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SDutta
SDutta
5 years ago

For Bangladeshis here, what do you think of Anusheh Anadil? I’ve rarely heard such a great voice! Nishita Barua is also good, but nowhere near as good as Anusheh.

Son Goku
Son Goku
5 years ago
Reply to  SDutta

Anusheh is great, her voice suits the folk genre of music, She’s quite popular in the West Bengal it seems even more than Bangladesh. My favourite among Bangladeshi female singers is Samina Chowdhury. Recently I discovered this artist, Her voice is very soothing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DCjArf6Npg

Also very impressed by this little girl:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L394j1bd8mY

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago

Do you all thing is Bangladesh is perhaps one election away from going the Modi/Rajpakshe way?

I feel there is an anger brewing within the surface and once Hasina leaves it would just explode. Or is Bangladesh is now “Islam-ism” proof (like how Nehru once thought he has made India “Hindutva”-proof)?

Bengalistani
Bengalistani
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

Unlike India and other south asian countries, religious politics and identity politics are not popular enough in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshis(including conservative muslims) despise and oppose the largest “islamist” party Jamat-i-Islami.

BNP is not “islamist” in anyway and BNP is probably the best option for Bangladesh. (Awami league has also allied with “islamist” parties in the past which doesn’t necessarily make the party “islamist”)

Also, the ruling party has crushed opponents by killing, arresting,forced disappearance etc.
I also believe that RAW is directly working in Bangladesh to fulfil some Hindutva goals.

The present government is the most corrupt and the most anti-national government ever in Bangladesh. I am not into politics but it seems that Hasina’s popularity has decreased a lot. And, Hasina will never leave because the elections in Bangladesh are very unfair: last time, the members of the ruling party themselves voted on behalf of common people and many people couldn’t vote(i have known these from those people personally), in some cases people were almost forced to vote for the ruling party.

NOTE THAT, I AM NOT SAYING THESE TO CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT OR ANYONE. SO PLEASE DON’T ARREST ME ?

Btw, Bangladesh needs eugenics (may be Japanese genes?) to become less corrupt and more hardworking. I am not kidding.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

“The present government is the most corrupt and the most anti-national government ever in Bangladesh.”

Right. Just one election away from going Modi/Rajapakshe way then.

Bengalistani
Bengalistani
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

“Right. Just one election away from going Modi/Rajapakshe way then.”

No. It wont happen because the elections are too unfair. The entire election process of BD(as i mentioned above) is designed in such a way that Awami League will always win.The votes of common people don’t matter. Also, its oppositions have been crushed.

Awami League is the worst option right now. But most people probably don’t like BNP(that party whose leader is the woman who uses a lot of make up and apparently has a lavish lifestyle) either. But BNP is still the best option(or the least bad option) as it is way better than the ruling party. So, the majority is supposed to support BNP.

But many people will not vote because they have understood that Bangladeshi elections are worthless. And,many will not get the opportunity to vote as the members of the ruling party will forcibly vote on behalf of them…or force them to vote the ruling party. So, Awami League will always win.

AGAIN NOTE THAT, I AM NOT SAYING THESE TO CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT OR ANYONE BUT AS A NEUTRAL OBSERVER. SO PLEASE DON’T ARREST ME ?

Scorpion Eater
Scorpion Eater
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

If Bengalistani’s views are representative of an average Bangladeshi, (and I have no reason to believe they aren’t), then it is a problem. There are troubled times ahead for bdesh.

Average bdeshi is thinking that their vote has been stolen. they believe that democracy is dead in their country, and authoritarianism is ruling them masquerading as democracy. This does not bode well.

Sheikh Hasina has a legitimacy problem on her hands. There has always been Islamists undercurrents in bdesh’s political space. These currents can violently overwhelm bdesh if this legitimacy problem in not addressed in time.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

To me the funniest conspiracy theory is RAW doing Hindutva stuff (out of all places ) in Bangladesh ????

Like RAW cannot do Hindutva stuff in Hindu majority Nepal, but somehow it can do all these things in Bangladesh. Perhaps the next RAW “Hindutva” mission will be in Pakistan. 😛

I blame Bollywood movies for all this.

leopard
leopard
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

The claim that BNP was not Islamist is laughable.

Son Goku
Son Goku
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

“last time, the members of the ruling party themselves voted on behalf of common people, and many people couldn’t vote(i have known these from those people personally)”

I’ve also heard from many people (including Awami league supporters). I know some people who historically had been BNP but moved to AL as they knew Hasina wouldn’t leave the throne lol. BNP is also not impeccable. Both BNP and AL politicians are extremely corrupted.
I’m more interested to see what’s gonna happen post- Hasina/Khaleda era, once no one from their bloodline will be the head of the party.

The Emissary
5 years ago
Reply to  Bengalistani

Hi Bengalistani,

I am fairly ignorant of Bdesh politics but hasn’t there been a spat of attacks/murders on athiests/apostates/Hindus?

I know Bengali Muslims in the UK have a rep for radicalization, but what is the reality at Bangladesh as of now?

And is BNP seen as more pro Pak while Awami league is more pro Indian?

Genuinely curious as I am fairly ignorant as I said before.

Bengalistani
Bengalistani
5 years ago
Reply to  The Emissary

“Hi Bengalistani,
I am fairly ignorant of Bdesh politics but hasn’t there been a spat of attacks/murders on athiests/apostates/Hindus?
I know Bengali Muslims in the UK have a rep for radicalization, but what is the reality at Bangladesh as of now?
And is BNP seen as more pro Pak while Awami league is more pro Indian?
Genuinely curious as I am fairly ignorant as I said before.”

1st of all, i am not into politics and i am just a neutral observer. No i wouldn’t say there has been any significant spat of attacks on atheists/apostates/hindus/foreign races etc…at least not solely for religious reasons. There were some very few insignificant murders (like 4 or 5 cases). It would be just an assumption to think that those happened because of some religious reasons.

Let me give you a real life example: People of a country may read several cases of rape,murder and robbery everyday but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the vast majority of people of that country are criminals.

Note that, our government is not exactly a democratic government. So it needs foreign support to stay in power. It needs to make the western world believe that “islamist terrorism” is a big issue in Bangladesh which is not true. Doing this the government can gain support of the western world. Also,the government can run a crackdown on opponents using this fake issue of “islamist terrorism”.

It is also very natural for any illegal government to stage dramas(for example:staging a fake terrorist attack) so that that government can exploit that issue to achieve something greater. False flag operations are historically very effective. It is a very good and successful strategy.

Awami league is more pro india than BNP. BNP has also tried to appease India. I dont think BNP would ever try to be pro Pak because it wont benefit BNP as India is politically more influential in Bangladesh. But BNP may be more pro China and less pro India. Major Ziaur Rahman,the founder of BNP was a freedom fighter against Pakistan and also a sector commander during the liberation war. At present,BNP is also bad but BNP is more pro Bangladesh and less pro India.

Bengali muslims in UK(to my knowledge) never took part in any significant terrorist attacks. Just my theory: now, UK may try to demonize Bengalis there by intentionally making Bengalis appear as terrorism-prone because it will ultimately benefit UK (in controlling non-white immigration,promoting right wingers,lessening immigrants and muslims etc. ) Remember, religion is never the main issue but a tool for making greater changes.

Most people in Bangladesh are either somehow practicing or non practicing muslims. I have never seen any radical terrorist type of Bengalis here. In fact, the most religious ones are hippie type of people who care little about politics. …there are some athestic type of “muslims” also.

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago

To me, Pakistani academic superstars appear to have a greater proportion of peoples with relatively more East Eurasian admixture noticeably present. In other words, more stereotypically “Indian” looking people. I am assuming that is because mohajirs do relatively better in academics?

I was browsing Quora today. A lot of foolish answers in general. But what caught my attention were some popular “Pakistani looks” posts. There was a common theme.

1. Unrealistic Pakistani posts that portrayed most Pakistanis as light Pashtun and Gilgit Baltistani variants. These people would falsely claim data backs up even indic Pakistanis being 95+% West Eurasian on average, outside of Mohajirs. They would state nonsense of being descended from mostly a mix of Turks, Arabs, and Indo Aryans. They would then state Indians, besides bollywoodoid Punjabis are majority australoid and dravidian peoples.

2. Unrealistic Indians who claimed Pakistanis are identical, citing the “same country” stuff prior to partition. Some would sometimes qualify with whole of N India and Pakistan as identical because of indo aryans.

3. More realistic answers stating Indic Pakistanis, Sindhis, Punjabis, and Kashmiris look similar enough to their respective counterparts in India. Some would extend it to the whole of the Northwest India, including Rajasthan, Himachil, Western UP, Rajasthan, and occasionally Gujarat (would see this about 50% of the time, will probably decline due to Modi+Amit Shah 😉 ).

No one mentioned the effects of caste on these

DaThang
DaThang
5 years ago
Reply to  thewarlock

IDK much about Pakistani academics, but I would have assume that Sindhis or some similar population are probably the most over-represented there perhaps due to the Iran HG ancestry. At least the high Iran ancestry Baniyas are stereotyped that way. Pakistan’s only physics nobel prize came from some guy who was of Rajput descent if memory serves me correctly. Wikipedia says ‘Jat of Rajput descent’, but I am fairly certain that such a person would be genetically more like a northwestern Rajput/ Potohar Rajput (high Iran HG ancestry) than a Jat (high steppe ancestry).

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago
Reply to  DaThang

it seems like desi kids of all groups in the US, including those descended from chain migrants (assuming these weren’t selected for IQ like say H1Bs, granted many H1Bs are frauds), seem to do incredibly well in school (so well that it doesn’t just seem like hardwork). The common major component for all groups is Iran HG. Perhaps, there is something to that. Granted, I am not expert on this race IQ stuff. Also, there are too many holes probably with such a broad group. I am sure selective pressures over time for particular subgroups changed the dynamics of a lot of this.

DaThang
DaThang
5 years ago
Reply to  thewarlock

My comment was mostly in gest playing along with what you said. I don’t think that there is any one special high IQ group (be it Iran, AASI or steppe) and that skilled immigration typically selects for higher than average IQ people from a group of candidates. Even looking at chain immigration, while I don’t know much about it, I would assume that it mainly involves inviting close family members who would also have a higher than average IQ because IQ tends to correlate with relatedness/genes.

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago

any chance Jaishankar can be future PM?

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  thewarlock

Lol. He would be another Manmohan Singh. Eternally elected from Rajya sabha, without the people”s mandate. Someone who can’t win a municipality in his own home state.

The Emissary
5 years ago
Reply to  thewarlock

One can hope my friend but I can’t see him gaining mass appeal in this generation.

Need more of his types in the BJP and less of idiots like Pragya Thakur and other blabbermouths/bigots.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  thewarlock

I’d like that, but he’s not really a man who speaks to India at all. Jaishanker is the consummate globalist in word and deed, but Indians want someone more rooted to our culture and religion.

SDutta
SDutta
5 years ago

How do I get a photo avatar when commenting here? I’d love people to see my awesomely handsome face, and I think others should do that as well, even if you may not be as super hot as me!

Scorpion Eater
Scorpion Eater
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

“..partly cuz he thinks religion is bullshit..”

my point was not about religion. it is up to bdeshis to decide if they want more religion or less religion in their public life. my point is about the stifling of democracy under current regime, which is seriously troublesome.

i think sheikh hasina’s regime is playing with fire. if people think that their voices don’t matter, they will explode in anger. if chaos ensues, political islam will fill in the vaccum.

it is not a question whether AL or BNP is good for bdesh. bdesh needs a fair political ground where both parties can thrive.

the recipe to defeat political islam is to open political space for them and defeat them at the hustings. then they are left with no complaints. this is exactly how maoists were defeated in nepal. after entering mainstream politics they have turned into just another boring political party. they may theoretically be in power in nepal, but they are no different from any run of the mill party now.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  Scorpion Eater

There is something in what Razib said. Perhaps the Bengali identity is independent (enough) from Islam for Political Islam to really grow strong roots. We can see a similar case in Hindu Bengalis as well, where Hindutva hasn’t grown.

Anyway, i think post Hasina period would be time to check this hypothesis.

AnAn
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

“We can see a similar case in Hindu Bengalis as well, where Hindutva hasn’t grown.”

What do you think “Hindutva” means?

Is voting BJP connected with “Hindutva” in colloquial speech? In which case the BJP is rising in Bengal. Perhaps half or so of the muslim vote allied with the BJP in the last West Bengal election.

If this is not Hindutva, then what is? Aren’t two of the big concepts “Hindu Muslims” and “Hindu Christians”?

DaThang
DaThang
5 years ago

Any idea as to how much longer the Dzudzuana paper will be in the preprint stage?

DaThang
DaThang
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

I guess I along with other plebs like myself will have to maintain the hope for Dzudzuana coordinates becoming available for Global25/Vahaduo sometime in the (un)foreseeable future. Time to hibernate ?

kstha
kstha
5 years ago

I have been reading this block for a week now and I am not sure what it is about. Is it about race realism/ race-iq related stuff? I even saw a Bangladeshi commenter talking about eugenics seriously lol. Although I liked some of the genetics and history related stuff here, I am not sure if race realism/eugenics related things are just some inside jokes that I am too dumb to understand.

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago
Reply to  kstha

it is the hint of truth in all good humor that makes it funny 😉

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil-in-narendra-modis-india

Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi’s India

https://twitter.com/ishaantharoor/status/1201531785198391296

“I don’t write about India at the Post for perhaps obvious reasons. But it always strikes me as odd how much more attention DC pays to the behaviors of people like Erdogan, Putin, even Orban than the leader of the world’s biggest democracy

India benefits in Washington from antipathy to China and exhaustion with Pakistan. But one wonders how long that may be the case, especially if a more left-leaning administration comes to power.”

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

Meh, the Lefties have hated Modi and buddies for literally decades now. The difference is that they’re now more vocal and powerful (in America).

Foreign policy is one of those things that’s relatively divorced from other political stuff, so the angry editorializing counts for less than its exponents would like (though still a nonzero amount.)

Well, we’ll see what happens. No big deal either way, America never was a great friend to us anyways.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  H. M. Brough

To me the bigger issue is cognitive dissonance of the Americans (and the Indian-Americans) who write for this publications. Like when has “shared values” ever been an american foreign policy thing?

I feel this whole democracy-democracy talk has gone so far that people have started believing their own hype. They really feel that the real reason India and USA are close is because of “shared values” and USA should force India on its Human right records.

I actually want a left leaning USA establishment to throw down the gauntlet on this issue. It would be interesting to see how India reacts, and more so it will push the Indian Americans to choose a side.

Scorpion Eater
Scorpion Eater
5 years ago

“AGAIN NOTE THAT, I AM NOT SAYING THESE TO CRITICISE THE GOVERNMENT OR ANYONE BUT AS A NEUTRAL OBSERVER. SO PLEASE DON’T ARREST ME ?”

Bengalistani is qualifying each of his post with above mentioned disclaimer. Even if it is half in jest, it betrays a deep seated problem with bdesh’s political atmosphere. In no healthy democracy a person would need to be so much circumspect in expressing their political views. This is China level paranoia.

Not good!

Bengalistani
Bengalistani
5 years ago
Reply to  Scorpion Eater

Scorpion bro,Well there has been cases of arresting people for criticising the government and a BUET student has been recently beaten to death by the ruling party members.. I dont know if the gov is this much intolerant or not but it is better to be safe….some people i know also have similar paranoia ?

AnAn
5 years ago

Bengalistani,

Recognize that you prefer your anonymity. Would you like to contribute articles to Brown Pundits. Especially on Bangladesh? I would love to learn more.

Sheikh Hasina “IS” popular with Indian Bengalis, with the BJP and with PM Narendra Modi. In the most recent West Bengal election a majority of the muslim vote appeared to have allied with the BJP. Perhaps this explains part of the BJP embrace of Sheikh Hasina?

Sheikh Hasina is seen as an ally against Jihadis. I personally am a fan of Sheikh Hasina.

Questions:
1) Are Bangladeshis aware of these Indian dynamics?
2) What do Bangladeshis think about these Indian dynamics?
3) Do Bangadeshis favor economic integration with India?

I favor a free trade, free investment, free cross border R&D collaboration, university to university collaboration, IITs and IIMs built inside Bangladesh, freer student visas, freer day laborer visas, freer work visas, freer business visas, freer religious visas.

How do Bangladeshis feel about this?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Most people in Bangladesh are either somehow practicing or non practicing muslims. I have never seen any radical terrorist type of Bengalis here. In fact, the most religious ones are hippie type of people who care little about politics. …there are some athestic type of “muslims” also.”

Agreed. I have been given a list of enlightened Sufi Pir masters living in Bangladesh–some of them woman. Indian Bengalis (muslim and Hindu) love to visit Bangladesh and conduct business in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh could make a fortune developing and religious pilgrim circuit in Bangladesh and encouraging Indians to come.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Unlike India and other south asian countries, religious politics and identity politics are not popular enough in Bangladesh. Most Bangladeshis(including conservative muslims) despise and oppose the largest “islamist” party Jamat-i-Islami.”

I don’t think “religious politics and identity politics” are popular in India, unless I am misunderstanding your meaning.

In India there is a close connection between PM Modi, BJP and the Deobandi school (one of the largest sects of Islam . . . most but not all Afghanistan Quetta Shura Taliban are Deobandi). Would you consider this to be an example of “religious politics and identity politics”?

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Bengali muslims in UK(to my knowledge) never took part in any significant terrorist attacks.”

There are Bangla Jihadis:
https://www.brownpundits.com/2018/02/26/why-do-english-nonmuslims-treat-english-muslims-so-badly/

“Just my theory: now, UK may try to demonize Bengalis there by intentionally making Bengalis appear as terrorism-prone because it will ultimately benefit UK (in controlling non-white immigration,promoting right wingers,lessening immigrants and muslims etc. )”

Many English nonmuslims back Islamists and conservative Sunnis against moderate muslims. Many appear to be jealous of the rise of the rest, especially the rise of their “darkie” former colonies, and perhaps appear to wish to sabotage them out of spite? Sadly nonmuslim english people are greatly harming themselves in the process. Talk about lose lose self destructive tendencies.

“Remember, religion is never the main issue but a tool for making greater changes.”

How do you define “religion”?

AnAn
5 years ago

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil-in-narendra-modis-india

Wow, what a complete hit piece. Obviously much or most of it is made up propaganda.

Would there be interest in interviewing Sham Sharma to discuss this?:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0kMbzhUYV2lhIV7xoWhoA/videos

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

absolutely. but liberals will lap it up.

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

The piece is incredibly well researched, has circulated extremely widely, and receiving near universal acclaim.

What specifically do you believe is, “made up propaganda”?

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

Leaving aside the Modi/Shah stuff for now, I think it’s fair to say that the material on Kashmir and Ram Mandir presents a simplified and partisan summary of two complex affairs.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  H. M. Brough

I think another issue is that most Indian people just don’t care much about the content of the article wrt Modi/Shah. At this point it has been almost two decades since Godhra and Sohrabuddin Sheikh. People have made up their minds one way or another and moved on.

Filkins presents Ayyub’s opinions to an American audience as revelations. But most Indians have other stuff on their minds.

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

I’ll save you time and summarize what the “in-depth critiques” are looking like so far:

– Anything said by a Muslim is Islamist lies. Anything said by a European is Marxist lies. Anything said by an educated Indian can be dismissed as post-colonial elitist nonsense.
– Anything said that contradicts what the Indian government says is by definition a lie, full stop.
– Any substantive criticism of India can be traced back to either Pakistan ISI funding, or the ever lurking international Islamist-Liberal plot to slander India.
– Any discussion of India that does not headline the mythological “Pandit genocide” or largely imagined “1000 years of Hindu Slavery under Islam” can be dismissed as too “one-sided” to even read.

Ultimately most Modi supporters don’t care what he does. He could sleep with their mother, it wouldn’t change anything. The Hindu-right has tapped into what could reasonably be described as the Incels of India, whose otherwise insufferable lives have been animated with purpose by this ideology. An attack on Modi is an attack on what they find meaningful about life itself.

Similar dynamics are seen in white-nationalist and Jihadists.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

It’s the usual derp. It’s basically a variant of the same piece New Yorker has been putting out for months –> years now though.

Not sure how much ground it will gain for the anti-India crowd. Of course, most Americans don’t know *where* India is, and most Indians don’t know *what* New York is, so it won’t move the needle too much I think.

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  H. M. Brough

“Its the usual the derp”

Okay but what specficially is incorrect? Hindu Nationalists keep saying stuff like, “its garbage, its made up, etc” but can’t give specifics.

Kabir
5 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

“The New Yorker” is a world-renowned publication and not in the habit of publishing “propaganda”. Just because something contradicts the Hindu Nationalist worldview doesn’t make it false.

Kabir
Kabir
5 years ago
Reply to  Razib Khan

The point is that “The New Yorker” has a high reputation and would not risk that with making things up. Certainly something that is published in a well-reputed magazine is more credible than random blog comments by Internet Hindus. Throwing around the charge of “propaganda” because something goes against the Hindutva worldview is unwarranted.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  Kabir

Just feel that u two fought on the opposite side in Pak-Bangladesh war in 71 in ur previous lives. 😛

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago

Kamala is out, while Tulsi is here!

Real Indian > Fake Indian!

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  H. M. Brough

LOL, i think then we are going 2 see a lot of “fake” Indians over the next few years on US poltical scene.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

Tbh Kamala spent all her time presenting herself as a Baptist African, I don’t think she even wanted to be Indian.

Roma Bhatt
Roma Bhatt
5 years ago

Kamala and Tulsi are not Indians. Kamala has Indian heriatge or immigrant mother and Tulsi is practicing hinduism/ vaishnavism and backed by Indian nationialist

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  Roma Bhatt

Hindu Nationalists believe Indian and Hindu are synonyms.

In their world, a white guy who converts to Hinduism in his 40’s is more Indian than a Marathi-speaking Muslim/Christian with ancestry in the region going back thousands of years.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  INDTHINGS

In South Asia, (not just India), religion has an ethnic and civilizational valence. That’s just how the world works, don’t shoot the messenger.

AnAn
5 years ago
Reply to  INDTHINGS

A Marathi speaking Sufi (not many Marathi Shiites that I know about) who honors and reveres the Marathi speaking Sufi Pir Janardan Swami, Pir Shirdi Sai Baba, Pir Hazrat Babajan, or Pir Tajuddin Muhammad Badruddin would be warmly accepted. So would a Marathi Chistie or Qadiriyya.

So would a caucasian who lives in Europe who joins the Chistie or Qadiriyya. In the city I live in there are “MANY” caucasian Sufis. Said caucasian Sufi would be even more celebrated if he/she were a good kirtan bhajan singer or instrumentalist.

The RSS, VHP and BJP de facto favor the Sufi and Shia over the stereotypical conservative Sunni male.

A serious question to all Brown Pundit readers. Who would prefer to live in a conservative Sunni stronghold versus a Sufi or Shia stronghold? Many of my family and friends have grown up in Shia Sufi neighborhoods. Nice neighborhoods for nonmuslims to live in.

AnAn
5 years ago

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/12/09/blood-and-soil-in-narendra-modis-india

Brown Pundits Podcast is tentatively trying to schedule a podcast on this Filkins article with Sham Sharma:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0kMbzhUYV2lhIV7xoWhoA/videos

Can readers please send in questions they would like asked to Sham?

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  AnAn

Sham Sharma oh my goodness ?

Over/Under on how many times the legendary “Pandit Genocide” is referenced? 10, 15 maybe?

Also, somebody please bring up the Aryan Migrations if you really want to see him short-circuit.

Kabir
Kabir
5 years ago
Reply to  INDTHINGS

Amazing how Hindu nationalists can only deal with the cognitive dissonance that this “New Yorker” article has caused them by declaring it to be “propaganda”.

You don’t have to agree with everything in the article but at least rebut it based on facts rather than accusing the reporter of making things up. Personally, a mainstream publication like “The New Yorker” will always be more credible than a random internet commenter.

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  Kabir

The ones who honestly believe its propaganda are literally too stupid to convince otherwise. This constitutes probably 80% of the Hindu-Right. You can try and reason with them all you want, but you’d have better luck trying to teach a door-knob how to do Algebra.

The other 20%, what we’ll call the “brains” of the operation, know its true, and secretly take pride in it. The murder, rape, and repression are distasteful certainly, but necessary tools for Hindus to restore their civilizational honor and masculinity. Of course, they don’t have
(yet) the political strength or personal courage to admit this openly, so pay lip-service to denying the charges, but its very half-hearted, as you’ve seen on this blog. Vague assertions of propaganda, with little interest in getting into the details.

Say what you want about Jihadists, but at least they are open about their beliefs and intentions.

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  INDTHINGS

“You don’t have to agree with everything in the article but at least rebut it based on facts rather than accusing the reporter of making things up”

https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sc-rejects-ngo-s-plea-for-further-probe-in-haren-pandya-case-slaps-rs-50k-fine-119070501462_1.html

“Referring to the Ayyub’s book “Gujarat Files Anatomy of a coverup”, the bench said, “The Book by Rana Ayyub is of no utility. It is based upon surmises, conjectures, and suppositions and has no evidentiary value”.

“The opinion of a person is not in the realm of the evidence. There is a likelihood of the same being politically motivated, cannot be ruled out. The way in which the things have moved in Gujarat post-Godhra incident, such allegations and counter-allegations are not uncommon and had been raised a number of times and have been found to be untenable and afterthought,” it said.”

How;s this for fact?

INDTHINGS
INDTHINGS
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

See my above comment, specifically the section, “Anything said that contradicts what the Indian government says is by definition a lie, full stop.”

Ayyub’s work, including the Gujarat Files, have been lauded internationally as some of the best investigative journalism seen in recent years. The stories are built on facts; recorded calls, witness and expert testimony, and more importantly, paying attention. For example, tracing the ever growing list of people who turn up dead after endangering the political careers of prominent BJP members.

But of course, none of this matters right, because India’s government has stated that Ayyub’s work is false ?

See my other comment above. 80% of Hindu Nationalists are dumb enough to think this is a good argument, and therefore, likely too dumb to be reasoned out of it. The other 20% know this defense is nonsense, but are content to troll the public by repeating it until the day they are strong enough that they no longer have to.

Numinous
Numinous
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

Saurav,

The criticisms I have seen of the article from Indians all seem to revolve around Rana Ayyub’s credibility (or lack of it). I donn’t know anything about her and her background other than what I saw in the article, so can you tell me why the Indian right wing hates her so much? And why is she not believable? Was she proven to be a dissembler/obfuscator in the past?

On Modi’s and Shah’s culpability for any crimes they may have committed, my understanding was always that courts ultimately acquitted them for lack of evidence (mostly hearsay, some witnesses “died”, others backed out). Is that accurate, or was there conclusive evidence to exonerate them?

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago
Reply to  Saurav

“The criticisms I have seen of the article from Indians all seem to revolve around Rana Ayyub’s credibility (or lack of it).”

The article i linked is from the Indian supreme court on Rana and not the Indian govt. I would also say that lot of liberal folks in India have an exaggerated sense of their importance . It helps the BJP too since they can portray themselves as under dog who everyone (west, liberals, muslims) have ganged up against, while cultivating the numerically superior “others”

Rana’s book actually doesn;t cover Modi-2002 , but an entirely separate event , that is “encounter” killings under Amit Shah. in Gujarat. That case mostly ran under previous Congress regime, who we all know were great admirers of Mr Shah. Or i would say a bit less than how much BJP admires Nehru.

H. M. Brough
H. M. Brough
5 years ago

Normal Brain: Kamala lost because she’s not a compelling candidate

Expanding Brain: Kamala lost because of media predilections

Galaxy Brain: Kamala lost because Democratic primary voters are “white supremacists”

Guess which explanation some Blue Checks are settling on?

Saurav
Saurav
5 years ago

“You don’t have to agree with everything in the article but at least rebut it based on facts rather than accusing the reporter of making things up”

https://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/sc-rejects-ngo-s-plea-for-further-probe-in-haren-pandya-case-slaps-rs-50k-fine-119070501462_1.html

“Referring to the Ayyub’s book “Gujarat Files Anatomy of a coverup”, the bench said, “The Book by Rana Ayyub is of no utility. It is based upon surmises, conjectures, and suppositions and has no evidentiary value”.

“The opinion of a person is not in the realm of the evidence. There is a likelihood of the same being politically motivated, cannot be ruled out. The way in which the things have moved in Gujarat post-Godhra incident, such allegations and counter-allegations are not uncommon and had been raised a number of times and have been found to be untenable and afterthought,” it said.”

How;s this for fact?

Numinous
Numinous
5 years ago

I’d like to think Kamala Harris eventually lost traction because voters saw through her plainly dishonest attack on Biden for opposing busing back in the day, but I suspect the reasons were different.

It seems one of her most challenging moments came when Gabbard accused her of being too tough as a prosecutor in her past career. Ordinarily, being tough as a prosecutor ought to be a plus in the minds of voters unless there was proven malfeasance. But this shows where the Dems are right now. Gabbard going ultra-left to attack a phony leftie.

Overall, Biden seems to be the best on the issues at least (moderate on most issues though he’s tacking left for the primaries, supporter of free trade and globalization generally.) But he looks really OLD!
Warren or Sanders: the horror!
Not exactly sure what the Butt guy’s pitch is as I haven’t been following the race closely.

H.M. Brough
H.M. Brough
5 years ago
Reply to  Numinous

Buttigieg’s USP is that hes a young, future-facing dudebro, unlike the decrepit gerontocrats that make up the rest of the candidates.

He’s also got a solid ground game in Iowa from what I’ve heard.

Past that I can’t say.

Ruthvik
Ruthvik
5 years ago

Was shocked watching the similarities between Korean and Tamil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lPUyyR2lNg

Milan Todorovic
Milan Todorovic
5 years ago
thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago

I did 23&me

My maternal group is officially K1a (West Eurasian and share with Katie Couric and Stephen Colbert). My paternal is H-Z5882 (indigenous).

81% N Indian,Pakistani,and Central Asian (Gujarat, Maharasthra, and Rajasthan were main regions).

6.2% southern S Asian

4.8% Southern Indian subgroup

6.7% broadly South and Central asian

May the sky father smile upon you. May the sky mother bless you. Jai shree ameen.

sbarrkum
5 years ago

Sri Lanka ??ruled the Track & Field events in the South Asian Games 2019 winning 15 Gold ?Medals, followed by India (13), Pakistan (4), Nepal (3) & Maldives (1).

AASI abilities I presume

All events
India 140 medals (population 1 billion)
Sri Lanka 131 medals (population 20 million)
Nepal 107 medals (population 23 million)
Pakistan 68
BDesh 60

Son Goku
Son Goku
5 years ago
Reply to  sbarrkum

I’m more impressed by Nepal, in the 2016 edition they got 60 medals total but in this edition already 158. Perhaps due to the East Asian gene.
Bangladesh as usual not good at sports, one of the gold medalist is Chakma. The 1% tribal population in Bangladesh is far better in sports than Bengalis, 13% is not enough east Asian in Bengalis to boost their performances lol.
It seems more AASI or more East Asain = Better abilities in sports.
Iran HG/Steppe genes are useful only in Cricket, a legacy left by another west Eurasian, i.e. British ?

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago

india sucked per capita wtf

thewarlock
thewarlock
5 years ago

https://qr.ae/TZbGSn

Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Brown Pundits