We are excited to share that Sapan News is preparing for a name that better reflects our mission: Global Southasia. This change doesn’t alter our commitment to rigorous, cross-border journalism; rather, it clarifies it. We are emphasizing our focus on Southasia and its global diaspora. We’ll keep mentioning this shift in each newsletter as we roll it out gradually.
What happens when Pakistani and Indian creatives meet abroad? Find out in Sarim Kidwai’s article How a new film by a Boston-based immigrant is dismantling the model-minority concept. One of the artists for the hand-drawn animated film The Glassworker, he met up with filmmaker (Jam Boy, 22 min.) Sriram Emani, who also founded Indian Raga, in Boston. Why is it only in these situations that people remember that their ideas of home are the same?
After youth-led movements reshaped politics in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, India’s Generation Z has achieved something unprecedented without seeking regime change. New Delhi based journalist Rohinee Singh walked amongst the protestors at the recent ‘Cockroach Jayanta Party protest and learned How India’s Gen Z forced Modi to blink.
Well known for her poetry recitations, Dr. Azra Raza, author of ‘The First Cell’, shared perspectives about her professional passion as a practicing oncologist at a book talk hosted by the online book club Readers Without Borders in collaboration with the Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan. The bottom line: “Prevention is better than cure”. Yours truly, Regina Johnson, had the pleasure of participating. Read my article for Sapan News here: Paradigm shift needed in cancer research: Capture and kill the ‘first cell’.
What lies behind the unprecedented cross-border popularity of the architect of Urdu noir? Scientist, poet and documentary filmmaker Gauhar Raza in New Delhi delves into this question, drawing upon childhood memories from summers in Allahabad, birthplace of the wildly popular and prolific detective novelist known as Ibn-e-Safi (given name Asrar Ahmed). Visiting relatives whose house included a storeroom full of Ibne-e-Safi’s books, Dr. Raza, like many, learnt to read Urdu because of Ibn-e-Safi’s riveting stories that generated a cult following.
In response to the ongoing media ban that prevents readers in India and Pakistan from accessing news sites from each other’s countries, the Sapan News Media Mirror, a public service initiative, shares selected articles with permission. See our Press Statement: Access is not a threat: A call to lift reciprocal news bans in India and Pakistan.
Recent Media Mirror stories include two from the peace and justice worker Harsh Mander:
The quiet stories of faith and forgiveness across India: The first Rehmat festival brought together accounts of courage, aching compassion, heroic solidarity and tender forgiveness. Originally published in the Wire
Extending a legacy of compassion and service to humanity — Keynote address on Albert Schweitzer Day. Originally published in Scroll.
Also see senior researcher Christophe Jaffrelot’s take on How a 1970s movement in India connects with today’s ‘cockroach’ protests, originally published in The Wire.
The latest film by award-winning filmmaker Mohammed “Mo” Ali Naqvi, a Sapan Founding Charter endorser, premieres August 28 in New York before playing in theatres across the U.S.A. - details here. The documentary, collaboratively made with the impacted community, recounts the harrowing 2023 story of a high-altitude cable car trapped in north-western Pakistan, when a wire snapped, leaving eight passengers — six of them schoolboys on their routine commute to school — dangerously hanging 900 feet above ground.
“At its core, the film is built around a universal idea: that in moments of crisis, no one survives alone. When people who have every reason to distrust one another choose to work together, extraordinary things become possible,” says Naqvi in his director’s note
Shoutout to the pioneering women-led digital magazine eShe, founded by journalist and ace editor Aekta Kapoor in New Delhi, 2017, a Sapan founder member who also launched the SouthasianUnion website in 2021. The magazine launched in America last year in collaboration with two other Sapan founder members who, together with other volunteers, were critically helpful with Sapan News in its formational stages, Shailaja Rao in Seattle, and Sarita Bartaula in Washington, DC, former Sapan News ‘Lead strategy and development’. We wish them all the best.
Endorse the Sapan Founding Charter
Members of the eShe team have also taken our Social and Digital Media Ethics and Responsibility Pledge - have you?
Thanks for reading. Every other week, we aim to bring you a curated digest of the stories, developments and highlights from recent offerings. Until then, thank you for being with us.
With gratitude,
Regina Johnson
Coordinating Editor
Sapan News
Invest in our journalism! Donate today
Thank you!
No posts
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.