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If nation states in their very creation are majoritarian in their thrust besides being the repositories of (often unbridled power) how havecertain institutions and instruments of minority rights protection proved effective in Europe but remained singularly undeveloped in South Asia?While this question posed succinctly in the foreword to this anthology remains unanswered in all its complexity, the work is a substantive and thorough exploration of ‘minority’, a concept that is both rich and diverse…

2006 had been a fraught year for Bangladesh. Differences between the two major political parties, the Awami League (AL) and theBangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) that go well beyond democratic discourse has been a constant in Bangladesh for over thirty years. What now lent a special edge was the determination of the BNP…

Nepal’s crises—political, economic, social, cultural—seem to be without end, and nowhere is the sense of despair more acutethan among Nepal’s thinking elite. It should therefore be a matter of some considerable interest to all Nepal watchers that this book, written by one with sound businessman-economist credentials…

China became the third largest economy in the world after the United States and Japan with an estimated $4.8 trillion in gross domesticproduct in 2009. With near nine per cent growth rate projected in the financial meltdown year of 2009, China still leads the world in growth rates, although it would need several decades to actually…

As an individual deeply interested in the religion and culture of early India, I have consistently admired the writings of Wendy Doniger, enjoying every bit of what I have been able to read of her several works, ranging from lengthy monographs to crisp prefatory remarks and editorial interventions. Other than a sparkling…

What is special about the autobiography of an ordinary man? Not much perhaps, except that it may well be an accuratedocumentation of life on average. This element of the prosaic is precisely why Tubten Khetsun’s book is pertinent. Presenting theviews and circumstances of an ordinary Tibetan…