To explore these vital questions, the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, invites you to a virtual conversation bridging the subcontinent and its diaspora, featuring three towering literary and cultural voices who have dedicated their lives to mapping memory, artistic resistance, and cross-border empathy.

Featured speakers

• Urvashi Butalia: Feminist publisher, historian, and author of the groundbreaking 1999 work The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India,

• Salima Hashmi: Artist, educator, peace activist, and author of the recently published memoir Waiting in the Wings, carrying forward a legendary legacy of cultural resistance and cross-border solidarity.

• Nayanika Mahtani: Author of Across the Line (2020) and co-writer of the newly released Netflix film Main Vaapas Aaunga, directed by Imtiaz Ali, a moving narrative exploring a grandfather’s longing to return to Sargodha across the political divide. Watch the official trailer on YouTube.

Why this conversation matters?

For diasporic communities scattered across the globe, as well as families rooted in Southasia, the myths and traumas of the homeland are often passed down through whispered kitchen-table stories, faded photographs, and unfulfilled dreams of return, much like the central premise of Main Vaapas Aaunga. By bringing together Urvashi Butalia’s historical rigor, Salima Hashmi’s artistic and familial legacy, and Nayanika Mahtani’s contemporary storytelling, this conversation offers a vital space for both locals and the diaspora to process inherited grief, celebrate enduring dosti (friendships), and re-imagine a shared Southasian identity unconstrained by physical borders.

Event details

• When: Sunday, 30 August 2026

  • Time: 9 am EST, 2 pm UK, 6 pm Pakistan, 6.30 pm India, 6.45 pm Nepal, 7 pm Bangladesh

• Where: Online via Zoom. Secure your spot by registering at this Zoom link, or watch live on YouTube.com/southasiapeace

Register for Zoom

Join us as we bridge generations, connect the homeland with the diaspora, and rediscover the power of empathy and storytelling.

• Read Afghan writer Sultana Sola Mahfouz’s thoughtful review on Main Vaapas Aaunga, ‘“an unfinished conversation” including an interview with Nayanika Mahtani, a Global Southasia syndicated feature.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, newsletter! Whether you are reading this from the region or navigating life in the global diaspora, our shared heritage and interconnected histories continue to bind us together across borders.

This issue includes upcoming Sapan gatherings, compelling essays, and a new video on regional integration, followed by major news from our sister organisation, the media outlet Global Southasia: Beyond the Headlines (formerly Sapan News).

Upcoming Sapan event: Home, love, loss... and dosti (friendship)

ONLINE, Sunday, 30 August: How do we honour the silenced voices of history while nurturing human connections today? At the end of August, the “Partition month”, we host a virtual discussion exploring trans-generational trauma, cross-border love and friendship, and shared diasporic memory.

Featured speakers

• Urvashi Butalia: Historian, feminist publisher, and author of the groundbreaking work The Other Side of Silence: Voices from the Partition of India (1999).

• Salima Hashmi: Renowned artist, educator, activist, and author of the newly published memoir Waiting in the Wings.

• Nayanika Mahtani: Author of Across the Line (2020) and co-writer of the new film starring Nasiruddin Shah, Main Vaapas Aaunga, directed by Imtiaz Ali, now on Netflix.

  • Read Afghan writer Sultana Sola Mahfouz’s thoughtful review on Main Vaapas Aaunga, '“an unfinished conversation” including an interview with Nayanika Mahtani, a Global Southasia syndicated feature.

Time: 9 am EST, 2 pm UK, 6 pm Pakistan, 6.30 pm India, 6.45 pm Nepal, 7 pm Bangladesh

Secure your spot by registering for the Zoom meeting, or watch live on YouTube.com/southasiapeace

Register for Zoom meeting

Sapan Stories: Economist and musician Dr. Taimur Rahman, Laal band

Political activist, economics professor and musician Taimur Rahman in Lahore breaks down how regional trade, shared culture, and open borders can fundamentally transform Southasia, in the latest installment of our ‘Sapan Stories’ video series.

Watch the video at the Southasia Peace YouTube channel.

New from the Sapan blog

Personal reflections, cultural youth initiatives, and poetry on exile:

• Remembering ‘Chacha’ Fazal: A soldier and a storyteller

  Political cartoonist Akhtar Shah in Islamabad remembers a retired Punjab Regiment corporal who worked at The Muslim newspaper and humanised ‘the enemy’

• Digital stages: Connecting hearts across Southasia

  Mazher Hussain in Hyderabad, India, on how youth from Bhutan, India, and Pakistan came together for the Second Southasian Commemoration of Doyens of Peace, remembering the late peacemongers and Sapan founder members Admiral Ramu Ramdas, Karamat Ali, and Tapan Bose, through shared music and dance.

• ‘Watne Diyan Thandiyan Chaeen’: Faiz, migration, and the human cost of exile

  Composer Arshad Mahmud’s take on the universal human cost of displacement, through a poem by Faiz Ahmed Faiz. A MoUSICi / Sapan blogpost.

‘Sapan News’ is now ‘Global Southasia’

On 12 August, marking the anniversary of its soft launch in 2021, our sister organisation ‘Sapan News’ changed its name to Global Southasia. The mission remains unchanged: reporting ‘Beyond the Headlines’.

• The journey: Read founder-editor Beena Sarwar’s post: ‘Sapan News’ > ‘Global Southasia’ – beyond the headlines, and the thought behind the dream.

• The vision: Associate Editor Pragyan Srivastava explains the strategic thought behind the transition: Why is ‘Sapan News’ becoming ‘Global Southasia’?

‘Think like a journalist’: A free public service media literacy tool

Ten principles of journalism: Global Southasia (formerly Sapan News) has launched ‘Think Like A Journalist’, a public service media literacy tool for journalists, ‘para-journalists’ (like paramilitary, para-legal or paramedic, but without the training and oversight) — citizen reporters and the general public. Building on the Social Media Ethics and Responsibility Pledge, this resource syntheses ten points that offer a practical framework to promote ethical reporting and combat misinformation.

• Read local context and examples from Pakistan compiled by longtime television producer Asadullah Khan in Islamabad (Urdu version — PDF here) to train his newsroom.

We invite you to use and adapt this template

• Download the free PDF template here or directly from the Global Southasia website. We invite you to adapt the template for their own communities or newsrooms, with credit to Global Southasia.

The Sapan Pulse

To end on a playful note — and hear directly from you — we are launching a regular interactive poll, ‘Sapan Pulse’. Cast your vote below, chime in with your thoughts in the comments, and let’s settle some of our region’s most beloved, and highly relatable, debates together.

Cast your vote and/or leave a comment!

Want to be featured in our newsletter?

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form here.

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow our Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a collaborative, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Global Southasia.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

By Akhtar Shah

Some individuals deserve not merely to be remembered; they are to be studied, revisited, and gradually understood. ‘Chacha’ (uncle) Fazal was one such man.

A quintessential fauji (soldier) and a hardened infantryman from the Punjab Regiment in the Pakistan army, he was, in many ways, an institution unto himself, a living embodiment of military discipline, personal history, and old-world character.

During the 1990s, I once asked him about his years in uniform, he spoke not as a man recounting stories, but as someone who had lived through defining chapters of Southasia’s military past. He had fought in both the 1965 and 1971 wars against India, and his reflections carried the unmistakable tone of a soldier who had seen battle firsthand.

Battlefield humanity

His assessment of the “enemy” was notably professional, even generous at times. He spoke highly of the Gurkha soldiers, admiring their courage and competence, once remarking in Punjabi that there was barely any difference between them and Pakistani soldiers, a colloquial way of acknowledging their humanness.

His opinion of Sikh soldiers was often tied to his belief that alcohol played a role in their battlefield temperament. Yet even in such remarks, one sensed not hatred, but the candid, unfiltered observations of a veteran shaped by war.

Among the many stories he shared, one from the 1971 war stood out for its unusual humanity. He recalled seeing a Sikh soldier, apparently intoxicated, walking openly with a bottle in hand and taunting Pakistani troops to shoot.

One of the Pakistani soldiers fired warning shots near him, hoping to frighten him into retreat. But the man persisted, shouting abuses and refusing to back down.

Chacha Fazal said that at that point he was left with no option but to fire his G-3 rifle. Yet he took care to aim at the man’s legs. The soldier fell, wounded, but alive. In Chacha’s own telling, the decision was deliberate; the man was drunk, reckless, and foolish, but not someone he felt compelled to kill.

That episode revealed something essential about him. Beneath the hardened shell of a battle-tested infantryman was a man who still retained restraint, judgment, and a rare sense of measured humanity. He could easily have taken an enemy soldier’s life in that moment but chose otherwise. That, perhaps, was Chacha Fazal in essence: A typical fauji in discipline and temperament, yet not untouched by compassion.

Deep convictions

He also had an unexpectedly soft and artistic side. He could imitate the sound of a tabla with astonishing skill, reproducing its rhythm and intensity with remarkable precision.

Despite his advancing age, he retained the bearing of a disciplined serviceman: He stood straight, almost ceremonially so, rarely sitting or leaning casually as most people do. Often, he would be seen standing in what resembled a relaxed military posture; back firm, body composed, as if the army had long ceased to be a profession and had become part of his physical grammar. His jet-black dyed moustache and hair, usually tucked beneath a simple cotton cap, added to his unmistakable presence.

He was widely respected, not because he was an ex-serviceman, but because he possessed a certain moral force. Once, when I had a disagreement with the management over an issue, Chacha Fazal came to know about it. In his own dramatic way, he would later relate how the management had issued a show-cause notice to the cartoonist, assuming him to be just another employee, but that he had bluntly told them off.

Like many gifted raconteurs, Chacha would embellish events for effect, but his exaggerations were never malicious. They were part of his storytelling instinct, meant to entertain, energize, and defend those he cared about.

What made him particularly compelled was not his military past or his flair for narration, but the depth of his convictions. In one especially reflective moment, he spoke sorrowfully about the many divisions that plague Pakistanis as a nation: Caste, ethnicity, language, and countless other social fractures. His view was simple but powerful: the more we divide ourselves, the smaller and weaker we become. Why, he wondered, could we not remain united, as one person?

This lament eventually led him toward his broader political worldview. Like many Pakistanis of his generation, he held strong anti-American sentiments and believed that the Muslim world’s troubles were deeply tied to U.S.A. interference.

He was also a fervent admirer of Ayatollah Khomeini and the ideals of the Islamic Revolution, despite being a Hanafi Sunni himself. In his eyes, Pakistan needed a leader of similar conviction and transformative force.

He was also very helpful by nature, the sort of man who could be relied upon if anyone needed assistance. There were several retired servicemen at ‘The Muslim’ but Chacha Fazal was the most interactive of them all, the most accessible, and the most memorable.

He was not just another retired soldier passing time among old acquaintances; he was a presence, a personality, and in many ways, a bridge to an older Pakistan, one of convictions, contradictions, and unforgettable characters.

In the end, Chacha Fazal was more than a former infantryman or a veteran of two wars. He was a man of strong opinions, old loyalties, dramatic flair, and surprising tenderness, a soldier who carried both the harshness of history and the softness of human instinct within him. People like him do not merely belong to memory; they become part of folklore.

Akhtar Shah is a senior illustrator and cartoonist from Islamabad. He adapted this piece for Sapan Blog from his series about The Muslim era, published on Facebook.

About the Sapan Blog

The Sapan Blog is a space for reflection, commentary, and conversation by members of the Southasia Peace Action Network community. Here, Sapaners, journalists, peacebuilders, artists, and thinkers share personal essays and perspectives that connect Southasia’s stories, challenges, and triumphs. From culture to climate, sport to solidarity, these blogs go beyond the headlines to bring you the region’s heart and humour.

Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan newsletter. As communities across Southasia* and the diaspora navigate an increasingly complex media and sociopolitical landscape, this issue highlights the power of principled journalism, cultural resilience, and transnational solidarity.

From honouring foundational figures and celebrating student movements to exploring new media literacy frameworks and international creative collaborations, we invite you to read, reflect, and share.

Media literacy: ‘Think like a journalist’

Check out the Sapan News media literacy toolkit outlining 10 foundational principles ranging from “Observe without judgment” to “Stay open-minded”. Now published on the Sapan News website, it is available for free to anyone who’d like to use it and add local examples, like television producer Asadullah Khan did for his newsroom in Islamabad (Urdu version here).

A conversation in Kathmandu with a Bangladeshi feminist

‘The Young and the Restless: South Asia’s New Political Force’: an intergenerational dialogue with Sapan founding member and activist Khushi Kabir from Dhaka on Friday 7 August 2026 at the Bodhisattva Gallery, Lalitpur, in Nepal, facilitated by journalist Namrata Sharma.

‘Understanding India’s Gen Z Uprising’

Sapaners and public intellectuals Kanak Mani Dixit in Kathmandu and Harsh Mander in Delhi… a joint Himalkhabar-Sapan presentation, broadcast 28 July 2026

Watch the video on YouTube

Upcoming events

BOSTON: Celebrating resistance in Southasia

Saturday, 8 August 2026, 1–4 pm.

Co-hosted by the Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC) and Sapan, featuring resistance songs, poetry, shared stories, and a community potluck.

RSVP

Venue: 1071 Soldiers Field Road, Boston. RSVP here

ONLINE: ‘Students fighting fascism in India: What lies ahead?’

• When: Sunday, 9 August 2026, 3:00 pm UK / 7:30 pm India

• Speakers: Writer Arundhati Roy, with student activist Neha Bora, and Danish Ali, student politician.

  Register here

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NEW DELHI: The Ahimsa Concert

Friday, 14 August 2026, 6– 9 pm at LTG Theatre, Copernicus Marg: A rolling 3-hour concert celebrating non-violent global movements through music and drama. Featuring performances by nation-awarded actor Joy Sengupta, Dastangoi storyteller Rajesh Kumar, writer/director Suranya Aiyar, Carnatic vocal star Sudha Raghuraman, and Dhrupad maestro Ustad Wasifuddin Dagar with student Aravindan Srinivasan.

BRADFORD, U.K.: Theatre screening - Gandhi and Jinnah return home

Saturday, 15 August 2026, 4:00 pm: ‘Gandhi and Jinnah Return Home’ by Akbar S. Ahmed is a play imagining peace in the future between India and Pakistan, particularly the persecution of minorities in both countries touching on the rise of religious violence and intolerance in both India and Pakistan.

Venue: Cubby Broccoli Cinema, National Science and Media Museum, Bradford,

• Read Sher Afgan’s review of the play for Sapan News: Peacebuilding on stage: ‘Gandhi and Jinnah’ embrace in Washington D.C.

  ---

ONLINE: A Sapan online ‘adda’ - Reflections and conversation.

Sunday 16 August, 10 am ET.
Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com to reserve your space

WASHINGTON D. C.: A Peacemongering Conversation - Towards a Better Future in South Asia and Beyond

Friday 21 August, 5-6 pm: Journalist Beena Sarwar in conversation with Bharat Sharma, young professional in energy and international relations, at International Students House, followed by a networking happy hour 6 pm onwards.

RSVP - southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gail.com

ONLINE: Home, loss, love, and memory, with Urvashi Butalia, Nayanika Mahtani, and Salima Hashmi

⁠⁠Sunday 30 August, 10 am ET. Join feminist writer and publisher Urvashi Butalia in conversation with Nayanika Mahtani, co-writer of the Imtiaz Ali film ‘Main Vapas Aaunga’, and artist Salima Hashmi whose memoir ‘Waiting in the Wings / Enter Stage Left’ has recently been published in Pakistan and India.

Save the date and keep an eye on the Sapan website for the Zoom link.

Southasian achievements and highlights

Historic Commonwealth Games bronze:

Congratulations to Fatima Zahra, who captured Pakistan’s first-ever female boxing medal at the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games! Two medals from Southasia. Fatima won a bronze medal, and Priya Ghanghas from India won the gold medal in the same category.

Border crossings: From Austin to South Korea

Driven by the global surge of South Korean media (such as Parasite, Squid Game, and K-pop), Sapaner, filmmaker, and professor Shuja Uddin led Austin Community College RTF’s first-ever study abroad program in South Korea, from 17 June to 4 July 2026. In partnership with Dongguk University, 22 students experienced Seoul and Busan through hands-on Super 8, holographic, and 3D stereoscopic workshops and industry tours.

In memoriam

Dedicated human rights activist Khursheed Erfan Ahmed, 95, passed away in Dhaka. A founding member of the legal aid organisation Ain-o-Salish Kendra along with her younger sister Dr Hameeda Hossein - both hailed from Sindh and were married to Bengalis, Khursheed Apa, as she was widely known, was the khala of well-known lawyer and Sapan community member Sara Hossain. Read the tribute in The Daily Star.

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form at the button below

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

In this edition, we bring you firsthand takeaways from recent community struggles, explore the legacy of our ancient Indus heritage, and preview our recent medical dialogue with Readers Without Borders.

Upcoming events

​Mohenjodaro and the Indus Valley Civilisation: Looking to the past to look to the future

​ONLINE, Sunday, 26 July 2026: Join our upcoming online interactive discussion on the newly released, award-winning documentary Mohenjo daro: Unsealing an Ancient Indus City (Harappa Films 2026, 36 min.). The Indus Valley Civilisation, largest in the Bronze Age, covered more territory than ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China combined, yet its script remains undeciphered.

​Together with the filmmaker, historian and Harappa.com founder Omar Khan, archaeological historian Sudeshna Guha, and writer Sehba Sarwar, we will explore this common legacy and ask what this 4,000-year-old urban experiment can tell us about our shared future.

• ​8:00 am PST / 11:00 am EST / 8:00 pm Pakistan / 8:30 pm India / 8:45 pm Nepal / 9:00 pm Bangladesh. Free and open to the public. Register to join the Zoom discussion (spaces limited) or watch online at the Sapan YouTube channel.

  Register for the event here

More details at the Southasia Peace website - including the documentary film to watch before the discussion.

Grassroots resistance in Southasia: A community conversation in Boston

​BOSTON, Saturday, 25 July 2026: Across the globe, communities are standing up to protect their rights, lands, and future. In Southasia, as systemic oppression mounts, so does the power of people’s resistance. How do we bridge these movements and build true collective solidarity?

​Join the Boston South Asia Coalition (BSAC) and Sapan for an in-person panel discussion. Speakers will report back from their recent stays in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, sharing firsthand accounts of grassroots struggles and resistance from the ground.

• ​Featured speakers:

  • ​Nafisa Nipun Tanjeem, Educator and activist

  • ​Beena Sarwar, Journalist, artist, and filmmaker

  • ​Somnath, Activist and organiser

• ​Time: 3:30 pm – 5:30 pm, at the Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St, Boston. Free and open to the public. Registration requested.

Register for the event here

Recent highlights and coverage

​Paradigm shift in cancer research: capture and kill the first cell

The online book club Readers Without Borders and Sapan hosted acclaimed oncologist, researcher, and author Dr. Azra Raza to explore cancer research, medicine, poetry, and the human condition.

​Dr. Raza offered a searing critique of how modern medicine and society mistreat cancer, arguing for a paradigm shift from treating advanced, late-stage tumours (the “last cell”) to detecting and destroying early precursor cancer cells (the “first cell”) through precision oncology. She also detailed her team’s development of the “Sentinel Stent” (or “Stentinel”), a device designed to monitor the body and destroy precursor cancer cells in real-time, projected for release by 2028.

​Read Sapan News Coordinating Editor Regina Johnson’s comprehensive summary of the event here.

• ​Watch the discussion here:

Community spotlight: Fostering dialogue and curiosity with Sadbhavna.in

​In today’s polarised world, it is becoming easier to sort ourselves into comfortable echo chambers and harder to engage with those who hold different beliefs or perspectives. Yet personal and societal growth rarely happens in isolation.

Inspired by his grandparents’ Partition migration history, Sapaner Pratyush Rawal, a Harvard Kennedy School graduate and his team at ​Sadbhavna.in create opportunities for people to practice communicating across differences. Through facilitated conversations, workshops, and reflective learning experiences such as the “Engaging Across Differences” (EAD) curriculum and its integrated AI Dialogue Coach, they focus on building mutual understanding and empathetic engagement rather than forced agreement.

• ​Here’s Sadbhavna.in founder Pratyush Rawal sharing his vision:

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form at the button below

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Joined by Omar Khan, the filmmaker from Pakistan and Sudeshna Guha, a historian of the archaeology of the Indus Civilization from India, we will discuss issues the film raises and why the script of this great ancient civilisation of a common legacy remains undeciphered. Poet and educator Sehba Sarwar will present a poem on the controversial ‘dancing girl’.

Watch the film:

Why is this relevant to Southasia*?

As we look to the past to look to the future, we ask: What can we all do, around the world, to explore this common legacy?

When: Sunday 26 July.
Time: 8 am PST / 11 am EST / 8 pm Pakistan / 8.30 pm India / 8.45 pm Nepal / 9 pm Bangladesh.

Register to join the Zoom discussion

Register for Zoom event

Omar Khan founded and has run Harappa.com since 1995. He grew up in Vienna, Austria and Islamabad, Pakistan and is a graduate of Dartmouth College, Columbia and Stanford universities. He has lived in San Francisco for over 30 years, where he recently retired as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Common Sense Media which he helped start in 2004. He also collects and researches early photography and ephemera of the subcontinent and is author of two books, Paper Jewels Postcards from the Raj (Mapin/Alkazi, 2018) and From Kashmir to Kabul The Photographs of John Burke and William Baker 1860-1900 (Mapin/Prestel, 2002).

Sudeshna Guha researches on the histories of archaeology, museums, collecting practices and heritage making. Her first monograph, Artefacts of History: Archaeology, Historiography and Indian Pasts (Sage 2015) explores the historiography of the archaeological scholarship of the Indus Civilization; now republished with an added preface on this subject by Primus (2026). Her book A History of India Through 75 Objects (Hachette 2022) provides a glimpse of her long study into issues of materiality and visualisation, as do the recent exhibitions she has curated for DAG (New Delhi, in 2024 and 2026) on the early photography of India’s monuments and people. She is a professor at the Department of History and Archaeology, Shiv Nadar Institute of Eminence, Delhi-NCR, India.

Sehba Sarwar will present her poem on the ‘Mohenjodaro Girl’. An artist, activist and educator, Sehba Sarwar’s work tackles displacement, migration, and women’s issues. A second edition of her novel Black Wings was published by Veliz Books (2019); her essays, short stories, and poems have appeared in New York Times, Callaloo, LA Times, Dawn and elsewhere. Born and raised in an activist home in Karachi, Pakistan, she is the recipient of artist awards through Academy of American Poets, LA’s Department of Cultural Affairs, Mid-America Arts Alliance amidst others. She served as Altadena Co-Poet Laureate (2024-26), and her papers are archived at the University of Houston.

Further resources:

• Documentary on Mohenjo Daro (2024, 25 min), by Sharjil Baloch, for the Directorate of Antiquities & Archaeology, Pakistan, on YouTube:

• ‘Inside Mohenjo Daro: The Indus Valley metropolis frozen in time’, National Geographic 2026.

• Art without borders: When politics meets performance – A Media Mirror piece from Sapan News, originally published in The Wire, pegged on the critique of Odissi dancer Sheema Kermani which ignores a crucial point: art cannot be owned.

Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Sapan is a voluntary organisation. We connect Southasia and the diaspora, and work to build a narrative of regionalism, peace, and dialogue.

Please donate tax-free to help us cover our costs.

Donate to Sapan

Thank you!

Art, memory, scholarship, and shared cultural roots continue to cross physical borders when politics cannot. In this briefing, we bring you firsthand takeaways from a Southasian gathering in Stockholm, feature new essential reading material, explore the nostalgic legacy of the monsoon swing, preview an upcoming dialogue with Readers Without Borders, and lay out a roadmap for the next generation of digital Southasian storytellers and its final submission deadline.

Takeaways from Mela Nordic, Stockholm

The day-long international conference, Divergent Voices of South Asia: Rethinking Partition, Reimagining Peace, held 4 July 2026 at Filmcentrum in Stockholm, Sweden, provided a vital, reflective space. Brown Pundits founder and entrepreneur Zach Zavidé who flew from Cambridge, UK, to Stockholm for the event published a trilogy of essays capturing some core ideas:

• Reading Dawn in Delhi: Key takeaways from Sapan founder member and founder editor Sapan News Beena Sarwar’s talk titled “Think like a Journalist. Build Peace,” which incorporates elements from the Sapan Social Media Pledge. The discussion focused on independent cross-border media collaboration as a critical regional survival strategy against a negative, post-truth ecosystem.

• The meltwater carries no passport: Reflectings on the online presentation by editor Kashmir Times Anuradha Bhasin, exploring how media and art can bridge the geopolitical noise.

• Pakistan, India as imperial nation-states: Vital notes from the “after conference” discussions, exploring the evolving structural realities of post-colonial governance and identity across the region.

New publications from members of our Sapan network

We are delighted to highlight two vital new literary and academic contributions from members of our broader Southasian intellectual community:

On the complex structures of modern media dominance:

Media Subimperialisms and the Rise of Global South (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026) by Dr. Farooq Sulehria, a media professor at Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, explores the complex structures of modern media dominance. The book unpacks how regional media systems function within broader imperial and sub-imperial frameworks, offering an essential perspective for peace journalists and media scholars navigating a post-truth world.

On majoritarian state mechanics and minority identities:

An examination of the socio-political architecture of our region by Cornell University professor, anthropologist and filmmaker Natasha S. Raheja, The People, in Parts: The Majoritarian Work of the Minority Forms (University of Chicago Press, 2027) would scrutinise how majoritarian state mechanics interact with, and shape, minority identities.

Sapan blog: Unsealing monsoon memories through Amir Khusrau’s ‘Jhoola’

During the scorching hot months of June and July, mango orchards come alive across the region, along with the welcome arrival of the monsoon rains. To mitigate the heavy, humid weather of the past, communities traditionally tie jhoola, swings, to sturdy mango tree branches. Families, friends, and especially young girls, spend long afternoons together, finding relief through conversation, laughter, and song.

Inspired by these environmentally friendly and emotionally fulfilling traditions, well known composer Arshad Mahmud released a contemporary rendition of “Jhoola” (The Swing), a piece he originally composed in the 1980s, sung by the late Nayyara Noor.

• Read Arshad Mahmud’s reflections on his composition, published on the Sapan blog in collaboration with MoUSICi.

• Here’s the track, featuring vocals by Sajar Nafees and the Arshad Mahmud Choir on YouTube.

Upcoming session with Dr. Azra Raza, hosted by Readers Without Borders and Sapan

Join Readers Without Borders and Sapan for a discussion with world-class oncologist and author Dr. Azra Raza, on her pathbreaking book, The First Cell: And the Human Costs of Pursuing Cancer to the Last. The book explores how modern medicine treats the disease, and how to cultivate a more compassionate framework for patients and caregivers.

• Date: Saturday, 18 July 2026 | Time: 10:30 am EST | 9:30 am CST | 7:30 am PST | 7:30 pm PKT

Join the Zoom meeting here

Dr. Azrا Raza also features in this episode of Sapan Stories:

• Opinion piece: Healing, hope, and the human spirit: Lessons from Dr. Azra Raza, bent on curing cancer, a Sapan News syndicated feature, published last year.

Calling young storytellers, activists, creators!

Are you a young storyteller, activist, or creator between 13 and 30 years of age? The COVA Peace Network and the Doyens of Peace in collaboration with Sapan have launched an exciting video competition to bring young people together across Southasia using culture and technology.

Competition overview

• Theme: Digital Stages - Shared Heritage: Youth Connecting Southasia through Culture and Tech

• Video duration: 5 minutes or less.

• Creative formats: You can use poetry, songs, dance, music, short plays, or sketches to express your vision. You can also choose to interview eminent personalities regarding their vision for a connected region.

• Inspiration tool: Click to watch a sample 4-Minute Play by Youth on Southasia to spark your own ideas.

• Cross-border collaboration: Participants are highly encouraged to form teams and connect with peers across borders to co-create their entries. If you need a partner in another country, the organising committee will help link you up.

Key dates and submission guidelines

• Tech and recording guide: Review detailed criteria on the Peacedoyens Technical Page.

• Submission link: Ready to upload your video? Submit your project via the Peacedoyens Submission Portal.

• Last date for submission: 27 July 2026

Prizes, recognition, and the main event

• Awards: The top video from each of the eight participating countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) will receive a cash prize equivalent to INR 15,000 in their local currency. All participants will receive official certificates.

• The main event: Selected videos will be live-cast globally during the hybrid 2nd Southasian Commemoration of Doyens of Peace on International Youth Day, 12 August 2026, from 10:00 am to 12:30 pm IST.

For comprehensive details, please visit www.peacedoyens.org or reach out directly via email at peacedoyenssouthasia@gmail.com.

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form at the button below

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

In this week’s briefing, we spotlight an international commemoration in Stockholm exploring alternative narratives of Partition and share a vibrant lineup of upcoming performance arts and advocacy panels, plus rolling opportunities for the next generation of Southasian peacemakers.

Mela Nordic, in collaboration with Sapan

International commemoration: ‘Divergent Voices of South Asia’

STOCKHOLM, Sweden: Sapan is proud to feature ‘Divergent Voices of South Asia: Rethinking Partition, Reimagining Peace’, an international gathering hosted by Mela Nordic to mark the 1947 Partition of the Indian subcontinent. Moving beyond familiar binaries and grand narratives, this event brings together academics, artists, writers, and activists to explore the enduring forces of creativity, solidarity, and syncretism that offer alternative ways of understanding our shared past and future.

Speakers include Sapaners Amrita Ghosh, Anuradha Bhasin, Aamir Butt, Beena Sarwar, Farooq Sulehria.

Bringing multicultural perspectives into one room, this gathering creates a vital, protected space for honest cross-border conversation and reconciliation.

• Date: 4 July 2026 | Time: 10:00 – 21:00 | Venue: Filmcentrum Riks, Bredgränd 2, Stockholm | Free admission; open to the public.

Events this weekend

Panel discussion: ‘The Global Fight for Trans Lives’

BOSTON: Join global organisers for a crucial, coordinated dialogue tracing resistance from India’s anti-trans legislation to the global “anti-gender” backlash. Supported by iiiLabs and the Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), this panel brings essential, cross-border intersectional frameworks to the forefront.

• Speakers: Vihaan Vee, an Ambedkarite, Queer Feminist Transman, development professional from Bengaluru, India, and

  Burhan Muhammad, an organisational expert, technologist, artivist from Boston, USA

• Date: 27 June 2026 | Time: 10:45 am EST | Venue: Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston Street, 2nd floor, Boston, USA and online (registration required)

  

Musical gathering: Baithak with Shivani Joshi

CAMBRIDGE, MA: An intimate, complimentary evening of soulful ghazals, melody, and timeless expression featuring Shivani Joshi, a Portland-based artist renowned for her mastery of Hindustani vocal music and Indian classical dance.

• Date: 27 June 2026 | Time: 6 pm - 9 pm | Venue: St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, 13 Sellers Street, Cambridge, USA

  FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. RSVP Jaspal paljas@yahoo.com

Literary reading: ‘Collapsing Borders through Fiction and Poetry’

CAMBRIDGE, MA: Karachi-born, Los Angeles-based writer, educator, and performance artist Sehba Sarwar will read excerpts from her novel ‘Black Wings’ and poems from her upcoming new poetry collection, ‘Imagine a Map with No Borders.’ Look forward to seeing you!

• Date: 30 June 2026 | Time: 5:30 pm - 6:30 pm EST | Venue: Community room, 11th floor, Putnam Square Apartments, 2 Mt Auburn Road, Cambridge, USA

• Please RSVP by emailing southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com

Call for entries

Doyens of Peace youth video competition

Are you a young storyteller, activist, or creator looking to connect with peers across borders? Southasia Peace partners the COVA Peace Network and the Doyens of Peace have launched an exciting video competition to bring Southasia together like never before.

Theme: Digital Stages - Shared Heritage: Youth Connecting Southasia through Culture and Tech

Eligibility & guidelines

• Age group: Open to youth between 13 and 30 years old

• Duration: 5 minutes or less

• Format & Content: Submissions can include short plays, skits, personal narratives, poetry, interviews, or experimental media

• Language: Videos may be in any Southasian language, but must include English subtitles

• Collaborative edge: Participants are highly encouraged to reach out to youth from other countries to co-create a video. If you need a cross-border partner, the organisers will help link you up!

• AI Policy: AI tools may be used for parts of the video, but the final submission must not be entirely AI-generated

• Submission deadline: 27 July 2026

Submit your entry here

Prizes & recognition

• Cash award: The top video from each of the eight participating countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka) will receive a cash prize equivalent to INR 15,000 in their local currency.

• Certificates: All entries will be awarded participation certificates.

• Global showcase: Selected videos will be live-cast online during a hybrid program hosted across all 8 countries on 12 August 2026, the International Youth Day, starting at 10 am IST.

Documentary release:

‘Mohenjo-daro: Unsealing an Ancient City’

Following its screening at the Collective for Social Science Research in Karachi, the documentary film ‘Mohenjo-daro: Unsealing an Ancient City’ is now available for public viewing. This film explores the largest Bronze Age civilisation, one that covered more territory than ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China combined, yet whose script remains unread.

Guided by historian and Indus researcher Omar Khan, who has spent three decades building a major online resource, ‘Harappa.com’, on the Indus civilisation with leading scholars, the film returns to the flagship city of Mohenjo-daro in Pakistan to ask what this 4,000-year-old urban experiment can tell us.

“Structured in five chapters, The Story, The City, The Citadel, The Writing, and The Future, the 36-minute documentary moves from personal journey to archaeological evidence, from the city’s carefully planned streets and monumental platforms to the still-unresolved questions around its undeciphered seals,” says the filmmaker.

Watch the film on YouTube: Mohenjo-daro: Unsealing an Ancient City

Announcement

Fifth annual Kabir festival

POSTPONED: The fifth Annual Kabir festival hosted by Kabir Society of America, in collaboration with the LearnQuest Academy Annual Kabir Festival, scheduled for 27 June, has been rescheduled to Sunday, 13 September 2026.

“We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and appreciate your understanding,” say the organisers.

Email: kabirsocietyofamerica@gmail.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabirsocietyusa/

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

Email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form at the button below

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com

🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

When a garment factory abruptly shuts down in Dhaka, the shockwaves are rarely felt in the industrial belts of New Delhi. When an emergency ordinance strips workers of collective bargaining rights in Kathmandu, the response seldom echoes in the fields of Punjab. For too long, the stories of Southasian workers have been confined within rigid national borders, compartmentalised into separate struggles despite facing the exact same structural precarities. Breaking down these invisible silos was the heart of Sapan’s regional labour gathering last month.

In this Brief, we take you inside that crucial cross-border dialogue and look ahead to some upcoming cultural gatherings celebrating our shared creative heritage.

Histories of struggle, futures of solidarity - labour rights in Southasia

To commemorate Labour History Month, the Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) hosted an online discussion exploring the shared precarity, vulnerabilities, and resilience of the working class across Southasia.

The virtual gathering, moderated by human rights defender Nalini Ratnarajah and hosted by award-winning journalist and Sapan founding member Namrata Sharma, highlighted critical, interlinked national perspectives:

• Syed Sultanuddin Ahmed, executive director, Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, detailed the massive expansion of the informal sector — which now encompasses 85% to 90% of the Bangladeshi workforce — and critiqued the isolated “silo approach” that weakens cross-border labour initiatives.

• Independent labour researcher Rakhi Sehgal documented a major wave of industrial unrest in the Delhi NCR industrial belt, where nearly 50,000 workers took to the streets to protest severe fuel inflation, stagnant minimum wages; and the state’s conversion of industrial disputes into law-and-order crises.

• Chamila Thushari, executive director, Dabindu Collective, provided a vital gendered lens, explaining the systemic exploitation of women workers within Free Trade Zones and how precarious ‘manpower’ agency labour strips women of structural safety nets, collective bargaining rights, and employment stability.

• Farooq Tariq, general secretary Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, highlighted the difficulties of peasant and agricultural labour classes navigating global debt burdens and structural adjustments. He also called for an active bridge connecting urban trade unions with rural agrarian movements.

• Sita Lama, vice president General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, raised an urgent alarm regarding executive overreach in Kathmandu, where emergency ordinances have dissolved civil service trade unions and dismantled tripartite labour regulatory structures.

The panellists emphasised that modern economic challenges, regional in character, demand unified, cross-border regional responses, structural supply chain accountability, and inclusive youth leadership. In conclusion, participants unanimously passed a joint resolution affirming that labour rights are fundamental human rights: Resolution on Labour Rights, Dignity and Justice.

• Watch the video recording on YouTube: Sapan Labour Rights Webinar

Public dialogue: “Why aren’t New Delhi and Islamabad talking?”

​On June 12, 2026, the Socialist Party India and the Centre for Peace and Secular Studies, Pakistan, co-hosted an online discussion addressing the ongoing diplomatic freeze between Southasia’s nuclear-armed neighbors.

Featuring eminent speakers from both countries, the dialogue focused on a critical contradiction in modern geopolitics: If global leaders expect Pakistan to act as a regional peacemaker between the US and Iran, and look to India to help mediate an end to the war in Ukraine, why are the two governments refusing to engage in direct dialogue with each other? (Speaker and event details here)

Upcoming events

As part of our commitment to celebrating Southasian art, culture, and shared heritage across borders, we share here some upcoming events that Sapaners are involved with.

Delhi, 13 June: Theater performance: ‘Madar-e-Hind ke Paanch Roop’

​The India Islamic Cultural Centre, in collaboration with Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Memorial Trust and Mandala (The Magic Circle), presents a theatrical production based on the short stories of the legendary writer and filmmaker the late Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, conceptualised by Sapan founder member the eminent peacemonger Dr. Syeda Hameed. The play features five women from around the country who together represent the enduring spirit of India.

• ​Saturday 13 June 2026, 6:30 pm, ​at the India Islamic Cultural Centre, New Delhi. ​RSVP: +91 9289190602

Karachi, 13 June: ‘Expression unbound’ art exhibition

The “Expression Unbound” group show at Ocean Art Galleries features works from a diverse group of contemporary artists, including an individual feature on visual artist, art educator and Sapaner Zeba Ali, who grew up in Mumbai and Karachi. Her vibrant acrylic paintings draw heavily from Post-Impressionism and Fauvism to explore profound, expressive themes of womanhood.

• Opening 13 June 2026, 5 pm – 8 pm, at Ocean Art Galleries, Block 5, Clifton, Karachi, Pakistan.

Boston, 27 June: Fifth annual Kabir festival

The Kabir Society of America, in collaboration with the LearnQuest Academy, is hosting its 5th Annual Kabir Festival in the Greater Boston area. The event features music and dance dedicated celebrating the timeless, syncretic wisdom of Kabir Das, the revered 15th-century Bhakti saint, mystic, and poet whose words continue to resonate, challenging social divisions and upholding universal love.

• 27 June 2026, 4-7 pm, Waltham Government Centre Hall, 119 School Street, Waltham, MA

  Note: This is a FREE public event. RSVP requested to assist with refreshments. Email kabirsocietyofamerica@gmail.com, or use the QR code on the flyer.

Stockholm, 4 July: Southasian art, culture and human rights

We are thrilled to partner with Mela Nordic for the second edition of their upcoming Aman (Peace) Festival on 3 -4 July 2026, initiated by filmmaker Talat Bhat. Several members of the Sapan network are expected to attend this unique diaspora event. Updates at the Mela Nordic Facebook event.

Sapaners on the mark

Gen Z voices at a literature festival in Nepal

Chitwan in the south of Nepal bordering India is becoming known for more than its famed national park which is also a sanctuary for the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger. The primarily Nepali-language Bagmati Literature Festival launched in 2025, took place this year on 30-31 May, organised by the provincial Ministry of Culture and Tourism and coordinated by the official literary committee of Bharatpur, Chitwan’s administrative capital.

Sapan volunteer Bidhi Adhikari, an economics student and freelance researcher traveled from Kathmandu for the event. She was a speaker along with two other youth leaders at a panel titled ‘शब्द, सङ्घर्ष र ज्ञ पुस्ताको आवाज’ (Words, Struggle and the Voice of Gen Z).

In her presentation connecting the generational struggle to literature, she quoted the celebrated writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin: ​“You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.” (Read her article about Arundhati Roy’s Kathmandu book tour). ​

She closed with a poignant, stirring couplet, sher, by the celebrated Pakistani poet, the late Parveen Shakir:

‘Majority/Minority Politics in South Asia’ essay collection launched

A just-launched collection of essays compiled in the academic journal Majority/Minority Politics in South Asia is now online at Borderlines, an open-access site mentored by the editors of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Co-editors Natasha Raheja who teaches anthropology at Cornell University, U.S.A., and Mohsin Bhat who teaches law at Queen Mary University London, brought together eminent scholars from across the region and diaspora to workshop their concepts last September at Cornell. The volume moves beyond nation-specific frameworks to foster comparative, cross-disciplinary, and cross-border inquiry into how majoritarianism takes shape across Southasia — relevant beyond the region.

Are you organising an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

To share your work, please email southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com or fill in the Google form at the button below

Share your update

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

If Pakistan is expected to play a role as a peacemaker between the US and Iran, and if world leaders expect Narendra Modi to convince Putin to stop the war on Ukraine, why aren’t the two neighboring governments talking to each other?

To unpack this critical impasse, the Socialist Party in India and the Centre for Peace and Secular Studies, Pakistan, cordially invite you to a vital public webinar and panel discussion bringing together leading public intellectuals, peace crusaders, and policy analysts from both sides of the border.

Event details

• Date: Friday, June 12, 2026

• Time: 8 pm IST | 7:30 pm PKT

• Platform: Zoom

• Meeting ID: 826 0042 3586, Passcode: 445549

Featured speakers

The dialogue will bring forward critical, interlinked cross-border perspectives from a distinguished panel of seasoned activists and thinkers:

• Pervez Hoodbhoy – Physicist and leading public intellectual of Pakistan.

• Lalita Ramdas – Crusader for Peace, India.

• Sheema Kermani – Bharatnatyam dancer and feminist activist, Pakistan.

• Radha Kumar – Writer and policy activist, India.

• A.H. Nayyar – Physicist and peace activist, Pakistan.

• Rita Manchanda – Representative of the Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD), India.

• Saeeda Diep – Human rights activist, Pakistan.

• O.P. Shah – Campaigner for India-Pakistan peace, India.

Moderator

• Beena Sarwar – Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan).

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

SATURDAY 30 May: Book discussion — ‘House of Caravans’ with author Shilpi Suneja in Boston

Online discussion, 10.30 am ET, in collaboration with Readers Without Borders: An interactive literary session with novelist Shilpi Suneja to discuss her sweeping debut novel, ‘House of Caravans,’ a multi-layered narrative that goes beyond ‘Partition’.

This virtual gathering offers an open space for readers, history enthusiasts, and peace advocates to come together, reflect on our shared regional history, and engage in a meaningful dialogue with the author. Moderated by Sapan co-founder Beena Sarwar and RWB founder Ambereen Raza. More details here.

Register to join

Register for the Zoom meeting

SUNDAY 31 MAY: Commemorating Labour History Month

Sapan seminar: ‘Histories of struggle, futures of solidarity — Labour rights in Southasia’

Time: 10:00 am ET / 7:00 pm Pakistan / 7:30 pm India & Sri Lanka / 7:45 pm Nepal / 8:00 pm Bangladesh

Register to join

Register for the Zoom meet

Meet the panel

To truly understand a regional problem, you need regional experts. We’ve brought together an incredible group of change-makers from around Southasia:

The host

Namrata Sharma (Nepal): Award-winning journalist, dedicated activist, and Sapan founding member who will steer our ship for the session.

The moderator

Nalini Rathnarajah (Sri Lanka): She has spent more than 25 years fighting for gender equality, social justice, and women’s economic empowerment. As the Executive Director of Women’s Development Innovators, her work beautifully connects feminist economics with practical resilience. She is a fierce advocate for reducing the unpaid care burden on women and opening doors to high-income, dignified livelihoods.

The panellists

Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed (Bangladesh): His journey in trade unionism spans over four decades, stretching back to 1980. A heavyweight in policy advocacy and labour law reform, he led Bangladesh’s Labour Reform Commission 2024. Currently the Executive Director of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, Mr. Ahmmed also spent years as a Specialist on Workers’ Activities for the ILO Decent Work Team for South Asia in New Delhi.

Rakhi Sehgal (India): An independent researcher and trade union organizer for over twenty years, she specializes in supporting workers navigating the modern realities of precarity, contract labour, and supply chain pressures. She is known for her critical work backing wrongly accused union leaders, and tracking the systemic criminalization of labour dissent. More recently, she has been on the ground in Noida, actively supporting detained workers through the maze of bail proceedings and sessions courts.

Chamila Thushari (Sri Lanka): A feminist leader who started as a grassroots mobilizer and has spent 30 years fighting alongside women in Sri Lanka’s apparel and Free Trade Zone sectors. Since 1998, she has led the Dabindu Collective, amplifying the voices of marginalized factory workers to demand safe conditions and fair standards. Her expertise is highly sought after across regional networks, including the Asia Floor Wage Alliance and Sri Lanka’s National Labour Advisory Committee.

Farooq Tariq (Pakistan): A lifetime political organizer who champions the rights of peasants and marginalized workers. He brings a wealth of global insight to local struggles, serving as the President of the Haqooq-e-Khalq Party and holding leadership roles in the Pakistan Kissan Rabita Committee, the Asian Peoples Movement on Debt and Development, and the Fight Inequality Alliance.

Sita Lama (Nepal): Her activism began in childhood as an advocate against child labour, evolving over 30 years into deep trade union leadership. Today, she is a board member and Vice President of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions, where she also serves as the Women Committee President. She brings critical insight into how gender and worker representation intersect at the highest levels.

Detailed speaker bios at this link

The people behind the scenes

A regional gathering like this takes a village. Huge thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers and advisors who have worked to bring this dialogue to life: Beena Sarwar, Bidhi Adhikari, Kavita Srivastava, Khawar Mumtaz, Khushi Kabir, Namrata Sharma, Pragyan Srivastava, Shoaib Ahmed Sayam, Sher Afgan Tareen, Sushmita Preetha.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word? Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Join our community if you haven’t already — endorse the Southasia Peace Action Network Founding Charter - more than 145 organisations around the world have endorsed it, along with hundreds of individuals.

Endorse the Sapan Founding Charter

Follow Southasia Peace Action Network on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/southasiapeace

On FB at facebook.com/southasiapeace

Website southasiapeace.com

Thank you!

In this edition, we celebrate the forward-looking ideas and cultural connections we weave through Southasia. From an inspiring gathering in Karachi that reimagined traditional craftsmanship as global luxury, to international film screenings and literary dialogues, we highlight the voices building a more collaborative, resilient, and peaceful world.

Craft and luxury: A way forward in the age of AI

Sapan Visiting Fellow Harith Soysa from Colombo had an exciting few days in Karachi meeting top designers and engaging in learning exchanges. The day before he left, ​Sapan hosted a special tea and interactive session on Sunday 17 May at the Sindh Government Officers Club, Karachi, hosted by a distinguished group of dedicated Sapaners — Dr. Mehboob Shaikh, past president of Rotary, along with record-holding cricketer and cricket coach Jalaluddin from Dallas, TX, feminist activist ​Khawar Mumtaz from Lahore, eminent journalist Afia Salam, and ​Beena Sarwar, Founder editor of Sapan News.

​The overwhelming turnout spoke to the . Expected to draw 50 guests, the event saw an overwhelming turnout of over 80 attendees, including several notable regional celebrities.

Redefining luxury for Southasia

​Soysa, an entrepreneur with an MBA in Luxury and Business from the International University of Monaco, challenged the “grim” global narrative of Southasia as a region solely in need of humanitarian aid and proposed a powerful paradigm shift:

• ​The disparity: Southasia holds 25% of the global population but contributes only 4% to the global GDP.

• The luxury lens: True luxury is the product of a venerated cultural heritage preserved for generations. While brands like Hermès fiercely protect and sustain their traditional artisanal methods, Southasian artisans, possessing identical generational skills, are barely surviving.

• The Prada effect: Highlighting how Italian luxury brand Prada retailed Indian Kolhapuri chappals in their Spring/Summer 2026 collection for USD 930, Soysa asked why Southasian heritage industries cannot cut out the middleman, transform themselves into independent luxury brands, and claim their own economic value.

Surviving the robotic revolution

With the World Economic Forum 2025 noting a swift push toward automated manufacturing, rapid developments in AI and robotics pose a direct threat to low-skilled manual labor. Soysa argued that Southasia's deep connection to environment and culture is its ultimate shield. Because heritage crafts are inherently unique, they offer an irreplaceable human element that AI cannot replicate, serving as a crucial tool for soft power and livelihood preservation.

The day before the packed Karachi gathering, an analytical article outlining these strategies was published in Sapan News.

• Read Harith Soysa’s article in Sapan News: Luxury industries as a national driver in a new world order

• A pictorial gallery of event highlights in this Online Photo and Video Album

Documentary ‘Hanging by a Wire’ heads to Tribeca

​Award-winning filmmaker and Sapan Founding Charter signatory Mo Naqvi’s latest documentary Hanging by a Wire screens at the Tribeca Festival this June. Following its world premiere as a Day One selection at Sundance earlier this year, the film continues its prestigious festival run.

​The film is a real-time documentary thriller about a high-stakes rescue operation in northern Pakistan, where a cable car carrying schoolboys is left dangling 900 feet above a ravine.

​“It has been a very meaningful project for me,” says Naqvi. Sapaners in the area are warmly invited to join the upcoming screenings.

​Tribeca screening schedule

• ​June 11 - 5:30 PM

• ​June 12 - 6:15 PM

• ​June 13 - 12:15 PM

Tickets & Details: Tribeca Film Page

Book discussion: Author Shilpi Suneja on ‘House of Caravans’

​Readers Without Borders (RWB) and Sapan invite you to an interactive literary afternoon with novelist Shilpi Suneja to discuss her sweeping debut novel, House of Caravans.

​Spanning generations from British India in 1943 to post-millennium India in 2002, the novel provides a masterfully told, moving portrayal of a family and a nation divided by the lasting consequences, familial secrets, and religious prejudices left behind by colonialism.

• ​Date: May 30, 2026

• ​Time: 10:30 a.m. ET

​Secure your spot: Zoom Registration Link

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something?

Are you organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

Deepest condolences:

​The Sapan community is profoundly shocked and saddened by the tragic passing of Dr. Naseem Salahuddin, veteran infectious diseases expert and internationally respected medical pioneer, who died on 22 May 2026, from injuries sustained in a head-on collision in Morocco. She was the sister of eminent physicist and peacemonger Dr. Pervez Hoodbhoy and journalist Nafisa Hoodbhoy. Read the WHO obituary here.

​We also mourn the passing of Squadron Leader (Retired) Farhad Saeed Khan (Dhaloo), who succumbed to a prolonged bout of pneumonia on Saturday, 23 May 23 2026 in Karachi. We send our heartfelt prayers and strength to his family, friends, and loved ones including well known feminist activists Khawar Rani Mumtaz and Kausar S. Khan.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

In this edition, we celebrate the deep-rooted cultural connections that weave through Southasia, proving that while borders may be drawn on maps, the human spirit remains beautifully interconnected.

Call for applications

Do you know a changemaker challenging gender norms in Southasia?

The #KamlaBhasinAwards are now open to honor individuals driving gender justice and empowerment across the region.

Learn more and apply: kamlabhasinawards.org

‘Democracy In Debt’ screened at IBA Karachi

On 7 May, the Pulitzer Center-supported documentary ‘Democracy In Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ was screened at the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Karachi University. The screening was followed by an insightful discussion featuring eminent economist Haris Gazdar in conversation with the filmmaker Beena Sarwar. The event was also attended by Sanjeewa Pattiwila, the Consul General of Sri Lanka in Karachi.

The award-winning film, a collaboration involving Sapan and Sapan News, offers a grassroots look at the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. This project stands as a unique bridge-building effort, being perhaps the only film produced in English, Sinhala (broadcast on Supreme TV), and Urdu (broadcast on Geo TV).

Watch the trailer | Learn more and watch the film | See photos from the event

Remembering Asha Bhosle, reimagining a region’s sound

The Sapan virtual session on Sunday, 26 April, convened musicians, composers, and cultural journalists from across Southasia to celebrate the enduring legacy of Asha Bhosle. The conversation, hosted by award-winning journalists and broadcasters Naziba Basher from Dhaka and Shareefa Thahir from Colombo, explored how her versatility and bold choices continue to inspire contemporary, cross-border musical expressions.

Highlights from the event

• Heritage and linguistic diversity: Sapan founding member Kavita Srivastava, a human rights activist in Jaipur, stressed the linguistic and cultural wealth of the region, and how shared classical frameworks remain deeply interconnected.

• Musical interpretations: Singer and songwriter Warda Ashraf from Bangladesh traced the history of the region’s rich musical heritage and emphasized how digital platforms allow independent artists to connect.

• Cross-border collaborations: Pop singer Jawad Ahmad recalled his 2006 collaboration with Asha Bhosle in India, highlighting her role as one of the most defining vocalists in the subcontinent’s history.

• Personal memories and solidarity: The session featured tributes and performances reflecting on feminist history and bridging borders through music.

Watch the session here:

Sapaners on the mark:

Namrata Sharma: Honors in journalism and digital leadership

We are immensely proud to share that Sapan founding member Namrata Sharma was recently honored with the Senior Journalist Award by the President of Nepal, Ram Chandra Paudel, on National Journalism Day. Presented alongside Bikram Timilsina, the Minister of Communication and Information Technology, this award recognizes Namrata’s decades of commitment to the field.

Beyond the newsroom, Namrata continues to lead vital conversations on technology and human rights:

• UNESCO Workshop in Bhojpur: As Coordinator of the Mass Communication Committee for NATCOM (UNESCO), Namrata recently traveled to the rural district of Bhojpur to lead a workshop for 50 students, teachers, and journalists. She focused on how AI and new technologies can facilitate tourism on the Mundum Trail and stressed the urgent need for media literacy to ensure online safety.

• A Voice for Connection: A dedicated human-rights activist, Namrata remains a prominent voice on intercommunity love. She previously served as a panelist for Sapan’s “Celebrating Love: Beyond Borders and Boundaries” session, exploring how human connections defy societal constraints. Watch the video here.

Lalita Ramdas: Strengthening bonds and advocating for peace

In India, Sapan founding member Lalita Ramdas continues to bridge the gap between regional friendship and global peace advocacy through her recent activities in Hyderabad.

• Cross-Border Solidarity: In a heartening moment for our network, Lalita recently met with fellow Sapan founder Khushi Kabir in Hyderabad. Khushi, a renowned activist from Bangladesh (Nijera Kori and Sangat Network), joined Lalita to reaffirm the personal bonds that serve as the foundation of Sapan’s mission.

  

• A Call to Act Against War: Lalita was a featured speaker at a recent seminar in Hyderabad as part of the national ‘Women Against War’ campaign. Organized by COVA Peace Network, Amoomat Society and PUCAAR, led by the Peace Builders Forum India, the seminar addressed the “appalling indifference” to global violence. Watch the presentation by Lalita Ramdas, here.

Sapan stories: Finding home across borders

The latest Sapan Stories edition features award-winning Sri Lankan investigative journalist Dilrukshi Handunnetti reflecting on the power of a unified Southasia identity.

“Each place offers a certain taste, a culture, an identity... I think all of us carry all these traces within us. For me, when I go to Lahore, I am native... I also call India my home, all of it.”

Watch the video here:

Book discussion

On May 2, in the wake of May Day, journalist and author Neha Dixit spoke to a packed audience in Boston about her acclaimed debut book, The Many Lives of Syeda X. Organized by Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC) alongside the Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia, Sapan, and the Indian American Muslim Council, the event served as a profound meditation on labor, faith, and gender.

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something?

Are you organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan
📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

As we move through April, we are reminded that our histories, languages, and struggles remain deeply entangled. Whether it is through the shared vocabulary of the heart or the collaborative spirit of Southasian storytelling, the vision of a peaceful, connected region continues to guide our work.

In this edition, we look at the voices that have become our shared inheritance and the movements that continue to assert that peace between peoples is the foundation of democracy in our subcontinent.

Sapan event - ‘Southasian Beats: Remembering Asha Bhosle, Reimagining a Region’s Sound’

Sunday 26 April 2026 | 10:00 am ET | 3:00 pm UK | 7:00 pm PKT | 7:30 pm IST & LKT | 7:45 pm NPT | 8:00 pm BST

Register here to join via Zoom. Also streaming live at youtube.com/southasiapeace. Please subscribe, like, and share!

We are excited to invite you to “Southasian Beats: Remembering Asha Bhosle, Reimagining a Region’s Sound.” This discussion is not just a tribute to one of our most versatile voices; it is about continuity and how music travels across borders.

From the legacy of the golden age to modern Gujarati-POP and digital evolution, join us to explore how music reshapes our shared identity.

• Introduction: Kavita Srivastava (Jaipur)

• Host: Naziba Basher (Dhaka)

LEGACY AND INFLUENCE

•⁠ ⁠Arshad Mahmud, veteran composer, and former director at the National Academy of Performing Arts, NAPA, Karachi, with ⁠⁠Neema Oza, songwriter, composer, and producer credited with creating GPOP — Gujarati Pop

SOUTHASIAN BEATS: THEN AND NOW

•⁠ ⁠Swara Oza, singer and performer, a leading GPOP voice.
•⁠ ⁠Manoj Gurung, veteran playback singer and musician in Kathmandu.
•⁠ ⁠Jawad Ahmad, singer in Lahore who composed a song he sang with Asha ji, recorded in Mumbai
•⁠ ⁠Warda Ashraf, singer-songwriter in Dhaka.
⁠With ⁠Shareefa “Sherry” Thahir, award winning TV and radio presenter and news anchor in Colombo.

Join us on YouTube live

Or

Register here for the Zoom meet

Sapan News Spotlight

Asha Bhosle: A shared cultural heartbeat: In the drawing rooms of Islamabad and the tea stalls of Lahore, her voice has been a constant companion. From the rebellion of “Dum Maro Dum” to the soulful ghazals of Umrao Jaan, her music defied borders and outlived “empires of taste.”

By Madiha Arsalan Haneef / Sapan News | Read the full tribute here

More upcoming events

‘Stories the state tries to erase’ – talk by Neha Dixit

BOSTON: Saturday 02 May 2026 | 3:00 - 5:00 pm ET

Join award-winning journalist Neha Dixit for a discussion on her book, The Many Lives of Syeda X. She will explore how journalism can recover erased histories and hold power to account amid shrinking media freedoms.

• Where: The Community Church of Boston, 565 Boylston St (Copley Square). Online option available.

• Organised by: Boston South Asian Coalition in collaboration with Sapan, Indian American Muslim Council, and Alliance for a Secular and Democratic South Asia.

After the Fire: Poetry & Cookies with Sehba Sarwar

LOS ANGELES: Saturday 25 April 2026 | 3:00 - 6:00 pm PT | Altadena, California

Author and artist Sehba Sarwar hosts her closing literary event as Altadena Poet Laureate. The festival features Pulitzer winner Viet Thanh Nguyen, local poets, and indie presses.

• Live-stream: Altadena Library’s YouTube Channel.

• Read: Sehba’s essay on planting seeds and creating safe passages.

Peacemongers in the field

The Indo-Pak-Bangladesh mango tree

We are delighted to share a "fruitful" update from peace walker Yogesh Mathuria. A Chausa Mango tree brought from Lahore during a 2022 Peace Pilgrimage has flowered in its 4th year! This unique tree, planted at the Hidden Oasis Campus, has been grafted with Indian Kesar and will soon include the Bangladesh Banana Mango, bearing three different regional fruits on one trunk. A true symbol of ‘Jai Jagat’.

Also read: A flute, a song, and a mango tree: Sharing seeds of positivity, one step at a time, Sapan News story by Katherine Abraham in Pune.

Exploring Southasian heritage in Coventry

Sapan founding member and researcher Vishal Sharma recently joined vlogger London Ki Lali to explore Southasian culture in Coventry, England. The vlog features local heritage, delicious desi food, and an exhibition on Southasian history in the UK. Watch the vlog here

Sapaners on the mark

Dr. Yaqoob Khan Bangash: reimagining Punjab and regional unity

In this recent highlight, we feature the multifaceted work of historian Dr. Yaqoob Khan Bangash, who recently assumed the role of Dean of the School of Economics and Social Sciences at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi.

• Book Talk: ‘From the Ashes of 1947: Reimagining Punjab’: Dr. Bangash recently moderated a session at IBA featuring British-Punjabi historian Dr. Pippa Virdee visiting Karachi from the University of Warwick. The discussion centered on Dr. Virdee’s book From the Ashes of 1947: Reimagining Punjab.

  

• Local Leadership: Beyond his academic leadership at IBA, Dr. Bangash continues to foster critical intellectual discourse by organizing local sessions of Think Fest in various cities across Pakistan. Dr. Bangash founded Think Fest, the first academic literary festival in Pakistan, in 2016.

• Vision for a Southasian Union: In a featured episode of Sapan Stories, Dr. Bangash reflects on the original vision of partition, noting it was initially intended as an amicable separation to foster good neighborly relations.

Watch the full Sapan Stories video here

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,

Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com

🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

Anchored in a tribute to the iconic singer Asha Bhosle, the event honours one of the most versatile and enduring voices in the region’s musical history, who transcended language, genre, and borders.

Additionally, voices from around the region will explore how Southasian music is being reshaped today — through protest and revolution, digital platforms, AI-generated sound, shifting youth tastes, and the global rise of Bollywood music in contrast to other regional genres.

When: Sunday 26 April 2026

Time: 10 a.m. ET | 3:00 p.m. UK | 7:00 p.m. PKT | 7:30 p.m. IST & LKT | 7:45 p.m. NPT | 8:00 p.m. BST

Where:

Live on YouTube at youtube.com/southasiapeace

Or register to join online via Zoom

Zoom Registration Link

More information:

This discussion is not just a tribute to Bhosle; it is about continuity — how one voice can echo across decades, borders, and futures. The session is also not just about music. “It is about memory. It is about how a voice travels — across borders that politics insists on drawing, but culture quietly refuses to obey,” says journalist, singer, and dancer Naziba Basher, in Dhaka, who will host the event.

“There are very few voices that have done this as effortlessly and as defiantly as Asha Bhosle. She sang in languages that were not her own and somehow made them feel like home. She moved across genres before we even had the vocabulary to call it genre-bending. And in doing so, she became not just a singer, but a shared inheritance.”

Kavita Srivastava, a well-known human rights activist in Jaipur, a passionate musician herself, and a founder member of the Southasia Peace Action Network, will frame the concept behind this conversation, which does not exist in isolation. It is part of a larger effort — one that imagines a Southasia where borders soften, where collaboration outweighs conflict, and where culture leads where politics often fails.

LEGACY AND INFLUENCE

What does it mean to leave behind a sound that refuses to fade? From the golden age of radio to films, regional adaptations, and reinterpretations that continue even today, Asha Bhosle’s voice travelled further than most passports ever could.

Arshad Mahmud, veteran composer, former EMI music producer, and former director at the National Academy of Performing Arts, NAPA, in Karachi, and Neema Oza, songwriter, composer, and producer best known for creating GPOP — Gujarati Pop — will reflect on that legacy.

SOUTHASIAN BEATS: THEN AND NOW

We will also explore how music in Southasia is being reshaped in real time — by protest movements, by digital platforms that collapse distance, by algorithms that decide what we hear and sometimes what we forget. And increasingly, by younger artists who are asking different questions: who are we making music for? What language do we choose? And what does it mean to sound Southasian in a global moment?

To explore these questions, we’ll be joined by voices from across the region:

• Swara Oza, singer and performer, is one of the leading voices of the GPOP movement, helping bring Gujarati music into a modern global soundscape along with her mother Neema Oza.

• Manoj Gurung, a veteran playback singer and musician in Kathmandu whose career spans more than four decades across traditional and modern music.

• Jawad Ahmad, a celebrated singer, composer, and activist in Lahore whose music and public voice have resonated across generations.

• Warda Ashraf, a singer-songwriter in Dhaka, known for music that moves across genres, languages, and themes of resistance, reflection, and social meaning.

• Plus, award-winning TV and radio presenter and news anchor, Shareefa “Sherry” Thahir in Colombo.

We look forward to seeing you on Zoom or on YouTube

Read also: Asha Bhosle: A shared cultural heartbeat, a tribute from Pakistan, in Sapan News

Speaker bios online here

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?

Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

As we move through April, we are reminded that our histories, languages, and struggles remain deeply entangled. Whether it is through the shared vocabulary of the heart or the collaborative spirit of Southasian storytelling, the vision of a peaceful, connected region continues to guide our work.

When we launchd the Southasia Peace Action Network, or Sapan, in March 2021, we were locked in our homes, helplessly watching a virus spread across our borders. Today, as we celebrate our fifth anniversary, we find ourselves again watching devastation in the region and the world, often feeling powerless to intervene. In such unprecedented times, can we still dare to hope?

In this edition, we reflect on our common roots, celebrate the milestones of our fellow peacemongers, and invite you to a series of gatherings designed to move the narrative of regional peace forward.

Sapan at five: Celebrating half a decade of solidarity

On Sunday, 29 March 2026, the Sapan community gathered from across the globe to commemorate our fifth anniversary. It was a time to grapple with our challenges, celebrate our collective wins, and reaffirm our commitment to a peaceful, connected Southasia. As Bilal Arif reports for Sapan News, this milestone marked half a decade of cross-border solidarity, offering a space to grapple with our challenges and celebrate our collective wins.

If you missed the live event, you can watch the recording on our YouTube channel. Please like, comment, and share to help us grow our narrative: YouTube Live Recording: Five years of Sapan

The Sapan anniversary resolution

At the end of the event, we passed a five-part resolution addressing the most pressing needs of our region today:

1. Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace: Upholding UN Resolution 2832 (1971).

2. Support for Afghan women: Calling for a resolution to Pakistan-Afghanistan hostilities.

3. Release of cross-border prisoners: Ensuring those who have completed their jail terms are repatriated.

4. Reviving trade and access: Reopening cross-border trade and medical access.

5. Revive SAARC: Calling for the resumption of the SAARC Summit.

Read the full resolution on the Sapan website here. The post includes archival material that the Resolution draws upon, as well as an article published in India that readers in Pakistan will have difficulty accessing. Hence our earlier call to ‘unban’ cross border media.

Upcoming events

Counting the cost of conflicts: Why peace matters

TODAY: Cross-border webinar | Friday, 10 April | 5:30 pm IST & PST

A vital discussion by the Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) with a distinguished panel of filmmakers, authors, and activists.

• Speakers: Vani Subramanian, Navsharan Singh, Nupur Basu, Saba Gul Khattak, Mazhar Abbas, and Tahira Abdullah.

• Moderator: Rita Manchanda

  

This webinar is also a Curtain Raiser for the PIPFPD India Chapter’s National Convention — इश्क़, सियासत और अवाम (Ishq, Siyasat aur Awam). Join the Zoom meeting here (passcode 1359)

PIPFPD National Convention: Ishq, siyasat aur awam

18–19 April 2026 | New Delhi

The first PIPFPD convention in eight years will explore peace, anti-war frameworks, and human rights through the works of poets like Paash, Sahir Ludhianvi, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Register here

Partners in peace

Pathways to peace: COVA activity report 2025-26

The Confederation of Voluntary Associations (COVA) has released its latest report, identifying eight forces, from social deglobalisation to the weaponisation of religion, that drive communal violence and war.

Read the full COVA Activity Report

Call for proposals: SAARC research grants 2026

The SAARC Cultural Centre, Sri Lanka, is inviting research proposals on “Interpreting Shared Heritage: Cross-Cultural Narratives in Museums in the SAARC Region.”

View the call for proposals

Sapan Stories: voices from the region

Sheema Kermani: choosing solidarity over militarisation

In this episode of Sapan Stories, activist and artist Sheema Kermani shares her vision for a united Southasian identity. She speaks on how our shared history, literature, and even the subtle ways we move transcend national borders. In an era of rising nuclearisation, Sheema argues that recognizing our common roots is the only way forward.

“It is the enmity that these nations have built up over the years... those enmities will only go when we identify as one.”

Watch the full video here

Celebrating our volunteers

Sapan is sustained by the tireless efforts of our volunteers over the years. Our deepest gratitude to:

Abdullah Zahid, Adnan Bajwa, Aekta Kapoor, Afia Salam, Afrasiab Khattak, Aisha Gazdar, Anusha Dwivedi, Arjan Rai, Arjyashree Chakma, Aruni John, Arya Gautam, Baela Raza Jamil, Bidhi Adhikari, Bipasha Saed, Duaa-e-Emaan, Faisal Lalani, Irfan Mufti, Haris Gazdar, Husnain Jamil, Jatin Desai, Kabir Rao, Kavita Srivastava, Lalita Ramdas, M. Waqas, Mani Shankar Aiyar, Mansi Chandna, Manmeet K. Walia, Martha Alter Chen, Mazher Hussain, Nalaka Gunawardene, Nasreen Cheanie Rehman, Natasha Raheel Khan, Nirupama Subramanian, Noor-e-Emaan, Padma B., Pragyan Srivastava, Pratyush Bharati, Ranjini Rao, Regina Johnson, Rohit Valecha, Saeed Ahmed Rid, Saifullah Saify, Salima Hashmi, Saman Shafiq, Sanjoy Hazarika, Siraj Khan, Sara Arshad, Sarita Bartaula, Shahid Nadeem, Shailaja Rao, Sher Afgan Tareen, Sushmita Preetha, Urmi Chanda, Urvashi Butalia, Vidya Kakra, Vinod Mubayi, Zarminae Ansari, and many more.

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,
Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.southasiapeace.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

As we move through March, we are reminded that our histories, languages, and struggles remain deeply entangled. Whether it is through the shared vocabulary of the heart or the collaborative spirit of Southasian storytelling, the vision of a peaceful, connected region continues to guide our work.

Upcoming events

Five years of Sapan: Connecting and holding space for each other, keeping hope alive

Sunday 29 March 2026 | 11:00 am ET | Online, register here

When the Southasia Peace Action Network was launched in March 2021, the world was in the grip of a global pandemic. We were locked in our homes, helplessly watching a virus spread havoc across our borders. Today, as we reach our fifth anniversary, we find ourselves again watching devastation in the region and the world, often feeling powerless to intervene. In such unprecedented times, can we still dare to hope?

Join us for this commemorative discussion with speakers from across Southasia and the diaspora to grapple with our challenges and celebrate our collective wins.

Speakers and agenda

• Welcome: Beena Sarwar, journalist, filmmaker, Sapan co-founder and curator.

• Event host: Sushmita S. Preetha, journalist and Associate Coordinator at Nijera Kori, Dhaka.

• ‘GenZ, democracy, war, and the region’ — A conversation between J. Natasha Gooneratne (Colombo), Naziba Basher (Dhaka), and Pratibha Tuladhar (Kathmandu).

• ‘Countering oppression, violence, and the Epstein mindset’ - Ruchira Gupta, Founder of Apne Aap Women Worldwide.

• Resolution: Presented by Dr. Dayani Panagoda, expert in peace, security, and reconciliation, Colombo.

• ‘Azaadi’ - a musical offering by the Ghost Peppers band - Dr Amrita Ghosh

Time: 8 am Pacific / 3 pm London / 8 pm Pakistan / 8:30 pm India / 8:45 pm Nepal / 9 pm Bangladesh

Where: Online via Zoom and on YouTube. Register here.

You can also watch and comment on the Sapan YouTube channel. Please like and share our channel to help us grow our reach.

Subscribe Sapan's YouTube channel

Resistance in Pakistan: looking back to look forward

Saturday 28 March | 10:30 am – 1:30 pm ET | Hybrid: Boston and online, register here

The Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), in collaboration with Sapan, invites you to a screening of ‘Aur nikelnenge ushshaq ke qafley’ (There will be more caravans of passion), a documentary by Beena Sarwar on Pakistan’s first nationwide student movement in the 1950s. The screening will be followed by a discussion with musician and economics professor Dr. Taimur Rahman of the Mazdoor Kisan Party on the current state of resistance and struggle in Pakistan.

Venue: Community Church of Boston, Copley Square, Boston. Register here.

Book discussion: ‘The Return of the Taliban’

Saturday 28 March | 10:30 am ET | Online, registration required

Readers Without Borders, an online book reading club, invites you to a discussion with Dr. Hassan Abbas, author of The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans and the West. Join us to explore the complexities of the current situation in Afghanistan and its regional implications. Register here to join

(Un)Layering the future past of South Asia: young artists’ voices

Opening Preview: Saturday 28 March 2026 | Bradford, UK

We are delighted to invite you to the second iteration of this exhibition, curated by Salima Hashmi and Manmeet K. Walia. Bringing us together in celebration of Southasia as part of Bradford Museum’s spring celebration, this promises to be a special moment of coming together.

• Venue: Cartwright Hall Gallery, Lister Park, Bradford, BD9 4NS

• Exhibition Dates: On view until 31 August 2026

• RSVP: rsvpcartwrighthall@bradford.gov.uk

Ishq, siyasat aur awam: Why peace matters

PIPFPD National Convention | 18–19 April 2026 | 10 am IST | New Delhi, India

The Pakistan India Peoples’ Forum for Peace and Democracy (PIPFPD) returns for its national convention after eight years. At a time when militarised nationalism dominates discourse and regional conflicts escalate, the relevance of this gathering is greater than ever.

The convention will address critical issues, including border livelihoods, attacks on journalism and free speech, political prisoners, and the gendered impact of war. Building on a three-decade legacy, the event will also be a cultural celebration, exploring anti-war frameworks and human rights through the works of poets like Paash, Sahir Ludhianvi, and Faiz Ahmed Faiz — voices that spoke for workers, prisoners, and rebels, not war.

Venue: Rajendra Bhawan, Building No. 210, Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Marg (Near ITO), New Delhi, India. Register here

Sapaners on the mark

Pioneering journalism: Documentary on Ammu Joseph

Just out: A documentary on senior journalist Ammu Joseph, a founder member of the Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI) and a valued member of the Sapan News advisory council. This film is part of a series commissioned by the Kerala Media Academy honouring pioneering media professionals from Kerala. Watch the documentary here.

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,
Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.sapannews.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

As we move through March, we are reminded that our histories, languages, and struggles remain deeply entangled. Whether it is through the shared vocabulary of the heart or the collaborative spirit of Southasian storytelling, the vision of a peaceful, connected region continues to guide our work.

In this edition, we reflect on our common roots and celebrate the milestones of our fellow peacemongers.

Upcoming

Democracy in debt: screening and discussion in Kandy

Saturday 14 March | 6:00 pm SLST | Sahas Uyana, Kandy, Sri Lanka

The World Press Photo Exhibition will be hosting a community screening of Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines, followed by a discussion with the filmmaker and founder of Sapan News, Beena Sarwar. The event aims to explore Sri Lanka’s intricate journey through debt, governance, and the future of democracy. Venue: World Press Photo Exhibition, Sahas Uyana, Kandy.

Secure your seat here

Remembering Ramu: A celebration of a life well lived

Sunday 15 March | 11 am- 4 pm IST | Ramu farm, Bhaimala, Maharashtra

It has been two years since the passing of Admiral L. ‘Ramu’ Ramdas, a steadfast mentor to the Sapan family and a giant in the movement for regional peace.

To honour his legacy, his life partner Lalita Ramdas, also a Sapan founder member, invites friends and comrades to a ‘melava’ (gathering) at ‘Lara’, the farm the couple built after Admiral Ramdas retired, where they lived and worked for a better world. True to his naval mantra, “Much more with much less,” the afternoon will be a simple celebration of a life dedicated to crossing new frontiers.

Watch the Sapan video: ‘A message for India from Admiral ‘Ramu’ Ramdas via Lalita Ramdas’

Also watch, Admiral (rtd.) ‘Ramu’ Ramdas and Lalita Ramdas sing ‘Mat Baanto Insaan ko’ (Jan. 2023) on the Sapan YouTube channel.

Subscribe to Sapan's Youtube chanel

Building online credibility: Media ethics workshop in Colombo

Friday 20 March | 3 pm – 6 pm SLST | Colombo, Sri Lanka | Register for the workshop here

The Sri Lanka Press Institute and the Sri Lanka College of Journalism present an interactive in-person workshop on using social and digital media ethically and responsibly. Led by Boston-based Pakistani multimedia journalist and Sapan News founder editor Beena Sarwar, this hands-on session is designed for journalists, students, and media practitioners.

Venue: SLPI, 96 Kirula Road, Colombo 5. Entrance is free. Register for the workshop here

Take the 'Social Media Ethics Pledge'

Book discussion: ‘The Return of the Taliban’

Saturday 28 March | 10:30 am ET | Online, registration required

Readers Without Borders, an online book reading club, invites you to a discussion with Dr. Hassan Abbas, author of The Return of the Taliban: Afghanistan after the Americans and the West. Join us to explore the complexities of the current situation in Afghanistan and its regional implications.

Register here to join

Caravans of Passion: Student resistance and struggle in Pakistan

Saturday 28 March | 10:30 am–1:30 pm ET | Hybrid; Community Church of Boston, Copley Square, Boston; and Online

Join Sapan partners for a screening of Ushshaq ke Qafley (There Will Be More Caravans of Passion), a documentary by Beena Sarwar exploring the Democratic Students Federation (1949–1954). The film will be followed by a talk with Dr. Taimur Rahman, an academic, activist, and musician, on the current resistance and struggle in Pakistan.

Stay tuned on Sapan’s website for more details on our commemorative gathering.

Visit Sapan's website

Five years of moving the needle on peace

SAVE THE DATE: Sunday 29 March 2026, 10.30 am ET

“How do we go beyond the ideological divide? How do we move the needle on regional peace and socio-economic and gender justice in Southasia?” Fired by the need for a collective response to these questions, a group of friends and fellow peacemongers met online five years ago, inviting others to join.

That brainstorming meeting launched the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, on Sunday, 28 March 2021, building on past as well as current initiatives and organisations working to bring peace in Southasia.

Since then, we have been meeting virtually on the last Sunday of most months, besides at several in-person and hybrid collaborations and gatherings in various cities, bringing individuals and organisations across various sectors together on a minimum common agenda.

As we approach our fifth anniversary, we invite you to join us on Sunday, 29 March 2026, as we celebrate half a decade of building this circle of solidarity. Stay tuned on Sapan’s website for more details on our commemorative gathering.

Watch the Sapan 4th anniversary video: What is Sapan, the Southasia Peace Action Network?

Also watch: The Southasian people’s path to peace and cooperation: How to move forward?

Sapaners on the mark

A win for Southasian storytelling

‘Democracy in debt’ takes home two awards in Jalgaon

We are thrilled to share that the documentary Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines, a collaboration between Pakistani and Sri Lankan creators.

The film won two awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival in India:

• Best Social Film - Outstanding Achievement

• Best Screenplay

Supported by the Pulitzer Center, screened in more than 25 countries, this film is a powerful testament to our mission. When we tell our own stories with honesty and courage, borders truly do blur.

To host a community screening of this film, fill out this form.

Watch the trailer:

Sapan Bolg

Mohabbat, dard and dost

"In a world fixated on differences, I can only find similarities."

Senior journalist and Sapaner Mandira Nayar shares a moving reflection on the invisible threads; language, history, and heartache, that connect New Delhi in India to Isfahan in Iran. From the bahar (spring) outside her window to the gham (sorrow) of shared losses, this is a story of a world that was meant to be "laid out in beauty," as she writes.

"The word that breaks my heart is dost, friend."

Read the full essay on the Sapan blog

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,
Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.sapannews.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

If there is a thread running through this week’s stories, it is this: dignity refuses to disappear. It shows up in villages, in prison cells, in courtrooms, in newsrooms, and sometimes even on cricket pitches.

A Southasian story wins across borders

The Sapan News’ documentary ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’, made in collaboration with the Southasia Peace Action Network, supported by the Pulitzer Center and facilitated by Factum in Sri Lanka, has won two awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival in India:

🏆 Best Social Film

🏆 Best Screenplay

A Pakistani-Sri Lankan collaboration recognised in India, this is Southasian storytelling at its best. When we tell our own stories with honesty and courage, borders blur.

Read more about this here, and if you want to host a community screening of this film, fill out this form.

Watch the trailer:

Coming up

Online session: ‘Conservation or control?‘

Friday 27 February | 8 pm IST; 9:30 am EST | Online, Register here

International Solidarity for Academic Freedom in India (InSAF India), a Sapan Founding Charter endorser, will host the ninth session of its series ‘Deadline or Death Sentence: State Violence and Indigenous (Adivasi) Peoples’ Resistance in India’. The session interrogates how conservation projects in Adivasi regions are unfolding alongside militarisation, raising urgent questions about land, forests and dispossession. When tiger reserves expand under armed watch, we must ask who pays the price for “development.”

Register for the session here.

Southasian Solidarity

A village chooses equality

In Maharashtra, the village of Soundala has collectively declared itself caste-free, rejecting caste-based discrimination in public and social life. In a country where caste continues to shape access, power and violence, this is no small gesture. It is a quiet rebellion. As Sapaner Siraj Khan wrote in solidarity on the Sapan Global Peacemonger WhatsApp group, “Thank you, lovely people. In a world, where people talk all day of human rights instead of human wrongs on loud speakers, you are showing us the way to go. We will follow you. Keep blazing away!”

When cricket crosses the border

In a rare moment of cross-border convergence, 14 former cricket captains, including Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev, have appealed to the Pakistan government to ensure fair treatment and safety for incarcerated former Prime Minister Imran Khan. At a time when official diplomacy is brittle, sport has once again reminded the region of shared principles. Due process is not a partisan demand. Humane treatment is not a geopolitical concession.

Sapaners on the mark

Silencing the messenger

Journalist and Sapaner Meena Menon reflects on media bans between India and Pakistan and the cost of cutting off correspondents. Writing for the Free Speech Collective, she examines what happens when reporters are expelled and information is throttled. The piece also mentions the joint statement initiated by Sapan calling to lift the media ban, endorsed by media professionals and concerned citizens in Southasia and the diaspora.

Endorse the Sapan Founding Charter

Cinema that questions power

Acclaimed documentary filmmaker Anand Patwardhan recently held a series of film screenings and discussions at educational institutes across California, including at Stanford, UC Davis, UCLA and USC. Featuring works such as The World is Family, A Narmada Diary, A Time to Rise and Ram Ke Naam (In the Name of God), the screenings brought critical conversations on democracy, nationalism and people’s movements to packed university halls. Southasian stories, interrogating power, resonated far beyond the region once again.

See Anand Patwardhan in ‘Sapan Stories’ in which he talks about ‘How right-wing ideologies infiltrate traditional cultural spaces - and what we can do about it’

Budgeting for whom?

Friends of the Earth India hosted a national webinar on 23 February titled ‘Ecology, Economy and the Missing People: Decoding the Union Budget 2026–27’. With speakers including environmentalist Soumya Dutta, activist Medha Patkar and Sapan founder member and peace activist M. J. Vijayan, the discussion probed whether public spending protects ecosystems and livelihoods or accelerates extractive growth.

And a new soundtrack

Not all resistance is solemn. Some of it sings.
We are proud to share composer Nirvan Athreya’s uplifting debut track, “Desi Cinderella” from the upcoming Telugu film Good Times, his first independent venture as a music director. Nirvan won the Sapan theme music competition in January 2023 - Listen to his Sapan soundtrack here.

As a bonus, Nirvan happens to be the grandson of human rights activist and Sapan founder members Lalita Ramdas and the late former Indian Navy chief L. Ramu Ramdas. A new generation, still in rhythm with the idea of a connected Southasia.

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,
Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.sapannews.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.

If January set the tone, it was this: we gather, we grieve, we argue, we create, and we keep going.

Across Southasia, democracy continues to be tested. Bangladesh has just gone through a contentious national election, raising urgent questions about participation, legitimacy and what the Bangladeshi photographer and Sapaner Shahidul Alam has described as “the simple, radical dignity of choice.” Nepal prepares for elections in March, once again placing its young federal republic under scrutiny. Across the region, civic space expands and contracts in uneven rhythms.

In such a moment, dialogue is not a luxury. It is a necessity.

Our January online gathering

On the last Sunday of January, Sapaners from across Southasia and the diaspora joined a discussion online, a space that felt less like a formal meeting and more like a regional adda (gathering) with purpose.

Hosted online by Southasiapeace Action Network (Sapan) founder member Khawar Mumtaz in Lahore, 25 January 2026, the gathering reflected on a turbulent year while refusing to give up on the idea of a peaceful, interconnected Southasia. The session opened with a moment of silence for lives lost, including victims of the Karachi Gul Plaza fire and towering regional voices such as educationist Dr Arfa Sayeda whose work shaped public discourse across borders.

Sapan founder member Beena Sarwar shared our network’s journey since 2021, noting that nearly 140 organisations have now endorsed the Founding Charter. Highlights from 2025 included Urdu and Sinhala language versions of our acclaimed documentary Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines and continued advocacy for soft borders and regional cooperation. Pragyan Srivastava, associate editor at Sapan News, presented our media outlet’s year in review: 112 original articles published in 2025, over 174,000 readers reached, 76 republications across 21 outlets, and a successful NewsMatch campaign raising $30,000 for independent journalism.

Endorse the Sapan Founding Charter

Sapaners from across the region offered updates on feminist networks, youth peace initiatives, art addressing Partition trauma, fishers’ rights, freedom of expression, and new academic platforms for critical thinking. Speakers included feminist activist Khushi Kabir in Dhaka; peace activist Mazher Hussain of the Confederation of Voluntary Alliances, COVA Peace Network*, in Hyderabad, India; visual artist Manisha Gera Baswani and researcher M.J. Vijayan, PIPFPD (Pakistan India People’s Forum for Peace and Democracy) member, in Delhi; Visaka Dharmadasa, peace activist in Kandy, Sri Lanka; partition scholar and musician Amrita Ghosh in Florida/Norway; photographer and cultural activist Shahidul Alam in Dhaka; Siraj Khan, theatre director and cultural practitioner from Karachi/Atlanta; journalist Kanak Mani Dixit in Kathmandu; and veteran activist Lalita Ramdas in Alibag/Secundarabad.

Read the event report here by Bidhi Adhikari in Kathmandu.

*COVA, a Sapan Founding Charter endorser, launched its book 35 Festivals of 7 Religions, covering Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism on 30 January 2026. The book positions festivals as joyful tools for interfaith understanding. Because when there is respect, hate has less room to breathe.

Coming up

Peace and Gender Lunchtime Lectures

16–20 February, 2026 | 1–2 pm IST | Online, Register here

The February 2026 edition of the ‘Peace and Gender Lunchtime Lectures’ features Sapan founder member, Aekta Kapoor, Founder and Chief Editor eShe, delivering the closing lecture on Friday, 20 February, “100 Paths to Peace”. The week-long virtual lecture series is hosted by Sansristi, a resource center for gender, climate change, disability and Chaitanya – The Policy Consultancy, founded by Sapaner Dr Swarna Rajagopalan.

Sapaners on the mark

Southasian gatherings in Karachi and Lahore

Sapaners were out in force in Karachi and Lahore at the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), Karachi Literature Festival, the Asma Jahangir Conference and Women of the World (WOW) Festival, all of which took place recently. The first weekend of February also marked the revival of Basant, the centuries-old kite-flying festival, after a 20-year ban in Lahore. The coming weekend will see the annual Faiz Festival, also in Lahore.

At the LLF, Khawar Mumtaz was a featured speaker at a panel on gender and law, highlighting legal lacunae that are common across the region. Beena Sarwar moderated a timely panel unpacking nationalism, shifting alliances, and the shrinking space for regional solidarity, with historian Audrey Truschke, journalist Kanak Mani Dixit, author Ziauddin Sardar, and entrepreneur and writer Saiful Islam - now also a Sapan Founding Charter endorser.

Endorse the Sapan Founding Charter

Kanak Dixit also participated in the Asma Jahangir conference in Lahore, 7-8 February 2026, Lahore. The annual event brought together human rights defenders from across the world, including the acclaimed photographer Shahidul Alam from Bangladesh. Well-known journalist Afia Salam, moderated a panel on climate change.

The vibrant Women of the World (WOW) festival in Karachi, 24-25 January, had an unexpected visitor: Nepali trauma physician, Sapaner Dr Ramu Kharel, at Brown University whose calm presence belies the chaos he works in. The closing concert featuring Baloch musicians including 15-year old Yasmeen Baloch, the world‘s first Baloch female banjo artist, was the kind of finale that felt symbolic: art, resilience and solidarity sharing the same stage.

Justice, dignity and prison reform

A virtual panel on access to legal education and justice tools inside prison systems was a reminder that justice reform is not charity: It is a structural change. ‘We Are One Humanity,’ spearheaded by eminent historian and journalist Rajmohan Gandhi, a Sapan Founding Charter endorser, collaborated with Justice Defenders to discuss this critical issue on 6 February.

T.M. Krisha’s new book: We, The People of India

The prominent vocalist T. M. Krishna, a writer and Sapaner, launched his latest book, ‘We, The People of India’, on 6 February at the Press Club of India, New Delhi, followed by Krishna in conversation with Sapaner Nivedita Menon and Sanjay Hegde, moderated by Seema Chishti. The book explores the history and philosophy behind India’s national symbols and how they shape ideas of citizenship and democracy.

Aaghaz-e-Dosti’s 14th Indo-Pak peace calendar

The India-Pakistan peace group and Sapan Founding Charter endorser Aaghaz-e-Dosti (Start of Friendship) released its 14th Indo-Pak Peace Calendar, themed “Children’s art becoming a bridge for cross-border harmony.” Launched in Anandpur Sahib on 31 December, the calendar was formally released on 2 February at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Multan.

Featuring artwork by children from India and Pakistan, the initiative celebrates the shared aspirations of young minds for peace and friendship. Sometimes the most honest diplomacy is drawn in crayon.

Aravalli at crossroads: PUCL dialogues

The People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), led by Sapan founding member Kavita Srivastava, hosted a conversation with environmental lawyer Ritwick Dutta on 1 February 2026, on the Indian Supreme Court’s intervention in the case of the Aravallis, one of the world’s oldest mountain ranges. The range, which stretches across north-western India, plays a critical role in the region’s environmental balance.

New on Sapan Stories

What if India and Pakistan had grown as friends, not rivals?

In the latest episode of Sapan Stories, former diplomat Ajmal Qureshi imagines an alternative Southasian trajectory shaped by cooperation rather than conflict. He reflects on missed opportunities, shared prosperity, and the urgent need for visionary leadership willing to think beyond hardened borders.

Watch here:

Subscribe to Sapan’s YouTube channel

Amplifying Sapaners

Have you or someone you know from the Sapan network recently achieved something? Organizing an event, producing content that supports cross-border dialogue, peacebuilding, or regional collaboration? We’d love to hear about it - let us know!

We aim to spotlight the inspiring work, awards, events, creative projects, and stories that reflect our shared vision of a united and compassionate Southasia.

Share your update

Your story may be featured in an upcoming Sapan Newsletter to celebrate and share your contribution with our wider community.

That’s all for now. Thank you for reading and for being part of our circle of solidarity and storytelling. Help us grow this network of dreamers and doers.

Follow us on the Sapan WhatsApp Channel, subscribe to our newsletter, and join our YouTube channel for more stories that imagine a united, compassionate Southasia.

In peace and solidarity,
Team Sapan

📧 southasiapeaceactionnetwork@gmail.com
🌐 www.sapannews.com

Newsletter compiled by Pragyan Srivastava, Associate Editor, Sapan News.

*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
Because our histories are intertwined, our futures interlinked, and our struggles deeply connected.