THE MEDIEVAL (should be mediEVIL) CULT OF ISLAM IS HISTORY

Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 22 (IANS) Islam is history because we live in the 21st
century now, opined controversial exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen
here Tuesday.

"The Islam religion and their scriptures are out of place and out of time. It
still follows the 7th century laws and is hopeless. The need of the hour is
not reformation but revolution," said Nasreen interacting with reporters here.

The feminist author of Bengali book "Lajja" is in Kerala in connection with
the release of the Malayalam translation of four of her books, which would be
released at Thrissur on Aug 24.

Nasreen said a secular state should have a uniform civil code and should be
based on equality, existence and not on religion.

"The state can do a lot of things, and both the state and religion should be
separate. The state should not encourage religion. Today religious education
and madrassas (religious seminaries) are going up. Jehad is stupidity," said
the writer.

She said she had been fighting religious fundamentalism for long.

"I don't go to the streets, instead I write and that is my way of protest. I
was born in a Muslim family and Muslim women suffer under Islam. None told me
to fight against oppression. It was inside me. Women are treated as slaves,
sexual objects and childbearing machines," added Nasreen.

According to Nasreen, noted Kerala writer Kamala Surayya, who was Kamala Das
before she converted to Islam, had now realised that she had made a mistake in
converting to Islam. She had held a meeting with Surayya here earlier.

"When I asked her if she regrets becoming a Muslim, she said 'yes'. She has
realised that Islam does not give equality," said the writer.

She said she would love to return to her country, and if not allowed to then
she would like to live in Kolkata because a writer likes to live in
surroundings familiar to them.

http://www.teluguportal.net/modules/news/article.php?storyid=10896
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