Sayyid Ahmad Khan’s Search for a Modern Muslim
I grew up in Pakistan where we are taught about Sayyid Ahmad Khan throughout our school years as the grandfather of Muslim Nationalism in…
On Sir Syed Ahmad Khan
C.M. Naim’s, A Professor Emiretus had shared this some months ago: “What an extraordinary man he was. Iftikhar Alam Sahib has been publishing books…
The enigma that is Pakistan (book review)
Anatol Lieven’s new book is not just a contemporary account of Pakistan, it also attempts to present an alternative narrative of what is often…
Fables of Nationalism
Published here: The recent hullabaloo over the Delhi Commonwealth Games has been followed with much interest in Pakistan. Many have gloated over the inability…
Baba Nanak to Baba Farid
This is how the Sufis and mystics of South Asia viewed jihad, peace and the role of religion. Surely our extremists need to read…
Saadat Hasan Manto – part II
After partition of India Saadat Hassan Manto arrived in Lahore sometime in early 1948. In Bombay his friends had tried to stop him from…
Rediscovering Jinnah’s Politics: Pakistan and Democratic Nation-Building in South Asia
A special contribution by Dr. TT Sreekumar Jinnah’s image as an adamant fighter for a separate Muslim Homeland and hence as someone responsible for…
The Right to Dissent
(The year 2011 will be celebrated worldwide as the centenary of the great poet of Southasia, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Himal‘s forthcoming January 2011 issue…
Voices of the oppressed – Dalit literature
By K G Sankarapillai Dalit means broken, oppressed, untouchable, downtrodden, and exploited. They come from the poor communities which under the Indian caste system…
Raza Rumi recalls fond memories of Mushir-ul-Hasan
Raza Rumi pays tribute to Mushir-ul-Hasan, one of the most prolific historians of our times. Author to many books, Hasan had extensively researched Indian…
Majoritarian politics in South Asia
Majoritarian Politics in South Asia is a riveting issue, and in 2018, a particularly topical one. The South Asian Studies Council was pleased to…
The rich history of South Asia is the history of Pakistan too
History of South Asia – South Asia includes the contemporary political entities of the Indian subcontinent and associated islands. Therefore, its history includes the…
Free Speech in Free Countries The Indian Subcontinent Live with Raza Rumi
Raza Rumi’s analysis on the shared histoy of India and Pakistan. In this video he emphasises on similarities between India and Pakistan. Rumi says…
Book Review: South Asia 2060: Envisioning Regional Futures
Book review for The Friday Times South Asia 2060: Envisioning Regional Futures is a comprehensive volume of essays edited by Adil Najam and Moeed…
How the Future of South Asia Can Change!
Since Pakistan’s inception, its relationship with India has been mired by insecurity, hostility, suspicion and mistrust. Independence in 1947 was followed by conflict over…
Book Review – Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi’s Red Light District
There is usually too much romance, tragedy or judgment in books about South Asia’s sex workers Writing about the lives of “fallen women” is…
River Indus: Flow of life – Part I
Along its 1,800-mile course, the Indus joins cultures from the steppes of Central Asia to the arid plains of the South Asian subcontinent. It…
The Feast Of Roses
The Feast Of Roses is a sequel to Indu Sundaresan’s widely appraised novel The Twentieth Wife. As can be expected it is the story…
On Raja Paurava and Alexander
In an article entitled On Raja Paurava and Alexander, Salman Rashid writes: We do not celebrate Paurava; we name no roads after him and…
Le grande exposé: South Asia and WikiLeaks
An extraordinary exposé through WikiLeaks has shaken the closed doors diplomacy and the global security establishment, which flourishes on a culture of secrecy. The…