The following is a compendium of 75 contributions by a spectrum of Southasian thinkers on who we are, how we should organise, and the possibilities ahead. As the SAARC organistaion enters its 23rd year, it is time to delve seriously into concepts surrounding regional identity.

This special issue has been supported by Panos South Asia.

Cover Stories

Does the past matter?

The ragged backdrop
By: Ghazi Salahuddin

Counting the people
By: Haris Gazdar

Alternative to the Westphalian rashtra
By: Navnita Chadha Behera

inchme and pinchme
By: allan sealy

Hate thy neighbour, hug thy enemy
By: I A Rehman

The wait for the statesman
By: Dinesh Mishra

Uniting the monsoon lands
By: B G Verghese

Kalidasa's cloud
By: Sadanand Menon

Victims to perpetrators
By: Suhas Chakma

The colour of fringe histories
By: Sanjay Barbora

A release from majoritarianism and multiculturalism
By: Vasuki Nesiah

Rise of the nuovo-rajas
By: Jayanta Bandyopadhyay

Can art be called Islamic?
By: A R Nagori

Who is a Southasian?

Brown bag
By: Paromita Vohra

Live the present
By: Pushpesh Pant

Asha or Lata?
By: Amitava Kumar

Geography that binds
By: Khalid Ansari and Sangeeta Lama

FAQs
By: Anmole Prasad

Being South-Southasian
By: A S Panneerselvan

Southasian Tibet
By: Tenzing Sonam

Identity vs identification
By: Pratap Bhanu Mehta

Six shared seasons
By: Kaiser Haq

Between South and Central Asia
By: Aunohita Mojumdar

Children of '65
By: Vijay Prashad

The profanity of sameness
By: Sankarshan Thakur

Integration from above

Lessons from the EU
By: Muttukrishna Sarvananthan

Economy and identity
By: Faisal Bari

Abandon ship
By: Bibek Debroy

The learning curve
By: Surendra Mohan

India-A and India-B
By: Sukumar Muralidharan

Towards a New World Symphony
By: Nihal Rodrigo

Lighting us up
By: Bikash Pandey

Cheap talk
By: Rohan Samarajiva

A postcolonial solidarity, finally
By: Jayadeva Uyangoda

No more talk fests
By: Sushil Khanna

The boy in Gaforgaon
By: Shahidul Alam

Integration from below

Democratic enlightenment and cultural production
By: Partha Chatterjee

Media gang-up
By: Sevanti Ninan

Barriers big and small
By: Graham Shaw

Beyond countryhood
By: Samrat Upadhyay

Redefining education
By: Sudharshan Seneviratne

Arrested development
By: Nalaka Gunawardene

my teacher talks of a sri lankan english
By: sumathy

Big Brother statism
By: Dolly Kikon

Healing Southasia
By: Sanjeev Jain

Sausages on curfew break
By: Naeem Mohaiemen

SAARC-ological gardens

The stranded cyclist
By: Jawed Naqvi

Not by vision alone
By: Shamshad Ahmad

No common wealth
By: Peter J Karthak

The charm and logic of connectivity
By: C Raja Mohan

The tautology of cultural collaboration
By: Abhi Subedi

Prosperity in aligned solidarity
By: Kul Chandra Gautam

Traditional SAARC, modern Southasia
By: Saman Kelegama

The reality of proximity (or not)
By: Zafar Sobhan

Venerating localism
By: Chandra Bhan Prasad

Against Southasia
By: Mukul Kesavan

Collective accountability
By: Jennifer Latheef

Between rhetoric and reality
By: Mahendra P Lama

Seven proposals
By: John Samuel

Two hands to clap
By: Mark Tully

Reaching southasia

Family resemblance
By: Antara Dev Sen

The road from Kabul to Kathmandu
By: Shahir A Zahine

Locating the social capital
By: Sanjib Baruah

A Southasian Charter of Human Rights
By: Neera Chandhoke

The people's eye
By: Aruna Roy

Hope amidst indifference
By: Chandni Joshi

What neighbourhood?
By: Vinod Mehta

Someone else's weapons
By: Zia Mian

The organic identity
By: Dilip Simeon

A new belonging
By: Amrita Shah

One voice
By: Rubana

Policy of happiness
By: Kinley Dorji

Drop by some time...
By: Farjad Nabi

A more harmonious clash
By: Siddiq Wahid

An existential matter
By: Kanak Mani Dixit

Manmohan's vision: Exclusive interview with the Prime Minister of India

Rest of the magazine

Review

Bhutanese mists: 'Within the Realm of Happiness' by Kinley Dorji and 'Becoming a Journalist in Exile' by T.P. Mishra

By: Carey L Biron

Two books present the dichotomy of Bhutan's image - from one perspective, the progressive-though-traditional idyll, to another, the authoritarian-to-dictatorial regime.

Hindutva then and now: 'Violent Gods: Hindu nationalism in India's present' by Angana Chatterji and 'Savarkar and Hindutva' by A G Noorani

By: Subhash Gatade

If the metamorphosis of Mohandas Gandhi’s Gujarat into a Hindutva laboratory was baffling to social scientists, Orissa’s recent emergence as another communal hotspot has been no less surprising.

The value of values: 'The Beautiful Tree' by James Tooley

By: C K Lal

Conservation history: 'A Boy from Siklis' by Manjushree Thapa

By: Smriti Mallapaty

The legacy of Chandra Gurung, pioneer in the field of conservation in Nepal.

Time and a place

Turn around or go on

By: Michael Obert

Counting the curves on the road(s) of eastern Bhutan.

Southasiasphere

Colonel Sanders in Kathmandu

By: C K Lal

The one who has smashed tyranny
Broken the back of untrammelled authority
The horse that pulls the chariot of destiny
That one cannot be destroyed.
That one will never die.
– Kedarnath Agarwal in Jo jeevan ki dhool chat kar bada hua hai

Essay

Dialogue, debate or disagreement?

By: Prasenjit Chowdhury

How useful is the distinction between ‘East’ and ‘West’ in today’s world?

Mail

Comments from readers

Opinion

Kaplan's savage Orientalism

By: Michael Roberts

Through slanted analysis, Sri Lanka has been the latest entry into international correspondent Robert Kaplan’s narrative of fear-mongering.

Reflections

A magically depicted reality

By: Richard Boyle

‘Song of Ceylon’ is possibly the finest account of the island and a film which helped define the evolving documentary form.

Analysis

The emerging complexity of Dalit consciousness

By: Laura Brueck

The world of Hindi Dalit literature is more than the sum of its stories.

Election on a precipice

By: Tisaranee Gunasekara

Sarath Fonseka’s candidature in the upcoming presidential elections might be a setback for the Rajapakse dynastic project.

Report

Taming modernity

By: Surabhi Pudasaini

The 17th-century settlement of Leh is struggling against a development boom.

Sighting

Macaulay's stepchildren

By: Anjum Altaf

The colonial decision to utilise English in higher education was not one man’s decision – and its legacy is far more complex than generally understood.

Mediafile

Tidbits of the region's media

By: Chhetria Patrakar

Photo Feature

Scraggly camel show

By: Anamitra Chakladar

The afternoon stillness was broken by the shrill sounds of the orchestra belting out old Hindi movie songs. Instinctively, I knew I had arrived at the right place – the Great Royal Circus, on the outskirts of New Delhi.

Southasian Briefs

Round-up of regional news

Voices

Opinions from around the region

On the way up

The Kailash Parikrama

By: Kanak Mani Dixit

Commentary

Stop and think (India)

No reconciliation, (Pakistan)

Right of return, (Bhutan)

'Quick study'

Bookshelf

Reviews of the latest books from and on Southasia

Critique

Web Exclusive

Iqbal Khattak argues that weak civilian administrations and inability to carry out simultaneous campaigns in strategic districts hamper a military victory to Pakistan’s militancy woes.

Amnesty International's suspension of Gita Sahgal reminds us of the importanance of objectivity, argues Joseph Mathai, and imparts an urgent lesson on the need for clarity on Maoist violence in India