Journeys to democracy

Seasons greetings despite the sadness, and excerpts from a Sapan Alliance newsletter sent out a few days ago on Substack

In times that can feel dark and dismal, some good news and exciting updates.

Meet Sapan News — a unique media outlet that aims to cover and connect Southasia, the Indian Ocean and diaspora. That goes behind the headlines, connects communities, academics, activists, and more. Creating space for understanding, empathy and nuance.

• In November, Sapan News qualified for NewsMatch, a philanthropic fund helping nonprofit newsrooms like ours in the U.S. Contributions made by year-end will get matched up to $15,000. Gratitude to our community that has stepped up to meet this challenge.
• Those wanting to chip in are welcome – here’s the donate link for tax-deductible contributions.
• A 100 new donors will secure a $1,000 bonus, and monthly donations initiated this month will get matched x12!

Thank you for your support. It means so much – and together, we are stronger.

Collaborations: Hello, Central Desi!

Sapan News is proud to partner with Central Desi, a dynamic news portal that started as a newsletter to cover all things ‘desi’ (Southasian) in New Jersey. Kudos to journalist Ambreen Ali for growing her passion project into a news org that won a major grant, enabling them to hire reporting fellows. Sapan News has much to learn from this initiative.

We are thrilled to present our first collaboration with Central Desi – a timely, relevant, well-researched piece by reporting fellow Sofia Ahmed: New Jersey with its large ‘desi’ population sees over 700% rise in anti-Muslim bigotry since Oct. 7 – Despite threats since the Hamas attacks of Oct. 7 followed by Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, community members across religious divides say they feel compelled to speak up.

Sapan News syndicated features are available for republication with due credit.

Sapan webinars: Missing the regionalism bus – can we still catch it?

On December 10, Human Rights Day, Southasia Peace Action Network (Sapan) held a webinar titled Why SAARC? Challenges and Missed Opportunities, to commemorate and go beyond the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) ‘Charter Day,’ 8 December.

Event host and veteran journalist Kanak Mani Dixit in Nepal shared his journey over the past decades. Sociologist and human geographer Dr. Serena Hussain, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University, U.K., moderated the discussion, joined by the veteran retired diplomat Tariq Karim in Dhaka, academic and research scholar Dr. Zahid Shahab Ahmed from Pakistan currently in U.A.E, and acclaimed journalist Suhasini Haider in India.

Some key takeaways from the discussion:

• Domestication of foreign policy: Shifting attention from cooperative regional efforts towards domestic interests, as some SAARC member states have done, has resulted in conflicts and impeded effective cooperation.

• Failure to create a common Southasian identity: By failing to foster a common pan-Southasian identity among its members, SAARC lost the opportunity to improve unity and collaboration across national boundaries.

• Potential impacts on the Southasian region: Lack of effective cooperation  between Southasian countries and a non-functional SAARC may be a factor in the rise of human security concerns like economic security, food security, health security, environmental security etc in the region.

In essence, Southasia needs SAARC for its progress and development. At Sapan, we believe that fostering collaboration in the region is essential to addressing common challenges, seizing shared opportunities and capitalizing mutual advantages.

#SapanForSAARC #TheSapanWay

Former ambassador and parliamentarian Mani Shankar Aiyar was unable to join at the last minute, so we played a clip from an interview I did with him earlier:

The edited 16-minute interview is online at the Southasia Peace YouTube channel.

Watch the webinar live broadcast on the Sapan YouTube channel –https://www.youtube.com/@southasiapeace. Please take a second to visit it – we need your likes and shares!

Here’s the Sapan Resolution  Urging Governments In Southasia To Work Towards Convening An Official Saarc Summit At The Earliest – check it out and endorse it if you agree.

Have you endorsed the Sapan Founding Charter?

• Over 60 organisations and hundreds of individuals support our work. The Founding Charter is online in several languages. You are welcome to endorse it if your name is not on the list. Endorse the Sapan Charter

What else can you do? Get involved!

• Share the flyer below with your circles. I left copies with local shops the other day – it was fun connecting with people in the area.

We have been doing this work voluntarily since 2021, and we need your help to keep going.

If you like what we do, please consider making a one-time or regular monthly donation. All contributions are tax-free, thanks to our fiscal sponsor Tasveer.org, a 501c3 registered organisation in Seattle WA.

Thank you for your support and for reading this.

All best for the coming holiday season, as we keep those who are suffering close to our hearts.

Solidarity and peace.

Thank you!

Filed under: Media, Pakistan-India, Southasia | Tagged: Activism, bigotry, Central Desi, democracy, Human rights, India, Media, newsmatch, Oct. 7, Pakistan, sapan news |