What's our true identity?

Photo: AFP  
Shirin Akter Popy, University of Chittagong

Your Right To Know
Thursday, November 29, 2012

I would like to start with the lines of famous Caribbean poet Derek Walcott:

“The violence of beast on beast is read

As natural law, but upright man

Seeks his divinity by inflicting pain.”

(A Far Cry from Africa)

Weak animals fall prey to strong ones in the wilderness as big fishes eat up small ones in the pond. Animal world evolves around the subjugation of the weak but this tendency is heartrending if practiced in human world. Recently, some incidents of atrocities have made me disappointed. In our neighbouring country Myanmar, Rakhaines are inflicting grievous violence against Muslim Rohingyas. In Assam, majority Hindus are acting violently against the minority Muslims. Bangladesh is reputed as a secular and progressive country. However, the recent violence against the Buddhist community is a mark of shame on our forehead. These incidents are creating impediment to the process of socio-economic advancement and world peace. When human beings forget their basic identity as humans and confine themselves to particular religious or cultural identities, then their world becomes limited and their senses suffer in a narrow sphere. Present world is witnessing fundamentalism, misinterpretation of religion, which is causing anarchy in the world. But extremism in any form can't ever bring harmony and peace. Irrespective of race, culture and religion, our identity as humans can lead us towards a world of equality and peace.