South Asia

A Salute across the skies, from Air Commodore Pervez Akhtar Khan

The tragic death of 37-year-old Indian Air Force (IAF) pilot, Wing Commander Namansh Syal, who lost his life on Friday, November 21 when a Tejas Light Combat Aircraft (LCA Mk-1) crashed during a demonstration at the Dubai air show, brought this moving response from Pakistani Air Commodore Pervez Akhtar Khan from across the border

After India’s ‘limited strikes’ on Pakistan, de-escalation, restraint, diplomacy needed to avoid war

In similar highly tense situations in the past, both sides have been able to avoid war and work their way back to near normal conditions, and this can happen again

Pahalgam: Voices of peace and reason in times of war

This piece written before India’s air strikes on its neighbour, Pakistan on May 7 remains relevant today

Poonch Victims: Civilians as targets of shelling

Four minors fell victim to the shelling while a hymn singer, tabla player, shopkeeper and homemaker were also killed and a gurdwara was also struck and suffered damage to its wall; hasty irresponsible reportage included slurring of an innocent civilian killed as a ‘terrorist’; preliminary reportage has counted the victims in Poonch alone to be 15 though numbers are expected to rise further

From Trenches to Trust: Reimagining South Asia’s Dividends of Peace

Generations have been raised on trauma and banality of wars and hostility; it is time to trade $72 billion defense spending for solutions to poverty, illiteracy, and healthcare deficits.

The ‘Harijans’ of Bangladesh: Victims of constitutional neglect and social isolation

From the use of the word ‘Harijan’ alone, to the absence of acknowledgement of structural discrimination within Bangladesh (and Pakistan) the Dalit movement has a long way to go in both Islamic countries

Pakistan: Farmers Protest Govt’s Corporate Farming Plan

To invite big corporate investments into the country’s agriculture sector, Pakistan has announced the building of six canals on the Indus River.

Bangladesh: Why Indian Muslims’ voice against anti-Hindu violence matters

It is reassuring to see some noted Indian Muslim intellectuals and scholars including a few Ulema come out and call spade a spade.

Indian Muslims strongly condemn attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh

Communalism is a sub-continental malaise and must be fought across borders

Lessons from a ‘Democratic Revolt’: Prevent the slide into majoritarianism

Images of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of...

Bangladesh Situation Tumultuous, But Does Not Signify Islamic Extremist Dominance

Longstanding Bangaldesh Observer and Senior journalist Suvojit Bagchi analyses...

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Six Days Behind Bars After Bail: Patna High Court orders ₹2 lakh relief, flags state-wide pattern of illegal detention

Court rejects “festival holiday” defence, directs IG Prisons to fix systemic lapses and ensure jail superintendents comply with court orders

The Politics of Processions: How the Sanatan Ekta Padyatra amplified hate speech in plain sight

As the Sanatan Ekta Padyatra traversed 422 village panchayats across three states, it carried not merely religious symbolism but explicit political messaging. Calls for a Hindu Rashtra, vilification of Muslim communities, and assertions of majoritarian dominance raise serious questions under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita’s provisions on promoting enmity, inciting violence, and disturbing public tranquillity. Yet, as the aftermath shows, ranging from protests in Datia to a clash in Vrindavan, the legal system’s response has been fragmented and cautious. This report interrogates that legal vacuum, situating the padyatra within established precedents of hate-speech jurisprudence and the enduring gap between statutory safeguards and ground-level enforcement.

A Decade after Bisada: Why Uttar Pradesh’s attempt to drop the Akhlaq lynching case defies law and constitution

Ten years after the Dadri lynching shocked India and forced a national reckoning on hate violence, the Uttar Pradesh government has moved to withdraw prosecution against the accused — raising critical questions of law, constitutional duty, and deliberate impunity

Bihar Elections: Trains for votes? The unanswered mystery of the ‘phantom’ specials from Haryana to Bihar

Explosive RTI documents reveal unannounced special trains running from Haryana to Bihar mere days before polling, serious allegations of state-sponsored voter smuggling, as the dust settles on the Bihar 2025 verdict, video evidence of ‘free tickets’ compounds the mystery, leaving questions over the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the definition of "Corrupt Practice" under the RP Act, and the deafening silence of the Election Commission dangerously unanswered

Washed Away by Floods, Targeted by the State: Hamela Khatun’s fight for citizenship

CJP’s team helped Hamela piece together a lifetime of evidence — from 1950s land documents to contemporary electoral rolls — to establish beyond doubt that she is, and always has been, an Indian citizen

The Orchestrated Extremism: An analysis of communal hate speech in India’s election cycle (2024–2025)

This piece uncovers the rise of digital warfare—from caste-coded AI videos in Bihar to calls for the economic segregation of vendors—detailing the calculated strategy to fracture society and weaponise Dalits against Muslims to divert attention from joblessness and poverty

Communal Profiling at Malabar Hill, CJP’s files complaint with Maharashtra Police and NCM

The complaint to Maharashtra Police and the NCM details how a former BJYM office-bearer allegedly conducted unauthorised identity checks and singled out vendors on religious grounds

Massive duplicate entries in Mumbai voter rolls trigger political uproar; opposition flags “fraudulent patterns” and pressures SEC for action

With more than 10.6% of Mumbai’s electorate appearing multiple times in the SEC’s draft rolls—some duplicated over a hundred times—the Opposition alleges targeted tampering in their strongholds, raises alarm over rising “elected unopposed” patterns, and demands urgent corrective action and extended scrutiny