Safina Nabi

A warming planet is creating a new pipeline for exploitation – human trafficking – turning natural calamities into human tragedies.

Politics
Undocumented Bangladeshi climate migrants in India lack legal protections and face rising anti-immigrant rhetoric and crackdowns, all amplified by the ruling BJP government and Hindu nationalists
A 22-YEAR-OLD from Satkhira district in southwest Bangladesh, bordering the Indian state of West Bengal, shared the story of how she and her family had ended up in India some two years ago. Back in Bangladesh, she recalled, they lived on just BDT 200 a day – just over USD 2 at the time – the...

On a quiet June morning in Dudran, a remote village in the Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir, the stillness is broken only by the rustle of the breeze, the gurgle of mountain streams, and the lively chirping of birds. Amid this calm, Mohammad Aamir walks steadily, balancing a deaag, a large metal vessel, brimming with fresh milk. He is headed toward the village’s traditional cooling cave, locally known as a dodh daaer or dodh khot, a centuries-old, stone-lined chamber fed by icy ...

Touqeer Ashraf and his younger brother, Tasaduq, are using a smartphone to make a short video of almond trees. They capture the smallest details, including the contrast between the blossoms’ white and light-pink petals, and how the branches dance in the gentle breeze.
Touqeer Ashraf narrates the segment in fluent Kashmiri, noting the significance of almond orchards for the Indian-administered Kashmir Valley, the stages of growth for almond trees, and the nutritional and economical value of al...

How a company in Kanpur is giving India’s flower waste a second life.

Dispatch
Bangladeshi climate refugees are streaming into India—and revealing the strained future of global migration.
By Safina Nabi, an independent multimedia Journalist from South Asia based in Kashmir, and Kanika Gupta, an independent journalist and documentary filmmaker based in Delhi, India, with over seven years of experience.

I
t was a sweltering summer day in Haryana in northern India, yet the scorching heat did not deter 13-year-old Nandini Jaglan and her 10-year-old sister Yachika from marching with determined steps toward their school.
Both clutched charts and placards, but these weren’t meant for a show-and-tell session. Rather, the sisters were on a mission to promote vital changes within their school, chief among them installing informative posters in girls’ washrooms about menstrual health – covering what ...

This story highlights the relentless work of four women from South Asia. These are women who have faced intimidation, character assassination, and countless obstacles, yet refuse to be silenced – Safina Nabi reports
South Asia: From Afghanistan to Iran, Pakistan to Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, South Asia has teetered on the edge—grappling with war, economic crises, and the rise of authoritarian regimes. Yet, amid this turbulence, one constant has emerged the unwavering strength of women. Across...

Politics
The decades-long conflict between India and Pakistan has forced children into conditions of chronic stress, anxiety and malnutrition, with high levels of PTSD reported in Indian-administered Kashmir
Published on:
This reporting was supported by the Dart Center for Trauma and Journalism’s Global Early Childhood Reporting Fellowship.
Late one night in 2020, a mortar shell struck a house in Balkote village, in the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir. A seven-year-old girl living...

Women make up just 3% of the candidates who are contesting in the ongoing three-phase assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir. This is despite the fact that there is heightened electoral participation in the Valley: the Lok Sabha polls held earlier this year reported a record turnout (60%) as did the first phase of the state polls held last Wednesday (61%).
Women form a significant portion of this voter surge but they are barely visible as candidates. Only 15 of the 459 candidates in the asse...

A New Legal Challenge Emerges for Journalism Digital Refuge
Following the government's crackdown on media and free press in India, journalists sought refuge in platforms like YouTube and social media to uphold the principles of independent journalism. The emergence of a new generation of tech-savvy journalists turned these digital spaces into their primary arenas for disseminating news and analysis.
However, the optimism surrounding these alternative platforms is now facing a formidable chall...

Fisherfolk in India and Pakistan are the victims of a turbulent mix of politics, economic crises, and climate change.

It was a windy but warm September morning, and crowds were gathered outside the outpatient department (OPD) of the Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir. Navigating past the lengthy queues, this writer entered the government-established drug rehabilitation centre. There were long lines of young men clutching prescriptions, awaiting their weekly medications. They were all patients grappling with drug addiction, primarily intravenous heroin use.
Going past the corridor and up a...