Humanism is my Home

In November 2004, Taslima Nasreen, famous Bangladeshi author and IHEU’s former representative at UNESCO in Paris received the prestigious UNESCO-Madanjeet Singh Prize for Tolerance. I read her acceptance speech, a resounding affirmation of her Humanism, it brought me to tears, a truly amazing, incredibly brave woman who has done so much with her life, it fills me with joy to know there are people like Taslima Nasreen in the world.

"As a result, far too many women suffer from trafficking, from slavery, from all kinds of discrimination. Men throw acid on women’s bodies, burn their faces, smash their noses, melt their eyes, and walk away as happy men. Women are beaten, are flogged, are stoned to death. Women are raped, are accused of allowing the rape, and the rapists are set free. Violence against women is not considered a crime in my country.

Nobody told me to protest, but from an early age I developed strong feelings about the importance of fighting against oppression. Nobody asked me to shed a tear, but I did.

By writing books, I wanted to do something constructive. I wrote about the need for women to understand why they are oppressed and why they should fight against their oppression. That did not make the religious fundamentalists happy. Quite the contrary! As a result, the fundamentalists refused to tolerate any of my views. They could not tolerate my saying that the religious scriptures are out of time and out of place. They were upset at my saying that religious law, which discriminates against women, needs to be replaced by secular law and a uniform civil code. Hundreds of thousands of extremists appeared on the streets and demanded my execution by hanging. A fatwa was issued against me, setting a price on my head. The government, instead of taking action against the fundamentalists, took action against me. I was charged with having hurt the religious feelings of the people. An arrest warrant was issued. But despite all the pressure, I continued writing. In my poetry, prose, essays and novels, I have defended the people who are oppressed. I have cried loudly for equality and justice, justice for all people whatever their religion and gender. I have spoken loudly for the separation of religion and state, for secular law, for secular education.

During my struggle for a secular and ethical humanism, I have tried to defend the poor and also the ethnic and religious minority communities that were being oppressed. It was impossible for me to accept the idea that people living miserable lives did so because they had a different faith, or spoke a different language, or had a different culture. I believe that the diversity of our world's many religions, languages, cultures and ethnicities is not a pretext for conflict, but is a treasure that enriches us all, there is no superior, no inferior culture in this world, only various cultural patterns that make up our beautiful multicoloured mosaic.

But, humans should not allow oppression in the name of religion. Humans should not allow torture such as female genital mutilation in the name of custom or tradition. Humans should not allow barbarism, humiliation, inequality, or injustice in the name of culture. Culture should not be and must not be used against humanity."

Read the full acceptance speech here .