Author: X.T.M

Love Jihad Zohran

Congrats to Furan who was mentioned in this Five lessons for India’s Opposition from Zohran Mamdani’s triumph.

Born a Shia Muslim, he spoke to the Indian Eye of being raised in an interfaith family. “My mother’s side of the family is Hindu” he said, “and I grew up celebrating Diwali, Holi and Raksha Bandhan. Though I identify as Muslim, these Hindu traditions and practices have shaped my worldview…” His mother named him Zohran, which means the first star in the sky.

Zohran does seem to be a product of Love Jihad.

 

Free Speech

Free speech is inviolable, and unfortunately I can not restore the deleted thread (it’s been deleted from archives).

The notion that criticism of Pakistan, or of any country, should be off-limits on this platform contradicts everything Brown Pundits stands for. It is always better to err on the side of liberty than against it.

I am weary of the threats and emotional blackmail that appear whenever freedom is exercised. BP will continue to stand, whatever exoduses may come.

The Broken Compact

Why the India, and American, Dream No Longer Holds

It was Dr V’s birthday this weekend, and we found ourselves in the Great English countryside; those great undulating fields and hedgerows that still whisper of an older order. There’s something about England’s pastoral stillness that throws modern anxiety into relief. The calm of inherited hierarchy, the sense that everything has already been decided, makes you think of those of us who were told that nothing was fixed, that we could climb forever if we just kept studying, working and performing.

The Dreams Continue reading The Broken Compact

Islam the Religion of Peace part ii

Samir Zitouni, a 48-year-old rail worker, is in critical condition after stepping between a knife-wielding attacker and passengers on a Doncaster–London train. Witnesses say he blocked the assailant from stabbing a girl and was slashed across the head and neck.

He has worked for LNER for more than twenty years. His managers call his actions “nothing short of heroic.” The attacker, Anthony Williams, has been charged with ten counts of attempted murder.

A Muslim man (most likely Algerian origin) from the Midlands saw people in danger and acted without hesitation.

Train hero who saved passengers during attack named

 

Open Thread

The boycott has made Brown Pundits quieter, almost peaceful. I don’t mind it. Every few years the site reaches this point; it grows, gains noise, and starts to feel less like a hobby and more like an obligation. Then it falls back to something smaller and saner.

I’ve also realised that the Indo-Pak frame doesn’t really fit my life anymore. It was useful once because that’s where the conversation was; it gave the blog an audience. But most of that talk is stale now; the same arguments, just louder.

What interests me instead are the wider patterns: how post-colonial societies move in a world that is no longer unipolar. The Gulf’s rise, Africa’s experiments, China’s reach, India’s own breadth. How old hierarchies break down, and new ones form.

I don’t like following the news. So perhaps BP will drift in that direction. Fewer posts, less noise, more reflection. A space for thinking about what comes after the post-colonial age, when the world starts to finally balance itself again.

Caste, Civilisation, and the Courage to Own It

Kabir suggested that I apologise but for what, exactly? Why should Saffroniate be considered offensive? Own it. I don’t see anything inherently wrong with the idea of Akhand Bharat; the concept of a broader Dharmic civilisation makes eminent sense to me.

Likewise, I don’t understand why questioning caste identities provokes such sensitivity. Again, own it because the more caste is repressed, the more likely it is to resurface.

At heart, I’m a reformist, not a revolutionary. I believe in improving and refining what exists, not erasing it. Cultural features should only be abolished when they are truly harmful or deleterious, not simply because they make us uncomfortable.

To be or not to be (Capricious)

The November circular was emailed earlier to all various stakeholders of BP. This will be sticky for a short period as unfortunately publishing all the drafts has pushed the current posts much further down.

You may also use this thread as an unmoderated Open Threads. Topics of interest include JD Vance’s comments, the stabbing in the UK by asylum seekers (presumably), and any other interest. I would suggest everyone engage with the email, after the jump; if you have been emailed it privately, I do expect private replies as well.

Continue reading To be or not to be (Capricious)

The Hidden Migrations of Bahá’ís in Northern Iran: Ayyám-i-Há Reflections

Today marks the beginning of Ayyám-i-Há, a time of generosity, renewal, and joy in the Bahá’í calendar. While speaking in Farsi with a local Bahá’í friend in the Boston-Cambridge area, she mentioned she was born in Gonbad-e-Kavus, a town near the Turkmenistan border. I had never heard of it before, but as we spoke, the connections began to form.

The UNESCO Gonbad-e-Qabus (Tower of Qabus)

A Lost Bahá’í Connection

Just across the border in Turkmenistan (then part of the Russian Empire) lies Ashqabad, one of the earliest Bahá’í settlements—a city where, in the 1920s, Bahá’ís openly practiced their faith, established institutions, and flourished.

But what struck me was that this Bahá’í woman had roots in Semnan Province, a region historically associated with the Faith. How did her family end up in Gonbad, a town that, in my ignorance, had no known Bahá’í presence?

Her answer unveiled a hidden chapter of Bahá’í migration—one that reflected centuries of adaptation, resilience, and survival in the face of persecution.

Continue reading The Hidden Migrations of Bahá’ís in Northern Iran: Ayyám-i-Há Reflections

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