Delayed elections in Sri Lanka, tax raids on BBC in India, PTM leader Ali Wazir’s release and more

Southasiasphere is our roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs, now out every two weeks. If you are a member of Himal Southasian, you will automatically receive links to new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get these updates for free by signing up for our newsletters here.

In this episode, we talk about delayed local government elections in Sri Lanka. We discuss the tax raid on BBC offices in Mumbai and Delhi. We also discuss the shutdown of embassies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

In "Around Southasia in Five Minutes", we discuss the release of PTM leader Ali Wazir after almost two years behind bars in Pakistan, a new political party law and a directive from the junta on civilians carrying firearms in Myanmar, the controversial appointment of Victoria Gowri as an additional judge of the Madras High Court in India, rumours of a growing rift in the Taliban in Afghanistan after critical comments made by interior minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, and Bangladesh's selection of a new president. For "Bookmarked", we discuss the documentary Dreaming of Words, which tells the story of Njattyela Sreedharan, a fourth-standard drop-out who went on to compile a comparative dictionary of Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu.