Qantara.de - Dialog mit der islamischen Welt

Some four million people in Assam state, nearly all of them Bengali Muslims who have lived in India for more than four decades, are at risk of disenfranchisement after being excluded from the National Registry of Citizens. That may help Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP in the next election, but it won't do anything for peace, writes Shashi TharoorMore

Saudi-supported ultra-conservative worldviews, abetted by successive Pakistani governments, are changing the very nature of Pakistani society. By James M. DorseyMore

In times of increasing radicalisation, minorities and those who occupy society's niches and in-between realms can become prime targets, as the attack last weekend on a gay nightclub in Florida so painfully demonstrated. Recently, however, on the other side of the globe in South Asia, there have also been some astounding breakthroughs. By Sara-Duana MeyerMore

The dawn of 2016 has brought a new round of doomsday predictions that Saudi Arabia’s ruling Al Saud family cannot sustain its autocratic grip on power. The kingdom, pessimists argue, is caught in a perfect storm with economic problems, social challenges and foreign policy crises all converging at the same time. By James M. DorseyMore

″All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights″: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights couldn′t be much clearer. Still the political response to the current flood of refugees is inevitably proving insufficient. Pia Oberoi, advisor on migration and human rights with the UNHCR, examines the issueMore

"Rana Plaza", a Bengali film based on the 2013 garment factory disaster in Bangladesh, has been banned by the High Court in Dhaka. Deutsche Welle spoke to the writ petitioner as well as the filmmakerMore

In the light of a recent series of bills proposed by the Myanmar government that seek to restrict an individual's right to religious freedom, critics fear a further increase in discrimination and violence against the marginalised community of Rohingya Muslims. By Roma Rajpal WeißMore