Q: Tell me about your Bangladesh days and the circumstances under which you were forced to move out of your country.
Taslima: I was very young, about 13-14 years of age, when I started writing. I mainly used to write poetry. I used to write for different literary magazines. Through my writings, I advocated equal rights for women. My write-ups became very popular but it infuriated the fundamentalist forces who did not like my advocacy for equal rights for women. They hate feminism. Demonstrations were held against me and around 3000 people paralyzed the country.
Then Lajja happened. I raised the point that Hindus were not given enough protection during riots. This further angered the fundamentalists. Anyways, the Bangladesh government banned Lajja and then I was forced out of my own country.
Q: There is a perception that the way Jihadis are spreading terror, killing innocent people throughout the world, there is a danger of Islam being looked upon as a major threat to world peace and security.
Taslima: There are 2 billion Muslims in the world. How many of them are terrorists? Count them and look at the percentage of the entire Muslim population. Is Quran asking them to become terrorists? Had that been the case , there would have been 2 billion Muslim terrorists. You also have to keep in mind the fact that wrong policies of the West and US have encouraged Muslims to take up arms. For example, whatever is happening in Gaza is completely wrong. It's a case of illegal occupation, Muslims feel persecuted and that's why they are fighting there. Similarly, it was America which created Taliban in Afghanistan. Therefore, the West can't escape the blame for producing Jihadis.
Q: What should be done to check the rot?
Taslima: What is needed is to create a secular society and keep the state away from religion. Introduce modern, secular and scientific education in Madrasas. Focus on gender equality. This is not happening. Because they are using it for power.There is politics behind the activities of fundamentalists. That has to be stopped.
Q: ISIS has called for genital mutilation of women in the areas occupied by them in Syria and Iraq. Even some Indians are reported to be fighting with them. How would you react to that?
Taslima: See, even Muslims want a comfortable life. They also want to live with peace. You said Indians are fighting in Iraq but how many of them are fighting there? It's a very small number. There are people who have got crazy ideas. But they are small in number. You have to understand that violence portrayed in American movies has also contributed in making them violent. Even Bollywood movies are violent. Coming to ISIS, you should know that there are many people in ISIS who have come from Europe. There are new converts to Islam. They are not from Muslim countries only. There are people from Secular countries as well. May be atrocities against minorities encouraged them to go there and fight.
And there is a mindset against women among these people. They are just barbaric, killing thousands of innocent people.
Again, you know Americans created rebels in Syria against Assad. They created Al-Qaida. They created instability in Iraq. So they are also to be blamed for the creation of ISIS.
So behind all these Jihadist violence, there are many factors working. Quran is one factor but at the same time American policy vis-à-vis Israel and their illegal occupation of Palestine areas has angered Muslims and it should be properly understood and addressed. Yes, there is a section that wants to set up Dar Al- Islam state.
