India under the grip of religious nationalism– Southasia Weekly #36
This week at Himal
For our Podcast of the Week, host of the Southasia Review of Books podcast, Shwetha Srikanthan interviews Geethanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell on “Our city that year” which tells the story of a city under siege, loosely based on the communal violence leading up to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and its aftermath. The book’s call to bear witness to rising religious nationalism is timelier than ever.
This coming Monday, the host of the State of Southasia podcast, Nayantara Narayanan, will be chatting with Jyoti Rahman, a macroeconomist and political commentator, on how Muhammad Yunus and the interim government in Bangladesh is working to rebuild the country's institutions and democracy after the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's regime.
We’re also excited to announce that Film Southasia 2024 will be held in Kathmandu from 21 to 24 November at Yala Maya Kendra, Patan Dhoka! Check out the 47 chosen documentaries from over 2,000 entries here, follow Film Southasia on Instagram for updates and make sure to drop in and support independent Southasian non-fiction film if you’re in the area!
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This week in Southasia
India and Canada expel each other's diplomats over Sikh separatist murder
Relations between India and Canada have hit new lows after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expelled the Indian high commissioner and five other diplomats after Canadian police officials claimed they had uncovered evidence that senior Indian diplomats and consular officials were involved in a “criminal network” that targeted Canadian Sikhs. “We will never tolerate the involvement of a foreign government threatening and killing Canadian citizens on Canadian soil,” Trudeau said. India retaliated by expelling six senior Canadian diplomats, calling the allegations “preposterous” and accusing Trudeau of pandering to Canada’s large Sikh community for political gains.
Trudeau said India’s top diplomat in Canada, Sanjay Kumar Verma, was identified as a person of interest in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a pro-Khalistan activist who was shot dead outside a temple in 2023. India has previously denied links to the killing, adding that Nijjar was involved in “terrorism”. Outside of Canada, Sikh activists and US officials said that evidence increasingly points to the Modi government carrying out a campaign of transnational repression, at times attempting to influence politics in other countries. In 2023, the US thwarted an assassination attempt targeting a Sikh activist, also claiming Indian government involvement. This could have significant geopolitical implications as India has become an important security and economic ally for Western countries. US President Joe Biden recently making pointed comments about India’s “xenophobic policies", reflecting growing tensions.
Elsewhere in Southasia 📡
Human rights defender and former professor at the University of Delhi G N Saibaba passes away months after being acquitted from charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, sparking reflection about his career and the injustice of his prolonged detention
Sri Lanka closes schools in Colombo and its suburbs as heavy rainfall triggers floods affecting 134,000 people, with President Anura Dissanayake releasing LKR 50 million for relief to flood victims
Pakistan hosts four-day regional Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calls for investment in regional connectivity, a ‘stable Afghanistan’, need to address poverty and climate change; India’s foreign minister makes rare visit to Islamabad for the first time in nearly a decade
At least 10 Indian flights delayed due to hoax bomb threats in 48 hours, Singapore Air Force sends two fighter jets to escort Air India Express plane, Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigating
Journalists in Bangladesh who allegedly supported former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the Awami League party are facing public legal complaints; media watchdogs urge interim administration to uphold press freedom, end impunity for crimes against media professionals
Anti-junta groups capture border base of Panwa town, which serves as a hub for rare-earth mining and trade with China, cutting off revenue for junta who have struggled financially amid global sanctions since the coup
Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu dismisses 228 political appointees including state ministers, deputy ministers and political directors as part of efforts to cut government spending, aiming to curb the nation’s fiscal vulnerabilities
Adani Group’s energy project in Bhutan in limbo after the Druk Green Power Corporation turned down Adani’s proposal of receiving 70 percent majority stake and a concession period of over 90 years
Taliban to begin enforcing media ban on showing living things, at least two TV channels comply with order
18-year-old Nepali mountaineer Nima Rinji Sherpa breaks record to become the youngest person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-metre peaks
In good news for regionalism, a road-and-rail link connecting India and Sri Lanka costing 5 billion USD is in final discussion stages, marking the first big bilateral infrastructure project since the recent election of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake amid efforts by New Delhi to counter Chinese influence
We’ve been following the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup, currently being played in Dubai and Sharjah from 3-20 October. Here’s a roundup of how Southasia performed:
India dominated at the group stage, securing victories against Pakistan and Sri Lanka, but ultimately lost to New Zealand and Australia, meaning they did not advance to the semifinals
The Pakistan women’s cricket team led by a promising young captain opened their world cup bid by winning against Sri Lanka, but were unable to build on their momentum, with a loss to New Zealand ending their hopes of qualifying for the semifinals
Poised to do well at the World Cup, Sri Lanka’s team fell prey to high expectations and were eliminated without recording a win in their four matches at the group stage
Original hosts to this year’s T20 women’s World Cup before mass protests led to a venue change, Bangladesh won against Scotland but lost three games to bow out before the semifinal
Only in Southasia
A daring security breach at Haridwar’s high security Roshnabad jail resulted in the escape of two prisoners, including a murder convict last week, during a Ram Leela performance on the prison premises. The inmates, who were playing the role of monkeys in the interpretation of the Hindu epic Ramayana escaped at a point when they were searching for Sita as per the script. They seized the opportunity to slip away instead, using a ladder that had been left on the premises due to the ongoing construction of a high security barracks. Their disappearance was only discovered in the evening during a routine headcount. Certainly a great (or epic) escape!
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From the archive
This week, news broke that David Page, senior fellow of the Institute for Commonwealth Studies and former editor and manager in the BBC South Asian Services has died aged 80. Page followed Southasia closely and had extensive professional and personal connections across the region. In light of this, his 2000 cover story, an edited excerpt from the book “Satellites in South Asia”, written with longtime friend William Crawley is worth revisiting. Page and Crawley write that the rapid spread of satellite television across Southasia opened windows to a world previously inaccessible to those who were not well-to-do, provoking lively debate on its impact on communities and cultures around the world.