Zoheb Mashiur

The West, FIFA and Us: We're all being hypocritical about the World Cup

Pro-migrant, anticolonial discourse has been weaponised to support Qatar’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup

1y ago

Mermaids aren’t real, and neither is race

Our current conceptualisation of race derives heavily from the last couple centuries of European imperialism.

2y ago

Declan Walsh's 'The Nine Lives of Pakistan': A journalist explains the country that banished him

In the middle of an Islamabad night, just before the Pakistan election of 2013, the Irish journalist Declan Walsh was visited by “angels”.

3y ago

An anarchist retelling of Tintin

The globetrotting hero-reporter, he of the blonde quiff and the plus four trousers, had many an adventure throughout a 46-year-long run under

3y ago

Revisiting the only book written by an Indian about the Indian soldiers of WWI

Tens of thousands of men sailed across the ocean to a land they’d never before heard the name of. They fought long and hard, in the world’s

4y ago

The Dead Can’t Dance

The death’s head is panther-stalking her through the party. Bodies washed in neon pink ebb and flow, sinking and rising from the shadows as light thrums.

5y ago

The trap of Re-Orientalism

“Oh, East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet,” wrote Rudyard Kipling, a man with a silly name who only had a career because West met East and immediately mugged it, running off with wallet, shoes and pants. Through Kipling’s pen, the British

5y ago

World’s marrow

The old demon king was named Jael and he had a hunger for meat.

5y ago
May 24, 2019
May 24, 2019

The towers smell like rain

For all intents and purposes, the world ended 600 kilometres ago.

May 10, 2019
May 10, 2019

Who is fantasy for?

If I say fantasy, what do you imagine? Castles, knights, dragons, and different fantasy ‘races’ (by which one means dwarves, elves and

April 19, 2019
April 19, 2019

Dead Brown Bodies vs. Hurt White Feelings

I'm writing this on April 13. Exactly a hundred years ago, today was the day of the Punjabi New Year, celebrated by the Sikhs as Baisakhi. At Baisakhi, 1919, the British Indian army massacred about a thousand people (British inquiries suggested 379 dead) in a garden in Amritsar.

March 1, 2019
March 1, 2019

Is the UK using citizenship to avoid its responsibilities?

When UK Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced the decision to prevent Shamima Begum from returning to the UK, many were thrilled—including Bangladeshis.

February 15, 2019
February 15, 2019

White Headstones and Black Bodies

Tucked away in the hills of Chittagong, and between the overgrown temples of Maynamati, are white stones bearing the names of the African men buried beneath them. We refer to their graves as British graves.

February 1, 2019
February 1, 2019

Being American Can't Be Easy

There are certain advantages to being Bangladeshi. (This is not actually true, but for now let's pretend.)

January 4, 2019
January 4, 2019

ARMIES OF DARKNESS

The knights of the heroic king had come to the village. “Have no fear! We will liberate you from the forces of evil!” they cried, as they rode in with the dawn's light.

December 14, 2018
December 14, 2018

Millions will be made stateless, and we're silent

The day after this article is published, three million Bengalis will have become stateless in India.

November 30, 2018
November 30, 2018

Only authoritarians love refugees

In a breathtakingly racist speech, he warned that Europe could turn “black”and have its culture and civilisation overwhelmed by the “barbarian invasions” of migrants from across the Mediterranean.

November 9, 2018
November 9, 2018

The West removes Its mask

A few days after Pig-King Trump announced that the brazen and brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi could not be allowed to get in the way of American arms sales to the House of Saud, Jair Bolsonaro became the Brazilian President-elect.