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May

Rajapaksa’s bad gamble By   Ajaz Ashraf After India’s vote against Sri Lanka at the UNHCR, Southasian states can no longer count on New Delhi’s centrality in formulating Indian foreign policy.

Why separate? By   Rakesh Ankit A new book justifies Kashmiri secession, but the scholarly appraisal ignores the full complexity of the crisis.

High Himalayan hype By   Don Messerschmidt Infatuation with Everest has inspired Everest-sized absurdities.

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Clearing Korail By   Saad Hammadi Dhaka’s latest slum demolition shows the full scale of the Bangladeshi government’s callousness and ineptitude.

The fighting Kachin By   Brennan O’Connor Burma’s recent reforms have brought no respite for the Kachin people.

April

The peacock fights on By   Benoît Cros Burma takes its first steps towards democracy, but can the NLD offer more than just Aung San Suu Kyi’s star appeal?

The Pentagon’s Southasia By   Kanak Mani Dixit A new web portal run by the US military could herald an interventionist rather than home-grown regionalism.

Tibet burning By   Topden Tsering A close look at past and present shows the self-immolators and their struggle to be anything but apolitical.

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Memories of my melancholy ghosts By   Pankaz K Sharma Remembering pre-television celebrities in a small town in Assam.

The shadow of the gun By   Joseph Allchin Despite victory in Burma’s historic by-elections, the NLD faces many daunting obstacles to meaningful change.

Why fuss-fuss about mack-up creams? By   Suchi Govindarajan Fairness is good, no?

Dividing the spoils By   Jared Bissinger An international court settles a maritime dispute, allowing both Bangladesh and Burma to pursue lucrative oil and gas exploration.

Between the expressway and the Yamuna By   Sreedeep & Kamalini Mukherjee South Delhi’s forgotten people build lives next to a forgotten river.

Here to stay By   Subel Bhandari A strategic US-Afghan pact looks to guarantee US presence until 2024, but crucial details remain undecided or unclear.

Long way home By   Aarthi Rajan Without extensive reforms to India’s Kafkaesque immigration laws, ‘goodwill’ pardons only hide the plight of illegal immigrants languishing in prisons.

Now I am so tall By   Students from a children's home and Paul Aitchison Students from a children's home in Kathmandu share stories of how they got there, and where they want to go.

March

Right to Information: Seeping to the capillaries Aruna Roy interviewed by Kanak Mani Dixit

Children of Southasia By   Sneha Shrestha Cause for hope and for sober reflection in UNICEF's latest report.

A lady’s life By   Joseph Allchin Review of an apolitical biopic on Aung San Suu Kyi.

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Breaking the trade barrier By   Shahzada Irfan Ahmed Pakistan finally takes steps to grant India Most Favoured Nation status.

The Sultanate’s return By   Zeeshan Khan Tracing the origins of Islamic Bangladesh.

JNU, repoliticised By   Urvashi Sarkar Student politics returns to Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The Indian peranakans of Malaysia By   Anindita Dasgupta & K Nadarajan Raja The tiny Melaka Chitty community offers important lessons on diversity and the strength of flexible identity.

The Birangana and the birth of Bangladesh By   Laxmi Murthy Women and wombs during, and following, the Liberation War.

Alms-bowl pamphleteer By   Benoît Cros The story of King Zero, a Burmese activist monk.

The wrong formula By   Garga Chatterjee India’s National Science Day highlights the deep malaise in state-sponsored science awareness programmes.

Poetry against purdah By   Ahmad Salim Pioneers of women’s liberation, Southasia’s women Sufi poets deserve to be remembered and celebrated.

Talk of 'traitors' By   Namini Wijedasa Unfazed by UN resolution, Rajapaksa government leans on patriotism and allies.

Hurt heroines By   Laxmi Murthy Women and wombs in Bangladesh’s Liberation War.

February

What use is it? By   Prawin Adhikari Reflections on the tumultuous Jaipur Literature Festival 2012.

This is why this kolaveri di By   Arvind Rajagopal The viral hit says more about India than you think it does.

Man on fire By   Bhuchung K Tsering The recent spate of self-immolation could point to a new radicalisation of Tibet’s struggle.

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Gone at gunpoint By   Azra Naseem President Mohamed Nasheed’s ‘resignation’.

The Rohingya moment By   Eric Paulsen Statelessness and Burma’s democratic transition.

New Delhi’s Tehran conundrum By   Harsh V Pant As the international screws tighten on Iran, the Indian government is being forced to engage in a high-pressure balancing act.

Kaleidography By   Sagar Shiriskar Photos disassembling everyday life…

Right to Information: Seeping to the capillaries Aruna Roy interviewed by Kanak Mani Dixit

January

A mobile mirror By   Merajur Rahman Baruah Living in the realm between social reality and scripted stage, the mobile theatre community in Assam not only entertains, but also reflects the absurdity of life.

Polio’s final inch By   Daniel Toole & Sarah Crowe India stands on the brink of making medical history, showing that polio can be eradicated from the region.

Ooh la la By   Rahul Mukherjee Review of the film 'The Dirty Picture'.

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The fork in the road By   Aditya Sudarshan 'The country is a cacophony. And instead of finding out how to stop the noise and change it into music, everybody’s basically looking for ear plugs.'

Tedha Pakistan By   Hira Nabi Reflections on queer life.

Halt in hostilities? By   Larry Jagan Burma edges towards peace.

My Ani By   Topden Tsering She inhabits, simultaneously and seamlessly, the two opposing connotations of the Tibetan term: one suggesting faith, the other family; the former symbolising renunciation, the latter attachment.

The modern madrassa By   Arshad Amanullah Review of Arshad Alam's 'Inside a Madrasa: Knowledge, power and Islamic identity in India'

Forgotten relics By   Subhashis Das India’s neglected megaliths reveal a fascinating history.

The quest and the redemption By   Santasilan Kadirgamar A new report finally allows Sri Lanka’s Northern Muslims to tell their story.