Re: Fear and Silence in Bangladesh as Militants Target Intellectuals
Islam was around for a long time in Bangladesh, before British rule came in. British rule introduced freedom for anybody. The Bangladesh people stuck with their Islamic slavery idea, even though they practiced freedom to some extent. Then, as Bangladesh government gradually became its own thing, and the British had less and less influence, Islam gradually came back in force.
The Brits conquered Bengal in the 18th century, when the population was mostly Hindu. The Muslims gained the most from the British rule, as the Hindu Brahmin dominance was put to an end by the Europeans . Muslims became a majority in the eastern portions of Bengal somewhere in 1880 or 1890, after close to 100 years of British rule. Had Bengal remained under the local rulers, then it would have been Hindu by now.
Christianity is an alien religion for the Bengalis, which is not compatible with their culture and traditions. That is why less than 1% of them are Christians. There are Christian majority regions in the vicinity of Bangladesh (such as the states of Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland in India, and Kachin and Chin in Myanmar). And all these regions are immersed in religious violence.
Less than 1% may be correct. That's the point. God has given them their chance through British conquest in the past. They have thrown away their chance. So, they get what they deserve.
However, if they picked up English common law that they still have, they could turn themselves into a free nation. But they won't. They reject common law and go into slavery, just as they reject Christianity, the only salvation for eternal life.
