There is a need to separate the state from religion if true equality is to be achieved for women. Eminent author and activist Dr. Taslima Nasrin on Tuesday said in Bhubaneswar. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLaws are to be based on equality and human rights, not religious doctrines which restrict their rights,\u201d Dr. Nasrin said while delivering the Siksha \u2018O\u2019 Anusandhan Lecture at the SOA Deemed to be University here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Nasrin, a Gynaecologist by profession and a Bangladeshi writer who was expelled from her country for her writings and views, said she had been continuing her struggle for restoration of human dignity and equality for women and would not retreat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBangladesh expelled me, West Bengal, where I lived, expelled me. I have no home. I have no country. But I believe in freedom of expression and feel women must resist religious tyranny,\u201d she told the packed auditorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Nasrin, whose books \u2018Lajja\u2019 and \u2018Dwikhandita\u2019 brought her to limelight, argued that rigid interpretations of religion were anti-woman. Religious influence in governance, she said, had a negative impact on women across all communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delving into her past, she said she was born in a secular muslim family in Mymensingh in Bangladesh. Her father, a doctor, encouraged her to study and become a doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI grew up in a home rich with literature and music. But when I reached the age of 12, I realized that I was an atheist and questioned the religious texts as I found women being oppressed through religion, culture, customs and tradition,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is every woman\u2019s story. We are trapped in the same cage. We didn\u2019t call it oppression, we called it tradition,\u201d the author said adding there was need to unite to protect the rights of women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Nasrin said as she grew she began to resist. \u201cI wrote what I saw, what I lived, what I believed without compromise. I protested against injustice and demanded equality, freedom and truth through my essays, prose, poetry and novels which became weapons against oppression.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs a result, people demonstrated on the streets and demanded my death. The state did not protect me and I have since lived in exile for 31 years,\u201d she said adding \u201cI am a woman without a country.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy home today is not a country or a passport. It is the heart of every secularist, humanist and free thinker.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stating that the concept of feminism was not western, Dr. Nasrin said she was influenced by her own experience. \u201cWhere the state is secular, women have hope.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cThe conflict in the world is between two ideas, secularism and fundamentalism, rational logical thinking and irrational blind faith,\u201d she said adding \u201cI still believe that change is possible if we are brave enough to ask questions.\u201d She ended her lecture by reciting a poem written by her titled \u2018The Deathless Girl\u2019 to a thunderous applause.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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There is a need to separate the state from religion if true equality is to be achieved for women. Eminent author and activist Dr. Taslima Nasrin on Tuesday said in Bhubaneswar. \u00a0 \u201cLaws are to be based on equality and human rights, not religious doctrines which restrict their rights,\u201d Dr. Nasrin said while delivering […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2264,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2263","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india-beyond"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2263"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2265,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2263\/revisions\/2265"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2264"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2263"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2263"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/utkalaage.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2263"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}