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- Don't call me Muslim, I am an atheist:Taslima
Bangladeshi writer-in-exile Taslima Nasreen has made the call not to label her as a Muslim, adding that she is an atheist.
The writer, who was forced to leave Bangladesh in 1994 when extremists threatened to kill her for criticising Islam, made the call while giving an interview to The Hindu, an English-language Indian daily newspaper from Chennai.
Replying to a query whether she made anti-Islamic statements for strengthening her position in India, Taslima said: “Please don’t call me a Muslim, I am an atheist. I criticise all religions, including Hinduism. I opposed Hindu godmen, rituals such as karva chauth and shivaratri, and condemned the oppression of Muslims in Gujarat.”
“I objected to the oppression of Hindus in Bangladesh, objected to Jewish oppression in Nazi Germany, Bosnia, Palestine, and Christian oppression in Pakistan. I also wrote in favour of films such as PK, Water and The Last Temptation of Christ.”
In the interview, the writer called for reining in religious fundamentalism, saying that criticism of religion is not the domain of non-Muslim intellectuals alone.
Denying the claim that her writings are provocative, the writer said: “I said we must stop stoning women to death in the name of religion. Is that provocation? My opinion is based on my belief in secular humanism. If that is provocative, then it is absolutely necessary to provoke.”
Mentioning that every civilised state has questioned the relationship of the state with religion, eventually disentangling and distancing the two, she further said: “Islam should not be exempt from the critical scrutiny that other religions have gone through.”
Trashing the allegation that her writings strengthen fundamentalism, she said: “Governments are strengthening fundamentalism, not me. When religious fanatics set a price on my head, instead of taking action against them, the government targeted me.”
“The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party joined hands with these forces and so did the caretaker government. Even in West Bengal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led government expelled me; the Imam Barkati of the Tipu Sultan Mosque, who set a price on my head, was adored by the Marxists.”
“Interestingly, Mamata Banerjee befriended the Imam as soon as she came to power,” she added.
While talking about the murder of writer-blogger Avijit Roy, she said: “Avijit was a science blogger and a free thinker, an atheist and a rationalist, who wanted to secure a space to dissect and debate issues.”
“He started Mukto-Mona to accommodate writings of atheists and humanists, as newspapers do not publish their work. Mukto-Mona became a window through which people could look at each other and raise questions about all religions, including Islam.”
She continued that in Bangladesh, over a period, the space for free thinkers has been disappearing.
“Avijit brought it back using a new platform… precisely why his contribution is outstanding.”
She said a secular constitution was given away to make Islam the state religion during time of General Hussain Ershad in the mid-1980s.
Taslima held the progressive community partly responsible for the change.
Recalling the bitter memories of the period when she was expelled from the country, she said: “When I was expelled in 1994, the whole of society went silent.”
She continued “If this community had objected then, Bangladesh would not have had a society in which an Avijit is hacked to death, a Humayun Azad targeted or an Ahmed Rajib Haider killed for criticising Islam.”
“Perhaps the conflict in Bangladesh is whether to have a country on the basis of language or on the basis of religion.”
The atheist writer also came up with a solution of the ongoing religious extremism in the country.
“We must have secular education rather than education through madrassas. The government must not let the country become a safe haven for religious extremists.”
“The country will be heading for a complete disaster if Islamic terrorists are not brought to justice.”
Writer Taslima Nasreen fled Bangladesh in 1994 and has been living in exile since. Feminist and secular humanist Taslima now lives in New Delhi.
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