“[Saki’s postion] dislodge[s] current fixed notions of “left versus religion”, “left as irrelevant to modern political and economic formations”, etc in a way that we may be reminded of earlier historical moments when Maulanas could be “RED” and when calls for redistributive justice galvanized movements for democratic rights.” Continue reading “Zonayed Saki: What could a leftist leader offer Bangladesh today?”

Left-leaning, progressive, middle class intellectuals and political activists have long bemoaned the lack of political alternative and the unwillingness of the leftist and bhaddarlok activists to enter the cauldron of electoral politics.
Continue reading “Zonayed Saki’s Candidacy”

 

Return of the Opinion Makers

by Zahur Ahmed for Alal O Dulal

Another year marks more doldrums, further loss of lives, sensational news cycles, the return of the opinion makers and powerful foreigners. Continue reading “Return of the Opinion Makers”

By Saba Homaira Ahmad

“Saba makes a great point: there is something to be said about elitism in ‘civil society.’ It is worth asking why the sense of disenfranchisement among students exists in the first place” – Navine Murshid, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Colgate University 

Continue reading “Us and Them”

In 2013 Bangladesh experienced violence on a regular basis. We were forced to witness horrific deaths that perhaps normalized the atrocities that we witnessed. In the middle of the chaos that often follows violence and disasters,  we also witnessed citizens unite for a cause, without any support from political parties; we witnessed volunteerism that emerged after the Rana Plaza collapse. Continue reading “Volunteerism after Rana Plaza”

What is to be thought? (after Lenin’s “What is to be done”)
by Irfanur Rahman, translated by Ilias Kamal Risat for alalodulal.org

There are some terrible misconceptions about the leftists of bangladesh, bred by some famous propaganda. Here are some examples: Continue reading “Left Politics of Bangladesh: What Is To Be Thought?”

Sadly, it is us, not them

by Srabanti Datta for AlalODulal.org

“If we take a thorough look, we’ll see that across every regime, we the citizens actually instigate, motivate, take part in, and take benefits of all the system malfunctions, regulation maneuvers, corruptions, power-abuses, non-performances, in numerous ways at every level.“
Continue reading “Sadly, it is us, not them”

“With every hartal, every police action, I see sticks falling on Majed Ali’s back. Leaders, you have options. The Majed Alis of Bangladesh don’t. They will not stop, so please, you must!” Continue reading “I see sticks falling on Majed Ali’s back”

Introduction to Mahmud Hasan’s The Utopia of Student Movement

by Nazmul Sultan for AlalODulal.org

A poet by vocation, Mahmud Hasan lived in and through politics. That Mahmud Hasan did poetry under the condition of politics is not a historical anomaly. Sharing each other’s orbit, modern Bengali poetry and politics grounded themselves in an intersected domain. Continue reading “Introduction to Mahmud Hasan’s The Utopia of Student Movement”

The curious case of the Surjapuri people
Guest post by Adil Hossain for AlalODulal.org

For the first time I properly encountered the Surjapuri identity was at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) during its Students’ Union (SU) elections. Apart from the dominant regional student lobbies of Azamgarhi, Ghazipuri, Bihari, Kashmiri, Saharanpuri and many others, Surjapuri students were also reckoned as a distinct community who need to be cajoled for votes separately. Continue reading “The curious case of the Surjapuri people”

by irfan chowdhury for Alal O Dulal

In a land where many still live in rural areas, paths through the paddy fields delight our hearts. Children smile and play about on dirt roads oblivious of the hard future they face; low-earning teachers, vendors, traders, farmers, fishermen, labourers and women go quietly about their business to make ends meet – determined to have a better future, if not for themselves, for their children.

Continue reading “A Harder Path”

The Matbar and the Bus
by Prashanta Tripura for AlalODulal.org

রাঙামাটি থেকে ঢাকা ফিরছিলাম গত রাতে, বিআরটিসির বাসে। যাত্রা শুরুর পর এক পর্যায়ে আমার আশেপাশের সহযাত্রীদের মধ্যে দেশোদ্ধারমূলক একটা উন্মুক্ত আলোচনা চলল কিছুক্ষণ, যাতে আমিও অংশ নিয়েছিলাম কিছুটা। Continue reading “Prashanta Tripura: The Matbar and the Bus”

If there is one figure from Indian Sub-continental history who is uniformly hated by Hindu nationalists, Hindu fundamentalists, Muslim nationalists and Muslim fundamentalists alike, that would be Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay, famous British historian and politician of 19^th century. Macaulay embodies in person all the insecurities the various Indian cultures and traditions harbors vis-à-vis the western civilization. Continue reading “In Praise of Lord Macaulay – 1”

 –   ‘Oh Bhai, kichhu paichhen?’ [Have you found anything, brother?]

–   Hya, paichhi to. Iter dewal, ghar, matir khola, pathor ar pathorer bhanga tukra’ [Yes, we have. Brick-built walls, rooms, pottery, stone and stone pieces.]

Continue reading “Encountering the past on the suspicious terrain of the present”