1.Friends.Comments to my last post triggered another thought. It's ok to be subjective/emotional in our study of politics.But we must be more aware of our biases, not feign their absence.The politics I'm studying is so excruciatingly polarized,it's nothing short of painful for me

2. The making of history,any version of it,is so deeply embedded in the larger context, in the larger ideology, in the larger bias we carry with ourselves and within our own identities. Be aware of this. I understand we can't talk about Mujib, Bhutto & Yahya without a meltdown!

3. And that's ok. But let's have that meltdown, and then try and set a goal for ourselves, of introspection and recognition of our own biases, and foreground them in our study. Why do I say that we need more critical thought, more open & honestly engagement, on Bhutto's role?

4. Because the moment one speaks of a more critical appraisal, the conversation tends not to go beyond the meltdown. And I can see why this is so. It's like a zero-sum dynamic. A critique of Bhutto means more credence to Yahya. That is our context of history-making in this period

5. We have to chip away at that zero-sum assumption to better appreciate what politics really looks like, the constraints it operates within, the ways in which structure and agency interact with each other, the political and institutional interests that constitute politics, etc.

6. I want to understand politics. And how personalities and politics shape each other within that larger miasma that comprises 'structure' or 'vested interests' or 'popular constituencies'. The larger debate is very close to my heart, the debate over democracy v. de facto power.

7. When I started excavating deeper 2 years ago, I was frightened of what I would find. But I promised myself critical introspection of my ideas. That openness has shifted many of my earlier views on particulars, but deeply reinforced my larger ideological premise. But even so...

8. ...it has made me realise how my understanding of politics was so naive, so informed by the need to somehow protect the symbols and practitioners and advocates of democracy. That is not so. That is not politics. Politics lies in asserting interests, seizing opportunities...

9. We need to open up space to talk about politics and political agency (aka personalities) and its many geniuses and flaws without having to relinquish bonus points to Yahya. The secession is to his credit entirely. That's done, let's now have a real conversation on Bhutto&Mujib