Freedom's on the march in the USA's closest South Asian ally. From the UK's Independent, Sept. 12, via Common Dreams:

In a setback for women's rights in Pakistan, the ruling party in Islamabad has caved in to religious conservatives by dropping its plans to reform rape laws.

From AndhraVision.com, Sept. 11:

Satyagraha movement completes 100 years

A hundred years ago today, Mahatma Gandhi launched the historic Satyagraha movement in South Africa to fight racism and colonial oppression in that country. Later, he used the same principles of non violence and mass civil disobedience in India, which eventually paved the way for the country's independence. The first seeds of Satyagraha were sown in 1893 when a young struggling lawyer Mohandas Karam Chand Gandhi came to South Africa. He arrived to serve as a legal advisor for an Indian merchant. But this was a country where the colour of one's skin mattered more than anything else.

From the Sept. 9 New York Times, buried at the bottom of page 4 (below a much larger "profile" piece on a New Age self-help book written by Slovenia's president). Links added.

Explosions Hit Indian Mosque, Stoking Fear of Further Violence 
NEW DELHI — A series of explosions struck in and near the largest mosque in a flashpoint textile town in western India on Friday, killing more than two dozen people, wounding more than 100 and raising the specter of renewed sectarian clashes.

From India's Zee News, Sept. 5:

Baluchistan on strike over tribal chief's killing
QUETTA — Parts of the troubled southwest Pakistani province of Baluchistan were paralysed today by a strike called by opposition parties to protest the killing of a rebel tribal chief.

A big step closer to the destabilization of Pakistan. From Reuters, Aug. 29:

QUETTA, Pakistan - Security forces and gunmen clashed on Tuesday in Pakistan's Baluchistan province after prayers for a slain rebel leader and one policeman was killed, while a blast elsewhere killed three people, police said.

This report from India's northeastern Bihar state is analogous to situations we have noted in Colombia. Caught bewteen the government and guerillas, self-governing peasant communities are finding a voice of their own via village-based radio. From the Christian Science Monitor, Aug. 25:

Hard to say if this is more bizarre or terrifying. Talk about the banality of evil. What about the evil of banality? From Reuters, Aug. 21:

MUMBAI, India - A new restaurant in India’s financial hub, named after Adolf Hitler and promoted with posters showing the German leader and Nazi swastikas, has infuriated the country’s small Jewish community.

India's pro-secular website "Citizens for Justice and Peace" carries the following story on a July 27 fatwa jointly issued by a Muslim mufti (revered scholar) and a Hindu mahant (temple leader) in response to the Mumbai bombings.

Chief Mufti issues fatwa against terrorism
A mahant from Varanasi and a mufti from Punjab came together on a common platform in Mumbai on Thursday to jointly declare a holy war (jihad) against their respective co-religionists who preach hatred and perpetrate violence against innocent citizens.