(ANALYSIS) A recent report by U.N. Women revealed that female empowerment has been a top priority in Malaysia, the southeast Asian country of 35 million people. From running tech startups, costume and jewelry businesses to driving public buses, women in Muslim-dominated Malaysia are largely economically, socially and culturally independent.
Read MoreZakir Hussain, the imam of the ancient Akhunji Mosque in Mehrauli, a section of South Delhi, has a vivid memory of Jan. 31, 2023. He described the terrible events of that morning, when the Delhi Development Authority destroyed not only the centuries-old mosque — but also the nearby Madrasa Bahrul Uloom and the cemetery next to it.
Read MoreIn India, caste oppression is a persistent and insidious reality that continues to affect millions, even in communities that formally reject caste divisions. The Christian community, which upholds the belief in equality before God, is not exempt from this social inequality. Dalit Christians, in particular, face discrimination and exclusion — even within church spaces. However, a growing number of Dalit Christians are challenging this oppression.
Read MoreIndian authorities have allegedly “abandoned” — rather than deported — 40 Rohingya refugees in international waters near the Myanmar maritime border, forcing women, children and the elderly to swim to safety using life jackets. The action could be seen as a “secret rendition,” a term used to describe the covert transfer of individuals across borders without legal process.
Read MoreMany Christian families reported living in fear — facing threats of social boycott, electricity cuts and verbal abuse. Some have left their villages or publicly disavowed their faith to avoid conflict. Others now live with the trauma of having been denied the chance to grieve with dignity. In cases where women were disrobed or attacked during mourning, the abuse was not only communal but gendered.
Read More(EXPLAINER) As tensions rise between India and Pakistan, questions about what constitutes a lawful war are once again in focus. International law makes a clear distinction between jus ad bellum (the right to go to war) and jus in bello (the rules governing conduct in war). These are framed by the United Nations Charter, customary international law and treaties such as the Geneva Conventions, all of which define what states and their leaders can — and cannot — do during conflict.
Read MoreSadhu Sundar Singh, a Christian pastor, serves Adivasi/tribal communities in Odisha’s Balasore district. He helps people in these communities move away from alcoholism, hooliganism and the consumption of unsafe water. However, because he also shares his Christian faith with them, he has received death threats.
Read MoreBelief in the supernatural — including life after death and the idea that animals and nature can possess spirits — is common across diverse cultures and religions, with younger and older generations sharing similar views, a new survey reveals. The findings paint a nuanced picture of global spirituality, suggesting that beliefs in the unseen are deeply rooted in human cultures and persist even as traditional faith fades.
Read MoreIndia launched a military strike deep into Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir early on May 7, saying it targeted sites used by terror groups responsible for the April 22 attacks on civilians in the Kashmir region. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called the attack a “blatant act of war,” promising that it “will not go unpunished” and claiming that a “resolute response is already underway.”
Read MoreThe end of the Vietnam War, recognized on April 30, marked the end of a chapter for John Cope. But it also started another. An 18-month tour with the Air Force in the country ended in 1971. During his time there, though, Cope had grown fond of the South Vietnamese people.
Read More(ANALYSIS) This may be unsettling to those who’ve invested in the idea of a steadily secularizing globe, but the numbers don’t lie. In the long run, the groups that reproduce tend to shape the narrative. If religion continues to dominate global culture through the 21st century, it won’t be because it won a war of ideas. It’ll be because believers have more babies.
Read MoreFounded in 2013, Radio Sharda has grown into a powerful cultural project — broadcasting Kashmiri-language content to a global diaspora and anchoring displaced people to their roots. Named after the goddess of learning and the ancient Sharada Peeth temple, Radio Sharda is more than a radio station. It is a living archive of a vanishing language, a meeting point for artists and a shared refuge for memory.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Ashraf, a Muslim and daily wage labourer from Wayanad, Kerala, had arrived in this coastal Karnataka city just weeks earlier. On the evening of April 27, he was found dead near a temple in Kudupu — barely six miles (10 kilometers) from Mangaluru city’s centre. Reportedly killed on the sidelines of a cricket match, his death was a brutal act that felt grimly familiar.
Read MoreCurated by street children, the Delhi-based Balaknama brings powerful stories about underprivileged children and their surroundings in several cities across India. These children have lived the hardships they write about, giving their journalism rare authenticity and depth. Through Balaknama, they now have a platform to voice their issues and challenges.
Read MoreThe Chinese Communist Party enacted new restrictions on foreign missionaries there May 1, preventing them from preaching, evangelizing and establishing various religious organizations among other activities without official government approval.
Read More(ANALYSIS) The April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians, has pushed India and Pakistan into one of their most dangerous standoffs in recent years. Daily gunfire is being reported across the Line of Control and diplomatic ties have been cut off and military activity is intensifying between the majority Hindu nation and their Muslim neighbors.
Read More(REVIEW) The strength of her book is that, for the most part, she does not feature dissidents who consciously oppose the government. Instead, she focuses on ordinary, law-abiding people who consider themselves to be loyal Chinese citizens but who unwittingly cross the CCP’s constantly changing redlines. The people Feng features find ways to live with dignity and integrity in the crucible of China’s dictatorship.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Baylor University's Institute for Studies of Religion and Harvard University's Human Flourishing Program, along with Gallup and the Center for Open Science, released on Wednesday the first findings of their ongoing worldwide survey examining what makes for human flourishing.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In the United States, April is designated as Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month and is aimed at commemorating and raising awareness about genocides that occurred in the past, including the Armenian Genocide, the Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide.
Read More(REVIEW) The Dalai Lama has hopes for Tibet, but as someone who knows the feeling of having governance forced upon him all too well, he does not say that these conditions are the absolutely correct ones. Instead, he makes clear that neither the CCP nor he should decide the destiny of the Tibetan people. While the Dalai Lama expresses disappointment at the fact that he will likely not return to Tibet.
Read More
