Articles by: Fazal M. Kamal

Photo courtesy of Greg Constantine

Myopia And Mayhem Running Amok In Myanmar

Indications are that leaders in both the adjacent countries have one factor in common: they’ve got caught in a cleft stick. The world has witnessed numerous “cleansing operations” but rarely has it seen the unabashed capitulation of someone who was honored with the highest accolade and had the support of a wide range of people across regions. Whether it’s a[Read More…]

by 29/09/2017 1 comment Human Rights
Dismayed And Demeaned In Abu Dhabi

Dismayed And Demeaned In Abu Dhabi

  This story is about a friend’s experience while traveling intercontinentally in the eminent Times of Trump. Let’s call him, for the sake of convenience, Max. And also note that he is a US citizen. But I’m getting ahead of myself here because for clarity I must record two facts that Max had mentioned. (Meanwhile another perilous aspect has been[Read More…]

by 25/06/2017 2 comments Human Rights
Bangladesh, Social Media And Longings In A Bizarro World

Bangladesh, Social Media And Longings In A Bizarro World

  It definitely looks like law enforcement in Bangladesh–as also apparently in many other countries, e.g. reference: the British Home Minister’s recent opinions regarding social media, not forgetting similar persistent efforts in the US–is going through a phase that maybe described as mid-life crisis. That’s the time when people—especially men, we’re told, but lots of women too though theirs are[Read More…]

by 01/04/2017 1 comment South Asia
The Scrimmage Between ‘Good Pride’ And ‘Bad Pride’

The Scrimmage Between ‘Good Pride’ And ‘Bad Pride’

While the Boys’ Club prez was busy enjoying and amplifying locker-room talk, as in “grabbing them by the putty” (or did I get that wrong?) and in general was being disdainful and disgusting primarily about women but also on issues relating to “other people” and “other faiths” his loyal followers who had been suppressing their very own but similar urges[Read More…]

by 02/03/2017 2 comments World
Modus Operandi And Modus Vivendi In Bangladesh

Modus Operandi And Modus Vivendi In Bangladesh

As government leaders sashay between paltering and prevarication—as they’re wont to do around the world—the people get bombarded, often everyday, with a substantive number of stunners. Just like Mr. President in the United States is doing right now and hogging all the klieg lights. But of course it isn’t only the politicians who are adept—or irresistibly tempted—in taking recourse to[Read More…]

by 31/01/2017 1 comment Human Rights, South Asia
Between And Betwixt Freedom And Fear In Bangladesh

Between And Betwixt Freedom And Fear In Bangladesh

  Since women and men don’t live by bread alone it obviously follows that they can’t live only by economics either. And even that is coming under pressure for any number of causes in recent times. Humans, by nature and as has been repeatedly proven over historical time, seek after a point certain intangibles and perhaps even the metaphysical, verging[Read More…]

by 14/01/2017 2 comments South Asia
The Dark Colors Of The Times

The Dark Colors Of The Times

Every generation feels that it’s living through the worst of times. As do the ones now that are occupying Earth for fleeting moments, as is the eternal law. In times like the present, obviously, there are more than only a couple reasons for conditions to look as dismal as they do. And those are mighty substantive reasons too. The ongoing[Read More…]

by 29/12/2016 1 comment World
Bangladesh: The Truth Is Right Here

Bangladesh: The Truth Is Right Here

Apparently, and especially as gleaned from the verbal declarations of the leaders of myriad types and various ranks, the government in Bangladesh has assumed a schizophrenic tendency. It wants its political adversaries to participate in electoral processes yet, simultaneously, they keep up a persistent drumbeat of negative proclamations. And more often than not the edicts are unadulterated confections of the[Read More…]

by 27/12/2016 1 comment South Asia