South Asia Citizens Web

Praful Bidwai Memorial Award, 2017 carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh - Do send in names and contact details of the nominee/nominees you propose. The last date for receiving this information will be March 31, 2017

Social scientist Bela Bhatia was threatened by a group of men who barged into her home in Bastar on 23 January 2017. Around 30 men arrived at Bhatia’s home in Parpa village and gave her 24 hours to vacate the house.

Bangladesh’s Education Ministry was preparing to print the 2017 editions of its standard Bengali textbooks when a group of conservative Islamic religious scholars demanded the removal of 17 poems and stories they deemed “atheistic.”

A judge of the Bombay High Court recently gave bail to three men who were charged with a murder committed in the presence of eye-witnesses.

Kashmiri actress Zaira Wasim for whom the film Dangal was a dream of opportunity responded to the adulation initially with a big smile . . . she has had to change her stance, under pressure and to offer an apology saying that her achievement is a ‘disgrace.’