Popular Front of India, which says it fights for rights of minorities, victim of ‘political vendetta’ by Hindu nationalist governmentAn Islamic organisation that says it fights discrimination against minorities in India has disbanded after the governme…
Midwives review – a Muslim and a Buddhist grapple with childbirth in strife-torn Myanmar
Sombre documentary shot over five years follows two healthcare workers as they deliver babies in a brutally divided societySnow Hnin Ei Hlaing’s documentary is about two midwives – one Buddhist, one Muslim – in Rakhine state in western Myanmar, on the …
Unification Church says it accepted ‘excessive’ donations from mother of suspect in Abe killing
Church official says he was upset to hear suspect told police his anger towards church led to attack on former Japanese PMThe Unification Church, whose close ties with Japan’s governing party have emerged after the assassination of former prime ministe…
What is Hindu nationalism and who are the RSS?
Hindutva is the predominant form in India and has been associated with rightwing extremismHindu nationalism is a political ideology that dates back to the 19th century. It encompassed a broad range of groups but at its core is a belief that Indian nati…
The cycle of life and death: the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi
After a couple of years of subdued celebrations, the Mumbai crowds are back out in force bringing more and bigger idols – but with a greater awareness of their environmental impact Text and photographs by Catherine DavisonThe orange shirts of hundreds …
‘Our people are still trapped’: Uyghur exiles demand action on abuses
Campaigners criticise failure of UN report to label China’s crackdown on Muslim minorities genocide“I feel like my house is on fire, it’s burning down and my children, my family is trapped inside,” said Zumrat Dawut via video link. “I scream and scream…
India’s elephant god festival returns – in pictures
Workers have put the finishing touches to towering statues of the elephant god Ganesha in time for one of India’s biggest religious festivals, under way again after Covid lockdowns. The 11-day Ganesh Chaturthi festival, which draws tens of thousands of…
Lawyer criticises UN report’s failure to call Uyghur oppression ‘genocide’
Sir Geoffrey Nice QC says outgoing human rights chief’s report on China makes it easier for international community to do nothingThe UN’s failure to mention the word genocide in its report alleging serious human rights violations by China against Uyghu…
Five key points from the UN report on Xinjiang human rights abuses
Damning report cites human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in north-west Chinese provinceChina has committed “serious human rights violations” against Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang province that could amount to crimes against humanity, the outgoi…
India ruling party legislator arrested over prophet remarks amid protests
T Raja Singh suspended earlier this week for hate speech after allegedly abusive commentsPolice in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad have arrested a suspended leader of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) for making allegedly abusive remark…
British Sikh activist ‘tortured in India after tip-off from UK intelligence’
Lawyers for Jagtar Singh Johal say he was given electric shocks after unlawful arrest in Punjab in 2017A British Sikh campaigner is facing a possible death sentence after the UK intelligence services passed on information about him to the Indian author…
What it was like asking for The Satanic Verses in a Pakistan bookshop | Anonymous
As an aspiring writer I loved many exiled authors, from Márquez to Kundera, but with Rushdie the stakes were raisedIt was more than a decade ago when I was introduced to the work of Salman Rushdie, thanks to the recommendation of a writer in my homelan…
On the anniversary of partition, let’s consign the pitiless logic of Hindu v Muslim to the past | Pankaj Mishra and Ali Sethi
Since 1947, India and Pakistan have shared profound affinities across ferociously policed bordersPankaj Mishra is a novelist and essayist from India; Ali Sethi is a writer and musician from PakistanIn a remarkable document from the 13th century, a Sufi…
Salman Rushdie attack prompts muted reaction in India and Pakistan
Majority of public figures have chosen not to comment on attack on Indian-born writerThe literary world and public figures across the globe have expressed shock and outrage after the author Salman Rushdie was attacked at an event in New York.But in Pak…
John Prior obituary
My brother John Prior, who has died aged 75, trained as a Roman Catholic priest in the UK before spending most of his life on the island of Flores in Indonesia, working within parishes, then as an academic theologian, and always as a man passionate abo…