মুনীবা 🇧🇩

Pre-ordered this book by Samiha Hoque, @hijabi_soldier, and I can’t wait to read this! A story about two families across generations in Bangladesh, shaped by 1971 and its aftermath, touching on migration and the politics of vengeance. It already sounds so compelling.

@AhmedShahAzfar Thank you! He will never truly retire, a serious workaholic by heart so he will continue his work elsewhere

@perpetuallymun Hope he enjoys his retirement!

The BUET VC who had his minions repeatedly ask my sister when Abbu would retire must be celebrating today. Abbu officially retired from BUET yesterday. Happy retirement to him, and here’s to more hapless haters as the journey continues.

“The oppressed, instead of striving for liberation, tend themselves to become oppressors.” - Paulo Freire One of the reasons I find myself gradually losing faith in Bangladesh is because of this recurring cycle that feels almost inescapable. A country cannot sustain itself if every decade demands another uprising just to reclaim basic rights. It is literally exhaustive. The deeper irony is the very [BNP] people whose rights we almost religiously defended during the authoritarian era are now beginning to resemble the very anti-people characters they once opposed. What a sheer and scandalous waste of the immense sacrifice of our youth, their blood and treasure! - Sultan Mohammed Zakaria

Daily Star lied and misquoted him. He basically said that male politicians are so used to taking bribes or enjoying perks that they’re getting bigger bellies, so big that female colleagues (including Farhana) would wonder how the men have larger bellies than they did even during pregnancy: facebook.com/share/v/1DJEQx…

@dailystarnews what did he say?

A recent video clip that went viral on social media showed first-time MP Amir Hamza commenting on the women lawmakers he sat with in the parliament. thedailystar.net/news/politics/…

@dailystarnews You guys misquoted him. What he said is still in bad taste but you all distorted what he originally said to make it misogynistic. Very disappointing but not surprising. facebook.com/share/v/1BxDqP…

@WilhelmBauer77 That’s Abu Sayed’s dead body killed by Hasina during the July revolution and your dearest Modi is shielding her, loser.

The government has proposed to repeal the National Human Rights Commission Ordinance, the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Ordinance, the Police Commission Ordinance, the Supreme Court Secretariat Ordinance, the Anti-Corruption Commission (Amendment) Ordinance, the Supreme Court Judges Appointment Ordinance, the Right to Information (Amendment) Ordinance, the Microfinance Bank Ordinance, the Bank Resolution Ordinance, and the Referendum Ordinance. “The path and promise we break to go ahead is the same path and promise we’ll need to return. Chasing power, we ruin the road home.” - @HasnatAb_dullah

It is fascinating how Islam is so frequently conflated with Arabness. Sometimes there is even an implied moral failure for those who are Muslim but not Arab, which leads to forced Arabization in many non Arab communities. Despite the historical reality that the vast majority of Muslims globally are not Arab and haven’t been for 80% of Islam’s history.

I just don’t think you need to love war crimes to be a real man.

@JackofBlades22 Also, I’ve heard you praise how tough Shahjahan Chowdhury is and the kind of rhetoric he uses to project that image. That’s generally fine. It’s when it crosses into calling others atheists or resorting to body-shaming that it becomes offensive and counterproductive.

@perpetuallymun To me, the whole foreign advisor mess & JI taking credit of China's aid was more damaging to jamat than all these noise. JI is lucky most people's attention is towards iran war & fuel crisis. That stunt they pulled with china was unacceptable.

@JackofBlades22 That was problematic too. From what I understand, the Ameer did not take credit for it and thanked them properly in person. It’s the social media account manager that really needs to be looked at and held accountable.

@JackofBlades22 Maybe I am a millennial but this isn’t about caving, it’s called discipline. There’s a difference between having backbone and being careless with language. If the goal is to win people over, rhetoric that alienates and hands critics ammunition is counterproductive.

@perpetuallymun Caving like that is very 90s and millenial behaviour. People respect parties, factions, ideologies that stick to their guns and show some backbone.

@JackofBlades22 That is true. You won’t hear the media talk about it, of course. When everyone is against you, the best way to defeat the apparatus is by being on your best behavior and not giving them anything to use against you.

@perpetuallymun 'Recklessness' can be normalized by repetition. BNP normalized making mass takfir of jamat by repeatedly calling them munafiqs and munafiqs are considered worse than kafirs. Didnt hear all this talk when BNP does it.

Listen, Amir Hamza can call someone Islamophobic all he wants, of course. But the moment he labels them an atheist, he drags the entire party down with him. The media and society are quick to generalize and assign collective blame. The same happens when misogynistic remarks are made against Rumeen Farhana, the whole party gets villainized for it. You can call out Islamophobia without crossing into language that is reckless or disrespectful. The media and civil society are already biased against this party, so why give them more ammunition?

@perpetuallymun It's not casual. Tuku recently condemned concept of Bangladesh having any state religion and said "we didnt do muktijuddho just to have religion in our state". You guys in UK & US call out your politicians for islamophobia for less, BNP has clear de-islamization agenda.

@JackofBlades22 Even if he is a scholar, that doesn’t make casual takfir acceptable. In Islamic tradition, declaring someone a disbeliever has strict conditions and is approached with extreme caution, and is not to be used as casual political rhetoric.

@perpetuallymun @dailystarnews Islamic scholars can takfir, he has the qualification to do so and the takfir is valid.

I have never even called Hasina an atheist because that simply isn’t my place. I have called her many names, but her belief is between her and God. Not for me to declare. It’s true that many people may not be practicing and still have Muslim names. But unless someone has explicitly declared themselves an atheist, I will not label them as such. And even then, I wouldn’t use that label to drag them. I can challenge and defeat arguments logically and professionally without resorting to attacking someone’s faith, or lack of it.

@perpetuallymun @dailystarnews Another muslim, not an atheist with arabic names. Many such atheist dictators with 'muslim names' in central asia and other countries - its very common. "rhetoric that fuels division" Thats all politics.

I am not sure if you know this. But Islam explicitly warns against calling another Muslim a disbeliever. Even if you strongly disagree with someone, you cannot go around labeling them “atheist” or “kafir.” Beyond that, it is deeply unprofessional, especially for a sitting MP. Public office demands restraint a higher standard of conduct, not reckless rhetoric that fuels division. .

@perpetuallymun @dailystarnews I believe in free speech and it's my personal assessment as well that Tuku is a hardcore islamophobe. In that comment, I fully support Amir Hamza.

@JackofBlades22 @dailystarnews He called the energy minister an atheist just the other day! Unfiltered doesn’t mean he can make such idiotic and defamatory statements.

@perpetuallymun @dailystarnews He is a well known cleric with big following and known for his unfiltered takes - which kinda resonates with a lot of people i guess.

@mizanism_ People usually think it’s just a random tree on the street, with no idea it comes from the Quasem family home and from my grandmother’s deep love for gardening; she used to plant all kinds of flowers and fruit trees. Always happy to share that story.

@perpetuallymun My home is in Tekpara, and I’ve always been a great admirer of this tree. I’d stare at it every time I passed by - never imagining it would one day appear on my X timeline. Glad to know more about it.

One of many clips I’ve come across online of the bougainvillea at my nanabari in Cox’s Bazar. People keep filming it and posting it every year. It’s actually really nice, I just go online and every few months I find a new video of my nanabari.

@solaimanmostak His full name is Abul Quasem. He’s my direct grandfather. Oh my God, are we cousins?

@perpetuallymun If that's ur nanabari, then I think ur nanu is Qasem Master. He was very well known in the village. My dad once told me about him, that he’s kinda like a distant relative of my dad & was originally frm my dad's village. Then he bought that place & built that home & migrated there

This bougainvillea spilling over the gate is from my nanabari in Tekpara, Cox’s Bazar. My grandmother planted it herself, as she loved gardening. She’s no longer with us unfortunately, may her soul rest in peace. Honestly, bougainvillea isn’t unique to Dhaka… it’s everywhere in Bangladesh.