আলাল ও দুলাল | ALAL O DULAL

The cracks in the concrete

alaldulal — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 01:53:31 +0000

Autocrats boast of economic miracles, yet novelists expose the rot beneath. Dr Asif Iqbal’s sharp analysis of Shawkat Ali’s 1960s trilogy punctures the myth of Pakistan’s “golden age” under Ayub Khan. Western-backed modernisation bred only crony capitalism and weaponised patriarchy, proving that growth stripped of social equity merely incubates revolution.

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Remembering the Josephite Action Committee, 1969

Mahmud Rahman — Thu, 29 Jan 2026 06:35:33 +0000

During his visit to Dhaka in August 2025, writer Mahmud Rahman encountered a street art panel highlighting political discussions in schools. Reflecting on past student movements against dictatorship, he recounts a similar experience in 1968-69 at St Joseph’s High School, where he and his peers sought reforms and democratic rights amid oppression, ultimately feeling betrayed by authority.

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My queerness has no pronouns: a Bengali-Assamese refusal to translate

alaldulal — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 17:43:31 +0000

My queerness has no pronouns: a Bengali-Assamese refusal to translate– Sanandita Chakraborty In the Ministry of Utmost Happiness (Penguin, 2017), Arundhati Roy recounts a scene of linguistic playfulness. A trans character from Delhi’s Khwabgah is told that her name, Anjum, …

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Sukumar Barua (1938-2026): Rhymester of Bangladesh

alaldulal — Fri, 02 Jan 2026 12:04:54 +0000

Sukumar Barua, rhymester of Bangladesh, winner of Ekushey Padak has passed away at age 84 in Chittagong. His honors include the Bangla Academy Award, the Ekushey Padak, the Bangladesh Shishu Academy Literary Award, the Agrani Bank Children’s Literature Honor, and …

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Citizen to Traitors: Ilyas Chatta Reviewed

alaldulal — Wed, 17 Dec 2025 09:16:45 +0000

Ilyas Chattha's "Citizens to Traitors" explores the internment of Bengalis in Pakistan from 1971 to 1974, highlighting how former citizens transformed into perceived traitors. The book reveals the state's political manipulation, the harsh realities of internment, and the struggles faced upon repatriation, offering a poignant examination of historical trauma and citizenship's fragility.

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Sacred Margins: Manasa Worship and Divine Recognition

Ankush Pal — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 07:02:41 +0000

Anupama and Ankush Pal highlight the limited scholarly attention given to indigenous worship like that of Manasa. They argue that these practices embody resistance and cultural preservation, challenging dominant narratives in Hinduism and promoting diverse spiritual identities.

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Revolutions and Female Narratives

alaldulal — Wed, 05 Nov 2025 04:08:16 +0000

Louise Harrington’s paper, "Women and Resistance in West Bengal and Bangladesh: 1967–1971," from 2013 argues that women were not just victims but active, militant agents during these upheavals. It makes the point that revolutionary violence is essentially gender-neutral in its execution, even if the consequences for women are severely gendered.

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Rakib Hasan & Teen Goyenda Generation

alaldulal — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 05:47:25 +0000

In 1980s-90s Bangladesh, Rakib Hasan's Tin Goyenda series, adapted from Western detective fiction, became a publishing sensation. Before the internet, these thrilling tales offered youth a vital, accessible window into suburban America, fostering a crucial reading culture and leaving a significant literary legacy.

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Bangladeshis in Canada: The First Wave

hanashams — Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:25:51 +0000

1970s Canada: "Are we losing our identity as Bangladeshis?"

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Jhumpa Lahiri’s Revolutionary as Romantic

Ankush Pal — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 20:30:29 +0000

Through Udayan, Lahiri offers a complex meditation on the relationship between individual conviction and the structural possibilities for social transformation. Udayan represents the fate of an entire generation of middle-class radicals whose political awakening, however sincere, occurred in conditions that made meaningful change impossible.

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Farida Parveen: a life lived atop many fault lines

alaldulal — Tue, 23 Sep 2025 09:50:32 +0000

The fault lines of religious, communal, and cultural identity fractured their marriage. Despite their divorce, Farida Parveen continued to sing for decades, performing Abu Zafor’s songs and those of Lalon.

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Badruddin Umar: Marxist Historian of Possibility

Ankush Pal — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 09:12:28 +0000

Badruddin Umar's death marks the end of an intellectual trajectory. His Marxist analysis of Bangladeshi history, class struggle, and political co-optation remains crucial for understanding contemporary challenges and future revolutionary possibilities.

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The Revolution Will Not Be

Naomi Hossain — Mon, 15 Sep 2025 09:49:42 +0000

Drawing on the book "Inquilab Zindabad," the text argues that decades of repression have left the Bangladeshi left too weak to steer a new course.

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Badruddin Umar: life of radical intransigence

Mahmud Rahman — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 19:43:40 +0000

He was willing to acknowledge that the left in Bangladesh, including his own trend, had no mass base among workers and peasants.

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I’m Sorry, Choles Ritchil

naeem — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 19:33:41 +0000

Don't even think of raising your voice. Etho boro shahosh! You see what happened to Choles. Don't make us be sorry again.

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Anniversaries in an Uncertain Time

alaldulal — Wed, 06 Aug 2025 02:25:01 +0000

Yet, beneath the patriotic parades and speeches, a deep-seated unease persists.

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A Year of Shattered Hopes

alaldulal — Fri, 04 Jul 2025 12:20:43 +0000

For centuries, Bengal has simply hoped and waited for Nuruldins. Perhaps grieving mothers will once again sacrifice many of their beloved children for the nation! For the desire for liberation, alas, never dies.

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Times and Tip of the Iceberg

Sat, 10 May 2025 11:16:06 +0000

If we are to save our democratic future, we should refocus our attention toward the sunken part instead of the tip; we need pluralistic and inclusive structural change that simultaneously embraces both seventy-one and twenty-four.

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Rival Camps Lost Sight of the Real Tagore

alaldulal — Sun, 15 Sep 2024 12:10:09 +0000

The union of public consciousness with Rabindranath is hindered by self-proclaimed interpreters.

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Not merely for the west

alaldulal — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 07:28:33 +0000

Speaking, writing, expressing in English rather than the mother tongue could be misunderstood as a way of the privileged showing off

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This Post is About Racism

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 18:37:47 +0000

I had not expected such pernicious racism against Bangladeshis in Bangladesh after 51 years of her freedom.

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Crowd, Contagion, Corona

nusratchowdhury — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:57:55 +0000

The migrant worker has become an uncanny figure both familiar and foreign. Rumor and hearsay of contagion and spontaneous violence make up this biopolitical regime.

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A Storm in a Teacup

nusratchowdhury — Mon, 15 Feb 2021 18:54:41 +0000

As if free speech were deadlier than the virus. For many who were picked up, disappeared, or imprisoned, that’s exactly how it was.

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A response to “Becoming Bangladesh”

alaldulal — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 18:44:42 +0000

It is disappointing that LSE South Asia Centre would include only one Bangladeshi scholar for the "Becoming Bangladesh" panel discussion.

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How will you conduct social research, then?

Manosh Chowdhury — Tue, 02 Feb 2021 14:07:00 +0000

Being underground should be seen as a strategy where one can dilute her ‘researcher’ identity in the midst of hype of research activities.

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How do “traditions” get lost?

Manosh Chowdhury — Sat, 09 Jan 2021 07:00:40 +0000

How do 'traditions' get lost? Try to learn it through political economy, but not being sentimental.

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Beauty Parlour

Manosh Chowdhury — Sat, 05 Dec 2020 08:04:40 +0000

Curious characteristics of Dhaka's beauty parlors.

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Bhallage Na (can’t stand it)

khujeci — Sun, 18 Oct 2020 20:15:31 +0000

Can't stand anything, always feel alone.

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New York Election: Record Number of Bangladeshi Candidates

kazijesin — Sun, 05 Jul 2020 20:07:01 +0000

In the last 20 years, the struggle for survival of these new Americans has turned into a battle for rights.

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Nasrin Khandoker: Nupur on a Broken Leg

Sun, 31 May 2020 08:22:52 +0000

Shall we forget the bruise marks on the body of the companion? Is that not enough evidence of the violence? Or shall we hum-along with the tune of nupur on a broken leg?

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Why the artificial conflict of life and livelihood?

alaldulal — Fri, 29 May 2020 18:37:53 +0000

The result of making irrational decisions on the pretext of any political will or economic model without scientific data would be extremely suicidal.

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Social Distancing in Poor Countries: A Debate

khujeci — Wed, 27 May 2020 19:35:36 +0000

Khurram Husain [Dawn (Pakistan)] says economist Mushfiq Mobarak and Zachary Barnett-Howell, in their paper “Poor Countries need to think twice” are valuing #Pakistani lives less than American lives because their paper uses VSL. Hussain states: “It begins by asking whether “shuttering …

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Words are not more valuable than bread

kazijesin — Tue, 26 May 2020 18:53:25 +0000

Kazi JesinI wanted to tell youI too have a dreama soft pillowa open windowa glaring paddy fieldpalm trees swinging in the windbut I had no words.You gave me blue polythene —a forbidden house on the footpath. Under the blue lightsmy …

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EXTRACTION: Hullaballoo in a Orientalist Orchard

khujeci — Mon, 04 May 2020 17:28:51 +0000

The Bangla response to Netflix’s EXTRACTION is predictable; we surmise the outraged viewers from Dhaka have helped propel the film to #1 on Netflix. Towheed Feroze‘s complaint is, ahem, accuracy: “The police are seen driving Indian-made Hyundai cars; our police does …

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Garment Worker Diaries, Digitization, Pay Gap

alaldulal — Thu, 23 Apr 2020 04:41:14 +0000

1. Worker Diaries Money Diary: A 25-Year-Old Garment Worker In Bangladesh On 1k 2.Wage Digitization [Excerpt] According to a recent report on wage digitization in the ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh, about 1 million workers are now receiving their …

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Poor Countries Need to Think Twice About Social Distancing

alaldulal — Mon, 20 Apr 2020 07:29:02 +0000

By AHMED MUSHFIQ MOBARAK and ZACHARY BARNETT-HOWELL Policies imposed in rich countries to fight the coronavirus could have adverse effects in low-income nations—potentially endangering more lives than they save. (Reprinted from Foreign Policy magazine where it was posted on 10 April.) …

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Borders of an Epidemic

khujeci — Sat, 18 Apr 2020 00:26:37 +0000

As migrant labourers from different parts of India trekked back hundreds of kilometres carrying their scanty belongings and dragging their hungry and thirsty children in the scorching heat of the plains of India to reach home in central or eastern …

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Nasim Manzoor: Western Brands Must Behave Fairly

khujeci — Fri, 17 Apr 2020 16:46:44 +0000

Brands Must Behave Fairly Syed Nasim Manzoor The second leading sector of Bangladesh’s exports is leather, footwear and leather goods. The largest markets for these products are Germany, Italy, France, Western Europe, USA and Japan. But under the influence of …

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Bashirul Haq (1942-2020): Marina Tabassum & Naila Khan remember

khujeci — Thu, 09 Apr 2020 16:32:47 +0000

Marina Tabassum on Bashirul Haq If I have been able to become an architect it is by standing on the shoulders of a few giants. Bashirul Haq is one of them. I saw Bashir bhai for the last time at …

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Bashirul Haq (1942-2020)

khujeci — Sun, 05 Apr 2020 15:08:22 +0000

“Adieu, Architect” –Adnan Morshed Khan [EXCERPT] …Bashirul Haq was fortunate to find a mentor in Fazlur Rahman Khan (popularly known as F.R. Khan), a fellow countryman, partner of the famed Chicago-based architectural/engineering firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), and structural …

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COVID-19: Gender, Children, Refugees

khujeci — Fri, 03 Apr 2020 02:38:57 +0000

From: Bina D’CostaSome useful reports and camp management documents, case management questionnaires that may be of interest to you. Camp Management in COVID_IOM CARE Gendered Implications of COVID-19 – Executive Summary CARE Gendered Implications of COVID-19 – Full Paper Case-management-and …

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Corona Awareness: Cunning Alternative to Justice

Manosh Chowdhury — Sun, 29 Mar 2020 00:13:24 +0000

By Manosh Chowdhury, translated by AlaloDulal I would annoy everyone, if I say we do not care much about the corona virus. I do not seek to belittle feelings of a bunch of aristocrats. As of myself, even dying of …

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Bio-politics of COVID-19

khujeci — Thu, 26 Mar 2020 19:51:13 +0000

Abu Ahasan …The immigration police recently began stamping returnees on their hands for home quarantine. Police marked the houses of the Italy-returnees with red flags. Journalists and social media ran sensational stories of ignorant, selfish, and unruly returnees, refusing to …

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Bangladeshi scientists invent $3 COVID test

alaldulal — Tue, 24 Mar 2020 22:57:07 +0000

Dr Sil invented a similar kit for detecting the SARS coronavirus while working in Singapore during the outbreak of the respiratory disease in 2003.

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Hey Gedu, Stay Home

naeem — Sat, 21 Mar 2020 16:22:33 +0000

Bangla original by Keto Bhai English Translation by Alal O Dulal Hey Duffer, what’s your problem? All this time you begged for time off. Now you got it, the holiday But still on the street, loafing around time waste. I …

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Rohingya Timeline (1784-2017)

alaldulal — Thu, 21 Sep 2017 18:38:53 +0000

REUTERS/Mohammad Ponir HossainIndia’s WIRE magazine has published a timeline compiled by Alal O Dulal collective. The Sources are: The Rohingyas: Inside Myanmar’s Hidden Genocide (Hurst), Exiled to Nowhere: Burma’s Rohingya (Nowhere People), Human Rights Watch, United Nations, Global Center for the …

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Agha Shahid Ali by Azfar Hussain

alaldulal — Sat, 09 Sep 2017 10:21:00 +0000

Syed Jamil Ahmed’s first play in two decades, RIZWAN, opened on September 01 at Shilpakala Academy (closes Sep 10). The play, based on an English poem about Kashmir, is experimental, raucous, jubilant, and always challenging the material limits of a …

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Neo-Bangladeshi Collective

alaldulal — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 04:25:16 +0000

by Faruk Wasif In the name of non-standardising, a luminous (yet stupid) collective wishes to drag Bengali down to a demotic vernacular. However, to remove inherent, traditionalist inflexibility within the language, all dialects – from Tagore to Abbasuddin, from Calcutta …

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Post-Crisis Rumor Mill

Adnan R. Amin — Mon, 11 Jul 2016 11:39:39 +0000

During an unprecedented attack like the one at Holey Artisan Bakery, crisis management is of utmost priority. Looking back, security forces did well to set up cordons to keep at bay meddlesome reporters. The subsequent media blackout, though late, was …

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Untangling horror

Nadine Shaanta Murshid — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 12:56:58 +0000

By Nadine S. Murshid As we mourn, we must realize that the fight ahead of us is a difficult one, but one that must be won. Without mass-surveillance. Without impinging on freedoms. Without help from international bodies with vested interests. Without police brutality. The …

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Staying Back

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 09:58:29 +0000

By Tibra Ali The Bangladeshi psyche is a moral and political waste land today. In this dizzying and disorienting kaleidoscope of decay, one name shines more brightly than anyone else today: Faraaz. His simple act of standing by his …

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Drishtipat saved me from brainwashing

alaldulal — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 12:19:53 +0000

by Sabhanaz Rashid Diya I have been playing the narrative repeatedly inside my mind. Many have written to me asking what can we collectively do. What makes a boy pick up a gun instead of protecting his friends when facing …

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Holding the Economy to Ransom

alaldulal — Mon, 04 Jul 2016 11:23:50 +0000

by Firoz Ahmed, translated from Bengali Bangladesh has not seen this type of ferocious attack and killing of innocent people before. We express our deepest sympathy to the families of the victims, although no amount of consolation can soothe them. Our thoughts …

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Beautiful golden greed

Sun, 03 Jul 2016 14:58:13 +0000

By Awrup Sanyal for AlalODulal.org So, what do we do now? Should we reach out, with sleepy eyes, groping hands, in the nascent darkness of the morning, and stop the alarm that heckles our peaceful sleeps? Should we cut the …

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No Righteousness Without Mercy

Adnan R. Amin — Sun, 03 Jul 2016 14:02:59 +0000

By Adnan R Amin So, a night of absolute terror preceded the glorified Night of Power this Ramadan. And it has left Dhaka in a stupor; in a dazed state of disbelief and heartbreak. There is talk of vengeance in …

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Dark Side of Our Sympathy

alaldulal — Wed, 15 Jun 2016 17:04:06 +0000

By Fardin Hasin for AlalODulal In March 2016, a girl was brutally raped and murdered inside Comilla Cantonment. The crime was surrounded by a lot of mysteries, most of which are yet to be brought to light due to the …

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Subir Sen: The world I knew

alaldulal — Wed, 13 Apr 2016 03:08:57 +0000

Subir Sen: The world I knew by Kabir Suman শেষের দিকটা সুবীর সেন চলে গেলেন। কষ্ট পাচ্ছিলেন। বয়সও হয়েছিল। শান্তি পেলেন। ইতালো কালভিনো তাঁর একটি উপন্যাসে লিখেছিলেন (সম্ভবত Invisible Cities) মানুষের জীবনে একটা সময় আসে যখন সে উপলব্ধি করে – …

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Rise of cricket and flutter of the flag

alaldulal — Sun, 27 Mar 2016 04:16:51 +0000

By Fardin Hasin Football used to be the popular sport of Bangladesh — once. Many would remember the Abahani-Mohammedan rivalry that dominated our sports scene in the 70s and 80s.Aided by a dedicated fan base and corporate patronage, at the height of …

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Rafiq Azad: The Truth Had Touched Him

alaldulal — Sun, 13 Mar 2016 05:07:26 +0000

By Firoz Ahmed (Translated by Awrup Sanyal for AlalODulal Collective) I have heard that when he went up to receive his award he had to hear the condescending remark, ‘hope you are being able to eat rice’! “ভাত দে হারামজাদা, নইলে মানচিত্র …

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Rampal: Project of Mass Destruction

alaldulal — Sat, 12 Mar 2016 18:23:57 +0000

by Anis Raihan [Originally in Bangla for Istishan; Translated by AlalODulal Collective] Many countries, generally, bar construction of coal-based power plants, which cause dire environmental pollutions, within 15 to 20 kilometers of protected forests and settlements. The proposed 1320 megawatt …

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Call-Ready

Tue, 08 Mar 2016 21:02:57 +0000

by Mujahidul Islam Selim [Translated to English by the AlalODulal Editorial Collective] Call-Ready — a very familiar name. In many images of historic 7th March speech we have seen the Call-Ready logo emblazoned under the cluster of microphones. Let’s recount …

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ফিরোজ আহমেদ: সুমন চাটুয্যের একঘেয়ে সুর…

alaldulal — Wed, 24 Feb 2016 21:54:24 +0000

ফিরোজ আহমেদ – আলাল ও দুলাল এর জন্যে সুমন চট্টপাধ্যায়ের সাথে পরিচয়টা ভোলা কঠিন। আমাদের নব্বই এর দশকের প্রথম তারুণ্যের অনেকটাই তার একচেটিয়া অধিকারে। সেদিনই প্রথম শ্মশ্রুমোক্ষণ, নরসুন্দরের নামও মনে আছে, বিধান। কলাবাগানে খালেদ মোশারফের ঠিক পাশের বাড়িটায় দোকান ফুরে বেড় হওয়া …

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Tibetan Artists Silenced at Dhaka Art Summit

alaldulal — Mon, 08 Feb 2016 02:04:44 +0000

By Ahmad Ibrahim On 7 February 2016, Indian artists Ritu Sarin and Tenzing Sonam had their photographs and art installations removed from the Dhaka Art Summit taking place in Shilpakala Academy. Huffington Post (India), Indian Express, and the artist Tenzing Sonam’s …

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A reply on the Eaton thesis

alaldulal — Tue, 02 Feb 2016 11:37:09 +0000

In depicting time and places historians often argue pivotal roles of religion. Regions across the planet had been defined through advent and subsequent religious conquests. Religious (and ethnic) tensions remain omnipresent as religious unrest reverberates many parts of the world. …

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FILM: About “Under Construction” and the Under Constructed

Thu, 28 Jan 2016 11:25:38 +0000

by Awrup Sanyal In Rubaiyat Hossain’s “Under Construction” we see an examination of the theme of ‘under construction’ as it applies to the city of Dhaka, as well as the gendered bodies of men and women: Dhaka Dhaka provides a …

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ARCHITECTURE: Ambulatory Consciousness

alaldulal — Thu, 07 Jan 2016 08:37:13 +0000

By Zirwat Chowdhury for AlalODulal.org Have you ever wondered if architecture can walk, or how it might be to walk architecturally? The contradiction at the heart of these two questions is where I want to begin because therein lies the …

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On the Richard Eaton thesis

Fri, 01 Jan 2016 21:45:32 +0000

Awrup Sanyal [Please note that the review might reveal more than you want to know before reading the book. I would say skip it and read the book.] Anyone interested in Bengal’s premodern to modern history – through the Delhi …

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Multiculturalism in Bangladesh: where our political and intellectual debates end

alaldulal — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 11:35:01 +0000

By Fardin Hasin for Alal O Dulal The intellectual and political circles of Bangladesh have, for a long time, based their ideas and actions on or around a monolithic image of Bangladesh. Most discussions and debates have considered our ‘Bangalee’ …

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#illridewithyou: Bijoy Dibos in CHT

deyalpotrika — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 09:47:23 +0000

by Kabita Chakma for AlalODulal.org. Perhaps the spirit of Bijoy Dibosh can rekindle the hearts of millions of Bangladeshis to do what is honourable. Just as #illridewithyou helped assure the safety and security of Australian Muslims, the spirit of Bijoy Dibosh …

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First Chakma Film: Mor Thengari

alaldulal — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 03:47:09 +0000

By Debdulal Munna, translated by AlalODulal The name of the movie is ‘Mor Thengari’. The language is Chakma. The title is in Chakma and means ‘My Bicycle’. This is the first film claimed to be made in the Chakma language, a …

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Consensual Rape?

alaldulal — Wed, 02 Dec 2015 01:25:13 +0000

By Nasrin Siraj for Thotkata, translated by Alal O Dulal On 25 November 2015 the court sentenced Parimal Joydhar, a teacher of Viqarunnisa Noon School, for raping a girl in Year 10. The incident happened in 2010. The situation in …

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Kamal Hossain Interview (Part 2)

tokai — Sat, 28 Nov 2015 04:01:47 +0000

Our history is never still, and there are always processes of rewriting Bangladesh’s history. The best response to such history wars is to let the record speak, when possible. In an Alal O Dulal exclusive, we have translated a 37 …

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#RichKids in an Unlivable City

Adnan R. Amin — Sat, 17 Oct 2015 08:38:48 +0000

In the Dhaka of the 80s, there was a consensus regarding who its richest denizen was. At the rare, lavish weddings, my cousins and I would spot him, with his guards and his clan, and cower at the sight of …

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Why science and technology failing developing nations

alaldulal — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 11:33:05 +0000

By Fardin Hasin for Alal O Dulal Recently, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) branch of one of the leading engineering universities in Bangladesh organised a seminar on cyber-physical systems. There was only one speaker — a CSE …

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Bravo my Santhal, Orao and Munda brothers and sisters!

alaldulal — Fri, 02 Oct 2015 09:57:37 +0000

Bravo my Santhal, Orao, and Munda brothers and sisters! by Ahmed Badall for Alal O Dulal [Translated by the Alal O Dulal Editorial Collective] For ages now the ‘civilized’ Bengali gentry have been grabbing lands from the Santhals of Dinajpur. …

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Open Letter to PM Modi

Nadine Shaanta Murshid — Sat, 06 Jun 2015 13:11:10 +0000

By Nadine Shaanta Murshid for AlalODulal.org “Go back the many years you spent as a chai-wala and think from his perspective. Your past will determine the future. Or not.” Dear Prime Minister Modi, Welcome to Dhaka. I know that all …

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Looking beyond the Ivory Tower

Nayma Qayum — Sun, 24 May 2015 16:57:27 +0000

Nayma Qayum for Alal O Dulal In the Dhaka of my teenage years, having a child attend an Ivy League or otherwise elite American institution was almost a rite of passage for upper middle class parents. If one attended Harvard, …

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Reinforcing Misconceptions and Uninformed Choice

Adnan R. Amin — Tue, 05 May 2015 15:22:23 +0000

Adnan R. Amin for AlalaODulal.org A video titled ‘Language Matters’ has been making the rounds in Bangladeshi social-media circles. It explores the utility of Arabic warnings to ward off public urinators. The using of a religious misconception to prevent a social evil …

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Reflections on the Idea of Race

Prashanta Tripura — Sun, 03 May 2015 08:35:56 +0000

By Prashanta Tripura for AlalODulal.org Baltimore is the latest flashpoint involving massive protests and outbreaks of violence in response to police brutality against Black youths in the US. Not too long ago, similar turns of events unfolded in other American cities …

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The politics of remembering

hajarduar — Fri, 01 May 2015 12:18:55 +0000

“The anti-colonial struggle (even keeping aside other kinds of contemporaneous struggles for the moment) might start taking many more hues beyond the tri-colour.” By Garga Chatterjee If you live within the territorial limits of the Union of India, it is …

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A few dos and don’ts in the movement against sexual assault

Nadine Shaanta Murshid — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 17:43:36 +0000

By Nadine Shaanta Murshid UNPRECEDENTED levels of outrage and activism surround the Pahela Baishakh sexual assault; we have finally reached critical mass: people are out on the streets and those who are not, are on social media fighting many a …

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How I wear my sari, what is it to you?

alaldulal — Mon, 20 Apr 2015 13:34:50 +0000

How I wear my sari, what is it to you? By Shamima Mitu, Womens Page; translated for AlalODulal.org by Zahur Ahmed She wore the sari below her belly button, with an open neck blouse that exposed her bare back. Her …

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The perennial spectators

Fri, 17 Apr 2015 06:46:47 +0000

Awrup for AlaloDulal.org We love a public spectacle. From cricket, to decapitation, to rape. We are the perennial spectators. The public. The police. The administration. We like watching. And then we like looking away. POSTSCRIPT: I wrote this on the …

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Stop this Descent

alaldulal — Thu, 16 Apr 2015 17:32:39 +0000

by Zahur Ahmed for AlalODulal Feedback’s quintessential song for Pohela Boishak, the first day of a Bengali New Year, “Melay Jaire” has a line on the third stranza, “বখাটে ছেলের ভিড়ে ললনাদের রেহাই নাই — the crowd of ruffians won’t spare …

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Zonayed Saki: What could a leftist leader offer Bangladesh today?

alaldulal — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 13:48:33 +0000

“[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 …

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Zonayed Saki’s Candidacy

Humayun — Thu, 02 Apr 2015 05:25:51 +0000

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. Could Zonayed Saki’s Candidacy Be A Democratic Moment …

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“Bangladeshis, Leave Rome” and Nazi Swastikas

alaldulal — Thu, 26 Mar 2015 20:43:42 +0000

“A mean and uncivilized act that insults not only the work of the young participants of the photography workshop but all the associations that are active in the neighborhood.” NEWS: “Bangladeshis, leave Rome,” insults, and swastikas on the panels of the multiethnic exhibition …

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CULTURE: Rift between two Bengals

alaldulal — Wed, 25 Mar 2015 03:04:26 +0000

By Pratik Deb for AlalODulal The national anthem of Bangladesh, penned by Tagore, is not exclusively sung on one side of the fence, neither is its use stringently limited for the national occasions of Bangladesh. Unlike the national anthem of …

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HNK # 1: Who killed Santa Claus? (Bert is Evil)

khujeci — Sat, 21 Mar 2015 15:33:35 +0000

Get me fact check! That’s no “teddy bear,” that’s Santa Slaus! HNK # 1: Who killed Santa Claus? (Bert is Evil) by Khujeci Tomai for AlalODulal.org As Bangladesh erupted into outrage over umpiring decisions that may have helped India defeat …

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Nagaland Lynching: More Than a Protest

alaldulal — Fri, 20 Mar 2015 04:45:19 +0000

“For several decades, the indigenous populations of North East India have claimed that their lands were coming under threat from Bangladeshi migrants, though many of them actually had identification papers from the border districts of Assam.” Mob Lynching in Nagaland: …

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Diary of Cricket Anxiety

alaldulal — Thu, 19 Mar 2015 15:35:20 +0000

বুঝলাম, টেনশনে আছি। কিসের টেনশন ? অনেক কিছুর। Diary: Cricket Anxiety Sayeda Sultana Annee সকাল সাতটায় ঘুম ভেঙে গেল চনমনে আনন্দে, আহ্ আজ কোন কাজ নেই, আজ কাল রাতে শেষ না হওয়া অরুণ সেন সম্পাদিত ‘সমুদ্রের কবিতা’ পড়বো। হঠাৎ প্রাণটা …

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Cricket Nationalism: Mauka Mauka, 1971

swadhinsen — Wed, 18 Mar 2015 14:38:33 +0000

by Swadhin Sen “At this moment of masculinist and orgasmic expressions of hatred – communal, ethnic, sexist, partisan, and national – in both real and virtual world, cricket match in World Cup 2015 has become a rallying point of neo-nationalistic …

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Saudi Hip-Hop: “They say Bengalis are thieves”

alaldulal — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 05:52:04 +0000

BBC: “Which of the following three things is not typical for a migrant worker in a Gulf country: 1. Dormitory accommodation. 2. Long days. 3. Criticising the way Saudi society treats them using stylish hip-hop to round off the day. A migrant rap …

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Needle in Cricket arm

alaldulal — Sat, 14 Mar 2015 23:47:55 +0000

By Mahmood Sadat Ruhul for Alal O Dulal “…nonchalant way the allegations have been swept aside by hordes of Bangladeshis beating the nationalist drum.” Tuesday, March 9th, 2014 was a day like many others in Bangladeshi cultural memory: the same …

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“Illegal Bangladeshi Immigrant” & India’s Honour

alaldulal — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 03:55:52 +0000

[I]n the Northeast [of India] IBI no longer has a literal meaning nor is it about citizenship, it is a racist shorthand, a template; a discursive formation under consolidation since the late 1970s which represent Bengali Muslims in the Northeast…” …

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Remembering Humayun Faridi

alaldulal — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 22:37:46 +0000

Remembering Humayun Faridi by Anu Muhammed for Alal O Dulal Humayun Faridi (29 May 1952 — 13 February 2012) I met Humayun Faridi at the end of 1975, on the bank of the Jahangirnagar University’s lake. It did not take long to develop …

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The New Economy

chitraracine — Tue, 17 Feb 2015 10:05:58 +0000

An Evaluation of the Opposing Views of my Two Teachers By Professor M.M. Akash for Samakal; translated for Alal O Dulal by Professor Farida Khan. Although Professor Nurul Islam was never directly my teacher, he served as the Deputy Chair of the …

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Return of the Opinion Makers

alaldulal — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 13:04:33 +0000

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. Who would argue that at present things …

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Comparison of India and Bangladesh

alaldulal — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 12:41:03 +0000

Comparison of Political Culture of India and Bangladesh- A Common Man’s Fantasy! By Aminul Sarwar for Alal O Dulal While we discuss Bangladesh politics- India comes up automatically. Regional hegemony, friendship and bitterness, mutual interest, influence over Bangladesh’s internal politics- …

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LABOR: World in a Shirt and Infinity in a Stitch

chitraracine — Mon, 09 Feb 2015 15:48:11 +0000

“Turning and turning in the widening gyre” is an appropriate last chapter for a book that is an amazing picture of the wheels of global capitalism as it lifts some and crushes others over centuries, continuously depleting “the reservoirs …

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