South Asia
From the dizzying heights of the Himalayas to the coastal communities of Bangladesh, our stories highlight the lives of those living in South Asia.
We shine a spotlight on South Asian artists and speak to climate activists calling for loss and damages payments to support environmental action. Our journalism also focuses on contentious water conflicts and sacred rivers, such as the Mekong and the Ganges, that are intrinsic to life in South Asia.
The brave and the blameless: women survivors of war-time rape
A global summit to end sexual violence in conflict takes place this week. Subi Shah reports.
PHOTO ESSAY: India’s city of widows
David Shaw captures the haunted existence of the country’s unwanted women.
Aunty Ji, how do I kiss?
Loreza Bacino investigates a new Hindi-language site giving answers to all the questions Indian youth were afraid to ask.
The true cost of your cup of tea
Sri Lankan tea pickers remain in a caste system that binds them to extreme poverty, says Marco Picardi.
Defending people’s milk in India
A vibrant network of small producers and milk co-operatives is threatened by free trade agreements and liberalized investment policies.
Sex, lies and complicity in India
Rita Banerji on girl-hating sex selection, rape and the chances of a ‘true feminist revolution for India’.
Should martyrdom ever be glorified?
Mari Marcel Thekaekara argues that life is more valuable than the political statements made by the ultimate form of protest.
India's elites have a ferocious sense of entitlement
A revealing set of US studies has got Urvashi Butalia thinking about how the rich behave in Delhi.
Sorry is the hardest word
Mari Marcel Thekaekara contemplates the importance of forgiveness in healing relationships before it’s too late.
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India’s whitening obsession goes vaginal
Mari Marcel Thekaekara is horrified by the latest addition to the global skin-lightening fetish as women are encouraged to bleach down below.
Bangladesh: the great climate exodus
Families are slowly melting away from the Bay of Bengal coastline as habitats degrade. Hazel Healy speaks to new arrivals on the edge of destitution in Dhaka.
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BRICS challenge dollar hegemony
Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa team up to resist Western financial domination, reports Lasanda Kurukulasuriya.
Ready or not: can Bangladesh cope with climate change?
New Internationalist co-editor Hazel Healy travelled there to find out how people are adapting to a warming world.
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Norway snatches Indian children from their parents
Two young Indian children have been taken into care in Norway because their mother fed them with her fingers. Mari Marcel Thekaekara is appalled.
Death by spider: deforestation in Pakistan
A strange phenomenon is worsening an already dire situation for the country’s trees, says Syed Hamad Ali.
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Bangalore’s urban agriculture boom
Mari Marcel Thekaekara on how Bangaloreans, fed up with soaring vegetable prices, are growing their own organic food.
Interview with Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy speaks out: on the moral police of India's anti-corruption campaign, on the silence surrounding civil wars, and on despotism and democracy.
The Pakistani Left is re-grouping
The Pakistani Left has a history to be proud of and is regrouping to fight in new battles, as Qualandar Bux Memon and Ali Mohsni report.
Pakistan on the edge of hope
Despite its turbulent past, Ziauddin Sardar finds reasons for optimism in Pakistan's future.
Bomb drops on Indian countryside
India may be one of the world’s current economic ‘winners’ but inequality is its fastest-growing sector, reveals Jaideep Hardikar.
Independence Day + 1
Mari Marcel Thekaekara reflects on the state of the Indian nation in middle age.
Tigers or Neutrinos
A huge new scientific experiment plans to go looking for tiny particles in the middle of India’s oldest Biosphere Reserve, moving mountains of rock and earth as it goes. Tarsh Thekaekara has his doubts about what is being done in the name of pure science.
Pakistan’s students push for democracy
The recent introduction of martial law in Pakistan has helped to end a three-decade drought on student activism in the country. Amber Vora reports.
Free Binayak Sen!
The arrest of a doctor who works with poor communities in central India, on trumped-up charges of associating with ‘terrorist’ Naxalites, has sparked worldwide protest. Mari Marcel Thekaekara appeals for support.
Mariamma's shame
The girl had done nothing wrong – but her caste and sex meant that she was going to be punished all the same. By Dalit writer Bama.
Jessa:'All that has happened, has happened already'
It's a common sight in Manila to see single male foreigners with young girls on their arms.
The body as weapon
What prompted a group of middle-class Indian women to protest by stripping naked and marching to an army barracks? Urvashi Butalia explains.
