WRT: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/50358
Dear MM members,
While we claim it to be a forum of free thinking, let us candidly admit that this is largely a group of Islam-bashers. Participation of Shah Abdul Hannan in MuktoMona is important because he infuses some balance in the group.
During the last few years he has sustained huge personal vilification and mud-slinging and yet continued to stay and actively participate. Therefore, he has proved his courage and honesty. He is Islamist and has the right to defend his position, and, that he has done in the teeth of lethal criticism from anti-Islam members. The moderators of MuktoMona have righteously given him space and can claim that they believe in people's freedom of expression. Hats off to them.
Contrary to many members of MutktoMona, Mr. Hannan has never gone for personal attack. He has never used derogatory language. He has shown exemplary patience in the face of merciless personal attack on several occasions. This is something that many of us can learn from him.
I knew Mr. Hannan personally if not intimately. He was a Collector of Customs and Excise. Government appointed him Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank (the central bank). Then he served as a permanent Secretary to the government. Also, he was made Chairman of the National Board of Revenue of Bangladesh. If I am not wrong, he had also served for three years as head of the Anti-corruption Bureau. Many feathers in his cap. Perhaps none in the bureaucracy can match this variety. Currently he has established himself as a top-echelon banker of the country. What more a Bangladeshi can exact of him?
He may not have a PhD like many of us. Or he may not have read as much as we academics are destined to study for the sake of bread and butter. But it will be tantamount to calling names to discount his competence and capacities. It will be fallacious to think that he is an idiot only because he is an Islamist.
We may certainly disagree with his points of view; and we may certainly try to find loophole in his logic. And it may be possible to argue on many matters that he brings up with conviction. But it will be self-deceptive to dismiss him right away.
This forum will do justice to itself by showing respect to the minority, Mr. Hannan being one of those. Right to respect and gentlemanly reception is no less important than our much cherished freedom of speech and expression.
Matiur Rahman
Azimpur, Dhaka
------------------------------------
*****************************************
Sign the Petition : Release the Arrested University Teachers Immediately : An Appeal to the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/university_teachers_arrest.htm
*****************************************
Daily Star publishes an interview with Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/news/daily_star/daily_star_MM.pdf
*****************************************
MM site is blocked in Islamic countries such as UAE. Members of those theocratic states, kindly use any proxy (such as http://proxy.org/) to access mukto-mona.
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates 5th Anniversary
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/5_yrs_anniv/index.htm
*****************************************
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Earth Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Earth_day2006/index.htm
*****************************************
Kansat Uprising : A Special Page from Mukto-Mona
http://www.mukto-mona.com/human_rights/kansat2006/members/
*****************************************
MM Project : Grand assembly of local freedom fighters at Raumari
http://www.mukto-mona.com/project/Roumari/freedom_fighters_union300306.htm
*****************************************
German Bangla Radio Interviews Mukto-Mona Members:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/german_radio/
Mukto-Mona Celebrates Darwin Day:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/Special_Event_/Darwin_day/index.htm
*****************************************
Some FAQ's about Mukto-Mona:
http://www.mukto-mona.com/new_site/mukto-mona/faq_mm.htm
****************************************************
VISIT MUKTO-MONA WEB-SITE : http://www.mukto-mona.com/
****************************************************
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
-Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:mukto-mona-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:mukto-mona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
mukto-mona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/