Unwritten Lives

I am Zakir, born and raised in Afghanistan. I was 16 years old when we were trapped in the middle of a devastating conflict in Afghanistan in 1992. Every day felt like a fight for survival. The sound of violence surrounded us, and fear became a constant part of our lives. There were many nights when I lay awake, wondering if I would live to see the next morning. In those dark moments, I kept asking myself: If I survive this, what will my future look like? Will I ever have the chance to dream again?

Most Muslims in India’s capital city live in areas often called “Muslim ghettos”. Under the right-wing rule of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as minorities continue to live uncertain lives, more people are pushed into already condensed and crowded neighbourhoods. Here, a former resident of one such “ghetto” takes a deep dive into the history, politics, and ontology of life in these precarious settlements.

It has been 20 years since the UK’s first same-sex civil unions took place on 19 December 2005. Adnan Ali and Eric Stobbaerts were one of the first gay couples in London to form a civil partnership on that historic day. They are both busy men with global lives. Unwritten Lives was glad to catch up with them in London, where the couple spoke with Ishtiyaq Shukri.

It has been five years since renowned Delhi University linguistics professor Hany Babu was arrested on 28 July, 2020. He is being held without charge in India’s notorious Taloja Central Jail on the outskirts of Mumbai. Here his former student takes a roll call to remember his name, because “naming is work we do for one another.”

When a DNA test revealed the author’s Roma heritage, he travelled to one of Europe’s largest Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller (GRT) gatherings—Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria—to learn more about this unique historic event.