Borders and Belonging

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BORDERS AND BELONGING NEWS

l-r: Sir Henry Mortimer Durand and Abdur Rahman Khan (Wikipedia)

The complex history of the Durand Line that divides Pakistan and Afghanistan

October 21, 2025 4:50 pm

Designed as a buffer between British and Russian powers in 1893, the Durand Line disrupted established socio-political structures. More than a century later, the line still bleeds. Last week, Afghanistan and Pakistan reignited conflict along this frontier

A first day cover issued on 1 April 1937 to commemorate the separation of Burma from the British Indian Empire (Wikimedia Commons)

The India-Myanmar border: when deep cultural ties are tested and redrawn

September 18, 2025 11:15 am

Shaped by colonial influences, the India-Myanmar boundary has historically been porous, but the tightening of the border in recent years has threatened longstanding social, cultural, and economic ties.

'We blur borders to survive’: Life along the India-Bangladesh border

September 11, 2025 5:40 pm

The Bengal-Bangladesh border stretches across 2,216 km. With inadequate healthcare and limited access to education, borderlanders are left to fend for themselves.

How the practice of border-making began in America and reshaped the world

October 15, 2025 10:07 pm

The typical story that is often told is that Europeans invented borders and imposed them over everyone else. Interestingly, Europeans did not use borders within Europe first. They were first created in the colonial new world they encountered in America. Then on, borders have determined pretty much all kinds of human relations.