South Asia Citizens Web

On November 14, 2014 some of us responding to communal conflagrations in parts of Delhi — notably Bawana, Trilokpuri, Ghonda, and Madanpur Khadar — called a meeting of concerned citizens, groups and organisations while tensions still prevailed. The narratives that came forth at this meeting made it clear that communal violence was set deliberately to simmer in the city as Delhi’s assembly elections were announced. This is in tune with the recent trends during general and assembly elections which were turned into offensive exercises in communal polarisation.

India’s neighbours are often skeptical about it. The merger of Sikkim in India way back in 1975 introduced a new term in political vocabulary of this subcontinent- ’Sikkim-isation’. Discomforted with the developments Nepal reoriented its foreign policy to assimilate its northern neighbour China into it. Its socio-cultural relations with the southern neighbour India were long and deep-rooted compared to the economic ties although the event named Sikkim-isation compelled it to look northwards. Now a new term is unfolding in Nepal’s context at this turn of 21st century- ’Modi-fication’.

Should Sirisena win the vote, the president and his brothers could find other means to retain power, including resorting to the politically compliant Supreme Court to invalidate the result, or using the military as a last resort. In this volatile pre-election context, foreign governments and international institutions concerned with Sri Lanka’s long-term stability – among them, China, India, Japan, U.S., the UN, European Union (EU), World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) – should seek to limit the risks of serious political violence

A tribute to the Tamil doctor, feminist and human rights defender of Jaffna, Rajani Thiranagama, on her 25th death anniversary. She was killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. This is an occasion to revisit the issues of self-determination, the strategy to prioritise certain forms of struggle over others, and the question of rebuilding the left - matters which are relevant not only in Sri Lanka but everywhere in the world.

Indian mobile operators are required to install lawful intercept and monitoring (LIM) systems to use on request from law enforcement authorities, but Xynou notes that the Indian government has its own system too, monitoring traffic through ISPs. The Network Traffic Analysis (NETRA) system only came to light in 2013.