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.
- 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. - Access is not a threat: A call to lift reciprocal news bans in India and Pakistan
Joint statement by media professionals and concerned citizens in Southasia and the diaspora We, the undersigned individuals and organisations, express deep concern over the continued blocking of Indian news websites in Pakistan and Pakistani news websites in India. These reciprocal bans prevent people on both sides of the border fromContinue reading “Access is not a threat: A call to lift reciprocal news bans in India and Pakistan” - South African activist Ela Gandhi calls on world to condemn the US attack on Venezuela
“Can the world stand by and allow such aggression to continue?” - South Asia media groups express solidarity with journalists, condemn attacks on Bangladesh and Nepal media, demand accountability
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 arson in Dhaka, Bangladesh, that targeted the offices of the Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, and the physical assault on the President of the Editors Council and veteran journalist and Editor of New Age Nurul Kabir. - Sun, 21 Dec.: Nepal’s Shifting Political Landscape, Gen Z Protests, and Pathways Forward’
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 and beyond. Event title: Nepal’s Shifting Political Landscape: Gen Z Protests, Democratic Reforms, and Pathways Forward’. Date: Sunday, 21 DecemberContinue reading “Sun, 21 Dec.: Nepal’s Shifting Political Landscape, Gen Z Protests, and Pathways Forward’” - Book lovers and ‘peacemongers’ come together over Arundhati Roy’s new memoir
Members of the online book club Readers Without Borders and activists from the Southasia Peace Action Network convened for an engaging discussion over the recently published ‘Mother Mary Comes to Me’ – without the author who was unable to join at the last minute.
“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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