South Asia Citizens Web

Faiz Ahmed Faiz was the first Asian poet who was awarded with the Lenin Peace Prize by the former Soviet Union in 1963. He was also nominated for the Nobel Prize shortly before his death in 1984. On the 100th birth anniversary of Faiz Ahmed Faiz, celebrations are underway in countries of South Asia (most notably in Pakistan and India). Posted below is a compilation of reports and essays

Under new rules being drafted by the Afghan government that women’s advocates say will deter the most vulnerable women and girls from seeking refuge and are placing shelters under siege.

The new rules speak to the suspicions that women’s shelters still generate in this deeply conservative society, where the shelters have come to symbolize the competition between modern values and traditional Afghan ways. Many believe their very existence at best encourages girls to run away from home and at worst are fronts for brothels.

selected commentary on the 18 day protest movement in Egypt that led to the downfall of Mubarak.

Today (11.02.2011) Supreme Court issued notice to the Central Government on the petition of Afzal Guru seeking his transfer from Tihar jail to Srinagar jail. Afzal has been leading lonely life in Tihar jail for the last about nine years.

Daily Mail, 5 February 2011
The Unpalatable Truth About Forced Marriage
By Yasmin Alibhai-brown
Britain’s first Muslim peer has linked unhappy arranged marriages to the grooming of girls by Asian gangs. His courage to speak out should be applauded, not vilified.
This week, a Muslim peer broke the code of silence that pervades British-Asian communities and spoke out against the criminal practice of forced marriages.
He starkly stated that there was a connection between forced (…)