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The 2025 Australian federal election has been called for May 3, 2025. Members of the 48th Parliament of Australia will be elected. All seats of the House of Representatives (150 compared to 151 in the previous election) and 40 of the 76 seats in the Senate will be contested.

Two exceptional thinkers and leaders, Sukhmani Khorana and Varsha Yajman join me on Pause to talk elections, media and civic literacy, disinformation, and the issues that impact the South Asian Diaspora.

Sukhmani Khorana is a Scientia Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Media at UNSW. Sukhmani has published extensively on migrant media, the politics of empathy and belonging, and self-representation for refugees. Sukhmani’s work on the Indian diaspora in Australia is considered foundational in the field.

Varsha Yajman is a speaker, podcaster, and advocate, with a keen interest in climate justice and mental health awareness. As a coordinator at SAPNA South Asian Climate Solidarity Network and a paralegal at Equity Generation Lawyers specialising in climate change litigation, Varsha actively engages in transformative work. Varsha's passion materialises in her podcast, "Not to be Controversial," designed to forge a community where young South Asians feel represented and empowered. In 2021, the Women’s Agenda acknowledged her as one of the 100 women resetting the world, and in 2022, Urban List recognised her as one of the 30 individuals poised to change the world by 2030.

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Thank you for listening! Watch all episodes of Pause with Nandini on https://youtube.com/c/NRIAffairs

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Gaza has been front and centre for many of us as we watched the decimation of a land and its people with horror and dismay, each of us wishing we could do more. More than the sharing, the bearing witness and the fund-raising.

On the cusp of a potential ceasefire, still hanging by a tenuous thread, it is our honour to have Dr Sanjay Adusumilli as a guest on this show. Dr. Sanjay was in Gaza on a medical mission. He is a General and Colorectal Surgeon from Sydney who is also a cofounder of the Global Medical Foundation Australia , a charity without any religious or political affiliation, that raises funds and provides medical services to third world countries. Each year Sanjay travels overseas to perform this work.

In this conversation, Dr. Sanjay takes us into the Al Aska hospital in Gaza, and gives us a glimpse into the horrific conditions he witnessed, the heartbreaking choices he was confronted with, and the exceptional medical students and Doctors of Gaza, each of them heroic in indescribable ways.

Learn more about the Global Medical Foundation Australia at www.gmfaustralia.org.au. Donate, sign up as a volunteer or simply share their work with others.

This is important, life-saving, life-affirming work and may it inspire each of us to do what we can, and a little bit more.

Thank you for listening! Watch all episodes of Pause with Nandini on https://youtube.com/c/NRIAffairs

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At 2:30 am Brisbane time, I got a message saying as of now the professor is alive. Just another night in Gaza. A family goes to sleep, not knowing if they will make it to dawn. At a time of violence, at a scale that has horrified the world, along with protests, petitions, BDS, we simply bear witness. We listen to the stories of people who are living through the worst times of their lives and we are there with them, in whichever way we can be. Without enough bandwidth to get on Zoom, we improvised. It’s awkward maybe, this conversation with a phone and a computer, but it is the truth. A truth that humbles us, humanises us and renews our desire to stand with the oppressed. Free Palestine. May the new year bring hope and cheer, and an end to the horror. Long live the resistance.

Thank you for listening! Watch all episodes of Pause with Nandini on https://youtube.com/c/NRIAffairs