduled to be sworn in on 20 January. Among the Indians are Hindus, Muslims and Christians. As many
Commentary
A British university’s collaboration with the Bangladesh government on a meeting about Sheikh Mujib raises important issues0
- Commentary
- January 20, 2021
LSE, Sheikh Mujib and the Bangladesh government David Bergman January 19, 2021 Screenshot taken from the LSE website advertising a talk, which will be held in collaboration with the Bangladesh High Commission In a week’s time, on January 27th January, the South Asia Centre at the London School of Economics (LSE) is organising an event on Sheikh
When is usury usury? Turkish fatwa casts doubt on Erdogan’s religious soft power drive0
- Commentary
- January 20, 2021
By James M. Dorsey 20 January 2021 Turkey’s state-controlled top religious authority has conditionally endorsed usury in a ruling that is likely to fuel debate about concepts of Islamic finance and could weaken President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s efforts to garner religious soft power by projecting Turkey as a leader defending Muslim causes. The ruling,
India: Hindutva way of normalising violence0
- Commentary
- January 20, 2021
by Bhabani Shankar Nayak 20 January 2021 The pestilence of Coronavirus has given a free hand to the Hindutva fascists in India to undermine all democratic norms and constitutionally established institutions. The caste, class, and gender-based structural violence are ubiquitous. Both the organised and fragmented nature of Hindutva violence is accelerated by the current political
Book review: Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia0
- Commentary, Reviews
- January 18, 2021
Partisans of Allah: Jihad in South Asia, by Ayesha Jalal, Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA 2008, Paperback, 400 pgs, $21.15 Amazon, ISBN-13: 978-0674047365- by Arnold Zeitlin 18 January 2021 The concept of jihad has roiled the Islamic world and the rest of the world since the beginning of the Islamic era. The Arabic
India’s options in responding to the China problem in Nepal0
- Commentary
- January 18, 2021
by Rushali Saha 18 January 2021 Prime Minister K.P Oli’s “sudden” dissolution of Nepal’s parliament’s lower house, albeit unprecedented, should not come as a surprise to those following Nepal’s domestic politics— which has been marred by a power tussle for a long time now. In its 2018 electoral victory, K.P. Oli’s government—formed out of
American Telugu Association rejuvenates its Emergency Services – ATA SEVA0
- Commentary
- January 18, 2021
Bhuvanesh Boojala took charge as the new President of the American Telugu Association, ATA, a premier umbrella Organization serving the Telugu people’s needs across North America. Mr.Boojala, who hails from the Washington DC area, has been an ardent follower of ATA since 2004 and, as a Coordinator, was instrumental in the success of the
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Featured
Year-end review: Emerging Challenges for South Asia
by Rajesh Kumar Sinha 3 January 2020 The year 2020 has just ended. The year has been extremely calamitous for the whole world. Especially, the pandemic Corona Virus has created such an unfortunate state where economies, infrastructure, loss of lakhs of lives, job losses, and uncertainty has gripped the whole of humanity.
Book review: The Bhutto Dynasty: The Struggle for Power in Pakistan, by Owen Bennett-Jones
The Bhutto Dynasty: The Struggle for Power in Pakistan, by Owen Bennett-Jones, Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 27 October 2020, Hardcover, 320 pages, $28, ISBN: 97880300246674. By Arnold Zeitlin Owen Bennett-Jones’s account of a Bhutto dynasty reminded me that I enjoyed a rare, near-quixotic relationship with Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto during my time, September 1969 to April 1972, as
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