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Mangal Pandey. Truth and Fiction
Hamid Hussain checks the film Mangal Pandey: The Rising against the historical record, scene by scene, finding the core facts of the 1857 episode kept intact but much invented, such…
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History
British “other ranks” in the Indian army
Prompted by a query from a descendant of a British private in the 54th Foot, Hamid Hussain sets out what is known of the lives of British other ranks in…
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The Civilizational Unity of India
The author posts excerpts from a Hindutva-leaning article on India’s civilisational unity, saying its arguments are largely reasonable, while noting that even such writers struggle with the Indo-European migration.
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Dhaka Attackers; BD elite and NYT are “shocked” by their origins..
Responding to a New York Times report that some Dhaka attackers came from elite schools and wealthy families, the author argues this should surprise no one, since revolutionary violent movements…
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History
Origins of the British East India Company Army
Hamid Hussain traces the origins of the East India Company’s army in the anarchy of eighteenth-century India, arguing that the Company won control of large areas through superior military organisation…
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Brexit
Noting that his social-media circle almost universally condemns Brexit, the author argues that the large leave vote should be explained rather than dismissed as racism, and offers some loosely ordered…
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Indian History, Brexit, Trump and the Bombay Fornicator
In a set of random thoughts, the author recommends a Hindu-nationalist writer’s summary of what is known about the Aryans, observes that many Pakistanis repeat 1950s textbook views on it,…
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An Honor-able Society
Reproduces Tribune and Telegraph reports on a Lahore mother who police say burned her daughter alive for marrying by choice, with other recent cases, a government inquiry and the Human…
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Orlando. Stochastically predictable?
After the Orlando attack, the author argues that classical shariah-based Islam endorses violence against gays, yet practical tolerance of homosexuality in the Islamicate world was long very high, so a…
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Afghanistan, and some hints from Machiavelli
Hamid Hussain’s candid comments on Khalid Aziz’s article on Afghanistan, which he calls a ‘snake pit’, argue that Machiavelli is the right guide and that real thinking differs from public…
