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Showing posts from February, 2004
Attack on Professor Humayun Azad – a Twisty Forewarning? By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 28, 2004 How to contemplate on the vicious attack on Bangladeshi Professor Humayun Azad? Several minutes passed by. And several hours are gone. Only things come into mind are expletives detesting the maddening profanity engulfing our world, not to be written for the civil consumption. The horrific images published in several Bangladeshi newspapers, showing the blood soaked shirt, the deep wounds in his left jaw, dazedly walking, still conscious, but looked in pain. Professor Humayun Azad is fighting for his life in Combined Military Hospital. Professor Humayun Azad is unconscious; his blood seeped through his shirt, heartbeat unstable, for expressing views against communalism and fundamentalism’s resurrection. What is happening in Bangladesh? A nation born out from the oppression and colonialism filled past, fought a gruesome battle against sadistic subjugation, a p
The Wall Quandary By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 23, 2004 The International Court has begun the proceedings on the litigious wall issue between the Palestinians and the Israeli government on February 23rd of this year. Israel claims that the wall is for protecting innocent Israeli civilians from the Palestinian suicide bombers, and they gravely point in the direction of last weekend’s bomb blast in Jerusalem. Their position is understandable. Protecting a nation’s civilians from terrorism does have merit. However, the construction of wall in Israel exposes a stunningly different image than the bureaucrats of Ariel Sharon’s Government wish the world to reckon. In many cases Israel indicates that the security wall already in place along with other heightened security measures are working, the number of suicide bombings has come down considerably than its previous high average. According to Washington Times editorial: “In the spring of 2002, when Israel began build
Russian Grizzly Politics and Chechnya By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) February 22, 2004 Chilly Russian Politics Russian winter is bitter. Severe wind-chill cut through flesh and bones and piles of snow cover streets, roofs and trees. While the winter may last a few more months or weeks, which is already in fazing out period for this year, Russian politics is gearing toward more cold and chilly wind. When the Berlin Wall collapsed more than a decade ago, the old Gorbachev’s Perestroika was in the headline news, and the vigilant Yeltsin brandishing democratic flags in between his drunken stupors, there was hope in the beginning, amidst the starved Russians and also the cold-war threatened the rest of the world, that possibly a better future awaited the Russians, democracy might get its hold on Russia for the betterment of the entire population. It did not work out quiet that way. In the recent days, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s turning away from the cogent democra
Will Climate Change Destroy the World? Dear Readers, Please read the attached news article published in Great Britain’s The Observer newspaper. It is about the climate change and the imminent threat it possesses to our world, the global catastrophe it predicts is shocking. This is an election year in the United States and we must be careful in separating hyped up news for the cheap political gain from the one that has real values. There sure will be heads rolled reading this piece, especially, powerful people from all sides will come forward, denouncing or agreeing with this report, or showing no emotion at all. “Secret Pentagon Report” – it has that sheepish attractive force, the magnetic way pulling peoples toward the news, now the question is how authentic this report is. It predicts, “abrupt climate change could bring the planet to the edge of anarchy as countries develop a nuclear threat to defend and secure dwindling food, water and energy supplies. The threat
The Failing Light -- Despair of a Poet Dear Readers, This long essay, The Failing Light, published in the Washington Post, is profoundly sad, and I find it is written with sincerity. Poet Reetika Vazirani’s life, so suddenly ended in painful suicide, and her taking the life of her own two-year old son along with her, is disconcerting, but perhaps not so atypical in our world where creative artists or poets and writers, emerging ones like Reetika and many others, find it disheartening in coping with the harsh reality, economic struggles and not fulfilling one’s long cherished dream of becoming a successful and recognized writer. Also, this is a story of an immigrant, though a “1.5 generation”, Reetika found it not easy in integrating with her adopted place, and she perhaps felt not harmonized with her birthplace India either. Possibly, the immigrant diasporas amongst us could relate to her feelings. Being an immigrant, I feel deeply saddened reading this essay, her str