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Custodial Deaths Are a Blot on Bangladesh's Democratic Future

To what extent has the current BNP government been able to realise the vision that drove the 2024 mass uprising in Bangladesh? Will the BNP government, too, manipulate state mechanisms and law enforcement agencies to serve its own interests, much like the previous Sheikh Hasina regime, to suppress the opposition and silence critics? The government must therefore take serious steps to amend police laws and prevent deaths in police custody. This is one of the crucial reforms facing the administration.

India's Electoral Roll Revision Must Protect the Right to Vote in a Democracy

The Commission's authority rests ultimately on public confidence. Like Caesar's wife, the Election Commission must be above suspicion. It should welcome scrutiny and answer legitimate questions, especially when millions of voting rights are involved.

A Nation Stands Divided Over Charges of Electoral Manipulation and Brutal Police Crackdown

If the government and EC are confident, the answer is not a counter-letter but transparent data: a district-wise, gender-wise audit of deletions, restorations, reasons – all details to be placed on affidavit, as Lokur panel demands.

The Bigger Picture Behind the Electoral Roll Controversy in India

The ongoing SIR is not merely about helping a particular party win an election; it points to a much deeper design - to create a customised electorate in the country. It is intended to turn India into a Republic in which only some sections of the population remain politically relevant.

More on Governance, Public Policy and Law

Making sense of New Delhi’s restrained response to Bangladesh’s anti-Hindu violence

The recent widespread anti-Hindu violence will not make any difference to the bilateral ties between India and Bangladesh, said Dinesh K Patnaik, Director General, Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), calling the recent events “small incidents”

Anti-Hindu violence does not symbolise Bangladesh; it is terrorism in the name of religion

‘Bangladesh Finalizes Agreement to Build Buddhist Monastery in Lumbini, Nepal’ was the headline of the Hong Kong-based Global Buddhist Door’s news headline on October 11

US extrajudicial killings and ‘Western Immorality’

Since the last decade, the US drone strike has caused numerous casualties worldwide, including Pakistan, Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia 

Will Pakistan’s terror exports ever stop?

Senior Indian Army sources asserted that the Pakistani youth's plea for surrender, as soon as his mate was killed, was a definite indication that he was not so convinced about the 'jihad' narrative but had taken on the cross-border 'task' out of financial compulsion

Women step up for peace in South Asia

The SAU aims to bring together peacebuilders and particularly women from the region to work towards a political and economic South Asian Union, along the lines of the European Union, by 2030

Which has a 'better behaved' media - US or India?

Trump also gave the Indian media backhanded compliments when he met with Modi in 2019

Taliban’s IPL ban shows media and entertainment industry won’t be able to survive for long in Afghanistan

The Taliban, the new rulers of Afghanistan, earlier this week announced a ban on the broadcast of the Indian Premium League (IPL), the hugely popular and monetarily lucrative Indian cricket league, which is widely watched in Afghanistan as their star player, Rashid Khan, is part of it

'Infiltrators' who get royal treatment on both sides of India-Pakistan LoC

They “violate” the otherwise volatile Line of Control (LoC) at their own sweet will, but far from being challenged for their “infiltration”, they are treated as guests of honor on both sides of a disputed frontier – India and Pakistan

Rights of the incarcerated: Plight of pre- and under-trial detainees overcrowding prisons in South Asian nations

Prisons in South Asian countries are overcrowded-- with some countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka having almost double their official capacities-- as most people spend years there as pre-trial detainees in the absence of speedy justice, according to data presented at a conference titled "The Rights of The Incarcerated in South Asia", organized by the South Asia Peace Action Network (SAPAN)

Academic Freedom in South Asia: SAI Heidelberg seminar attracts renowned scholars

Concerned by reliable reports of harassment of academics in India, the South Asia Institute (SAI), Heidelberg University, Germany hosted the webinar "Academic Freedom in South Asia" on 2 August, 2021 in which the following, internationally renowned scholars took part

The little-known Chinese Kali temple in Kolkata - a testament to cross-cultural bonding in challenging times

Kolkata is home to more than 2,000 Chinese, a close-knit community that has made the city its home for decades and arduously hung on to their culture and heritage through generations while making their mark in the tannery, beauty salons, shoe and restaurant businesses in the teeming eastern metropolis

South Asian countries scramble to vaccinate outbound workers to safeguard remittances

The pandemic has been a blow to countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan as all of them receive billions of dollars annually through remittances of migrant workers abroad

From cleaning plates to featuring on Forbes – the fairy tale rise of a Bangladeshi American

Beginning as a teenager clearing tables and plates at an eatery, 30-year-old Bangladeshi American  Nabeel Alamgir has featured on a Forbes list running an online delivery service that saw revenues grow seven times higher in 2020 despite the killer Covid-19 pandemic

The tale of the obscure takin, Bhutan’s national animal

Have you ever seen a takin? Chances are an overwhelming majority of people will meet the poser with a baffled look

An American petroleum engineer in love with his adopted home Bangladesh

If you chance to visit Meherpur – a remote village in Bangladesh – you may come across a lanky American national in local attire who has made the country his home for the past 12 years