Mirza Hassan

What should women wear?

In May 2022, a young woman, who lives in Dhaka city, was verbally and physically assaulted at a train station in Narsingdi while waiting for a Dhaka-bound train.

11m ago

Dr Zafrullah’s real utopia

Zafrullah’s socialism was useful in contrast to ones offered by the dominant leftist parties of the country, characterised by theoretical obscurantism, fractiousness, political irrelevance, and their inconsequentiality to the daily lives of the masses.

12m ago

On Democratic Socialism

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the 20th century's ideological contest seemed over. Capitalism had won and socialism

5y ago

Football and nationalisms in Bengal

Metaphors of "war" and "tribalism" have been invariably used in writings on football by observers ranging from eminent writers like Arthur Koestler and George Orwell to professional historians and media commentators of sports.

5y ago

The Ghost of Marx

A ghost is haunting the global capitalist elites—the ghost of Karl Marx.

5y ago

Karl Marx in Bangladesh, Part 2

Did Maulana Bhashani—the famous Red Maulana—ever read Marx? I recently asked this question to a prominent biographer of Bhashani—Syed Abul Maksud. His answer was, “Probably not.”

5y ago

Karl Marx in Bangladesh, Part 1

No I am not talking about my encounter with the ghost of Karl Marx in Bangladesh. If you are interested in such stories you should read Howard Zinn's Marx in Soho or Sumonto Bandyopadhyay's Bhuture Molakat (Ghostly Encounter)—two hilarious and, at the same time, intellectually erudite accounts of meeting the ghost of Marx in New York and Kolkata, respectively. Rather, what I am going to narrate here is

5y ago

The moral politics of Dr Kamal

In mid-1993, Dr Kamal (I am following the popular lingo of addressing him) was experiencing the most critical phase in his political career – he was about to leave Awami League on principled grounds.

7y ago
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