Economic disparities between East and West were undoubtedly factual. But according to my understanding, the growth rate between the two wings of Pakistan became nearly the same by the end of the 1960s. I want someone to explain the reasons for the economic disparities. For example, was West Pakistani ‘colonial exploitation’ of East Pakistan responsible […]

Some people claim that Sylhetis and Chittagongians are not Bengalis but are different ethnic groups or nations. I don’t know if that’s true or how to determine the validity of such a claim. Being angry and assertive, and trying to force people to think this way or that way, are unlikely to be useful ways […]

First published on 7 July 2020 My first trip to Sydney, Australia, 2003 One of the boards at the Botanical Garden, providing a story of what happened  to the Aboriginal people in Australia, 2003  The first time I remember learning something about Australia was in 1973 or 1974 during a special presentation at our school […]

Did the British, under the East India Company’s rule, cut off Bengal weavers’ hands or thumbs and tongues to destroy the famous Bengal textile industry, particularly the weaving of the muslin fabrics? Since I was young I heard people – family members, teachers, community leaders, friends, media and so on – talking about how the […]

A Brick Lane Circle project Developed and delivered by Dr Muhammad Ahmedullah Most of us have heard about Christopher Columbus, the first European to find the Americas in 1492, trying a westerly route to the spice islands of Asia based on what the new sciences were telling about the Earth being spherical and orbiting the […]

Kasteel Batavia Kota Tua, Jakarta Old Town, Indonesian I recently revisited Jakarta’s Kota Tua – the old city. During the nearly three-and-a-half centuries of the Dutch East India Company’s rule of the Indonesian archipelago, Jakarta was called Batavia. Officially known as VOC, the company led by its governor general, Jan Pieterszoon Coen, conquered the small […]