Stories about South Asia from May, 2012
Sri Lanka: The Difficulty Of Getting A Chinese Visa
Indi.ca writes about the difficulty of getting a Chinese Visa in Sri Lanka.
Nepal: Will Presidential Rule Work?
Most Nepalis have lost their patience with the present political leadership because of delays in resolving the current constitutional and political deadlocks. Dr. Divas at ABC proposes that Nepal should...
India: User's guide to Indian free speech
Nila at Akhond Of Swat lists some controversial subjects the Indians should not write about to avoid offending someone (and going to jail).
Bangladesh: Justice For The Rape Victims Of The Liberation War
Anushay Hossain writes that Bangladesh should not hide its scars of the rape of hundreds of thousands of women during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, bring justice for them...
Pakistan: The Hazara Killings – Why Is The World Silent?
The Hazara minority in Pakistan have been suffering from sectarian violence and targeted killings by the extremist terrorist outfits in the past decade. Netizens protest the failure to nab the culprits and the silence of the world on these killings.
Bangladesh: Questions Over Indian ‘Tourism City’ Investment Proposal
The story of a 10 Billion Taka (US$120 million) investment in Bangladesh has made it into the country's headlines, following a visit by Subrata Roy Sahara, chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, one of India's largest business conglomerates. The group are planning to develop a 40 square kilometre housing project situated approximately 50 kilometres from Bangladesh's capital Dhaka.
Bhutan: Learning About A Stone Bath
Sabrina from USA continues her adventure in Bhutan and learns about a stone bath.
Sri Lanka: Cast As A Mother
One year ago – 13 Sri Lankan women of the Stage were invited to look at their experiences of motherhood, through the lens of theatre and write about them. At...
Bangladesh: Shawpno Rath – A School For Slum Children
A group of young people have started a school 'Shawpno Rath' (Chariot of Dreams) in Dhaka, Bangladesh, with the aim of providing schooling to disadvantaged children.
India: Kolkata Joins the SlutWalk Movement
on 24th May, 2012, Kolkata formally joined the global SlutWalk movement, with over a hundred young men and women marching for the cause in the sweltering heat of summer. On the web, netizens bring the event alive through discussions, photos and videos.
Video: Media Portrayals of Cities in the Global South
How do international media represent cities in South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East? Is it fair or helpful to development? A symposium of scholars from the London School...
Bangladesh: Using Blogging to Expose ‘Eve Teasing’
"Eve teasing" has become a disease in Bangladeshi society because of the silence of the citizens. But one blogger stood against one such incident and asked fellow bloggers help in exposing the harassers. Read the full story.
Video: How Societies Work – a Look at Unconventional Arrangements
The VJ Movement has partnered with the London School of Economics to bring us videos and stories that attempt to show how societies in conflict and crisis-affected areas across the globe are facing their futures.
Pakistan: Twitter Goes Through Weekend of Censorship
On Sunday 20 May, Twitter users in Pakistan suffered a total blanket censorship across all ISPs in Pakistan on order of the Pakistan Telcommunucation Authority who cited the reason as censoring blasphemous contents. However, the netizens think that the authorities were testing their url filtering service.
India: Crackdown on Tamil Nadu Anti-Nuclear Plant Protests
Activists are protesting the commissioning of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project in Tamil Nadu, India. The government has cracked down on demonstrators, detained many and had given prohibition orders for further protests.
Bangladesh: Bloggers March for Murdered Journalist Couple
Three months have passed since the brutal murder of the journalist couple Sagar Sarwar and his wife Meherun Runi in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Till date, the police have been unsuccessful in finding any clues or leads in the case.The couple had been found murdered in their apartment, in the early hours of 11 February, 2012.
India: Cricket Or Wife
Jaspreet discusses how some Indian men have to balance between their love for cricket and obviously for their wife.
Bangladesh: Economic of Marriage payments
“There are two kinds of marriage payments — dowry and brideprice, with significant differences among their prevalences in time and across societies,” – informs J. Rahman at Mukti.
India: Entertainment Industry Seeks Court Ban on Torrents and Vimeo
For more than a week now, some ISPs across parts of India have been quietly blocking access to the popular video sharing site Vimeo as well as various torrent sites such as The Pirate Bay, KickAssTorrents, BitSnoop etc. Netizens react.
Pakistan: Partition Era Writer Saadat Hasan Manto Lives On
Saadat Hasan Manto (1912-1955) was a short-story writer, a dramatist and also a translator from Punjab. Today his centenary birth anniversary is being celebrated across Pakistan and also in India.
Sri Lanka: Buddhism and Violence
Ameena Hussein at Groundviews tries to analyze why there is a growing tendency among Sri Lankan Buddhists to embrace violence and hatred.