Mirjafforian Obsession of Crypto-Islamists

[mwzaman]

Please read what Farida Majid had to say about the self-proclaimed
seculatists in the following article:

[Reprinted from News From Bangladesh, December 20, 2001]

Talibanization of Cyberspace by Crypto-Islamists

Farida Majid

In the wake of the departure of George Harrison, I am full of memories
of that electrifying Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Garden
in 1971, which I had the great fortune to attend. Throughout the nine
months of the liberation war I had traveled in the USA and Europe
working ceaselessly for the cause of an independent Bangladesh and
creating public opinion against the atrocities of Pakistani army on
the innocent civilians of East Pakistan. The warmth, care and goodwill
expressed at the Concert for Bangladesh were echoed all over the
world.

To the utter consternation of Nixon, Kissinger and Yahya team, George
Harrison’s "Bangladesh" hit the top of the chart. It was a
thrilling moment, in the midst of all the sad news emanating from the
battlefront, because even the Western journalists covering the civil
war in East Pakistan were not yet using the word "Bangladesh." I want
to remind everyone that this country was born on the crest of not only
Banglaee’s dream of freedom, democracy and secularism, but the
good wishes and cheers of all the world’s freedom-loving people.

It is unfortunate, and all the sadder for that beginning, that
Bangladesh failed to fulfill those dreams we fought for and for which
the whole world had cheered. Through successive autocratic rulers, the
country never had the graciousness to thank for or return that good
will to the world. Let alone thanking George Harrison, no government
of Bangladesh even acknowledged the patriotic efforts of the two of
East Bangla’s most precious gems of all times – Pandit
Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan – both of whom were
initiators of and performers at the Concert for Bangladesh.

Today we have a government that is made up of those very foes who
opposed our right to claim our freedom. With the blood of innocent
children, women and men of 1971 in their hands, two of the Jamaatis
are ministers in Khaleda Zia’s cabinet. Other Islamists hold
various important portfolios. Reminders of the muktijuddha do not stir
noble emotions in anyone any more. This is due mainly to the
Awami-leaguers’ false over-association of the liberation war
with them.

People are so fed-up of Awami mis-rule and "Zatir pita Bangabondu"
that they frown, turn up their noses, roll their eyes or fling their
wrists at the very mention of 1971. Islamists have now installed
themselves in power with unprecedented confidence. Like the Cheshire
Cat’s in the Wonderland, the ear-to-ear grin of the Islamists
hangs in the air of Bangladesh as it fills with the cries of pain and
deprivation rising from the defenseless Hindu communities victimized
by the Islamist criminals.

Not that there is no secular-minded BNP leader. Most of them, Khaleda
Zia included, are not exactly devout Muslims as we well know. But they
are installed in power by the Islamists, and hence are gagged and
bound against making any comment on the atrocities committed by the
Islamist goondas on the hapless Hindus. Without the Islamist support
BNP is nothing but a dolled up woman in a chiffon sari. Too
apparently, to maintain this vital support, she has to trundle off to
Saudi Arabia every month to perform Umrah. Who knows what lurks behind
the all too apparent!

Besides their firm clutch on the heads of the present administration,
the Islamists have foot soldiers parading in two very disparate but
well-coordinated fronts. One cache of cadres is unleashed across the
nation to wreak unspeakable havoc of communal killing, raping and
looting. Islamist leaders in Dhaka keep a straight face muttering
patronizing platitudes about the duty to protect the
‘jaan-maal’ of the Hindus.

As long as we have Islamists in Bangladesh, Jehadists in Pakistan and
the Hinduists in India, the dreaded specter of communalism as a potent
political tool will continue to scourge the general populace of the
subcontinent. Aiding and abetting the Islamists is this other, newer
front presently operating in the cyberspace.

This lot of Islamist collaborators thinly covers up their poisonous
activity of spreading the message of the Islamists in the curious form
of Islam-bashing. Therefore, I call them crypto-Islamists. Mimicking
the Islamist claim, crypto-Islamists define secularism to mean
something doggedly anti-religious, virulently anti-Islamic. They call
themselves "secular humanists," even though their pompous
pronouncements contain not a smidgen of understanding of either
secularism or humanism.

A couple of years ago, foolishly taking their self-description of
"secular humanists" in good faith, I tried to point out that
secularism means pluralism, peaceful coexistence of many religions,
faiths and ethnic cultures, and according to that definition of
secularism, Muslim Bengal had always been a secular place. At no point
in Bengal’s history Islam was declared a state religion. The
group roundly blasted me for committing the crime of mentioning
‘culture’ and ‘history’.

There is no arguing with these crypto-Islamists. They are the ardent
followers, the students (taliban) of the Bush-bin Laden School of
Dogmatism – that "either you are with us or against us" variety.
Violently allergic to the concepts of culture, history of any kind or
of any place, evolution, civilization, art, music, social studies,
grammar, rhetoric or logic, the crypto-Islamists would pounce upon
anyone who broaches these topics with the wrath matching that of their
Islamist bretheren upon the Hindus.

The ground-level Islamists at least have a political agenda behind
their Islam-touting game. Scratch their Islamic surface, and you will
discover that they really do not care much for their religion. The
‘Alem-samaaj’ or the traditional religious establishment
of Bangladesh have denounced the weird and un-Islamic ideology of the
Islamists and have vigorously protested against the Jamaati antics in
the name of religion. The crypto-Islamists of cyberspace, amidst all
their Islam-bashing, oddly, never have a harsh word against the
Jamaat. Perhaps in their vision of the world through a pinhole they
cannot distinguish one from the other.

Or perhaps – and this possibility looms increasingly large
– they are the undercover agents of the Islamists employed to
spread the propaganda that Jamaat and Islam are one and the same.
There is only one Islam – period – no ifs or buts or
what-abouts.

Crypto-Islamists were conceived in 1993, and if one recalled the
sequence of events, one can understand why the Islamists needed them.
Under the able and valiant leadership of shahid-janani Jahanara Imam,
Muktijuddher Chetana Bastabayan o Ghatok-Dalal Nirmul Committee had
successfully launched a nation-wide and among the Diaspora
Bangladeshis in London, New York and elsewhere demanding the trial of
the Bangalee collaborators of Pakistani army and those who committed
crimes against humanity in1971.

Wherever Jahanara Imam went she was greeted by huge jubilant crowds.
Members of the Alem-samaaj joined our campaign and some of them toured
the countryside going from mosque to mosque urging religious leaders
to be vigilant against the pollution of religion with the dirty
politics of the Moududibadi Jamaat. The enthusiasm of the people
wanting the Dalals of 1971 to be brought to justice was truly
fantastic and, looking back I can say, it was at an all time high. The
fundamentalists brought out a procession or two protesting our
movement, but it was clear that they were really feeling the pinch.

I had worked ceaselessly for the Nirmul Committee that time, traveling
between New York, London and Dhaka. A chunk of my time was occupied
also in joining and speaking at meetings and rallies held by an
organization that we formed called Concerned South Asians. I also
joined in the activities of our Indian colleagues of
Samprodayikata-virodhi Andolon.

We marked the first anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid by
mounting a giant exhibit by Sahmat, an anti-communalism group from
India, and a two-day festival of music, dance and poetry readings at
Columbia University. After two decades of hopelessness, I was
beginning to nurse anew the hope of a closure of the wounds of 1971.

Just at this juncture Taslima Nasrin, flushed with her success as a
column writer, decided that she wanted more limelight. I had liked her
columns on women’s rights, and actively supported her attack on
Moksudul Momenin by writing a long scholarly article on the
mistranslation of the Qur’anic verses pertaining to women.

However, I did not realize then that Nasrin was totally incapable of
making the distinction between secondary religious literature and a
primary religious text like the Qur’an. She just lumped
Qur’an, Hadith, popular pulp religious literature and rolled
them into something she called dharmo, which she then claimed in a
loud voice was a very bad thing. Coming from a culturally
unenlightened family, understandably, religion was a bit of a
‘big deal’ to her. Limited exposure to the more
enlightened section of our society led her to believe that atheism was
a novelty.

So attacking Islam seemed like a jolly good idea to earn some infamy
accompanied by spotlight. She was going to be the first female
Bangalee atheist the world ever saw! A Johnny-come-lately to the
enlightened Muslim Bangalee society that she really never knew from
her pinhole view of it..

She began attacking the Qur’an (or rather, the Bangla
translation of it, which is all she could read) and got the spotlight
she craved. Islam-bashing adds fuel to the fire of fundamentalism,
re-energizes their zeal. You don’t have to be a rocket-scientist
to make that simple cause-and–effect connection. Nasrin was what
the Islamists were craving for to get them out of their doldrums. She
was their Savior incarnate sent for their deliverance by the almighty
Allah. As a reward for this deliverance the Islamists elevated her to
the status of Salman Rushdie. The triumphant Islamists have never
looked back from that point to this. Now they are at the peak of their
political success, thanks to the brilliant work of the crypto-Islamist
Nasrin!

I cannot for the life of me fathom the degree of depravity that makes
someone speak abusively of a particular religion, its scripture, its
prophet, its ‘tradition’ its world-wide followers. It is
so inherently inhuman, racist, and unspeakably stupid! I am loath to
talk about my private life, but I must emphatically note here about my
family’s unflinching dedication to liberal principles and high
idealism, whose inculcation in me would prevent me from engaging in
this scurrilous activity of insulting a religion.

As a child I was happily a tomboy, free to romp in the fields and
woods, climb trees and splash in those splendid community ponds of
Narayanganj and swim to my heart’s content. My father and my
mamas were atheists, but we children were instructed not to speak ill
of any religion. Such instructions were not actually specified, they
were automatically implied.

We are a bi-communal family since my Boromami is a Hindu who never
converted. Her family in Dumdum, and my family were always very close
because we are culturally similar. Cultural affinity, not religion, is
what makes the difference. I do not suppose the reason why I am not
close to the families of my other two mamis is because they are
Muslim. It is just that we don’t quite match each other in our
cultural outlooks or lifestyles.

My nana, Kabi Golam Mostafa, the author of Biswanabi, whom Awami
Leaguers mischievously and anachronistically labeled as a "razakar,"
(poor guy died in 1964, for God’s sake!) was in real life the
most secular of men. Ever a loving and caring grandfather, he was more
interested in the progress I was making in my classical singing
lessons or the latest poem I wrote rather than my religious
upbringing. His delightful letters to the two of us contained humor
and playful but intelligent bantering, hardly any mention of
Allah-rasul. (I can produce these letters, written in my nana’s
exquisite hand, as documents, as opposed to Nasrin;s undocumented,
fictionalized autobiography).

By the age of ten I was well read in Bangla and English, and could
look at a picture of a painting and tell whether it was by
Michaelangelo, Raphael or Rembrandt, or whether it was by Gaugin,
Matisse or van Gogh. If I did not know enough suras by heart to say a
proper namaj, it was not an important failure. My extended family was
pretty pleased with the direction their first born was heading. Being
a Muslim female was never a problem for me. Islam never posed a threat
of oppression to me, nor was it an impediment that stunted my
intellectual and artistic growth.

So, when the opportunity came in my Graduate School days at New York
University, I eagerly snatched it and took the courses in Arabic
language which would enable me to at least read and understand the
text of the Qur’an in the original. I hasten to add that this
was not done as a ‘born again Muslim’ gesture. One
compelling reason was that I got a Federal Govt. scholarship for
studying Arabic.

The other reason was my desire to take on the offensive mullahs who
spread unsubstantiated claims in the name of religion. I was bred by
my family as a modern human being, a citizen of the world, so I had no
trouble living either in the East or the West.

These few words about my personal life are necessitated by the false
impression created by the endless personal life-story-telling by the
crypto-Islamist Nasrin as if her life-story were the norm of every
Bangalee Muslim home. No, not every woman in Bangladesh has had
Nasrin’s sordid, repressive life. And there is no telling
whether she is telling the truth. She had been caught red-handed lying
by many reporters. Who knows her family and who can testify to the
repression that really occurred?

My family is less obscure than Nasrin’s and hence I felt I
don’t have to prove anything by talking about my family life.
But Nasrin has to prove something. Again and again, ad nausea, in
Bangla and now in English, we are given an account of her life, an
account of the ‘bhando peer’ Amirullah to whose magic
Nasrin’s mother became spellbound.

Why couldn’t she get her mother unspellbound from the
Peer’s magic sooner? I have chased a few ‘bhando
peers’ out of my family’s compound in my girlhood. Nasrin
urges us, almost by clobbering on our heads, to believe that this fake
religious man has everything to do with Islam. This is what Islam is
all about and that is so because Islam is a religion like no other
(notice the Islamist drift!).

It is a pity that she has remained the same ignorant snob to this day.
Not a single lesson has been learned by her, no progress, no growth,
no change whatsoever in her incommensurate pattern of thinking; in
sum, nothing has been added to knowledge in the course of her
life’s ups and downs. She keeps repeating the story of peer
Amirullah over and over again in exactly the same way she did ten,
twelve, or fifteen years ago.

It just so happens that the ‘bhando peer’ Amirullah of
Mymensingh has as much to do with Islam as the ‘bhando’
priest of Catholic Ireland has to do with Christianity, or the
‘bhando’ bishop in Protestant Germany or England has to do
with Christianity, or the ‘bhando’ monk in Greece has to
do with the Orthodox Church, or the ‘bhando’ rabbi in
Israel has to do with Judaism, or the ‘bhando’ sadhu in
Benares has to do with Hiinduism. I’ve known a few
‘bhando’ religious women too.

The world literature abounds with the stories of their treachery and
wily ways in the name of religion. Some of these stories are
hilarious, tales in Kahlil wa Dimna, Panchatantra, Chaucer’s
Canterbury Tales, or Boccaccio’s Decameron, – we laugh at
them. We laugh; we celebrate the human ingenuity of these thugs, the
same human spirit and imagination that created the edifices of these
magnificent religions. Isn’t there something seriously wrong
when a group that calls itself "secular humanists" is completely blind
to the very existence of humanity that comprises each religion?

Islam, without its living, breathing human followers, like any other
religion, is simply an abstraction. In his novel, The Satanic Verses,
Salman Rushdie wanted to bring out this human face of Islam. I like
the novel for that reason, and wrote a long essay in its defense.
Rushdie, whose life was infinitely more seriously threatened by the
Islamists than Nasrin’s ever was, has the common sense to
discriminate the Islamists from Islam. Just the other day he reminded
us that the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims are not all
‘Qur’an analysts’, and that acts of terrorism are
carried out by a crazed handful of backward-looking bunch who are
against all forms of modernism.

Crypto-Islamist Kamran Mirza strongly disagrees with such a statement.
Every Muslim gets his or her Islamic teachings from Qur’an and
Hadiths. Says who? Says Kamran Taliban Mirza. He takes a lot of pride
in his self-proclaimed role of a Qur’an analyst. He is equipped
with Allama Yusouf Ali’s English translation published circa
1936 and a couple of Bangla translations of the Qur’an. This is
the base that constitutes all his bombast, all his peremptory
pronouncements against Islam. (I have about seven or eight English, at
least three Bangla translations, one of which is by Girishchandra Sen,
two in all Arabic and a shelf full of Arabic-English dictionaries,
Arabic grammar books and sundry other Arabic language related
materials.

There is also a shelf-full of secondary scholarly books. I do not call
myself a Qur’an analyst even though I carefully consult all my
resources when I’m required to make a reference to the
Qur’an). Mirza’s so called ‘analysis’ consists
of kicking the Qur’an, spitting on the character of the Prophet,
and tearing the text apart in a stupendously comical exhibition of
ignorance, malice and egoism befitting the mannerism of a true
Islamist. He is applauded for his heroics by a handful of faithful
followers. I am reminded of the lines in "Chhayabaji" by my favorite
poet, Sukumar Roy:

Ajgubi noi, Ajgubi noi, satyi e sob kathaa

Chhayar sathe juddha kore gaatre holo byathaa

Chhaya dhorar byabsaa kori, tao jano na bujhi

Roder chhaya, chander chhaya, harek rakom punji

Shamelessly, Kamran Taliban Mirza would then post the praises he has
received from his sycophants for his comical ‘chhayabaji’
or shadowboxing.

The all-consuming obsession of the crypto-Islamists with Islam and the
ensuing blindness and megalomania would put the one-eyed Mullah Omar
and bin Laden to shame. Not a week goes by without them posting some
infantile drivel on the Qur’an and Hadith. I wonder whether they
read anything other then the Qur’an and Hadith.

Do they read an Englash language newspaper, or is it against their
religion? Is reading a non-religious book against their religion? They
don’t really have the guts to talk against the real-life living
and breathing Islamists like Motiur Rahman Nizami. It is getting
increasingly clear that these crypto-Islamists work for their Islamist
bosses whom they serve slavishly.

Of what use is Islam-bashing? It has only made the Islamists of
Bangladesh proclaim themselves as the champions of Islam.
Islam-bashers have only succeeded in endorsing this position of the
Islamists. The over-zealot crypto-Islamists are now coming apart in
the very exercise of their zealotary. They are stepping out of their
closet, although they themselves are oblivious of the fact. Kamran
Taliban Mirza’s exhortation says it all.

Exactly like the Jamaat, and all other Islamists, he is the sole
purveyor of the "real Islam" and according to him, our Bangalee
"nani-dadi, bap-dada choudda purush" had it all wrong. He is going to
set us right – teach us the real, fallacy-proof Islam. He then
passionately declares, the one-eyed "Mullah Omar is doing everything
to please Allah and nobody else" (NFB, Nov. 30, 2001).

Please, can our nerves be spared? Is it not enough that the
crypto-Islamists efforts have helped install the Islamist govt. in
power in Bangladesh? Do we now have to have the Mullah Omar agent,
this Kamran Taliban Mirza sermonizing us on the cyberspace day in and
day out?

Prof Farida Majid writes from NY , USA , her e mail :
farida...@hotmail.com

(REPRINTED FROM NFB,DECEMBER 20, 2001]

[Jaffor Ullah]

The following was culled from Mukto-Mona Forum
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/messages)

From: S. A. Montu <sa_montu@y...>
Date: Fri Dec 21, 2001 1:47 pm
Subject: The Talibanization of Bangladeshi Sisters

The Talibanization of Bangladeshi Sisters

S.A. Montu
USA
E-mail : sa_m...@yahoo.com

Response to : http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/dec/20/d20122001.htm#A1

Hello world!! Well, I mean Islamic world, Wake up and smell the coffee, or
is it Sylethi Chaa? Time's up Rajakar Mians! Your days are numbered, not
because the Kaffirs are overwhelming you, but your worst nightmare is coming
to fruition!! Ha Ha, poetic justice indeed! The domain so overwhelmingly
dominated by the chosen "bandas" of Allah, is now being seriously challenged
by a "pherocious" band of smooth-talking, throat-cutting, hate-mongering,
secularism-preaching, Hindu-loving, Rajakar-hating, Freedom-fighting,
"Mujib-bashing", Burqua-wearing, emancipated Bangali Ramanis.

Our Bangali sisters have found their voices since Begum Khalida ascended the
throne of Bangladesh! That is, in my opinion a sign of great progress
indeed! Imagine what a dose of undiluted Islamic "madira" does for our
oppressed sisters! Perhaps, the great Hajarat Muhammad failed in
appreciating the sublime abilities of the "weaker" sex. Given the supreme
heroism what our great Jihadi Al Quaeda sepoys are displaying at the
maidan-e-jang of Afghanistan, it is not surprising that Allah and Mr.
Mohammed are huddled together over a TV Timeout, reconsidering the display
of supreme heroism of the Jihadi "boyz"!! Now that the demand for virgin
Houris has increased exponentially over the last couple of months, Allah is
obviously hard pressed in meeting his obligations. Hence a mid-way strategy
change is in order, and per Allah's empowerment of the Burqua brigade, we
see the likes of Farida Majid, Bula Kasem, and a horde of others impatiently
waiting along the sidelines to spring into action!

These "birongana romonis" are capable all right, and I do not have any
reasons to underestimate their indomitable spirits in inflicting massive
damage to whoever incurs their wrath. Clearly, Ms Taslima Nasrin got a
sampling of the vicious attack from our pious, secular, 7-different
Quoran-reading, freedom fighting, Rajakar eliminating sisters. Tch! Tch! Our
Farida Apa had to take up this unpleasant job of putting Taslima's
"falsehoods" and in so doing she had to painfully confess her sins of being
born in a family of well a known vernacular poet. She also had to mercifully
expose her intellectual faculties through her narration of her being a
recipient of a mighty Uncle Sam offered Scholarship to allow her the
opportunity to learn Arabic, and thus be able to confer with the higher
authority in behyast!

Sure, I believe her, when she claims to be a lover of the minority Hindus of
Bangladesh. Sure, I also believe her claims of being a true lover of free
Bangladesh. Why should I not, haven't she displayed her patriotism through
such remarkably insensitive quotes like "Zatir pita Bangabondu". I am sure I
believe her when she tells us that Kamran Mirza is a Taliban! Madam, believe
me, you have convinced us all! Please speak no more! We are overwhelmed with
your honest comparison of your superior intellectual faculties vis-à-vis
Taslima's. I certainly agree that everything she spoke and wrote was meant
to poison the mind and souls of the Bangladeshi society, and all her "ill
gotten" reputation should have been bestowed upon you! You, madam are the
true example of an emancipated, birangona Bangali Nari. More powers be
vested upon you by the almighty Allah, so that you continue to educate us
and the rest of the village idiots of Bangladesh, on the efficacy of being a
"true" secularist, with a slight touch of "Aurangazebish" Justice. Joi
Banglar Romoni, Joi Bangla!!

S.A. Montu.

"mwzaman" <mwz...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:46db51ba.01122...@posting.google.com...

[Jaffor Ullah]

Another response culled from Mukto-Mona
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/messages)

From: A. H. Jaffor Ullah <Jaffor@n...>
Date: Fri Dec 21, 2001 4:11 pm
Subject: An Open Letter to Ms. Farida Majid

Dear mukto-monas,

Here is a short response to the lengthy article of Ms. Farida Majid
published in NFB: http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/dec/20/d20122001.htm#A1

Jaffor Ullah

Jaf...@netscape.net
------------
An open letter to Ms. Farida Majid

Dear Farida Majid,

In your NFB piece on Dec 20, 2001, you wrote: "My nana, Kabi Golam Mostafa,

the author of Biswanabi, whom Awami Leaguers mischievously and

anachronistically labeled as a "razakar," (poor guy died in 1964, for God's

sake!) was in real life the most secular of men."

My response: Rabindranath Thakur did not have the audacity to call himself
Kabi Rabindranath Thakur. However, Jessore's favorite son used to call
himself Kabi Golam Mostafa. He used to sign his name: Kabi Golam Mostafa. Go
see some old books written by him. You will see in bold print - Kabi Golam
Mustafa. I am just wondering whether the first name of
your secular nana was Kabi.

Mrs. Majid, even you called your nana - Kabi Golam Mostafa.

Your long piece was hate-laden no doubt. If the idea was to lambaste (roast)
some secular folks in cyberspace, then you get A+++. Your piece had no theme
whatsoever. Similar to a dabbler in writing, you moved from topic to topic.
In coherency, you will score a miserable D. There was no single theme to
talk about. This is what is called a "Bikkhipto Chinta Sombolito Rochona" at
its best. The dark side of you overpowered your rational mind as you wrote
the piece. Your insouciant mind had to resort to pococurantism to cut Ms.
Nasrin and Mr. Mirza. There was no need for all that. Was this a SHTICK?

Your long tirade against secularists created a unnecessary tinhorn racket in
cyberspace. Above all, your sleight of hand had earned already many friends
who belonged to the other camp and who are sympathetic to BNP and its
four-party alliance. Quite a few of them have nothing but a
glowing encomium for your dexterity in deceptive writing.

With a friend like you, the secular force of Bangladesh hardly needs an
enemy.

Sincerely,

A.H. Jaffor Ullah

"mwzaman" <mwz...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:46db51ba.01122...@posting.google.com...

[mwzaman]

My Comments on the Mirjafforian Open Letter

M. Waheeduzzaman Manik

Dr. Jaffor Ullah, you were hiding from SCB. Welcome back. Let's
discuss various issues. What about your response to my comments on Dr.
Osman Farruk and Dr. M.O. Ghani? Don't you have self-respect? I have
refuted your false and baseless accusations?

Dr. Ullah, I like those individuals who take their time to expose your
mockery. Yet, I don't condone name-calling. Some people have already
sustituted "J" for "Janowar" (animal). I don't think it is fair. You
desrve better. After all, I enjoy your cow essays for absurdities,
irrelevancies and uselessness. I also feel thrilled when you
&#8220;pen&#8221; your seminal cow essays on historical topics. I have
a knack for your voodoo history even though there are other voodoos in
the Internet. Yet, you are the best.

I have carefully read Ms. Farida Majid&#8217;s well crafted and
provocative NFB commentary on the state of the self-declared
secularists. I know it for sure that you could not stomach such
frontal assault from a secularist with good track record. You were
stunned. Your timid response seems to be inadequate. Your pant is
down, Dr. Ullah.

In your mirjafforian open letter, you have miserably failed to refute
any (not even one) of the comments or conclusions of Farida Majid.
Your comments about Poet Ghulam Mustafa are irrelevant. Why? You have
missed Farida Majid&#8217;s arguments. The main thrust of Farida
Majid&#8217;s argument is that a genuine secularism allows diversity
and pluralism.

A.H. Jaffor ullah, you have neither a background nor the needed
attitude to understand that a religious person can also be a
secularist. For example, one of the most secularist leaders was
Maulana Bhashani. But he was also deeply religious man. In the same
vein, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was both a religious man and a
secularist. Mahatma Ghandhi was a secularist leader. Yet, he was a
deeply religious man. There is then no contradiction between being a
religious person and a secular person. Unfortunately, Dr. Ullah you
don&#8217;t get it. That&#8217;s why you have totally missed Ms
Farida Majid&#8217;s thrust of arguments.

A.H. Jaffor ullah, you are not a secularist of any kind. Often you
have substituted indecency for secularism. That&#8217;s why you have
characterized Farida Majid&#8217;s criticism as
&#8220;deceptive.&#8221; Let me make it clear to you: there is
consensus among the readers that it is A.H. Jaffor ullah whose goru
rochonas are characterized by name-calling, name-dropping deception
and mockery.

A.H. jaffor Ullah, your writings lack COHERENCE. Your writings lack
CONSISTENCY. Your writings lack continuity of thought. In other words,
your writings don&#8217;t have any focus. Your behavior has thus far
demonstrated that you can Not concentrate on a particular theme or
topic. You change topics or themes--- your essays don&#8217;t have
introduction, middle, and conclusion. In fact, you start with
CONCLUSION and finish with Conclusion. There is little wonder why you
were reflecting on your own inconsistencies and inadequacies when you
said: &#8220;In coherency, you will score a miserable D. There was no

single theme to talk about. This is what is called a "Bikkhipto Chinta
Sombolito Rochona" at its best. The dark side of you overpowered your
rational mind as you wrote the piece. Your insouciant mind had to
resort to pococurantism to cut Ms. Nasrin and Mr. Mirza. There was no

need for all that. Was this a SHTICK.&#8221;

Dr. Jaffor Ullah, I found Farida Majid&#8217;s essay enormously
instructive. It is bound to have wide influence. Dr. Jaffor Ullah, are
you the person who can talk about &#8220;coherency&#8221; and
&#8220;consistency&#8221; in Ms. Farida Majid&#8217;s or for that
matter in some one else&#8217;s writings? After care deliberations, I
have come to the conclusion that you are fond of writing "Goru
Rochona" (Cow Esssay). Indeed, you are a cow essayist. A cow essayist
is always a cow essayist. A cow essayist writes cow essays on absurd
themes that are always characterized by incoherencies,
inconsistencies, indecencies, and inadequacies. Thanks. Sincerely,
W.Zaman Manik

"Jaffor Ullah" <Jaf...@netscape.net> wrote in message news:<yoQU7.224773$er5.3...@e3500-atl2.usenetserver.com>...

[Anamika_1971]

"You, madam are the true example of an emancipated, birangona Bangali Nari."

What a compliment. Some perhaps would like to forget it - but for some there
is the haunted memory of 1971. And they were mothers and sisters of
Bangladesh, who suffered by the Pakistan Army and their allies.

When Mujib was so kind enough to grant general amnesty to the Pak Army and
local collaborators, he also declared these sisters as "birangona"s.
Poetic Justice indeed.

For all these years later, call someone a birangona for not agreeing with
your version of whatever.

For your record, Khaleda Zia is also an "official" birangona as she was in
Pakistani captivity during most of the war. That would be a husband who is a
Bir-Uttam and a wife who is Birangona - did anybody in Mujib's family go
near the frontlines?

I an concerned that so many of so-called intellectual Bangladeshi
secularists actually do not understand what that concept is all about.

Like, Mujib never understood what democracy was to practice it - neither any
pro-Mujib BAL member understood that concept. That makes me wonder if it
also works in reverse and like his followers, Mujib did not understand
secularism.

For you future reference, secularism is not bashing somebody for their
religious beliefs. Religious intolerance, the version you displayed, is also
a disregard of others "freedom of religion."

The authors preference to learn Arabic and follow her spiritual (as opposed
to having no religious belief) well-being is her right.

What is worse, not having any religious belief or having one?
Any particular one you prefer?
Perhaps there is Montu-badi set of guidelines one should follow?
And should a government or stupid ignorant similar to you have the right to
dictate/define what religious practices are ok and what are not?

Just like the Jamaat leadership needs to be prosecuted (over turning the
stupid decision to provide amnesty by biswas-ghatak Mujib) for their
"individual" crimes and not religious beliefs. BJP being in power, is
shameful for all Indians, but lets not blame all Hindus for that.
It is like believing with the Chinese government that all Falun-gong Members
are violent and are threat to that society.

Some of these "misunderstood" secularists do not realize is that there is no
true secularism that will make all happy. That will never happen. Given the
US Government provide so much religious freedom, there still are disgruntled
people. Imagine, the government shuts down for Jewish, Muslim, Native Indian
Holidays and what not. Imagine, Indian government shutting down for the
various Muslim (Ramadan is a month long holiday), Christian, Sikh holidays -
on top of the Hindu ones.
Governments found that to an impediment to its proper functioning.

Bangladesh has over 90% Muslims.

Also, there are portions of your article, where you have painfully blurred
the difference between Islam as a religion and the taleban. And you have
taken the liberty to attack the beliefs of other Muslims. That is Sir not
religious tolerance.

I do not read Taslima Nasrin's writing first hand - nor my money goes to
anything that can benefit her sales margin. One can attempt to be gain fame
by means that I do not approve of (notable, bashing other people,
criticizing any ones religion, sex, etc.) - but I do not have to buy
something for that.

One comment brought be great humor though in a sad way. "Our Bangali sisters

have found their voices since Begum Khalida ascended the throne of
Bangladesh!"

Did they not have a "voice" during the reign of Hasina?

Take care.

Jaffor Ullah <Jaf...@netscape.net> wrote in message

news:ViQU7.224769$er5.3...@e3500-atl2.usenetserver.com...

[Anamika_1971]

A short response to Jaffor's response to Ms. Majid's article.

Jaffor Ullah <Jaf...@netscape.net> wrote in message

news:yoQU7.224773$er5.3...@e3500-atl2.usenetserver.com...

Jessore is proud of her great son. Alongwith, Michael Modhusadan,
Bikramidityo, Rabindranth (he had property in Jessore) and the valiant
bir-Shrestha who fell in battle in 1971.
I am sure Ms. Majid is proud of her "nana" also.
I grew up in Jessore and ironically my nana was also from Jessore. And
knowing that Kabi Golam Mosafa is from Jessore makes me even more proud.

What "kabiguru" (that is something that he never discouraged any one to say
albeit he never claimed that himself) did or did not do should not be a
standard.
Are you going to suggest a limit on one's sense of creativity.

YOU write goru-rachana's and call yourself a a scribe - everybody laughs at
it, but hey that is your choice to do so.

Also, Hasina, BAL - all call Mujib , "jatir pita" bongobondhu" and all that.
And that has been going on since he was alive. I am sure he could have been
more modest. But like, Nehru, Zinnah and "bapu" Gandhi - Mujib had to have
some adornment to his name.
I am wondering if the first name of Mujib is jatir pita or bongobondhu?

>
> Your long piece was hate-laden no doubt. If the idea was to lambaste
(roast)
> some secular folks in cyberspace, then you get A+++. Your piece had no
theme
> whatsoever. Similar to a dabbler in writing, you moved from topic to
topic.
> In coherency, you will score a miserable D. There was no single theme to
> talk about. This is what is called a "Bikkhipto Chinta Sombolito Rochona"
at
> its best. The dark side of you overpowered your rational mind as you wrote
> the piece. Your insouciant mind had to resort to pococurantism to cut Ms.
> Nasrin and Mr. Mirza. There was no need for all that. Was this a SHTICK?

No more hate laden than yours. If she scores a miserable D - well most of
your writings probably should be thrown away.
Incoherency - well you are too stuck up in your make belief reality. I
doubt if you can look outside to risk being incoherent faced by truth.

>
> Your long tirade against secularists created a unnecessary tinhorn racket
in
> cyberspace. Above all, your sleight of hand had earned already many
friends
> who belonged to the other camp and who are sympathetic to BNP and its
> four-party alliance. Quite a few of them have nothing but a
> glowing encomium for your dexterity in deceptive writing.
>

What is wrong with BNP?
When Ershad was in power - Hasina is the one who betrayed the people.

If Hasina-camp were really serious about Jamaat they could have repealed the
amnesty ( like the other one) and do an objecive investigation and punish
the crimanals. Like the chesire cat Ms. Majid mentioned, Jamaat is smiling
because BAL lost the trust of the people to objectively punish anyone for
crimes committed in 1971. Unfortunate for democracy and rule of law.
Unfortunate that due to Mujib's stupidity these criminals are amongst our
government.

[Jaffor Ullah]

Abul Kasem, a resident of Sydney, Australia, is a lampooner of rare talent.
His article "Breaking the Manacle of Islam" was a mega hit. In the Internet
it is often difficult to control the spread of any article. Mr. Kasem's
sensational article was copied electronically by many readers. The same
article showed up in many fora and it spawned many debates in such forum as
Shetubondhon and other Bangalee fora. The article was reproduced in some
Hindu Fundamentalist forum. Mr. Kasem or NFB had no control over the
dissemination of this popular article. Neither Mr. Kasem nor any one should
be discredited for such a universal appeal of this article. Therefore, the
detractor of secularist writers should keep their lip sealed. I would like
to see them discuss Mr. Kasem's article instead of vilifying all the
Bangalee secularists who decided to write in the Internet fora.

These beguiling impugners know one thing and that is - Dhan Bant'e Shibe'r
Geet. Their threadbare excuses won't allow them to write any thing worth
while, which has been proven beyond any doubts. Therefore, all that comes
out of their keyboards is disparaging remarks. The SCB fora is strewn with
such disdainful remarks by only 4 people (I won't even name their names).

Refreshing as it is, Kasem's witty article comes from Mukto-Mona
(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/), a growing fora of freethinkers.
Enjoy this delightful article before making one more statement about Dr.
Farida Majid's recent NFB article.
-------------------
From: "Abul Kasem" <abul88@h...>
Date: Sun Dec 23, 2001 1:05 pm
Subject: My confessions

The confessions of a Crypto-feminist Jihadi

By Abul Kasem

I have a few confessions to make. I come from a high-class Muslim family of
Bangladesh. My Nana (grandfather) was the 'world class poet'. Taslima
however is a wench; she comes from a low class family of farmers. What a
shame! Nevertheless, no one listens to me; the whole world listens to
Taslima. She is the one who receives all the glowing encomiums. How strange!
There ain't no justice in this mortal world. And that is for sure.

Begrudgingly, I must say that Taslima writes trash. Actually, her writings
are all 'pornography.' I write 'holy books'; yet, no one wants to read my
holy words. The whole world loves the 'sex maniac', Taslima's 'pornographic
works'. Actually, I pretend to be 'holy'. I watch 'pornographic' movies in
secret and whenever I am in the Internet, I never fail to click to the 'hard
core' sites. However, I have to be stupid to confess it in public. I really
admire Taslima for her honesty, about her repressive feelings. How I wish I
could be more like her and enjoy all the forbidden fruits! Then, I do not
have her courage to defy the Bengali taboo on sex. Therefore, I pretend to
be a 'goody goody' Bengali working housewife. Similar to dhoa tulsi pata.

You see, I am an expert in behesti Arabic language. But no one reads my
Arabic writings. Taslima writes in her mother tongue (what a shame!) yet
millions read her books. I despise those occidentals who are dying to
translate Taslima's trash into Danish, French, Finnish, Polish, German, and
what not. But they don't even look at my academic work. Shame on them! I
wonder why such a low-level writer's licentious works are in such a great
demand. The readers have insatiable appetite for her books. How stupid the
readers have become lately! They do not realize what great works they are
missing! It's all in my Kismet. What more can I say.

I fought so hard with GADNIC yet I achieved nothing. Zilch. I never received
any death threat from the mad Mullahs of Bangladesh. In fact, as they days
go by, I am becoming almost a darling to them. They are happy with me
because they know rather well that my weapons are absolutely blunt and with
this blunt weapon, I shall never be able to decapitate the Mullahs. They
(the Mullahs) know who their real enemy is. Yes, it is Taslima who attacked
their very foundation. That is why the Mullahs wanted her head. See how
clever I am! I kill so many birds in one stone. First, the secularists think
that I am on their side. Ha, ha, ha. That is why they do not criticize me.
In fact, they leave me alone. Secondly, the Mullahs love me because I am not
a real threat to them. This is why I am a two-headed snake. If you are into
the Greek Mythology, you may call me a multi-headed Hydra. That suits me
fine.

When Ali Sina challenges me, I pretend to be sick and try to go home and
take rest after mega-dosing on my Valium. Actually, I dare not accept his
challenge. The truth is that if I accept his challenge I may end up losing
my saris and petticoats, figuratively speaking of course. Taslima never
challenges me; she had never attacked me in any manner. She is in fear of
losing her life, whereas am not. I love to attack and humiliate the weak and
the vulnerable. That is why I target TN (Taslima Nasrin) repeatedly. But I
dare not attack the strong and the powerful. As a matter of principle, I
kowtow them. I have no qualms sitting next to a Rabbi, if they ask me to
join in their discussion.

I am a highly educated professor in an American University whereas TN is a
lowly qualified doctor from a wretched country like Bangaldesh. I am an
expert on the 'most peaceful' religion on earth, Islam. She is just an
impostor. But surprisingly, when this impostor talks, the whole world
listens a la E.F. Hutton. When an 'encyclopedia' like me lectures, everyone
falls asleep. Why is it so, I wonder?

Shameless indeed, but I mentioned about the huge number of my books my
bookshelf has. But you see, nobody cares! May be the readers realize that my
head has none. And no writer is shameless enough to declare his or her
writings as 'scholarly' but I myself had to describe my own articles as
'scholarly' because people never say that. The whole world wants to read
TN's autobiography. No one has ever requested for my autobiography though I
would love to write one. I wonder how many people will be interested in my
'autobiography'.

Do you know that I am a great feminist? I talk a lot about women's rights
and their proper place in a modern society. However, deep inside me, I
actually hate the women's right activists. I really like the misogynist
nature of Islam. This is because I live in an infidel's society where women
have very few restrictions to pursue their happiness and well being. I have
nothing to lose in showing my unflinching love for Islam. But, if I ever go
to an Islamic paradise like Afghanistan, Sudan, Pakistan, Iran, (and now
Bangladesh), Nigeria, I shall be the first victim of Islam for flaunting my
body parts in public. I know that I may have to be under the mobile prison
(Burqa) and may be scourged if I disobey any Islamic code on female dress.
That is why I am a big hypocrite. I love Islam when I am in America (or in
any other infidel society) but abhor it (Islam) when I go to any Islamic
paradise. TN is really stupid. She does not know how to tackle Islam. I am
so clever. I know all the secrets of Islam and the Mullahs. Now, won't you
agree that I am superior to that slut?

TN is stupid because she does not know how to fight the Islamists. I am very
intelligent and skillful when I am not inebriate. She is very dumb in
risking her life for the cause of women in Bangladesh. See how smart I am! I
never risk anything. Everything is safe for me. Due to my super intelligent
strategy, the Islamists have now taken control of Bangladesh. But I put that
blame to TN even though she had been out of her motherland for almost a
decade and had been very silent, lately. However, her silence is so
deafening. Her silence says more than my regular lectures to my 'murids'.

I really envy TN and her guts to confront the entire hostile Islamic world
by herself. I really admire her freedom to choose her life the way she wants
it. I really appreciate her courage to get out of a dissatisfied marital
hell. I often wished I could be more like her. But I have no guts. I have no
courage. I have no bravery left in me. I craved for praise, appreciation,
and accolade but I could not get them. Why does a stupid, dumb, lustful,
rebellious, and 'culturally unenlightened' woman like TN get all the
accolades in the world? I am an epitome of a culturally superior, best
educated, professional and religiously devout Bengali lady. I am an example
that all Bengalis will follow to groom their daughters, yet I do not get any
award, prize, and citation.... and above all no respect from anywhere in the
world not even from Bangladesh. TN has already received a number of awards
from many parts of the world except from her Bangladesh. This reminds me a
Begali proverb 'Geon jogi Veekh Payena' (a village beggar does get alms from
his/her own folks). However, it is a matter of time before the Bengalis
realize their follies in discarding this rebel lady and elevate her to the
pedestal of worship for doing what Betty Frieden did for the Western women's
movement. This is what worries me the most. This is why I must assassinate
her character at all cost and at any cost. The Mullahs are yet to finish her
off physically. They (the Mullahs) may fail to do that, but I must not fail
in my mission to silence her. And silent she would be. After all, a woman's
worst enemy is another woman. Therefore, TN's real enemy is I and not the
cretinous Mullahs.

I never went to any peer (seer) of Bangladesh. It was because I was from a
highly cultured, well-respected 'Tom boy' from Bangladesh. 'Tom boys' in
Bangaldesh do not go to peers, Maulanas, or Mullahs because they (the
Mullahs) are afraid of them. 'Tom boys' play on trees, ponds, jungles,
rivers, and in places where no ordinary girl dare to venture. I have very
little idea of the peers in Bangladesh and what influence they have in the
lives of women of Bangladesh. TN was a real submissive little Bengali girl
who followed her mother to her adviser (peer) on virtually every matter.
Most of these peers have great influence in the lives of every villager. The
villagers have very little education. They believe whatever the peer says.
This is the truth of rural society in Bangladesh. Yet, I pretend to
enlighten the expatriate Bangladeshis that not all the peers of Bangladesh
are corrupt or charlatans. I pretend to say that there may be some good
peers who know about 'real Islam'. However, I must confess that I have never
come across with any of those 'goody' peers.

To be honest, I really know what the 'real Islam' is, but I pretend to
defend Islam because I do not want to rock the boat. I am quite contended to
live a double life. That hardly bothers me. You see, I am a walking
contradiction. I am quite happy to say what suits the time. When it is
appropriate, I become a 'secular humanist' and when I am with the Mullahs, I
am a staunchly devoted Sharif Muslim lady. My umbilical cord with Islam is
intact. No one can sever that. Don't you think that it is the shrewdest, the
cleverest, and the most opportunistic idea in the world? I suffer no pain,
no humiliation, no death threat, no loneliness; no shortage of loved ones,
no deprivation of family life either. I have the best of all worlds. How
clever and convenient, huh!

Despite all these positive attributes about me, I am really jealous of TN
for having the audacity to bring about a fundamental change in the fate of
the hapless women of Bangladesh. I only wished I could do a fraction of what
Taslima did already. If there were another life, then I would really like to
be born as TN. I hope no Mullah heard me saying that. Because, I don't want
to be branded as a Kufr for wishing another life a la Hindus and to emulate
my reincarnated life as a Mullah-hater. A double whammy.
----------------------
Abul Kasem writes from Sydney, Australia. Forward any comments to -
abu...@hotmail.com

"mwzaman" <mwz...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:46db51ba.01122...@posting.google.com...

> My Comments on the Mirjafforian Open Letter
>
> M. Waheeduzzaman Manik
>

> snipped for irrelevance <

[mwzaman]

"
My Thoughts on Mirjafforian Rejoinder
W.Zaman Manik

Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullaha&#8217;s repulsive rejoinder (under his real
name) to Ms. Farida Majid&#8217;s well-written commentary on the
mockery of the Mirjafforian brand of renegades was neither relevant
nor adequate. The message or content of his mirjafforian response was
too vague and global. A.H. Jaffor ullah was too meek. In fact, Farida
Majid&#8217;s characterization of the self-declared secularists caught
Mr. A,H. Jaffor Ullah off guard. Having miserably failed to refute
Ms. Farida Majid&#8217;s analysis or contention, Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah
(employing multiple assumed names i.e. Montu and Kasem) has started
vilifying her. He is sticking to his mirjafforian motto: if you
can&#8217;t challenge or invalidate the validity of the contents or
arguments of a message, go after the messenger---- Vilify him or
her---- Spread rumor and falsehoods about the messenger, and Go for
character assassination.

This self-declared secularist J. Ullah has already branded Ms. Farida
Majid as &#8220;Birongana.&#8221; To him, &#8220;Crypto-feminist
Jihadi.&#8221; A.H. Jaffor ullah is desperately calling people to
solicit damaging information about Farida Majid. I am posting samples
of Mirjafforian frontal assaults on a writer for expressing her
opinion in an open forum. Even an uninitiated person can tell that
A.H. Jaffor ullah is Abul kasem (no one from Bangladesh named Abul
Kasem lives in and around Sydney. I challeged you on this. You
deflected my humble challenge). Who is Montu? Like kasem, Mantu also
lives in imaginary Sydney, a small town, east of New Orleans. Again it
is A.H. Jaffor ullah who involved in spreading falsehoods about Ms.
Farida Majid.
sincerely,
W/zaman manik

Following mirjafforian cow essay has been reprinted from the so-called
Muktamona (if J.Ullah and his cohorts are Muktamona, who, then, are
Khudramona&#8212;small-minded people?):

From: "Abul Kasem" <abul88@h...>
Date: Sun Dec 23, 2001 7:05 pm
Subject: My confessions
The confessions of a Crypto-feminist Jihadi
By Abul Kasem (A.H. Jaffor ullah)
I have a few confessions to make. I come from a high-class Muslim
family of Bangladesh. My Nana (grandfather) was the 'world class
poet'. Taslima however is a wench; she comes from a low class family
of farmers. What a shame! Nevertheless, no one listens to me; the
whole world listens to Taslima. She is the one who receives all the

GLOWING ENCOMIUMS. How strange! There ain&#8217;t no justice in this

mortal world. And that is for sure.

Begrudgingly, I must say that Taslima writes trash. Actually, her

writings are all 'pornography.&#8217; I write 'holy books'; yet, no

one wants to read my holy words. The whole world loves the 'sex
maniac', Taslima's 'pornographic works'. Actually, I pretend to be
'holy'. I watch 'pornographic' movies in secret and whenever I am in
the Internet, I never fail to click to the 'hard core' sites. However,
I have to be stupid to confess it in public. I really admire Taslima
for her honesty, about her repressive feelings. How I wish I could be
more like her and enjoy all the forbidden fruits! Then, I do not have
her courage to defy the Bengali taboo on sex. Therefore, I pretend to
be a 'goody goody' Bengali working housewife. Similar to dhoa tulsi
pata.

You see, I am an expert in behesti Arabic language. But no one reads
my Arabic writings. Taslima writes in her mother tongue (what a
shame!) yet millions read her books. I despise those occidentals who

are dying to translate Taslima&#8217;s trash into Danish, French,
Finnish, Polish, German, and what not. But they don&#8217;t even look

at my academic work. Shame on them! I wonder why such a low-level
writer's licentious works are in such a great demand. The readers have
insatiable appetite for her books. How stupid the readers have become
lately! They do not realize what great works they are missing!

It&#8217;s all in my Kismet. What more can I say.

I fought so hard with GADNIC yet I achieved nothing. Zilch. I never
received any death threat from the mad Mullahs of Bangladesh. In fact,
as they days go by, I am becoming almost a darling to them. They are

happy with me because they know rather well that myweapons are

the Mullahs. Now, won&#8217;t you agree that I am superior to that
slut?

TN is stupid because she does not know how to fight the Islamists. I
am very intelligent and skillful when I am not inebriate. She is very
dumb in risking her life for the cause of women in Bangladesh. See how
smart I am! I never risk anything. Everything is safe for me. Due to
my super intelligent strategy, the Islamists have now taken control of
Bangladesh. But I put that blame to TN even though she had been out of
her motherland for almost a decade and had been very silent, lately.
However, her silence is so deafening. Her silence says more than my
regular lectures to my 'murids'

they (the Mullahs) are afraid of them. &#8216;Tom boys' play on trees,

that. Because, I don&#8217;t want to be branded as a Kufr for wishing

another life a la Hindus and to emulate my reincarnated life as a
Mullah-hater. A double whammy

Abul Kasem [A.H. jaffor ullah] writes from [imaginary city] Sydney,

Australia. Forward any comments to - abu...@hotmail.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Reprinted
From: S. A. Montu <sa_montu@y...> (Mantu is an assumed name of A.H.
Jaffor ullah)
Date: Sun Dec 23, 2001 6:54 pm
Subject: Re: Talibanization of Bangladeshi Sisters

This is in response to:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/3847

Dear Ramanpadma

I appreciate your honest foolhardiness Mr. Ramanpadma. You will notice
that I cannot agree with you, and sure I was upset at Ms. Majid. I
respect you for your simplistic views and your honest feelings, but I
do not necessarily consider them to be useful. It is not my wish to
impose my thoughts upon you, and perhaps you will reciprocate, as one
of the Holy Scriptures taught us to do.

Mr Ramanpadma, first of all, it was not I who started that infamous
thread, and I did not use any abusive language in my response. I
responded in exactly the same tone and manner in which Ms. Majid wrote
her essay. I read that entire, pathetic article a couple of times, not
being able to discern what Ms. Farida Majid&#8217;s objective was. As
you know, I am a relative newcomer to this group, I am not aware of
her past &#8220;scholarly&#8221; offerings. Nonetheless, it was quite
apparent that despite her strenuous efforts to proclaim herself as a
secular person, she was actually a closet &#8220;Islamist&#8221;. It
does not require a lot of intelligence to understand that the thrust
of her attacks were against secular people, especially Muslims who
dared to question the veracity and time-appropriateness of Islam. She
shamelessly, though cleverly tried to malign and discredit them by
calling them Talibans.

If you noticed how brazenly she embarked upon the act of
self-aggrandizement, by trying to impress the NFB readers with her
&#8220;royal pedigree&#8221;, as if she was something special by
virtue of being &#8220;Kobi (Poet) Golam Mustafa&#8217;s grand
daughter! What was that supposed to mean? Just because she had
one-poetry-writing grand-pa, she acquired some additional stamp of
authenticity, to claim herself as an &#8220;Aag Marka&#8221;
Secularist? Whom was she trying to kid? Who gave her the audacity to
attack Taslima Nasrin, and her family, in the vitriolic outpouring of
her vomit?

Any person, who calls herself a professor, ought to display more
humility. This person sounded like a pompous, all-knowing individual.
Her entire essay was either praising herself, or trying to establish
her bonafides as a secular individual, or berating everyone else from
&#8220;Zatir pita&#8221; Seikh Mujib, down through Taslima Nasrin,
Kamran Mirza and all other freethinkers of Islamic origin, whom she
tried to label as &#8220;Crypto-Islamists&#8221;. I have no idea what
that term means, but perhaps it was one of those juvenile efforts Ms.
Majid thought would give her some name reorganization, for coining
that stupid phrase.

Mr. Ramanpadma, I do not know about you, but I come from a somewhat
different background. In my book, it is my duty to defend my friends.
I will not stand by on the side and see my friends being insulted and
dragged in the cyber-space, humiliated and laughed upon, by Islamic
fanatics, and bigots. This is more so when my friends, our
comrades are already branded as apostates and are threatened and
abused by these fanatic mullahs, who are hounding them like a pack of
hungry hyenas. If you do not trust me, go to Soc.Culture.Bangladesh
and see there how gleefully these naked and vicious mullahs are
displaying the Farida Majid manuscript to attack our friends.

Mr. Ramanpadma, there is no glory in preaching &#8220;harinaam&#8221;
to these vicious animals. They are the embodiment of everything that
is evil in this world. These people are the ones who have enslaved one
billion of our people in the name of Allah and the Holy Koran. Just
watch how shameless the mullah leaders are, especially in Afghanistan.
They brashly incite the innocent children to become suicide bombers,
while they themselves are ready to adopt any measures to save their
own lives, and let me tell you, that includes even undertaking a
sex-change operation, if that would save their skins.

The followers of these low-life mullahs today have become clever. They
are unable to refute the facts through evidence, and hence they are
adopting all dubious measures, and many of them are embarking on a
disinformation campaign to malign the freethinkers, who have already
devoted their life to the cause of freeing the oppressed Muslim
brothers. A common ploy is to pretend as Secularists. The burqua of
"Secularism" serves well, but once in a while, their ugly moustaches
become visible through their veil, as was Ms. Majid&#8217;s and Bula
Kasem&#8217;s!!

Please sir, if you do not want to fight against the bigots who are
using the cloak of &#8220;secularism&#8221; to discredit the true
freethinkers, it is ok with us, but please let us do it in whatever
manner we can, and not set up roadblocks on our way. It would be nice
if you disembarked from your high horse, and provide us with some help
and support in combating the ferocious attacks of these bigoted
Islamic Fundamentalists masquerading as Secularists.

Since, the inception of the Internet, for the first time we have found
a media to be able to propagate our views. The least we expect from
you and your likes is Gandhian advice. All we can do here is to write
appropriate rebuttals in these forums, so that people like Farida
Majid, Bula Kasem aka Srimati Syed Munir Islam, Sameera Begum, Bangla
pop Musician Mac, the Floridaian clown Shaotal [one of the infamous
twin brothers :-) ] et al. do not have an open field to coerce the
voiceless Muslims into subjugation to the hideous cult, as we know
Islam today. Islam has to reform, to allow people to be treated as
human beings and individuals.

[mwzaman]

My Response to Mirjafforian Rejoinders

W. Zaman Manik

During several days of weekend (including one religious Sunday) and 2
days of religious holidays (Mon and Tuesday for Christmas), A.H.
Jaffor Ullah, Ph.D. has penned two SEMINAL COW REJOINDERS(one uder the
name of Habib Sarwar and another under Shami Hussain's name)to Ms.
Farid Majid's. Both of these cow responses (cow's responses)were
published in NFB's Readers' column on December 26, 2001.

I have carefully read Farida Majid's original NFB commentary, and I
enjoyed it. Yet, Ms. Farida Majid's commentary is not cast in
concrete. A sensible and a real open-minded (not the mirjafforian
brand of Muktamona)reader will be able to refute several comments or
arguments of Farida Majid's commentary. Unfortunately, Dr. Jaffor
ullah lacks that kind capability to make such determination. To him,
any one who disputes his twisted contention is a razakar or eslami
monobhabapanna. Having failed to do that, Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah
started to disseminate falsehoods about Farida Majid. Instead of
confronting the contents or contention of Ms. Farida Majid's
commentary, Dr. Ullah started slandering the author under the burka of
false names.He does not have the guts to face Ms. Farida Majid.
Name-calling is the hallmark of mirjafforian writings. This kind of
slandering is called mirjafforian slandering. Dr. Jaffor ullah's
intellectual corruption is well publicized in the cyberspace--- many
well-written pieces on mirjafforian brand of intellectual corruption
have remained pasted (see Googlie archives).

Dr. Jaffor ullah, you are a coward. Your arguments are twisted. Your
sources of information are partisan. Your writing styles are filthy.
Your comments are preposterous. Your chief motto is to malign your
country of origin. Your motto is to defame others. Your cherished
mirjafforian desire is to generate self-appreciation. These are the
real reasons why you can't even dare to write a credible rejoinder
under your real name to refute Ms. Farida Majid's accusations. You
have no faith in your opinions. That's why you take shelter under
various fictitious identities. You are spewing the same old cud
without taking responsibility. In sum, you refuse to take
responsiblity for own opinions because you lack credibility. Many
thanks to the readers for reading my comments. Sincerely, W.Zaman
Manik

P.S. Given the fact that both of the mirjafforian letters are lengthy,
I am posting these separately. While I am going to post of our
fictitious Habib Sarwar's garbage later, the mirjafforian letter under
the imaginary name of one Shami Hussain is reproduced below:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Reprinted from NFB, Dec. 26, 2001)

Response to Prof. Farida Majid &#8211;

The Height of Hypocrisy and Talibanization of Cyberspace by

Crypto-Islamists

Shami Hussain (surrogate of A.H. Jaffor Ullah)

USA

E Mail : shamih...@yahoo.com

It is a response to:

http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news/dec/20/d20122001.htm#A1

"Nani-Dadi, Bap-Dada Choudda Purush er dharmo?" Wow&#8230;.feels like
a Sanatan dharmo, but no, wait! We are talking about Islam------ the
mother of all religion!!!!

Dear Readers,

Fasten your seat belt. The journey begins. Please, bear with me for a
while. At the end, we will unveil the height of hypocrisy.

[FM]To the utter consternation of Nixon, Kissinger and Yahya team,

George Harrison&#8217;s "Bangladesh" hit the top of the chart. It was
a thrilling moment, in the midst of all the sad news emanating from
the battlefront, because even the Western journalists covering the
civil war in East Pakistan were not yet using the word "Bangladesh." I
want to remind everyone that this country was born on the crest of not
only Banglaee&#8217;s dream of freedom, democracy and secularism, but
the good wishes and cheers of all the world&#8217;s freedom-loving
people.

[Hussain]Yep! That&#8217;s a good one. Good wishes and cheers are
always welcome in a struggle but without the fight and real struggle
there is no real outcome. Don&#8217;t forget the sacrifice of 3
million Bangladeshis, the heroic fight of the mukti-bahini against the
Razakars/Pak Army and a firm determination of PM Indira Ghandi&#8217;s
India to take on Pakistan.

[FM]It is unfortunate, and all the sadder for that beginning that

Bangladesh failed to fulfill those dreams we fought for and for which
the whole world had cheered. Through successive autocratic rulers, the
country never had the graciousness to thank for or return that good
will to the world. Let alone thanking George Harrison, no government
of Bangladesh even acknowledged the patriotic efforts of the two of
East Bangla&#8217;s most precious gems of all times &#8211; Pandit
Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Akbar Khan &#8211; both of whom were
initiators of and performers at the Concert for Bangladesh.

[Hussain]Come on now! Who are you kidding! We Bangladeshis now have
this mentality that anything to do with India is bad.

[FM]Today we have a government that is made up of those very foes who

opposed our right to claim our freedom. With the blood of innocent
children, women and men of 1971 in their hands, two of the Jamaatis
are ministers in Khaleda Zia&#8217;s cabinet. Other Islamists hold
various important portfolios. Reminders of the muktijuddha do not stir
noble emotions in anyone any more. This is due mainly to the
Awami-leaguers&#8217; false over-association of the liberation war
with them.

[Hussain]Yes Professor, you hit it on the nail. Our Politicians are
corrupt. Period! But who voted these politicians? Us, right? So, we
are morally corrupt. Can you please explain why MUSLIM folks are so
corrupt and greedy?

[FM]People are so fed-up of Awami mis-rule and "Zatir pita Bangabondu"

that they frown, turn up their noses, roll their eyes or fling their
wrists at the very mention of 1971. Islamists have now installed
themselves in power with unprecedented confidence. Like the Cheshire
Cat&#8217;s in the Wonderland, the ear-to-ear grin of the Islamists
hangs in the air of Bangladesh as it fills with the cries of pain and
deprivation rising from the defenseless Hindu communities victimized
by the Islamist criminals.

[Hussain]Ok, now hold on a minute! Are you saying that the Hindu
community victimized by the ISALMIST criminals? Hmmmmm, now
let&#8217;s analyze this sentence a bit. First of all you are saying
that Islamist are the cause of these post election minority problems.
Secondly, you are saying that these ISALMIST are criminals. Wow! Bold
statement! Bangladeshi Mullah Omar, please take note. I thought
Islamists are the pious of the pious, peace loving and sooooo
harmless. Sharadin sudhu Alla-billa kore. Thanks Professor for opening
my eyes.

[FM]Not that there is no secular-minded BNP leader. Most of them,
Khaleda Zia included, are not exactly devout Muslims, as we well know.

But they are installed in power by the Islamists, and hence are gagged
and bound against making any comment on the atrocities committed by
the Islamist goondas on the hapless Hindus. Without the Islamist
support BNP is nothing but a dolled up woman in a chiffon sari. Too
apparently, to maintain this vital support, she has to trundle off to
Saudi Arabia every month to perform Umrah. Who knows what lurks behind
the all too apparent!

[Hussain]Uh oh! You just put your foot on your mouth,
"&#8230;&#8230;..Khaleda Zia included, are not exactly devout Muslims
as we well know. And they are installed in power by the Islamists".
Comrade Tareq Zia will not be happy with your statement.

"She has to trundle off to Saudi Arabia every month to perform
Umrah"---hmmm, that&#8217;s an interesting one. I was also wondering
about all those extra sawab&#8230;I searched pages of Niamul-Ketab aka
Moksudul-Momenin &#8230;Alas! No extra &#8216;fazilat&#8217; on
performing Umrah every month. Isn&#8217;t this an absurd ritual? All
those Saudis with their many wives could perform umrah every week if
that would give some extra "sukh (happiness)" in CLOUD-9 after life.
Maybe you can shed some lights on this subject matter.

[FM]Besides their firm clutch on the heads of the present

administration, the Islamists have foot soldiers parading in two very
disparate but well-coordinated fronts. One cache of cadres is
unleashed across the nation to wreak unspeakable havoc of communal
killing, raping and looting. Islamist leaders in Dhaka keep a straight
face muttering patronizing platitudes about the duty to protect the
&#8216;jaan-maal&#8217; of the Hindus.

[Hussain]I tell ya, you are so good in articulating the truth about
these Islamists. Look at this Maulana Nizami- The guy is such an
obese. Who could even think that he was the mastermind of
Al-Badr&#8212;the merciless killer of the Bangalis (huge contrast to
Mullah Omar)?

Madame, You add up all those Palestinians killed by the Israelis, all
those Iraqis killed by Uncle Sam, all those Afghans killed by the
Soviets and Uncle Sam, and still it will not even come close to
millions of Bangladeshis, perished by the Islamic Pak Army and their
hyenas. The same hyenas are now marching through the streets and
preying on minorities again. What a shame! It reminds me of a
Nachiketa song:

Kono ek ulto Raja ulto bujhli Projar Deshe

Chole shob ulto pothe ulto rothe ulto beshe

Se Deshe &#8211; kore pass MA, BA - Keranir jibon japon,

Rajneeti korle-re bhai, degree-r ar ki proyojon!

Jonogon tule debe tomar haath-ai Desher shashon.

Edike Dhormo Dhormo Dhormo niye chol-che bamal

Dhormo-ke toaaj kore shob Shala-rai shara Dalal.

Raja-der Proti-shruti Han Karega Tan Karega,

Karega "Kochu"; asho-le Shala sudhu pocket Bharega.

[FM]As long as we have Islamists in Bangladesh, Jehadists in Pakistan

and the Hinduists in India, the dreaded specter of communalism as a
potent political tool will continue to scourge the general populace of
the subcontinent. Aiding and abetting the Islamists is this other,
newer front presently operating in the cyberspace. This lot of
Islamist collaborators thinly covers up their poisonous activity of
spreading the message of the Islamists in the curious form of
Islam-bashing. Therefore, I call them crypto-Islamists. Mimicking the
Islamist claim, crypto-Islamists define secularism to mean something
doggedly anti-religious, virulently anti-Islamic. They call themselves
"secular humanists," even though their pompous pronouncements contain
not a smidgen of understanding of either secularism or humanism.

[Hussain]"Crypto-Islamist" &#8211;Wow!!!! You must be a big fan of
SMALLVILLE&#8230;.the new Superman series in WB channel. Plenty of
Crypto talks and Crypto plots in SMALLVILLE. Good show!

[FM]A couple of years ago, foolishly taking their self-description of

"secular humanists" in good faith, I tried to point out that
secularism means pluralism, peaceful coexistence of many religions,
faiths and ethnic cultures, and according to that definition of
secularism, Muslim Bengal had always been a secular place. At no point
in Bengal&#8217;s history Islam was declared a state religion. The
group roundly blasted me for committing the crime of mentioning
&#8216;culture&#8217; and &#8216;history&#8217;.

There is no arguing with these crypto-Islamists. They are the ardent
followers, the students (taliban) of the Bush-bin Laden School of
Dogmatism &#8211; that "either you are with us or against us" variety.
Violently allergic to the concepts of culture, history of any kind or
of any place, evolution, civilization, art, music, social studies,
grammar, rhetoric or logic, the crypto-Islamists would pounce upon
anyone who broaches these topics with the wrath matching that of their

Islamist brethren upon the Hindus.

The ground-level Islamists at least have a political agenda behind
their Islam-touting game. Scratch their Islamic surface, and you will
discover that they really do not care much for their religion. The
&#8216;Alem-samaaj&#8217; or the traditional religious establishment
of Bangladesh have denounced the weird and un-Islamic ideology of the
Islamists and have vigorously protested against the Jamaati antics in
the name of religion.

The crypto-Islamists of cyberspace, amidst all their Islam-bashing,
oddly, never have a harsh word against the Jamaat. Perhaps in their
vision of the world through a pinhole they cannot distinguish one from
the other. Or perhaps &#8211; and this possibility looms increasingly
large &#8211; they are the undercover agents of the Islamists employed
to spread the propaganda that Jamaat and Islam are one and the same.
There is only one Islam &#8211; period &#8211; no ifs or buts or
what-abouts.

[Hussain]Madame, it was a long message indeed but you messed it up big
time&#8230;sob talgol pakiye felechen. Let&#8217;s go deep and analyze
your fallacy.

"Cyber space "secular humanists" are the undercover agents of the
Islamists?"

Come again? That&#8217;s the most outrageous and absurd theory I have
heard since 911 WTC Catastrophe. Even CIA would not have brain to
think like you, Professor. Did you get your reward from FBI yet? I am
not kidding. Any terrorist info to FBI will be rewarded handsomely.

[FM]There is only one Islam &#8211; period &#8211; no ifs or buts or
what-abouts.

[Hussain]Ok fine. You made your statement. Now, please show me a
country where this Islam is practiced by the book.

[FM]We marked the first anniversary of the demolition of Babri Masjid

by mounting a giant exhibit by Sahmat, an anti-communalism group from
India, and a two-day festival of music, dance and poetry readings at
Columbia University. After two decades of hopelessness, I was
beginning to nurse anew the hope of a closure of the wounds of 1971.

[Hussain]Good, good! Good intentions are always good for humanity.

[FM]Just at this juncture Taslima Nasrin, flushed with her success as

a column writer, decided that she wanted more limelight. I had liked
her columns on women&#8217;s rights, and actively supported her attack
on Moksudul Momenin by writing a long scholarly article on the
mistranslation of the Qur&#8217;anic verses pertaining to women.
However, I did not realize then that Nasrin was totally incapable of
making the distinction between secondary religious literature and a
primary religious text like the Qur&#8217;an. She just lumped
Qur&#8217;an, Hadith, popular pulp religious literature and rolled

them into something she called dharmo.

[Hussain]Wait a minute! Isn&#8217;t that what Islam is all about?
Quran, Sunnah, hadith must be followed?

[FM]Which she then claimed in a loud voice was a very bad thing.

Coming from a culturally unenlightened family, understandably,
religion was a bit of a &#8216;big deal&#8217; to her. Limited
exposure to the more enlightened section of our society led her to
believe that atheism was a novelty. So attacking Islam seemed like a
jolly good idea to earn some infamy accompanied by spotlight. She was
going to be the first female Bangalee atheist the world ever saw!

A Johnny-come-lately to the enlightened Muslim Bangalee society that

she really never knew from her pinhole view of it. She began attacking

the Qur&#8217;an (or rather, the Bangla translation of it, which is
all she could read) and got the spotlight she craved. Islam-bashing
adds fuel to the fire of fundamentalism, re-energizes their zeal. You
don&#8217;t have to be a rocket-scientist to make that simple
cause-and&#8211;effect connection. Nasrin was what the Islamists were
craving for to get them out of their doldrums. She was their Savior
incarnate sent for their deliverance by the almighty Allah. As a
reward for this deliverance the Islamists elevated her to the status
of Salman Rushdie. The triumphant Islamists have never looked back
from that point to this. Now they are at the peak of their political
success, thanks to the brilliant work of the crypto-Islamist Nasrin!

[Hussain]Am I supposed to laugh or what? It&#8217;s like whoever is
criticizing Nazis and Hitler is also promoting Nazism. Come on! I
thought you are from the Academic Site. Professor! Give us a break!
Taslima Nasreen is a fiery woman. She chastised our typical
chauvinistic male dominated society and at the same time, supported
valiantly our liberation struggle.

Her poems against the Islamist and Razakars outraged the mullahs so
much that they couldn&#8217;t take it anymore. Look at what&#8217;s
happening to minorities in Bangladesh now. Once she wrote a story
related to minority in her book "Lajja" and immediately thereafter,
the hell broke loose and the shit hit the fan. Fatwas started flying.
Mullahs were all over her. The air was heavy with the chant "Get
Taslima&#8217;s head". She was not even allowed to visit her dying
mother first.

Did you ever felt sorry for her? Only a handful of Bangladeshi women
came to her side. She braved against all the odds and it was for the
right cause. In our rural Bangladesh and even in our middle class to
an extent, the most basic human rights of women are denied. Woman is
literally "owned" first by her father, and then by her husband. Her
life is only as good as the man owns her at the moment, and she has
utmost difficulty of changing her future. Little chances for these
women to shape their destines.

They have had to put up with terror their entire lives in their very
homes. Of course there are exceptions but you do need to go and visit
some villages. Perhaps the war on terrorism will have beneficial
results for a long-forgotten, oppressed people: not the men of Islam,
but their wives, mothers and sisters.

[FM]I cannot for the life of me fathom the degree of depravity that

makes someone speak abusively of a particular religion, its scripture,
its prophet, its &#8216;tradition&#8217; its world-wide followers. It
is so inherently inhuman, racist, and unspeakably stupid! I am loath
to talk about my private life, but I must emphatically note here about
my family&#8217;s unflinching dedication to liberal principles and
high idealism, whose inculcation in me would prevent me from engaging
in this scurrilous activity of insulting a religion.

[Hussain]Hmmm! Really confusing! At one time, you are stating that
it&#8217;s inhuman to criticize a religion and then you are praising
your family&#8217;s dedication to liberal principles. What made them
liberal? Why were they liberal and not religious? They were humanists
and they were the silent types. Right? No criticism of faith, yet they
didn&#8217;t follow that faith either. Well, Islam maybe the mother of
all religions and it may have world-wide followers.

But why keep insisting that no one should attempt to point out the
flaws? It&#8217;s inhuman and racists? Come again, Professor? I
can&#8217;t buy that argument. I do know the situation, though. The
Mullahs rule! No one should utter a single word against Islam, for
this is the holiest book of God to humans. And God can&#8217;t be
wrong. Hmmm! If you start dissecting the holy book, you may wonder
whether our God was crazy or not. Tauba Tauba!

[FM]Let&#8217;s look at the religion itself. As a child I was happily

a tomboy, free to romp in the fields and woods, climb trees and splash
in those splendid community ponds of Narayanganj and swim to my
heart&#8217;s content. My father and my mamas were atheists, but we
children were instructed not to speak ill of any religion. Such
instructions were not actually specified, they were automatically
implied.

[Hussain]Your Father/Mamas did bad and good things. Bad thing was that
they did not follow their "nani-dadi, bap-dada choudda purush" er
dharmo. Good thing was that they were good people, did not believe in
the dogmas of religion and broke the norm. They were atheists. But
Professor, please tell me, how dare they defied the religion Islam
when their "choudda-purush" followed the same so faithfully? What type
of rebels were those? Were they humanists by any chance and had
courage to free themselves from any religions? Hunh!

Really Professor, who needs a religion? Let me quote from Mr.
Ali&#8217;s post on NFB (I am a fan of Ali):

"I don&#8217;t like war. As a matter of fact, I really hate it. I have
seen young girls, mothers got raped, sons got killed by Jamati
Razakars in front of me. These Jamatis were Muslims. They killed the
Muslims. The same Jamatis are now preaching love and peace in
Bangladesh and at the same time committing crimes, like killing. The
same Jamati leaders responsible for gruesome killings of Bengali
Intellectuals in 71 are now in Bangladesh Ministry. If Bangladeshis
were TRUE Muslims and have absolute fear of heaven and hell,
don&#8217;t you think we should have done something to these Razakars
by now?

From a religious standpoint, "sins" of these Razakars are inexcusable
and not to be tolerated. Never mind that a percentage of Bangladeshi
Mastans and Bangladeshi Politicians indulge themselves in fighting and
killing each other for recreations. Of course that doesn't make it
right. It just makes it how things are. Our rather schizoid reaction,
an odd combination of prurience and prudery, is baffling and
disheartening. I know politics brings out the worst in us, but this is
beyond the pale. How could a Ring Leader of Al-Badr killing machine is
an honorable minister of Bangladesh now?

I want peace. I want love. I don't want oppression, destruction and
demolition to any people. Do you think this is humanism? Why all
humans don't love each other? Do we need religion? Do you think dogs
or say, monkeys have religion? How about the hyenas?"

[FM]We are a bi-communal family since my Boromami is a Hindu who never

converted. Her family in Dumdum, and my family were always very close
because we are culturally similar. Cultural affinity, not religion, is
what makes the difference. I do not suppose the reason why I am not
close to the families of my other two mamis is because they are
Muslim. It is just that we don&#8217;t quite match each other in our
cultural outlooks or lifestyles.

&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..

&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;

The other reason was my desire to take on the offensive mullahs who
spread unsubstantiated claims in the name of religion. I was bred by
my family as a modern human being, a citizen of the world, so I had no
trouble living either in the East or the West.

[Hussain]Good God! Good to know that you are a humanist! Then why are
you so "gung-ho" and protective of Islam? You don&#8217;t need to
follow Islam to be a humanist. You know that, right?

[FM]These few words about my personal life are necessitated by the

false impression created by the endless personal life-story-telling by
the crypto-Islamist Nasrin as if her life-story were the norm of every
Bangalee Muslim home. No, not every woman in Bangladesh has had
Nasrin&#8217;s sordid, repressive life. And there is no telling
whether she is telling the truth.

[Hussain]Yeah we know. We have Netri Hasina and Madame Zia. They are
our women leaders of course. But they didn&#8217;t go through the pain
and agony that Taslima did. Thousands of Taslimas are silently and
painfully suffering in rural villages for Religious bigotry and Male
domination.

[FM]She had been caught red-handed lying by many reporters. Who knows

her family and who can testify to the repression that really occurred?

[Hussain]Well, hold on! That&#8217;s a blanket statement. I can go
start digging your "tomboy" career and may find much outrageous stuff
that you did in your life. I know your father Engineer Majid well. But
I am not going to make any blanket statement about your life as you
are doing it for Taslima. Are you just jealous of her? Why so much
hatred? Are you secretly having consulting sessions with Bangladeshi
Mullahs?

[FM]It just so happens that the &#8216;bhando peer&#8217; Amirullah of

Mymensingh has as much to do with Islam as the &#8216;bhando&#8217;
priest of Catholic Ireland has to do with Christianity, or the
&#8216;bhando&#8217; bishop in Protestant Germany or England has to do
with Christianity, or the &#8216;bhando&#8217; monk in Greece has to
do with the Orthodox Church, or the &#8216;bhando&#8217; rabbi in
Israel has to do with Judaism, or the &#8216;bhando&#8217; sadhu in
Benares has to do with Hiinduism. I&#8217;ve known a few
&#8216;bhando&#8217; religious women too.

[Hussain]Yep, you again nailed it. The "bhando" priests of religions
are winning. Someone needs to open the masks. Well let me correct it.
They were winning. Notice the past tense. We have just witnessed
something new in the modern world: the rollback of the Mullahs. We
have just witnessed the first overthrow of a radical Mullah&#8217;s
regime. Yesterday the base was Afghanistan. Today it is a few caves
and a few hidden cells throughout the world. Al-Qaeda controls no
state, no sovereign territory. It is an outlaw on the run.

[FM]The world literature abounds with the stories of their treachery

and wily ways in the name of religion. Some of these stories are
hilarious, tales in Kahlil wa Dimna, Panchatantra, Chaucer&#8217;s
Canterbury Tales, or Boccaccio&#8217;s Decameron, &#8211; we laugh at
them. We laugh; we celebrate the human ingenuity of these thugs, the
same human spirit and imagination that created the edifices of these
magnificent religions. Isn&#8217;t there something seriously wrong
when a group that calls itself "secular humanists" is completely blind
to the very existence of humanity that comprises each religion?

[Hussain]Well, you may laugh at them but who will get the last laugh?
Mullah Omar may be on the run but just the other day we have
Bangladeshi Khatib of Baitul Mukarram Masjid taking a jab at Uncle
Sam. Take a look at this post by Mr. Ali:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mukto-mona/message/3829

hmmm&#8230;I don&#8217;t see any Islamic Petition from any expatriate
Mullah calling this khatib to apologize to the nation. Wonder why?

[FM]Islam, without its living, breathing human followers, like any

other religion, is simply an abstraction. In his novel, The Satanic
Verses, Salman Rushdie wanted to bring out this human face of Islam. I
like the novel for that reason, and wrote a long essay in its defense.
Rushdie, whose life was infinitely more seriously threatened by the
Islamists than Nasrin&#8217;s ever was, has the common sense to
discriminate the Islamists from Islam. Just the other day he reminded
us that the world&#8217;s 1.2 billion Muslims are not all
&#8216;Qur&#8217;an analysts&#8217;, and that acts of terrorism are
carried out by a crazed handful of backward-looking bunch who are
against all forms of modernism.

[Hussain]So, what&#8217;s the point! Did Salman stated right or wrong?

[FM]Crypto-Islamist Kamran Mirza strongly disagrees with such a

statement. Every Muslim gets his or her Islamic teachings from
Qur&#8217;an and Hadiths. Says who? Says Kamran Taliban Mirza. He
takes a lot of pride in his self-proclaimed role of a Qur&#8217;an
analyst. He is equipped with Allama Yusouf Ali&#8217;s English
translation published circa 1936 and a couple of Bangla translations
of the Qur&#8217;an. This is the base that constitutes all his
bombast, all his peremptory pronouncements against Islam. (I have
about seven or eight English, at least three Bangla translations, one
of which is by Girishchandra Sen, two in all Arabic and a shelf full
of Arabic-English dictionaries, Arabic grammar books and sundry other
Arabic language related materials.

[Hussain]Wow! So you are a collector of Quranic translations. Have you
seen any controversial stuff with your literary mind? Have you refuted
any paragraph or sura , Madame Professor? And may I ask, why not? With
all your scholarly collections, you don&#8217;t see any flaws in the
book?

You see Professor, the terrorists aboard the hijacked airplanes were
willing to die for their cause. They were not cowards. They believed
in Islam, memorized Quran and wanted their "hourie" awards in Cloud 9.
The terrorists acted for the sake of what was noble to them, that is
to protect Islam and followed a reasonable course to achieve that end.

[FM]There is also a shelf-full of secondary scholarly books. I do not

call myself a Qur&#8217;an analyst even though I carefully consult all
my resources when I&#8217;m required to make a reference to the
Qur&#8217;an). Mirza&#8217;s so called &#8216;analysis&#8217; consists
of kicking the Qur&#8217;an, spitting on the character of the Prophet,
and tearing the text apart in a stupendously comical exhibition of
ignorance, malice and egoism befitting the mannerism of a true
Islamist.

[Hussain]Well, let me ask you a simple question: "A 55+ old man is
having copulation with a 9 year old girl, legally and all in the name
of Islam". Can you explain that, Madame?

[FM]Shamelessly, Kamran Taliban Mirza would then post the praises he

has received from his sycophants for his comical
&#8216;chhayabaji&#8217; or shadowboxing. The all-consuming obsession
of the crypto-Islamists with Islam and the ensuing blindness and
megalomania would put the one-eyed Mullah Omar and bin Laden to shame.
Not a week goes by without them posting some infantile drivel on the
Qur&#8217;an and Hadith. I wonder whether they read anything other
then the Qur&#8217;an and Hadith.

[Hussain]No, Madame, they don&#8217;t. Because they don&#8217;t like,
what they see in Quran and Hadith. They are ripping it apart. Muslims
who follow their "nani-dadi&#8217; r dharmo blindly may eventually see
the lights at the end of the tunnel.

[FM]Do they read an English language newspaper, or is it against their
religion?

[Hussain]Again you are spitting nonsense here.

[FM]Is reading a non-religious book against their religion?

[Hussain]Who said that?

[FM]They don&#8217;t really have the guts to talk against the

real-life living and breathing Islamists like Motiur Rahman Nizami.

[Hussain]What else to talk about this killer? That he is an obese,
eats "khash-shis (goat meat)" and his beard stinks and that his hands
are still bloody with all those mass killings and that, like Lady
Mcbeth, he is still paranoid and having bad dreams even after cleaning
his bloody hands millions of times and that now he wants an Islamic
State ala Pakistan and his Harkat-ul-Zihad group is now in a mission
from God to transform this World into Talibanistan or what? Praise the
Lord and pass the ammunition!

[FM]It is getting increasingly clear that these crypto-Islamists work

for their Islamist bosses whom they serve slavishly.

[Hussain]Increasingly clear? I hope you are not taking any dope. Your
"tomboy" years are gone. You know that, right?

[FM]Of what use is Islam-bashing? It has only made the Islamists of

Bangladesh proclaim themselves as the champions of Islam.
Islam-bashers have only succeeded in endorsing this position of the
Islamists. The over-zealot crypto-Islamists are now coming apart in

the very exercise of their zealotry. They are stepping out of their

closet, although they themselves are oblivious of the fact. Kamran
Taliban Mirza&#8217;s exhortation says it all.

[Hussain]Your logic is so hilarious. Pointing out the dark side of
Islam is endorsing the positions of the Islamists? Damn! Who needs to
go to school anymore? Learn it from this theology Madame.

[FM]Exactly like the Jamaat, and all other Islamists, he is the sole

purveyor of the "real Islam" and according to him, our Bangalee
"nani-dadi, bap-dada choudda purush" had it all wrong.

[Hussain]Oh yes! They were. Your father and Mamas were atheists.
Right? They did not follow your "nani-dadi, bap-dada choudda purush"
er dharmo. You were a "tomboy" once. You had your freestyle living in
UK. Don&#8217;t get me wrong! You did what you felt right. Oneke naak
sit-kye-chhe:"Dekho ki kando! Engineer Majid-er Boro Meyer Kando!
Bab-dadar naam dubiye ekta Shaheb-ke biye korlo! Monju jeno abar
Farida&#8217;r motho na hoi!" Yeah! You didn&#8217;t give a damn to
all those "poro-ninda & poro-chorcha".

The point I am trying to make is that you were brave and you basically
defied your "nani-dadi" r dharmo and way of life. You found the
happiness that suited you most. You had your glamorous life and you
defied your family religion and family&#8217;s way of life. So did
your father, Engineer Majid, and your Mamas. They didn&#8217;t believe
in Dharmo, they were atheist and gutsy and humane. All of you defied
the norm because it was right thing to do at the right time.

So, what&#8217;s so big deal about your "nani-dadi, bap-dada choudda
purush" er dharmo? Why sudden realization? Why trying to defend it
now? Are you one of those born again Muslims? Have you started taking
any lessons from any Bangladeshi Mullah? You know Professor! Perhaps
you are a hypocrite. You do need to deal with your hypocrisy. I will
present the factors that cause honest people to be hypocritical at
times. The understanding may give you peace of mind.

Maybe you are worse than a hypocrite is. These people with their lack
of integrity have given them a distorted perception of reality. Why is
this? It is due to one's honesty and objectivity when evaluating their
initial internal feeling following a hypocritical imbalance.

Before I can clearly communicate to you, we must go through the
painstaking process of eliminating any ambiguity that could arise from
the terminology that I will be using. We will start with the word
hypocrite. Per "WEBSTER'S NEW UNIVERSAL UNABRIDGED DICTIONARY":

Hypocrite is a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious
beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess,
esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.

The above definition does not clearly acknowledge the hypocrisy that
often comes without public declaration, and is within the self.
Therefore, we will define a hypocrite in the following way:

hypocrite: a person whose actions contradict their stated or internal
beliefs. (Or visa versa)

The degree of hypocrisy one possesses is equal to the absolute value
of the difference between their beliefs and actions. Of course, it is
not possible to actually measure these variables, but a formula does
represent the relationship of these variables. Humans have a natural
tendency to keep their hypocrisy at zero. Therefore, they have a
desire to keep their beliefs and actions equal.

If Beliefs = Actions, then Hypocrisy = Zero

Furthermore, I believe that when hypocrisy equals anything other than
zero, an anxiety will exist inside the individual. These imbalances
can linger for years in honest objective people and only seconds for
bias rationalizers. Everyone wants his hypocrisy to equal zero. Some
do it by changing their beliefs so that they are equal to their
actions. However, I say you should change your actions so that they
equal your beliefs. Beliefs should be arrived at objectively, and
should be a relatively independent variable.

You see Professor, People change with time. Environment changes. The
earth is no longer flat anymore (check out quran). People learn new
things. Al those Greek Mythologies are gone. Nobody follows them
anymore. Why cannot we reform Islam? Noooo, the mullahs will cut your
balls. Reforming or even mentioning any change to Islam is blasphemy,
a no no. Learn it from Salman or Nasreen. Mullahs want their head and
billions of Islam follower, including you can&#8217;t do a DAMN about
those Fatwas. What happened to all those peace loving muslims? Yeah,
yeah, it&#8217;s not my problem so why bother! In this myopic ISLAMIC
UMMAH, The Mullahs are now running the show. They are the real Muslims
by the book. Poor Taliban Mirza, as you named him, can only raise his
voice over the media and cyberspace. But at least he has the guts and
courage to do so.

[FM]He is going to set us right &#8211; teach us the real,

fallacy-proof Islam. He then passionately declares, the one-eyed
"Mullah Omar is doing everything to please Allah and nobody else"
(NFB, Nov. 30, 2001).

[Hussain]Yes, go to Tora Bora and tell that Mullah Omar was a liar.
They will cut you in half. You see Professor, Mirza is doing a favor
to us: A no-nonsense apolitical view of Islam in defiance of terror
and "humki" of the Mullahs; Not like hypocrites hiding under the bed
thinking that humanism will prevail someday over the atrocities and
chilling messages of these holy men of Islam.

[FM]Please, can our nerves be spared? Is it not enough that the

crypto-Islamists efforts have helped install the Islamist govt. in
power in Bangladesh? Do we now have to have the Mullah Omar agent,
this Kamran Taliban Mirza sermonizing us on the cyberspace day in and
day out?

[Hussain]Kamran Taliban Mirza --- Mullah Omar&#8217;s agent?
Puh-leaze! I can&#8217;t believe a professor is talking like that.
What are you teaching professor? Arabic or Gibberish? You are so
twisted with your logic that I just don&#8217;t know whether to laugh
or cry. At least, I hope you are not giving a bad name to Bangladeshi
teachers.

Madame Professor, Real wisdom is the knowledge of the truth. The more
wisdom one possesses the more truth one knows. They are always willing
to listen to new information that is contrary to what they currently
believe. I may not agree all the time with their views but I thank
Kamran Mirza and many others to stand up after a week of bereavement
from WTC incident, for their courage to tell the world the dark side
of Islam. They are the truth seeker!

In today's world of religions, the truth is often well hidden, and it
is freethinkers&#8217; intention to expose the truth on many issues
that most people have misconceptions about. They reminded us of some
other things: that humans of the universe are inextricably entwined,
joined in a symbiosis that extends beyond the routes of two doomed
planes and that, while depraved Islamist criminals robbed us of many
lives, much liberty, and national treasures of USA, we have so much to
be thankful for, so many blessings, and so much more living to do,
regardless of what happens next.

Kamran Mirza and other freethinkers are tautological rationalizers.
These cyber space rationalizers are not hypocrites because their
beliefs and perceptions of reality conform to support their own
desires and imperfections. On the other hand, Devoted Believers'
actions never contradict their beliefs.

They are completely devoted to what they believe. Their beliefs and
perceptions of reality are not rationalizations for their own actions.
Their beliefs and perceptions of reality are the result of either
objective logic, blind faith or a combination of the two. Regardless
of the source of their beliefs, their beliefs and actions are without
contradiction.

Dear Professor, blind faith is dangerous. There is an old, tasteless
joke about the "blind leading the blind." In the case of Islamist, you
might say it is the shrewd leading the blind. Freethinkers can usually
spot the phoniness in most of the well known religious bigots. Blind
faith frees you from thinking, of course, which is why it's so
appealing. But that very willingness to follow like a sheep is what
makes True Believers such formidable opponents in church/state
separation issues. Blind faith is virtually impossible to challenge,
because believers will not allow reason to be dragged into the
discussion.

True Believers will chuckle with disdain and condescension, and ask
how our ancestors could have believed in, say, volcano-worship. They
don't realize that rationalists are asking that very thing about True
Believers. Mystical, magical thinking is always the same no matter
which century or which country it occurs in.

This is precisely why we are having such a struggle today in
maintaining the separation of church and state. Believers cannot
tolerate the certainty and serenity of those who acknowledge no god
and no spirit world. The very serenity of nonbelievers is what
unnerves believers, because it effectively challenges their
supernatural, always difficult to explain, beliefs.

There are many freethinkers who believe, ardently, that theism should
not be debated. Period. It's a waste of time, they argue. You'll never
change theistic minds anyway, and simply by discussing theism you
grant it a credence it does not deserve. Why so many otherwise
intelligent people believe so much religious gibberish is a mystery to
me.

God definitely needed a much better Research and Development team. So
much of what he supposedly created really stinks. When True Believers
rhapsodize about the glorious complexity of our amazing universe, and
insist that such an "exquisite design" demands an "Exquisite
Designer," I can't help but wonder what universe they're talking
about. It certainly can't be ours.

Consider the dinosaurs. Fascinating, weren't they? But they're all
gone now. Those behemoths once roamed the planet, making the earth
tremble beneath their colossal footfalls. Truly, they were the masters
of their domain. But there must have been a serious design flaw
somewhere, either in the animals or their environment, because they
went extinct. All gone. Bye-bye.

Or take the trilobites. Cute little things! They were everywhere. They
scudded across the ocean floors by the millions. The Earth was
literally crawling with trilobites. But, alas, they went the way of
the dinosaurs. Another "design" error; if not, they'd still be around,
wouldn't they?

You see, 99% of all species that ever existed have gone extinct. What
kind of "exquisite design" plan is that? Where everything you make is
a screw-up? If any human design engineer had a failure rate like that,
you'd have one unemployable design engineer. Yet the supposed Lord of
Creation, Master of Perfection, Creator of planets, stars and
galaxies, got almost everything wrong.

Just think, all those stars, exploding and taking everything in an
immense area with them. KABOOM! And it's all gone. Any planets that
may have orbited, and obviously anything that may have existed on
those planets. Gone. Forever. Great Designer, huh? It reminds you of
an over-eager 12-year-old in the basement with a brand new chemistry
set. Anyone within a modest radius will constantly be hearing minor
explosions.

Then we have your Earthbound "creations." How do I hate them? Let me
count the ways. Let's start with polio. Why would anyone create the
polio virus? It is an atrocious, crippling, horrible thing. Would this
"glorious" universe somehow not operate smoothly without it? Also
known as infantile paralysis since its favorite targets are children
between 5 and 10 years old, it is still a scourge in 40 to 50
countries around the world. Millions of children, and adults, have
suffered terribly with this crippler, and millions still are. How can
this be? I thought God the Grand Designer created a "perfect"
universe.

Nor will I listen to the lame offering about how God works in
mysterious ways, his wonders to perform. There is nothing mysterious
about people dying of cancer, burning to death in buildings, drowning
in floods, being killed by volcanoes, tornadoes and hurricanes, dying
of starvation, being murdered and so on; nor would anyone with an
ounce of compassion call such things wonders! Life is difficult, too
often miserable and painful, and too often cruelly cut short.

Polio is of course just one example of the myriad of horrors that face
life on this impeccably fine-tuned-for-humanity planet. Cancer,
tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis,
retroviruses, sickle cell anemia, malaria, yellow fever---all this and
scores more are brought to you by&#8230;.God! What sort of sadist
would create such ghastly things? Since God supposedly created
everything, he must have created all these nightmares also. So in
essence, then, God was and is engaging in a kind of biological warfare
against humans. And it's hardly an even playing field. God must surely
have a real mean streak to go to such trouble to torment humans.

And let's not forget our animal friends. Do you realize how many
animals can only live by eating other animals? What kind of design is
that! I do like watching those nature shows, like on the Discovery
Channel, although it's unfortunate that they so often air very close
to dinner time. Watching a lion gnawing on the flank of a zebra is
hardly a stomach-pleaser. But on land or in the sea, everything eats
everything else to stay alive. As Woody Allen put it, nature is just
an enormous restaurant. Think about it. Why does it have to be so
brutal? Couldn't an omnipotent God make every living thing a
vegetarian? Why can't our stomachs digest grass?

If you've ever seen those baby turtles making their "dash for the sea"
after hatching, you get a real feeling for the harshness of God's
Perfectly Designed world. Hundreds of (darling) tiny turtles leave
their nests and try to get to the water before being picked off by the
hundreds of birds that are circling overhead, just waiting for them to
make their run. Not 10% of them make it to the water. Even though
their mothers try their best to lay their eggs close to the water, if
it were any closer the eggs stand the change of being swept away.
So---the race is on. It's horrible to watch. The birds swoop down and
pick off the tiny turtles that are frantically trying to reach water.
Then they peck at the tiny turtle shells till they're cracked, and
then rip at the soft tissues, literally eating the turtles alive. It's
like an Alfred Hitchcock movie gone insane. And again, why? Why does
life have to be so fiercely, barbarically bloodthirsty?

Big bugs eat little bugs; small birds eat big bugs; big birds eat
small birds; big fish eat little fish; huge fish eat big fish; it is
an enormous restaurant!

I've heard the oft-repeated expressions of astonishment that the world
is so perfectly tailored to human needs. If the Earth's axis were
tilted by one degree, or if the global temperature were one degree
different, and so on, then human life would not be possible. No duh!
All that "what-iffing" is meaningless. If pigs had wings they could
fly. So?? The world is what it is; we, along with all other life
forms, evolved to suit the planet, not the other way around. It isn't
astonishing at all that we seem to "fit" on Earth; it is absolutely
the only possible arrangement for things. If we can't adapt to the
Earth's hiccups and grumbling, we die. Simple and brutal as that!

So let's sum up here. Our universe contains billions of galaxies and
stars, which we can't even see from Earth, and which continually blow
themselves to smithereens, destroying an unfathomable number of stars
and planets in the process; on Earth we have plate tectonics that
cause earthquakes and volcanic eruptions; a history that includes the
extinction of over 99% of all species that ever existed; a climate
that includes tornadoes, hurricanes, floods and droughts; animals that
rip each other to bloody shreds and eat each other; hundreds of
diseases that kill and main millions of humans as well as other
animals; Alzheimer's; a thousand different ways to have accidents and
die in agony; and music by Bob Dylan.

This is the Grand Design made by the Grand Designer? Someone must be
kidding! The whole arrangement basically sucks. Given the power,
anyone with a bit of intelligence, creativity and compassion could
come up with a universe that was a hell of a lot better than this
mess!

Au Revoir,

(Is it French? Should I keep on wondering? I don't know. This is a
mirjafforian way to finish a rejoinder leaving a common reader
wondering what the hell does it mean. Is it one way to let the readers
know about Jaffor Ullah's knowledge of FRench language? This is not
the first time. He wants to start or finish his cow essays with
something quotable. Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah lives in New Orleans--
there are still remnants of French culture. There are plenty of French
vocabularies left in that area--- many quotation books or made easy
type of books full of French expressions may be bought real cheap from
gas stations. Dr. A.H. Jaffor Ullah, give up the cheap habit of
over-projecting yourself. Bogus claims can't give you any real
credibility. After all, pretention is no substitute for a sincere
search for knowledge.)

(This was reprinted from the Readers' Opinion column of NFB,Deecember
26, 2001)

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"Jaffor Ullah" <Jaf...@netscape.net> wrote in message news:<%TvV7.40830$BX4.2...@e3500-atl1.usenetserver.com>...