Mental Extremism Leads To Terrorism

By Sumit Paul, New Age Islam 29 August 2022 Bangladeshi Muslims Are Comparatively Recent Converts Who Still Retain Their Typical Bengali Hindu Surnames Such As Dastidar, Talukdar, Majumdar Even Ghosh And Ghoshal! ---- Navbharattimes.com has carried a disconcerting news item along with a video, showing a kid (not more than 4 or 5-yr-old) brazenly telling the interviewer that he's not interested in meeting the Hindu players in the Bangladesh cricket team. His parents are also there, not admonishing him, but smiling instead. Currently, there are two Hindu cricketers, Soumya Sarkar and Liton Das, playing for the Bangladesh team and both are fairly good players. Religious indoctrination and discrimination begin right from the cradle. Nowadays, Muslims (though not all) indoctrinate their children not to hobnob with Kafirs (infidels) and Hindus tell their kids to stay away from the Mlecchha (Sanskrit for impure). What's going on is beyond the ken of any sane person. I'm not vituperative against the Muslims. My best friends have been Muslims and they're still with me. But if the truth must be told, the Muslims of Bangladesh have become particularly violent and virulent against Hindus in recent years. I've been to Bangladesh quite a few times to collect archaic and modern Bangla manuscripts and papers. I interacted with the Bengali writers and scholars there. My father being a Bengali, I speak the language with consummate ease and that makes my entry and acceptance rather easy. Suddenly, the Bengali-speaking Muslims of Bangladesh have become too rabidly religious and they abuse Hindus at will. This shocks as well as surprises me. This also reminds me of V S Naipaul's trenchant observation in his book Beyond Belief that converts are much more fanatic. Bangladeshi Muslims are comparatively recent converts who still retain their typical Bengali Hindu surnames such as Dastidar, Talukdar, Majumdar even Ghosh and Ghoshal! Readers are aware that a few years ago, Bangladesh witnessed a series of murders of Hindu and atheist bloggers speaking against Islam. These fanatics often suggested that I should embrace Islam. Why on earth should I accept Islam when I give two hoots to god and all idiotic religions? Coming back to early religious indoctrination of children of all faiths. This is (early) mental extremism that leads to terrorism in later years. Such religiously indoctrinated kids become hard-core adults and suffer from monomania. Religion stymies their mental development and makes them obstinate in their beliefs when they grow up. That's why, parents must never inculcate such erroneous beliefs in the minds of their children and Muslims, in particular, must never send their wards to madrasas where such beliefs get all the more consolidated. Let a child grow up sans any religion. If he or she accepts one after growing up, that's okay but parents must never teach religion and instill the unnecessary fear of god into them at an impressionable age. ----- A regular columnist for New Age Islam, Sumit Paul is a researcher in comparative religions, with special reference to Islam. He has contributed articles to world's premier publications in several languages including Persian. URL: https://newageislam.com/spiritual-meditations/mental-extremism-terrorism/d/127825 New Age Islam, Islam Online, Islamic Website, African Muslim News, Arab World News, South Asia News, Indian Muslim News, World Muslim News, Women in Islam, Islamic Feminism, Arab Women, Women In Arab, Islamophobia in America, Muslim Women in West, Islam Women and Feminism