If you live within the territorial limits of the Union of India, it is very likely that you were unaware of two important red-letter days in late March. You are not alone. Bhagat Singh was executed on 23 March, 1931 and Shurjo Sen was born on 22 March, 1894. Continue reading
Source: google.
Ask for a piece on Pakistan and Bangladesh during December and you’re likely to get something about the 1971 wars — note the plural, because the eastern part of the subcontinent simultaneously experienced an inter-ethnic civil war and ethno-communal cleansing, genocide, inter-state conventional war and a war of national liberation, all climaxing in the crisp Bengali winter of 1971. Naeem Mohaiemen’s seven part series is an example, covering many aspects of that fateful year. Let me skip 1971 in this post. Instead, I’ll begin by marking the other December anniversary, one that will have a particular relevance for Pakistan and Bangladesh in 2013. And I’ll note the parallels between the post-1971 developments in the two wings of former United Pakistan.
© Arif Hafiz
According to my facebook feeds, the biggest issue facing the nation during the Christmas holiday was Bangladesh cricket team’s cancelled tour of Pakistan. Over the fold is a discussion we had over gorom cha and kolija shingara. Enjoy.
“Bangladesh Cricket Team Won’t Go To Pakistan”/Image: SAM
A poem by Aktar Ahmed, about the fan campaign to cancel Bangladesh Cricket team’s trip to Pakistan. Translated from Bangla, posted for discussion. I do not support use of racialized slurs such as “Paki,” which was rhymed with “Baki” in this poem.
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This a 14 year old girl from one of the most socially backward, deprived and uncivilized areas of the World — Swat Valley pakistan.
Her name is Malala Yousufzai. Although she is only a 14 year old 8th grader, she definitely is not like any other 14 year old in the world.
She is an embodiment of passion, bravado, activism. She is the example what ‘standing up for right’ means in real life.
She probably is the youngest and most inspirational politicians in Asia, if not in the World. Just search her name in Youtube. You will see hundreds of TV interviews of Malala — some 30 minute, some hour long. You will see her fiery stump speeches.
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Maniza Naqvi is a strong critic of Islamophobia. Here she joins that with a critique of Salafism: “I fear that in Bangladesh and Pakistan as well as all the other Muslim countries dependent on Saudi Arabia there has been a sea change from moderate religious attitudes to Salafists.”
“For example, Pakistani workers who are dependent on the lucrative employment in Saudi Arabia are obliged to adopt or acquiesce to a social and spiritual system alien to their own for the sake of economic expediency. The same is largely true for all the other workers in Saudi Arabia who do not have the luxury of managerial jobs and do not live in expatriate compounds.”
