Politics

Himal Interviews: The pluralism and poetry of India’s past
By
The Editors
The educationist, writer and activist Syeda Hameed remembers the first decade of free India as one of immense hope in this conversation with Harsh Mander
Image of an old map of Chagos islands superimposed with Chagossians returning home, Maldivian president Mohamed Muizzu, the Seychelles governor responsible for displacing Chagossians and military installations on Diego Garcia.  
By
Daniel Bosley
Under Mohamed Muizzu, the Maldives is contesting Mauritius’ claim to the Chagos archipelago, inserting itself into a geopolitical dispute also involving the United Kingdom and United States
Himal Interviews: Anand Teltumbde on B R Ambedkar and the limits of iconisation
In a conversation on his new book 'Iconoclast', Anand Teltumbde challenges the hagiography surrounding B R Ambedkar, calling for a more nuanced reassessment in view of the ongoing oppression of Dalits ...
Himal Interviews: The decades-long erosion of the idea of India
By
The Editors
The filmmaker Saeed Akhtar Mirza talks to Harsh Mander about a civilisational slide brought about by Hindutva ideas and politics
LGBTQ+ community members protest against the 2026 Transgender Amendment Bill in Mumbai, shortly after the bill is passed through India’s Lok Sabha. The bill was then steamrolled through the upper house on 26 March, dismantling constitutional principles of self-identification and pushing the trans community in India into further precarity.
By
Ankush Pal
India’s hastily passed Transgender Amendment Bill dismantles self-identification rights and walks back on constitutional promises
The BNP government under Tarique Rahman must realise that, in modern Bangladesh, the economy has become the ultimate arbiter of political survival.
By
Faisal Mahmud
In Bangladesh now, the economy dictates politics and not vice versa – as Sheikh Hasina discovered to her peril
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