Yesterday we went for lunch with some friends and rather randomly the husband engaged Vidhi on the merits/demerits of colonialism. I also had a commentator somehow bring up that I’m unfairly blaming the English for South Asia’s problems. My point being is that the new counter-narrative is that the English seem to have done us … Continue reading How have the English paid for imperialism/colonialism?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-26/dozens-killed-from-tunisia-to-france-on-caliphate-anniversary Of course the collapse of the colonial order (itself built upon the collapse of the Ottoman empire) is key here. Most Arab countries were spectacularly unsuccessful in creating a consistent metanarrative that justified their own existence AS countries. In fact, most of them taught their newly schooled populations about Arab nationalism or Islamic nationalism (or both), both of … Continue reading Farewell Sykes-Picot. You will be much missed..
The latest Islamist-terrorist atrocity hit the city of Brussels. The attackers no doubt think they are about to meet their 72 virgins. I have nothing new to say about this, but am posting excerpts from two previous posts (one written after the Paris attacks, the second after the San Bernadino attack) that may shed some … Continue reading Islamist Terrorism versus Western Civ. Some Random Thoughts
I just read a short but very thought provoking article by Will Dalrymple in the Spectator website (https://spectator.us/algeria-current-colonization/). Some people may find the article a bit off-character from Dalrymple because here he provides a critique of all sort of colonialism and imperialism in history, including Muslim. Anyway, there are several interesting points in the article … Continue reading Settler Colonialism and Permanent Settlement
Disclaimer: As this post deals with an academic discussion on the Swastika symbol, I have included various images containing Swastika below. If you are repulsed by the symbol or do not like to look at it, please consider yourself warned. Also, for the same reason, this post is NSFW. Growing up in India, I had … Continue reading Whatās in a name? That which we call a Swastika, isn’t exactly a symbol of hate
Iāve been busy, but I canāt shake the feeling that weāre living through the beginning of a new world. It was acute with the SCO summit; not just through the headlines, but the atmospherics. The handshakes, the body language, the ease. Itās the kind of thing that barely registered in Western media, but Modiās presence, … Continue reading Trump Has Birthed Eurasia
First, a brief acknowledgment: Kabir remains one of the pillars of this blog. His consistency, depth, and willingness to engage with the hardest questions are invaluable. I donāt always agree with himābut the conversation would be much poorer without his voice. The post is a series of reflectionsāstitched together from the comment threads. I. Gaza: … Continue reading Resistance, Realignment, and the Roads Not Taken
Hot Off the Press: This isnāt a political endorsement; rather, itās a reflection on an epoch-turning moment in history. Tl;dr: This is Trumpās America or rather more prosaically Trump has triumphed. 300 Electoral Seats and winning the popular vote by a margin of 5mm | Control of the Senate, House, Supreme Court & Majority of … Continue reading This is Trumpās America: An Unprecedented Electoral Sweep
Across India, discussions about demographics are charged with questions of destiny and identity. In the Hindi belt, particularly in UP and Bihar, the focus often turns to birth rates between Hindus and Muslims, a dynamic sometimes referred to as a “cradle race.” This term reflects deeper concerns about societal balance, yet paradoxically, it also influences … Continue reading Demographic Destiny: Power and Identity in India
Carl Sagan famously said that you have to know the past to understand the present. As the inheritors of the DhÄrmika civilization, to understand the present, we must go back to where it all began ā MÅ«lasthÄna, a place we are guilty of forgetting. An Old Fort of Dharma The origin of the great BhÄratÄ«ya … Continue reading Dharma in the BhÄratÄ«ya Frontier – Multan
