Bangladesh
New Orleans thunderstorm, after the Boston marathon
birds echo and a tentative sun
retreats to darkness, knowing
far away news about to flood
our transplant hearts.
days, it’s been rising
pushing
up
seeking the jagged cracks in
facades of cheery every-day.
SWAT teams lockdown
again,
“please…not…a muslim…brown…”
one brown man after another flashed across the screen
we prayed
fearing marines neighborhood shellings on the screen
fearing our brothers pushed in front of a New York subway
fearing fear bursting into lives
Book Review: The State of Islam: Culture And Cold War Politics In Pakistan by Saadia Toor
Hamzah Saif reviews Saadia Toor's The State of Islam, "a forceful corrective to the dialogue on Pakistan."
The Pitfalls of Language Politics in Bangladesh
A High Court ruling seeks to eliminate any distortions of the Bangla language on television or radio channels. The ruling is absurd and dangerous and can present real challenges to the freedom of press in Bangladesh. Part of SASI's (South Asia Solidarity Initiative) monthly series that explores current social justices issues in South Asia.
The Power of Complicated Stories
Nahar Alam and Chitra Aiyar discuss the varied, subtle, and often unknown narratives that arise both in the not-for-profit economy and the lives of the members of Andolan-a among the members of Andolan – Organizing South Asian Workers, a Queens-based workers’ center that seeks to empower low-wage immigrant workers (primarily female domestic workers) through popular education, collective organizing, and litigation.
Reinforcing Demands for Gender Justice: The War Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh
In 2010, the Bangladesh Government, led by Sheikh Hasina, set up the International Crimes Tribunal and charged as many as 12 individuals for participating and assisting in war crimes and crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s war of independence from Pakistan. The tribunals not only address the worst rape concentration camps in history; they also reveal the inner struggles of a society as it faces demands for gender justice, along with secularism and social justice. Unnoticed by most of the world, there is a revolution happening here.
Good Mutants, Bad Mutants
The good mutants work in spaces servicing the global economy. The bad ones want to destroy freedom, democracy, free markets. New mutations are arising in the politics of fear and the War on Terror.
Speaking up against Violence, Rahela's Story
Rahela was raped, mugged, and set on fire. She named her assailants before dying but four years later, the four men walk free. What is the point of the Violence Against Women and Children Act, if they aren't enforced?
Song of Freedom: An End to Revisionist History
A documentary film brings archival footage into the light and helps Bangladesh remember in its 25th year of liberation.
