Sapan News Network

12/21/2025

Tribute to a beloved icon who embodied values like the importance of civil dialogue regardless of disagreements – even more relevant in today’s conflict-ridden online culture.

12/21/2025

The death of the charismatic and popular student leader sparked widespread violence across , including attacks on newspaper offices. This is just what his killers wanted. But Hadi, a candidate in the upcoming elections, believed in the slow, painstaking process of building a new Bangladesh. He knew there could be no short-cuts.

The death of the charismatic and popular student leader Osman Hadi sparked widespread violence across Bangladesh including attacks on newspaper offices. This is just what his killers wanted. But Ha…

12/20/2025

Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra: Transcending borders

A tribute to Dr. Arfa Sayeda Zehra (20 July 1943 – 10 November 2025), a towering intellectual voice who believed fiercely in civil dialogue, even amid disagreement. At a time when online spaces are increasingly shaped by outrage and polarisation, her commitment to empathy, reason, and ethical debate feels more urgent than ever.

Remembering a life that crossed borders, challenged silences, and left a lasting moral imprint.

By Zarminae Ansari / Sapan News
Read more:
https://sapannews.com/2025/12/19/dr-arfa-sayeda-zehra-transcending-borders-20-july-1943-10-november-2025/

12/20/2025

Bangladesh: Do not let Osman Hadi’s killers win

The killing of student leader and election candidate Osman Hadi has shaken Bangladesh, triggering violence and attacks on media offices. But this chaos is exactly what his killers sought.

Hadi believed change comes through patience, participation, and the hard work of rebuilding democracy. Not through fear or destruction.

A powerful commentary by Zafar Sobhan, in collaboration with Counterpoint, reflects on what is at stake for Bangladesh’s future.

Read more:
https://sapannews.com/2025/12/19/bangladesh-do-not-let-osman-hadis-killers-win/

12/18/2025

Members of the online book club Readers Without Borders and the Southasia Peace Action Network meet to discuss Mother Mary Comes to Me, Arundhati Roy’s latest publication.

12/17/2025

Even without Arundhati Roy present, discussion on 'Mother Mary Comes to Me' sparked a rich cross-border conversation. Readers Without Borders and the Southasia Peace Action Network came together online to discuss memory, faith, politics, and belonging, proving that stories can travel and connect even when their authors cannot.

By Regina Johnson / Sapan News

🔗 https://sapannews.com/2025/12/16/arundhati-roy-memoir-mother-mary-connects-across-borders-even-as-author-unable-to-join-discussion/

12/17/2025

Bangladesh: Looking back to the small actions of ordinary people in 1971

What connects youth protests in Bangladesh today to the country’s liberation history? From Kenya, journalist Tom Maliti traces that line through memory, literature, and quiet acts of courage during 1971, showing how ordinary people shape history in ways that outlast power and politics.

Commentary by Tom Maliti / Sapan News
🔗 https://sapannews.com/2025/12/15/bangladesh-looking-back-to-the-small-actions-of-ordinary-people-in-1971/

12/17/2025

‘Silences within silences’: Excavating the hidden history of Bengalis interned in Pakistan after 1971

A new book by historian Ilyas Chatta confronts a long-erased chapter of Southasian history. Citizens to Traitors traces how Bengalis were interned in Pakistan after 1971, breaking through decades of political forgetting and silence around postcolonial violence and belonging.

By Irfan Chowdhury / Sapan News
🔗 https://sapannews.com/2025/12/14/silences-within-silences-excavating-the-hidden-history-of-bengalis-interned-in-pakistan-after-1971/

12/17/2025

Examining identity, division, and postcolonial legacy – and building community

A new documentary, South Asia Bound: The Cost of National Identity, looks back to 1947 to ask how exclusionary state narratives in Southasia continue to shape belonging today. Filmed in Pakistan and recently premiered in the Boston area, the film also opens space for dialogue, reflection, and community-building beyond borders.

🖊 By Tamanna Syed / Sapan News in collaboration with Cambridge Day
🔗 https://sapannews.com/2025/12/13/examining-identity-division-and-postcolonial-legacy-and-building-community/

12/16/2025

Ilyas Chatta’s recently published, groundbreaking book ‘Citizens to Traitors’ breaks through the ‘political forgetting’ that has long characterized the region and its post-colonial conflicts.

Ilyas Chatta’s recently published, groundbreaking book ‘Citizens to Traitors’ breaks through the ‘political forgetting’ that has long characterized the region and its post-colonial conflicts.…

12/14/2025

‘South Asia Bound: The Cost of National Identity,’ a documentary filmed in Pakistan over the summer and premiered in the Boston area recently, highlights how exclusionary narratives inherited from 1947 still shape national identities.

The documentary draws attention to several forms of internal fragmentation — not only in Pakistan but also in India, underscoring a region-wide struggle between centralized authority and marg…

12/13/2025

India is at a critical point in its relationship with the West. To develop a more balanced partnership, the nation must redefine its priorities and its aspirations for itself.

India is at a critical point in its relationship with the West. To develop a more balanced partnership the nation must redefine its priorities and its aspirations for itself.