Yearly Archives: 2009

9/11 Suicide Hijackers. Risen from the dead

by Shahidul Alam Posted on December 30, 2009

by Rahnuma Ahmed “Curiouser and curiouser!” Cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English). – Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland (1865) It’s old news. So, why bother writing about … Continue reading →

Posted in Global Issues, Media issues, People, Rahnuma Ahmed | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The West’s Immortal `Terrorist’

by Shahidul Alam Posted on December 22, 2009

By Rahnuma Ahmed Who else…, but Osama bin Laden? He’s alive. Not only in the western imagination which needs an unlimited supply of bogeymen as its alter. To create and re-create myths of its innocence which serve to justify the … Continue reading →

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In response to `Smoking gun abused for smokescreen’

by Shahidul Alam Posted on December 22, 2009

By Rahnuma Ahmed As a New Age columnist, I was thinking of writing about the controversy surrounding the Tibet exhibition (Into Exile. Tibet 1949 – 2009, November 1-7) for my next column. My dear Maobadi friend, Tarek Chowdhury’s piece, which … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangladesh, Governance, Rahnuma Ahmed, World | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

IMPERIAL COWARDICE: Remote control killing in Pakistan

by Shahidul Alam Posted on December 9, 2009

by Rahnuma Ahmed WAR is, said Major General Smedley Butler, twice-recipient of the Medal of Honour (1914, 1915), ‘a racket’. He had seen it from close(st) quarters and had turned into an outspoken critic of the US military-industrial complex. Describing what … Continue reading →

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China-US Politics over Exhibiting Tibet. In Dhaka

by Shahidul Alam Posted on November 22, 2009

By Rahnuma Ahmed Writer and translator Tarek Omar Chowdhury, a committed Maobadi and a dear friend, was deeply worried. `Of course I do not support what happened, although I must admit I look at it  differently.’ He was referring to … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangladesh, Global Issues, Photography, Photojournalism, Rahnuma Ahmed | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Coping With Life

by Shahidul Alam Posted on November 17, 2009

Practical session under a banyan tree on the banks of the river Mahananda, Chapainawabgonj. © Reza/Drik “Kamera tulen”. Elsewhere, one would think a hundred times before pointing a camera. Permission, legality, issues of representation, all came into play. In any … Continue reading →

Posted in Bangladesh, Photography | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

RAB’s Photo Sessions and the Visual Construction of Criminality

by Shahidul Alam Posted on November 16, 2009

By Rahnuma Ahmed The title of my column is somewhat misleading, I think it’s best to state that right away. Intrigued by the press briefings that RAB (Rapid Action Battalion) offices hold every so often where `criminals’ are displayed alongwith … Continue reading →

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Doctoral Complicity in State Terror

by Shahidul Alam Posted on November 11, 2009

By rahnuma ahmed I take liberties with English language as I write “doctoral” to indicate the complicity of doctors and hospitals, both public and privately-owned ones, in short, the Bangladesh medical establishment’s actions which aid and abet state functionaries who … Continue reading →

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Bargaining With A Six Year Old

by Shahidul Alam Posted on November 4, 2009

By Jeevani Fernando “I want a rickshaw from Bangladesh Mummy, and don’t forget the rickshaw puller too”. This was her trading skills for my missing her cake cutting ceremony on her 6thbirthday yesterday.  She had been all dressed up, poised with … Continue reading →

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