Sandeep Bakshi

Javid Khan *was* (sorry, need an edit button)

The ceiling bears the mark of the missing stones. Far into the image appears the foundation of the Peacock Throne.

Oh, incidentally, the pic below is the Diwan-i-Khas (the royal chamber) of Shahjahan & other Mughals. You can see the marks of colonial loot on the ceiling. The Brits looted the precious stones. The foundation ofShahjahan's Peacock Throne can be seen. It had the Koh-i-noor amongst other jewels./fin

The Sunehri Mosque

The explanatory plaque of the Sunehri Mosque. Javid Khan's name does not appear in the explanation.

The heartache of queer/trans erasure is the Sunehri (Golden) mosque built by Javid Khan next to the Red Fort. Javid Khan, a trans warrior, one of the highest-ranked officials in the 18thC (not just existing but thriving). Their name erased from memory despite the inscription on the mosque. 3/

The Jama Masjid

Queer Sufi Saint Sarmad's tomb

The Red Fort

Passage from a book that tells us about the Muhammad Tahsin, the Royal Eunuch.

histories that were edited out through successive heteronormative enactments of erasure, both colonial and postcolonial. The Jama Masjid (Delhi's mosque), the queer Sufi tombs, the iconic Red Fort -- all in what is considered 'old' (!) Delhi bear queer presence triumphantly across centuries. 2/

Batool Ali and myself in the Red Fort complex

This time in India was mostly a short work visit. Hope I can be back for a proper holiday in April.
The highlight -- more incoming in my work -- was the Delhi Queer Heritage walk I did, which was organised by the trans archivist Batool Ali. Batool is extraordinarily well versed in queer & trans 1/

good lord I’m gonna end up with two of the three most cursed passports possible by the end of this year

First room of the memorial -- titled Punjab's resistance to British rule.

The entrance to the memorial depicting men in bronze statues going towards what we can consider liberation

Last post on Amritsar. Yesterday we visited the site of the Jallianwala Bagh colonial massacre (1919), one of the well documented mass murders of the British Empire. It was my 2nd visit. I'm not against memorialisation of historical sites per se, but had read critiques ofthe museum-ification of 1/

😤 sorry

Yes, why???

WTF!! 😩

They always did that but social media and culture war allowed even less reality.

And because the far right AfD gets normalised by politicians and media, they can basically as worse as possible since there is always someone worse in the AfD.

Imagine having this waste of space as your chancellor at this juncture? Instead of someone with a soul - like Sanchez.

To those at the back:
Black & brown faces in high places won’t save us, to borrow from Prof Ruha Benjamin.
I’d add,
Black & brown faces upholding white systems in global north advance careers. Proximity to power from skin folk (not kin folk) make our labour to dismantle power structures challenging.

My question every day. We are doomed to become the 52nd state..

Okay, allmählich wird es peinlich. Sogar für ihn.

Because the people who have always voted for that party don't seem to care at all who is running it. As long as it carries the label, they'll vote for this crap.

Kinda reminds you of Republicans, doesn't it?

What the actual fuck.

#MerzStoppen

Well….

Sorry, folks. I didn't vote for him. Many here don't agree with his policies.

I didn't

This man is a total failure.
#MerzKannEsNicht

As a German I have to say:

THAT'S A VERY GOOD QUESTION!!!!!

well, our history plays a big part in how it happened i'm afraid.

i despise merkel but she was right about one (1) thing: hating this man and keeping him out of politics. alas....

I read "trumps closet ally"

it's the same thing as what happened in the US and UK. it was always "haha, what if HE actually ended up in power? but that would never happen, it'd be too crazy" and then it happened

When the inevitable happens, and some US special forces or regular soldiers are captured, does that mean the Iranians do not need to abide by international law in relation to those POWs?

From The Telegraph Merz: Iran should not be protected by international law German chancellor positions himself as Trump's closest European ally in condemning Tehran.

Not judging Germany by its history, but its current failure. How on god’s green earth did they put this man in the top position?!