Tolerance And Intolerance Debate

Taslima Nasrin

Tolerance And Intolerance Debate

          Nidhu Bhusan Das

“Amir Khan you earned 300 crores by mocking Hindu gods in PK if you would have done this in Pakistan, Bangladesh or on Muslim religion you would have been Hanged and still you say India is Intolerant.” –Taslima Nasrin

Amir Khan

      

  

          We may often tend to dismiss Bangladeshi maverick author Taslima Nasrin as eccentric, and she is not happy with the way she was to leave India in the face of violent movement by a group of overzealous Muslims in Kolkata, where she lived, demanding her expulsion from India. She doesn’t hesitate to suggest that the secularism in India is sometimes weak-kneed in practice. Yet she would not agree with the noted film personality Amir khan when he joins the chorus against intolerance. Here lies the strength of Taslima, a feminist and crusader against fundamentalism.

        Yes, it is true intolerance exists in the country. It is there between sections of people belonging to different religions, intra-religious, between the powerful and the humble, and so on. The debate on beef-eating is a contentious issue now that is sought to be taken by certain people as the only indicator of intolerance. Yes, we should not interfere with the food habit of anyone; rather we should be concerned about the fact that many people in the country do not have the means to have food at all, or nutritious food. But whenever we see that a handful people organize a feast of eating beef openly in the streets of Kolkata to demonstrate their being progressive and secularists par excellence, it appears to be a melodrama in bad taste and a kind of provocation to rouse communal feeling, be they powerful and darlings of the media. Should we call it perversion of secularism or perversion at individual level? Action in bad taste cannot help meaningful democracy in which is ingrained the value of secularism.Self-porclaimed secularists may have the liberty to think otherwise.

        Again there are people who in their right are concerned about intolerance of a specific kind, and would not like to turn their attention to the general trend of intolerance, having a holistic view. Those who say they tend to think of leaving the country because of a specific type of intolerance are often found to fail in being outspoken when terror strikes spill blood in the country and elsewhere in the world.

       What Taslima Nasrin, probably, means to say is that we should have a holistic view to be a complete man sans bias and prejudice.

Paris Carnage: The‘Mirage’ of Islamic State

     Paris Carnage: The‘Mirage’

              of Islamic State

A memorial on Saturday outside the Bataclan concert hall,
 where gunmen killed 89 people.
Courtesy: The New York Times.
 Credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

            The Terror on 
Paris Friday night
 (13 November 2015) and the claim of ISIS that they have wreaked the havoc might have persuaded many like me to revisit the seminal work of Tarek Fatah “Chasing A Mirage :The tragic Illusion Of An Islamic State” since ISIS has the avowed mission of setting up a New Caliphate.They called the attacks “First of the Storm”.

          I would like to understand if the wisdom of prophets, be it Hazarat Muhammad or Jesus Christ, and in Holy Books like the Quran, the Bible, the Geeta and the Tripitak precludes the freedom of man to knowledge and  faith. Besides, it’s a matter of curiosity if an Islamic State, a Christian, a Buddhist or a Hindu state is possible in a world where unbounded search for knowledge, science & technology and the sense of human rights hold the sway in their own right.

          A scholar par excellence Fatah asserts” Nowhere in these verses of the Quran (the holy book of the religion of peace) does God ask or authorize the creation of an Islamic state.” He contradicts, depending on extensive research and profound insight, the claims of Abul Ala Maudoodi, a founder of pan-Islamic revivalist movement recruiting Muslims for a jihad and who also founded the Jamat-e-Islami political party in India and Pakistan. In his booklet Call to Jihad, Maudoodi pronounced:” An independent Islamic state is a prerequisite to enable them (Muslims) to enforce Islamic laws and fashion their lives as ordained by God.”

       Tarek writes:” Since the first caliphate in Medina in the 7^th century, clerics have continually reminded Muslims that their mission on Earth – to spread Islam – is impossible without the establishment of an Islamic State. Such edicts by caliphs and imams have gathered near-universal acceptance despite the fact that neither the Quran nor the Prophet asked Muslims to establish such a state. In fact, the five pillars of Islam,’ which form a Muslim’s covenant with the Creator, do not even hint at the creation of an Islamic State.” He states how through the centuries, since the time of the ‘Rightly Guided Caliphs to the Umayyad and the Abbasids, hundreds of Muslim dynasties have tried to create ‘this illusive Islamic State’ without success.Tarek remarks:” If the creation of an Islamic State was not possible when Muslims were at the peak of power and intellect, it would be reasonable to conclude that this ambition is not realizable when Muslims are at their weakest and most divorced from education and the sciences.” He contends that in the wake of the rebirth of the movement for Islamic State today threatens moderate, liberal and secular Muslims more than it does the West. He cites example of the Public hanging of Mahamoud Muhammad Taha who, according to Egyptian author Samir Amin,”was the only Islamic intellectual who attempted to emphasize the element of emancipation in his interpretation of Islam.”

           Tarek states:” From the moment the Prophet of Islam died in 632 CE, some Muslims took the path of strengthening the state of Islam, while others embarked on the establishment of the Islamic State.” He says, the phrase state of Islam defines the condition of a Muslim in how he or she imbibes the values of Islam to govern personal life and uses faith as a moral compass while Islamic State is a political entity: a state, caliphate, sultanate, kingdom, or country that uses Islam as a tool to govern society and control its citizenry.

          Tarek says his book is an appeal to those who are chasing the mirage of an Islamic state to reflect on the futility of their endeavour and instead focus on achieving the state of Islam. Maybe, Tarek is right – there is no harm in soul-searching and introspection.

Paris Massacre

Terror Strikes,Paris Massacred 

After Terror Strikes.Pix: courtesy-CNN

  

         Seven coordinated terror attacks on 13 November, Friday night in Paris, the capital of France, left scores of people dead and injured. ISIS claimed responsibility.

       World leaders condemned the attack, expressed solidarity in the war against terror.

Among others

        

US President Barack Obama said:  "This is an attack not just on Paris, not just on the people of France. This is an attack on humanity and the universal values we all share."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said:"This attack on freedom is not just against Paris. It targets us all. And it affects us all,"

  

Pope Francis said: "There is no justification for this. This is not human." 

Russian President Vladimir Putin said:the tragedy was "proof of the barbarian nature of terrorism, which challenges the human civilization."

Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi’s office stated: “Egypt emphasizes its support for international efforts for combating terrorism,which knows no boundaries or religion.”

The Saudi Foreign Ministry called for “redoubling” international efforts to “uproot this dangerous affliction.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said: “ We are united with the people of France in this tragic hour.”