Last week, I visited the National Museum of American Indian, New York.
Thereafter, I posted a few tweets.
Sharing them here below.
Grateful to @historianess for introducing the @SmithsonianNMAI #NewYork -a gateway to forgotten histories of the #US pic.twitter.com/7Fmg9KgwQ9
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Found intriguing commonalities between #IndusValley motifs& aesthetic of ancient #NativeAmerican cultures. pic.twitter.com/rOTUb5WsgD
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
On shared motifs of #Indusvalley Civzn& #nativeamerican cultures @historianess summed it up as:”..common human fascination with #geometry“
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
The gorgeous ceiling of @SmithsonianNMAI in #NYC ( the building was formerly Customs House) pic.twitter.com/0kJuek9isb
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Xipe Totec – displayed in this meaningfully #entitled #exhibit called The Infinity of Nations at @SmithsonianNMAI pic.twitter.com/SHsWo7zQHs
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
#Indigenous communities(skeptical of the term due its #aid linkge)+their brutalized,marg cultures are festering wounds of human civilisation
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Through my travels (for work mainly) I had the opportunity to observe many such communities in many countries. Common theme: brutalisation.
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
In #Pakistan,communities like the tribals of FATA, Baloch, Bheel, gypsies & gen. lower castes live on the margins of national mainstream.
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
We talk of nationhood, one-nation but we continue to segregate, isolate citizens through legal & political governance instruments.
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
I visited the #Chittagong Hill Tracts in 2007/8 & heard about discriminatory treatment of tribal peoples #Bangladesh #indigenouspeoples
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
My first job was in the #GilgitBaltistan #Pakistan. I witnessed how these brave people survived & worked despite indeterminate #citizenship
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Later while working in #Kosovo, the #Roma & Ashkali & minority faced mainstream prejudice & in some cases condescension. Poor, forlorn ppl
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
I have little first hand experience but from what i have read/heard the tribals in India fare no better in terms of exclusion. #Indigenous
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
When I returned to Pak(& was more engaged with media) saw the Swat #IDP crisis of 2009.People had to leave homes & live in heat of the plains
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
First militants allowed to flourish in specific areas & when they have to be fixed 00s of thousands are forced to leave&become homeless. #Pak
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Indeed. Even in some civilised European countries #Roma face discrimination. Alas. https://t.co/Wt5UXQA7Vc
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
I can go on and on about social and political exclusion. But the reality is that we see so much injustice & remain silent or become immune..
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
And now it’s a full circle. In US, I am learning every day about the #NativeAmerican cultures & their invisibility. pic.twitter.com/gGGpUYmqhV
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
I am not surprised. Our #independence of stories of 1947 & 1971 are illusions. ‘Night-bitten dawn’ as Faiz said. https://t.co/RWJfoWEN52
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Encouraging sign: movements to support #NativeAmerican rights in the US. Creation of @SmithsonianNMAI in 2004 part of this change process.
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
.@imranahsanmirza I don’t know lots about #aboriginal ppl in Australia but there are efforts underway for their rights too. Support them 🙂
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
Candles in the darkness are cliched weaklings but they matter! Blame the past & others is easy. Doing our bit requires commitment+engagement.
Raza Ahmad Rumi (@Razarumi) January 31, 2016
