In 1997, at a remarkable weekend-long tribute to Eqbal Ahmad, Edward W. Said urged Ahmad not to ""leave your words scattered to the winds, or even recorded on tape, but collected and published in several volumes for everyone to read…. Then those who don’t have the privilege of knowing you will know what a truly remarkable, gifted man you are.""
Ahmad died suddenly in the spring of 1999 before Said’s dream came to fruition. For the first time ever, Ahmad’s most provocative ideas are available in book form. In these intimate and wide-ranging conversations, Ahmad discusses nationalism, ethnic conflict, the nuclear standoff between India and Pakistan, the politics of memory, imperialism, and liberation struggles around the world.
Eqbal Ahmad was a peace activist and scholar born in India. In 1947, he left with his brothers for the newly created state of Pakistan. He was active in the civil rights movement and the anti-Vietnam War movement in the United States. Ahmad passed away in the spring of 1999.