Sapan Blog Sun. 13 Sept: Fifth annual Kabir festival 13 Sep 202613 Sep 2026 BOSTON: The Kabir Society of America, in collaboration with the LearnQuest Academy, will host its 5th Annual Kabir Festival in the Greater Boston area. The event features music and dance dedicated celebrating…
Press Statements… Youth Pledge for Peace: International Day of Peace, Monday 21 Sept. 2026 5 Sep 20265 Sep 2026 Call for participation from Doyens of Peace, Southasia Peace Action Network's partner organisation: Please spare just 5 minutes during your school/ college assemblies on 21st September 2026 - International Day…
Climate Change… Catastrophe in Nepal: ‘A wake up call not just for the region but for the world’ 31 Aug 20268 Sep 2026 The Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, joins hands with our partner organisation, Doyens of Peace of Southasia and many more, to express our deepest condolences and heartfelt solidarity with all…
Sapan Blog ‘Watne Diyan Thandiyan Chaeen’: Faiz, migration, and the human cost of exile 19 Aug 202620 Aug 2026 This special edition of the Sapan ‘Blog is a collaboration between Sapan and MoUSICi. By Arshad Mahmud Economists often point out that if a country wishes to undermine its own…
Sapan Blog Digital stages: Connecting hearts across Southasia 19 Aug 202619 Aug 2026 By Mazher Hussain The essence of nearly 190 videos, featuring co-created dance and musical performances by artists from Bhutan, India, and Pakistan, took center stage during the 2nd Southasian Commemoration…
Sapan Blog Remembering ‘Chacha’ Fazal: A soldier and a storyteller 15 Aug 202615 Aug 2026 A cartoonist remembers Chacha Fazal, a retired Punjab Regiment corporal who worked from 1981 until the late 1990s at ‘The Muslim’, Islamabad's pioneering independent daily that shaped generations of journalists.…
Sapan Blog Appeal to India, Pakistan to release, repatriate incarcerated cross-border fisherpeople 8 Aug 20268 Aug 2026 Article 5 of the bilateral Agreement on Consular Access, 2008 requires both governments "to release and repatriate persons within one month of confirmation of their national status and completion of…
Sapan Blog… La Phir Ik Bar: An exploration of Iqbal’s philosophical ghazal 6 Aug 20266 Aug 2026 This special edition of Sapan Blog is a collaboration between Sapan and MoUSICi. By Arshad Mahmud Allama Iqbal is widely celebrated as a poet-philosopher who articulated the social, political, and…
Sapan Blog… Divergent voices, shared struggles 8 Jul 202624 Jul 2026 By Sapan Web Desk STOCKHOLM: The Second Aman Mela, themed "Divergent voices of South Asia: rethinking Partition, reimagining peace," took place in Stockholm, 4 July 2026. The event, organised by…
Sapan Blog Unsealing monsoon memories: Revisiting Amir Khusrau’s ‘Jhoola’ 7 Jul 20268 Jul 2026 By Arshad Mahmud As the intense heat of June and July ripens the mango orchards across Southasia, it brings with it a timeless cultural transition. The scorching summer gives way to…
Sapan Blog… Reimagining Meeraji: The timeless philosophy of a ‘70’s song 2 Jun 20262 Jun 2026 By Arshad Mahmud How does a piece of music travel across fifty years, bridging the grainy nostalgia of 1970s television with the crisp digital landscapes of today? Shifting from the…
Events… Sat. 30 May: Book discussion — ‘House of Caravans’ with author Shilpi Suneja 30 May 202630 May 2026 What happens to a family when a line is drawn through their homeland? How do the echoes of historical trauma ripple across decades, altering the lives of generations who never…
Sapan Blog Reimagining Amir Khusro: The meditative depth of ‘khayal gayaki’ 23 May 20262 Jun 2026 By Arshad Mahmud Amir Khusro is widely regarded as a pioneering force behind several musical traditions, most notably qawwali and that of khayal gayaki, a predominant modern genre of Hindustani…
Sapan Blog Book Discussion: Neha Dixit on The Many Lives of Syeda X 16 May 202629 May 2026 By Haritha K. On May 2, just days after millions of workers took to the streets across India and the world to mark May Day, journalist and author Neha Dixit…
Sapan Blog An unplanned tuk-tuk ride that rewired my thinking 2 Apr 20262 Apr 2026 By Nadia Rajput Bhatti in Sri Lanka I was in a tuk-tuk on my way to Kandy, just looking for some fresh air and scrolling through my phone to see…
Events… Resistance in Pakistan: looking back to look forward 21 Mar 202623 Mar 2026 What can the student movements of the past teach us about the struggles of today? The Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), in collaboration with the Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan),…
Sapan Blog Remembering Richard Cash: A special life, richly lived 16 Mar 20261 Apr 2026 Prominent development practitioner and scholar Marty Chen, a Southasia Peace Action Network Advisory Council member shared this tribute at a memorial at Harvard University last year, for the legendary pediatrician…
Sapan Blog… Mohabbat, dard and dost… Love, heartbreak and friends 6 Mar 20266 Mar 2026 Reflections on shared cultures, histories, geographies, and pain in the midst of senseless destruction By Mandira Nayar Mohabbat. Love. We love in the same language. Joy too, is shared –…
Press Statements… Pulitzer Center-supported Pakistani-Sri Lankan documentary being awarded in India 23 Feb 202630 May 2026 23 Feb 2026PRESS RELEASE BOSTON: The acclaimed Pulitzer Center-supported documentary 'Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines' will receive two awards at the Second Jalgaon International Film Festival in…
Sapan Blog… Indians on Indian lands: diaspora, caste and the tangled politics of solidarity 20 Feb 20261 Apr 2026 What does it mean to migrate to a settler colonial state while carrying the hierarchies of caste and the wounds of colonialism with you? CAMBRIDGE: How are the struggles against…
Event Reports… Sapan January Circle 2026: A year in review, a region in focus; voices and visions from Southasia and diaspora 30 Jan 20263 Feb 2026 The Sapan January Circle: Catching Up and Looking Ahead took place on January 25, 2026, via Zoom, serving as an annual gathering to reflect on the collective achievements of the…
Sapan Blog… South African activist Ela Gandhi calls on world to condemn the US attack on Venezuela 6 Jan 20267 Jan 2026 “Can the world stand by and allow such aggression to continue?” BOSTON: Invoking her grandfather Mahatma Gandhi‘s words, “I want world sympathy in this battle of right against might,” Ela…
Press Statements… South Asia media groups express solidarity with journalists, condemn attacks on Bangladesh and Nepal media, demand accountability 22 Dec 202524 Dec 2025 December 22 - The Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan), the South Asia Media Defenders Network (SAMDEN), Sapan News, Rural Media Network Pakistan, and others strongly condemn the attacks, vandalism and…
Events… Sun, 21 Dec.: Nepal’s Shifting Political Landscape, Gen Z Protests, and Pathways Forward’ 18 Dec 202522 Dec 2025 This Sunday, Southasia Peace Action Network will hold an online discussion, as part of its Country Focus series, highlighting the situation in Nepal which is relevant to the entire region…
Sapan Blog… Youth propose a ‘New Grammar’ for Collaborations across Southasia 12 Dec 202512 Dec 2025 HYDERABAD, India: Doyens of Peace, a pan-Southasia platform of civil society organisations and youth groups, facilitated by COVA Peace Network, organised an online event to commemorate SAARC Charter Day on…
Press Statements… A call for SAARC and its member states to revitalise regional cooperation in South Asia 10 Dec 202510 Dec 2025 Sapan Peacemongers call to “find a way to restore some level of civilised interaction, particularly between India and Pakistan” and “forging our own narrative” BOSTON: December 8 is commemorated annually…
Allied Events… Mon. 24 Nov: Tribute to Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra, Toronto area 24 Nov 202524 Nov 2025 Third Culture Language Learning: Tribute to Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra ڈاکٹر عارفہ سیدہ زہرا کے لیے خراجِ عقیدت Organised by Joy of Urdu Toronto-Mississauga Chapter Joy of Urdu is a…
Press Statements… Southasian call for climate justice: Sapan launches online petition ahead of COP30 7 Nov 20257 Nov 2025 PRESS STATEMENT FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BOSTON: An online petition calling for global recognition of Southasia’s shared climate crisis and collective potential has been launched ahead of the 30th Conference of…
Sapan Blog Victory written in blue 6 Nov 202513 Nov 2025 Read the latest Sapan Blog, where Siraj Khan reflects on India’s historic Women’s Cricket World Cup victory, a win that transcends sport to symbolize empowerment, unity, and regional pride. By…
Sapan Blog From tension to talk: Youth visions for peace 21 Oct 202522 Oct 2025 Report on a unique discussion organised by the Southasia Peace Action Network, featuring the voices of young people from across the region on what what peace means to them By…