More from Himal

Bangladesh 2026 election: The ballot and beyond
By
The Editors
A special series on Bangladesh’s first election after the 2024 July Revolution as the country searches for new paths in the wake of Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic rule
A Jamaat-e-Islami election rally in Sylhet. Progressives who hoped for democratic renewal in Bangladesh after Sheikh Hasina’s downfall now fear a rightward drift, as the Jamaat’s rise reshapes electoral politics and the freedoms of women and minorities.
By
Cyrus Naji
Even if the Bangladesh Nationalist Party wins, the Jamaat-e-Islami looks set to become a formidable opposition force, shifting the country’s political centre further to the right
A woman puts her vote into a ballot box during a mock polling exercise in Dhaka in November 2025. The election on 12 February will have only four percent women candidates in the race for 300 parliamentary seats.
By
Navine Murshid
With women comprising only four percent of candidates in 2026 general election, Bangladesh’s post-Hasina transition is reproducing the patriarchy it promised to dismantle
The only way to see Southasia. Become a Patron. Support independent journalism. This is the website banner for the 9 February 2026 edition of Southasia Weekly, a weekly newsletter.
Insurgency in Balochistan, Assam chief minister targets Indian activist Harsh Mander, Southasia in the Epstein Files and more
Fact and fable in Anup Mathew Thomas’s photographic Kerala
By
Shubhra Dixit
In ‘Native ball’, the artist presents life in Kerala through a deliberate mix of fact and fabrication, combining photography and text to evoke a kind of magical realism
Himal Interviews: The plight of Bengali Muslims in Assam
By
The Editors
Aman Wadud talks to Harsh Mander about how Bengali Muslims in Assam are being disenfranchised and declared foreigners by India’s CAA-NRC laws
More
Himal Southasian
www.himalmag.com