South Asia Solidarity Group
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South Asia Solidarity Group

South Asia Solidarity Group
Tariq Mehmood launches his new book "Sing To The Western Wind"
Tariq Mehood launches his new book, "Sing to the Western Wind."
Book Launch SING TO THE WESTERN WIND Author Tariq Mehmod in conversation with Amrit Wilson, with Q&A. Published by Verso https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/products/3164-sing-to-the-western-wind A complex, vibrant novel about a man in extremis, and the forces that drive him to the ultimate act of desperation A suicide bombing is being planned in Manchester, and Saleem Khan, an atheist, seventy years of age, is carrying the bomb. Also concealed on his person is a cache of vivid, haunting memories – some of regret and yearning, some humorous, others over-shadowed by the brutality of war. Award-winning novelist Tariq Mehmood plunges the reader into the dizzying saga of Saleem’s incendiary history. In the 1960s, he left his lover, his job as a teacher and his home in rural Pakistan and emigrated to Bradford, a town crackling with racism. He found a job in a mill on an all-Asian night shift. He became an active trade unionist and later, when the mills closed down, drove a taxi. But inevitably, he is impelled to return to Pakistan. From Pakistan, Saleem is drawn across the border into the killing fields of Afghanistan. Among Russian soldiers and the holy warriors of the Mujahadeen, he meets Gulzarina, the woman whose life and experiences promise to make sense of Saleem’s own torturous history. Reviews The author’s and the characters’ acute self-awareness of the familiarity of the plot, and their insistence on stressing the nuances of Saleem’s journey rather than the gravity of its end, that make for a compelling read. Kohl Journal In reflective prose, Tariq Mehmood’s kaleidoscopic novel unravels the life of man driven to the brink by political and religious violence...unflinching Sing to the Western Wind covers the human costs of imperial war in Pakistan, showing how innocence can be transformed into extremity through unjust violence: 'sometimes, even doves are slaughtered for the crime of singing.' Foreword Reviews It’s a harrowing story, and the book is full of gripping tension ... Mehmood writes about people with a tenderness and patience that is the mark of all talented novelists. James Folta, Lit Hub
We gathered in Gordon Square, at the statue of Rabindranath Tagore, a poet, philosopher, and anti-colonial visionary, remembering his pledge: "I will never allow chauvinism to triumph over humanity for as long as I live." We stand here not simply to mark the 78th anniversaries of India’s and Pakistan’s independence from British colonial rule, but to confront the truth: independence did not mean liberation. The colonial project did not end in 1947, it simply changed hands. Power passed from foreign rulers to local elites, who have built their own states on the same foundations of division, otherisation, and violence. Across South Asia today, people are still struggling for real freedom and justice. They face repressive, majoritarian governments; communal, casteist, and patriarchal social forces; and the ongoing plunder of their lands and labour by imperial powers and corporations. In India, the current Hindu supremacist government wages war on its own people; demolishing Muslim and Dalit homes, deleting millions from electoral rolls, and now, detaining, torturing, and deporting Bengali-speaking Muslims to Bangladesh for the crime of simply existing. That is why being here, by Tagore, a Bengali, is so significant. We honour his vision of humanity while standing with the very people now facing erasure in the land of his birth. Kashmir remains under brutal occupation, its people denied their right to self-determination, its voices silenced through disappearances and detentions. In Pakistan, the state carries out its own internal colonialisms; from enforced disappearances in Balochistan to the mass deportations of Afghan refugees who have lived there for decades, with no regard for their safety or rights. This dispossession and dehumanisation cannot be separated from the ongoing legacies of colonialism and imperialist relationships. India may be independent in name, but Modi’s government maintains close ties with imperialist powers including the UK, the US, and Israel. British corporations like JCB are literally on the ground demolishing Muslim and Dalit homes, fuelling the government’s fascist programme. We are witnessing the undoing of hard-won post-independence protections. From the revocation of Article 370, which stripped Kashmir of its special status, to open threats to replace the Indian constitution itself with the Manusmriti, an ancient patriarchal Brahmanical text. Let us ask: is this the independence our ancestors fought for, or the continuation of colonial rule, only with local rulers wearing the crown? Tonight, through the poetry of resistance from India, Pakistan, and Kashmir, we remember that the struggle for liberation is unfinished, and that independence without justice is hollow. We gather as part of the diaspora, not to romanticise the past, but to commit ourselves to solidarity across borders, across identities, and against every system that thrives on division. Let this gathering be a reminder: our histories are intertwined, our oppressions connected, and so must our struggles be. As Tagore’s words challenge us, we must never allow chauvinism to triumph over humanity. Speakers in the video: Comperes Ananya & Maithreyi 1 Tagore songs 'Aaguner Poroshmoni' and 'O Amar Desher Mati' sung by Arka Chakraborthy 2 Obaak Prithibi ('Anubhob') by Sukanta Bhattacharya and 'Ei Mrityu Upotyoka Aamar Desh Na' poem by Nabarun Bhattacharya read by Jigisha 3 'A local train conversation' by Chandramohan S. read by Nirmala R. 4 Aasifa read her own poem about her mother who passed away alone in Kashmir during the siege 5 Banning of books in Kashmir and “Partion Poem: In Kashmir, Writing Under Occupation,” Ather Zia (@aziakashmir) discussed/read by Amrit W. 6 'Subh e Azadi' by Faiz Ahmed Faiz read by Osaid 7 Jacinta Kerketta (@jacinta.959) poem Nadi, 'Pahar aur Bazaar' read by Tunbvii, with translations by Lotika 8 Bengali Muslims - deportations, disenfranchisement etc discussed by Kalpana W. 9 Hazrat Mohani poem read by Zahra 10 'Mahnu' by Balochi poet Atta Shad read by Osaid 11 Bhupen Hazarika song 'Manush Manusher Janye' sung by Ananya 12 'No Rose Red in Kashmir' by Ather Zia read by Aasifa 13 'Hum dekhenge' by Faiz sung by Nirmala R. A recording of 'Mai Nahi Manta', by Habib Jalib was going to be played but time did not permit it. Organised by South Asia Solidarity Group and supported by InSAAF, Nijjor Manush, India Labour Solidarity, The ROT Collective, South Asians 4 Palestine and Stop JCB Bulldozer Demolitions.
JCB, the British corporate notorious for the home demolition it carries out in occupied Palestine, India and Kashmir was due to celebrate its 80th anniversary at its headquarters in Rocester in the midlands with a so-called ‘sportive’, a cycle ride which aimed to raise money for the children’s charity NSPCC. However, the sportive did not go according to plan. Activists from the Stop JCB Demolitions Campaign turned the event into an expose of JCB’s complicity in ethnic cleansing and genocide while shaming NSPCC for accepting funds from a company which has destroyed children’s lives in Palestine, India and Kashmir, plunging them into homelessness, poverty and lasting trauma.
We recorded our online session held on the 3rd of May following the Pahalgam attack, which covered the wider context in Kashmir, India and Pakistan, and how we can build solidarity. The session sought to - answers to burning questions being raised about the Pahalgam attack - map the context in Kashmir, India and Pakistan - hear about the violence unleashed in Kashmir and on Kashmiris in India in the wake of the attacks - explore how solidarities with Kashmiris can be built in India and the diaspora in the context of intensified hate and warmongering by the Modi government and the Hindu supremacist networks - share strategies and resources between India and Israel and the parallels and differences between the experiences of Kashmir and Palestine. Speakers included Mirza Saaib Beg, Kashmiri lawyer and writer Clifton D'Rozario, National Secretary, All-India Central Council of Trade Unions
The first session of a series of webinars to understand, resist and expose one of the world’s most dangerous billionaires: Indian businessman Gautam Adani. The series will examine Adani’s role in various harmful projects in conjunction with Narendra Modi’s Hindu supremacist government, and with global imperialist powers. These include the coal mining of Adivasi lands, weapons sales to Israel including through shipping and ports (Adani acquired the lease for Israel’s second largest port, Haifa, even as Indian dock workers have been refusing to load Israeli weapons) and the creation of residential schools for Adivasi children. Crucially, we will also be focusing on ongoing resistance to Adani’s destructive policies, particularly among Adivasi communities. In this session, we have a discussion between Paranjoy Guha Thakurta and Ravi Nair on how Adani acquired his immense wealth, will feature a discussion. Paranjoy is an Indian journalist, writer, publisher, documentary filmmaker and teacher, and the only Indian journalist referred to in the famous Hindenburg Report on Adani. Ravi is an investigative journalist who works with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project and is known for his groundbreaking exposes of Adani. Support Paranjoy's work here: https://paranjoy.in/donate
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About SASG

South Asia Solidarity Group (SASG) is an anti-imperialist, anti-racist organization based in Britain. We are committed to supporting, publicising, and building solidarity with people’s struggles for justice and democracy and against exploitation, gender and caste based oppression, imperialism, war and the so-called ‘war on terror’ in the countries of South Asia.

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