- It is in outrage, deep frustration and on the verge of losing it I note the capitulation of the political leadership of Bangladesh to the ignorant, obscurantist, reactionary cabal of so called Islamic leaders, who are actually corrupt, immoral, deviant political hucksters.
- To a large extent, it is also the fault of the so called religious-but-secular /liberal / progressive /very progressive et al in the country, the so called (lazy/cowardly?) civil society – the whole gamut that has been watching from the sideline these scums of the earth infiltrate every fabric of the society, becoming increasingly effective in terrorizing everyone. Knowing full well the intellectual dwarfism of the barely literate (most of them who have college degrees got those not because they learned any damn bit of what were in the books they were to read, but because their connections to and help from unprofessional dishonest so called 'professors' looking for handouts from the ruling parties) 'leaders', they are out in full force to blanket the country in mediaeval darkness. These politico-religio-criminals are proving that in Bangladesh, violence works!
- Very few honest people in the country take a position on the side of science, rational thinking, for fear of offending some bearded old fart who rambles about women being like some sour fruit. Give me a break. We have to stop this practice of cowering before stupid people claiming to be religious scholars. Only religious scholars worthy of respect are materialist historians of religion, those who study evolution of religious thought, nefarious use of religion, hypocrisy in the name of religion, etc.
- We have to start by recognize a few facts. (a) Except those who are enslaved by faith, everyone knows we do not know everything, will not know everything, but that the world, the universe, is knowable, incrementally; (b) We know how this planet actually came to being, and how it will end; (c) We know how life came to be, and that evolution is real. To those who are doubtful: if you have any self-respect, you should stop going to a medical doctor immediately; without evolution, there cannot be a medical science. Stay with the damn prayer, and see how quickly your cancer goes away! (d) If you think religious knowledge is superior to scientific knowledge, then please return to the caves; the building where you live, the street you travel by, the vehicle you travel in, etc., etc., are not built by religious truth/knowledge – it is possible because of science which results in technological know-how. (e) Faith and knowledge are not the same thing! For one, if you prove faith has nothing to do with reality, they come to kill you so that they can go to some dreamland to frolic with hoories. If you can disprove the results I published in a scientific paper, I have to go back to the lab, redo the damn experiment again, and if I cannot reproduce the results, my name is mud; no hoories for me.
- For adults, sex is essential – you can do without it, but you should try to find a willing partner. Yes, women like sex as much as men do, and the pretend-puritans do engage in it just as much if not more: isn't it why they insist on having more than one 'wife'? And yes, our parents had sex,otherwise we would not be here; no one would. 6.This probably will make them (if any sensible ones are around anymore) feel insulted, the religious pontificators are worse than them Neanderthals in their view of women precisely because they are ignorant stupids. Women have the exactly the same number of virtues and vices, foibles and fabulous… What is that number? Pick one.. Important thing to remember, women are not going to sit around and be abused as they have been in the past..
- And on being Bengali… Let it me put it straight: the so called "Bengali Muslim Culture" is impure (ভেজাল), like all cultures. In this case, it is largely Hindu culture, with habits and rituals related to the performance of prayers, dietary habits, etc., added on over the years, not following any directive of any 'scholars'. Those who converted, mostly spontaneously adopted new unfamiliar requirements of their new faith to the extent they could without disrupting their secular life, to what they have been used to for thousands of years. Next time someone says your culture is 'Hindu Culture' the rational response is, yes, it is largely, inherited from our Hindu ancestors who lived here for thousands of years before religions from the West showed up. They – not the foreigners – had to figure out how to survive in this unique wet-land dominated geo-morphological space, that is at the root of our culture. So, yes part, may be a large part of our culture is Hindu culture; so what?
- If we continue to not expose ignorance, violence in the name of religious freedom, anti-science and anti-rational views, there will be no one but ourselves to blame when Dhaka is renamed in Arabic! And bet you পহেলা বৈশাখ will be banned; it would be funny that they will try to stop time; but they think they can; you know that is why they killed Avijit; the fanatics really think they can stop time; they insist on it. And the ruling party in Bangladesh is joining them out of the same conviction, expanding the coalition of ignorants. Who else tries to stop time?