After looking at this map, I'm curious as to why South Asian and Middle Eastern countries are vastly underrepresented in the Olympic games. What exactly are the economic, political, religious, or cultural factors that play into this?
posted by Christ, what an asshole on Aug 18, 2008 - 18 answers

What good fashion/style/beauty resources are out there for South Asian (Indian/Bangladeshi/Pakistani) women that aren't all about saris and lenghas? [more inside]
posted by divabat on Jan 12, 2008 - 8 answers

How can I find out the dates of the upcoming 2007 Yuba City Sikh parade/festival? As some of you may know, this is the largest gathering of Sikh people outside of India/Pakistan, and many tens of thousands (sometimes hundreds of thousands) of people come from all over the US to eat the amazing free food, see the floats, and generally have a great time. Non-Sikhs are invited, and I want to go, but can't find the date anywhere.
posted by luriete on Oct 6, 2007 - 8 answers

Okay. So I was discussing the politics of the sub-continent with a friend of mine from New Delhi... and the issue of Kashmir came up. I know a little bit about the situation (more than he expected by any stretch of the imagination), but I didn't feel really capable of having a serious discussion on the matter.

So here's my question: does anyone have background on the matter? Are there any reputable sources? Has any consensus been reached by parties outside the conflict?

This was all stirred by my friend's comment that the Kashmiris want Indian statehood — and that this is really just a land grab by the Pakistani government. Sounded pretty one-sided, so any light on the matter would be appreciated.
posted by silusGROK on Jan 31, 2004 - 9 answers