imtiar's space

TA HOLE BRISTIDIN TA HOLE 14 JULY is my new book.

It is published from University Press Ltd UPL, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.

ISBN: 984 05 0293 X.

MAATSHYANYAER BAAKPROTIMA, A book from IMTIAR SHAMIM, published on Fulgun 1411/ February 2005.

It is a collection of short stories in Bengali, published by Yukta, Dhaka, Bangladesh.

ISBN: 984-871-009-1

Sacred... these are sacred.

We know it, knows it everybody of the world that the texts of religion come time to time for human being. But now reality is that some people use the sacred text for politics, for their violent politics and make it weapons for killing, abuse and anarchy.

But, thanks to the British library, who arranged the exhibition, named SACRED to display the sacred text of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Sacred – discover what we share, is really creative idea to discover our standpoint in this turmoil world. When the fundamentalists of all religion raise their hands to establishing a fundamental world, try to back us in medieval age and stuck society, then this exhibition is clearly indicates that we are all in the same boat. Though we have much diversity, basically we want to live and practice our faith in very peacefully and worship to reach in a free space. Fundamentally we are unique, universe, yet fundamentalists always deny this fundamental truth.

Personally I am not stuck in religion. But I saw this exhibition at least two days in hours after hours, in a day with my wife and faithful Hafijun. When I rounded on the hall, I saw all the men around the sacred things listened in silence, some noding at the wisdom of religious texts. And suddenly I remembered my mother, who said me in my childhood, don’t disapproved others religion, we are all ahle al-kitaab. In my youth at once she was curious about Delwar Hossain Syedee, who was then a popular vocal speaker of Islam because many people didn’t knew all about him, didn’t know that he is a discard explainer of religions and a war criminal of 71’s liberation war of Bangladesh. My mother, as a villager, naturally weren’t up to date about Syedee. But when I told to her some quotations of that man’s speech, she suddenly react with full confidence that, ‘he is not right, he speaks against our kitaab, he forgot that Jew’s and Christian’s prophet are our prophet, too. So we have to keep respect and restraint on theirs follower.’

The truth is this, what my mother, a villager, achieves and feels through the journey of her life; but the fanatic fundamentalists never think the truth consciously, because they have specific political agenda.

So it is a vital policy level agenda, whether we minus the religion from our politics, from formation of political party, from our state structure.

And if we want to share us truly, want to discover us freely it is the most burning agenda of the world. That is the truth what I reveal and feel honestly from the SACRED exhibition.Please, come, hand by hand, near by near to the road of humanity which is the essence of all religion.