All free thinkers and progressive people are under threat in Bangladesh

Firebrand Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin shares her angst in the aftermath of Dhaka terror attack
This is the first major terror attack on Bangladesh. Since you are away from your nation, did you experience a sense of helplessness for those who were suffering?
On Friday morning, I got the news that a terrorist organisation called Ansarul Khilafa from Kerala owing allegiance to the ISIS issued a death threat against me on their Facebook page, and in the evening we all got the news of the terror attack by ISIS and homegrown terrorists in a Dhaka restaurant.I was worried for my life and also for the lives of hostages. Bangladesh has already become an Islamic fundamentalist country. Atheists, secularists, rationalists, bloggers, professors, students, homosexuals, Shias, Ahmadiyas, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians have been hacked to death by Islamic terrorists. They kill without fear because they know that the government won’t take any action against them. Instead, victims get threatened, arrested and imprisoned. Section 57 of the ICT Act of Bangladesh Penal Code was recently created to violate people’s freedom of expression. Twenty foreigners were brutally murdered by terrorists inside the Artisan Bakery. Among them was Tarishi Jain, an Indian woman. Her father was standing near the bakery and was worried for his daughter.
Now ISIS has marked its presence in Bangladesh through this attack and burning of a priest although the government had till now denied it. Do you think more free thinkers like you are under threat in such a situation and may have to flee?
Some Hindu priests and volunteers of temples were hacked to death. A Buddhist monk was brutally killed. A Christian priest was also killed. So many enlightened bloggers were hacked to death. The government is behaving as if nothing has happened. Killers walk away after they kill people in broad daylight, at home or outside, even in crowded places. They have no fear because they know the government is somehow protecting them. All free thinkers and progressive people are under threat in Bangladesh. Many bloggers have left the country out of fear. Many stopped expressing their views on social networking sites. No critical analysis of Islam and Islamic fundamentalism is possible in Bangladesh.
What is the reason according to you for so many Muslim youngsters to turn to ISIS?
Many youngsters have been brainwashed at home, madrasas or schools and mosques. They learn that non-believers, non-Muslims, and critics of Islam should be killed. And if they can kill them, they will go to heaven and get luxurious life and 72 virgins for sex. They also learn that Jihad is mandatory for every Muslim and Muslims should turn darul harb (the land of enemy) to darul islam (the land of Islam). I wouldn’t say poverty, frustration, lack of job, lack of hope force people to become terrorists. It is actually other way around, we often see rich and very educated, highly qualified, doctors or engineers becoming terrorists. They join ISIS, because they know they will be able to do whatever evil things they want to do. They can kill anyone they want, they can behead and torture anyone they wish. And they can have oil money. They will get everything here and after death they will get everything there. For them, it is quite exciting. It is very unfortunate that Bangladesh, once a secular country, has become an Islamic fundamentalist country. I blame government for not checking fundamentalists. In the beginning of 90s, when I was attacked by the Islamic fundamentalists, a fatwa was issued against me, a price was set on my head, hundreds of thousands of Muslim fundamentalists took to the street to demand for my execution by hanging, I was physically attacked by fanatics. Government was silent. Instead of taking action against Islamic fundamentalists, government took action against me. That was the beginning of what today’s Bangladesh has become, a country full of fundamentalists, obscurantists, extremists, terrorists.
You have always been critical of religion. Do you think it is time to rethink the way the world at large looks at religion?
If any religion allows the persecution of the people of different faiths, if any religion keeps women in slavery, if any religion keeps people in ignorance, then I can’t accept that religion. Religion is opium, religion kills. The time has come for people to tell the truth.
Any thoughts of going to Bangladesh just once to reach out to those affected by the terror?
I want to but I am not allowed to enter Bangladesh. I have no Bangladesh passport or visa.
Is there any way to change the mindset of the youth that is resorting to terror today?
Yes, it is possible. True secular education can make people better humans. It also can change the mindset of young people. It is sane people’s duty to prevent young generation from becoming insane.