Since the beginning of the 'talkies', a select group of feature films have had the power to express a vision of national identity that appeals to both the
In the early 19th century, the Southasian diasporas remained actively engaged with political struggles in their lands of origin. Today this has morphed into an obsession with economic returns.
The nature of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid debate shows how much certain parts of Indic society are now prisoners of a historical mode of thinking.
News channels in Pakistan really need to get their fact-checking departments in order – and they need to stop the spooks of the country from playing with the citizenry's
REGION
Poverty inflation?
Come November, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced that it will be changing the way it measures global poverty. Since 1997, its country-wise Human Development
On that riverbank I was rooted for years while growing, following the sun and moon, following the river's rise and fall. I spent hours – days, seasons – playing in
When speaking of any society, it is necessary to ask how far into the grassroots the reach of chauvinistic, exclusionary ultra-nationalism stretches. This is an important question, because it is
Taliban threats to disrupt the polls notwithstanding, voting for Afghanistan's parliamentary elections concluded on 18 September with less violence than anticipated. Though there were over 300 reports of
For the most part, myths about an idyllic country life of pastoral contentment are just that – myths. Bucolic scenes, pastoral settings and rustic tranquillity; poetic descriptions of tranquil village life,
Less than a month after the end of the Fourth Eelam War, the state-owned weekly Silumina carried a full-page interview with a Sri Lankan astrologer. 'President Mahinda Rajapakse and
