Ikhtisad Ahmed

Human, Bangladeshi, writer. Putting pen to paper literally and figuratively, sometimes with literary consequences. I exist, therefore I am.

[Shabnam Nadiya @nadiya_shabnam]

Very excited about this book being out in the world! It's been quite a journey getting to this point, but here it is, with a gorgeous cover and a riveting story by one of my favorite novelists.
Thank you @WestlandBooks @JacarandaLit @jayapriya88 @minthakur for making this real!

[Ahmedur Chowdhury @AhmedurChy]

I don’t think I was a great publisher, but when I look back after being attacked and exiled, my previous work inspires me to stick to my commitments and continue the pen fight. Some of my experiences in Bangladesh are now published in the online magazine ADDA.

[jeremy scahill @jeremyscahill]

A few thoughts about the issue of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the credibility of the US and NATO:

[Naomi Hossain @nomhossain]

This was originally 'Bangladesh's Resilient Reputation' but you get the idea. Bangladesh needs a new narrative, & it won't come from GDP stats. We need our brilliant artists & creators to tell our stories around the world.

But for that we also need free speech. #Bangladesh

[Saad Hammadi @saadhammadi]

Bangladesh's CID uses Cellebrite's Universal Forensic Extraction Device which enables extraction of data from locked mobile phones and identify their physical location without the owner’s consent. Some invasive surveillance there!
https://t.co/1ol39xE89B

[Dhaka Tribune Arts & Letters @ArtsnLettersDT]

To judge a book by its cover, Taxi Wallah and Other Stories is composed of slices of the rainbow splashed on a backdrop of brooding, even melancholy
https://t.co/BsZ01W4w5T

[Nazmul Ahasan @the_nazmul]

My @ForeignPolicy take on Dhaka’s absurd arguments equating deadly use-of-force by U.S. police departments with its own state-sponsored extrajudicial executions: “extrajudicial executions or enforced disappearances aren’t normal in any society.”

https://t.co/DxnHy2pDy7

[Rifat Munim @MunimRifat]

31st of December was my last day at Dhaka Tribune. It was an amazing journey for me. I worked with a great bunch of colleagues who enriched me in more ways than they’d ever know. When I joined, a lot of people doubted if a four-page lit supp in BD can be expanded into a magazine+

[HarperCollins @HarperCollinsIN]

In his review of #TaxiWallahandOtherStories by Numair Atif Choudhury, @ikhtisad aptly describes the late author's intimate prose: "composed of slices of the rainbow splashed on a backdrop of brooding, even melancholy." Buy now! https://t.co/vULdbTTebf

[Joseph Allchin @J_Allchin]

My bit on Bangladesh’s phantom power projects and how they are in fact part a corrupt scheme enabled by a single law, that both enriches favoured businesses and also helps to promote the veneer of surging economic success

[Nazmul Ahasan @the_nazmul]

Bangladesh police again harrassed Nazneen Khalil, mother of @tasneem, the exiled editor-in-chief of @NetraNews. Days ago, the sister of another exiled commentator was arrested on seemingly trumped-up charges. It’s difficult to understate the disturbing pattern, and it must stop.

[Saad Hammadi @saadhammadi]

Targeting religious sensitivities to stoke communal tension is one of the worst forms of human rights violation. We urge authorities to investigate the incidents and bring those responsible for the violence to justice through fair trials.
https://t.co/C3YKeSCBWN

[Ikhtisad Ahmed @ikhtisad]

The majoritarian communal vitriol and violence directed at the Hindu religious minority in #Bangladesh must be deplored for the heinous acts that they are. There is no room for #Islamism and lies, nor for bigoted justifications, dogmatic zealotry and false equivalences.

[Nazmul Ahasan @the_nazmul]

It’s very late at night in Bangladesh. So news outlets are finding it difficult to report on what’s happening. We should get a fuller extent of what happened tomorrow. But myriad of posts are claiming casualties in anti-Hindu clashes in several districts in Bangladesh.

[Nazmul Ahasan @the_nazmul]

.@BBCBangla reports how a Quran was recovered from a Hindu temple in Cumilla, triggering online speeches by zealots claiming Islam being humiliated and calling for “protests”. That in turn triggered a wave of attacks on Hindu temples across the country.

https://t.co/ykqvSV8J0t

[Ikhtisad Ahmed @ikhtisad]

"The world must become more human," says Ahmed Kabir Kishore, bane of #Bangladesh's elite class. He was arrested under draconian laws for his #LifeInTheTimeOfCorona cartoon series, documenting the corrupt mismanagement of the #Covid19 crisis: https://t.co/kcdbnoxLrK #JoyBangla

[Saad Hammadi @saadhammadi]

Why #Rohingya leader Mohib Ullah became a target and who would have wanted him dead? I shared on @AJEnglish our concerns about the growing number of incidents of violence in the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar since last year, a possible indicator of who could be behind his killing.

[Rifat Munim @MunimRifat]

I engaged Manoranjan Byapari in a conversation about The Runaway Boy (tr. by V Ramaswami). Those who are interested in partition, Marxist lit tradition & Dalit writing may find it interesting. Excerpt from the transcript #DTAdda #DalitWriting

https://t.co/wtd36HrrhE

[Ikhtisad Ahmed @ikhtisad]

Three of the many people who should be front-page news in #Bangladesh, precisely because it is not their birthday; rather they are facing grave injustices at the hands of a regime opposed to #FreeSpeech: Ahmed Kabir Kishore, Shafiqul Islam Kajol and @tasneem. #JoyBangla