المسلمين الذين منعهم ترامب من دخول الولايات المتحدة سعداء في باب بايدن المفتوح

Selected and Translated from the New York Times article Barred From U.S. Under Trump, Muslims Exult in Biden’s Open Door

قلة من الأجانب رحبوا بفوز الرئيس بايدن في الانتخابات بحماس مثل عشرات الآلاف من المسلمين الذين تم عزلهم من الولايات المتحدة على مدى السنوات الأربع الماضية.

By Declan Walsh المؤلف: ديكلان والش

23 يناير 

نيروبي ، كينيا - مع اقتراب نتائج الانتخابات الرئاسية الأمريكية في 4 نوفمبر / تشرين الثاني ، جلس زوجان سودانيان شابان طوال الليل في بلدتهما الصغيرة جنوب الخرطوم. حدقت أعينهم في التلفزيون عندما تم إعلان إحصائيات الدولة ، وهم يشاهدون بقلق.

وقبل ذلك بعام ، فاز منذر هاشم باليانصيب السنوي لوزارة الخارجية للحصول على البطاقة الخضراء للولايات المتحدة. ثم سمع أن الرئيس دونالد ج.ترامب ، في تكراره الأخير لـ "حظر المسلمين" ، منع المواطنين السودانيين من الهجرة إلى الولايات المتحدة.

بدت الانتخابات وكأنها تقدم فرصة ثانية ، وعندما أُعلن أخيرًا أن السيد ترامب خسر التصويت ، تعانق السيد هاشم وزوجته علاء جمال بفرح وهتافات عالية.

لكن الزوجين كانا متوترين خلال الأسابيع التالية حيث بدت مزاعم الاحتيال والتحديات القانونية والهجوم الغوغائي على مبنى الكابيتول في واشنطن العاصمة تخلط النتائج. السيدة علاء ، التي كانت تتفقد فيسبوك ، اضطرت إلى التوقف عن نفسها. قالت "لم أستطع تحمل ذلك بعد الآن".

تجرأت على النظر يوم الأربعاء عندما ألغى جوزيف آر بايدن جونيور ، بعد ساعات من أداء اليمين كرئيس ، مجموعة كاملة من أوامر عهد ترامب التي منعت الناس في جميع أنحاء العالم ، معظمهم من المسلمين مثلها ، من دخول الولايات المتحدة. بكت بفرح.

قالت عبر الهاتف: "أخيرا ، السعادة". "الآن نبدأ التخطيط مرة أخرى."

تم عزل المسلمين عن الولايات المتحدة على مدى السنوات الأربع الماضية نتيجة لسياسات ترامب المعروفة

وفقًا لإحدى الإحصائيات ، مُنع 42000 شخص من دخول الولايات المتحدة في الفترة من 2017 إلى 2019 ، معظمهم من الدول ذات الأغلبية المسلمة مثل إيران والصومال واليمن وسوريا. وانخفضت تأشيرات الهجرة الصادرة لمواطني تلك الدول بنسبة تصل إلى 79٪ خلال نفس الفترة.

لكن التكلفة البشرية لإجراءات السيد ترامب ، التي تم حياكتها في نسيج الحياة الممزقة الملطخة بالدموع وحتى الدماء ، لا يمكن حصرها - العائلات المشتتة لسنوات ؛ حفلات الزفاف والجنازات غاب عنها ؛ وظائف وخطط الدراسة مقلوبة ؛ عمليات إنقاذ الحياة التي لم تحدث.

قال السيد بايدن في أمره بإلغاء القيود أن إجراءات السيد ترامب - شبكة من أمر تنفيذي واحد وثلاثة إعلانات رئاسية هدفها المعلن هو إبعاد الإرهابيين - قوضت الأمن الأمريكي ، وعرضت تحالفاتها العالمية للخطر وقدمت "آفة أخلاقية لقد أضعف قوة نموذجنا في جميع أنحاء العالم ".

تنتشر قصص القلوب المحطمة والأحلام المحطمة في جميع أنحاء الشرق الأوسط وإفريقيا ، ومعظمها في أركانها الأكثر ضعفاً والتي مزقتها الحرب.

تم رفض السماح لطبيب الأسنان السوري الدكتور عبد العزيز اللحام بزيارة زوجته الأمريكية في نيويورك بعد أن رأى مسؤول قنصلي أمريكي ودود جواز سفره. قال الدكتور اللحام ، 31 عاما ، "تغير وجهه تماما ، ببساطة لأنني سوري".

اللاجئ الصومالي محي الدين حسن نور ، عالق مع زوجته وأطفاله الستة في مخيم مغبر في شمال شرق كينيا على الرغم من حصوله على موافقة من الولايات المتحدة لإعادة توطينه في مينيسوتا منذ عام 2017. السيد نور ، 53 عامًا.

ثم هناك شوقي أحمد ، وهو يمني بالولادة في إدارة شرطة مدينة نيويورك. لمدة ثلاث سنوات ، كافح من أجل إخراج زوجته وأطفاله من اليمن ، البلد الذي يعيش في حرب أهلية مروعة ، إلى منزل العائلة في جامايكا ، كوينز. "أنا ضابط شرطة". قال السيد أحمد ، 40 عاماً ، "أخاطر بحياتي ، لكنني عادة لا أعرف ما الذي يحدث مع طفلي".

وصلت العائلة في النهاية لكن المرارة باقية. رأى شوقي أحمد أن ترامب خان العديد من المواطنين الأمريكيين الملتزمين بالقانون من خلال مثل هذه السياسات

Image

قالت دهوك إدريس ، وهي أم سورية في دمشق ، الأسبوع الماضي إنها تنتظر بفارغ الصبر تنصيب بايدن حتى تتمكن أخيرًا من رؤية ابنها لأول مرة منذ أربع سنوات.

بحلول النهاية ، بعد أكثر من 100 طعن قضائي والعديد من التكرارات ، أصبح "حظر المسلمين" الذي أصدره ترامب حظرًا أفريقيًا أيضًا. ومنعت دخول معظم المواطنين من إيران وليبيا وكوريا الشمالية والصومال وسوريا واليمن. وقف الهجرة من إريتريا وقيرغيزستان وميانمار ونيجيريا ؛ الأشخاص المختارون في تنزانيا ؛ وضمت فنزويلا أيضًا.

وأيدت المحكمة العليا الحظر ، التي قالت إنه على الرغم من تصريحات الرئيس التحريضية بشأن المسلمين ، فإن الحظر مبرر باعتباره سياسة مناهضة للإرهاب. لكن الحكم جاء مع معارضة شديدة من القاضية سونيا سوتومايور ، التي شبهته بقرار "كوريماتسو ضد الولايات المتحدة" لعام 1944 الذي أيد احتجاز الأمريكيين اليابانيين خلال الحرب العالمية الثانية.

منذ فتح الأبواب في الأسبوع الماضي ، قام العديد من الزوار المحتملين للمحاولة مرة أخرى. قال وكيل سفريات في ليبيا إنه كان هناك اهتمام مفاجئ بطلبات التأشيرات الأمريكية. قال أولاجوموك ياكوب-هاليسو ، أستاذ العلوم السياسية في جامعة بابكوك بولاية أوغون ، إن انتخابات بايدن في نيجيريا من المرجح أن "تغرق مكاتب التأشيرات".

على الرغم من رد الفعل العنيف في جميع أنحاء العالم على الحظر ، لا تزال أمريكا تتمتع بجاذبية عالمية هائلة ، وخاصة لمواطني الدول الهشة. قال نزار أسروح ، وهو ليبي في سان دييغو ، أعرب عن أمله في أن تحصل والدته الآن على تأشيرة للزيارة: "إنه شعور بالراحة والتفاؤل".

بالإضافة إلى تسريع الطلبات المعلقة ، أمر السيد بايدن بمراجعة فورية لجميع التأشيرات المرفوضة بموجب إجراءات السيد ترامب ، وتقييم الإجراءات الأمنية المثيرة للجدل "للتدقيق الشديد" التي تشمل فحص تغذيات وسائل التواصل الاجتماعي لمقدم الطلب.

لكن دعاة الهجرة يحذرون من أن العودة إلى نظام ما قبل ترامب لن تكون حلاً سحريًا.

قال قدير عباس ، محامي عام مجلس العلاقات الأمريكية الإسلامية: "حتى من قبل ، كان النظام تمييزيًا ولا يرحب بالمسلمين". "لقد كان في عهد إدارة أوباما توسيع قائمة مراقبة الإرهاب لتشمل أكثر من مليون اسم ، على حد علمنا ، هي في الأساس قائمة بأسماء المسلمين".

حتى بين أكثر المعجبين بأمريكا حماسة ، أصبح الانطباع عن الولايات المتحدة أكثر سلبية. في السودان ، قالت السيدة جمال ، التي فاز زوجها في يانصيب البطاقة الخضراء ، إنها حلمت بالانتقال إلى أمريكا منذ أن كانت طفلة.

قالت: "أريد لأولادي أن يعيشوا حياة كريمة". "وأريدهم أن يكونوا أحرارًا." لكن بعض السخرية تسللت إلى رؤيتها للقادة الأمريكيين.

قالت "كلهم نفس الشيء". بالنسبة لترامب ، كنا مسلمين سيئين. بالنسبة لبايدن ، نحن مسلمون صالحون. في نهاية اليوم ، لا يهم - سيستخدموننا إذا كان ذلك مفيدًا لهم. نحن مجرد بيادق في لعبة شطرنج ".

بعد ساعات من أداء اليمين الدستورية كرئيس ، ألغى السيد بايدن مجموعة كاملة من أوامر عهد ترامب التي منعت عشرات الآلاف من الأشخاص في جميع أنحاء العالم من دخول البلاد.

Photo: Amr Alfiky

يضغط النشطاء على الكونغرس لتمرير قانون عدم الحظر ، وهو اقتراح يدعمه السيد بايدن لمنع الرؤساء المستقبليين من سن قيود سفر كاسحة.

ومع ذلك ، من المرجح أن يستمر تقييم الضرر الناتج عن حظر السيد ترامب نظرًا لأن نيته الصريحة وتطبيقه العشوائي تركا تأثيرًا متفاوتًا على البلدان المتضررة.

في ميانمار ، على سبيل المثال ، التي أُضيفت إلى القائمة العام الماضي فقط .  بحسب جماعات حقوق الإنسان. تأثرت تأشيرات الهجرة فقط ، وبمجرد دخول الحظر حيز التنفيذ تقريبًا ، أغلقت ميانمار حدودها لوقف الوباء.

قال وو يي مينت وين من Fortify Rights ، وهي مجموعة إقليمية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان: "ما زلت لم أجد الإجابة عن سبب إدراج ميانمار في القائمة".

بالنسبة للآخرين ، الحظر فصل مأساوي مغلق.

قال ابن أخيه محمد آل الشيخ ، محمد عبد الرحمن ، رجل الأعمال الليبي ، إنه اعتقد أنه فاز بالجائزة الكبرى في عام 2017 عندما فاز في يانصيب البطاقة الخضراء ، مما يوفر طريقًا للفرار من بلد كان يغرق في الفوضى.

لكن حظر ترامب أجبر السيد عبد الرحمن على التأخير ، وقبل أن يتمكن من مغادرة ليبيا ، أصيب بجلطة دماغية وتوفي.

قال السيد الشيخ ، 34 عاماً ، متحدثاً عبر الهاتف من طرابلس: "لو لم يكن هناك حظر ، لكانت حياته مختلفة تماماً". "لقد احتاج فقط إلى مكان مستقر للعيش فيه لبقية حياته."

Diaspora and Development

While reading a book about water management in Yemen, I was surprised to learn that 6 centuries ago, people from Yemen were migrating from the Hejaz to what is present-day Ethiopia due to ecological distress. I also read about the Rashaida tribe (aka “Bani Rashid”) which followed a similar migratory pattern a hundred and fifty years ago in a large-sized coffee table book at the St. George Art Gallery. They currently live on the coastal areas of East Africa.

This question about the survival of the Yemeni people has haunted me since I have been following the heart-wrenching developments of the civil war. Many organizations focus on the lack of humanitarian intervention into this region from developed nations. Yet much less is discussed about the relationship between Yemen and Africa at large. The latter is considered  relatively undeveloped, but provides assistance nonetheless through economic networks. 

“Diaspora” has a complicated relationship with the nation-state. As Yemen strives to define its identity as a nation-state, with the Southern Transitional Council vying for prominence and calling for political autonomy, the survival of the diaspora is also a worthy subject of discussion a humanitarian and academic perspective.

Yemeni restaurants dot the urban spaces of Djibouti and Addis Ababa. The restaurants are generally popular among the upper-middle class of these respective cities. The restaurant-goers consume Yemeni culture in its aesthetics and food alongside a sense of Islamicate culture, such as designs of Yemeni architecture.

A rather elaborate version of Yemeni fish. Source: internet

The menu includes lamb as well as Yemeni fish, which is usually baked and served on a flat and dry surface. The restaurant "Bait al Mandi," located in the embassy-dotted Heron area of Djibouti, even had a French menu. This menu signified the class of the targeted clientele. As I ate in the "Al Pasha" restaurant, which is located in the former colonial space of Djibouti, a high ranking Djibouti military officer also was eating lunch to my left, as well as 4 abaya-wearing girls to my right. The girls self-consciously switched to communicate in French when they joined my table. The buffet at the up-scale Kempinski Hotel, near the shoreline, costs 45 dollars a person. This buffet also included the item of Yemeni fish. Through culinary heritage, Yemeni people find a way to maintain their economic independence through the upper echelons and aspiring classes of (Islamicate) Africa, without any handouts from (non-Muslim) developed nations. 

This trend of perceptions of a certain diaspora, which differs from the way English media portrays them, also follows a China-related observation. Western development agencies pioneered the foreign presence in East Africa. Their buildings are usually gated and guarded with barb wire. Their cars are usually very clean and up-to-date in comparison with the dusty and slightly run-down city buses common people use for transportation. The general vibe of these agencies toward the area seems optimistic but also condescending, since their presence has been felt for decades. In contrast, China’s presence feels much more pragmatic: profit is the name of the game and hardcore construction capital accumulates, instead of the other abstract notion of “development.” While China also engages with similar efforts of development, such as poverty alleviation and disease preventions, other sectors do not shy away from the business element of China’s involvement in Africa. In Ethiopia, furthermore, many of the tiles on the street are distinctly from mainland China. To trace it even further back, Addis Ababa has socialist architecture harking back to a different type of internationalism than the current one led by development agencies. Yet development agencies and mainland China-led initiatives both share a secular bent and an emphasis on financial accountability. The ethical aspect of accountability and sociability can easily be lost in translation during the search for construction and development.

Both the China population and Yemeni diaspora do not fit in the dominant literature on foreigners in East Africa, and thus have drawn my attention. This article has discussed their presence in terms of urban consumption as well as racial identity. After the abolition of slavery in most parts of the world, the evolving identities of “Africa” can be indicated not only through skin or tribe, but also capital. Though capital accumulation is intertwined with racial identity around the globe, the native-foreign relationship cannot be distinctly drawn alongside the binary of exploitation. While welcoming populations seeking refuge such as the Yemeni people, nationalism is alive and well alongside capitalism in East Africa. As the PM of Ethiopia calls for importing more “zero-zero” standard of new cars instead of used cars from abroad, the role of the Chinese and other non-Ethiopian diaspora will need to find a new way of continuing their commercial relationship with Ethiopia.

Some East African History from My New Friend

It has been 10 days since I arrived in Djibouti. It is 30+ degrees celsius here and I do not leave the indoors much in the daytime, which gives me time to ruminate and read. The currency here is the Djiboutian Franc and there are usually power-outs every week.

Much has happened though I will focus on one individual. I have met a Somali-Canadian gentleman here whose name is Sahal Ali. He invests in agricultural products in the countryside. While staying at the same hostel, we are lucky enough to hear the azaan every day from the neighboring mosque. The man who conducts the azaan is very good. Coincidentally, I am also reading a book about Africa and the Indian Ocean World, which traces the spread of trade in these two regions as well as the proselytization of Islam. My new friend Sahal Ali also helps with my understanding of the religious-cultural terrain. Upon learning about my research interests, he has shared photos of his travels to a museum in Massawa, Eritrea. The city of Massawa, like Djibouti, is a a historically important port that hosted traders of varied ethnicities, many of whom were Muslim. The Ottomans also had official ties with the Emirs, one of whose name is Emir Abdullah (not to be confused with the Hashemite Abdullah of the Arab revolt). Sahal Ali knows one of the traders of cultural artifacts in this town and has said that the trader owns a copy of a 9th-century Quran. I wonder if it is for sale or just for show and tell. 

1935 photo of Massawa Bazaar. Source: journalist Martin Plaut

Sahal also has a very interesting background. He traveled to Canada to pursue his studies  in 1991 when he was 16 years old. He learned French and settled in Ottawa for work--he translated and processed immigration applications. Perhaps that explains his friendly attitude and organized demeanor. I said I have always wanted to visit Toronto because of its diverse inhabitants. He has some relatives in California as well.

He became bored of the job after 18 years and also faced many Islamophobic harassment due to his name, which was "Ali." He also found that the Canadian government tried to pass citizenship laws that infringed upon the rights of his second-generation children: a certain law (I am not sure if it passed or not) stipulated that if second generation Canadians commit a crime in Canada, they faced deportation.

He decided to move back to where he was born. Many of his colleagues and friends found his decision to be ridiculous, but so far things have gone well until the shutdowns related to the coronavirus pandemic occurred. Sometimes he visits Canada as well and drives for a smart-phone app car service. When white men board his car, he asks them where they are from. First they are usually puzzled, but after his insistence and explanation ("I am always asked where I am from"), they tell him that their grandfathers or fathers came from another country. He felt satisfied in knowing that white Canadians also come from elsewhere, though the laws and social culture may inadvertently benefit them more. 

His father used to live in the Somali area of Ethiopia as well, which gave him a unique perspective about the country. He criticized the old regime for colonizing Somali land and pushing for Ethiopian supremacy, but finds that now the politics is more balanced, since a Somali can become a president of Ethiopia (which I assume was not the case before). He is amazed that Ethiopia did not manage to occupy a place with a port after many years of  dominance in the region. I said I did not know much about these events before, and I only read about the Ottoman participation at the Berlin conference (1884–1885), which was an international conference regulating the Scramble for Africa and her resources. Sahal said that Ethiopia delegates also participated at this conference, though I have yet to find a written source to confirm this statement.

These days the Ethiopian government is finishing a dam on the Nile river, which has been under construction for 7 years, and the Egyptian government has expressed their discontent. Sahal said that it is too late for their intervention; and anyways they constructed the Aswan dam a long time back. Though the rhetoric is heated and sharp, Sahal does not think any serious conflict will happen. He also finds that American politics to be "bizarre," though the cyclical nature of ideologies will inevitably backfire against the extreme posturing of the leader today. I admired his eloquence and calm attitude in discussing these matters. He said that Africans do not get aggressive easily when expressing their opinions. Perhaps it is because of the qat-chewing that keeps everyone in their cool. In any event, it is a nice intellectual detour for me from the otherwise brain-wracking scene of American politics.

Film Review: Ship of Theseus (2012)

I watched the deliciously cut Ship of Theseus trailer five times last year before the film was available. Several times I watched it with Chinese subtitles and even quoted lines in Chinese. Both the blind photographer and the Jain monk are resolute in their convictions and values and I found it incredibly inspirational.

While watching the film, I realized that the trailer frames the stories deceptively resolute, while most characters actually experience more ambivalence towards the end. To my excitement, all plots and themes of the three segments developed in a much more complicated fashion. The blind photographer and Arab coming-of-age woman Aaliya states that in the trailer that she does not believe there are any restrictions to her producing work. In the film, I find her reliance on sound-based technology in photography to substitute for her lack of eyesight and light detection capabilities as well as the plot twist in which she experiences difficulty in appreciating the new, post-surgical art. The director of the film, 34-year-old Anand Gandhi Anthropologist on Mars, whose author suggested in the preface that disabilities can be a source of creativity,

Thus while one may be horrified by the ravages of developmental disorder or disease, one may sometimes see them as creative too—for if they destroy particular paths, particular ways of doing things, they may force the nervous system into making other paths and ways, force on it an unexpected growth and evolution.

This book suggests a whole new way to look at the disability and could provide much psychological support for anyone who feels damaged after an accident. Chinese author Bi Feiyu wrote beautifully in his novel Massage about the enormous differences between those who did not have eyesight since birth and those who became visually impaired, either gradually or suddenly, after several years of vision. While the first never knew what they lost, the latter have utterly despondent outlooks on life. If they read the previous passage, perhaps they would think differently. Yet what happens when one readjusts back to modes of ableism? Perhaps the surgeries that makes one “complete” also cut short Aaliya’s growth and evolution.

 Aaliya’ artwork is on exhibition. Even the blind can experience her artwork.

The first segment also shows an incredible relationship between Aaliya and her artistic Indian boyfriend. While he cares for her and even learns Arabic, their story is not about Aaliya’s dependency and it is not romanticized. Like couples, they fight over mundane matters as well as artistic differences. She doubts whether or not people appreciate her art for itself or the novelty of her as a blind photographer. Her boyfriend stays through the periods of difficulty, but not without bitterness. In terms of post-surgical adjustments, how does a relationship endure? Does Aaliya view him differently now that she can see him? Was he as handsome as she imagined? Now that she regained her vision, will their relationship lose balance? Neither is her relationship with India romanticized either. After her surgery, does she find it just as beautiful? What about after she notices the male gaze? After her surgery, what keeps her in this country?

The couple celebrates her eye recovery.

The second character, the Jain monk Maitreya, resolutely refused drugs in the trailer and argued that they were tested on animals with much unnecessary cruelty. He fights a case in court against the use of testing animals for cosmetics and other non-medical use products. When I watched the trailer for the first time, I was in my first year of vegetarianism and rooted strongly for this moral proclamation and triumphalism. Maitreya discovered his liver cirrhosis and did not seek a transplant because that would require western medication.

Many of his friends could not accept this decision. One of them is a young and inquisitive friend, who adopted the name of “Charwaka,” is a reference to the Indian skeptic and atheistic tradition Cārvāka. 

Charwaka plays the role of the straw man skillfully as he argues with Maitreya about what happens after death, the universe, and karma in the film. Both he and Mr. Gupta, the lawyer, argued against Maitreya’s extreme decision to refuse treatment at certain points, but they still provided companionship. Mr. Gupta  said in an eloquent monologue when visiting Maitreya, 

Look into your own religion. There’s constant reference to relativity. Your ancients, they were masters of understanding that there is no one ultimate rule book for all situations. The woman churning curd into butter, she has to pull one end of the rope, and let the other end go otherwise the rope will break. Contradictions and polarities are two ends of the same rope. You can pull one end and let the other end go.

Like the “middle way” in Buddhism, one should not steer towards extremities in the name of ethics. Maitreya’s fellow monks also took “Western” medicine, contrary to the strict portraits of Jain monks I have read in Maximum City and Nine Lives. In these two books, Jain monks do not brush their teeth because that would also kill germs. Some use a cloth for a ritual mouth-covering as to not inhale living beings.They also do not step outside when it’s raining and risk breaking the water puddle for similar reasons. They do not use modern modes of transportation. In the film Maitreya wakes up in the middle of the night and walks along highways in the rain to battle for an animal rights case. He breaks one code but not the other for his goal of justice.

Maitreya sits in court, listening to Mr. Gupta, the lawyer, present the argument against animal testing for cosmetics.

I have read about sallekhana, the Jain ritual to stop the intake of food and starve oneself to death, in Nine Lives. The first of the nine portraits, Prasannamati Mataji, is a respected Jain nun that fell ill, refused western medicine, and decided to take on this formidable ritual. Due to the interview format of the book, the author William Darymple does not follow through to the end of the Jain nun’s sallekhana. I learn about the nun’s resolution in words,

Mataji: ‘Sallekhana is the aim of all Jain munis. It is the last renouncement. First you give up your home, then your possessions. Finally you give up your body.’

Darymple: ‘You make it sound very simple.’

Mataji: ‘When you begin to understand the nature of reality, it is very simple. It is a good way – the very best way – to breathe your last, and leave the body. It is no more than leaving one house to enter another.’

The examinations of Maitreya’s decaying and ailing body in Ship of Theseus thus provides a more visceral and emotional portrayal of a man’s confrontation with his own mortality. Some films have oppressive long shots and the philosophical musings bog down the flow of the film. But Ship of Theseus avoids these traps and placed the stunning formalist long shots and musings evenly. I especially appreciated the examination of the Jain monk Maitreya’s body, with jarring leisions creeping on his otherwise smooth skin. The physical ailments took much toll on Maitreya’s mental resolution as well. While Jains believe in “an immortal and indestructible soul, or jivan, and that the sum of one’s actions determines the nature of your future rebirth.” in his trepid and frail state, Maitreya could not answer whether or not souls exist. He eventually accepts treatment for his liver cirrhosis and survived the immediate transplant.

In the end, Maitreya looked very healthy and content, yet no longer wears monk robes. One wonders what new occupation he took on, unanswered just like the question of Where did he learn his English, possibly before monkhood?In Maximum City, I only see the previous secular lives of a wealthy Jain family described in detail. The author observes their intiation ceremony into diksha, or monk/nunhood, with much reservation. The father of the family is the most resolute person striving for enlightenment. Yet he also takes on his entire family. His sons still desire for companionship after diksha, and the author skeptically wonders whether or not they would persist. Even if I did learn about the ending of the Jain family, there is no simple conclusion to what they experienced internally.

Part three of Ship of Theseus also departs from the trailer’s suggested plot. The trailer showed Shankar, a desperate man whose lost his kidney unexpectedly, pointing to the ostensible “culprit” and kidney receiver Navin. In the film, I discover that the altercation was a misunderstanding—Navin actually received his organ donation from a legal source. Yet Navin still helped Shankar because his grandmother, a freedom fighter, chastised him for expecting too little in life. As a stock broker, Navin wanted wealth and respect. Imparting no harm is the ideal ethical conduct in his view rather than actively helping and understanding the downtrodden. His grandmother berated him and expected him to hand out true compassion and concern for the world. Eventually he seeks out justice for Shankar, flying all the way to Stockholm, and finds an adequate but not perfect solution. Navin feels defeated but his grandmother accepts the efforts with a heart-warming welcome back in India.

This is the only segment in the film which most interactions occur in Hindi, perhaps because only the Hindi speakers would intersect with the underworld of organ-harvesting and narrow chawls. Through the film, I know little about the life of Shankar after accepting the guilt money from the Stockholm receiver. Perhaps he moved out of the narrow chawl? Little is presented about the NGO that organized the legal organ donations, as well as the person who donated nine parts of his body to nine strangers. While the film complicates and leaves more questions to the film audiences, the director Anand Gandhi has many answers and thoughts on his blog for those who are interested.

Academics Against Uyghur Genocide: Zvi Ben-Dor Benite

Given the current state of affairs, I have decided to create this initiative to connect academics who are against the current genocide against Uyghur culture. As the Dalai Lama has said in the context of Sino-Tibetan relations, studying history together, alongside non-Asian historians, is a possible route for addressing the present. 
 I hope to garner more support in the future. There is currently a twitter account for posting happenings related to such efforts within academia. 

Here is a book review I read yesterday. I am sharing it here with some of my Mandarin annotations for those people interested in peace, Uyghur history, and preserving Uyghur culture.

----------

Book review: Holy war in China

Benite, Zvi Ben-dor

The Journal of Asian Studies, 2005, Vol.64(1), pp.170-172

Alia Bhatt in Raazi, Kalank, and Nationhood Anxieties in Bollywood, 2020

Alia Bhatt, the Bollywood actress and “It Girl” known for her ingénue face and dashing style is known for portraying the current struggles of middle class South Asian women. She does not shy away from potentially controversial social issues such as inter-caste dating in 2 States (2014) and seeking treatment for one’s mental illness in Dear Zindagi (2016). She has recently taken upon more historical roles in two well-known films, Raazi (2018) and Kalank (2019); the former became the highest grossing Bollywood film to feature a female protagonist. Both films highlighted the importance of an Indian woman’s contribution towards a collective sense of Indian nationhood. The plots of the films demarcated the gender as well as social boundaries between “Indians” and “others.” While her characters do not explicitly refer to present Indian politics, the structure of the female lead’s love interest in these two Bollywood films successfully addressed anxieties surrounding the nation-state from the 1930s to 1970s.

The two films’ plot revolved around different junctures in South Asian history, one from 1930s to the 1950s, the other covering the period from the mid-1960s to 1971, yet allude to the same anxieties surrounding the “foreign Muslim” of the present. I will discuss the two films chronologically and then move on to comparing both films. Both films have female-centric narratives, which invites audiences to participate in complicated performances of heterosexuality. While moments of the film expose the inner workings of heterosexuality, the endings inevitably affirm the heterosexual female as well as her life choices. In both instances, Alia Bhatt’s characters explorations of her gender roles coincide with the image of the liberal Indian nation-state.

In Kalank (2019), Alia Bhatt plays the newly-wed wife as both a favor for her father’s family friend as well as her family interests in a pre-Partition city. The first wife of a family heir asked Alia Bhatt’s character to be the new wife, due to the first wife’s terminal disease. The film titled which means “blemish,” focused on Alia Bhatt’s character’s purity despite being denied conjugal love (both in as well as outside the bedroom) by her husband, who focused on his first wife. 

Alia Bhatt’s character narrates this story decades later for a historian who wants to recover Partition stories, which has become a recent genre within historical research. The function of print is integral to reconstructing her romantic and “innocent” self, since she also explores the city’s public space as an educated daughter-in-law working for her family’s newspaper. Her gendered innocence is crucial to vindicate “India” from responsibility for partition as well as the newspaper’s uncommitted stance to the politics of their content. An all-male and religiously diverse boardroom discussed heatedly the ads, including those that advertised alcohol, which at times aroused religious sentiments. Alia Bhatt’s character argued from the boardroom’s doorstep that female products could potentially save the day, adding her voice to the newspaper’s future, without showing any explicit “communal” agenda.

In contrast, the film showed that the angry Muslim laborers are first and foremost key to locating “communal” attitudes, a popular trope in history and reports on Partition from post-Partition India. The Muslim illegitimate son, who has little interest in organized politics, attempts to establish a liaison with her to revenge the father who did not give him his due respect. The mother, courtesan, provides a queer space for Alia Bhatt’s character to experience pleasure beyond the domestic realm and train her singing voice. There is a moment of homosocial intimacy between her two love interests at a similarly queer space: the river bank. Under the moonlight, they open up to the perceived stranger about family and love matters, both of immense consequence. Beyond the “serious” boardroom, another kind of inter-religious bonhomie can be established over affections suppressed during the day. 

In the climatic ending, while attempting to board the train to “India” under the heat of the moment, her illicit love interest unfortunately died under the hands of the “communal” Muslims. Alia Bhatt’s character’s innocence in regards to the political aspect of the affair continued over the recorded oral testimonies which will live beyond her own lifetime. While she focused on her personal romantic sentiments, the liberal destination of the India free of “communal Muslims” as a political state is ensured, especially given that her loyalty to her Hindu husband is also preserved. Both endings were crucial to her success as a wife in post-Partition India: she could not be redeemed as an innocent citizen of the new Republic if she either succumbed to the consummation of extramarital love or to communal enmity. The pity of partition was resolved by her ability to articulate through the new state’s language and account for her fallen love’s death, metaphorically and literally. She focused mainly on interpreting her own acts of wifehood-transgressions rather than the broader political anxieties of the 1940s town (qasbah). Yet notably, the patriarch of her family, her husband, is absent during her recounts with the journalist, ensuring a sense of “objectivity” from the female subject. Yet even though the setting is intimate and understanding, Alia Bhatt’s character is aware of the public judgment in the ending’s conclusion, an off-screen voice asked that the people (audience included) can judge whether her story involved a blemish (kalank) or not. But clearly, the question and stake of her purity became connected to the idea of India’s liberalism of the 21st century through the film’s narrative arc.

In the film Raazi, Alia Bhatt’s character is more complex, given her multiple loyalties to the Indian state, to Kashmir’s future, and to her own religious piety. She succeeds her father’s role as a spy for India’s mission, which is poorly defined, but still sustained through spy-centric plot twists. Like her character in Kalank, Alia Bhatt’s character in Raazi similarly outlined the weight of respectability for any daughter-in-law in any middle class South Asian household. The gendered innocence helped her evade most suspicions of espionage, yet it could be argued that this requirement for authenticity and piety on screen is a uniquely post-9/11 phenomena for Indian Muslims. The muhajir servant of the Pakistani military family is the only one suspicious of her “innocence,” since she often usurped his responsibilities while demonstrating loyalty and usefulness within the domestic sphere. It is significant that she ends his life when he discovered her spy identity outside the domestic sphere. 

Soon after Alia Bhatt’s character’s exceptional and murderous act, she frantically searched for her own cover; the thrill of the audience overlaps with the gendered anxiety that the wife of a respectable should not ventures outside her domestic realm. Interestingly, nationalist leader Mohandas Gandhi once argued that ‘Western Civilization’ and capital displace women from their homes into the productive sphere. Alia Bhatt’s character in Raazi similarly has been displaced through her commitment to India’s intelligence gathering. Yet this revolting act by Alia Bhatt’s character of murdering of fellow Muslim could be read as nationalist and thus exorable to prevent imminent war between India and Pakistan. It is interesting to think about how the American TV series Homeland, which also starred a female lead might have influenced the plotline and character development of Raazi.

Alia Bhatt’s character’s acceptance (which is also the meaning of the title, Raazi) as a daughter-in-law is connected to Pakistan elite’s efforts to project their image of themselves as upper-caste sharif persons with respectable families. The Pakistani’s state project consists of promoting their pious self-image at times, which often occurred at the expense of religious minorities and non-sharif citizens. Yet the cinematic subversion of such a publicity project occurred when Alia Bhatt’s character used her Islamic duties, such as prayer, as her cover during her espionage-related activities. She often prayed and completed household tasks during her outings for communicating with her Indian intelligence superiors at the bazaar. Such acts also remind the audience of the potentially unfaithful wife of Kalank who used female-specific tasks as a “cover” to seek out her lover towards the middle of the film. Both films seem to leave the question to their audience: does Alia Bhatt’s loyalty as a wife matter more or does the commitment to the national cause trump “domestic” obligations? Such questions posed by the films are very poignant given the contemporary context: in India, certain Hindutva groups have initiated movements such as ghar wapsi in which women married to non-Hindus are encouraged to “return home” to the fold of Hinduism. The agency demonstrated by Alia Bhatt’s character Sehmat in Raazi contrasts to the thousands of repressed voices of sexual violence survivors against crimes that occurred during the War of 1971, incidentally where the film ends. The editing and promotional process of the film in its Youtube trailer that highlighted the agony of Alia Bhatt lying on the bed, seemed to acknowledge the tensions of sexuality and consent South Asian women face from the beginnings of nationhood to this day.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's interview on the Third Muslim and the Third Space

Recently I have been challenged by the delicate balance between being known and being understood, being appreciated v. being watched. My academic self and personal relations with the Muslim community in America have both undergone changes during quarantine. Reconstructed Mag interviewed artist and curator Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. The interview was over all "life giving" Here are some interesting points which I found relatable.

On modern Shi'a narratives:
Why are we forced to make our children and families martyrs? What are the forces against us that make us go into these spaces that end in death? The drag character Faluda Islam questions this.
The character is his attempt to look at revolution through high femme lens.

Zombies are an American horror theme and the situation in the mideast and Arab world is just as absurd as any american horror film.
Zombie was a symbol of revolution in Haiti but it was appropriated by Americans who were upset that they couldn't establish a colony there. A form of organizing was demonized by hollywood just like islam.
Same imperialist project that has kept going. The people in the organizing form is demonized


Can we use Islam as a springboard for the imagination?

Streamlining and homogeneity in which ppl are trying to gentrify islam is not just wahabiism, it is western imperialism. Islam had an expansive understanding of love such as the Andalusian poet Abu Nuwas and the Farsi poet Rumi.

Abu Nuwas' couplet I stumbled upon recently. 

When Pakistan reacted aggressively against his drag, "It almost put me back in the closet. I became shyer. I only did drag in an art setting rather than a club setting for more control and privacy because of how much the world was trying to take from me."

Queer ppl often conpartmentalize to see what the world can give us for what parts of it validates.

You get closer and closer to your intention as you grow as an artist. - najmas artist friend