South Asia Citizens Web

The persistence of child bride practice is fuelled by many factors. A culture of patriarchy that relegates Afghan women to a lifetime of subordination makes their situation one of the worst in the world

Hindus don’t register their marriages, and divorce is not allowed legally. Widow marriage is still not a Hindu social norm in Bangladesh. Polygamy is an open secret among Bangladeshi Hindus. Muslims may have 4 wives by religious culture but Hindus have no number limitation. Adultery is a common fact among Hindu men and it is a hush-hush matter. Hindu Bengali widows in Bangladesh still live in utter disgrace and face inhuman treatment and discrimination. Hindu widows are not allowed in social gathering such as weddings; they are not supposed to eat fish and meat and must wear simple white clothes only. In some cases they are not even allowed to wear shoes.

Part of a 5-part 1996 BBC documentary series entitled Stories My Country Told Me.

All four pieces of writing are lively; they are well-intentioned too. So why couldn’t their authors resist concocting ‘facts’ when there was actually no need to do so? Why couldn’t they resist making a rhetorical flourish even at the cost of truth? Is it because they believe an anecdote, even an invented one, will be more convincing to their readers than a stark statement based on rationality and logic? Or is it simply because they know they can do it — that they can get away with anything in Pakistan, so long it is in Urdu?

Shiv Sena workers protest against Pak band at Mumbai press club CNN-IBN Feb 04, 2014 at 04:11pm IST Mumbai: Nearly 50-70 workers of the Shiv Sena barged inside the Mumbai Press Club on Tuesday where a Pakistani band was holding a press conference and shouted slogans against them.
The sloganeering Shiv Sena activists demanded that Pakistani Sufi band Mekaal Hasan be sent back. "No Pakistani individual or group will be allowed in Mumbai," the protesters shouted.
The police were immediately (…)