News, Features, Opinions, Socio-Religio-Historical Snippets, and Personal Musings
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Today Is the Christmas Day!
Christmas in Bangali (Bengalee) style:
St. Joseph and Mary with baby Jesus wearing Bangali dresses
Painting (Toronto: 1998) © Joachim Romeo D'Costa
Merry Christmas to you all! May the peace of Christ abide with you.
To read more on the Christmas, you may visit our past blog posts:
- Merry Christmas!
- Christmas Sans Christ = Nochristmas
- Let's Keep Christ in Christmas
- The Meaning and Significance of Christmas
- Pitha-Pulis Play a Great Role in Bangalis' Christmas
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Vociferous Atheist Christopher Hitchens Dies of Cancer
Christopher Hitchens
Photo courtesy: CNN
Christopher
Hitchens, a U.K.-born zealous preacher of atheism, journalist, author, and
polemicist, died of cancer on December 15 in a hospital in Texas, U.S.A. He was
aged 62.
He was quite
vocal in both writing and lecturing about issues and matters that he strongly believed
in. He was proficient in the use of English language.
Baptized as
an Anglican, Christopher Hitchens later changed religions several times before
he became a socialist and then an atheist. Along with Professor Richard Dawkins
and some other atheists, he took upon himself the duty of preaching atheism
through writing, speeches and debates.
He
emphasized upon the use of logic and reasoning in place of blind faith in
religion. He called upon all not to believe in God because, according to him,
what religions teach about God are fictions or made-up stories. Religious
leaders used religions to control minds and hearts of people.
He gained
world-wide publicity when he called Mother Teresa of Calcutta a “Hell’s Angel” through
a book. He was equally scathing in his remarks on some politicians.
Some of his
books on the subject of religion and atheism are: The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever; Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens;
The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in
Theory and Practice; god Is Not
Great: How Religion Poisons Everything; and Is Christianity Good for the World?
In the past,
our blog Bangladesh Canada and Beyond
gave coverage on Christopher Hitchens in the following write-ups:
Friday, December 16, 2011
Today Is Bangladesh's 40th 'Bijoy Dibosh' (Victory Day)
Memorial) at Savar, Bangladesh, is the symbol
of Bangladesh's Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day)
Graphics (Toronto: Dec. 16, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa
Bangladesh
observes its 40th Bijoy Dibosh
(Victory Day) today. Forty years ago, on this day, General Niazi, who was head
of the Pakistani occupation forces in East Pakistan (later renamed Bangladesh),
surrendered to the joint forces of India and Bangladesh muktijuddhas (freedom fighters).
It is sad
but true that the ideals that spurred the independence movement did not get
realized fully even in the last 40 years of independence. The question of freedom,
democracy (holding regular elections is only a part of democracy; real democracy
also means enjoyment of rights and practice of responsibilities), political
stability, the rich and poor divide, violation of the rights of the minority
ethnic groups, corruption, naked nepotism, law and order situation,
implementation of true justice, and economic stagnation still need to be
addressed firmly.
Bangladesh
is in the middle age now. It has attained enough maturity to think for itself
and work for the greatest interest and good of its people – majority people who
are Muslims as well as minority peoples, who are Hindus, Buddhists, Christians,
aboriginals and small ethnic groups.
To
understand the history, significance and meaning of the Bijoy Dibosh, you may read the following:
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
A Doodle on AIDS VIRUS
In the early 1990s, the AIDS virus became
quite widespread in the world
Doodle (Dhaka: April 28, 1994) © Jerome D'Costa
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The Salvation Army's Christmas Carols in a Shopping Centre in Toronto
The Children's Choir of the Salvation Army Scarborough
Citadel Corps singing Christmas carols and songs at
the Scarborough Town Centre Mall as part of the
fundraising for their community and family
services programme in Toronto
Photo (Toronto: December 10, 2011) © Jerome D'Costa
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Christian Minorities Live in Persecution in Pakistan
Retired Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan
Photo courtesy: The Catholic Register (Nov. 20, 2011)
Retired
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, Pakistan, on a recent visit to Toronto,
said after the naked murder of Christian minister Shahbaz Bhatti on March 2, 2011, Pakistani Christians are living in fear and
their voice is silenced, reports The
Catholic Register of Toronto.
Archbishop
also mentioned educated Pakistani Christians are abandoning their country to
take shelter abroad. Those remaining in the country “are keeping their heads
down and their mouths shut,” he said.
“In such a
situation, minorities don’t have much place. There’s no tolerance for other
religions,” he said. “Either you convert or you leave.”
A number of
churches have to post guards and build concrete barriers to prevent attack on
them.
For the full
interview of Archbishop Saldanha with The
Catholic Register, you may read the following: “Christians live in fear in ‘Talibanized’ Pakistan.”
Regarding Human Rights of Its Minorities, Pakistan is a
Failed State
The country
is officially called “The Islamic Republic of Pakistan.” It has a population of
over 132.35 million, of whom 95% are Muslims and 5% are Christians,
Hindus and other minorities.
It’s tragic
but true that Pakistan today is a prime example of infamous “Blasphemy Laws”
which have been causing widespread persecution among the minority groups in the
name of Islam. The minorities are hostages in the hands of some religious
extremists who use the blasphemy laws to settle scores with their rivals or
competitors, to take revenge on someone, or to outright grab lands of
minorities.
Many
politicians, judges and law enforcement personnel, to keep their positions
intact, allow themselves to be used as toys in the hands of the radical Islamists.
The greatness
of a nation is proven by how it treats its own minorities. Pakistan has
miserably failed in this respect. An Islamic republic is supposed to follow the real Islam and protect the rights of minorities, but, in reality, Pakistan is failing in this regard.
The western
democratic countries, in general, are keeping mum on this matter to receive the
support of Pakistan in their fight against terrorism. Their deafening silence is going
against the minorities’ rights in Pakistan.