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Munawar Faruqi had not even started his set at the Munroe Café in Indore on January 1 when he and another stand-up comic were arrested, alongside two of the event’s organisers, for violating India ’s colonial era anti-blasphemy laws. The 28-year-old Muslim comedian was accused of “intent” to outrage religious sentiments by Aklavya Gaur, a Hindu nationalist activist and son of the city’s mayor. Moments before Faruqi’s arrest – and only seconds after he took to the stage – Gaur had burst into the venue and began shouting that the show was “cancelled”, according to eyewitnesses. “Munawar was interrupted even before he could start performing,” said 22-year-old audience member G Jen Agnes K, who has since received death threats for speaking out in support of the comic online. “As soon as he got the spotlight Aklavya Gaur interrupted him.” Gaur – whose mother Malini is a member of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party as well as being ... » Learn More about In Modi’s India, comedians can now be jailed for ‘intent’ to tell a joke – as Munawar Faruqi found out

Young girls in India and Pakistan dream of an escape from marriages motivated by economic considerations. This story is part of a series on women's issues in China and Asia to coincide with International Women's Day. For Manju*, 17, of Hansiyawas village in the northern Indian state of Rajasthan, stopping her 20-year-old married sister, Babli*, from staying with her husband is the best way to prevent her own marriage. Babli was married when she was 8 but the “gauna” – when the bride is sent to live with her husband’s family and become sexually active – is yet to take place. “Soon after my sister goes to her husband’s house, my parents will make sure I get married,” said Manju, a Class 12 student who got engaged when she was barely 12. Their father, who used to earn about 15,000 Indian rupees (S$275) per month by cooking in weddings, was left with no work after the Covid-19 lockdown was announced in March last year. The family had to exhaust its savings of 50,000 rupees and ... » Learn More about In South Asia, coronavirus and poverty are forcing girls as young as 8 into marriage

Thailand’s Nattakan Chantam is about to become the Thai woman to be feature in the Women’s T20 Cricket Challenge. Nattakan will compete in the United Arab Emirates Women’s T20 Cricket Challenge. The  Women’s T20 Cricket Challenge is being held Nov 4 to 9, the organizing Indian cricket board (BCCI) said. The three-team cricket tournament is played alongside the men’s Indian Premier League. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is also hoping to launch a full-fledged women’s IPL in future. Opening cricket batter Nattakan, who was Thailand’s top scorer in this year’s Women’s T20 World Cup in Australia, will represent the Trailblazers. They will be captained by India’s Smriti Mandhana, BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement. All-rounders Deandra Dottin (West Indies); and Salma Khatun (Bangladesh); and left-arm England spinner Sophie Ecclestone are Trailblazers’ other three overseas players. India cricket captain Harmanpreet Kaur will lead the Supernovas. She won ... » Learn More about Nattakan Chantam to Be First Thai Women in T20 Cricket Challenge

Jani*, a 17-year-old Briton of Bangladeshi descent living in the United Kingdom, has spent the past year in constant dread. “I fear that I will be taken abroad and never let back. [And that] I will be raped,” she said. Jani’s family started telling her she needed to get married after she turned 16, as the Covid-19 pandemic began sweeping through the country in March last year. The pressure on her, along with verbal abuse, increased in the subsequent lockdowns. “We all live in the same flat. It is very hard. No rest, no peace, just pressure,” she said. “My brother shouts ‘get married’, ‘get married’. ‘You are a shame on the family’.” Jani’s family showed her a picture of a 38-year-old cousin they wanted her to marry. “They want him to come here,” she said. “[They say] I am costing them money, like the food I eat.” Jani is among hundreds of girls belonging to ethnic minorities living in places such as Britain and Hong Kong who are facing the prospect of forced marriages. ... » Learn More about Coronavirus pandemic puts girls from ethnic minorities at greater risk of forced marriage

Earlier last week, Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello 3rd briefly took the lead in the ongoing “Which official can say the stupidest thing” competition by disclosing that he had dangled an offer of allowing the deployment of more Filipino health-care workers to Germany and the United Kingdom in exchange for those countries providing the Philippines with coronavirus vaccines. The suggestion that the official most responsible for the welfare of Filipino labor saw nothing wrong with defining the value of an entire class of workers in milliliters went over with the public about as well as you would expect. Bello was left hanging by officials in Malacañang and the diplomatic offices of both countries, all of whom immediately distanced themselves from his remarks, and the Labor chief himself was within hours of the news doing his best to walk back his comments. This being the kind of country it is, the controversy blew over and was largely forgotten within a couple of days, but for the ... » Learn More about Don’t bet on remittances