How the Arakanese state’s loss of access to Bengal’s resources and wealth in 1677 may partly explain the Arakanese hatred for the Rohingyas By M Ahmedullah, 3 September 2017 For several centuries, there was an independent and powerful Arakanese state, and its capital was called Mrauk. The state enjoyed good trade with many regions in […]
Author: CulturalUniverse
Why Pori Moni Matters!
She matters for several reasons. For me, there are three main reasons. First, nobody should become a victim of power abuse. What had happened to her is a clear case of the powerful trying to silence someone powerless or assumed to be powerless. Second, it exposes the hypocrisy of many that belong to the Bangladeshi […]
The ‘Axis of evil’ idea soon after the invasion of Afghanistan shows that the invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had a more sinister purpose than the stated objectives
It’s quite easy to take a position on what’s happening in Afghanistan concerning the withdrawal of western forces. Many people are doing just that: some for and some against the Taliban takeover, and similarly there are divergent feelings concerning sympathy for those Afghans leaving or trying to leave their motherland. The respective positions that people […]
A moral evaluation on the rights and wrongs of what’s unfolding in Afghanistan
I have been trying to understand the Afghanistan issue to undertake a more balanced moral evaluation on the rights and wrongs of the policies, actions and reactions of the various internal and external parties to the conflict. On the one hand, what happened in Afghanistan in 2001 was not about a classic case of outside […]
Malala’s struggle is just and sacred – she is also an incredibly inspirational brave young lady
In the light of the recent Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, I am sharing something I wrote about Malala in 2014. MALALA YOUSAFZAI Malala’s struggle is just and sacred – she is also an incredibly inspirational brave young lady By Muhammad Ahmedullah, 12 December 2014 Malala was recently awarded the Nobel Prize and she has also […]
How did the Taliban take over Afghanistan at such lightning speed?
Of course, I don’t know, but I can’t stop speculating. I feel that Imran Khan convinced Trump that it was time to leave Afghanistan. Many Americans were looking for a way out anyway as they knew that winning the war and defeating the Taliban was becoming more and more impossible by the day. Trump, being […]
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, I was undertaking my last year of ‘O’ Level studies
When the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, I was undertaking my last year of ‘O’ Level studies at Trinity School in Canning Town of East London, which has since become the Rokeby School of today. At that time, the GCSE qualification wasn’t yet born. I had lived in Plaistow until the summer of 1979 […]
A formidable Apsana Begum MP in the making
It’s really good news that Apsana Begum MP has been cleared of all the fraud charges against her. Many of us had underestimated her. One of the reasons was undoubtedly due to some form of elitist and class indoctrination. She does not speak like an intellectual when she participates in parliamentary debates or when she […]
Problems with pride in celebrating Kishwar’s MasterChef achievements
The achievement of Kishwar Chowdhury in the Australian MasterChef competition is something that should be celebrated. No doubt, she is an inspiration to many, especially young women of, particularly, Bangladeshi origin. Seeing the real food that we eat at home being presented in such a way in the competition has brought pride in many of […]
What was the purpose of the USA’s invasion of Afghanistan?
The Al-Qaida slaughtered innocent people in New York by crashing planes onto buildings. But the Afghan people were innocent and had no role in this barbaric slaughter of the innocent – made up of people from many corners of the world, including Bangladesh. The USA’s invasion of Afghanistan, and the subsequent occupation of the country, […]