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The NPP has been one of the only political parties in Sri Lanka to promise to decriminalise same-sex relationships - but there has yet been no move to repeal Sections 365 and 365A. Devana Senanayake writes

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🎙️📚 "It even sounds the same – 'criminal' and 'habitual offender'. So the burden of crime got carried with the Bhantus into independent India." A conversation with Nusrat F Jafri on uncovering her maternal ancestors’ past rooted in the Bhantu identity:

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Three new books unpack the violent roots of caste-based vegetarianism and India’s dairy industry as Dalits and Muslims continue to be targeted by cow-protection vigilantes. A review essay by Sohel Sarkar :

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The student’s death has sparked wider discussion about inaction on harassment on India’s college campuses, with students saying that a prior complaint did not result in action against her alleged harasser. Out now in Southasia Weekly. Sign up here: http://buff.ly/40rTgjN

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Nepali students protest in relation to the student death. In response, the university directed an estimated 500 Nepali students to leave campus, leaving many of them stranded. Read more in Southasia Weekly, our regional roundup and the latest from Himal: http://buff.ly/40rTgjN

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"Recent findings offer the broad outlines of a case that would, in most courts, see Sheikh Hasina and her lieutenants – alongside individual perpetrators in Bangladesh’s security forces – convicted of crimes against humanity." Cyrus Naji writes: https://buff.ly/3EGA6OM

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Pakistan’s worry if India reestablishes its footprint in Afghanistan is that India, through its intelligence services, will revive support for actors inimical to Islamabad, including Islamist groups and Baloch separatists , writes Salman Rafi Sheikh

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A student's death sparks diplomatic tensions between India and Nepal, Modi's US visit, Sri Lanka's Budget and more in this week's edition of Southasia Weekly, our regional roundup of the latest from Himal and across the region. Sign up: http://buff.ly/40rTgjN

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"The UN report will make it harder for the Awami League to make a comeback in Bangladesh any time soon. It will also make it difficult for Sheikh Hasina's backers in New Delhi to continue their implicit support for the ousted government." Cyrus Naji :

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Tamil-language weekly Ananda Vikatan said its website was blocked after it published a satirical cartoon. Unfortunately, attempts to stop distribution of the cartoon only amplified attention towards it. Read what made us laugh in Southasia Weekly: bit.ly/HimalNewsletters

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"The general view is that the Bangladesh Army played a neutral, even commendable role in the Monsoon Revolution. However, the UN report has introduced a measure of doubt into that picture." Cyrus Naji writes:

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"Bangladesh’s interim government has made it a core priority to investigate the crimes of the uprising. Unfortunately, its efforts at accountability have been, at best, uneven." Cyrus Naji writes:

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"Reports from the UN and Human Rights Watch paint an unflattering picture not just of the Sheikh Hasina government’s brutality but also of the interim government’s failure to stop abusive practices that continue to this day." Cyrus Naji writes:

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"The UN report will make it harder for the Awami League to make a comeback in Bangladesh any time soon. It will also make it difficult for Sheikh Hasina's backers in New Delhi to continue their implicit support for the ousted government." Cyrus Naji writes:

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Over the past week, protests around the death of a 20-year-old Nepali student in Odisha, eastern India have led to heightened diplomatic tensions between India and Nepal. Out now in Southasia Weekly. Sign up here: bit.ly/HimalNewsletters

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🎙️ On State of Southasia, the human rights lawyer Yasmin Sooka of the International Truth and Justice Project discusses human rights violations during Sri Lanka’s decades-long armed conflict and after it, and why truth and reconciliation commissions have failed in Sri Lanka so far.

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🔮⏳ The year is 2500. How do you imagine Southasia will be hundreds of years from now? That is the theme of this year’s Himal Fiction Fest, which we are hosting from 9-20 June. Our deadline for submissions is 1 April.

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“I hear the president is making positive changes. I hope he will find justice for my brother.” Nimalarani's voice carried calm determination. Writes Saroj Pathirana

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Today marks 8 years of continuous protest by families of the victims of enforced disappearances in Kilinochchi in the North of Sri Lanka. From 2020, Bhavani Fonseka on the long wait for justice and the chronic failures of criminal justice in #SriLanka:

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"The state-sanctioned brutality of cow protection, buttressed by anti-slaughter laws in all but six Indian states and frequent complicity by police forces, is on blatant display." Sohel Sarkar on Non-violent vegetarianism, holy cows and other myths:

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📢FRESH! Reports from the UN and Human Rights Watch confirm the Awami League regime’s responsibility for the bloodshed of the Monsoon Revolution, but also warn that the interim government risks “replicating poor practices of the past”. Cyrus Naji :

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Can India ever return to a principled Palestine policy? Three new books demonstrate how India’s position on Israel–Palestine is determined by a careful calibration of geopolitical ties and its own image and interests. A review essay by Chintan Girish Modi :

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🎙️📚 “Women vendors exist, but their work is often framed as an extension of domestic duty rather than a certain professional agency that they are trying to claim." A conversation with @aampannaa.bsky.social on survival of Old Delhi’s book bazaar:

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Back in 2002, Robin Jeffrey reflected on the contexts and circumstances of Kumbh Mela festivals between 1954 and 2001 in order to examine how India changed after independence. 🔗 As #KumbhMela2025 nears its, Robin Jeffrey writes

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From a distance, the proposed bill in Sri Lanka appeared to be part of a regional shift in favour of the LGBTIQA+ community, even as local queer activists remained sceptical of its chances. Devana Senanayake

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As a part of the ongoing struggle for the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships, Sri Lankan activists across generations are continuing to push back against state and societal oppression. Devana Senanayake writes

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Pakistan’s worry if India reestablishes its footprint in Afghanistan is that India, through its intelligence services, will revive support for actors inimical to Islamabad, including Islamist groups and Baloch separatists , writes Salman Rafi Sheikh

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🎙️📚 "It even sounds the same – 'criminal' and 'habitual offender'. So the burden of crime got carried with the Bhantus into independent India." A conversation with Nusrat F Jafri on uncovering her maternal ancestors’ past rooted in the Bhantu identity:

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"The cow-protection agenda casts slaughter as the only form of violence against the cow and frames Muslim and Dalit communities as solely responsible for any and all violence against cows in India." A review essay by Sohel Sarkar

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🔮⏳ The year is 2500. How do you imagine Southasia will be hundreds of years from now? That is the theme of this year’s Himal Fiction Fest, which we are hosting from 9-20 June. Our deadline for submissions is 1 April.

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The wait for justice for Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, a murdered Jaffna journalist. Saroj Pathirana writes Free Media Movement – Sri Lanka #LKA

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🎙️"If you look at prosecutions in every country, often you're dealing with foot soldiers, but you never really get to the top – people who have command or superior responsibility," Yasmin Sooka from ITJP on human rights abuses in #SriLanka & #Bangladesh

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The NPP has been one of the only political parties in Sri Lanka to promise to decriminalise same-sex relationships - but there has yet been no move to repeal Sections 365 and 365A. #DecriminaliseLove #LGBTQRightsSriLanka #End365 #LKA Devana Senanayake writes

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"Vegetarianism in India, despite its violent roots in caste-based hierarchies, continues to be couched in a language of animal welfare, good health and non-violence." Sohel Sarkar on Non-violent vegetarianism, holy cows and other myths:

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Sri Lankan Tamil journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, known for his critical reporting on government-linked paramilitary groups, was shot dead in his home in 2000. His case remains unsolved. #JusticeForNimalarajan #LKA Saroj Pathirana writes:

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🎙️"If you look at the campaign of the mothers of the disappeared, many of them handed over loved ones into the custody of the military, and they have never been seen today," says Yasmin Sooka of the International Truth and Justice Project #lka #StateofSouthasia

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"The body of the dairy cow became a site for tense encounters between Hindu, Congress and developmental nationalisms in India." #DalitRights #CasteViolence #CowVigilantism Sohel Sarkar on Non-violent vegetarianism, holy cows and other myths:

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The wait for justice for Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, a murdered Jaffna journalist. Saroj Pathirana writes Free Media Movement – Sri Lanka #LKA

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🎙️#podcast “Where you have conflict, there's usually a question of who the beneficiary of that conflict is... there's a real link between political crimes of the past and economic crimes and corruption," says Yasmin Sooka @itjpsl #lka www.himalmag.com/podcast/yasm...

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Just as many in Sri Lanka’s North and East have bestowed faith on the new president, Nimalarani is also hopeful that Dissanayake will deliver justice, even after decades of waiting. Saroj Pathirana Free Media Movement – Sri Lanka #LKA

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🧩 Understanding Post-1947 India through the lens of the Kumbh Mela. "Slicing India" analyzes pivotal years that shaped a nation, from tradition to modernity. #IndianHistory #KumbhMela #PostIndependence Fom 2002, writes Robin Jeffrey

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"The cow-protection agenda casts slaughter as the only form of violence against the cow and frames Muslim and Dalit communities as solely responsible for any and all violence against cows in India." #DalitRights #CasteViolence #CowVigilantism A review essay by Sohel Sarkar

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🎙️"What you've seen in Sri Lanka has been, I would say, probably more than three decades of impunity. And that has become quite entrenched in the political system," says Yasmin Sooka of International Truth and Justice Project #StateofSouthasia #lka

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The Kumbh Mela brings millions to the holy rivers, but the pollution left behind is undeniable. How can ancient spiritual practices coexist with modern conservation efforts? 🌿🙏 #KumbhMela #EnvironmentalCrisis #SacredRivers From 2013, writes Sarandha

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🎙️"Even though the conflict had ended formally with the official declaration of victory in May 2009, actually many of the abductions that we were investigating continued well beyond that period," says Yasmin Sooka of International Truth and Justice Project #lka #EndImpunityNow

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Millions gather to bathe in India's sacred rivers during the Kumbh Mela, but where does faith meet environmental responsibility? #KumbhMela #PollutionVsPurity #SaveOurRivers From 2013, writes Sarandha

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🎙️"Where you have conflict, there's usually a question of who the beneficiary of that conflict is... there's a real link between political crimes of the past and economic crimes and corruption," says Yasmin Sooka of International Truth and Justice Project #StateofSouthasia #lka

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The wait for justice for Nimalarajan Mylvaganam, a murdered Jaffna journalist. #JusticeForNimalarajan #EndImpunitySL #JournalistsUnderFire Saroj Pathirana writes Free Media Movement Srilanka https://buff.ly/4hChqhX

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