It was in the late 90s when I first laid my hands on Salman Rushdie’s infamous book, The Satanic Verses, in London. It gave me shivers in my warm room as I started going through the pages. I could not continue.
Now, we have our very own Salman Rushdie. Abdul Latif Siddique, who kick-started the uncivilised onslaught on the practices of Islam, quite confidently passed scathing remarks on the Tablig, Hajj, and Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). In extension, he spared a few lines for Sajeeb Wazed Joy, dismissing him.
I believe what Latif Siddique spewed out that day in New York about the Prophet, Hajj, and Hajis were well thought-out. It wasn’t a sudden outburst, as the occasion wasn’t religious, nor did anyone deliver a speech on Islam or Hajj.
This was enough to generate the needed electricity to drive people crazy. Did he make the demeaning comments to please the West? Again, why add Joy in his drive to malign all? He is now binned for his life. One thing is clear – he might not be able to return home anytime soon.
About the same time as Latif’s tirades against Islamic practices, we witness the sudden emergence of older non-believers, including a writer who had to leave Bangladesh for reasons known to all, now making her way into the press with her write-ups being published frequently.
In one of her recent articles, she expresses casually that being an atheist, she is not in favour of Qurbani. She went on to write about her beliefs, and suggested ways to fight the fundamentalists. I wonder how she looks upon the genuine practicing Muslims and followers of other religions.
Let’s not forget that she was driven out of Kolkata by its chief minister on the plea that she was trouble for the state. She now lives in another city in India at the mercy of the government.
Then we have writers suggesting alternatives to slaughtering cows on Eid. One gentleman wrote objectionable statements in discussing Qurbani (sacrifice) and its rationale. He challenged the practice and beliefs of millions of Muslims.
We have the haughtier, not-so-well-read joining the bandwagon of the so-called secularists, moderates, and self-declared atheists. They speak at their free will against religion and its followers. They have been especially rude with Islam and the Muslims who speak up for their faiths.
Freedom of speech is everyone’s right. We live in an age of democracy. Open-minded premises should be allowed to accommodate varied ideas and differences on a single plain. Unity in diversity is something we all want. But freedom of speech and expression should not allow you to say or do things that might hurt others’ values, traditions, sentiments, and faiths.
This is where the line must be drawn. The smart (but ignorant) ones mix up extremism and violence with the regular peaceful teachings of Islam. This they do deliberately. They tend to forget that Islam, or any religion for that matter, is divine, and they have been all planned and ordained by the Almighty.
They cannot harm divine scripts or faith, they are still the minorities.
Stephen Hawking recently declared that there is no God. His book The Grand Design is an interesting deliberation on power, nature, the laws of nature, etc. Hawking profusely quoted ancient, Middle Age, and modern minds and researchers, and claimed that there was, perhaps, no God. But his esteemed philosophers, scientists, astronomers, etc could not give you any answer regarding the “non-existence of God.”
Are we good at being open and free and honest at the same time? Don’t we know what the free-thinking souls (mostly the young ones) are doing in the name of freedom, modernism, and friendship? Don’t we hear sadistic stories almost every day? Aren’t we victims of free-mixing environments already? Think hard, friends. Don’t push for a freedom that you know not how to handle or respect.