23 January 2017

Taslima Nasreen says no Islamic country can be 'secular' until Islam learns to accept 'criticism'

Bangladeshi writer and human rights activist Taslima Nasreen batted for Uniform Civil Code, saying that the measure was "urgently" needed to empower people with their rights. In an impromptu session at the Jaipur Literature Festival here, the author who has been living in exile since 1994 after facing the ire of fundamentalists, said the Islamic society needed to be more tolerant towards criticism to make progress.

"It is necessary for Islamic society to be tolerant and accept criticism without which they cannot progress. Uniform Civil Code is urgently required for empowering people with human rights," she said.

The writer, who was in conversation with Salil Tripathi, a former board member of English PEN, slammed religious fanatics saying she did not believe in terms like "nationalism" or "religious fundamentalism". [DNA] Read more