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A review of William Dalrymple’s ‘The Anarchy’
November 10, 2019
A formidable take on the depredations carried out by the Company William Dalrymple has written about almost every phase, and every facet, of the British experience in India, from the early swashbuckling, colorful years to grim disasters in the grip of the foreigner, such as the uprising of 1857 and the colonial wars in Afghanistan. […]
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KABUL DIARIES – reviewed by Sal Imam
April 3, 2017
MY KABUL STORY Original Author: Nasreen Sattar On a work trip to Kabul in 2008 I was meeting the only friend I had who lived in the city. As I waited at the hotel entrance to be picked up, an enormous dark grey SUV looking like a battle tank hove slowly into view. The door […]
The Kolkata Literary Meet 2017- Concluding Part
March 4, 2017
Concluding Part Acts of Faith: Javed Akhtar, Shazia Omar, Tabish Khair and Mudar Patherya with Mir Afsar Ali I have always been fascinated by the person and work of the great poet Javed Akhtar and so I am delighted to have a chance to hear his views from up close (and little do I know […]
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The Kolkata Literary Meet 2017- Part 1
February 25, 2017
The Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet was held from 25-29 January 2017 at the Victoria Memorial Hall. There were two spectacular venues, one under a shamiana erected on the east side and the other within the quadrangle on the western side. As always at literary festivals there were too many events scheduled for anyone to […]
Sparkling Intelligence at Work
November 10, 2014
When the gracious young lady who is helping to organize the Hay Festival assigned this book to me to review, she said breezily, “It’ll be perfect for you because you’re so into cricket!” Having come to the end of this marvellous, sprawling, picaresque novel I can see how in one sense this observation was right […]
William Dalrymple: “I knew at that point I had my book”
July 12, 2014
William Dalrymple was one of the – nay, perhaps the biggest name at the Hay Dhaka. His latest book is Return of a King – the subject of which this talk with Salahdin Imam centered on. SI: I must say that reading your last book Return of a King about the First Afghan War of […]
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ICC and the Upcoming Election
January 26, 2026
Our cricketers will suffer the most over this difficult period which is why they must receive full sympathy and financial support. If this means that we forfeit participation in the 2026 World Cup (as has now transpired) so be it. There will be another opportunity in 2 years. The ICC decision, unjust and illegal, is […]
How a second house can produce long-term stability and good governance (Part2)
January 2, 2025
Concept and functions of proposed upper house. This is the concluding part of a two-part series The basic concept could then be as follows. One of the two chambers would be relatively unchanged, a lower house consisting of politicians who have won from their constituencies in free and fair elections. The majority party in the […]
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Towards a bicameral system: How a second house can produce long-term stability and good governance (Part 1)
January 1, 2025
The main problem with the Bangladesh Constitution is that the post of prime minister is too powerful. This comes about because in our single house system the Jatiyo Sangsad is almost the sole repository of power. As a result whoever is the leader of the majority party has unlimited scope to do whatever he […]
The Wimbledon dream
July 31, 2018
The Grand Slam tournament is one of the emblems of the British people Of all the tennis Grand Slams, the one I had always wanted to experience was Wimbledon, yet it has always proved impossible to acquire good tickets. As the years went by, it dawned on me that I may never get the chance […]
India’s chance to earn its rightful place in the sun
September 22, 2017
It shouldn’t be difficult for Modi to mobilise global support Just got back from Delhi a few days ago, and I’m still slightly reeling from the blow of its huge blast. The towering government offices which house India’s civil and military establishment, South Block and its ilk, have shed the dusty sleepiness I remember from […]
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The other little master
September 28, 2016
Sunil Gavaskar’s grit and tenacity made him a batsman of the highest order Researching my recent article on Hanif Muhammad (“Hanif Muhammad’s Epic Innings,” Dhaka Tribune, August 17), I became increasingly interested in the crucial differences between big scores made in the first and second innings of a Test match. In brief, the batsman has […]
Hanif Mohammad’s epic innings
August 17, 2016
The boy had the best possible view of the cricket from high on a tree. It was January 20 in 1958, the third day of the first ever Test match between Pakistan and the West Indies, held in Barbados. Hanif Mohammad had just come in to bat, with Pakistan in a hopeless position, when the […]
Notes on a trip to England
July 27, 2016
The flavour of Brexit is present in everyday London life. This is the concluding part. Today, the latest nutrition research recommends moderation, which is common sense. Saturated fats should play a significant but not major role in diet. All the foods which were considered suspect for so many years, from eggs to butter, from steaks […]
Notes on a trip to England
July 26, 2016
Caught up in the Brexit wave. This is the first part of a two-part long form Leaving New York – with a lingering look at the first lovely sunny day of the US spring. I landed in England to be immediately caught up in the Brexit wave. On the two hour ride into Cambridge, my […]
Atlantic currents
June 28, 2016
New York remains a city of multi-cultural delights. This is the concluding part of yesterday’s long form Given Andrew Sullivan’s emphasis on anomie as a factor in this year’s election campaign, the implication, which he himself failed to draw, is that the person best placed to deal with Trump would be none other than Bernie […]
Atlantic currents
June 27, 2016
Notes on a trip to New York. This is the first part of a two-part long form I had no sooner arrived in the city that New York magazine blasted me between the eyes with a major piece by Andrew Sullivan titled “Our democracy has never been so ripe for tyranny”. For me, and for […]
Atheism and its discontents – Part 3
October 8, 2015
Islam and the search for truth are not mutually exclusive. This is the final part of a three-part long form piece At the sub-atomic level too there are exact dependencies. Neutrons and protons are the constituents of every atomic nucleus, and electrons and neutrinos are fundamental particles. As Davies describes it in Goldilocks: “The fact […]
Atheism and its discontents – Part 2
October 7, 2015
Islam and the search for truth are not mutually exclusive. This is part two of a three-part long form piece The current thinking is that a significant role in evolution is played by what are known as “epigenetic” influences — epigenetic means “beyond genes” which by definition means that the “exclusively gene-based” neo-Darwinian synthesis is invalid. […]
Atheism and its discontents – Part 1
October 6, 2015
Islam and the search for truth are not mutually exclusive. This is the first part of a three-part long form piece I would like to preface my piece with a strong and unreserved condemnation of the barbaric killings of atheistic-minded bloggers and authors in recent times, in Bangladesh. Specifically, this kind of violent response to […]
Beyond the canvas
December 2, 2014
So, another edition of the Dhaka Art Summit comes to a close, and we are once again overwhelmed by the visual treasures that were on display over the three days. I can’t begin to explain, on behalf of everybody, how grateful we are for the efforts of Diana Campbell’s team, led by Nadia and Rajeeb […]
The general ‘selection’ and catastrophic consequences
May 6, 2014
If a process as crucial as the January 5 election is flawed in a basic way, all sorts of undesirable consequences arise that we cannot, and should not, countenance AQ Shamim “Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world .The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full […]
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With Diana in Paris
November 8, 1997
SCURRYING along a narrow Paris street which I thought would be a shortcut to Boulevard Madeleine, I noticed with a chill that it was the Rue Cambon and that I was face to face with the back exit of the Hotel Ritz. At this exact spot, Diana had come rushing out that night, as if […]
Islamic perspectives
July 1, 1994
The Islamic path to inner health Irshad outlines an approach to coping in difficult times. Bismillah ir Rahman ir Rahim (To the righteous soul Will be said:) ‘0 thou soul, In (complete) rest And satisfaction! ‘Come back thou To thy Lord, –Well pleased (thyself) And well-pleasing Unto Him! ‘Enter thou, then Among the Devotees! ‘Yea, […]