Peace in Southasia Beyond Ideological Barriers
Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) brings together individuals and organisations in Southasia* and the diaspora across all kinds of borders and barriers – caste, class, religion, nationality, politics – for a minimum common agenda: Southasia peace. We need it now, for the sake of the people of the region, and beyond.
We advocate for freedom of trade, travel, and tourism within the region, upholding human rights and dignity, and collaboration in all areas.
Sapan was launched in March 2021 at an online meeting of over 90 eminent individuals who endorsed the Founding Charter. The Charter was also initially endorsed by 10 organisations. (See PDF of the Report about the meeting here).
Our volunteers are an inter-regional, cross-diasporic, inter-generational group of ‘Peacemongers’ who passionately believe that the nations of the region must engage in dialogue and allow people-to-people contact.
We carry forward the vision of mentors and leaders like Nirmala Didi Deshpande, Dr. Mubashir Hasan, Kuldip Nayar, I.A. Rehman, Nikhil Chakravartty, Asma Jahangir, Dr. Rajni Kothari, Dr. Eqbal Ahmad, Kamla Bhasin, and more.
If France and Germany can be part of the EU, why can’t Pakistan and India be part of a Southasian Union? We feel this regional approach promoting Southasian solidarity can help counter hypernationalism and hyper-religiosity, and contribute to developing harmonious relationships among the diverse nations and peoples of the region.
Join us and amplify the narrative. Click here or scan the QR code to endorse the Founding Charter if your name is not on the list. There are downloadable translations of the Charter in several languages. If you see one missing, we invite you to volunteer to get it done!
We hold online discussions on a variety of issues (art, sports, health, politics, human rights etc) on the last Sunday of most months. We’ve been joined by eminent thought leaders ranging from Amartya Sen and Noam Chomsky to Radhika Coomaraswamy and Salima Hashmi, the late Saleemul Haq and Dr Zafrullah Chowdhry, and many more. Details at the Events tab on this website.
Join us! Subscribe to the Sapan newsletter, fortnightly(ish) on SubStack.
Sign the MilneDo petition and share it: www.change.org/milnedo
You can also follow Sapan News Network (www.sapannews.com), a syndicated service that covers and connects Southasia, the Indian Ocean and diaspora. Sapan News sends out features to over 30 reputed media outlets across the region and beyond – the idea is to amplify the narrative of regionalism, peace, and dialogue. We welcome freelance writers and video producers and directors.
- Uphold UN Resolution calling to maintain the Indian Ocean as a ‘Zone of Peace’The Southasia Peace Action Network on its 5th anniversary passes the following five-part Resolution, Sunday 29 March 2026: The Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, commemorating its fifth anniversary in March 2026, reaffirms its commitment to fostering meaningful dialogue, strengthening people-to-people and economic linkages, and promoting collaboration and cooperation across allContinue reading “Uphold UN Resolution calling to maintain the Indian Ocean as a ‘Zone of Peace’”
- An unplanned tuk-tuk ride that rewired my thinking
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 what was happening that day. That’s when a Facebook post stopped me. There was a documentary screening at an outdoorContinue reading “An unplanned tuk-tuk ride that rewired my thinking” - Five years of Sapan: Connecting, holding space, keeping hope alive
Join the Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) on Sunday, 29 March 2026, to commemorate our fifth anniversary, upholding the importance of dialogue, empathy, and regional solidarity - Resistance in Pakistan: looking back to look forward
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), invites you to a hybrid event exploring the history and future of resistance in Pakistan. - Remembering Richard Cash: A special life, richly lived
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 Dr Richard Cash, a pioneer of oral rehydration therapy and a global health researcher. - Mohabbat, dard and dost… Love, heartbreak and friends
Reflections on shared cultures, histories, geographies, and pain in the midst of senseless destruction
- Pulitzer Center-supported Pakistani-Sri Lankan documentary being awarded in India
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 India this year, for ‘Best Social Film’ and ‘Best Screenplay’. - Indians on Indian lands: diaspora, caste and the tangled politics of solidarity
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 settler colonialism in Palestine, Turtle Island, Kashmir, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts connected? And how is our liberation intertwined? TheseContinue reading “Indians on Indian lands: diaspora, caste and the tangled politics of solidarity” - Sapan January Circle 2026: A year in review, a region in focus; voices and visions from Southasia and diaspora
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 past year and outline a vision for a peaceful, harmonious Southasia*. The meeting was hosted by Khawar Mumtaz, a women’s rights activist from Lahore, who opened the session by noting the festive but cold winter in the city and the various intellectual gatherings like the ThinkFest and the upcoming Lahore Literature Festival.
“There is a need for connection among countries in South Asia. We must create economic and healthcare closeness across the region.”
Dr. Amartya Sen,
Nobel Laureate in Economics
“Covid is a reminder that South Asian cooperation must go beyond SAARC meetings.”
Kanak Mani Dixit, Founding Editor, Himal Southasian
“Peace is the way, Peace is too precious to be left to the whims and fancies of leaders and governments, and we the people are reclaiming it.”
Lalita Ramdas, Founder, Greenpeace India
“To fight injustice, ensure rights, bring peace to the excluded and marginalized people of South Asia. Building collective responses and creating our own Sapan is the only option.“
Khushi Kabir, Coordinator,
Sangat, and One Billion Rising, Bangladesh
“Our future cannot be held hostage to the past. We have to form an alternative trajectory for our combined futures.”
Raza Rumi,
Founder, Naya Daur Media
“We will use whatever it takes – singing, poetry, literature, art, love. We will keep taking forward our fight for peace. I don’t think giving up is an option”
Beena Sarwar,
Co-Founder and Curator, Sapan
Thanks to Abdul Hamid in Vancouver, Canada, for the Southasia Peace Action Network logo design, which won our competition; and for subsequently designing the Sapan News logo on a voluntary basis. Also thanks to Sapan founder member Aekta Kapoor in New Delhi for voluntarily building both websites and to web developer Nasha Kanga for initially helping maintain them.
Many have peacemongers volunteered their time and expertise since the Sapan launch in March 2021, including Aekta Kapoor, Afia Salam, Amit Singh, Beena Sarwar, Catherine Masud, Fauzia Deeba, Gurmehar Kaur, Husnain Jamil, Irfan Mufti, Lalita Ramdas, L. Ramu Ramdas, Khushi Kabir, Khawar Mumtaz, Kavita Srivastava, Lubna Jerar, Kanak Mani Dixit, M. Waqas, Mandira Nayar, Mazher Hussain, Mira Hashmi, Mridul Bhasin, Namrata Sharma, Pragya Narang, Priyanka Singh, Sahil Laul, Saifullah Saify, Samir Gupta, Sarita Bartaula, Shailaja Rao, Sushmita Preetha, Uditha Devapriya, Urmi Chanda, Umaima Saqi, Vikram Srivastava, Vishal Sharma, and more.
Advisors include Baela Jamil, Dr Martha Alter Chen, Kalpana Sharma, Raza Rumi, Rubina Saigol (late), Saeed Ahmed Rid, Salima Hashmi, Sanjoy Hazarika, Dr. Syeda Hameed, Dr Vinod Mubayi among others.
*Note on Southasia as one word: Following the lead of Himal Southasian, Sapan News Network uses ‘Southasia’ as one word, “seeking to restore some of the historical unity of our common living space, without wishing any violence on the existing nation states”.
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