Siddhartha Dhar

The Harbingers of a Bygone Utopia

Hizb ut-Tahrir stands out from the myriad of pan-Islamic political organisations for its fundamentally consistent methodology, its neutral stance on the issue of sectarian conflicts in Islam and its explicit refusal to the use of violence. As a global Islamic movement, Tahrir seeks an intellectual revival across the Islamic world in its aim of establishing a unitary Islamic Caliphate. Reza Pankhurst's book, Hizb Ut-Tahrir: The Untold History of the Liberation Party provides an erudite account of the history of the liberation party which over the years has remained rather abstruse to comprehend. Based on personal interviews conducted across several countries, ardent studying of party documents and materials Pankhurst seeks to fill the void in understanding the implications of Tahrir's intellectual culture and its adopted methodologies in Tahrir's aim of establishing the Islamic Caliphate. Pankhurst book delivers a perception-shifting yet coherent narrative on an incredibly resilient political movement that continues to thrive withstanding tremendous state repressions across the globe.

Read more...

Avijit Roy - The Gadfly voice of reason

Avijit Roy(1972-2015) was a voice of reason in an age when people boast of their ignorance and lies are claimed as alternatives to universal truths. A software engineer by profession and a writer by passion Avijit Roy was a leading Bangladeshi-American human rights activist, author and a pioneer in Bengali free-thought movement.

Read more...

An Occidental Islam - Between Culturalist and Reformist Expediencies

In the west, the discourse on Islam has been greatly shaped by contentious debates on the role of the state. The germination of radical ideas among the European-Muslim millennials and recent terrorist attacks across Europe has bolstered the edifice of the populist right-wing ideas, and there is a rising trend in the popularity of the far-right political parties who promulgate such ideas. The current scenario in the Western world is pretty much an evocative picture of the pre-Second World War political turmoil. The shadow of a disintegrated European Union looms on the horizon. Across the Atlantic, Donald Trump rose to power hurling disparaging remarks towards Muslims while promising a Muslim ban and extreme vetting of the Muslim immigrants. In these altercations, the culturalists and the reformists, the two different schools of thought gained prominence offering very different connotations of the Islamic pedigrees and culture in their attempt to dispense with the problem of "Radical Islam."

Read more...

Remembering the life and legacy of Avijit Roy

A software engineer by profession and a writer by passion Avijit Roy(1972-2015) was a leading Bangladeshi-American human rights activist, author and a pioneer in Bengali free-thought movement. In 2001, Avijit launched a virtual discussion group of freethinkers of mainly Bengali and South Asian descent. This small discussion group would eventually lead to the inception of the first secular humanist website in the Bengali language, called 'Mukto-mona.' The literal English translation of 'Mukto-Mona' is 'Free-thinker.' As an Internet congregation of freethinkers, rationalists, skeptics, atheists & humanists Mukto-Mona gave a platform for the secular ethos of Bangladeshi culture to be reinvigorated. In an interview with a daily newspaper, Avijit described his organization's aspirations by the following lines,

Read more...

Ansarullah Bangla Team - Genesis and Beyond

In Bangladesh, a climate of fear has engulfed the secular activists of the country with the advent of a radical Islamist group. Known under the name of "Ansarullah Bangla Team," its members are believed to be highly engaged in social media and also tech-savvy. Over the past few years, this youth-oriented radical Islamist group stole global media attention after successfully carrying out some fatal attacks on prominent secular activists, bloggers, writers, and publishers.  Contrary to ISIS, so far ABT has been meticulous in choosing their targets. ABT has even condemned the atrocities committed by ISIS, standing from its self-defined higher moral ground.

Read more...

politics (256) religion (237) human rights (189) freethinker (183) society (169) activism (133) terrorism (121) international (111) MuktoMona Editor (101) Avijit Roy (92) philosophy (86) Bhaskar (67) culture (64) india (55) science (53) secularism (49) A Rahman (49) Guest Writer (48) Tonoy Emroz (48) free speech (44) personality (42) Sukhamaya Bain (40) blogger killings (39) A. H. Jaffor Ullah (37) freethinking (33) islam (33) women rights (31) literature (27) 1971 genocide (27) William Gomes (27) Abul Kasem (27) bangladeshi bloggers (26) education (24) liberation war (24) shahbagh movement 2013 (23) Bonya Ahmed (22) Mehedi Hassan (22) Jiten Roy (21) farhad (21) arrested bloggers writings (19) history (18) koran (18) freedom of expression (15) Syed Kamran Mirza (14) blogger killing (13) celebration (13) Mohsin Siddique (13) Adnan Lermontov (12) richard dawkins (11) Jahed (11) Anwarul Kabir (11) Jahed Ahmed (10) shabbir (10) book (10) Rainer Ebert (10) evolution (9) ajoy roy (9) darwin day (9) Sujit Das (9) koranic contradictions (9) Biplab Pal (8) bd election 2008 (8) Md Maruf Hasan (7) hinduism (7) economics (7) Muktar Ahmed Mukul (7) love (6) Subrata Shuvo (6) Mahfuzur Rahman (6) Mozammel H Khan (6) teki_admin (6) Ripan Kumar Biswas (6) Trisha Ahmed (5) flash fiction (5) seminar (5) war crimes (5) Dipen Bhattacharya (5) Siddhartha Dhar (5) environment (5) barack obama (5) Bijon Sarma (5) poem (4) astronomy (4) Raihan Abir (4) Shabnam Nadiya (4) violence (4) buttertoes (4) Mizan Rahman (4) obama (4) christianity (4) muhammad (4) Ram Puniyani (4) liberation war crime trial (4) bdr revolt (4) bdr mutiny (4) conflict palestinian-israel (4) homosexuality (3) health (3) corruption (3) lgbt (3) gay rights (3) lesbian (3) avijit english (3) Dhrubo (3) election (3) us election (3) Nripen Sarker (3) pseudoscience (3) violation of koran (3) Meera Nanda (3) criticism of islam (3) e-book (3) Sentu Tikadar (3) darwin day celebration (3) humayun azad (2) lifestyle (2) short story (2) blasphemy (2) law (2) constitution (2) lgbt rights (2) fiction (2) Shabbir Ahmed (2) marriage (2) section 377 (2) Rashad Ullah (2) stereotyping (2) cosmos (2) shuborna senjuti (2) usa (2) martyr intellectual day (2) creationism (2) shazzad (2) grameen bank (2) dr. yunus (2) Akbar Hussain (2) Mumin Salih (2) pakistan (2) rationalism (2) sheikh mujib (2) Tarek Fatah (2) superstition (2) Srinivas Kakkilaya (2) Simi Chowdhury (1) atheism (1) Mehzabin Ahmed (1) Razel (1) afganistan (1) covid 19 (1) covid19 (1) michael chakma (1) cht (1) health &amp (1) bengali literature (1) breast cancer (1) bonoful (1) translation (1) digital security act 2018 (1) shahidul alam (1) muktomona (1) school students (1) road safety (1) bangladesh bloggers (1) shahjahan bachchu (1) Aniruddha Sohan (1) Abdur Rahim (1) minority torture (1) war crims (1) Shafiul Joy (1) Sam Virakocha Sinha (1) Bottle Bhut (1) blogg (1) Foring Camelia (1) Shaibal Chakraborty (1) Nigel Hughes (1) niloy neel (1) Arifur Rahman (1) equality (1) gay marriage (1) interfaith (1) interfaith marriage (1) interreligious marriage (1) marriage equality (1) same-sex marriage (1) special marriage act (1) voltaire lecture 2015 (1) rafid (1) Jawshan Ara Shatil (1) vigil (1) memorial (1) Salman Rahman (1) experience (1) LGBTQ (1) nonfiction (1) Maruf Rosul (1) capitalism (1) democracy (1) malaysia (1) nationalism (1) blasphemy day 2013 (1) hijra (1) transgender (1) sexual identity (1) Tanvir Alim (1) allachalaina (1) Bhaswati Mazumder (1) writeup of asif mohiuddin (1) Irtishad Ahmad (1) discrimination (1) hifazat-e-islam (1) Md. Jane Alam (1) Atheist Bloggers (1) Tanveer Ibn Haresh (1) fraud (1) child domestic work (1) child labour (1) children (1) domestic work (1) maids (1) death penalty (1) capital punishment (1) mbi munshi's jamat connection (1) mbi munshi's pakistani connection (1) bangla spring (1) lgb (1) gay (1) bisexual (1) sexual orientation (1) gun control (1) innocence of muslims (1) youtube (1) Stephanie McMillan (1) yellowstone national park (1) travel (1) software (1) journalism (1) nature (1) ecology (1) M R Badhan (1) dgfi (1) nsi (1) rab (1) sexual misconduct (1) gias ahmed (1) desh tv (1) minorities (1) julian assange (1) micro credit (1) Jamal Hasan (1) add new tag (1) bangladesh high court (1) hijab (1) misogyny (1) M. Harun uz Zaman (1) ekushe (1) language movement (1) hasina (1) afghanistan (1) sheikh mujib killing (1) ziaur rahman (1) justice in bangladesh (1) bangladesh military (1) abraham lincoln (1) bangladesh (1) Adil Mahmood (1) Bangladesh Genocide Studies (1) nobel peace prize (1) new earliest hominid (1) pre-lucy (1) ardi (1) moulavi-sir (1) 9/11 conspiracy theory (1) theories (1) debunk (1) skeptic (1) demand on september 11 (1) Anindyasundar (1) allah (1) islamic god (1) swine flu (1) h1n1 (1) ramadan (1) senator ted kennedy (1) bangladesh genocide (1) bangladesh liberation war (1) pakistani military (1) (re)reading taslima (1) bangabandhu (1) august 15 (1) bangabandhu killing (1) sheikh mujibur rahman (1) 1947 partition (1) gandhi (1) intelligent design (1) random thoughts (1) thesis on leaving islam (1) medical physics (1) british colonialism (1) Shahidul Islam (1) tajuddin ahmed (1) patriot (1) honor killing (1) relationship (1) lunar landing (1) apollo 11 (1) neil armstrong (1) nasa (1) research (1) universities of bangladesh (1) islamic heaven (1) huris (1) houris (1) virgins (1) islamic brothel (1) Shazzad Khan (1) poetry (1) iran election 2009 (1) ayatollah ahmadinejad (1) mousavi (1) freedom fighter (1) mcnamara (1) india election 2009 (1) education: let us think (1) cannibalizing islam (1) islam against islam (1) dancing with dead bodies (1) west bengal (1) islamic hell (1) bjp (1) student politics (1) al government (1) political parties (1) masters (1) islamic voodoos (1) power crisis (1) political vengeance (1) correction (1) genocide of 1971 (1) let the good sense prevail (1) ekushey (1) language day celebration (1) mother language day (1) koranic contradiction (1) mathematics (1) bible contradictions (1) iraq (1) islam and politics (1)