Category Archives: South Asia

Communal Comics!

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Indscribe writes on how, often, communalism and racism are very subtly packaged.

 Firstly, I did read a few Amar Chitra Katha comics in my childhood. And I have absolutely no problem with a publisher only printing comics on Hindu culture, as I grew up as much on Khilauna (Urdu) and Champak, as much as Nandan, which focused on Hindu mythology.

I loved Nandan and I owe a lot to these magazine. It was Nandan that introduced me to the fascinating Hindu mythology. Nandan chiefly borrowed from Hinduism and avoided Islam but there was nothing that would unsettle a Muslim kid let alone offend his sensibilities.

Similarly, Chandamama, which I loved, was also a magazine that focused on Hindu mythology and the stories of Hindu gods abound. And it was brilliant. On the pages of Nandan and Chandamama, I discovered the world of Rishis, Vidyadhars, Kapaliks, Asuras et al.

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“In Amar Chitra Katha (86) featuring the novel Anand Math, the heroic Hindu Bengali freedom fighters do battle with the evil British officers who command highly stylized but Muslim-looking troops!”…..Strange isn’t it!

Remembering a Reformer: Sir Syed Ahmed Khan

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From Pakistaniat-

Today (October 17, 2008) marks the 191st birthday of Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898).

In the history of Indian Sub-Continent, the role Syed Sahib played for Muslims of India deserves golden words. Sir Syed was the most influential leader and social reformer of his time. He felt that the socio-economic future of Muslims was threatened by their orthodox aversions to modern science and technology. He made significant contributions in this regard that had long term implications for the Muslims of India that eventually lead to creation of state of Pakistan.

Either it be his advocacy for Urdu to be recognized by British empire as second language of India & a symbol of Muslim heritage or establishment of a ‘Muslim Cambridge’ in form of MAO college at Aligarh, he is seen as a most vocal figure for the rights of Indian Muslims in the second half of 19th century under British Raj. At Aligarh, Sir Syed formed Scientific Society of Aligarh, the first scientific society of its kind in India that assembled Muslim scholars from across India, held annual conferences, disbursed funds for educational causes and regularly published a journal on scientific subjects in English & Urdu.

Jamia residents foiled “encounter” attempt

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Situation in India has been getting worse and worse lately. Muslims, Christians, and Dalits. Muslims have been under attack in Assam, Gujarat and in most of the Media. Christians were attacked in Orissa, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Muslims have been victim of witch-hunt, the following is an example. As expected, none of the mainstream media picked it up.

 The residents of Jamia Nagar today foiled a kidnapping/encounter attempt by some policemen in plainclothes in Shaheen Bagh area under the Jamia Nagar Police Station in Delhi.

It was around 8 in the night when a black Hyundai car with tinted glasses but with no number plates entered Shaheen Bagh. Five persons, maybe ATS sleuths in plainclothes, came out and tried to drag a youth named Amir into the car. He resisted and asked them why they were dragging him. They said they will tell him soon.

As the Jamia Nagar encounter and subsequent indiscriminate picking of locals were fresh in people’s mind, locals began gathering. The plainclothes people threatened them but as mob got thicker, some of them slipped away. The locals, however, were able to catch one who later turned out to be an ASI of Noida Police. The public brought both the policeman and Amir to Jamia Nagar police station.

Hundreds of people gathered around the police station and demanded action against the ‘kidnapppers’. They alleged that their plan was to encounter the person and later declare him a terrorist.

Living Lohawarana – a Lahori rambling

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Raza Rumi’s fascination with Lahore. Did you know that the city was there as early as 150AD? I didn’t!

Later records, such as Ptolemy’s “Geographia”, written around 150 AD, refer to Lahore as ‘Labokla’, and locate it with reference to the Indus, the Ravi, the Jhelum and the Chenab rivers. Another readable account from the past is that of Hieun Tsang, the famous Chinese pilgrim who visited Lahore during the early seventh century AD. He described it as a large Brahminical city – mullahs beware! There is many a contradiction within these accounts, of course, but the important point is that Lahore was not built yesterday. Its ancient moorings explain its indomitable will, ability to survive the upheavals of time, and an innate life beyond the limits of recorded histories, fancy notions of urbanity and cultural evolution. Lahore is also about its centuries of residents. The mystique of the city thus is a personalised experience, as if a city were in permanent dialogue with its residents even while speaking to a newcomer.

Christie’s Islamic Art Auction

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I just heard that Christie’s of London have a huge collection of Islamic & Indian Art up for auction on Tuesday, 7th October 2008.


A NISHAPUR POTTERY CONICAL BOWL; NORTH EAST IRAN, 10TH CENTURY

For those of you who can’t make it down to see the pieces in person before they go under the hammer (not literally, of course!), check out the collection online – 441 lots in total; their biggest ever collection of Islamic art, apparently.

A nice opportunity to find some unique, belated Eid gifts, perhaps? As long as you have a spare, few thousand pounds lying around!

The Women Without Identities

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Achelois writes about the case of those South Asian women who marry young into wealthy families in the Gulf, and how they lose their past and their identities in the process. She compares this to those men who marry Western women, and how the cultures vary considerably.

I feel sorry for these women because they have lost their identity. That is something that to me would be very painful. To come to a strange land where your husband lives with his very large family who speak in a language you are totally clueless about can be very daunting. Your in-laws will speak in that language with your co-wife while you sit looking at them blankly.