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We stand against the rise of religious extremism and the suppression of minority rights across South Asia, including India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Secular values are under attack, and marginalized communities— women, children, and the poor—face growing
injustces, often fueled by propaganda and diaspora support.
We stand against the rise of religious extremism and the suppression of minority rights. Secular values are under attack, and marginalised communities, including women, children and the poor, face growing injustices, often fuelled by propaganda and diaspora support. The Secularist is an independent media platform dedicated to examining these developments through evidence-based analysis, critical journalism, and informed public debate, providing a space for writers and researchers to explore the social and political consequences of religious authority and its impact on human rights.
THE LATEST STORIES
Pakistan bombed a Kabul rehab centre. Where’s the outrage?
As rain continued to fall, a mother trudged through the mud carrying her baby son. The playful yellow onesie she...
Read More
Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health Care Keep Losing Their Therapists Under Trump
As Jason Beaman recounts his long slog searching for mental health therapy last year, he sounds defeated. The first therapist...
Read More
Authorities push back against International Women’s Day march in Pakistan
This year, on March 8, International Women’s Day, participants of the Islamabad chapter of the Aurat March (Women’s March) faced...
Read More
Democracy needs women: Feminist leadership in times of shrinking enabling environments for civil society
At a time when democratic backsliding is no longer an abstract warning but a lived reality across continents, feminist leaders...
Read More
‘We’re the good guys’: why moral storytelling doesn’t make the war on Iran necessary or legal
Legal experts have said the attacks violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force against...
Read More
Preventable deaths in a warming world: how politics shapes who lives and who dies
In Brownsville, Texas, three members of the Galvan family died after a malfunctioning air conditioner left them exposed to extreme...
Read More
The Epstein Files: A Scandal That Power Tried to Outrun
A disturbing revelation of the past few years has repeatedly been featured in news reports worldwide. It was not a...
Read More
Street theatre: A Powerful Metaphor for explaining Participatory Research
In both the street theatre and research, hierarchy is unsettled. The ‘platform’ needs to dissolve. Knowledge does not descend from...
Read More
New Laws by the Taliban are Misogynistic, not Religious
Since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan returned to power in 2021 under Taliban leadership, the situation for women in Afghanistan...
Read More
War as Spectacle: Reckless Power and the Death of 165 Schoolgirls
A missile strike, an attack that opened the United States–Israel military campaign against Iran on 28 February 2026, destroyed the...
Read More
Redefining Womanhood in Bijapur: An Ongoing Journey of Hope, Patience, and Resilience
The river that Geeta crosses every day for her daily activities In Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, a district long scarred by insurgency,...
Read More
Revolution, Theocracy and the Price to Pay for Women: The Age of Khamenei and Its Reckoning
The politics of the Islamic Republic were not abstract when I visited Iran in 2014.They were part of the fabric...
Read More
The World’s Lowest Fertility Rate Did Not Happen by Accident
South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world – 0.72 births per woman in 2023, with some projections...
Read More
Why am I drawn to the Secularist?
Growing up in Lucknow, having studied in Varanasi, Mumbai and Cardiff, I saw the deprivation, locally, nationally, and globally, of...
Read More
Secularism Is Not Neutral: It’s a Discipline, a Way of Living-south asia
I was born in India, migrated alone to the UK at twenty-one, and later earned a PhD in England. I...
Read More
Pakistan bombed a Kabul rehab centre.
As rain continued to fall, a mother trudged through the mud carrying her...
Read More
Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health
As Jason Beaman recounts his long slog searching for mental health therapy last...
Read More
Authorities push back against International Women’s
This year, on March 8, International Women’s Day, participants of the Islamabad chapter...
Read More
Democracy needs women: Feminist leadership in
At a time when democratic backsliding is no longer an abstract warning but...
Read More
THE LATEST STORIES
Pakistan bombed a Kabul rehab centre. Where’s the outrage?
As rain continued to fall, a mother trudged through the mud carrying her baby son. The playful yellow onesie she...
Read More
Veterans Who Depend on Mental Health Care Keep Losing Their Therapists Under Trump
As Jason Beaman recounts his long slog searching for mental health therapy last year, he sounds defeated. The first therapist...
Read More
Authorities push back against International Women’s Day march in Pakistan
This year, on March 8, International Women’s Day, participants of the Islamabad chapter of the Aurat March (Women’s March) faced...
Read More
Democracy needs women: Feminist leadership in times of shrinking enabling environments for civil society
At a time when democratic backsliding is no longer an abstract warning but a lived reality across continents, feminist leaders...
Read More
‘We’re the good guys’: why moral storytelling doesn’t make the war on Iran necessary or legal
Legal experts have said the attacks violated Article 2(4) of the UN Charter, which prohibits the use of force against...
Read More
Preventable deaths in a warming world: how politics shapes who lives and who dies
In Brownsville, Texas, three members of the Galvan family died after a malfunctioning air conditioner left them exposed to extreme...
Read More
The Epstein Files: A Scandal That Power Tried to Outrun
A disturbing revelation of the past few years has repeatedly been featured in news reports worldwide. It was not a...
Read More
Street theatre: A Powerful Metaphor for explaining Participatory Research
In both the street theatre and research, hierarchy is unsettled. The ‘platform’ needs to dissolve. Knowledge does not descend from...
Read More
New Laws by the Taliban are Misogynistic, not Religious
Since the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan returned to power in 2021 under Taliban leadership, the situation for women in Afghanistan...
Read More
War as Spectacle: Reckless Power and the Death of 165 Schoolgirls
A missile strike, an attack that opened the United States–Israel military campaign against Iran on 28 February 2026, destroyed the...
Read More
Redefining Womanhood in Bijapur: An Ongoing Journey of Hope, Patience, and Resilience
The river that Geeta crosses every day for her daily activities In Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, a district long scarred by insurgency,...
Read More
Revolution, Theocracy and the Price to Pay for Women: The Age of Khamenei and Its Reckoning
The politics of the Islamic Republic were not abstract when I visited Iran in 2014.They were part of the fabric...
Read More
The World’s Lowest Fertility Rate Did Not Happen by Accident
South Korea has the lowest fertility rate in the world – 0.72 births per woman in 2023, with some projections...
Read More
Why am I drawn to the Secularist?
Growing up in Lucknow, having studied in Varanasi, Mumbai and Cardiff, I saw the deprivation, locally, nationally, and globally, of...
Read More
Secularism Is Not Neutral: It’s a Discipline, a Way of Living-south asia
I was born in India, migrated alone to the UK at twenty-one, and later earned a PhD in England. I...
Read More
SOUTH ASIA
Shame in English? India Deserves Better Than Linguistic Distractions
A fresh round of political controversy has erupted after senior figures aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that Indians...
Read More
When Clothing Becomes a Crisis: Why India Must Outgrow Fragile Sentiments and Focus on Real Problems
The recent incident in Mumbai where a priest dressed the idol of Goddess Kali as Mother Mary because “she appeared in his...
Read More
Bangladesh students reject PM Sheikh Hasina’s olive branch after deadly protests
Students set wood on fire as they protest against quotas in government jobs at Dhaka University in the capital on...
Read More
Delhi Riots: Case Against 13 Muslim Women Reveals Singular Focus To Pin Violence On Anti-CAA Protesters
More than eight months to a year after hundreds of Muslim women gathered under a Delhi metro station to protest...
Read More
Sonakshi, Swara, Richa And The Right To Choose
When Swara Bhasker announced last year that she was marrying Fahad Ahmad, I thanked her for being a lighthouse for...
Read More
Who can form a government in Pakistan’s post-election chaos? The answer isn’t straightforward
Since the founding of Pakistan in 1947, not a single prime minister has served the full five-year term. If this...
Read More
Indian Voters Deliver Blow to Prime Minister Modi and BJP
India, the world’s largest democracy, recently concluded its six-week-long election and delivered a blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose...
Read More
Laws that limit women’s employment in India
In India, women continue to face discrimination as job seekers because of their gender. This discrimination is reinforced by the...
Read More
Under threat of jail, microfinance pioneer vows to keep lending to poorest Bangladeshis
The Nobel peace laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has said that years of fighting what he calls “dirty” politically...
Read More
India: Why Hindu nationalism and Zionism are ideological cousins
The results are in for India’s general election. The country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has won enough seats to stay...
Read More
Historic Sikh Court in the UK Sparks Concerns Over Women’s Rights
The Secularist condemns the announcement of the world’s first Sikh ‘Court’ in London in April 2024. Please note that Secular legal systems provide...
Read More
Shame in English? India Deserves Better Than Linguistic Distractions
A fresh round of political controversy has erupted after senior figures aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that Indians...
Read More
When Clothing Becomes a Crisis: Why India Must Outgrow Fragile Sentiments and Focus on Real Problems
The recent incident in Mumbai where a priest dressed the idol of Goddess Kali as Mother Mary because “she appeared in his...
Read More
Bangladesh students reject PM Sheikh Hasina’s olive branch after deadly protests
Students set wood on fire as they protest against quotas in government jobs at Dhaka University in the capital on...
Read More
Delhi Riots: Case Against 13 Muslim Women Reveals Singular Focus To Pin Violence On Anti-CAA Protesters
More than eight months to a year after hundreds of Muslim women gathered under a Delhi metro station to protest...
Read More
Sonakshi, Swara, Richa And The Right To Choose
When Swara Bhasker announced last year that she was marrying Fahad Ahmad, I thanked her for being a lighthouse for...
Read More
Who can form a government in Pakistan’s post-election chaos? The answer isn’t straightforward
Since the founding of Pakistan in 1947, not a single prime minister has served the full five-year term. If this...
Read More
Indian Voters Deliver Blow to Prime Minister Modi and BJP
India, the world’s largest democracy, recently concluded its six-week-long election and delivered a blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose...
Read More
Laws that limit women’s employment in India
In India, women continue to face discrimination as job seekers because of their gender. This discrimination is reinforced by the...
Read More
Under threat of jail, microfinance pioneer vows to keep lending to poorest Bangladeshis
The Nobel peace laureate and microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus has said that years of fighting what he calls “dirty” politically...
Read More
India: Why Hindu nationalism and Zionism are ideological cousins
The results are in for India’s general election. The country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, has won enough seats to stay...
Read More
Historic Sikh Court in the UK Sparks Concerns Over Women’s Rights
The Secularist condemns the announcement of the world’s first Sikh ‘Court’ in London in April 2024. Please note that Secular legal systems provide...
Read More
EUROPE