Religious Conversion
Religious conversion is not merely embracing a religion; it is a package deal that includes embracing a religion, embracing a different culture and tradition, ditching parents, relatives, and friends forever. All these effects come in the same package of religious conversion. So, it has much more serious consequences than just following a different religion. In other words, it alters everything in one's life that existed moments before conversion. Such a drastic change, once taken, cannot be reversed. So, conversion is a serious business.
Happy Blasphemy Day, Happy Birthday 'Mukto Mona
I wrote a piece in Bengali on Blasphemy day, 2013. I could not find time earlier to post this in English blog. Here it is:
Bengali Quran
Girish Chandra Sen was the first Bengali to translate Qur'an in Bengali language during 1886. He was not an upstart but a scholar who read extensively about Islam for some years before embarking on the translation of Qur'an in Bengali. He was a Brahmo missionary and did so at the behest of Brahmo leader Keshub Chunder Sen (Keshab Chandra Sen). The latter also asked other three Brahmo scholars to study and understand Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity respectively. The very idea was to find converging aspects of all major religions of India.