Music and poetry transcend boundaries of time, of space, of culture. This is known. But, not often does a 15th century Kabir effortlessly flow into a 20th century John Lennon creation. Or that you find, in Leonard Cohen’s work, the echoes of Asian poets from the 17th and 13th centuries. Similarly, when injustices of caste and class even in the United Kingdom find articulation in the works of Dalit poets. This, then, is when music, truly,
Farzana Whitfield is the subject librarian for South Asia and Development Studies at SOAS. Here she looks back on her family’s personal experience and memories of Partition. This article has previously appeared on SOAS’s library blog. This August marks 70 years of India’s independence from British rule (15th August) giving birth to 2 nations- a Hindu majority India and a Muslim majority Pakistan (14th August). Subsequently there were 3 wars between
Amina Yaqin is Senior Lecturer in Urdu and Postcolonial Studies in the Department of the Languages and Cultures of South Asia, SOAS. The recent assassination of the renowned qawwali singer Amjad Fareed Sabri in the name of piety in Pakistan has revived the question of the permissibility of music in Pakistani culture. Sabri was shot on June 22nd 2016 by attackers on a motorcycle while he was driving his car in Liaquatabad,
We have an exciting offer of a free trial to the FO Files for India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan for the period 1947-1980 Many departments, students and researchers will find this digital archive relevant and resourceful for a number of subject disciplines, including History, Politics, Development Studies, Economics, Near Middle Eastern Studies (Afghanistan), South East Asian Studies (Burma) and South Asian Studies. Access is from this link: www.archivesdirect.amdigital.co.uk/FO_India.
Attacks on school children by the Taliban in Pakistan are a familiar news item. The bewilderment that has been felt across the world highlights how complex the picture really is. The brutal attack on the school in Peshawar on the 16th of December 2014 in which 132 children and 9 staff died two years after the shooting of Malala Yousafzai on her way to school in October 2012 highlights the
On 25 November I was contacted by Monocle Radio, who wanted to hear my views on the massive cleanup of Kathmandu that took place during the run-up to that city’s hosting of the 18th SAARC summit (see http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/2014/11/pictures-kathmandu-20m-facelift-2014112392617611.html). The interviewer asked me where the Government of Nepal might have found the $20m it is said to have spent on this project, and I think I disappointed him by saying that
Prof. Lawrence Sáez (Professor in the Political Economy of Asia at SOAS) delivered a talk on ‘The 2014 Indian elections and their impact on the region’ at Pakistan Institute of International Affairs. Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2014. http://www.dawn.com/news/1146860/bjp-appeasing-non-hindutva-voters-to-broaden-support-base