When Only God Can See -The Faith of Muslim Political Prisoners by Walaa Quisay and Asim Qureshi – Review

At a time where more and more people are being arrested for their political beliefs, many of whom are Muslims, this book is an important illustration of what life behind bars entails. The level of psychological warfare these people have to navigate, even before being charged with any offense is bewildering. Using a prisoner’s faith as a weapon against them and the degrading, humiliating and often illegal methods that are employed to get confessions is astounding. How are we allowing these prisons and these systems to operate in spaces we call humane. How can we raise children in a world that treats humans in ways that most of us would never even think to treat an animal?

Chai Time at Cinnamon Gardens (review with spoilers)

Shankari Chandran explores Australia’s racial tensions in a really clever and interesting way. By juxtaposing them with the ethic tensions in Sri Lanka, also carefully crafted by its colonial overlords, the British (the familiar strategy of divide and rule was implemented to exacerbate differences between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil minority), she highlights the deeply human need to belong. The white Australians who are so afraid of their land being overtaken by non-white immigrants, refuse to acknowledge that the land was never theirs to claim.

What This Week (x2)

Although I definitely felt a little low at the end of last year and the beginning of this year, the January Blues didn’t really hit as hard as I expected them too as I have been considerably busier than anticipated. I signed up for annual membership to Royal Museums Greenwich and had a wonderful day…