India’s slow-burn affair with Israel heats up

Azad Essa’s 'Hostile Homelands' explores the ideological convergence of Hindutva and Zionism, and the consequences for Kashmir and Palestine – but there is much more driving India and Israel’s deepening ties
Disillusioned with the Taliban, Pakistan reverses its four-decade Afghan policy

As Kabul refuses to act against the TTP and Baloch militant groups, Pakistan is ending the support it has extended to the Taliban since 1994 and its welcome to refugees from Afghanistan since the 1980s
The limited genius of Geoffrey Bawa

‘Geoffrey Bawa: Drawing from the Archives’ allows an exploration of the rift between the celebrated architect’s vision for nation-building in Sri Lanka and the country’s present reality
Interview: The precarity of Afghan migrants in Pakistan

Political scientist and author Sanaa Alimia speaks of the long history of racial profiling, harassment and deportation of Afghan migrants, in the context of Pakistan’s recent crackdown
Bhutan took a step towards queer rights, but its LGBTIQ+ people want a giant leap

Bhutan celebrated the decriminalisation of homosexuality in 2021 but LGBTIQ+ activists are pushing for the legal recognition of all gender identities and marriage equality

PODCAST Listen to All

Podcast: Armed groups challenge Myanmar’s junta, Sri Lanka’s 2024 budget, Uttarkashi tunnel collapse and more

Digital surveillance of Indian opposition, Nawaz Sharif’s return, Muizzu’s deadline to Indian troops and more

Sexual violence in Manipur, protests and repression in Bangladesh, Modi’s Paris visit and more

The Hindu devotees of Imam Hussain: A case of cross-veneration

The case of Hussaini Brahmins and a unique historical context where being both Hindu and Muslim was possible.

From Himal Archives EXPLORE

The madrassa and the state of Pakistan

Religion, poverty and the potential for violence in Pakistan.

| Oct 13, 2016

Natural allies of Hindutva

The ascendancy of the Hindu Right is likely to push India closer to Israel.

| May 29, 2014

The relentless tragedy of Ritwik

Nearly quarter of a century after his death, Ritwik Ghatak's films show the power of creativity of a people's artist who authored an Indian/South Asian language of cinema. If only we knew...

| Nov 01, 2003

From Ansari Road

A journey through English-language publishing in India.

Political maps and cultural territories

The earliest boundary between India and Bangladesh separated peoples of the hills and plains.

Subsumed by history and nation

Where does Faiz the poet and pan-Southasian Marxist end and Faiz the Pakistani begin? This is a question to which Bangladeshis, among others, still seek an answer.

MORE FROM HIMAL VIEW ALL

Podcast: Armed groups challenge Myanmar’s junta, Sri Lanka’s 2024 budget, Uttarkashi tunnel collapse and more

Your Southasia news roundup from 7-19 November 2023, plus an interview with Sanaa Alimia on Afghans migrants in Pakistan

Pakistan brings down the axe on Afghan migrants

A crackdown on undocumented migrants is forcing thousands back to uncertain fates in Afghanistan, and ratcheting up tensions between Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban

A wave of bold new books on the Gorkhaland agitation

Home-grown authors have shattered the fearful silence surrounding the 1986 movement for a separate Gorkha state in India

Interview: The Maldives makes a turn with new president Mohamed Muizzu

Journalist Daniel Bosley speaks on the India–China tussle, accountability and the climate change in the context of the Maldives’ recent presidential election

Misguided mega-projects threaten to devastate the Andaman and Nicobar Islands

The NITI Aayog, an Indian government think tank, is spearheading “development” projects that would strip indigenous people of their land and rights, and destroy precious forests and sea turtle breeding grounds

An internet star’s political dreams meet the brutal realities of Bangladeshi elections

A sharp turn in Hero Alom’s fledgling political career shows what analysts say are the ruling Awami League’s efforts to “manage” Bangladesh’s upcoming election

Digital surveillance of Indian opposition, Nawaz Sharif’s return, Muizzu’s deadline to Indian troops and more

November 2023 - Updates and analysis from around the region

How Manipur’s ethnic violence ripped a queer friendship apart

The collapse of a deep Meitei–Kuki friendship shows how Manipur’s nascent queer movement is fraying, threatening its hard-won gains in the violence-torn Indian state