On tonight’s monthly South Asia spotlight, we interrogate the recent spate of murders of outspoken human rights activists and advocates in Pakistan and Bangladesh. In late April, noted human rights activist Sabeen Mahmud was brutally murdered. Bangladesh saw three outspoken bloggers and intellectual thinkers murdered in public spaces by Islamic fundamentalists.
What does this mean? How do those of us in the west understand and engage with the disturbing tides of fundamentalism sweeping the South Asian subcontinent? What is the role of the US and the west in general in fueling this climate of repression and regression in countries that once held more secular and progressive possibilities? Here to tell us more are two wonderful activists and intellectuals: Rafia Zakaria from Pakistan and Tinku Ali Ishtiaq from Bangladesh.
We also bring you highlights from the ongoing Green Film Fest in San Francisco that starts May 28th through June 3.