Himal Southasian Podcast Channel

As the 2022 FIFA World Cup is being broadcast around the world, we discuss the exploitation of Southasian migrant workers who built stadiums for the tournament in Qatar. In our latest Himal Twitter Spaces session, recorded on 25 November, we speak to Namrata Raju, India Director at Equidem Research and Consulting, which has released a report on migrant workers in Qatar. Bhadra Sharma, a journalist...

In this episode, we unpack the recent protests against militancy in Swat valley following an attack on a local school bus in Mingora and an increasing number of violent incidents in the region. In Around Southasia in 5 minutes, we talk about Sanna Irshad Mattoo and other Kashmiri journalists being barred from international travel, the killing of ARY News journalist Arshad Sharif, recent airstrikes...

Discussions around Sri Lanka’s economic crisis have often focused either on the continuing citizen protests or on economic policy and the details of ongoing IMF staff negotiations. In these discussions, the human cost of living through an economic crisis is often discussed in statistical terms or in one-off narratives that fail to capture the nuanced impacts of increasing poverty, high inflation a...

In this episode, we talk about the protests in Iran since the death of Mahsa Amini, who had been detained by the country's so-called morality police for violating mandatory hijab rules and how the restrictions on women’s attire are being discussed around the region. We also look at how a progressive piece of legislation regarding the rights of transgender communities in Pakistan, the 2018 Transgen...

A recent Washington Post article detailing a whistle-blower complaint on Twitter’s lack of protection for user data and a number of breachers, alleges that the Indian government forced Twitter to put one of its agents on the payroll, with access to user data at a time of large-scale protests across the country. In our latest Himal Twitter Spaces session, recorded on 22 September, Apar Gupta speaks...

On 25 August, Pakistan declared a state of emergency due to flooding, which has been described as among the worst in the country’s history. Millions of people have been displaced due to rain and flooding with UN preliminary estimates indicating that 575,000 people were living in relief camps at one point. In light of this crisis, Himal Southasian interviewed public policy analyst Dawar Butt, who i...

In this episode, we discuss how one year since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan has been marked by a collapsed economy, humanitarian crisis, violent crackdowns on civil protests, and severe restrictions on media and the rights of women. In Around Southasia in 5 minutes, we unpack the recent arrests (or attempted arrests) under anti-terrorism laws, the devastating floods in Pakistan, development...

In this episode, we discuss the three-way contest in Parliament to elect Sri Lanka’s new president, Ranil Wickremesinghe, after Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country and resigned last week amid an astounding protest movement. We also unpack heightened tensions between the Sri Lankan government and protesters, and what the political implications of this dramatic reconfiguration of political roles wil...

What has been the history of the IMF's impact on the politics of Sri Lanka and Pakistan? Why do countries from the global south repeatedly find themselves at the mercy of the IMF? And who ends up taking the short stick of IMF’s demands and what are the ways to protect them from it? In our latest Himal Twitter space session, recorded on 8 July, we speak to Amita Arudpragasam and Ammar Habib Khan to...

In this episode, we look at how increasing volatility in climate events in Southasia, from untimely heavy rains and floods to unprecedented heat waves, is impacting countries already vulnerable to food insecurity and health care challenges. We also talk about how governments are cracking down on recent protests across Myanmar, Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. In Around Southasia in 5 minutes, we dis...

In this episode, we look at growing protests in Sri Lanka, their political implications, as well as the no-confidence motion against Imran Khan in Pakistan. In Around Southasia in 5 minutes, we talk about the termination of citizenship for high-profile dissidents by Myanmar’s military regime, the tragic resurgence of communal violence in India, Nepal’s upcoming local government elections, and more...

On 10 April, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan was deposed from office by a no-confidence vote, days after he defied the Constitution to blocked a similar attempt by dissolving Parliament. Now, Imran Khan and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) are refusing to recognise the new government led by Shehbaz Sharif, while the political crisis that led to the court’s historic rulling remains How is ci...

In this episode, we look at what Russia’s war on Ukraine means for Southasian economies. In Around Southasia in 5 minutes, we talk about the junta’s crackdown on the People’s Defence Force in Myanmar, food insecurity in Afghanistan, and new regulations on video and streaming services in Bangladesh and Nepal. Plus in our culture section Bookmarked, we discuss a new Bhutanese film ‘Lunana: A Yak in...

Abhishek Avtans on Braille in Southasia

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we look at Southasia’s contentious relationship with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the face of re...

The year 2021 saw a welcome profusion of events and anthologies to mark the 50th year of Bangladesh’s Liberation. While much of the focus during these occasions were naturally on the country’s history, we at Himal Southasian felt there was a need for more conversations on Bangladesh’s present, as well as the forces shaping its future. This is what we attempted to do in our special series of articl...

Today, Southasia’s leaders, analysts and scientists rightfully worry that climate events are shrinking coastlines and disappearing land masses in the Bay of Bengal. But there is a history to be charted to the current crisis. In this interview, as part of our special series Rethinking Bangladesh, we speak with Debjani Bhattacharyya, author of Empire and Ecology in the Bengal Delta, about the effect...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we discuss the bold new pledges made by Southasian leaders at the COP26 UN climate summit versus the realiti...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we look at how the Pandora Papers were reported by the region's media, and discuss the unfolding healthcare...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we focus on some key developments in Myanmar and the history of enforced disappearances across the region. I...

Southasian Conversation #3 | Hosted by Himal Southasian In this third edition of Southasian Conversations, a series of online crossborder conversations, we hope to discuss how borders impact everyday lives in the margins, how they inflect conversations in the capitals and in national public spheres, and how people/ideas/economies manage to transcend physical borders despite their strict policing....

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we talk about the impact of escalating violence on journalists in Afghanistan, and digital surveillance in S...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we talk about the resurgence of #MeToo in Sri Lanka’s newsrooms, and proposed solutions to sexual harassment...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we talk about the recent cases of attack on and intimidation of journalists in Southasia, particularly in Ba...

Southasiasphere is our monthly roundup of news events and analysis of regional affairs. If you are a member, you will automatically receive links to the new episodes in your inbox. If you are not yet a member, you can still get it for free by signing up here: https://bit.ly/2QgmtwW In this episode, we talk about travel bubbles after COVID-19 in the region. We also break down the assembly election...