Stories about South Asia from February, 2013
Misogyny Still a Problem in Bangladesh
Dibarah shares her experience of being back home in Bangladesh after studying abroad for 3 years. She criticizes the prevailing misogyny and public sexual harassment that women have to face everyday. Rather...
One Billion Rising: Progress for Women Worldwide, But Still Much to Do
On February 14, 2013, a worldwide event "One Billion Rising" was held, in which women were invited to gather and to dance, to demonstrate against gender violence. On this occasion, Barbara Auger raises a question still faced by women today: what role should they take ?
What India Can Learn From #Shahbag
Sandip Roy writes why India should be paying attention to its neighbors #Shahbag uprising as there is a conversation happening there which matters to everyone in South Asia.
Pakistan's Darkest Night On Social Media
A massive power breakdown rocked Pakistan at 11:45 pm on Sunday, 24 February 2013, plunging 70 percent of the country into darkness for 14 hours. People turned to humor on social media to make life easy during the blackout.
Bangladesh Raises Voice to End Violence Against Women
With fists raised to the sky, thousands of Bangladeshis throughout the country stood together in city streets and plazas last week chanting "no more, no more!" to demand an end to violence against women as part of the "One Billion Rising" movement.
Bengali Language History Not Lost on Youth
Farah Subhan at Amader Kotha highlights how Bangladeshi youth feel about 21 of February, the day commemorating the martyrs of the Bengali language movement, also known as the The International...
India at the Forefront of One Billion Rising
Reports from the online and mainstream media show Indians participating in huge numbers across the country and India trending at the forefront of the global campaign, One Billion Rising.
Videos from #Shahbag, Bangladesh's Generation Square
The movement for justice against Bangladesh's war criminals at Shahbag or "Generation Square", as it is now being called, has entered its fourteenth day.
#Shahbag Protesters Bid Farewell to Brutally Murdered Blogger
As protesters continued their chants at Shahbag calling for Bangladesh's war criminals and affiliates of the Islamist party to be beheaded, one of their own, Ahmed Rajib Haider was brutally killed outside his home in capital city Dhaka on February 15, 2013.
Pakistan's Hazara Shias Demand Arrests, Protection After Deadly Bombing
In the latest attack against Pakistan's Hazara Shia minority, a bomb ripped through a busy market in the southwestern city of Quetta in Pakistan on February 16, claiming as many as 63 people and injuring 180 others. Many have accused the government of inaction, demanding that authorities step in and put an end to the mass killings.
Videos from “One Billion Rising” Global Protests for Women's Rights
Every third woman falls victim to violence in her lifetime. On February 14, 2013 thousands of people all over the world protested against these daily acts of violence with dance.
Bangladeshi Artists Capture Shahbag Protests in Cartoons
The protests in Shahbag square in Bangladesh's capital city, where thousands of people have gathered to demand death for war criminals, rage on for a 12th day. Several artists have put pen to paper to capture the movement in cartoons.
#Shahbag Blogger Hacked To Death
Engineer Ahmed Rajib Haider, a young blogger and online activist participating in the ongoing Shahbag movement in the Bangladesh capital Dhaka was brutally killed a few hours ago, reports Mamur...
One Billion Rising Flash Mob
Kristin Boekhoff writes how the trainees and workers of Panigram resort organized a dance flash mob in their village as part of the One Billion Rising campaign.
Bangladesh Unites at Shahbag for 42-Year-Old War Crimes
Drop by drop, the Shahbag intersection in Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka has become an ocean of people, demanding justice for the atrocities committed during the country's 1971 liberation war and death penalty for war criminals.
Bangladeshi Women Join Shahbag Protests in Remarkable Numbers
Extraordinary numbers of Bangladeshi women have joined the groups of protesters occupying the capital city Dhaka's Shahbagh intersection demanding capital punishment for war criminals. The movement, spearheaded by bloggers and online activists, is seeking the death penalty for those who committed crimes against humanity during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.
In Pictures: The Protesting Crowd In Shahbag
Last Friday, 8th of February, 2013, hundreds of thousands of people started to gather since morning in Shahbagh's Generation Square in solidarity with bloggers and online activists’ ongoing protests. Arif Hossain Sayeed shares pictures of this mass gathering in Bangladesh capital Dhaka.
Fatwa Snowballs, Kashmir's First All-Girl Band Calls it Quits
Pragaash, the first all-girl rock band from Kashmir, has quit after a local Muslim cleric issued a fatwa calling the girls' behavior un-Islamic. The short-lived musical group had also received online and offline abuse.
#Shahbag in a 140 Characters
As the #Shahbag movement of Bangladeshis is gaining its momentum, more and more Bangladeshis are using social network services like Twitter and Facebook to organize the movement. Shopan Awalin provides...
Bangladesh: All Roads Lead To Shahbagh
The protests at Shahbagh intersection in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka continue for the fourth day. Protesters demand capital punishment for Jamaat-Islami leader Abdul Quader Mollah and other war criminals on trial.
Bangladesh: Protests Must Rise Above Politics
Let’s join together, Bangladeshis in Dhaka and all over the word, to make sure that after waiting for four decades, justice is finally delivered, and the memory of our martyrs...