South Asia Citizens Web

It doesn’t talk to it, or listen. Political initiatives are launched to tide over moments of crisis, to be abandoned as soon as they pass

The only way out of this morass is improvement in relations between India and Pakistan and their accord initially on some limited measures which relieve the tensions and raise the people’s morale. Of this there is, sadly, little sign - and militancy will not die unless and until India and Pakistan settle the Kashmir dispute.

E. Ilavarasan has killed himself, brutally underscoring the continuing tragedy of young married couples being wrenched apart by caste and political pressures. Indeed, India’s veneer of modernity comes apart each time an inter-caste marriage breaks. And when one half of the couple is Dalit, as in this case, mob fury comes as an inheritance.

South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), a regional network and Peoples’ SAARC on Tuesday (09 July 2013) launched a Campaign on ‘Demilitarisation, Democratisation and Social Justice’ and demanded all the states of South Asia to stop extremism within the region, cut the defence budgets to divert funds for social development and sign a No War pact.

Afghanistan’s record of complying with CEDAW is very poor, and the country’s human rights situation, especially for women, is showing signs of deterioration as international engagement in the country wanes. Expanded Taliban control and violence related to the ongoing conflict are major factors in human rights abuses. However, the Afghan government is also failing in many areas to comply with its obligations under international human rights law, especially for women.