What you missed and what's next
RIP Karamat Ali. Sapan News on Noam Chomsky, T20, solar rooftops, Iran human rights, the Joy of Urdu. A 'Panjab' new chapter, docu film 'Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines' and more
Greetings of peace and solidarity from all of us at Sapan, the Southasia Peace Action Network, and Sapan News. Hope you are well as can be.
At Sapan, we forge our own narrative and provide context, rather than reacting to the negativity around us. Here’s an initiative on Social Media Ethics and Responsibility we’re working on, not public yet. Feedback welcome.
Farewell Karamat
Since our last newsletter, we lost our dear comrade-in-peace, Karamat Ali, a truly borderless Southasian* being. His passing leaves a huge void across Pakistan, India, and the region. There has been an outpouring of memories and remembrance events for him. We will miss him and his unshakeable commitment to peace and justice and we vow not to let him down.
Mandira Nayar’s moving piece in Sapan News, A journalist in India remembers a Pakistani peace activist who brought home her late grandfather’s ashes, is a reminder of the strong bonds that exist between people across borders.
In this spirit, our petition #MilneDo (Let people meet) calls for the governments of the region to allow people to meet. We need to reach 50K signatures (14K to go). Please sign, share, and make your voice heard.
More Sapan News features: Cricket in North America, solar rooftops, Noam Chomsky, Iran human rights, the Joy of Urdu
Sapan News is proud to be a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN) and LION (Local Independent Online News). We learnt at the San Diego INN Days conference that only 50% of orgs that apply are accepted.
A colonial pastime brings cricket-lovers together for a chance at the American dream - Boston-based IT professional Rajeev Soneja’s take on the T20 Cricket World Cup game he attended in Long Island, New York. 03 July 2024
Pakistan, India solar rooftop installations: Slow growth impedes the region’s green future - A Pakistani and an Indian journalist collaborate to report on a burning issue (no pun intended). 27 June 2024
What I’ve learned from Noam Chomsky - Beena Sarwar, Personal Political column. June 21, 2024
Lingering questions on Iranian activist’s death: Bangladesh lawyer Sara Hossain on the UN investigation - Award-winning Dutch journalist Rob Vreeken talks to the head of the UN team looking into the tragedy of Mahsa Amini and its aftermath. 11 June 2024
For the love of language, a multinational quest to keep Urdu alive and thriving - Sapan News intern Abdullah Zahid reports on a unique initiative the Joy Of Urdu and poet Zehra Nigah’s birthday. 31 May 2024
EXCITING UPDATE: The Joy Of Urdu’s first bilingual publication, Three Tales from Gulistan-e-Saadi, edited by the organisation’s founder Zarminae Ansari, with a foreword by Dr Arfa Sayeda Zehra, is now available online worldwide via TCS Sentiments Express.
Sapan News syndicated features are available for publication with due credit to www.sapannews.com.
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Imagine! Neighbors in Peace - 25th edition
Read Naveen Akhund’s engaging report on the Sapan discussion: Unity in Diversity: Promoting Peaceful Coexistence in Southasia through Art, Academics, Journalism and Law. Senior journalist Namrata Sharma in Kathmandu hosted the event. Standup comic Shehzad Ghias, host of the popular podcast The Pakistan Experience, moderated the thought-provoking discussion, with great speakers from around the region: Mallika Sarabhai, Sanam Sutirath Wazir, Sara Hossain, Umali Thilakarathna, Yubaraj Ghimere. Video here. Please help us reach more people.
This was the 25th in the Sapan Series: Imagine! Neighbors in Peace. A shoutout to all our amazing volunteers for the enormous amount of work put into these initiatives.
In the neighbourhood
‘Panjab Agla Varka’ (New Chapter) launched
Theatre Kunzum, New Delhi, 29 June: The launch of Agla Varka (New Chapter) drew a full house, even as India played South Africa at the T20 World Cup final and won. Initiated by Sapaners, Delhi-based journalist Mandira Nayar and cultural curator Preeti Gill of Majha House, Amritsar, this cultural platform aims to reimagine ‘Panjab’ (the colonial spelling used for accuracy in pronunciation) with “meaningful conversations that reflect the realities on the ground” and go beyond stereotypes.
The partition of India on 14 August 1947 turned Punjab, once at the cross-roads of culture, into a border state. “This wound continues to fester,” , says Mandira. ‘Agla Varka’ draws on the memory of Punjab's syncretic culture, the ‘Punjabiyat’ that survives in stories. The launch featured poetry, chai, samosas and tears as Amy Singh, a spoken-word poet from Chandigarh recited her acclaimed ‘Letter to Lahore’. Poet and architect Sarbjyot Behl Singh recited ‘Gujranwala Chod Aaya’, a poem based on his father's experience of leaving his home in 1947.
Coming up
25 July, Colombo City Center cinema: Documentary film screening and panel discussion, ‘Democracy in Debt: Sri Lanka Beyond the Headlines’ (25 min.), supported by the Pulitzer Center (project page here). Event hosted by Factum.lk. Trailer at this link. By invitation only. Email Uditha Devapriya (uditha@factum.lk) with your name, affiliation and contact details if you’d like to attend.
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Thank you for reading and for your support.
With hope and solidarity
beena sarwar
for team Sapan
*Note on Southasia as one word: We use ‘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” -- Himal Southasian.
Beena, I salute you and your team for writing so many articles/columns for the benefit of SOUTHASIAN people so much regularly on diversified topics/issues with a missionary zeal and zest.
No doubt we are in dire need of people like Karamat in this part of world. Mandira Nayyer also impressed me for writing so nicely. I am really proud of BEENA. kUDOS AND SHABBASH!!