Asia Pacific Apr 5, 2021
India's arts community fears Hindu hard-liners can't take a joke
Artists, writers and satirists are facing criminal charges and warnings of violence for touching on religious issues.
Asia Pacific Jun 18, 2020
Living on the edge, Pakistani Hindus still feel safer in India
by Anushree Fadnavis
Seven years ago, Dharamveer Solanki, a Hindu, left his home in Pakistan’s Hyderabad city, never to return. When his train crossed the border into India, Solanki said he felt happier than ever before. "It felt as though I had been reborn,” he said, sitting inside ...
Asia Pacific Apr 20, 2020
In Modi's India, coronavirus fallout inflames divisions between Muslims and Hindus
The purple ink stamped on Iqbal Hussain Siddiqui's hand by Indian health workers was supposed to ensure he stayed home under quarantine. But the 66-year-old Siddiqui, an egg seller in Mumbai's sprawling Dharavi slum, rubbed it off as best he could and went back to ...
Asia Pacific Apr 3, 2020
The religious retreat that sparked India's major coronavirus manhunt
It was late on Sunday night when officials in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh received the alert. Federal authorities said they needed to track down more than 1,000 people linked to a large Muslim missionary gathering nearly 2,000 km away in the ...
Asia Pacific Feb 28, 2020
Indian police have arrested 514 people for deadly Hindu-Muslim violence that broke out in the capital, the government said, as it faced mounting international criticism for failing to protect minority Muslims. Police said the toll from days of blood-letting stood at 35, but local media, ...
Asia Pacific / Social Issues Jan 1, 2020
India fetes New Year's Eve with protests over anti-Muslim citizenship law
Thousands of Indians ushered in the New Year by demonstrating against a citizenship law despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's attempts to dampen protests that have run for nearly three weeks. The protests have rocked India since Dec. 12, when the government passed legislation easing the ...
Asia Pacific Dec 27, 2019
Alleged killings of Muslims by Indian police fuel anger in national protests
Zaheer Ahmed had just returned home from work in northern India and stepped out for a smoke before lunch. Minutes later, he was dead, shot in the head. His death on Dec. 20, and the killing by gunfire of four other Muslim men the same ...
Entertainment News Dec 25, 2019
Director urges Bollywood stars to break silence over citizenship law and violence
One of Bollywood's leading directors called on three superstar actors to break their silence about a new citizenship law that has triggered riots in India, saying they could influence millions of fans. At least 21 people have died since crowds took to the streets enraged ...
Asia Pacific / Politics Dec 23, 2019
India's BJP trails in state poll, signaling more woes for Modi
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's political troubles deepened with his Bharatiya Janata Party appearing to lose control of the mineral-rich eastern state of Jharkhand in state poll results out Monday. The results come as the government struggles to contain growing nationwide protests against a new ...
Asia Pacific Dec 18, 2019
India's controversial religion-based citizenship act will have to pass the scrutiny of the nation's top court, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government pledged to push ahead and implement the law. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde issued a notice ...
Asia Pacific / Social Issues Aug 12, 2019
Hundreds chant anti-India slogans in seething Kashmir on eve of Eid
Hundreds of people protested in Kashmir's main city of Srinagar on Sunday against India's decision to curb its autonomy, despite new restrictions on travel and a seventh straight day of communications blackout. Restrictions that had been temporarily eased on Friday and Saturday — allowing some ...
Asia Pacific Aug 6, 2019
Media and rights groups slam India over communications blackout in Kashmir
India's imposition of an unprecedented communications blackout on Jammu and Kashmir hours before stripping its only Muslim-majority state of special rights in place for decades was sharply criticized Monday by media and rights groups. One senior journalist accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government of humiliating ...