Journalism in crisis across Southasia, India Out in Bangladesh and more – Southasia Weekly #17
This week at Himal
In the latest episode of the State of Southasia podcast, host Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Laxmi Murthy, senior journalist and the editor of an International Federation of Journalist report on press freedom in Southasia. Murthy examines the deterioration of media independence, and freedom of expression in Southasia and its implications for elections and democracies.
Amid the crisis of the media across Southasia, Himal remains a rare outlier offering independent, in-depth, rigorously fact-checked journalism to all. Himal is fully open-access and paywall-free, with no corporate or government involvement to warp our work, and we rely on the support of readers like you to keep going. Become a Himal Patron today to support independent Southasian journalism!
Anupam Debashis Roy writes about how for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the India Out campaign might be the only card left to play against the ruling Awami League.
Tanka Dahal writes that while Nepal is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, it lags in negotiating for international resources and support for adaptation, leaving communities vulnerable.
We've also been hard at work behind the scenes on the latest edition of Fiction Fest, which will feature Southasian fiction in translation. We're very excited to launch the series on 10 June. Stay updated on the stories in the series here, and sign up here if you'd like to join the launch event on 10 June at 6:30 pm IST!
This week in Southasia
INDIA gains, Modi derailed by election result
India’s Lok Sabha election results brought an unpleasant surprise for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Bharatiya Janata Party clinched 240 seats, short of the 272 seats needed to win a simple majority. While BJP still secured a majority thanks to its coalition partners, it was a bitter pill to swallow. Analysts and opposition parties have termed the result as a win for pluralism and democracy.
The biggest upset came from Uttar Pradesh, and in particular the Faizabad constituency, where Modi had inaugurated a temple dedicated to Hindu deity Ram as a cornerstone of his campaign. But the government razed homes and ignored advice of shankaracharyas ahead of the opening. Modi won his own constituency Varanasi by just 152,000 votes - a far cry from his convincing victory in 2019. The BJP also suffered losses in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, but made surprising inroads in Tamil Nadu and Kerala, states which typically have not voted for the BJP (though the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the United Democratic Front were the ultimate winners in each state). In Gujarat, the Indian National Congress won a seat after nearly a decade.
The results show that the National Democratic Alliance lost ground among rural voters, with many of them choosing to vote for the opposition INDIA alliance instead. Modi’s unwillingness to address unemployment, poverty and inflation proved decisive for rural voters. Without a clear majority, Modi will now have to build relations with coalition partners while contending with a fortified opposition, derailing his vision of building a Hindu-first nation-state.
Elsewhere in Southasia 📡
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan acquitted in state secrets case, but he remains incarcerated due to ongoing cases including for receiving illicit gifts during his tenure.
The Maldives has banned Israeli passport holders from entering the country over Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, part of a broader trend of countries imposing travel restrictions on Israeli citizens. The US is crafting legislation to try to prevent the ban.
At least 10,000 families stranded in Sylhet city due to flash floods after cyclone Remal, highlighting need for effective disaster management and preparedness in Bangladesh
U Tin Oo, the former Myanmar army chief and founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD), passes away at 97
Sri Lanka closes schools, cuts power to some areas as 16 people die due to flooding and landslides
Taliban publicly flogs 63 Afghan men and women for ‘immoral relations’ in Sar-e-Pul, drawing condemnation from UN
At least 50 people killed by Myanmar’s military junta searching for Arakan Army supporters in Byai Phyu village, residents and opposition forces report assault, torture
Bhutan approves recruitment of foreign nurses due to shortage of local nurses, sparking concerns
China gifts 3000 metric tonnes of glacial water from Tibet to Maldives for second time, despite water shortages and imposition of water conservation regulations
Sri Lanka asks Maldives to reconsider limits imposed on migrant worker remittances during Maldives’ Foreign Minister visit, as both countries grapple with economic crises
Only in Southasia
India's Lok Sabha election results held many surprises. Not least, for all the pundits and analysts who confidently predicted that the Bharatiya Janata Party would sweep the polls with a comfortable majority. For Pradeep Gupta, chairman and managing director of Axis My India, it was too much. The exit pollster wept on air during India Today's live coverage of the election results, with the startled anchors soothing him, telling him, "You can't get it right every time." Unfortunately, that's exactly the promise that Gupta had made, telling people who had questions to look at their track record (Gupta claimed to have made correct predictions 65 times). More seriously, questions are being raised about whether the Axis My India-India Today exit poll was rigged in order to manipulate the stock market, with opposition MPs asking for an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Board of India. Now that's certainly something to cry about.
From the archive
The third Sikh ghallugara (July 2009)
As June 1 to 10 marks Operation Blue Star, a reference to the 1984 Indian Armed Force operation at Harmandir Sahib, or the Golden Temple, in Amritsar, Pritam Singh's article is worth revisiting. Singh lays out the contesting descriptions of Operation Blue Star, and how it has become an integral part of Sikh's collective memory. Singh reviews Ram Narayan Kumar's book "Terror in Punjab: Narratives, knowledge and truth" and traces the roots of Sikh dissent in India, eventually culminating in armed confrontation in 1984.