Most Read

Mainstream Muslims and Islamist extremism: The author replies

21 October 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Mahfuzur Rahman New York
21 October 2005, 18:00 PM
My article, "The rise of Islamist extremism: Are mainstream Muslims blameless?"(The Daily Star, October 5, 2005) provoked only two letters in the newspaper. The following paragraphs are my response. Neither of the writers of these letters wished to mention me by name. In what follows I shall return the favour . I agree with the author of the first letter (October 10, 2005) that mainstream Muslims are responsible for a great deal of what ails the nation today. They are undoubtedly responsible for much of the ills he mentions: social injustice, corruption, political double talk, and so on. But he does not really mean it, does he? Hence his "They are blaming mainstream Muslims for the problem that they created". Who are the "they" here? One wonders. The writer appears to have some other group in mind, including the likes of me allegedly occupying a "convenient spot". Perhaps a clearer identification of the "they" would be helpful for a healthy and welcome debate. What disappointed me more, however, is that while the writer had a long list of ills of the society, Islamist extremism does not appear on it. The problem of religious extremism is of such critical importance that it, like the prospect of death, should have concentrated his mind. Apparently it has not.

The second letter (October 12), written by a former member of the armed forces, flabbergasted me. Its writer contrasted my article on Islamist extremism with an article in the same issue of the Daily Star on the so-called Tuesday Group, put me down as one with an "international mindset", and hailed the author of the other article as a "proud Bangladeshi". (Incidentally, I share many of the concerns of the author of the article on the Tuesday Group.) Not content with this, the writer went on to pronounce this: "Self respect breeds patriotism. Patriotism is the hallmark of all morality. Educated immoral people are the enemies in the patriotic guise". There are other dark hints. This is indeed strong stuff and the writer leaves little doubt about who his target is.

In our national history there is a long list of what is undoubtedly unpatriotic as well as immoral: the murder of the father of the nation and head of the state by a group of misguided members of the armed forces; the inability of the nation to punish the culprits for the crime; action by both main political parties in the country that amounts to invitation to foreign countries to interfere in our domestic politics; rampant and growing corruption in the country; and acts of Islamic fundamentalists who are opposed to the very ideology that laid the foundation of the nation. The list could go on. In my article I made a plea for self criticism and critical inquiry into religious dogma and orthodoxy as an essential step to fighting Islamist extremism in the country. It is distressing to see criticism and call for such inquiry equated with lack of self respect and dubbed unpatriotic.

Google News LinkFor all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.

Patriotism is a noble virtue. But apparently it comes in many colours, as the letter itself illustrates, and can be invoked for many different reasons. Most importantly, it can be used as the last refuge, as a famous diatribe of Dr. Johnson's reminds us.

As for the "international mindset", it need not be anathema to the patriot. In fact, a truly international mindset is a good antidote to prejudice, ignorance, chauvinism and bigotry. In a fast changing world, we should have more of it, not less.

It is time to dig out our heads from the sand and see the rise of religious extremism in the country for what it is.