Dear Readers, 

Welcome to the latest issue of Confluence South Asian Perspectives – the first of 2024.  We have already reached the first quarter of this year and to me, it looks like the clock is moving faster than ever before. I am very grateful to the writers who have helped us to bring out this issue through their valuable contributions.  The issue comes with the special reporting of the recently concluded Jaipur Literary Festival attended by one of Confluence’s long-standing columnists, Dr Deepa Vanjani from Indore. She attended the event as our Media Representative since Confluence has a lasting relationship with the JLF and we are proud to cover their annual proceedings.

Our special thanks to Dr Vanjani for representing the magazine and meeting some of the prominent figures of the South Asian literary arena.  Another highlight of this issue is the reporting of the Post Office scandal in Great Britain which has attracted wide publicity over the past few years but has now become a topical issue for the UK government. Chaand Chazzelle has done extensive research on this scandal and has written a detailed account of the grave injustice done to the Postmasters.  Contrary to the popular belief that modern computers are fool proof and have been programmed in such a way that they don’t lie, this scandal is a typical example that computer systems, too, could be manipulated to give false accounting information.

It is quite unfortunate that hundreds of innocent Postmasters, some of whom were South Asians had to lose their livelihood and, in some cases, they have been imprisoned.  While I am writing this editorial Muslims are observing the holy month of Ramadan. In Gaza, Palestinian families preparing for Ramadan are facing starvation with children and the elderly now dying as Israel blocks food aid and fatally attacks civilians queuing up for limited food supplies. Israel has imposed increasing restrictions on movement, with many Palestinians – especially men – denied entry to Jerusalem or other significant religious locations.

During this holy season of Ramadan and Easter, we would like to call for the right to worship to be protected by all parties of the current war.  Once again, I would like to remind all our contributors to help us by sending their submissions well before the specified deadline.

Please email your work/s to confluenceuk@yahoo.com only and avoid sending them through any other means. A special request to book publishers too: please advise your reviewers to send their reviews directly to us. Finally, I would like to request the contributors to stick to the prescribed length and help us to maintain the quality and uniformity of the magazine.  I look forward to meeting you all in another issue in 2024.