A long essay by Brooklyn philosopher Samir Chopra on the Hindutvadi school (not necessarily their term, or his) of Rajiv Malhotra and Balagangadhara and friends. Excerpt: “As the historian Satadru Sen pointed out to me in conversation, there are two broad points that run counter to the kind of gaze reversal Balagangadhara and Malhotra attempt. … Continue reading Indian Studies; Reversing the Metropolitan Gaze
An awful lot can be said about the India-Pakistan conflict and what is said is heavily dependent on how the writer sees the world and what he or she wants it to become. Now that the latest round of proposed “National Security Adviser Talks” has fizzled, a lot is being said about who is to … Continue reading Pakistan and India. The Long View
On August 20 1971 Flight Lt Mati ur Rahman and Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas died in the crash of a T-33 jet trainer near the Sindh coastline, 32 miles on the Pakistani side of the border with India. BOTH pilots were awarded the highest gallantry award available. Pakistan awarded the Nishan e Haider to Pilot … Continue reading Pilot Officer Rashid Minhas Shaheed and Flt Lt Mati ur Rahman Shaheed. Heroes.
An old post from Dr Hamid Hussain. Reposting here to save it for future reference. Lest We Forget Hamid Hussain Pakistan and India are now seen through the prism of mutual hostility. However, armies of both countries share a common heritage. During the Raj, an amazing feat was achieved when a fine army consisting of … Continue reading The (British) Indian Army’s Legacy in India and Pakistan
I was away on vacation so this is a bit late. But better late than never. (from friend Robin Khundkar) Patricia Crone co-authored a controversial work on early Islam called “Hagarism – making of the Islamic World” which she later conceded had serious problems and with drew from publication, Never the less she was a … Continue reading Patricia Crone. Scholar of Islam
(Trigger warning: this post includes words and images) PEN American Center decided to honor the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo with an award for the magazine’s courage in standing up for free speech. This is an award for courage in the face of censorship; a free speech award. It was meant to recognize the fact … Continue reading An Embarrassment at PEN
From Dr Hamid Hussain: Pakistan and Arab World: Security Cooperation Hamid Hussain “The desire to gain an immediate selfish advantage always imperils their ultimate interests. If they recognize this fact, they usually recognize it too late”. Reinhold Niebuhr There is long history of security relations between Pakistan and several Arab countries. In 1970s and … Continue reading Arab-Pakistani Security Cooperation
This is an old post and I would probably change some things now (and in fact, will change some things soon once I do a new post) But this was lost when the old Brownpundits crashed and I wanted to recover it. So here it isPosted on October 7, 2013 by omar Hussein Ibish has … Continue reading End of the Muslim Brotherhood
As usual, a post from Hamid Hussein, this time about the British Indian army in East Africa, with some comments about “all Muslim regiments’ and neo-orientalist claptrap about the Pakhtoons and the British. Enjoy. Omar Major ® Agha H. Amin; an authority on history of subcontinent armies sent a reminder about 129th Baluchistan Infantry in E. … Continue reading Indian Troops in East Africa
I just picked this out of a past post about the cruel blasphemy execution (by being burned alive) of a Christian couple in Pakistan. I am posting this here because blasphemy is in the news again and I cannot count the number of times someone has managed to say “colonial era blasphemy laws in Pakistan” … Continue reading Blasphemy, blasphemy laws, Pakistan, Charlie Hebdo..
