दक्षिण एशिया

January 5, 2017
दो साल पहले टुर्की के समुंद्र तट पर औंधे मुंह पड़े मासूम अयलान कुर्दी की लाश ने पूरी दुनिया को झकझोर कर रख दिया था। डेढ़ साल के मासूम कुर्दी की मासूम से तस्वीर ने पूरी दुनिया का ध्यान तो अपनी ओर खींचा ही था दशकों से गृह युद्ध में फंसे देशों पर भी सवाल खड़ा कर दिया था।  अयलान कुर्दी जैसी दिलों को झकझोरती एक और तस्वीर दुनिया के सामने आई है। यह तस्वीर बानगी है गृह युद्ध जैसे हालातों...
January 2, 2017
पिछले कुछ दिनों से पाकिस्तान की तरफ से हो रही गोलीबारी ने कश्मीर घाटी में हालात फिर तनावपूर्ण बना दिए है. जहां लोगों के रोज़मर्रा के काम इससे बुरी तरह से प्रभावित हुए है वहीं एक दिल को छू लेने वाली घटना सामने आई है। जम्मू कश्मीर के पूंछ सेक्टर जहाँ रूक रूक भारी गोलीबारी हो रही है जिसमे हाल ही में कई सुरक्षा बलों और नागरिकों की जान गई है। Photo courtesy: ndtv बीते शुक्रवार सोलह वर्षीय...
December 30, 2016
What constitutes “vulgar and harmful pornography” remains undefined by the government body charged with making this determination, as the country rolls into its third day of internet censorship. Yet that is the criteria being used to block over 500 sites by a little-known taskforce whose credentials for supervising adult entertainment are unclear. BTRC Secretary Sarwar Alam...
December 30, 2016
Radicalism is nothing but a byproduct of misinformation coming back to haunt us The youth today have a different thinking process/BIGSTOCK   As a journalist, I often come across young people who are eager to listen to my views on global events which often cannot be explained unequivocally. During the invasion of Iraq and then Libya, the common questions were around the...
December 29, 2016
Several incidents of organised violence against ethnic and religious minorities took place in 2016.   Opportunistic groups have used religion as a political device creating an atmosphere of fear making hundreds of minorities leave Bangladesh in large numbers that experts say they have not seen since the Liberation War. Although the constitution protects religious freedom and ensures...
December 27, 2016
We need to ask those who swear in the name of the Ummah: is the blood of Rohingyas insipid in comparison to other Muslims? Photo credit: Wessex Scene For nearly one and a half million Rohingyas, it must be a rude shock to realise that they are no longer Burmese citizens. Rohingyas are Burmese Muslims who settled in that part of the world in the wake of British East India Company...
December 26, 2016
A Pakistani policeman performs a head count before releasing jailed Indian fishermen from a Pakistani prison; Photo Courtesy: Dawn, Representational Image कराची, 25 दिसम्बर :भाषा: पाकिस्तान ने आज 220 भारतीय मछुआरों को रिहा कर दिया। हाल के समय में सीमा पार आतंकवादी घटनाओं के मद्देनजर संबंधों में आए तनाव के बीच यह एक सद्भावना की पहल है। जेल अधीक्षक हसन सेहतो ने पीटीआई को बताया कि यहां मालिर...
December 26, 2016
Image Courtesy: India Today For the eager twitter followers and reactors, armed with patriotic zeal, the Indian Prime Minister's Birthday Greetings to Nawaz Sharif were too much to handle. Modi called to wish his Pakistani counterpart on his birthday. Sharid turned 67 on Christmas Day, December 25, 2016. It is a birthday he shares with former Indian prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee...
December 26, 2016
Double standards? No, no. A Karachi dateline report of the  PTI states that  local distributors of the latest Aamir Khan-starrer "Dangal" in Pakistan are pinning their hopes on Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to give his formal approval to its release in the country and are expecting the film to be screened soon. Despite all the noise and angst about the release of Karan...
December 24, 2016
One of only two functional Hindu places of worship in Lahore, it is a rare example of religious syncretism in the country Image credit:  Haroon Khalid The turquoise dome of a mausoleum rises from the middle of a congested market in Lahore, its octagonal white building lost among the cycle and cloth shops. This is the shrine of the 16th century Sufi saint Sheikh Abdul Razzaq. Not far...