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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Re: [mukto-mona] Run on the bank (Himal Mag. May 2011) Evil campaign of Yunus against BD (Sk Hasina) continues. . .



Yunus is sucker in every sense of it.

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 2:20 AM, Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com> wrote:
 

Patrick Bond wrote in May, 2011:      

<< The roles of Robinson, her Grameen Friends Advisory Committee colleague James Wolfensohn (World Bank president from 1995 to 2005), B-M, the US State Department and the Bangladeshi government are emblematic of the messiness of state, capital and civil society working at cross-purposes. Grameen is a textbook case of imploding power relations and ideology, ranging from Dhaka to Oslo to Washington. >>


The unseemly termination of Muhammad Yunus's career at Grameen only highlights the deep problems faced by microcredit internationally.
alt
Art: Marcin Bondarowicz
In Bangladesh, banking has turned rancid, and the rot is spreading so fast and far that the entire global microfinance industry is now under threat. The issues range far beyond poisonous local politics, the factor most often stressed by those close to Grameen Bank's crisis.
True, at first glance we see an oppressive state's persecution of Muhammad Yunus, a courageous academic-turned-entrepreneur and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, a man passionate about uplifting poor women's socio-economic status across the world through unsecured credit and group borrowing. On 5 April, the Bangladeshi Supreme Court confirmed an earlier judgment that, notwithstanding the huge aid inflows he catalysed for one of Asia's poorest countries, Yunus (age 70) must be ousted from leadership of Grameen – on the quite absurd grounds that he is ten years too old.
 
Sheikh Hasina's government has also damaged Yunus' reputation, informally charging him with 'massive financial improprieties' and 'embezzlement'. This was according to her son, Sajeeb Wazed, put it after a documentary on Norwegian state television last December showed how, in 1997, USD 30 million in Norwegian aid to Grameen had to be returned after being moved from the (non-profit) bank to a private firm controlled by Yunus, Grameen Kalyan. Wazed also alleges usury: 'Grameen Bank charges up to 30 percent in interest rate on loans and up to an additional 10 percent in "forced savings" to the poorest sections of society. Their collection methods are draconian and collection officers who fail to collect payment have the uncollected amounts deducted from their pay.' Years back, Hasina had firmly endorsed Grameen's work. But in the meantime, Yunus attacked the existing political class (including Hasina) in a short-lived 2007 attempt to start his own party. Hasina has since labelled Yunus a 'bloodsucker of the poor'.
 
But at second glance one notes that, disturbingly, the public-relations firm Burson-Marsteller (B-M) is at the head of the new 'Friends of Grameen' group, in charge of Yunus's public image. B-M is the go-to PR company for such dubious characters as the Three Mile Island nuclear operator after its meltdown, the US tobacco industry (B-M organised the 'National Smoker's Alliance'), Union Carbide against Bhopal residents, and a raft of dictatorial regimes. In February, the former president of Ireland, Mary Robinson, became the main public face of Friends of Grameen, claiming, 'Continued attacks against Grameen Bank and Professor Yunus have been carried out for political reasons.' 
 
The roles of Robinson, her Grameen Friends Advisory Committee colleague James Wolfensohn (World Bank president from 1995 to 2005), B-M, the US State Department and the Bangladeshi government are emblematic of the messiness of state, capital and civil society working at cross-purposes. Grameen is a textbook case of imploding power relations and ideology, ranging from Dhaka to Oslo to Washington.
 
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has demanded that Hasina halt the attack on Grameen. Clinton's best-known anti-poverty initiative in Bangladesh, initiated during the 1990s when she was US First Lady and nicknamed Hillary Village, is now under fire for microfinance failure and high default and poverty rates. In March her deputy, Robert Blake, went to Dhaka to threaten that US-Bangladeshi bilateral relations would be 'impacted' by any action against Yunus. Wolfensohn also visited Hasina in March; after his demands to roll back the attacks on Yunus were apparently rejected, both the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund suddenly cut USD 500 million in loans that the Dhaka government had been expecting.
 
This situation is of global importance because it reflects microfinance's limits as a poverty-fighting strategy, alongside the increasingly desperate desire to rescue neoliberal conceptions of market salvation. It comes on the heels of incredibly high interest rates being charged by lenders in areas throughout Southasia. As The Guardian newspaper reported in early March, 30 million Indian households have borrowed more than USD 3 billion in microcredit since the mid-1990s. 'In recent months', the report stated, 'the industry has been thrown into crisis as it has become clear that a significant number of borrowers – between a tenth and a third, depending on the estimate – cannot afford to repay their loans.' There are also rural Indian parallels to the 2007-09 'sub-primate mortgage bond' crisis in the US, which hit low-income urban African-Americans especially hard. 'The past five years have seen the aggressive selling of loans to often illiterate villagers, followed by equally aggressive debt collection,' states The Guardian.
 
For Clinton, Wolfensohn and Robinson, this might seem an urgent time to defend Grameen. But looking more closely, it might just be better to move on, towards post-microfinance strategies that genuinely reduce poverty and empower women. These strategies typically are strongest if grounded in collective action, usually associated with social movements and organised (and also informal) labour. In the last decade, one of the best examples is access to HIV/AIDS medicines, won in India, Thailand, Brazil and especially South Africa, against the US government's attempts to prevent Nelson Mandela's government from providing generic medicines using US-copyrighted drugs.
 
In the latter situation, the secret to the victory was not entrepreneurialism but instead popular mass activism and democratic organisation. This also included vigorous critiques of the post-Mandela South African government, of intellectual property rights and medical monopolies, of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and of corporate profiteering by international pharmaceutical companies. The victories were most impressive: Mandela's successor Thabo Mbeki was fired by his own party in part because of his peculiar AIDS policy, while the WTO introduced a 2001 exemption to allow local production of the medicines – funding for which comes in part from the US government. AIDS medicines that once cost more than USD 10,000 per year today are free, suggesting that defeating the poverty-related denial of health care can be achieved faster through social movements than atomistic market participation. 
 
Right to debt
There is certainly a role for small-scale credit programmes within a balanced development strategy, though by definition being poor entails having very little surplus money to repay loans. Even so, interest rates should be affordable (perhaps requiring state subsidies) and in tune with the prevailing opportunities for microenterprise returns. And the overall context should not be about the replacement of social policy with entrepreneurial rhetoric.
But given the usury accusations and India's suicide wave, the microfinance industry's reputation today is so tainted that, in a recent interview, Yunus himself publicly backtracked when asked about India's problems: 'Unfortunately, not everyone who uses the word "microcredit" is dedicated to serving the needs of the poor. This is not the microcredit I had in mind.'
 
As Cambridge University economist Ha-Joon Chang argues, poor users of microfinance 'will never get out of poverty because you have to pay between 30, 40, 50 – sometimes 100 percent interest rates. What business makes that kind of profit?' But Grameen Foundation chief executive Alex Counts defends the 100 percent interest rate used by his Nigerian affiliate, LAPO. 'Well, as it happens, many Nigerian banks that operate in the rural areas charge twice as much as LAPO,' he says. 'What microfinance is trying to do, with very little subsidy from the philanthropic sector, is trying to provide a service – on a commercial basis or a business basis to give them a better deal.'
 
Yet profit-seeking through microfinance represents, even Yunus concedes, 'a terrible wrong turn'. Still, Yunus has defended his own role to the last, claiming that Grameen interest rates – over 30 percent when fees are included, according to Bangladeshi economist Q K Ahmad – are reasonable. 'Access to affordable credit is a human right,' Yunus continues to insist, though it is just this sort of hype that pushes poor people into debt traps. For Yunus and his supporters, it is increasingly difficult to counter growing evidence that not only for-profit lenders but also non-profit NGOs pushing high-interest microfinance as a 'silver bullet' fix to poverty issues often do more harm than good. 
 
Finally, the argument that microfinance empowers poor women, specifically, is also facing a tough rebuttal by a Bangladeshi, University of Oregon anthropologist Lamia Karim. In a recent interview with my colleague, Khadija Sharife, she pointed out that 'Bangladeshi women give the loans to their husbands. Women are the conduits for the circulation of capital in rural society. This has resulted in increased domination and violence for individual women both at the household and community levels.' As a result, she argues, women have become 'custodians of honour and shame in rural society. By instrumentalising these codes, NGOs shame rural women to recover their defaulted sums of money.'
 
As Karim observes, even the main Bangladeshi microcredit NGOs operate like 'loan sharks'. 'The idea that the poor are bankable and they pay back their loans at 98 percent is like music to the ears of donors and large corporations,' she says. 'Grameen Bank exemplifies neoliberal ideas of development: individual entrepreneurship and competition.' Karim suggests that a simple experiment: replacing the word credit with debt in discussions about microfinance. '"Debt as a human right?"' she asks. 'How does that sound?'
 
~ Patrick Bond is a senior professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal Centre for Civil Society in Durban. More at ccs.ukzn.ac.za.






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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb





"Personally I have no issues with opinions and even biases."   Really!  What a surprise!  Ain't this wise man totally ignorant of what he is?


On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 3:11 PM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:
 

Almost all "Free thinkers" in this forum have a defined point of view. In that world view, it is OK for them to be nasty with people who have faith in Islam. Albeit they are VERY sensitive to their favorite causes but it is OK for them to stay quiet when Muslim lives and properties are under attack in Myanmar and Assam.

However to be fair to all, most of those who claim to be "Religious" ALSO have a distinct point of view.

Personally I have no issues with opinions and even biases. As long those are not being used for hate mongering and uncivilized personal attacks on religion, religious people or people with a different point of view.


If you are sure of your opinion, you should write about it. There are some members who often show concern about women right. Let us watch what happens when a women practice her rights!!

:-)

Shalom!

-----Original Message-----
From: Mita Ali <mitaali90@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Tue, Oct 9, 2012 12:42 am
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb

 
Whenever someone writes in for of Islam for the sake of neutrality, the 'free-thinkers' start leveling her as "Protikriasheel" (reactionary), Shamprodayik (communal), Moulobadee (fundamentalist) etc.

Islam-bashing is considered as a favorite game for a lot of 'intellectuals'. After the fall of communism, Islam is probably the only alternative force and global forum who could speak against 'development' phases of Bretton Wood monsters (e.g. World Bank). Since I was brutally attacked by Mr Jiten Roy and Mr Shah Deeldar, I have decided not to write any more.

Can anybody give me any idea where free-thinkers of Islamic scientists and intellectuals can continue being meaningful and make a forum towards a just world? I will be grateful with a hope to be able to breathe neutrally.

Peace.

Mita Ali

--- On Mon, 10/8/12, Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb
To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
Date: Monday, October 8, 2012, 4:00 PM

 
Mr. Rahman gets it, but radical Islamists don't.  Violence is never a winning political strategy in a free country; if that was – Jamat would have secured the majority-party status in Bangladesh by now. Jamat has been engaged in violence ever since Pakistan was created. Look at where they are today. Fact is – these radical Islamists are not smart people; they cannot think straight. Violence is their only trade. They give impression of being religious outside, but - inside is filled with tremendous hatred, which drives them to violence in every excuse they can find. If you noticed, most violence starts after Friday-prayers, meaning – whatever religion they seem to be following is not quelling their hatred, it's just transforming their hatred into thousand fold. The whole thing is plain ridiculous. Yet, they can't figure it out. Jamat is engulfed in international conspiracy; they are just pawn. I have an impression that Mr. Hannan Shah does get it also, but – the situation is beyond his control.
Jiten Roy
 

--- On Mon, 10/8/12, Subimal Chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Subimal Chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Date: Monday, October 8, 2012, 11:13 AM

 
Violence is a tool to push forward the agenda of the political religions. Neither Rahman nor Roy has this in his agenda. 

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 8, 2012, at 8:22 AM, qar <qrahman@netscape.net> wrote:

 
Why can't they let God take care of those who insult their religion?


>>>>>>>> I think you asked a valid question. As per my observation, I feel God does not depend on our "Protest". Therefore, we can make peaceful protests to make our point. Sadly not only about religion, most of our "Protests" becomes violent frequently.

I think we the people forget that, we are not colonized anymore. We don't win anything when we burn a public bus or destroy someone's private car out of rage. Specifically Islam promotes free market and respect for people's properties. So Muslims who have some basic understanding of Islam should NEVER resort to violence so easily.

I remember, when the Danish cartoons were published (About Islam), people resorted to violence and gained NOTHING by being violent. However some Gulf countries decided to do something about it peacefully. After making request to stop such lies against the religious figure, they gained nothing. After that, they stopped buying products from Denmark. Interestingly Denmark is dependent on fast growing middle eastern market for their dairy industry. Soon after money stopped flowing from Muslim customers, Denmark quietly took care of it.

I think peaceful protests should be encouraged but violence does nothing for our causes. Sooner we realize it, it will be better for all of us.


Shalom!




-----Original Message-----
From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Sun, Oct 7, 2012 10:36 pm
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb

 

I do not understand how a strict blasphemy law can be good news for Egypt. It tells a lot about the people and the status of a country when you see 8/9 year old kids go to jail for insulting Islam. I know Morsi is releasing them, but – the story makes you wonder about where those people are. Do they need to take every little insult that seriously? I wonder if there is anything called the childhood innocence in those societies. I bet – lives of those kids will be in danger after their release. Their childhood freedom is gone forever.
I remember, a few years back, when Hindus were not happy to see pictures of Gods and Goddesses on the foot wares and napkins, they protested to the makers of those commodities and called for boycott of those companies. That's about it. Why can't we get that type of response from the radical Islamists? Why can't they let God take care of those who insult their religion? I am sure millions of people are asking these questions. I believe - the path Islamists take to vent their anger may insult God and religion much more than any one individual could ever do.
 
Jiten Roy
 
--- On Sat, 10/6/12, Subimal Chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com> wrote:

From: Subimal Chakrabarty <subimal@yahoo.com>
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt - Ikhwanweb
To: "mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Cc: "<Criterion-The-Illuminator@yahoogroups.com>" <Criterion-The-Illuminator@yahoogroups.com>, "<DallasPakistanis@yahoogroups.com>" <DallasPakistanis@yahoogroups.com>, "<kr@ips.net.pk>" <kr@ips.net.pk>, "<khabor@yahoogroups.com>" <khabor@yahoogroups.com>, "<mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>" <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>, "<dahuk@yahoogroups.com>" <dahuk@yahoogroups.com>, "<sahannan@yahoogroups.com>" <sahannan@yahoogroups.com>, "<azizbiit@gmail.com>" <azizbiit@gmail.com>, "Mir Ahmad" <mirahmad01@hotmail.com>, "<eliasfaridpur@yahoo.com>" <eliasfaridpur@yahoo.com>, "<su_maiya1@yahoo.com>" <su_maiya1@yahoo.com>
Date: Saturday, October 6, 2012, 9:47 PM

 
Good news. With pressure from the fundamentalist groups Egypt will probably consider having a strict form of blasphemy law. Badruddin Umar has indicated that Ramu violence may be a conspiracy to have blasphemy law in Bangladesh 

Sent from my iPhone

On Oct 6, 2012, at 7:21 PM, "S A Hannan" <sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com> wrote:

 
 

Morsi Orders Release of Christian Boys Held for Desecrating Holy Quran in Egypt
Two Egyptian Coptic boys are freed from juvenile detention, at President Morsi's instructions, as contempt-of-religion cases seem to rise across the country.
 
<




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Call For Articles:

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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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Re: [mukto-mona] FW: SUFI SAINT SHRINE DESTROYED



That is the problem with the comprehension of a closet fundamentalist like Ms. Majid.  She doesn't comprehend the satire in my postings.  I never called Islam a religion of peace.  It never was and never would be.  It is a religion that demands total submission.  The Salafists are right, Islam abhors the adoration of shrines and all that goes along with it.  I don't even slaughter a chicken and don't dream of slaughtering any human being let alone "millions of Muslims".  I wonder how long they can remain unreformed in this age of information explosion.  As for President Bush, I hate both father and son.

On Wed, Oct 10, 2012 at 12:09 AM, Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com> wrote:
 

       Kamal Das is sounding more and more like President George W. Bush who was fond of saying "Islam is a religion of peace" while he prepared the U.S army to attack Muslim countries illegally. Millions of Muslims died as direct or indirect  result of the U S attacks.  Deep in his sleep when Kamal Das transforms himself into a President Bush, I dread to wonder how many more millions of Muslims are slaughtered in his dream!



To: mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com
From: kamalctgu@gmail.com
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2012 11:09:08 +0600
Subject: Re: [mukto-mona] FW: SUFI SAINT SHRINE DESTROYED


 
This indeed is the manifestation of the peaceful face of Islam.  However, the peace would be one of a graveyard lying buried in an ocean of sand.


On Tue, Oct 9, 2012 at 1:04 AM, Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com> wrote:
 




Date: Sun, 7 Oct 2012 23:10:41 +0100
Subject: SUFI SAINT SHRINE DESTROYED


Wahabi Extremist Group Ansar e Deen 

Destroys Another Sufi Saint Shrine in Timbuktu , Africa



JNN 02 Oct 2012 Timbuktu : Members of the Ansar e Deen  extremist group have 

destroyed another shrine of a Sufi Muslim saint in a northern Mali region under 

their control, witnesses say.Al-Qaeda-linked group in northern Mali attacks 

tombs of Sufi saints just days after sites put on UNESCO endangered list.

 Continue reading →


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Mukto Mona plans for a Grand Darwin Day Celebration: 
Call For Articles:

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http://mukto-mona.com/banga_blog/?p=585

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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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Re: [mukto-mona] FW: : Shah Abdul Hannan--রামু, সাম্প্রদায়িকতা ও অসাম্প্রদায়িকতা ---Ramu, Communalism and Noncommunalism



No wonder why Americans and Europeans are running scared of taking more Muslim migrants/ refugees in their countries.
Think about every religion doing the same thing in their own (majority) countries and marginalize Muslims?
-SD

2012/10/9 Farida Majid <farida_majid@hotmail.com>
    Take a look at what other types of activities Shah Abdul Hannan's beratheree, relatives and kuTumbo take part in besides destroying Buddhist temples in Bangladesh and burning down people's homes.  The Talibans have declared that if Malala survives the injuries this time they will try another attack on her life.  They will keep on attacking until she is finished off.  That is called "living" under the Muslim majority!
         Now read what S. A. Hannan writes:
মুসলমানেরা যেখানে সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ, সেখানে তাদের ইসলামি সমাজ বা রাষ্ট্র গঠন করার সব ধরনের চেষ্টা করা তাদের অধিকার। এটাকে সাম্প্রদায়িক চেতনা বলে নিন্দা করা যায় না।

Geo Pakistan

Swat: Malala Yousafzai injured in attack

October 09, 2012 - Updated 1239 PKT
        Print this story
SWAT: Malala Yusufzai the National Peace Award winner who came under the global spotlight for her efforts to bring back peace to her hometown Swat came under attack earlier today. Malala Yousafzai was injured along with two other girls when unknown assailants opened fire on her vehicle in Swat, Geo News reported.
According to police, Malala a children's rights activist received two bullets, and was rushed to the District Headquarter Hospital in Saidu Sharif, and later shifted to a hospital in Peshawar.
It is important to mention that Malala had been receiving threats to her life, after which she was provided with a special car and unarmed security by her school.


The international children's advocacy group Kids Rights Foundation nominated Malala for the International Children's Peace Prize, making her the first Pakistani girl nominated for the award.
For her courageous and outstanding services for the promotion of peace under extremely hostile conditions in Swat, she was awarded the first National Peace Award by the Pakistani government on 19 December 2011.


 
More from : Geo Pakistan
6 volunteers, 4 militants killed in KA 
Security beefed up for MPAs after attack 
Malik Riaz contempt: Qazi new prosecutor 
SC takes suo motu on Dera Bugti wani 



To: umaira@live.com
CC: dahuk@yahoogroups.com; sahannan@yahoogroups.com; khabor@yahoogroups.com; mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com; inquisitive_sisters@yahoogroups.com; su_maiya1@yahoo.com; azizbiit@gmail.com; aftabbiit@gmail.com; iamafrin@hotmail.com
From: sahannan@sonarbangladesh.com
Date: Tue, 9 Oct 2012 18:46:22 +0600
Subject: [mukto-mona] FW: : Shah Abdul Hannan--রামু, সাম্প্রদায়িকতা ও অসাম্প্রদায়িকতা ---Ramu, Communalism and Noncommunalism

 

Corrected in th4e last sentence in English letters

Shah Abdul Hannan

 

 

http://sonarbangladesh.com/article.php?ID=9813
 

রামু, সাম্প্রদায়িকতা অসাম্প্রদায়িকতা

শাহ আবদুল হান্নান

কক্সবাজারের রামুতে দু'টি অত্যন্ত দুঃখজনক ঘটনা ঘটেছে। একটি হচ্ছে ফেসবুকে উত্তম কুমার বড়য়ার অ্যাকাউন্টে কুরআনের এক চিত্র, যার ওপর একজন নারী পা দিয়ে রেখেছে। দ্বিতীয়ত, এর প্রতিক্রিয়ায় রামুর বৌদ্ধ গ্রামে হামলা এবং কয়েকটি বৌদ্ধ উপাসনালয় পুড়িয়ে দেয়া। দু'টি ঘটনাই ক্ষমার অযোগ্য। কুরআনের অসম্মান মুসলিম জাতির কাছে অসহ্য একটি বিষয়। অন্য দিকে একদল মুসলিমের প্রতিক্রিয়ায় বৌদ্ধপল্লীতে হামলা কোনো বিচারেই মেনে নেয়া যায় না। ইসলামেও এর কোনো স্থান নেই। জন্য বাংলাদেশের সব ইসলামি দল এর বিরুদ্ধে বিবৃতি দিয়েছে। অক্টোবর ডেইলি স্টারের রিপোর্টে দেখা যায়, একটি ফোন রিপেয়ারের দোকান থেকে এর সূত্রপাত। দোকানের মালিক উমর ফারুক উত্তম কুমার বড়য়ার ফেসবুকের অ্যাকাউন্টে কুরআনের অপমানজনক ছবিটি দেখেন। খবর অন্যরা জানলে তারা তার কাছে কপি চান। ফারুক ছবিটির কপি তাদের দেন। পরে আরো লোক এসে ছবি চান। ফারুক দিতে না চাইলেও শেষ পর্যন্ত দিতে বাধ্য হন। এভাবেই ছবিটি ছড়িয়ে পড়ে। পরবর্তীকালে লোকজন একত্র হয়ে মিছিল করে এবং একসময় বৌদ্ধপল্লীতে হামলা চালায়।

আমি রিপোর্ট থেকে বুঝতে পেরেছি উত্তম কুমার বড়য়ার ফেসবুক থেকে ছবিটি ছড়িয়ে পড়ায় হঠা উত্তেজনায় দুর্ঘটনা ঘটে, যা নিঃসন্দেহে নিন্দনীয়। এতে কোনো রাজনৈতিক দল বা ইসলামিক দল বা রোহিঙ্গারা জড়িত নয়; যদিও সরকারের ভেতরের এবং বাইরের কিছু লোক ঘটনার জন্য রোহিঙ্গা এবং বিভিন্ন রাজনৈতিক ইসলামি দলকে দায়ী করছেন। বিশেষ করে সরকারের এটা করা উচিত নয়।

ঘটনাকে কেন্দ্র করে সেকুলার বামের কিছু লোক নতুন করে সাম্প্রদায়িকতার অভিযোগ তুলছেন যে, এটা সম্প্রদায়িক চেতনার জন্য হচ্ছে। এটা সেকুলার বামের পুরনো রোগ। আর যারা বাংলাদেশের রাজনীতির সাথে পরিচিত তারা জানেন যে, সাম্প্রদায়িকতা বলতে বাম সেকুলাররা ইসলাম, ইসলামি দল, ইসলামপ্রীতি ইসলামি রাষ্ট্র দাবির প্রতি ইঙ্গিত করে থাকেন। এরা ইসলামি দল নিষিদ্ধ করা চান, শিক্ষায় ইসলামের কোনো স্থান চান না।

পরিপ্রেক্ষিতে সাম্প্রদায়িকতা অসাম্প্রদায়িকতা সম্পর্কে কিছু আলোচনা করব। সমাজতত্ত্বে বা সোসিওলজিতে সম্প্রদায় (কমিউনিটি, সোসাইটি) একটি পজিটিভ পরিভাষা। এর মাধ্যমে বিভিন্ন জনগোষ্ঠীকে বোঝানো হয়। সমাজতত্ত্বে এটা কোনো নিন্দনীয় পরিভাষা নয়। সমাজে সম্প্রদায় থাকবে। সব সম্প্রদায়ের অধিকার রয়েছে তার বিশ্বাস মোতাবেক চলার এবং কর্মসূচি নেয়ার। মুসলিমসমাজ বা সম্প্রদায়েরও একই অধিকার। ইসলাম একই সাথে একটি ধর্ম জীবনব্যবস্থা। তাই মুসলমানেরা যেখানে সংখ্যাগরিষ্ঠ, সেখানে তাদের ইসলামি সমাজ বা রাষ্ট্র গঠন করার সব ধরনের চেষ্টা করা তাদের অধিকার। এটাকে সাম্প্রদায়িক চেতনা বলে নিন্দা করা যায় না। অসাম্প্রদায়িক অর্থ যার কোনো সম্প্রদায় নে




--
"All great truths begin as blasphemies." GBS


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"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it".
               -Beatrice Hall [pseudonym: S.G. Tallentyre], 190




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