Following the continuing hysteria that has been drummed up in the media since Jack Straw started a “helpful” debate, anti-Muslim feeling has shot through the roof. Now we have had a slew of politicians from all parties play to the anti-multiculturalism gallery in a scramble to appear receptive, open to debate and protective of British […]
Last night my wife and I were lounging on a cozy sofa, having stuffed ourselves on a superb dinner, and indolently listened to our savvy hostess, Sabina* and her culinarily well endowed husband, Javed* hold forth. The conversation all evening had been light, throwaway and wickedly funny. By the time they touched on the Jack […]
The constant curtailment of freedom of speech and expression by reactionaries is doing all Muslims a serious disservice. The fear of offending is almost becoming offensive in itself. There is a growing intolerance of the sensitivities of the communities and its peoples. Put simply, it can’t go on. This doesn’t mean the individuals deserve attack […]
Raed Jarrar, California-based Iraqi who updates the Raed in the Middle blog, was forced to cover a t-shirt he was wearing on August 17, before boarding a JetBlue Airways flight from JFK to California. The t-shirt had the legend WE WILL NOT BE SILENT in Arabic and English. This is Raed’s description of the events […]
Kenan Malik talks about the dynamics that influence identity in this article on Amartya Sen’s Identity and Violence. Sen backs the argument that British multicultural policies have imposed upon Bangladeshis the single identity of being Muslim.
“Bangladesh’s separation from Pakistan was not based on their religion but on their language, their literature and their secular politics. […]
When the LRB published this review of Brick Lane in 2003, Sukhdev Sandhu had no way of knowing the amount of brimstone and paan-spit the book, and subsequently the making of the film, would generate.
Like one of Bangladesh’s multitudinous rivers, Sukhdev’s review is long, broad and wonderfully meandering. As a review of Brick Lane, it […]