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My mother prayed five times a day but never on streets: Taslima Nasreen

WION Web Team
New Delhi, Delhi, IndiaUpdated: May 08, 2018, 06:58 AM IST
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Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, an advocate of women rights and a vehement critic of religious fundamentalism has been facing death threats for a long time. Photograph:(AFP)

Bangladesh-born Taslima Nasreen, 55, who fled her country after a fundamentalist backlash over her book Lajja in the 90s, backed Haryana chief minister's move to not to allow namaz in public places. 

In a tweet, Nasreen said that "My mom was a devout Muslim. She prayed  5 times a day. But she would never like 2pray in the street. She would hate to disturb ppl by occupying the public place. Her belief was harmless. Political Islam goes to the streets to show off, to hack, to bomb, to kill. Save Islam from being political"

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Speaking out against the practice of offering Namaz at public places, Taslima Nasreen tweeted: "Namaz should be offered at mosque and Eidgah.   Makes sense.  Should be applicable for other worshipers too. Blocking public places not good."

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Jinnah was never a respected figure in Bangladesh 

Taking to Twitter, she wrote that Jinnah was not respected among the academic circles of Bangladesh as he had declared Urdu as the state language of East Pakistan, a region where the majority of people are Bengalis. 

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She added that many colleges and educational institutions named after Jinnah were renamed post-Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 - Jinnah college thus became the Titumir College and Jinnah Avenue became the Bangabandhu Avenue.

Meanwhile, Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that prayer promotes peace and no tension should be allowed in the name of worshipping God.

The minority affairs minister also said the Haryana government was "very sensitive" towards the issue and that Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar himself had clarified that his regime was not against offering prayers.

Naqvi, however, added that if there was any complaint in this connection, the issue had to be settled amicably.