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Showing posts from April, 2003
Anil’s Ghost – A Book Review By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) April 26, 2003 I was hesitant reading Anil’s Ghost when it was published. Sometime the overreaching popularity and fame of a writer can become the cause of avoiding reading his works. And I confess, it was a mistake. Michael Ondaatje is a familiar name in the literary arena. After his Booker winning novel The English Patient was memorialized by the superb direction of Anthony Minghella, artistically given life to by Ralph Fiennes, Kristin Scott, Juliette Binoche and other unforgettable casts, the urge for reading the original novel was there. I wanted to forget the theme and intricacies of the movie so that I could rediscover it years from now, but the memories of love and gloom are still remaining. Perhaps a few more years require before embarking to that appealing trek. Anil’s Ghost is set up in different settings. Michael Ondaatje, a Sri Lankan born Canadian writer revisits his country of origin, painting throug
Argentina's Luddite rulers Dear Readers, The workers’ rights are trampled and battered wherever the slightest opportunity exists. The big-bucks lawyers’ festooned owners and their showmanship spinsters are constantly devising impudent methods in cheating and exploiting labors of the poor. Argentina is no exception from this cold hard reality. Their election is near but people’s suffering are soaring amid same old false promises by the leaders of “poly-tricks”. All over the world, mostly in poor nations, the trend is stunningly similar. A nation is built and breathed through the endless drop of perspiration by the workers. And they remain at the bottom rung of economic ladder despite their constant efforts in maintaining and moving forward the society battling the not-so-kind nature in every struggling step. Naomi Klein’s the following article, “Argentina’s Luddite Rulers” published in The Globe and Mail is a moving piece. Regards, Mahbubul Karim (Sohel
Argentina's Luddite rulers Dear Readers, The workers’ rights are trampled and battered wherever the slightest opportunity exists. The big-bucks lawyers’ festooned owners and their showmanship spinsters are constantly devising impudent methods in cheating and exploiting labors of the poor. Argentina is no exception from this cold hard reality. Their election is near but people’s suffering are soaring amid same old false promises by the leaders of “poly-tricks”. All over the world, mostly in poor nations, the trend is stunningly similar. A nation is built and breathed through the endless drop of perspiration by the workers. And they remain at the bottom rung of economic ladder despite their constant efforts in maintaining and moving forward the society battling the not-so-kind nature in every struggling step. Naomi Klein’s the following article, “Argentina’s Luddite Rulers” published in The Globe and Mail is a moving piece. Regards, Mahbubul Karim (Sohel
Burn a Country's Past and You Torch Its Future Dear Readers, Robert Darnton’s following article is well written. “Do libraries really matter for nation’s sense of its self?” Darnton invokes the various historical examples spanning thousands of years. He comments: “The loss of a library or a museum can mean the loss of contact with a vital strain of humanity.” For many, history is perfectly presented in the boundary of lavishly jacketed or paper bounded historical texts, as if everything we need to know about past is already been uncovered and described in popular history paperbacks. Darnton clearly disagrees. His following comment is profound: “Few people appreciate the fragility of civilizations and the fragmentary character of our knowledge about them. Most students believe that what they read in history books corresponds to what humanity lived through in the past, as if we have recovered all the facts and assembled them in the correct order, as if we have it under
Dear Readers, Robert Darnton’s following article is well written. “Do libraries really matter for nation’s sense of its self?” Darnton invokes the various historical examples spanning thousands of years. He comments: “The loss of a library or a museum can mean the loss of contact with a vital strain of humanity.” For many, history is perfectly presented in the boundary of lavishly jacketed or paper bounded historical texts, as if everything we need to know about past is already been uncovered and described in popular history paperbacks. Darnton clearly disagrees. His following comment is profound: “Few people appreciate the fragility of civilizations and the fragmentary character of our knowledge about them. Most students believe that what they read in history books corresponds to what humanity lived through in the past, as if we have recovered all the facts and assembled them in the correct order, as if we have it under control, got it down in black on white, and packaged it
Dear Readers, Robert Darnton’s following article is well written. “Do libraries really matter for nation’s sense of its self?” Darnton invokes the various historical examples spanning thousands of years. He comments: “The loss of a library or a museum can mean the loss of contact with a vital strain of humanity.” For many, history is perfectly presented in the boundary of lavishly jacketed or paper bounded historical texts, as if everything we need to know about past is already been uncovered and described in popular history paperbacks. Darnton clearly disagrees. His following comment is profound: “Few people appreciate the fragility of civilizations and the fragmentary character of our knowledge about them. Most students believe that what they read in history books corresponds to what humanity lived through in the past, as if we have recovered all the facts and assembled them in the correct order, as if we have it under control, got it down in black on white, and packaged it
Humanitarian Superpower? Why Not? By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) April 15, 2003 In the time of war the “patriots” are exemplified as those who blindly support their ruling government. As if patriotism is synonymous with ruling party loyalty. Howard Zinn, the Boston University professor writes, “The distinction between dying for our country and dying for your government is crucial in understanding what I believe to be the definition of patriotism in a democracy. According to the Declaration of Independence - the fundamental document of democracy - governments are artificial creations, established by the people, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed", and charged by the people to ensure the equal right of all to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Furthermore, as the Declaration says, "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." Howard Zin
Humanitarian Superpower? Why Not? By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) April 15, 2003 In the time of war the “patriots” are exemplified as those who blindly support their ruling government. As if patriotism is synonymous with ruling party loyalty. Howard Zinn, the Boston University professor writes, “The distinction between dying for our country and dying for your government is crucial in understanding what I believe to be the definition of patriotism in a democracy. According to the Declaration of Independence - the fundamental document of democracy - governments are artificial creations, established by the people, "deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed", and charged by the people to ensure the equal right of all to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Furthermore, as the Declaration says, "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it." Howard Zinn
Child with a Bandage By Mahbubul Karim (Sohel) April 14, 2003 http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuktoChinta/files/PeaceRally1/child1.jpg That picture of a four-year-old Iraqi girl holding her father’s hand haunts me. She had a bandage wrapped around her head. Her father’s white striped shirt was smeared with blood. It was a dismal picture. The little girl was shot in the head. Her face showed hurting and half closed eyes were tender as if no more complaints left to the world. I wonder what happened to that girl after that picture was published. I didn’t know her name. There was no more news about her after that. She is one of the nameless casualties of this war. Insignificant to many. Perhaps, momentous to numerous. Children of Iraq have suffered severely from this war. Children of Iraq have suffered from the decade old devastating economic sanctions imposed by the heartless International community. There were indeed uproars against the sanctions that was killing hundreds
Dear Readers, What can powerless people do against endless might and frightening sights of poor Iraqis’ colonial fate? Is history repeating itself? Is this the first step of re-colonization that the world’s most nations thought of things of the past? Charlatans and collaborators, in Iraq and around the globe are out in full force to give a new color of this illegal conquest. Even those opposing states in UN have begun to show their naked back-flippancy. Facing the incomparable economic and military power, the poor feels helpless. What can they do? Tariq Ali provided a thorough analysis on Iraq war last week in New Left Review magazine, citing relevant examples from history. Perhaps, it’s only the “powerless” people might be the only refuge left for the billions of voiceless mass striving for achieving peace. If history holds true in all its turning point from past, it will be the peaceful people opposing brutal wars and deceitful exploitation, in forefront again confronting the