Featured stories about India
Stories about India
Decoding the role of mainstream and social media in the recent anti-Muslim violence in India
“Hindus are under threat,” “Muslims should be treated as second class citizens,” and “Secularism marginalizes India's Hindus” were the top narrative frames present in media items in the CMO research.
Rising anti-Muslim sentiment across India instigated by ultra-right Hindu groups
Communal clashes between right-wing Hindu supremacist groups and the minority Muslim community have been reported across India on two recent Hindu festivals within a span of a week.
Meet Amrit Sufi, who is helping to bring the endangered Angika language onto digital platforms
Rising Voices interviewed Amrit Sufi, a researcher and academician, who is currently working on the digitization of endangered oral languages and cultures in India.
Exploring the use of tech-based tools in India to curb dissent during protests
India is seeing the increased use of technology to monitor dissent and surveil dissenters, particularly protesters, which has a chilling effect on the freedom of expression.
Unpacking India's struggle with recognizing same-sex marriage
Although India decriminalized consensual same-sex activity between adults in 2018, LGBTQ+ activists are still fighting for their rights because same-sex marriage is not recognized under Indian law.
Undertones: Putin’s war emboldens promoters of a ‘United India’
Hindu nationalists are drawing parallels between the breakdown of the Soviet Union and the division of India after colonial rule.
What lies behind India’s silence on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?
As a citizen of a postcolonial society, I sit uneasily with the implication that the whole world must immediately prioritize the goals and problems of the white West over their own.
Undertones: How extremist Hindu nationalists use Instagram
See these examples of memes, photos, and videos on Instagram promoting electoral propaganda and violence as a means to create a Hindu state.
Hijab ban stirs protests in the Indian state of Karnataka
Protests have broken out in the southern state of Karnataka in India over the past months, after colleges in the state banned women students wearing hijabs from attending classes.
South Asia mourns the demise of the nightingale of India
Lata Mangeshkar was a darling of the masses and music directors alike; her career spanned seven decades of unadulterated melody across countries.
India's Mising tribe lives in traditional flood-resilient homes to adapt to climate change
The Mising community in the Indian state of Assam manage to survive in their unique and traditional flood-resilient housing system called chang ghar, perched above the ground on bamboo stilts.
COVID-19: You can’t have a recovery using the same bad medicine
A new collaborative report attempts to piece together the “missing receipts” from the IFI-supported COVID-19 response, documents several shortcomings, and raises critical questions for the ongoing pandemic response.
How Assamese Villages use traditional wisdom to guide climate preparedness
For credible early warning systems for natural calamities, villages in the northeast Indian state of Assam rely on the observations of elders based on their traditional experiences and folk beliefs.
Fans mourn Narayan Debnath, creator of the first Bengali comic-strip superhero
On January 18, 2022, Indian comic artist and illustrator Narayan Debnath passed away at the age of 96 in a hospital in Kolkata after prolonged illness. His fans are mourning on social media.
Bulli Bai, Sulli Deals cases highlight rising communal misogyny in India
More than a hundred Muslim women in India woke up to find themselves up for auction on an app on the morning of January 1, 2022. It has since been taken down.
Women weavers in Assam weather the pandemic and climate change through community groups
Women across 210 villages in Assam have created a network of self-help groups to promote traditional skills such as weaving and gardening to supplement their family income during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Twitter turns white as people share images of snow in Kashmir
Snow-clad mountains, scenic valleys and houses draped in snow — these are glimpses of winter in India's Kashmir region, as shared by Twitter users.
Indians give Chinese places hilarious names after China renames 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh
As China renamed 15 places in the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, Indians on Twitter responded by renaming Chinese places with Indian names.
Exploitation of Indian migrant workers in Serbia continues
The workers' attempt to get redress are complicated by the layers of ownership and contracts, which allow the Serbian company to claim the contract is with a US company.
Indian migrant workers fight for their right to get paid in Serbia
Indian migrant workers have been targeted to work at mega construction projects in Serbia. Several workers are not willing to give up fighting for their back pay, despite legal loopholes.
2021 in retrospective: Authoritarian practices threatened journalists and restricted media freedom in South Asia
In this retrospective, we will review issues of online and press freedom, censorship, the safety of journalists and digital rights in South Asia that we covered during the year.
