| 
Martial law no longer acceptable in Bangladesh
- Bangladeshi novelist Tahmima Anam, who won worldwide acclaim for her 2007 novel A Golden Age,
on Monday said- the strong feminist movement in her country would strengthen democracy and ensure defeat of extremist elements trying hard for Islamisation.
- The recent failed coup was an indication that martial law and Army rule are no longer acceptable in Bangladesh.
- Democracy has taken roots in Bangladesh. In the last parliamentary elections, Jamaat-e-Islami could get [just] three seats. People want a secular and responsible society.
- Ms. Anam threw light on the transition of people who took part in the 1971 war of liberation from being revolutionaries to being citizens of the new nation, which forms the subject of her latest novel, The Good Muslim
- Ms. Anam made a special reference to the feminist movement in Bangladesh in the context of micro-credit work of Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus and his Grameen Bank. .“The fact that the majority of borrowers are women means they are aware of their rights.
- They would rather seek [more] equitable rights for their economic empowerment.”
- She added:
- The stereotyping of Muslims as “radicals” does not take into account the diversities in Muslim communities around the world.
- “There can be radicalisation towards the Leftist ideology as well. Muslims do not constitute a monolithic community anywhere. There are diverse interpretations of religion and varied customs.”
- “Islam has had a vibrant tradition of debate and dialogue — something which the institutionalised religion is now discouraging. We need to revive the spirit of original Islam which appeared as a revolution in the Arabian Peninsula in the 6th Century.”
- The artificial divide between moderates and radicals would not represent the true picture of the community.
