BHUBANESWAR: There is a need to separate the state from religion if true equality is to be achieved for women, opined eminent author Dr Taslima Nasrin here on Tuesday.
Delivering the Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan lecture at the SOA University here, she said laws are to be based on equality and human rights, not religious doctrines which restrict their rights.
Bangladeshi writer Dr Nasrin, a gynaecologist, 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. “Bangladesh 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,” she told the packed auditorium.
Dr Nasrin, whose books ‘Lajja’ and ‘Dwikhandita’ brought her to limelight, argued that rigid interpretations of religion were anti-woman. Religious influence in governance have a negative impact on women across all communities, she said.
“I grew up in a home rich with literature and music. But when I reached the age of 12, I realised that I was an atheist and questioned the religious texts as I found women being oppressed through religion, culture, customs and tradition. We did not call it oppression, we called it tradition,” the author said, adding that there was a need to unite to protect the rights of women.
Stating that the concept of feminism was not western, Dr Nasrin said she was influenced by her own experience. “Where the state is secular, women have hope. The conflict in the world is between two ideas, secularism and fundamentalism, rational logical thinking and irrational blind faith,” she added.
SOA vice-chancellor Prof Pradipta Kumar Nanda presided over the event. Dean (students’ welfare) Prof Jyoti Ranjan Das and additional dean (student affairs) of ITER Prof Renu Sharma also spoke.