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Iftekhar Sayeed teaches English and economics. He was born and lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has contributed to AXIS OF LOGIC, ENTER TEXT, POSTCOLONIAL TEXT, LEFT CURVE, MOBIUS, ERBACCE, THE JOURNAL, and other publications. He is also a freelance journalist. He and his wife love to tour Bangladesh.
Monday, June 27, 2011 In The Beginning Was The Word
I have argued elsewhere that 'freedom' is an empty word without meaning in Asia because Asia lacks the experience of large-scale slavery. In this short story, Zafar Shah ties to teach that words have meaning only in context but doesn't stand a chance against the tide of media indoctrination, historical defeat and the flood of dosh from the west .
Friday, June 10, 2011 Coconut Island
A young girl dies while attending a school for the uber-wealthy of Bangladesh on St.Martin's Island. Did she kill herself? Zafar Shah travels down there at her mother's request and uncovers the unexpected, to say the least.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011 S&R Fiction -- "Sahel" by Iftekhar Sayeed | Scholars and Rogues
This story is set in Kuakata, in the south of Bangladesh, where two men and a woman arrive from the Middle East by sea in a boat on a moon-lit night to join Zafar Shah for a deadly venture.
Monday, November 22, 2010 To Whom Can I Speak Today?
The democratic transition brings murder to the streets and even homes of Bangladesh. Several NGO directors mysteriously die trying to scrawl a message in blood. Zafar Shah takes it upon himself to decipher the vermilion calligraphy.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 The Flames of Freedom
This is a story of how western foreign policy affects the lives of distant people: it begins by the Poshur River at Mongla and ends at Teknaf in Bangladesh. The themes are an insatiable longing for peace and the inevitability of violence.
Monday, April 12, 2010 The ethnocidal civilization
Ethnocide has been the repeated behaviour pattern of western civilization, as testified by Alexis de Tocqueville. The culture is not content with mere conquest: it must control the very thoughts of those conquered. A recently published book on a Christian mission in Bangladesh retells an old story against the background of both the Muslim and British invasions of India, centering the Garos' loss of their religion.
Monday, August 3, 2009 Videos, trip basis of case against Ga. terror suspect
According to the Bangladesh Observer (July 19, 2009) Sadequee was kidnapped in a specially chartered CIA plane on April 21, 2006 without "any order from any court in Bangladesh", with the connivance of the government of the time. He was kept in solitary confinement for 3 years in Atlanta. His father has filed two writ petitions with the High Court challenging the validity of the "arrest".
Saturday, July 11, 2009 Clothes and 'modernity' (1 comments)
"For example, I prefer to wear jeans and T-shirt too. Because I need easily to use my legs and arms." My 'modern' Turkish friend pleads efficiency for her attire; oddly, though, efficient farm girls in Turkey wear the shalwar, as they do in Bangladesh, along with the saree. 'Modernity' comes in many covers, and this one conceals less of its sinister side than most.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009 Bomb blast in Assam, India
Another bomb exploded in Assam - this one, prior to the prime minster's visit. The Indian government wages war against its own people, instead of negotiating political solutions. In the last ten years, 10,000 people have died in Assam.
Sunday, April 5, 2009 Violence rocks campuses in Bangladesh
The ruling party's youth wing has fallen out among themselves over the lucrative control of university businesses. The money to be made runs into the millions. The student bodies are like criminal organisations of the political parties.
Thursday, April 2, 2009 Another student politician dies in fight with fellow party workers in Bangladesh
Another student politician of the ruling Awami League was killed by members of his own party, apparently by dropping him from a height of several floors. This brings the number of murdered student leaders this year to at least 10
Sunday, March 15, 2009 Another student politician murdered in Bangladesh
Under military rule, a total of 18 student politicians died (10 in 2007, 8 the next year), while in the last democratic year of 2006 a total of 48 had been killed. This year, in January alone, 5 student leaders were murdered - and this one makes the 6th.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 Bangladesh government blocks YouTube
The government of Bangladesh has blocked YouTube because of an uploaded audio file deeply embarrassing the current prime minister, and implicating her and her party in the murder of army officers in Dhaka.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009 India's north-eastern rebels seek arms
A consignment of weapons was headed towards India's north-east, but "accidentally" captured in Bangladesh.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Shootout in Dhaka, Bangladesh
A major section of the armed forces of Bangladesh has mutinied: several people have been reported killed, and many are being held hostage.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009 Gunbattle at university again
When political parties assume power in Bangladesh, their student fronts establish criminal control of campuses. After a two-year suspension of democracy by the armed forces and western governments, the Awami League won the December elections. Their student front, the Chatra League, is now fighting against itself for campus dominance - which can be very lucrative for the boys.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 Opposition politician beaten to death
It starts all over again: after a peace under the army-back government, the old evils return: "toll" collection (extortion), beatings to death in broad daylight...the nightmare returns to Bangladesh.
Thursday, February 5, 2009 Inter-party murders resume in Bangladesh
After the two-year truce enforced by the army ended in an election in December, inter-party murders have resumed in Bangladesh. The winner of the election, Awami League, seeks control over all illegal activities.
Saturday, January 31, 2009 Another disartculated body after five years
Five years ago, a ruling party leader allegedly hacked a father and son into pieces: now, a similar incident has taken place, right after the elections, which were held when the military went back to barracks...
Saturday, January 31, 2009 opposition politician murdered
After the Awami League (AL) won the national elections, the local elections were held amidst great violence: the AL wants to control the lowest level of government.
Thursday, January 29, 2009 Freedom and 'Freedom'
Individual freedom has been a recurring theme in western literature and society. The essay argues that the word freedom connotes individual freedom in western culture because of the experience of slavery. Since Asia lacked this experience, freedom in this sense has no meaning here. The word connotes collective freedom consistent with Asian colonial experience. Attempts to 'transfer' freedom will, therefore, fail.
Sunday, January 25, 2009 :The Daily Star: Internet Edition
Violence and murder return to Bangladeshi politics after a two-year peace enforced by the military.
Friday, February 16, 2007 Iftekhar Sayeed at Unlikely 2.0 (1 comments)
This article establishes a correlation, witnessed by evidence and the testimony of S. E. Finer and Stanley J. Tambiah, between democracy and violence, a correlation that is strengthened in the third section by John Keane and Robin Blackburn's observation that civil society tends towards violence; section three is dedicated to establishing a causal link between the Forum-type polity and violence.
Sunday, January 14, 2007 The Freedom Industry and Student Politics in Bangladesh (2 comments)
The 'freedom industry' comprises a web of benefits distributed by western donors to developing countries in order to spread democracy. Donors have created a pseudo-civil society of NGOs. The principle function of aid money is to suppress unsavoury analyses and render major issues into non-issues.
Sunday, December 24, 2006 The Price of Conscience (3 comments)
Democracy in Bangladesh has spawned criminals in the employ of the major parties. Why do we tolerate the criminals and the parties? Because Washington wants to democratise us at all costs.
