Taken together - the staged abduction drama, Zakir Naik’s planned visit, and Zaheer’s clandestine movements - paint a deeply disturbing picture of Bangladesh’s current trajectory. Since the 2024 coup, Islamist influence has expanded alarmingly under the interim regime of Muhammad Yunus, creating fertile ground for extremist ideologies to spread under official tolerance.
India and Pakistan are both interested in establishing influence over Afghanistan. In pursuing control, both adopt a zero-sum approach. India fears that Pakistan’s influence in Afghanistan could create safe havens for anti-India elements such as Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. Pakistan fears that India’s presence in Afghanistan could lead to its encirclement and threaten security along its northwestern borders.
Internationally, leading medical institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, and the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) in the United States have recognized Integrative Medicine as a legitimate, evidence-informed discipline. They are conducting research, developing protocols, and training healthcare professionals in the art and science of integration.
Bangladesh is not immune to the regional trend of rising religious and political extremism after a dramatic regime change. Credible security analyses warn that, with recent upheavals, hardline groups are reconfiguring networks and testing gaps in the state’s capacity to respond. To weaken the armed forces and other disciplined services is to invite those groups to exploit the vacuum.
Pakistan is good at making policies but very bad at implementing them. The negligence of the Pakistan government in making development and business entities follow the EMP procedure has neither been debated nor discussed nor followed by strong laws, writes Furqan Hyder Shaikh for South Asia Monitor
The likelihood of more rebellions against the Imran Khan government and army threatens to tear asunder the fragile religious and societal fabric of Pakistan, writes Pranay Kumar Shome for South Asia Monitor
Many lessons could be learned from Indira's murder. The first is that there will be repercussions for repression and authoritarian tendencies; and second, political power should not be used for partisan goals, write Dr Vineeth Mathoor & Sunil Kumar for South Asia Monitor
For the first time, Biegun made it clear through his visit that Bangladesh has strategic importance. This is for the first time an attempt has been made by the US to engage Dhaka directly since China took several proactive measures to help Bangladesh deal with COVID-19, writes Swadesh Roy for South Asia Monitor
Even during the rule by earlier ‘proxies’ of which Nawaz was certainly one, the military was not exposed to attacks like the ones at the three back-to-back opposition rallies through October at Gujranwala, Karachi, and Quetta. This is an unprecedented situation. The Army has lost some of its image as the nation’s ‘saviour,’ writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
Given the enormity of the challenge - there are nearly a dozen classical and more than 150 folk dance forms in India - efforts to support artists need to be scaled and replicated throughout the country, writes Frank F. Islam for South Asia Monitor
Most major Asian nations have deep concerns about Chinese assertiveness and hegemonic orientation under President Xi Jinping, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The attention of the current regime in Pakistan will be diverted to firefight for survival and inevitably delays the implementation of crucial reforms to strengthen the economy, writes N Chandra Mohan for South Asia Monitor
According to the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyer Association, every year an average of 11 women in the country commit suicide due to cybercrime, writes Monira Nazmi Jahan for South Asia Monitor
The inhibitions of the Indian government to upgrade relations with Taiwan are baffling. It stems from keeping the military out of strategic security formulations, status quo bureaucratic advice and needless fear of China, writes Lt Gen Prakash Katoch (retd) for South Asia Monitor
The recent deadly clashes between the two Rohingya groups at the camp in Cox's Bazar has posed a major security threat to Bangladesh, writes Aashish Kiphayet for South Asia Monitor
If rape in India is to be meaningfully addressed, the onus lies on society to review and correct deeply ingrained socio-cultural norms and practices that are inherently biased against women and the girl child, writes Cmde C Uday Bhaskar (retd) for South Asia Monitor
As Pakistan enters its winter of discontent, yet again, Maryam Nawaz has emerged as a front-ranking leader in a male bastion, writes Mahendra Ved for South Asia Monitor
China is enabling Pakistan to set up a network-enabled warfare capability with satellite feeds to monitor the Indian Ocean Regions (IOR) like the Indian Navy employs Centrix provided by the US Navy, writes Cmde Ranjit B. Rai (retd) for South Asia Monitor
In the BJP’s case, the arrogance bred by two successive general election victories convinced the party that it was now in a position to do more or less whatever it wanted, of which the first and foremost was the implementation of its longstanding desire to abolish Article 370, writes Amulya Ganguli for South Asia Monitor
