Avinash Paliwal’s India’s Near East: A New History is about the complex set of forces and actors that shaped an entire region east of West Bengal, which the author terms “near east”. The “new history” is a deep dive into India’s domestic and foreign policies in three parts of this near east: one within and two outside, each politically separated from the other by international boundaries yet densely linked and sundered by identity, the flows of people and goods, and a shared co...| Frontline
The military says an interim government will be formed to lead the country to new elections, but its makeup is unclear.| Truthout
The Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh is caught unawares as student protests over a quota for freedom fighters in jobs and education turn violent and claim more than 150 lives. While Hasina sees it as the handiwork of her political opponents, saner voices have urged her to reach out to the students. As Bangladesh limps back to normalcy, with Internet and mobile phone services restored, people are still asking how and why the agitating students, who were for weeks protesting peacefully, s...| Frontline