· May, 2009

Stories about South Asia from May, 2009

India: Saving Lives With Paper

Anuradha Parekh at The Better India writes about the struggles of the poverty ridden Sahariya tribe in Madhya Pradesh, India. A local NGO called TARA (Technology and Action for Rural...

25 May 2009

Nepal Has A New Prime Minister

United We Blog! for a Democratic Nepal reports that Madhav Nepal, a moderate Communist Leader is the new Prime Minister of Nepal.

24 May 2009

Bangladesh: Tipaimukh Dam Threatens Lives

Despite protests from within India and Bangladesh, India is going ahead with the construction of the massive Tipaimukh barrage on the Barack river near the border, which will reduce the...

24 May 2009

Bahrain: Our Need For Indians Is Like Our Need For Air

Earlier this month, Bahrain announced that it would be ending the system of sponsorship of foreign labour. While the move is intended to stop the exploitation of workers, especially from the Indian subcontinent, for some Bahrainis the idea of it becoming easier for foreigners to work in the country is worrying. In this post a blogger talks about the Indian presence in Bahrain.

23 May 2009

Pakistan: Local Resistance Against The Taliban

CHUP! – Changing Up Pakistan informs that the local tribesmen near Swat Valley are forming militias (lashkars) to prevent the Taliban influence in the region. Earlier the Talibans executed many...

23 May 2009

Sri Lanka: On The End Of The Conflict

London Lanka and Drums highlights some Sri Lankan blogs and blog posts that have written about the end of the civil war and comments: “Whatever our views, whatever our race...

22 May 2009

Sri Lanka: Abuse, Disbelief And Bitterness Persist

The Sri Lankan government's civil war for over 25 years against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ended a few days ago when the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran was killed. The question remains that "has the dream of many Tamils of having a separate state free from discrimination died with him?". The polarized Sri Lankan Blogosphere is buzzing with a lot of analysis and counter analysis on the stories of celebrating the end of war, human rights abuse, distrust and communal hatred.

22 May 2009

India: Communication Via Word Of Mouth

A Year In India realizes that word of mouth is a strong mean of communication in India because: “this may have to do with illiteracy, a lack of technology and...

21 May 2009

Sri Lanka: What Are We Celebrating?

Chatu at Groundviews asks some questions: “what are we celebrating? Defeating an entity we forced into existence? Are the reasons that forced a young Prabhakaran to assassinate the Mayor of...

21 May 2009

India: Bowing Down Before Your Wife

Sumanth at Desicritics reports of a verdict of the Indian Supreme Court on a divorce case, which asked the plaintiff to “bow down before his wife's ‘diktat'”. The post containing...

21 May 2009

Pakistan: A Humanitarian Crisis

Pakistan has been hit by a severe humanitarian crisis as a result of the military onslaught against the Taliban insurgency in the Swat Valley. Over one million people have fled their homes from various areas in the Malakand division and FATA including Buner, Dir and Swat. A massive relief effort has been launched by many organizations and individuals and the Pakistani Blogosphere is also taking a leading role to seek help for the IDPs.

21 May 2009

India: Election Analysis

Law and Other Things posts some contrasting interpretation of the results of the recently concluded parliamentary elections in India.

20 May 2009

Sri Lanka: Concern For The IDPs

Musings from Toronto comments: “Whether the pro-LTTE diaspora's fear of the Sri Lankan Government is ludicrous or otherwise; their concern for the displaced civilians is certainly one I support.”

20 May 2009

Maldives: The First Free Parliamentary Election

The Maldives has witnessed significant political changes in the last five years: introduction of political parties in 2005; ratification of an amended constitution in August 2008; and the first multi-party election held in October 2008 which brought a democratic government. Hence, the parliamentary election held on May 9 was crucial as the new parliament will be entrusted with the task of passing key laws that will be a milestone in the country’s transition to democracy.

20 May 2009

Bhutan: The Net Generation

Dorji Wangchuk was surprised to see TV and internet savvy Bhutanese kids doing well in international knowledge in a quiz competition but lacking knowledge of their country's culture and history.

20 May 2009

About our South Asia coverage

Rezwan
Rezwan is the South Asia editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.

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