* Democracy * Fundamentalism * Tolerance * Communalism * Human Rights * Terrorism

Articles and Analyses

REVERSE CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER

Updated: May 27, 2002 09:38

30-Dec-01 (Independent) Thoughts on human rights and human security - In Bangladesh, Amnesty International has expressed its concerns about recent attacks against Hindus, and has called for a full and independent investigation so that those responsible can be identified and brought to justice.

12-Dec-01 (Daily Star) Bangladesh is not on the list; Islam is - The 26 nations affected by the new visa restrictions are: Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman,Pakistan,...

06-Dec-2001 (Indian Express) Citizens and non-citizens - With the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, it was expected that the new regime would ensure communal harmony and tackle the social and economic problems in a manner which would eliminate or at least reduce migration. That did not happen.

01-Dec-01(Indian Express) Religious extremism on the rise worldwide -- UN expert: The United Nations says there is a significant rise in religious extremism and intolerance throughout the world. ... The report notes the persistence of various types and degrees of Islamic extremism - particularly in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Niger and Pakistan.

26-Nov-01 (Tehelka.com) What is Bangladesh doing with its hard-won freedom? - The streets of Bangladesh are littered with pictures of Osama bin Laden. Didn't Khaleda's BNP-Jamaat coalition government promise the Western world unconditional support in the fight against terrorism? Why then is there a sudden upsurge in the Al Qaeda's popularity in Bangladesh? It is worrying that while the government does not seem vigilant against religious fanatics working on public opinion, it is stifling free thought and speech in the country.

21-Oct-01 (Observer, UK) Islam has become its own enemy - Muslims everywhere are in a deep state of denial. From Egypt to Malaysia, there is an aversion to seeing terrorism as a Muslim problem and a Muslim responsibility...Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Algeria, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Iran - there is hardly a Muslim country that is not plagued by terrorism...Instead of engaging with the abundant problems that bedevil Muslim lives, the Islamic prescription consists of blind following of narrow pieties and slavish submission to inept obscurantists. Instead of engagement with the wider world, they have made Islam into an ethic of separation, separate under-development, and negation of the rest of the world. Read from Mirror Source

20-Oct-01 (Washington Post / FISI) Either You Are a Believer or an Infidel - From President Bush to imams at American mosques, everyone wants to make earnest bows toward Islam's civilizing past and its deep spirituality, taking issue only with terrorists who claim to act in its name. "Our quarrel is not with Islam," the president has repeated in so many words. The problem is that Islam has a quarrel with us, and the antagonists are not simply a few extremists trained in the use of a box cutter. By now, the elephant -- or camel, if you will -- in the room can no longer be ignored: Islam not only exhibits a frightful intolerant streak at times, but its very nature seems to be one of intolerance. Either you are a believer or you are an infidel.

01-Oct-01 (Herald Tribune) Hollywood Films Preach Hindu-Muslim Tolerance - In the film, Pran played Badshah Khan, a red-bearded Pathan Muslim who exemplified the values of strength, fearlessness, loyalty and courage. In India, popular cinema has consistently reflected the diversity of a pluralist community.

October 2001 (CBB) Durga Puja: Special Report - People of Sundarkandi has set an example of tolerance and spirit of democracy that is very unfortunately absent in many of the political leaders of the nation, who time and again failed to ensure religious harmony and establish true democracy in the country.

June 2000 (Bharatya Pragna / Dr. Walid) Islamic concept of Al-Taqiyah to infiltrate and destroy kafir countries - This article by Dr. Walid, a top scholar at the Islamic University, exposes so-called secular Indian Muslims. By the doctrine of Al- Taqiyah, Muslims in India dominate crime syndicates, increase population by massive Bangladeshi infiltration and make temporary alliances with Dalits, Christians, etc.

22-Aug-98 (South Asian Forum for Human Rights) State of Minorities in Bangladesh: From Secular to Islamic Hegemony - Country Paper presented at "Regional Consultation on Minority Rights in South Asia", 20-22 August 1998, Kathmandu, Nepal. Organised by South Asian Forum for Human Rights (SAFHR), Kathmandu. Author SALEEM Samad, an Ashoka Fellow (USA) is a media activist specialising on freedom of press and writes on the political crisis of the ethnic minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracts since 1980.