Over the past year, Sri Lanka has often been cited as a case study in economic precarity, and while headlines have been full of stories of poverty and the ongoing protests, there has been less dedicated coverage over next steps. The UN states that at least 5.7 million people within the country require humanitarian aid. With food inflation reaching 85.6 percent in October, 28 percent of the population face moderate to severe food insecurity. 

These events have to be set against a global cost of living crisis; with reports of inflation everywhere from Pakistan to the UK, France, Kenya and Nigeria. As food and fuel prices rise, lower income countries are disproportionately impacted, and the impacts of debt mismanagement become starkly visible. 

In this edition of Southasian Conversation (recorded on 21 January 2023), we ask: how should governments negotiate complex debt restructuring processes?  What do examples from the region, and indeed globally, tell us about navigating debt restructuring, and how will this impact people’s lives in the interim? We at Himal hope this will provide an opportunity to revise these questions and also serve as a platform for an open and timely conversation on what’s next for Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Full panel discussion video and transcript: https://www.himalmag.com/debt-restructuring-imf-economic-crisis-southasia/

Available on Youtube: https://youtu.be/lvzJL6epHEA 
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/user-162273488/rebound-or-relapse-debt-restructuring-in-a-time-of-crisis?si=5ec8295432ab47f5b33491b2e1842d47&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3YNld1yWbw6TTf6lHs4r0S?si=ugsFp678Sbiy9Q0rQAdBpw
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebound-or-relapse-debt-restructuring-in-a-time-of-crisis/id1464880116?i=1000596441692

Rebound or relapse: Debt restructuring in a time of crisis

According to the UN, 2022 was one of the deadliest years for Rohingya refugees at sea since 2014. Over 3500 Rohingya attempted to leave Myanmar or Bangladesh by sea in 2022, and at least 348 lost their lives or went missing while doing so. But these tragedies have already faded from headlines, even though the Rohingya crisis continues.

In this edition of Southasian Conversations, recorded on 27 February 2023, we bring attention to the Rohingya community and their ongoing struggles for survival, dignity and justice. We look at the present crisis but also beyond, to go farther than entrenched narratives focussed solely on Rohingya dispossession.

Moderator:

• Ben Dunant, Editor-in-chief, Frontier Myanmar

Panelists:

• Kaamil Ahmed - Journalist for the Guardian and author of I Feel No Peace: Rohingya Fleeing Over Seas and Rivers

• Ruki Fernando - Human rights activist

• Sahat Zia Hero - Founding editor for Rohingyatographer Magazine

• Sharifah Shakirah - Founder and Director of Rohingya Women Development Network

Full video discussion and transcript: https://www.himalmag.com/the-rohingya-refugee-crisis-at-sea-and-beyond-struggle-for-justice/

The Rohingya crisis at sea, and beyond

In this episode, we talk about the attempted arrest of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan and details of the case against him, involving state gifts. We also discuss a fresh UN High Commissioner for Refugees funding call for Afghanistan, where the dire humanitarian situation means 20 million people - almost half the population - are experiencing food insecurity. 

In “Around Southasia in 5 minutes”, we discuss the spread of adenovirus in West Bengal, protests around toxic smoke at the Brahmapuram waste dump in Kochi, Nepal’s new president, trade union action in Sri Lanka opposing the IMF’s conditions for a bailout loan, a new Human Rights Watch report on political prisoners in Bhutan, and news of Zangkar Jamyang, a Tibetan writer and language rights activist, who disappeared in 2020 and has resurfaced in a Sichuan prison. 

For “Bookmarked”, we’ll be discussing A path home, a graphic novel about Naga repatriation.

Episode notes:

Sri Lanka’s great IMF lie: https://www.himalmag.com/sri-lanka-imf-development-food-insecurity-debt-economic-crisis/

Refusal and responsibility: https://www.himalmag.com/refusal-and-responsibility-tibetan-intellectuals-2022/

Returning spoils of colonial conquest: https://www.himalmag.com/returning-spoils-of-colonial-conquest-2021/

A Path Home - graphic novel On Naga repatriation https://rradnagaland.org/novel/

Full episode and transcript: https://www.himalmag.com/imran-khan-attempted-arrest-un-appeal-afghanistan-aid-graphic-novel-on-naga-repatriation/ 

Listen on Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/cfUx6 
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/0mEtnNPOcUXNJaylY5OkH0?si=TrWbRtooQWSIhf3-pP_0Nw 
Apple podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/southasiasphere-20-march-imran-khans-attempted-arrest/id1464880116?i=1000605299207 
Youtube: https://youtu.be/-xayhndIjlQ

Voice Recorder

Southasiasphere, 20 March: Imran Khan’s attempted arrest, UN appeal for Afghanistan aid and more

At Screen Southasia, we host monthly online screenings of compelling documentaries from the region, including Nepal, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka. We present a diverse range of films, both classic and new, that showcase the unique cultures, histories and perspectives of Southasia. 

Screen Southasia is a partnership between Himal Southasian and Film Southasia. 

For updates on future screenings and Q&A sessions, sign up here: https://bit.ly/3UwHAaR

In our first Screen Southasia Q&A session, recorded on 3 April 2023, we speak with the filmmaker Kesang Tseten, to discuss his 2006 documentary ‘Hami Kunako Manche’ (We Corner People).

Film synopsis: This is a story of a village in Rasuwa District, north of Kathmandu – in ravines beyond which no settlement lies. The inhabitants call themselves people placed at the corner: their backs against the wall, without electricity, roads, health posts, and lacking even a single shop. Villagers walk four hours just to buy chilli or salt, or to sell their bamboo weavings, their only means of cash income. Now, a bridge comes to the village, addressing longstanding fears about the rushing torrent below. How will their lives change?

Screen Southasia: Q&A session with the filmmaker Kesang Tseten

The Adani Group has been making big news for the wrong reasons. Hindenburg Research’s report accusing the group of “the largest con in corporate history” sent Adani stocks plummeting, wiping well over USD 100 billion off the group’s valuation even as the conglomerate denied doing any wrong. Suddenly Adani is facing extra scrutiny from investors, governments and the media – but activists who had long alleged malpractice in Adani projects in India and across the region, as well as journalists who earlier exposed the group’s questionable practices, are left to wonder what took so long.

The world’s focus has mostly been on India, but the Adani Group’s vast footprint has left marks across much of the rest of Southasia too. In Bangladesh, pressure is building for the government to reconsider a power deal with Adani that may not be in the country’s best interests. In Sri Lanka, like in Bangladesh, there are questions over what role the Indian government played in securing ongoing Adani projects. In Myanmar, following the 2021 coup, there has been scant attention to how Adani has continued with controversial projects under the rule of the unelected military government. And in India, there are the perennial questions over Gautam Adani’s closeness to Narendra Modi, and allegations of special treatment for his business house.

In our latest edition of Southasian Conversation, recorded on 11 April 2023, we look at the long reach of the Adani Group – from energy to transport and logistics, from India to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and Myanmar – to draw attention to the conglomerate’s record in Southasia, and to ask not just what it says about the Adani Group itself but also about power, politics and diplomacy in the region.

Panelists:

* Ravi Nair – Investigative journalist
* Zia Hassan – Economist and political commentator
* Rawan Arraf – Executive Director, Australian Centre for International Justice
* Rathindra Kuruwita – Journalist and researcher


Moderator:
* Roman Gautam – Editor, Himal Southasian

Adani In Southasia

In this episode, we talk about ongoing court cases on marriage equality in India, decriminalisation of same-sex relationships in Sri Lanka, and recognition of foreign same-sex spouses in Nepal. We also talk about the fencing of the Durand Line between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

For “Around Southasia in 5 minutes”, we'll be talking about April marking 10 years since the collapse of Rana Plaza in Bangladesh, and 8 years since the 2015 earthquake in Nepal, as well as developments related to the acquittal of 69 Hindus who were accused of murder during the 2002 Gujarat riots in India. We'll also be talking about Bhutan's cryptocurrency holdings, voter data theft and manipulation in the lead up to Karnataka‘s state elections, revelations around a bribe impacting the X-Press Pearl disaster litigation in Sri Lanka, wrestlers' protests in India, and the last photos of Japanese photojournalist Kenji Nagai, who was killed in Myanmar.

For “Bookmarked”, we talk about Rima Das’ 2018 film, Bulbul can sing, a coming of age story set in Assam. We also tease our upcoming edition of Screen Southasia, ‘Is it too much to ask?’ directed by Leena Manimekalai, which will be screening from 5-8 May, with a Q and A on 8 May. Sign up to catch this and future screenings here: https://bit.ly/ScreenSouthasia

Episode notes:

The line Durand drew - Daniel Lak: https://www.himalmag.com/the-line-durand-drew/ 

Pashtuns will not be pawns in Pakistan’s dangerous game with the TTP and Taliban - Hurmat Ali Shah: https://www.himalmag.com/pashtuns-protest-pakistan-peshawar-mosque-bast-swat-waziristan-ttp-taliban/

Tehreek-i-Taliban is making its way back in Pakistan: https://www.himalmag.com/tehreek-i-taliban-peace-talks-pakistan/

How hate works - Rakesh Shukla: https://www.himalmag.com/how-hate-works-gujarat-riots-rakesh-shukla-2019/

The Nepal earthquake, one year later - Himal Southasian: https://www.himalmag.com/the-nepal-earthquake-one-year-later/

Scandalising the supply chain - Dina M Siddiqi: https://www.himalmag.com/scandalising-the-supply-chain-bangladesh-2022/

Yameen’s conviction, the Taliban ban on women’s education, Kite Tales and more - Southasiasphere (January 2023): https://www.himalmag.com/southasiasphere-yameen-conviction-taliban-womens-education-rohingya-crisis-2023/

Bulbul Can Sing - A film by Rima Das: https://www.netflix.com/title/81026003

Episode transcript: https://www.himalmag.com/marriage-equality-india-durand-line-gurajat-nepal-earthquake-wrestlers-protests/

Southasiasphere, 2 May: Marriage equality in India, fencing the Durand line, and more

Southasiasphere is our roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs, now out every two weeks. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to new episodes in your inbox. 

In this episode, we talk about Apple’s alerts warning of potential state-sponsored cyberattacks targeting Indian opposition leaders and journalists, an explosion in Kerala targeting a Jehovah’s Witness convention, Nawaz Sharif’s return to Pakistan, advances by armed groups battling Myanmar’s military junta in Shan state, arrests and deaths of Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists following a three-day blockade in Bangladesh, the launch of an India-Bangladesh railway link and the incoming Maldivian president Mohammed Muizzu’s plan to evict Indian troops within a week of his inauguration. 

In this episode, Himal Southasian interviews Daniel Bosley, a journalist and blogger working on the Maldives, about the recently held Maldivian presidential elections (interview begins at 10:27).


Episode Notes:

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Daniel Bosley’s reading list:
The Costliest Pearl: China’s struggle for India’s Ocean
Stealing Paradise

Southasiasphere 5 Nov: Digital surveillance of Indian opposition, Nawaz Sharif’s return, and more

December 2023 - Updates and analysis from around the region

Southasiasphere is our roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs, now out every two weeks. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to new episodes in your inbox.

In this episode, we talk about Uttar Pradesh’s halal ban, Myanmar’s armed groups exposing the weakness of the military junta, the US uncovering a foiled assassination plot targeting the founder of Sikhs for Justice, an ongoing sit-in at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, Maldives’ former president Abdullah Yameen forming a new political party, the extension of the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor to Sri Lanka, Pakistan application to BRICS, the release of founding editor of The Kashmir Walla Fahad Shah and pro-monarchy protests tapping into public discontent with Nepal’s government. 

Episode Notes:

Become a member to support our work.

Sign up for the Southasiasphere newsletter to make sure you don’t miss future episodes. 

Aung Kaung Myat’s reading list:

Burma: Insurgency and the politics of ethnicity - Martin Smith

Making enemies: War and state building in Burma - Mary P Callahan

Myanmar’s enemy within: Buddhist violence and the making of a Muslim ‘Other’ - Francis Wade

Southasiasphere 4 Dec: Uttar Pradesh’s halal ban, Myanmar’s armed groups expose junta’s weakness

Bangladesh’s parliamentary elections are scheduled to be held on 7 January. In the run up to the elections, there have been escalating protests led by the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party calling for Bangladesh’s prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to resign and transfer power to a non-partisan caretaker government to ensure a free and fair election. Historically, Bangladesh’s elections have been marred by violence and crackdowns on political opposition. This election has already seen a number of BNP party members and supporters being arrested by the Awami League government, and there are now calls from political opposition to boycott the election altogether. 

In this edition of Himal Interviews, Assistant Editor Nayantara Narayanan interviews Himal Southasian contributor Anupam Debashis Roy on Bangladesh’s elections, the crackdown on political opposition and the impact of US-imposed visa restrictions.

What is the atmosphere in Bangladesh like in the run-up to parliamentary elections?

Anupam Debashis Roy’s reading list:
Bangladesh’s blueprint for engineering an election - Ali Riaz
Is Awami League heading towards a Pyrrhic victory? - Mahfuz Anam
The Election Commission’s credibility problem - Badiul Alam Majumdar
We are heading towards another one-sided election - Badiul Alam Majumdar
Has BNP served its supporters well? - Mahfuz Anam
More than meets the eye: Essays on Bangladeshi politics - Ali Riaz

Himal Interviews: Bangladesh’s one-sided parliamentary elections, crackdown on political opposition

Anil Varghese and Nawal Kishore Kumar discuss Bihar’s caste survey and its implications for affirmative action

In October 2023, the chief minister of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, released the results of a caste survey of his state – a landmark development given that India has not had a comprehensive count of its caste composition since 1931, and pushed through despite resistance from the central government under the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Bihar’s survey found that over two-thirds of the state’s population of 130 million belonged to oppressed castes, establishing an essential fact in the wider battle for expanded affirmative action for oppressed communities. The results of Bihar’s caste count will likely trigger more such exercises in other parts of India.

In this edition of Himal Interviews, our Editor, Roman Gautam, interviews Anil Varghese and Nawal Kishore Kumar of Forward Press, a Delhi-based publishing house and website dedicated to anti-caste thought and caste emancipation. Varghese is the editor-in-chief of Forward Press, while Kumar is the Hindi editor. Varghese and Kumar also collaborated on an article for Himal Southasian, titled ‘India needs a caste census – and Southasia does too’, published on 13 January. 

Why has a country-wide caste census in India been delayed for so long? How might Bihar’s survey results impact the representation of oppressed castes in all spheres of Indian public life?

INTERVIEW: Unpacking India’s caste census

On 22 January 2024, as India’s prime minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new Ram temple in Ayodhya, a 32-year old film was recirculated across India on social media platforms. Many Indians felt the need to watch and share the documentary Ram ke naam made by Anand Parwardhan in 1990. The film captured the mobilisation of hundreds of Hindu activists who were made to believe that Ram was born at the exact spot where the 16th century Babri Masjid stood and, as a result, wanted a temple built there instead of the mosque. The film was released in September 1992 just months before a group of militant Hindu activists illegally tore down the Babri Masjid.  

In this episode of State of Southasia, our assistant editor Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Patwardhan about the making of Ram ke naam, why India ignored its warnings about religious fundamentalism and what lessons it still holds three decades later. 

State of Southasia releases with a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #01: Anand Patwardhan on the Ram Mandir and the long life of the ‘Ram ke naam’

At Screen Southasia, we host monthly online screenings of compelling documentaries from the region, including Nepal, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka. We present a diverse range of films, both classic and new, that showcase the unique cultures, histories and perspectives of Southasia. 

Screen Southasia is a partnership between Himal Southasian and Film Southasia.

In this Screen Southasia Q&A session, recorded on 5 February 2024, we speak with the filmmaker Jude Ratnam on his film 'Demons in Paradise'

Synopsis
Sri Lanka 1983 – Jude Ratnam is five years old. On a red train, he flees the massacre of Tamils instigated by the Pro-Sinhalese majoritarian government. Now a filmmaker, he takes the same train from South to North. As he advances, the traces of the violence of the 26-year-old war, which turned the Tamil fight for freedom into self-destructive terrorism pass before his eyes. He unveils the repressed memories of his compatriots, opening the door to a new era and making peace possible again. Demons in Paradise is the result of ten years of work. For the first time, a Tamil documentary filmmaker living in Sri Lanka is seeing the Civil war from the inside.

SCREEN SOUTHASIA: Q/A session on 'Demons in Paradise' with Jude Ratnam

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, the novelist V V Ganeshananthan joins host Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, to talk about the books that define her latest novel, Brotherless Night, and women’s writing on Sri Lanka’s long history of anti-Tamil violence. 

V V Ganeshananthan, also known as Sugi, is the author of the novels Brotherless Night (a New York Times Editors’ Choice) and Love Marriage, which was longlisted for the Women’s Prize and named one of the best books of the year by The Washington Post. She also teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota, where she is an associate professor of English, and co-hosts the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast on Literary Hub, looking at the intersection of literature and the news. 

Brotherless Night, published in 2023, contends with the Sri Lankan civil war’s end by returning to its beginning through the voice of Sashi, a young Tamil woman growing up in the northern city of Jaffna. As violence unfolds around Sashi, her four brothers and their friends, they navigate the complexities and contradictions of seeking political liberation while confronting the cruelty of the Sri Lankan government, Indian peacekeepers and Tamil militant groups. 

As the book’s title lets on, there were huge costs to this war absorbed by young men in Sri Lanka’s north and east, but there’s also immense loss experienced by women - mothers, students, civilians and activists. Part of the success of Brotherless Night is that it’s not only an essential contribution to writings on Sri Lanka’s civil war, but it humanises the lived experiences of Tamil women and the ways in which they’ve been affected by anti-Tamil violence. Through Brotherless Night, Ganeshananthan poses urgent questions on whose stories are told and who gets to tell the stories and histories of conflict in Sri Lanka – which we explore further in this conversation.

***

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by V V Ganeshananthan will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to Himal’s newsletters at bit.ly/HimalNewsletters.  A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #01: V V Ganeshananthan on Brotherless Night

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Ayesha Siddiqa, a political and military analyst from Pakistan and currently a senior fellow at the department of war studies at King’s College in London. Siddiqa is also the author of Military Inc, a revelatory book about the Pakistan military’s economic activities and their fallout. Ayesha Siddiqa discusses the support for Imran Khan in Pakistan’s recent election, the formation of a new government under Shebaz Sharif and growing public disaffection with the military

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #02: Ayesha Siddiqa on Pakistan’s election and its message for the military

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. 

In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the author Smriti Ravindra about her debut novel 'The Woman Who Climbed Trees' and the representation of the Madhesi community in the literary imagination of Nepal. 

The Nepali-Indian writer Smriti Ravindra is a Fulbright scholar and holds an MFA in creative writing from the North Carolina State University. Her fiction and journalism have been published in the United States and in India, and she is the author of The Woman Who Climbed Trees, a searing story of three generations of women and the challenges faced by them in traditional societies across India and Nepal. 

The novel begins with the story of a woman who climbed trees every night, and she gets labeled as a witch by her community. And the title also lets on, this is a story of women who break rules and will keep climbing trees despite the constraints of society weighing them down. With the lyrical use of folklore and mythology, Smriti Ravindra unravels the experiences of women who leave their parent’s homes after marriage, and in the process become strangers to their own selves, and outsiders in these settings. 

The story, set partly in the late 1980s and early 1990s of Kathmandu, also traces the major political transitions of Nepal, addressing questions of ethnicity and corruption, and in doing so, the book sheds light on the long-ignored topic of the Madhesi experience, particularly that of women, in Nepali literature – which we explore further in this conversation.

This episode is now available on 
Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/tnv3Tfpg39EG4sPC8
Spotify: spoti.fi/498g4Gv
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3TxYgyF
Youtube: youtu.be/bX4IvY311-0

himalmag.com/podcast/smriti-ravindra-the-woman-who-climbed-trees-madhesi-women-identity-nepal-literature

***

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Smriti Ravindra will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to Himal’s newsletters here: bit.ly/HimalNewsletters

A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #02: Smriti Ravindra on ‘The Woman Who Climbed Trees’

This Southasian Conversation looks at the costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions, featuring conservationist M D Madhusudan, environmental lawyer Shibani Ghosh and journalist M Rajshekhar in conversation with Roman Gautam, Editor of Himal Southasian.

Led by Anant Ambani and supported by the Indian government, the Reliance conglomerate’s effort to shelter abused elephants has transmuted into an enormous wildlife centre – raising concerns over the sourcing of some animals as well as over India’s wildlife management. Here we dive deeper into the past and disturbing present of wildlife conservation in India and beyond.

Read M Rajshekhar's story 'The costs of Reliance’s wildlife ambitions' here: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/reliance-ambani-anant-elephants-wildlife-vantara-radhe-krishna-trust-greens

This online conversation was recorded on 4 April, 2024 at 7 PM IST.

You can listen to this conversation on Soundcloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube.

Southasian Conversation: The costs of Reliance's wildlife ambitions

Over the last many decades, India has taken pride in an election process that, while allowing close to a billion people to exercise their franchise, has always been largely free and fair. However, Narendra Modi’s government has taken a series of actions that have called the sanctity of the country's 2024 general elections into question. This includes a dubious scheme of electoral bonds that has allowed parties – Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party more than others – to raise funds from anonymous donors, as well as a reconstitution of the Election Commission that will likely favour the ruling party. The BJP has also dealt a hammer blow to the opposition by arresting two chief ministers on charges of corruption and freezing the largest opposition party’s assets. 

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Aakar Patel on how hard-won gains in democratic processes including elections have been squandered by the Modi government at great cost to the Indian republic. They also discusswhat the opposition’s options are and what an unfree and unfair election in the world's largest democracy meansfor the rest of Southasia. 

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

Episode notes:
Further reading from Himal’s archives:
The enduring personality cult of Narendra Modi: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/christophe-jaffrelot-gujarat-narendra-modi-bharatiya-janata-party-hindu-nationalism
With an unfree and unfair election, Pakistan prepares to repeat its past: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/pakistan-unfree-unfair-election-military-nawaz-sharif-imran-khan
State of Southasia #02: Ayesha Siddiqa on Pakistan’s stormy election and its message for the military: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/ayesha-siddiqa-pakistan-election-2024-imran-khan-shebaz-sharif-pml-nawaz-military
In Bangladesh’s sham election, the only real contest is geopolitical: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/geopolitics-us-europe-china-india-sheikh-hasina-awami-league-2024-bangladesh-election
Prabir Purkayastha’s fight against two Emergencies in India – under Modi and Indira Gandhi
Every vote counts in Kashmir: https://www.himalmag.com/reviews/prabir-purkayastha-newsclick-arrest-emergency-india-indira-gandhi-narendra-modi

State of Southasia #03: Aakar Patel on the unprecedented threats to India’s election

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the Karachi-based author Taha Kehar about his latest novel No Funeral for Nazia. 

https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/taha-kehar-no-funeral-for-nazia-karachi-pakistan-literature-southasian-mystery-novels

*

Rituals of mourning are a huge part of cultures across Southasia, but as a society we don’t often speak about grief and death. The decision about what happens to us after death is one of the most personal choices we make, and it might be rooted in family wishes, cultural expectations, religious traditions, personal preference, or all of the above. But in No Funeral for Nazia, a richly imagined mystery set in Karachi, the author Taha Kehar presents an intriguing alternative.   

In her final days, the protagonist Nazia writes a diary of instructions for her sister, Naureen, as well as six letters to be delivered after her death. There is to be no funeral, instead, only six invitees are asked to attend a party, including one mystery guest, where various truths and long-held grudges are revealed throughout the night and we witness the entangled relationships between these characters and Nazia. 

The story also traces gender and class dynamics in Karachi society as well as past and present events of Pakistani politics, giving us a sweeping glimpse of the country’s urban life – which we explore further in this conversation.

* 

Taha Kehar is a novelist, journalist and literary critic based in Karachi. A law graduate from SOAS, London, Taha is the co-editor of a multi-author anthology titled 'The Stained-Glass Window: Stories of the Pandemic from Pakistan'. Taha is also the author of three novels, Of Rift and Rivalry, Typically Tanya, and his latest, No Funeral for Nazia.

*

Listen on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/REg2ViHv83RpinXe8
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4da4pdI
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/49LR1t6
Youtube: youtu.be/IQseJRik6V4

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Taha Kehar will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to Himal’s newsletters here: http://bit.ly/sign-up-southasia-review-of-books-newsletter

A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #03: Taha Kehar on Southasian mystery novels

Extreme heat has immense economic and social impacts in Southasia, an area that is most  vulnerable to heat, that is densely populated, and that has a large numbers of people living in poverty. Research says that extreme heat is here to stay and will likely only get worse. An analysis of the 2022 heatwave across India and Pakistan showed that human-induced climate change makes Southasian heatwaves 30 times more likely. 

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Chandni Singh, a senior researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements who works on climate change adaptation across Southasia. Singh talks about how the current Southasian experience of heat is unlike anything the region has seen in the past.

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

Episode notes:
Further reading from Himal’s archives:

As India’s election heats up, soaring temperatures from climate change find little mention in mainstream media: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/india-election-rising-temperatures-heatwaves-risks-climate-change-journalism-mainstream-legacy-media

Nepal’s unescapable trap of migration, farming and climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/politics/nepal-himalaya-migration-rural-farming-agriculture-climate-change

INTERVIEW: COP28, the transition from fossil fuels and the Loss and Damage fund: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/cop28-dubai-climate-change-net-zero-simon-evans

Climate change in Bangladesh is driving a dengue outbreak in winter: https://www.himalmag.com/video/climate-change-dengue-outbreak-in-winter-bangladesh

Primacy and absence of climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/excerpt/primacy-and-absence-of-climate-change-bangladesh-threatening-dystopias-excerpt-2021

Chipko to climate change: https://www.himalmag.com/reportage/chipko-to-climate-change-2021

State of Southasia #04: Counting the costs of another historic heatwave in Southasia

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the Siliguri-based poet, writer and essayist Sumana Roy about her latest book 'Provincials: Postcards from the Peripheries'. 


In Southasian literature, it seems that there might not be any other way to see the province except in contrast to the city. So much has been said about cosmopolitanism, but what of provincialism? 

Growing up in Siliguri, a sub-Himalayan town in Bengal, Sumana Roy’s experiences have marked her understanding of the provincial reader’s life: including the sense of belatedness, and the desire for pleasure in language. There’s a constant search for writings that bring other worlds to the provincial readers’ lives but also for glimpses of lives similar to theirs. 

In a series of “postcards” from the peripheries of Southasia and beyond, with writings ranging from Rabindranath Tagore to William Shakespeare, Bhakti poets to the Brontës, Sumana introduces us to the imaginative world of those who have celebrated provinciality. She challenges the dominance of the metropolis to reclaim the dignity of provincial life and challenges the imaginary barriers we tend to put between the rural and urban. 

Sumana Roy is a poet, writer, essayist and editor based in Siliguri. She is the author of several published texts, including her latest 'Provincials' (2024), 'How I Became a Tree' (2017), 'Missing' (2018), 'My Mother’s Lover and Other Stories' (2019), and two poetry collections, 'Out of Syllabus' (2019) and 'VIP: Very Important Plant' (2022).

Episode notes: https://www.himalmag.com/podcast/sumana-roy-provincials-postcards-southasian-peripheries-tagore-bengal-siliguri-literature

Listen to the episode on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/ZRR39EPSLv3Ptqa38
Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3UQD9IR
Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/44SPnFd
Youtube: youtu.be/yDxo2G_f0X8 

Southasia Review of Books is a podcast and a monthly newsletter that threads together our latest reviews and literary essays, with curated reading lists and all things books-related from Himal’s extensive archive. A special reading list curated by Sumana Roy will be featured in this month’s Southasia Review of Books Newsletter. You can subscribe to the newsletter here:bit.ly/sign-up-southasia-review-of-books-newsletter. A new episode of the Southasia Review of Books Podcast will be available once every four weeks. If you like this episode, please share widely, rate, review, subscribe and download the show on your favourite podcast apps.

Southasia Review of Books Podcast #04: Sumana Roy on literature from the Southasian provinces

In this episode of State of Southasia, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Laxmi Murthy, a senior journalist and the editor of the report, about the important role of the media and the struggles of journalists working in crisis conditions in an especially important year for the region, when several countries in Southasia are holding elections. (Disclosure: Laxmi Murthy is a Contributing Editor for Himal Southasian.)

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #05: Journalism in crisis across Southasia

Welcome to the second edition of the Himal Fiction Fest, where we celebrated Southasian fiction in translation. Southasia’s rich literary tradition spans hundreds of languages, cultures, regions and traditions – and translators play a vital role in bringing these works the exposure and recognition they deserve, and connect. 

To kick off the festival, we hosted an online reading of translated stories originally written in Bangla, Farsi, Hindi, Nepali, Punjabi and Tamil by their translators. These stories are published on our website. This was followed by a panel discussion on the future of Southasian fiction in translation, which featured the prize-winning translators Daisy Rockwell, Musharraf Ali Farooqi and Jayasree Kalathil, as well as the leading literary agent Kanishka Gupta. 

The event was held in partnership with the Armory Square Prize for Southasian Literature in Translation. The 2024 prize finalists read excerpts from their translations before the announcement of this year’s winner.

The event took place on Monday, 10 June 2024

Featured in the fest:

My Sister, Life (excerpt) by Mahmudul Haque, translated from Bangla by Shabnam Nadiya and Mahmud Rahman

Insects (excerpt) by Fauzia Rafique, translated from Punjabi by Haider Shahbaz


Unknown by Mayilan G Chinnappan, translated from Tamil by Kalyan Raman

Chowmein by Durga Karki, translated from Nepali by Sandesh Ghimire

Lord Almighty, Grant Us Riots! by Anil Yadav, translated from Hindi by Vaibhav Sharma

One Day Forever... (excerpt) by Lina Rozbeh Haidari, translated from Farsi by Laila Ghezal Azimi

Himal Fiction Fest 2024: The future of Southasian Fiction in Translation

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to Siddhartha Deb about his novel 'The Light at the End of the World' and his latest book, 'Twilight Prisoners: The Rise of the Hindu Right and the Fall of India'. 


'The Light at the End of the World', Siddhartha Deb’s first novel in fifteen years, reinvents Southasian fiction for our time. 


The novel, beginning and ending in a dystopian future of authoritarianism and climate disaster, blurs the lines between realism and speculative fiction. It captures the puzzle of contradictions that is modern India today, and traces it back to the many moments of apocalypse in the Subcontinent’s history. At its core, the story is also about how certain tragedies and certain kinds of violence are repeated. 


Over the past decade and a half, India has pivoted from a seeming success story, revealing itself to be a stranger than fiction-dystopia. In his recently published collection of essays, 'Twilight Prisoners', Siddhartha paints a damning picture of these darkest of turns in India’s recent past. It is a powerful exploration of the rise of Hindu Nationalism and its impact on dissenting voices and marginalised communities. And most importantly, it’s a timely reminder that those who resisted and are resisting – India’s twilight prisoners if you will – are not forgotten. As long as there is resistance and remembrance, there is still hope. 


Born in Shillong, in northeastern India, Siddhartha Deb lives in Harlem, New York. His fiction and nonfiction have been longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award, shortlisted for the Orwell Prize, and been awarded the Pen Open prize. His journalism and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The New Republic, Dissent, The Baffler, N+1, and The Caravan.


Episode notes:

This episode is now available on Soundcloud: on.soundcloud.com/LoWvGocG7fDagxrQ7 
Spotify: spoti.fi/3KKdxsf
Apple Podcasts: apple.co/3KMugLF
Youtube: youtu.be/s8QAJGgY6zc

Southasia Review of Books podcast #05: Siddhartha Deb on India’s macabre new realities

At Screen Southasia, we host monthly online screenings of compelling documentaries from the region, including Nepal, India, Kashmir, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Tibet, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Maldives and Sri Lanka. We present a diverse range of films, both classic and new, that showcase the unique cultures, histories and perspectives of Southasia. 

Screen Southasia is a partnership between Himal Southasian and Film Southasia.

Film: Split Ends
Country: Nepal
Released: 2016
Q and A with director: 7 JUNE 2024 (FRIDAY)
Time: 6 pm IST, 6:15 pm NPT, 5:30 pm PKT


Synopsis:
A barbershop becomes a place of refuge for Nepali migrants who travel to Portugal in search of the European dream.

About the director:
Rajan Kathet is a filmmaker based in Kathmandu working in both fiction and documentary films. Rajan's first feature documentary, "No Winter Holidays," premiered in the International First Feature Competition section of Sheffield DocFest 2023 and is the winner of the NATIVA Award at Alternativa Film Awards 2023 in Kazakhstan. His short fiction work, "Bare Trees In The Mist (2019)," was screened at several international film festivals, including the Toronto International Film Festival 2019, Tampere Film Festival, HKIFF, Encounters Film Festival, Dharamshala IFF, and Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia.

Rajan collaborates with national and international filmmakers through his production company, Salpa Films. He has worked on projects such as the Taiwanese feature documentary “After The Snowmelt” by Yi-Shan Lo, which premiered at Visions du Réel 2024, and the TV documentaries "In the Land of Machines" by Heo Chul-nyung (South Korea), "Home Street Home" by Alan Lau for Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK), and "A Himalayan Endgame" by Deepak Chaturvedi (India), all of which are in post-production.

Rajan is also engaged in film education and mentors young filmmakers through his involvement in local film schools and filmmaking workshops. He regularly contributes to the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival DocLab.

Screen Southasia: Q/A on 'Split Ends' with filmmaker Rajan Kathet

In this episode of State of Southasia, assistant editor Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Harsh Mander, the peace activist and founder of Karwan-e-Mohabbat, a campaign in solidarity with victims of communal or religious violence.

Mander says that over the past decade the Modi regime has normalised, legitimised, valourised and incentivised hate to such an extent that it is difficult to undo despite any kind of electoral setback to his party, and that much more is needed to defeat the social project of hate that is underway.

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #06: Harsh Mander on fighting the Hindu right’s social project of hate in India

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to the Colombo-based author Vajra Chandrasekera about his debut novel 'The Saint of Bright Doors' (July 2023) and his second and most recent novel, 'Rakesfall' (June 2024). 

In The Saint of Bright Doors, Vajra paints a vivid picture of a city on the brink – tracing Fetter’s path from child assassin, raised to kill his saintly father to misguided adult with the ability to see devils, anti-gods and magical traces of their world – like the mysterious bright doors. In blending the mundane and fantastical with violence of colonialism, religious control, and the struggles against these systems – the book captures the complex of the power structures that shape us. 

But one lifetime is not enough to tell some stories. Rakesfall is a complex portrait of death and reincarnations. This cross-genre science fiction epic, following two souls as they reincarnate and echo across alternative realities, the mythic past to modern Sri Lanka, its long drawn civil war, to a far-future Earth abandoned by humanity. We see how those in power consolidate their hold on society, even to the point of strangling it again and again. It’s about the rise and fall of empires. How every attempt to make imperial power last forever fails and is always vulnerable to rebellion. 

At its core, The Saint of Bright Doors and Rakesfall explore the connectedness of struggles for liberation and how they reoccur in different contexts of oppression.

The Saint of Bright Doors has won the Locus, Nebula, and Crawford awards and is a finalist for the 2024 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Vajra’s nonfiction, poetry and over 50 short stories have appeared in magazines and anthologies including Analog, Black Static, Clarkesworld, The Los Angeles Times, among others. He has worked as an editor for Strange Horizons and Afterlives: The Year’s Best Death Stories, and as a judge for the Dream Foundry Writing Contest and the Salam Award. 

This episode is now available on Soundcloud: 
Spotify: 
Apple Podcasts: 
Youtube: youtu.be/VXuSQtHRDZk

Southasia Review of Books podcast #06: Vajra Chandrasekera

In this episode of ‘State of Southasia’, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Ali Riaz, distinguished professor at Illinois State University, who studies democratisation, violent extremism, political Islam, and Southasian and Bangladeshi politics. Riaz details how, after the government displayed absolute disregard for people’s lives, it has further lost legitimacy and seen the political ground shift in Bangladesh.

State of Southasia releases a new interview every four weeks.

State of Southasia #07: Ali Riaz on Bangladesh’s mass protests

Welcome to the Southasia Review of Books Podcast from Himal Southasian, where we speak to celebrated authors and emerging literary voices from across Southasia. In this episode, Shwetha Srikanthan, assistant editor at Himal Southasian, speaks to Neha Dixit about her debut non-fiction book The Many Lives of Syeda X: The Story of an Unknown Indian. 

Neha is an independent journalist based in New Delhi. She has covered politics, gender and social justice in print, TV and online media for 17 years. She reports for Al Jazeera, The Washington Post, the Caravan, The Wire and others. She has won over a dozen international and national journalism awards including One Young World Journalist of the Year Award in 2020, the International Press Freedom Award in 2019 from the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Chaameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Journalist in 2017, among others.

In her book The Many Lives of Syeda X, Neha traces the life of one working-class Indian migrant woman, her friends and family over the course of thirty years, spanning from the early 1990s to the present day.

This episode is now available on Soundcloud:
Spotify:
Apple Podcasts:
Youtube:

Southasia Review of Books podcast #7: Neha Dixit

On 21 August, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers formally issued “vice and virtue” laws codifying rules of lifestyle and behaviour, entrenching their control over social interactions and the private lives of people in the country. Unsurprisingly, the strictest measures relate to the dress and demeanour of women. The laws say that Muslim women must cover their faces and bodies around non-Muslim women and all men who are not “mahrams” – their husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, grandfathers or uncles. They also deem a woman’s voice to be intimate and say that it should not be heard singing, reciting or reading aloud in public.

The diktat came a week after the Taliban celebrated three years of establishing the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan in August 2021, after the withdrawal of US troops from the country and the fall of a republican government. Soon after the group took power, the Taliban government set up a ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice, which has issued edicts and enforced them through a “morality police”. A UN report from July said that such decrees had created a climate of intimidation and fear among Afghans. The decrees have disproportionately affected women, who have had severe restrictions placed on their movement, attire and education under the Taliban. Men have also been affected. For example, last week, the morality police dismissed 280 men who did not have beards from the security forces.

The two most immediate and momentous fallouts of the change in Afghanistan’s leadership in 2021 were the drying up of foreign-exchange reserves, leading to the collapse of the economy, and the crackdown on the freedoms of women. In this episode of ‘State of Southasia’, Nayantara Narayanan speaks to Kate Clark, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a research organisation in Kabul, about how the Afghan people have been coping with deprivation under the repressive regime.

State of Southasia #08: Kate Clark on how Afghans are coping after three years of Taliban rule

In the three years since its return to power, the Taliban have excluded women and girls from almost every aspect of public life in Afghanistan, denying them access to education, employment, even speaking or showing their faces outside their homes. Published this August, My Dear Kabul: A Year in the Life of An Afghan Women’s Writing Group (Coronet, August 2024) is the collective diary of 21 fiercely brilliant Afghan women writers, compiled using WhatsApp messages, offering courageous and intimate testimonies of the fall of Kabul in 2021 and its aftermath, of life under Taliban rule and far from home in exile. 

In August 2021 these women were in the process of publishing an anthology of short stories when their world was turned upside down. As they watched their cities fall, schools close, families and friends disperse and freedoms disappear, they stayed connected via WhatsApp messages, and established a space to keep their creativity alive, support each other and bear witness to the turmoil unfolding around them. My Dear Kabul is their story. 

My Dear Kabul is an Untold Narratives project, supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by The Bagri Foundation. Untold is a development programme for writers marginalised by community or conflict. It has been working with women writers in Afghanistan since 2020, where support for writers has been hampered by restrictions on freedom of expression and instability.

Marie, among the 21 contributors to My Dear Kabul, was born in Afghanistan but her family lived in exile when she was a young child, returning home during the years of the Islamic republic. She studied for her first degree at Kabul University’s Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences before completing a master’s degree in India. In August 2021, Marie was in Afghanistan, working in the marketing department of a German aid agency while running her own women-led counselling service. In November 2021, she was evacuated from her family home to an apartment in Germany; she moved alone. Her story ‘The Café’ was published in Moveable Type in 2023. Marie is also a contributor to My Pen Is the Wing of a Bird (MacLehose Press, 2021) and Rising After the Fall (Scholastic, 2023). 

Parwana Fayyaz, a translator and editor of My Dear Kabul, is a scholar and teacher of Persian literature at the University of Cambridge. She is also a poet and translator working with multiple languages. Her poetry collection, Forty Names (Carcanet Press, 2021), was a New Statesman book of the year and a White Review book of the year. Her translations promote the writings and culture of Afghan people around the world. 

Sunila Galappatti, an editor of My Dear Kabul, has worked with other people’s stories as a dramaturg, theatre director, editor and writer: at the Royal Shakespeare Company, Live Theatre (Newcastle), Galle Literary Festival, Raking Leaves, Suriya Women’s Development Centre, Commonwealth Writers, Himal Southasian and Untold Narratives. She spent five years working with a long-term prisoner of war in the Sri Lankan conflict, to retell his story in A Long Watch (Hurst, 2016). I should add I’ve had the privilege of working with Sunila at Himal - so I’m thrilled to be speaking with her today.

SaRB #08: The Afghan women writers who bore witness to the fall of Kabul

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