In October, Salman Sufi from Pakistan won India’s prestigious Mother Teresa Award for his work on empowering women. He has been particularly active in trying to protect women from violence in Punjab, the most populated province of Pakistan. DW spoke to Sufi about his work.

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Tensions continue to run high in the southern state of Kerala as police crack down on protesters trying to stop women from entering the hill shrine of Sabarimala. It opened to all men and women in October after the Supreme Court lifted a ban on women aged from 10 to 50.

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”Menstruation? … I don’t know.

Perhaps something happened during my teenage years.

I don’t know… Don’t know.”

These hesitant words are spoken by the first police constable in India to have undergone Genital Reconstruction Surgery. Once Lalita, he became Lalit Bhau Salve.

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I met two innocent girls singing at a crossroads during my trip to the Kashmir valley. There was an exuberance infused in their song and they were dancing without any care for tomorrow. It was probably a folk song. I don’t remember the girls’ names now. But I still recall their fondness for Maggi. One of them told me that whenever they got money from the tourists, they immediately headed to spend it at a local food stall. This little encounter with the two happy and talented souls stayed with me as a serendipitous memory for some time.

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Chasing her dream of becoming a hockey player, Inayat Farooq from central Kashmir’s Budgam district has had to battle all the odds in Indian society since deciding to play at this beloved sport.

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In some Hindu communities, menstruating women are regarded as unclean.

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In an interview with DW, renowned novelist and social activist Arundhati Roy talks about the recent arrests of leftist intellectuals in India, accusing PM Modi’s government of “overturning” the country’s constitution.

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