Mr. Rahman
I appreciate your outlook. If I am not wrong, you support critiquing a religion (ref. your first sentence).
That should be the real spirit of a free thinker. I completely agree with you that nasty comments against any thing or anybody is distasteful and should be avoided in a serious discussion. We expect civility from everybody.
That should be the real spirit of a free thinker. I completely agree with you that nasty comments against any thing or anybody is distasteful and should be avoided in a serious discussion. We expect civility from everybody.
There is a problem though. When Pratibha Basu is heavily critical of Yudhisthira, a holy and highly revered character from the Mahabharata, would you sue her? I remember Sunil Ganguly was sued for a comment on the idol of goddess Saraswati. The court did not accept the case. I don't think Sunil's comment made the Hindus less religious although his comment obviously hurt the feelings of the religious Hindus. Such comments are also thought provoking for those who tend to be open minded. The same argument applies to Pratibha Basu's criticism of Dharmaputra Yudhisthira. These sorts of counter currents should be allowed for the progress of the society.
My point is that we not only don't need a blasphemy law, we also must not punish them under any other prevailing laws. This also means that I do not completely agree to what Hasina has said on this issue.
You can defame a person and thereby cause personal loss including financial loss to him in different ways. But you cannot do it to divine things or divine authorities although it can hurt the feelings of the believers. You do not need any law to protect the omnipotent divine power which is supposed to know how to protect itself. Believers should simply ignore or counterargue. Slander and libel do not apply to divine figures.
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If you want to punish someone for verbally offending a religion, you have to extend Jailhouses to put at least 40% people of Bangladesh in jail; they are violating that law everyday at least 10 times. If you don't understand how – ask any Hindu in Bangladesh? You cannot just punish someone who offends Prophet of Islam; other religions have their Prophets too. As you know - judicial system should be impartial.
>>>>>>>>> Very good point. Actually we need to curb slander or libel against religion or religious figures (Not critic or questions about religion).
This is a "Common sense" idea to promote harmony among people of all faiths. As I mentioned before, Islam does NOT permit Muslims to offend people who happen to be non-Muslims. But our "Secular" minded half-educated population are mostly stuck in the middle. They neither follow religion nor they follow secularism properly. So we see all kind of unkind and uncivilized comments from people.
Once we have a law like it, we can start the process. However it order curb is we need to be educated about our own religions and tolerance of differences of opinions.
So while it is true we cannot solve such social issues with legislation only but we can start the process with new laws or at least apply our existing laws promptly (As suggessted by our honorable PM).
Shalom!
-----Original Message-----
From: Jiten Roy <jnrsr53@yahoo.com>
To: mukto-mona <mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, Apr 10, 2013 1:28 am
Subject: Re: Save Bangladesh and its women from the upcoming crisis (Re: [mukto-mona] Fw: [notun_bangladesh] হেফাজতের হুমকির পর ॥ নারী কি বন্দী হবে?)
"Bloggers should be duly punished if they used derogatory words against the sacred Islam/Holy Prophet (pbuh)"
Why is this so important for some people to punish someone for derogatory word against a religion/Prophet? Why is it even necessary? Isn't it already covered under God's law, called SIN?
Yes, I understand it can hurt religious feelings of some thin-skinned people; not everybody get offended by this act. Majority understands that it is a sinful-act, and they are happy with that punishment. Also, I can guarantee you, religious feelings of many are getting hurt everyday somewhere in Bangladesh.If you want to punish someone for verbally offending a religion, you have to extend Jailhouses to put at least 40% people of Bangladesh in jail; they are violating that law everyday at least 10 times. If you don't understand how – ask any Hindu in Bangladesh? You cannot just punish someone who offends Prophet of Islam; other religions have their Prophets too. As you know - judicial system should be impartial.Jiten Roy
--- On Tue, 4/9/13, Dr. Em Pannah <epannah@yahoo.com> wrote:
From: Dr. Em Pannah <epannah@yahoo.com>
Subject: Save Bangladesh and its women from the upcoming crisis (Re: [mukto-mona] Fw: [notun_bangladesh] হেফাজতের হুমকির পর ॥ নারী কি বন্দী হবে?)
To: "Em Pannah" <epannah@yahoo.com>
Date: Tuesday, April 9, 2013, 12:25 PM
Dear Readers,Your action is urgently needed if the following "DailyJanakantha" report from Mr. Syed Aslam is even partially true in relation to:প্রিয় মাতৃভূমি কি তালেবানী রাষ্ট্রের দিকে যাচ্ছে?
রুদ্ধ হয়ে যাবে কি নারীর পথচলা?
হেফাজত চায় নারীকে গৃহবন্দী করতে
Please save Bangladesh, especially our women, from the upcoming crisis. We definitely don't want our Bangladesh destroyed by anybody.
It is my humble submission to my Bangladeshi brothers and sisters that (please excuse me for repeating a similar, but not exactly, same message):..........................................................................................................................................................................................1. Bloggers should be duly punished if they used derogatory words against the sacred Islam/Holy Prophet (pbuh)2. Non-Muslims are not necessarily Nastik as most of them believe in the creator in their own religious ways3. Please let people of different religions and cultures live harmoniously in Bangladesh and in the world4. Please STOP profanity and do not attack any religion - religions are sacred and must be honored5. Please let religion be people's private affair and don't mingled sacred religions with state affairs6. Bangladesh belongs to all Bangladeshis - Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Christian, and others alike7. Please don't destroy the hard earned freedom of Bangladesh - let us save it jointly at any cost
