Web Exclusive   After the Emergency: Bangladesh Votes. Exclusive photos of pre- and post-election frenzy updated daily! | Press Release: 26 Southasian editors call for media restraint | Himal Southasian editorial - No to mass hysteria |   The Kosi Breach and Beyond   Living with the Kosi by Shiven Thapa |   In the magazine   January issue out today! Read analysis and introspection on the Bombay attacks and what it means to the region... |   Web Exclusive   After the Emergency: Bangladesh Votes. Exclusive photos of pre- and post-election frenzy updated daily! | Press Release: 26 Southasian editors call for media restraint | Himal Southasian editorial - No to mass hysteria |   Web Exclusive   After the Emergency: Bangladesh Votes. Exclusive photos of pre- and post-election frenzy updated daily! | Press Release: 26 Southasian editors call for media restraint | Himal Southasian editorial - No to mass hysteria |  

Many faces, many colours


   VENANTIUS J PINTO
The terror attack on Bombay in late November by gun-toting youth on a suicide mission resulted not only in the loss of nearly 200 precious lives, but has forced the Subcontinent to confront the fragility of peace amidst the fear of open hostilities between India and Pakistan. As dangerous, a vehement anti-politician tirade has been whipped up by civil society and the electronic media in India, which triggered an ultranationalist chorus across the border. In this issue of Himal, we bring together analysis and introspection about what the attacks mean for us as a region. The implications of beefing up state security at the expense of civil rights, the use of military might to crush ‘terrorism’, and the unrestrained jingoism in the Indian and Pakistani media form the grist of the articles. Even as India confronts deep social and economic inequity and the desperation fuelled by marginalisation and deprivation in several pockets across the country, there are lessons to be learnt from Sri Lanka, reeling under a ‘war process’ with the abandonment of peace initiatives; Afghanistan, where international intervention appears to have exacerbated warlordism and the politics of violence; and Pakistan where the feeble attempts to contain militancy by successive military regimes backed by the US has only caused more anarchy. As the citizens of Southasia brace themselves to tackle the many faces of violence, as depicted by artist Venantius J Pinto on  the cover, they must remember that it is only stable democratic institutions that hold hope for the future.

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Web Exclusive

After the Emergency: Bangladesh Votes
On 29 December, Bangladeshis went to the polls for the first time in seven years. The latest results show a landslide victory for the The Awami League-led alliance, however the BNP complains of iregularities and vote-rigging in polling centres. For the past months, the country has seen a frenzy of excitement and activity in preparation for the Parliamentary Elections of 2008, from the introduction of new electoral laws, to anti-corruption drives and biting oratory from all parties involved. Himal Southasian, in collaboration with the Drik Picture Library, a photo library and media organisation in Dhaka, is carrying original, up-to-date coverage of the events on the ground during the week of the landmark elections.

Odhikar and IFES Joint Statement on Election Violence

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