South Asia Citizens Web

More razor wire, guards, and gun licences cannot assure the safety of Pakistani citizens. Whether Sunni, Shia, Christian, Hindu, or Ahmadi, they all live in fear. Real protection can come only by educating Pakistan’s upcoming generations that all faiths are entitled to equal respect, moving firmly and equally against all militant groups, and giving every Pakistani citizen exactly the same legal rights and privileges as any other.

The ghastly murder of Avijit Roy on a road in Dhaka reveals just how dangerous it has become for writers to express themselves freely in Bangladesh. These attacks are outrageous, and the Bangladesh Government, particularly the present one which claims to be secular, should stand by the writers and protect their right to speak freely. Instead, it has adopted a policy of appeasement of ‘religious sentiment.’ This comes alongside intimidation of the mainstream media that are critical of the government, including the leading national newspapers.

PUDR welcomes the bail granted by the Supreme Court to Sunil s/o Satpal and Kanwaljeet Singh, two of the Maruti workers on February 23, 2015. Sunil and Kanwaljeet are among the 147 workers who were arrested in the aftermath of the violence on July 18, 2012, in the Manesar plant of Maruti Suzuki in Haryana which led to the death of the factory’s HR manager Awaneesh Kumar Deb. However it is hardly a cause for celebration given that the bail was long overdue, and the other 145 workers still continue to languish in jail.

Nepalese Supreme Court gave landmark judgement that serious crimes should not be the subject of Amnesty and declared ultra vires a several provisions of - Commission on Disappearance and Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act.

Senior diplomats, parliamentarians, policy-makers and journalists from Pakistan and India met for the fourth round of the Track-II Islamabad Dialogue to discuss the state of bilateral relations, ahead of the much anticipated meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries on March 3. The dialogue was organised by Jinnah Institute and the Centre for Dialogue and Reconciliation