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, and a PDF of the powerpoint by Beena Sarwar 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 on SubStack.
Sign the MilneDo petition and share it: www.change.org/milnedo
You can also follow Global Southasia (www.sapannews.com), a syndicated service that covers and connects Southasia, the Indian Ocean and diaspora. Global Southasia sends out features to over 60 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.
- Sun. 25 Oct: Local Tragedies, Global Impact: Learnings from Nepal’s Experience
Recent severe cloudbursts, floods, and landslides across Nepal have once again laid bare the devastating realities of climate vulnerability in the High Himalayas. Glacial collapses and cross-border river surges severely impact mountain populations who contribute almost negligibly to global greenhouse gas emissions. As the international community prepares for COP 31,Continue reading “Sun. 25 Oct: Local Tragedies, Global Impact: Learnings from Nepal’s Experience” - Sun. 25 Oct: Film screening & discusssion: Maa Bhoomi
Join us for a powerful afternoon of cinema, political history, and community discussion in Boston. Co-presented by the Boston South Asian Coalition (BSAC), Sapan, North American Indian Center of Boston, Workers World Party Boston, Palestinian Youth Movement, and United American Indians of New England, join us for a special screeningContinue reading “Sun. 25 Oct: Film screening & discusssion: Maa Bhoomi” - Sri Lankan string puppetry wins global acclaim as a new home museum opens
For theatre practitioner, researcher, and Sapan founding member Marlon Ariyasinghe, September 2026 marked the culmination of a deeply personal journey rooted in living heritage, academic rigor, and grassroots empowerment. Working alongside Sri Lanka’s traditional puppeteers, Marlon helped bridge centuries-old folk traditions with international recognition and community-led preservation, mirroring Sapan’s coreContinue reading “Sri Lankan string puppetry wins global acclaim as a new home museum opens “ - Kabir’s voice across generations: The 5th annual Kabir Festival in the US
Celebrating a 15th Century Indian poet who broke all the shackles through poetry - Mon. 14 Sept: India after the student protests: A conversation with Yogendra Yadav
As student movements and grassroots resistance continue to reshape the political landscape across South Asia, what lies ahead for democratic resistance in India? To explore these pressing questions, the Boston South Asia Coalition (BSAC) invites community members, students, and organisers to an evening of reflection and analysis with renowned IndianContinue reading “Mon. 14 Sept: India after the student protests: A conversation with Yogendra Yadav” - Sun. 13 Sept: Fifth annual Kabir festival
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 the timeless, syncretic wisdom of Kabir Das, the revered 15th-century Bhakti saint, mystic, and poet whose words continue to resonate,Continue reading “Sun. 13 Sept: Fifth annual Kabir festival” - Youth Pledge for Peace: International Day of Peace, Monday 21 Sept. 2026
Call for Youth Pledge for Peace: International Day of Peace, Monday 21 Sept. 2026 – Doyens of Peace, Southasia Peace Action Network - Catastrophe in Nepal: ‘A wake up call not just for the region but for the world’
“Let’s meet, let’s talk. This is existential, and billions of people are going to be impacted ultimately. So the time to talk is now” — Kanak Mani Dixit - Sun. 30 Aug: Home, love, loss… and ‘dosti’ (friendship)
For communities living across the subcontinent and the global Southasian* diaspora alike, memory is rarely just a personal artifact; it is a shared, inherited landscape. The Partition of 1947 and its lingering reverberations continue to shape how we understand home, displacement, and reconciliation. Whether separated by barbed-wire borders or oceans,Continue reading “Sun. 30 Aug: Home, love, loss… and ‘dosti’ (friendship)”
“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 logo 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 volunteers have contribtued their time, skills and expertise to Sapan since our 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, Saeed Ahmed Rid, Sahil Laul, Saifullah Saify, Samir Gupta, Sarita Bartaula, Shailaja Rao, Siraj Khan, 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), Salima Hashmi, Sanjoy Hazarika, Dr. Syeda Hameed, Dr Vinod Mubayi among others.
*Why do we write ‘Southasia’ as one word?
- Because our histories entangle, our struggles intersect, and our futures are bound together.
- Because history, geography and shared struggles say so.
- We use ‘Southasia’ as one word, “seeking to restore some of the historical unity of our common living spacewithout wishing any violence on the existing nation states” ( Himal Southasian)
Plus, it’s more poetic.
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