South Asia is going through turmoil -- some inflicted by nature, some by fellow humans. Myanmar's cyclone has mercilessly claimed lives in ways that we can't begin to fathom, no thanks to the Junta and its closed-door policies. Paddy fields in the Irrawaddy Delta have been washed away with bodies, bang in the middle of a global food crisis.

Fehmida Mirza and Taslima Nasrin -- both are former physicians and well-known Muslim women from the Indian sub-continent. On Wednesday, destiny (and politics) drove them in dramatically different directions.

Amidst all the bickering over stolen speeches, questionable values, hope and reality, presidential candidates are keeping an eye on changes in Pakistan, a country the U.S. has identified as a crucial ally in its efforts to curb the Taliban and growing fundamentalism in the region.

[UPDATE. 11.40 p.m. Pacific Time: Looks like It's pretty much over for the ruling party that supported Musharraf. The two opposition parties, late Bhutto's PPP and former PM Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N),are sharing the spoils and are likely to form a coalition to form a government. Official results likely today. Time for deal-makers to take centerstage :)]

I will steer clear of what Benazir Bhutto's assassination means to the U.S. and the war on terror. The ramifications are just too obvious. Being an Indian and Pakistan's neighbor, however, I can't help feeling sorry for the common Pakistani. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, for 60 years, India has watched (and dealt) with some apprehension, some incredulousness and largely helplessness, as her neighbor and brother-separated-at-birth swung between shaky democracies and determined dictatorships, and now, a growing militancy.

Bloggers concerned about possible infringements on their First Amendment rights have a new resource to turn to: the new Legal Threats Database from the Citizens' Media Law Project. A joint project of Harvard's Berkman Center for the Internet and Society and the Center for Citizen Media, the database archives information about lawsuits and other attacks on bloggers and citizen journalists. If you've been threatened because of your online speech, you're invited to submit your case to the database, or send a message using the CMLP's contact form. That's a sample of some of the interesting news and commentary out there in the legal blogosphere. Here's more.

I knew it would be hard, but I did not have this in mind when I said Pakistan's next stab at democracy would be a turning point for the nation, as it tries to redefine its destiny.

The Pakistani government is doing its best to suppress news out about the constitutional crisis in that country, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists:

Pakistan and India have turned 60. On August 14 (Pakistan) and 15 (India), the two countries celebrated six decades of independence from the British (and each other, following a bloody partition).