Sapan Blog Oscars 2023: Southasia shines bright 20 Mar 202328 Mar 2023 The annual Academy Awards are a big occasion every year but this year the moment was bigger for Southasia with two wins and appearances by Southasian icons and celebrities on…
Sapan Blog Why Sania Mirza is a Southasian Icon 14 Mar 2023 Celebrating one of Southasia's finest this Women's History Month. Tennis champion Sania Mirza is renowned across Southasia not only for her skill on the court but also as a woman…
Sapan Blog Visa issues, Kashmir and the ‘new great game’ between India and Pakistan 9 Mar 20239 Mar 2023 The question of why the United States does not stand up for its citizens of Indian and Pakistani origin when these citizens are denied visas because of their origins has…
Sapan Blog Celebrating love: Beyond borders and boundaries of religion, caste, and nationality 8 Mar 202315 Mar 2023 “In the process of suppressing individual happiness over centuries, we have encouraged agents of hate, discrimination, and violence,” comments journalist Aekta Kapoor, moderating an online discussion promoting equality and harmony.…
Climate Change… From Pakistan and Bangladesh to Africa, Brazil and USA: How Climate Change Impacts Women of Colour Across the Globe 8 Mar 202324 Jan 2025 On International Women’s Day, a look at the disproportionate impact of climate change and global warming on half the world’s population, and how women bear the brunt of inequitable policies…
Sapan Blog The magic of Faiz and the Javed Akhtar controversy 5 Mar 202315 Mar 2023 It is unfortunate that of all the art, culture and poetry at the Faiz Festival 2023 held in Lahore recently, it was mostly Javed Akhtar's controversial comments that made it…
Sapan Blog The ‘rights’ thing to do: when Seattle banned caste discrimination 25 Feb 20236 Mar 2023 A ringside seat and an eyewitness account of the happenings at the Seattle City Council as the historic anti-caste discrimination law was passed, now a template for other cities in…
Sapan Blog Rise in interfaith, intercultural events around India kindles hope 25 Feb 20236 Mar 2023 Does the plethora of interfaith and intercultural events in February indicate a resurging respect for India’s pluralistic culture? By Urmi Chanda Hindu nahin na musalmaanBhaye niranjan taj abhimaan... (I am…
Events Event, Feb 26: Celebrating Love – Beyond Borders and Boundaries 21 Feb 20239 Mar 2023 “Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.” – Rumi Love often comes…
Sapan Blog Zia Mohyeddin: One of a kind 15 Feb 202328 Feb 2023 Legendary actor, orator and television personality Zia Mohyeddin, born on 30 June (or 20 December), 1931, in Lyallpur, passed away on 13 February 2023 in Karachi By Beena Sarwar 14…
Sapan Blog A Bollywood songwriter, a daughter married in Pakistan, and a family torn apart 9 Feb 20239 Feb 2023 When iconic Bollywood lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri’s daughter Kishwar visited Mumbai a decade after her marriage across the border in Rahim Yar Khan, he knew it would be their last meeting.…
Climate Change… When faith actors combine forces with climate activists 6 Feb 202324 Jan 2025 Commemorating UN World Interfaith Harmony Week, some thoughts on a discussion about how interfaith collaboration can contribute to climate justice By Sara Arshad 6 February 2023: What does interfaith harmony…
Sapan Blog Peshawar mosque blast worst in a series of targeted attacks on Pakistan police 4 Feb 2023 The January 30 suicide bombing on a mosque in Peshawar is the latest in an escalating number of militant attacks in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region in northwest Pakistan after the…
Events Event, Jan 29: Can Interfaith Collaboration Contribute to Climate Justice? 20 Jan 202329 Jan 2023 Ahead of UN World Interfaith Harmony Week, Sapan invites you to a panel discussion 'Can Interfaith Collaboration Contribute to Climate Justice?' on 29 January 2023. While communal rifts are among…
Sapan Blog Imran Aslam: Lessons in journalism from a life and legacy transcending borders across Southasia 12 Jan 202320 Jan 2023 By Abdullah Zahid 12 January 2023: In the good old days when there was a regular exchange of theatre productions between India and Pakistan, the Pakistani satire ‘Lines Out of…
Sapan Blog A poetic call for peace 2 Jan 202322 Jan 2023 ‘Amity’, an anthology of poems edited by the Indian poet and peacebuilder, Sahana Ahmed, explores peace as it is perceived, practised, and preserved Sapan Bookshelf Amity: Peace Poems (anthology)Editor: Sahana…
Sapan Blog Hockey, friendship, Partition, and an ode to the homeland Lahore 19 Dec 202226 Mar 2023 By Sara Arshad 19 December 2022: Taangh, or longing, is a heart-wrenching film about college friends who were separated in 1947 after the division of India and the birth of…
Press Statements Call For Music Composers: Seeking entries for Sapan, the Southasia Peace Action Network 16 Dec 202222 Jan 2023 Dec. 15, 2022: The Southasia Peace Action Network and the Sapan News Network syndicated features service are looking for a signature music piece to use in our media and communication.…
Sapan Blog Opinion / India: A tale of two pardons 25 Nov 202226 Nov 2022 The difference between the release of convicts in Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case and those convicted in the Bilkis Bano case By Sandeep Pandey 25 November 2022: Two sets of convicts…
Sapan Blog Lessons from journalism, tai chi, and life 23 Nov 202230 Nov 2022 23 November 2022: In May this year, journalist and filmmaker Beena Sarwar, founder-curator of Southasia Peace Action Network, was invited to give the keynote speech at Harvard University's inaugural AAPI/APIDA…
Events… Event, Nov 27- Beyond Partitions: Shared Histories, Ways Forward 16 Nov 202227 Nov 2022 1947 marked the end of British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent and paved the way for the partition of India and the formation of Pakistan. Twenty-four years later, the…
Events Streets for Life II: World Day of Remembrance for Road Victims 15 Nov 202217 Nov 2022 Around half a million people across Southasia die in road crashes annually. The actual number of deaths is likely to be more than twice the reported numbers, estimates the World…
Sapan Blog From the Philippines to Dubai and beyond, a groundbreaking platform for educators provides new ways to collaborate 15 Nov 202223 Nov 2022 A three-year-old storytelling competition for teachers illustrates how education, like medicine, transcends borders and religious divides By Nadra Huma Quraishi 14 November 2022: The best educators are perpetual learners, gaining…
Sapan Blog Why Rishi Sunak is of ‘South Asian’ rather than ‘Indian’ origin 14 Nov 202214 Nov 2022 5 November 2022: Accepting the term South Asia when speaking of UK prime minister Rishi Sunak's origins would imply acceding to a need for regionalism, fashioning some form of accommodation…
Events… Sapan Film Club: Bani Singh’s award-winning documentary ‘Taangh’ – register to watch free 8 Nov 202221 Nov 2022 Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, invites you to an exclusive film screening of award-winning documentary Taangh / Longing on 18-20 November, 2022, followed by a Zoom meeting with the filmmaker…
Sapan Blog AJCONF2022: Taking forward an inspiring legacy of upholding human rights 28 Oct 20226 Nov 2022 By Abdullah Zahid and Beena Sarwar October 26, 2022: The drama began well before the start of the fourth Asma Jahangir Conference on ‘Crisis of Constitutionalism in South Asia’, held…
Sapan Blog A cautionary tale: Lessons from Sri Lanka’s cascading, multiple crises 20 Oct 202230 Oct 2022 A Sapan News syndicated feature available for use with attribution to Sapan News By Pragya Narang October 20, 2022: The world watched the economic crisis in Sri Lanka turn into…
Press Statements… Sapan statement: Don’t accept the ‘new normal’ on Afghanistan 8 Oct 20228 Oct 2022 October 7, 2022: Southasia Peace Action Network, Sapan, condemns the suicide bombing of 30 September that killed more than 40 girls, women and others at a higher education centre in…
Events Event, Oct 2- Rebuilding Sri Lanka: Reforms or Revolution? 24 Sep 202210 Oct 2022 You are invited to Southasia Peace Action Network, or Sapan's next monthly webinar, ‘Rebuilding Sri Lanka: Reforms or Revolution?’, Sunday, October 2, 2022, to discuss the current situation in the…
Sapan Blog Cross-border workshop with 60 India, Pakistan journalists in Nepal breaks barriers 21 Sep 202221 Oct 2022 A Sapan News syndicated feature available for use with attribution to Sapan News By Lubna Jerar Naqvi September 21, 2022: The convoluted journey from Karachi to Kathmandu I undertook recently…