Shafiq R

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Muslims and Islamophobia

The author argues Muslims care more about Islam than Muslims, so cling to ‘Islamophobia’ rather than ‘Muslimophobia’, and claims that after Christchurch Muslim commentators mainly want to ban criticism of…

Shafiq R17 March 201976 comments
India Election 2019 Thread

Open thread on the 2019 Indian general election, due to begin on 11 April. The poster notes polls suggesting BJP gains since the clash with Pakistan, cites a Times Now–VMR…

Shafiq R3 April 201962 comments
Back to Bangladesh after five years- Part 1

The first part of a first-hand account of returning to Bangladesh after five years. The author finds Dhaka’s air and heat punishing, but sees cleaner, better maintained streets, more organised…

Shafiq R22 May 201945 comments
Land of Devis and Ma-Jananis

Angry at claims that South Asian culture respects women, the poster reproduces a Guardian report on a Lancet study finding India accounts for 36.6% of global female suicides, blamed on…

Shafiq R15 September 201828 comments
A quick reaction to Indian Election

In a Dhaka Tribune op-ed, the author argues that Modi’s re-election reflects a global wave of right-wing populist nationalism, borrowing Omar Ali’s thesis that Islam is the rock on which…

Shafiq R25 May 201925 comments
Muslim-American personalities and political polarization – part 1

In the first part of a long post, the author discusses Muslims in American public life, comparing how Barack Obama and John F. Kennedy broke barriers for African Americans and…

Shafiq R2 August 201924 comments
A Profile in Courage

A Reuters report on secular independent candidate Jibran Nasir, whose Karachi election meetings were disrupted by religious hardliners; the poster adds only that he feels humbled by Nasir’s courage.

Shafiq R24 July 201823 comments
An apology to Brown Pundits

The author apologises to Brown Pundits and Omar Ali for not naming them in a Dhaka Tribune election-reaction article that spread widely, explaining that he wrote for Bangladeshi readers and…

Shafiq R27 May 201918 comments
American Muslims and Kamala Harris

The author wonders how American Muslims will regard Kamala Harris’s presidential run, noting that some Muslim media figures, such as Mehdi Hasan, have turned on her quickly. He suggests that…

Shafiq R29 January 201918 comments
Imran Khan in DC

Noting that some 30,000 Pakistani Americans gathered in Washington to hear Imran Khan, the author asks why a leader facing economic crisis draws such crowds when Bangladesh is doing better,…

Shafiq R22 July 201917 comments
An Interview on Bangladesh Street Protests

Posts a transcript and video of an interview on Bangladesh’s street protests, in which the interviewee says they go well beyond road safety, citing an unelected government, repression and armed…

Shafiq R10 August 201814 comments
Bangladesh, economy and politics in imbalance

Written before the 30 December 2018 election, this piece argues that only a gambler would bet against Sheikh Hasina’s government returning, citing a decade of growth above six per cent…

Shafiq R13 January 201913 comments
Back to Bangladesh after five years- Part 2

The author, back in Bangladesh after five years, describes village changes seen on rural trips: more trees, ponds used for fish, year-round cultivation and new transport, which he takes as…

Shafiq R7 June 201912 comments
Settler Colonialism and Permanent Settlement

Quoting a Spectator article by Dalrymple, the author finds striking its claim that Cornwallis’s ban on British land ownership prevented a settler class, which explains why decolonisation in 1947 cost…

Shafiq R5 September 20190 comments
They make Nazis look good

A comment on the New Yorker’s withdrawal of Steve Bannon’s debate invitation, noting that most objectors opposed debating white ethno-nationalism itself rather than the platform.

Shafiq R6 September 20180 comments
HINDU-MUSLIM CONFLICT IN INDIA: A “PRE-COLONIAL” VIEW

Introduces political scientist Ajay Verghese’s argument that communal violence maps onto former princely states, and begins to say the author finds colonial studies infantilising; the post breaks off early.

Shafiq R30 May 20180 comments