“IF you want to study cultural syncretism, you need to go to Bangladesh,” historian Mushirul Hasan told me during a freewheeling conversation many years ago. The idea stuck. Much later came the urge to write India’s migration story. So long we had only listened to the expats’ tales of love and longing for home. Are there people here harking back in their evening ghettos to lost sounds and smells from their native land? The question led me to discover Bangladeshi migrants. The story with its branches and roots grew ambitiously in my mind. Then one day in 2010, I took a plane to Dhaka. I had already contacted Ataur Rahman, a senior journalist there. I was off to see the migrants’ backstory and also the liminality of faiths as folk culture.
Inside the press club, the mood was decidedly nonconformist. When I asked about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, someone remarked that though firmly in the saddle, she was overlooking corruption by the Awami League functionaries and encouraging nepotism. “But her pro-poor programmes are popular.’’ At that point, perhaps Hasina herself did not know the danger of riding roughshod over democratic values and aspirations, that political stability was inalienably linked to the art of accommodating dissent.
This story is from the December 21, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the December 21, 2024 edition of Outlook.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Nomadland
All eyes are on President-elect Donald Trump and his policy on immigration
Far from Home
We have forgotten the plight of Afghans who fled to India, and continue to suffer
Bang Bang That Awful Sound
What happens when we listen closely to the soundscape of war?
Refugee Dilemma
For most Indian-origin Sri Lankan Tamils, who are victims of ethnic conflict and civil war, proving that they are not illegal migrants is a nearly impossible task
They Poured Fire on Us
The resilience of refugee women from Sudan, Ethiopia and Yemen in the face of war and displacement is remarkable
The Sound and the Fury
Iraqi poet, novelist, translator and scholar Sinan Antoon was born and raised in Baghdad.
The Day I Became a Woman
In a country where authorities have been directly engaging in the gruesome war against women for decades, artists like Nahid Hassanzadeh stand apart as a voice of dissent–a haunting reminder of the unwavering spirit of the rebellious Iranian women fighting against the Islamic Republic’s violent crackdown.
The Kite Runner
The official figure of civilian deaths in Afghanistan is a serious underestimate. It is unlikely that we will ever know the real cost of Afghan lives
American Patriot
Barring a few exceptions, Hollywood movies continue to be gung-ho about the United States' penchant for waging wars across the globe
The Hunters
How can Bangladesh's fractured society, burdened by layers of trauma, begin to heal?
