India
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Identity politics
The pain of India's partition
India’s partition in 1947 continues to evoke strong emotions even after seven decades. Entrenched identity politics, arguably a product of colonial rule, saw Hindus pitted against Muslims. Collective trauma was the result, deepening the faith divide on both sides of the border. By Suparna Banerjee
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Best of Qantara.de 2022
Our readers' favourite articles this year
At the end of every year, the team at Qantara.de gives you a run-down of the ten most-read articles on the site over the past 12 months. Here is a quick overview of the stories that attracted the most attention in 2022. Happy New Year to all our readers!
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UN climate summit in Egypt
Abdul Fattah al-Sisi's greenwashing fail
COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh is turning into a PR disaster for Egypt’s military regime. Instead of praise for the host, the news is full of solidarity for imprisoned activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and criticism of the event’s grotesque surveillance measures. By Sofian Philip Naceur
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Climate change and megacities
India's predicted urban boom
India is projected to see an explosion in its urban population in the coming decades, but its cities already cannot cope and climate change will make living conditions harsher still
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Hindu nationalism abroad
Fighting religious polarisation among India's diaspora
Indian Americans from diverse faith backgrounds have peacefully co-existed stateside for several decades. But events in the U.S. – and violent confrontations between some Hindus and Muslims last month in Leicester, England – have heightened concerns that stark political and religious polarisation in India is seeping into the diaspora
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Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses"
The long road to German publication
Following the recent brutal attack on Salman Rushdie, famous writers have been reading passages from his works. Torsten Landsberg takes a look at the struggle in 1988 to publish "The Satanic Verses" in German
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Geopolitics and jihadism
Biden’s dangerous embrace of Pakistan
The Biden administration could have used Pakistan’s economic crisis to compel the country to sever its longstanding ties to terrorist groups. Instead, the U.S. protects and rewards it, putting short-term geopolitical considerations ahead of long-term interests. Commentary by Indian analyst Brahma Chellaney
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Rahman Abbas' "Zindeeq"
Who's learning lessons from the Holocaust?
Set in a dystopian future, Rahman Abbas’ new novel “Zindeeq” draws on the Indian author’s worries about recent trends in his home country, where aggressive identity politics have been – and still are – gaining momentum. Almuth Degener read the book
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India's mixed feelings over the Queen's death
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India's mixed feelings over the Queen's death
For some in India, the death of Queen Elizabeth II has provoked sympathies for a deeply respected figure – Narendra Modi called the queen "a stalwart of our times" – while for a few others, it jogged memories of a bloody history under the British crown. But among most regular Indians, the news was met with an indifferent shrug.
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Elizabeth II and the Muslims
"To be there for our fellow human-beings"
When she ascended the throne, millions of Muslims still lived under British rule. Later, Elizabeth II appealed for tolerance in a multi-religious society. She was the first British queen to visit a mosque
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Islam in Pakistan
The land of the Sufis
No country in the Islamic world is influenced as strongly by the traditions of Sufi culture as Pakistan. Yet the Sufis there have been under attack from Islamic hardliners for years. By Marian Brehmer