Author: CulturalUniverse

I spent four days in Aceh, Indonesia, in July 2018. I took a Citilink flight from Medan (North Sumatra), and the journey was going to take about 70 minutes with the arrival time scheduled for 1.40 pm. However, just before mid-way, the captain announced that there was a technical problem which necessitated the plane’s return […]

During mid-April each year, two or three days preceding and culminating in the Bengali New Year, the three districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh – Rangamati, Bandarban and Khagrachari – become a place of colourful festivities. Boisabi is a collective name given to the festivals that take place in the Hill Tracts, coined […]

This annual carnival takes place during February in the city of Oruro, which is known as the folklore capital of Bolivia, situated about 226 kilometres from the country’s capital city, La Paz. It is the most popular festive event in Bolivia and one of the greatest festivals in the world, with more than 2,000 years […]

Exploring the context and issues behind the episode Picture from: https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-32005320080218, February 18, 2008 This is a slightly revised piece of writing that I originally produced on 27 July 2014 for a Facebook posting, which was then published on 4 August 2014 in Alochonaa (Dialogue). I have now revised it slightly to get across the message that […]

The picture (above) taken from this article in The Hindu (https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/Muslim-population-growth-slows/article10336665.ece) Some of the assertions, allegations and implications made by Hindu nationalists about demographic shifts in India and Bangladesh do not make any sense. For example, it is claimed that as, when Bangladesh was created as the eastern wing of Pakistan in 1947, the proportion […]

There is a danger that when criticising the British Empire for all its exploitation and evils – like the violent takeover of large territories around the world; displacement of people from their ancestral lands; genocide of countless groups, tribes and ethnicities; complete extinctions of some groups, such as the Aboriginal of Tasmania – some people […]

The picture is from 1977 and on the day of the attack I was wearing these exact shirt and jumper   (This article is reproduced from a 2017 Facebook post) I was part of a group of extended groups of friends who played an important part in keeping Newham and parts of Redbridge and Barking/Dagenham safe […]

Akhtar Ali Baig (right). On the left is a guy who joined the demonstration on Saturday 19 July 1980 was one of my friends and we used to call him Robin. I do no remember his full name. This image and those below are taken from  http://www.e7-nowandthen.org/2018/06/racism-in-forest-gate-in-1970s-and_12.html  Does anyone remember the racist murder of Akhtar […]

Photo of Brick Lane Bangla Town (2010) The idea of Bangla Town in Brick Lane and the design quality of the arch and streetlamps established to physically signify this were both ridiculous. For many Bangladeshi Londoners, the establishment of Bangla Town in the Brick Lane area represents an important achievement. They feel proud of the […]

But I know one thing for sure – things will not go according to the fantasies of the Hindu nationalists! (Originally posted on Facebook on 11 August 2019, reproduced in my blog for the first anniversary of the change of status of Kashmir on 5 August 2019. The picture on the left taken from  The […]