This is Southasia Weekly, your regular update on the latest from Himal and across the region. If you only read one email from us all week, this should be it.
In Sri Lanka this week, a group of monks have been staging a sit-in calling for the release of the Sinhala Buddhist extremist Galagodaththa Gnanasara, currently detained on contempt of court charges. I’m reminded of the time I saw a group of Buddhist monks in 2013 protesting outside the clothing store ‘No Limit’ in Colombo, calling for a ban on Muslim-owned businesses. That was the first time I heard about the Bodu Bala Sena, and their secretary, Gnanasara, and about their intention to act as an “unofficial police force” to protect the rights of Sinhala Buddhists – at the expense of the country’s religious minorities.
Years later, Gnanasara was detained not for his frequent hate-filled vitriol but for contempt of court, and that too only after the ruling National People’s Power government reversed a presidential pardon. Even as the government insists that they will not reverse the Supreme Court decision leading to his arrest, the protesting monks have pushed for legal reforms so that even disgraced monks like Gnanasara can still wear their robes when leaving the prison premises. It’s a potent reminder of the power the Buddhist clergy continues to hold in Sri Lanka, even under a government facing increasing pressure to combat corruption in all its forms.
Himal has paid close attention over the years to the disturbing uses and abuses of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, with several pieces on the theme just in recent times. This is a vital conversation for Sri Lanka, yet one that the Sri Lankan media has always been reluctant to cover.
Himal brings you analysis from Sri Lanka on topics that mainstream media often can’t or won’t cover. If you believe a free press is vital for Southasia, join our Patrons community. We’re offering a 20% discount on our Patron plans for a limited time, so it’s a great time to sign up.
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Raisa Wickrematunge Senior Editor Himal Southasian |
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Here’s what Himal published this week:
REVIEWS
The Indian middle-class’s broken dreams of Modi and “merit”
Mihir Dalal unpacks middle-class disenchantment in India through two recent books, revealing the failure of Modi’s policies and the shattering of the myth of “merit” that has long been central to the country’s politics.
REVIEWS
What counts as Hindi?
Literary translator Matt Reeck writes that ‘If All the World Were Paper’, Tyler Williams’s history of early modern Hindi, reveals the incredible diversity and depth of archival material available on the topic, and challenges regressive ideas about Hindi literature and cultural history.
Here’s what happened in Southasia this week:
NEWS DIVE
Reliance’s outsized role in US-India ties
On 20 October, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrived in India for a two-day visit. Rather than visit Delhi, on his itinerary was a visit to an oil refinery in Jamnagar, Gujarat, owned by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries. The visit came amid strained relations between the two countries over tariffs and India’s purchases of Russian oil. The Ambanis and Rubio discussed the need for reliable and affordable energy supplies and the need for resilient supply chains, at a time of volatility during the war in West Asia. On the agenda was also Washington’s push for increased processing of heavy Venezuelan crude oil as an alternative to Russian oil.
The visit underscores the clout of Reliance Industries and the Ambanis in India’s foreign policy and trade, elevating Reliance to a de facto diplomatic proxy. Tech tycoon Elon Musk recently shared reports about Reliance’s sizable donations to the Bharatiya Janata Party, lambasting “oligarchs” for blocking Starlink internet services to India and highlighting the enduring nexus between the Ambanis and India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi.
ELSEWHERE IN SOUTHASIA
- West Bengal police remove Left-party-run book stalls across the state during Durga Puja due to misreading of court order; Left leaders allege attacks by BJP workers, who deny involvement
- Sri Lanka’s president Anura Kumara Dissanayake says government cannot overrule Supreme Court decision as Buddhist monks continue week-long sit-in in Colombo demanding a presidential pardon for Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, leader of the Buddhist nationalist Bodu Bala Sena, who is serving a prison sentence for contempt of court
- Detained leader of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to her son Kim Aris for the first time in more than five years, as the military-led regime released photographs of her meeting with Home Ministry officials who delivered books and sealed diplomatic correspondence from Britain’s King Charles III.
- Sri Lanka’s Office on Missing Persons (OMP) summons 119 families of the disappeared from Amparai in eastern Sri Lanka, as relatives continue to seek answers about loved ones missing for decades even as bones bearing cut marks have been recovered from suspected mass grave at Kurukkalmadam
- Nepal’s Department of Drug Administration revokes licenses and registration for 47 brands of immunosuppressant medicines over safety concerns and the risk of cross-contamination
- The United States holds second round of secret talks with Myanmar’s military-backed government in Tokyo in October, following a September meeting in Naypyitaw on detained Americans, scam centres paving the way to potential discussions on Myanmar’s rare-earth deposits
- Pakistan and the Maldives sign 20 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in Islamabad on 21 October during President of the Maldives Mohamed Muizzu’s state visit, witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, covering defence, maritime security, trade, healthcare, education, cybersecurity, tourism and other sectors as the two countries mark 60 years of diplomatic relations and seek to expand bilateral trade
- UN human rights experts urge India to end excessive force against protesters during the student protests, and to launch independent investigation into alleged police brutality, including reports of assaults, ill-treatment and sexual violence during protests and detentions
FROM THE ARCHIVE
Revisit archival stories from Himal that add more context and insight to this week’s news updates from India and Sri Lanka:
Tisaranee Gunasekara
Ingrid Massagé
SNAP SOUTHASIA
Prachi Aryal
