What We Think When We Think About (Interpersonal) Violence
The link between the structural and personal is continually at risk of getting obscured in favour of an individualist reading of interpersonal violence.
1y ago
The drama around Hero Alom exposes our culture of classism
Our classist sensibilities cannot handle a Hero Alom singing Tagore songs and getting attention for it.
2y ago
US Elections: Representation matters but it is not enough
Before the elections, a five-year-old boy asked his mother, my friend, if he would ever be able to be the President of the United States because of the colour of his Brown skin. This is a question that American girls, too, have been asking their parents forever.
4y ago
Magical thinking in the time of Covid-19
I don’t remember exactly when I heard about the 2019 version of coronavirus, Covid-19, but I do know it was during my travels in Asia this past January.
4y ago
Magical thinking in the time of Covid-19
Over the past few weeks, I have heard variations of “I don’t know why but I don’t think Bangladesh will be affected by Covid-19 in the way that other countries have been.”
4y ago
Sexual Violence: Looking inward and thinking out loud
Every single day, a rapist is reported. Every. Single. Day. Let that sink in.
4y ago
Election Day Hoopla
Election Day in Bangladesh is usually a festive occasion. The weather is wonderfully crisp. We are in our Friday best. With friends and
5y ago
Teen protest movement demanding safe roads: Their allies, adversaries, and others
The last time I heard of a student protest movement with secondary school children was in 2011. Secondary school children had joined university students in Chile to denounce their neoliberal education system that had commodified education, expanding social and income inequality between the rich and the poor.
6y ago
May 17, 2017
Only yes means yes
As we try to make sense of consent, we have to recognise that consent is a nuanced issue. We have to unlearn what the media and mainstream entertainment have taught us about rape—that it has to be violent and involve physical coercion for it to be rape. We cannot underestimate the power of coercive control, or manipulation.
May 1, 2017
Independence from tokenism
We often lament, especially on days like our Independence Day, about how little our people (particularly the younger generation, always the younger generation) know about our history. We talk about how people conflate the day with the Language Movement,
March 13, 2017
Not a coincidence
On this International Women's Day – the one day that we women get to call our own – we had the Women's Strike. But, I went to work because I wasn't sure I had a choice in the matter. Turns out I did, but that is another story for another day.
February 9, 2017
Is abusive behaviour a choice?
I was once called a whore. Chances are, so have you, if you're a woman. And like me, you've probably been called other names too (and I'm sorry that you have), but this is the one I choose to focus on because this one befuddles me.
January 16, 2017
Of gangs, adolescents, and winners
As the outrage over a ragging incident at Jahangirnagar University died out, news about gangs of Uttara took its place, complete with a picture of a young man gone too soon.
December 28, 2016
Violence: Neoliberalism at the root of it
As we look to the future, this is what I hope we can do: recognise that without addressing the various forms of economic and social inequalities we cannot address violence. Recognise that structural problems – including climate change, poverty, weak institutions, bad governance, lack of sanitation and access to water, transportation, unsafe roads and streets, together with a culture of misogyny exacerbates structural violence.
December 27, 2016
Violence: An inevitable outcome of a world unequal
What do you think about when you think about violence against women? Do you think about sexual harassment on the streets?
October 10, 2016
Profiling narcissists in love
Khadiza, a university student in Sylhet didn't respond to Badrul Alam's romantic proposition. He couldn't handle being rejected. He responded by attacking her with a machete in public. A bystander recorded it and the video went viral on social media.
September 26, 2016
Speaking in tongues: Language and personality
We respond to others based on our dominant language, but when their dominant language is not congruent with ours, our understanding may not be congruent with what they intend.
August 31, 2016
Coal-fired power plants and related stories
Those claiming that Rampal will generate employment are not wrong. Not at all. But, we must ask: at what personal cost? Who will bear the cost of their health? Who will be held personally responsible?
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