অতিথি লেখক's blog

I was raised in a moderately religious family where education was given priority. We attended religious events and participated in religious rituals but it was never imposed on us. It simply became a part of life for me that I didn't give much thought to. I am a logical person so there have been many occasions in my life when I have questioned my faith.

I am a university teacher and have intention to continue research work in a developing country like Bangladesh. We have few resources and rare funding in doing research in tertiary level. Not only government but also private organization is not interested to invest money in basic research work. So it is difficult for a new researcher to continuing his/her work.

[Note: This is a translation of the article তথ্য’বিনা মিথ্যা বোনা by Kaustubh, originally posted in Sachalayatan on 27-02-2013. While the facts were easy to translate, it is difficult to capture the essence and wit of the article in English. The translators strongly recommend reading the original article if you are can read Bengali.]

According to the eminent British oncologist Willis, "A neoplasm is an abnormal mass of tissue, the growth of which exceeds and is uncoordinated with that of normal tissue and persists in the same excessive manner after cessation of the stimuli that evoked the change". Neoplasms may be of two types : 1)Benign 2)Malignant.

Let us face the fact- there was a huge turnout at the long march/procession/meeting held by the Hefajat-E-Islami. However, the question is- should we be surprised or frightened? Not really. I think that the path the political parties chose since the independence of Bangladesh has made the emergence and growth of this counter-force inevitable.

Today I convinced an initially pro-Shahbag but currently Shahbag indifferent friend to start writing for Shahbag. Like so many people in Bangladesh, she has been adversely affected by the political and religious propagandas and had decided to remain neutral about Shahbag despite having a strong desire to see the war-criminals punished.

All we can send the following letter as protest against the article published by Economist.

You can also edit it before sending. Path forward, we can with help of law-years take the matter to the press council of UK and USA.

Let us work to make Economist say Sorry for their article.

28th February and 1st March

• Jamaat-Shibir fanatics wreaked havoc on the Hindu community across the country. They vandalized at least six temples, including one of Buddhists, and torched houses and business establishments of Hindu people in Noakhali, Gaibandha, Chittagong, Rangpur, Laxmipur, Thakurgaon, Sylhet, Chapainawabganj and elsewhere in the country.

The issue of attacks on the religious minorities throughout Bangladesh by the Jaamat-Shibir activists after the death verdict of war-criminal Delowar Hossain Sayeedi is being raised in the British Parliament.