Rising extremism and need for true religious teaching

THERE is no room for hatred, malice and prejudice towards believers of other religions. Tragically though, we have been observing incidents of torture and killing on religious grounds. Myanmar is a glaring example where members of the Rohingya community in Rakhine state were subjected to indiscriminate killing and extermination by the military rulers of Myanmar. Palestine is another example where the holy city of Muslims, Christians and the Jews was suddenly declared as capital of Israel. All these are intended to incite communal malice and hatred for one another.

It is therefore crucial that we provided true religious teachings for our children right from their childhood so that they could grow up as sensible human beings with true knowledge of religion. Extremism is not religion which only helps spread hatred and anarchy in society. It is therefore high time that all political parties reached a consensus on fighting extremism of all kinds which are aimed at creating troubles in the name of religion. Religion plays an important role in all societies and therefore people should not be misled with misinterpretation of religions. Everybody, particularly the religious leaders should come forward and take a firm stand against all kinds of extremism and dogmatism in the name of religion.

Nadim Javed

Tejgoan, Dhaka