The reason cited for the ban is that there are sections in the book that might ignite communal tension.
I don't see anything in the relevant pages of the book (49 and 50) that might cause riots. Also, is it correct to underestimate Muslims so much? Are Muslims so ignorant, illiterate, intolerant and combustible when faced with any kind of criticism about their religion? It is through constructive criticism that a society develops and progresses. That is the aim of a modern society. Changes have to be brought in. If we do not point out the faults even now, then how will an Islamic society make progress?
In those two pages I have merely cited a part of Islamic history. I have not made it up. I just wanted to show that Islam and the Prophet are not infallible. Many say that Islam has given women due importance, but that is not the case actually. In fact, I have written in the book that in the pre-Islamic Arab world, women had far more independence and importance, and that independence was taken away from them by the establishment of Islam.
Maulana Azizul Haque said that "She is worse than a prostitute. How dare she demand freedom of the *****. How dare she say that if a man can have four wives, a woman should have the right to four husbands. Even within marriage, she says a woman should have the right to other men. This is against the Koran and Allah. It is blasphemy!"
When she turned to India, she was turned down in a horrifying denial of justice. Finally it was two European nations Germany and Sweden which respected human dignity enough to give this brave woman asylum. Her insight into the truth behind her religion is piercingly simple. "My mother thinks there are good Muslims and bad Muslims," she says now. "But I don't think that. If you follow everything in the Koran properly, you cannot be good. In the Koran, it is written that you should beat your wife, you can marry four times and you should hate the Christians or Jews or Hindus--whoever is not Muslim. If anyone rejects Islam, you should kill them. If people follow such beliefs, how can they be good? You cannot be good with all that hatred. If Muslims are good, it is their conscience that makes them good. Not the Koran."
Posted on 5/2/2004 3:12:38 PM
