The End Closes In on Endangered Diverse Cultures

Across South Asia, tiny tribes and ethnic groups are struggling to retain their identities against a tide of religious and cultural pressures.

Associated Press correspondents recently visited with members of two endangered groups to report on the problems facing their distinct cultures.

* In India, the Parsis, an urban community that has enriched world culture and helped build nations, is slowly dwindling toward extinction because of its own exclusivity.

* In Pakistan, meanwhile, the Kalash, a pagan tribe that lived isolated for centuries in remote Himalayan valleys, are under siege from conversion-minded Muslim clerics.