Author: Tonoy Nur E Emroz Alam
AAI supported blasphemy case triumphs in Bangladesh
In October 2020, a mob combined of Muslim and Hindu extremists staged protest rallies demanding the arrest and death penalty of Mohammed Alam, a secular activist from the Panchagar district of Bangladesh. He was accused of defaming both Muslim and Hindu faiths on social media. He was severely beaten and threatened with death. Law enforcement authorities, instead of insuring his safety, arrested hi...
Maldives: Drop blasphemy charges against Mohamed Rusthum Mujuthaba immediately
Mohamed Rusthum Mujuthaba is an atheist human rights activist from the island of Thinadhoo, Maldives. Issues such as women’s rights, freedom of belief, and pointing out irrational aspects of religious texts are the primary focus of Rusthum. On 10 September 2019, he was detained by the Maldives’ police for posting content deemed critical of the Islamic faith on social media. He was accused un...
Bangladeshi author handed 4-year jail term for ‘offending Islam’
Bangladeshi author, Shahriar Dipu also known as Diarshi Arag, was handed a four-year prison sentence for ”offending Islam” in two books. Dipu’s book was banned by the high court of Bangladesh in February 2020 after a lawyer made complaints against him. Soon after he was later arrested and put on trial. His bail application was repeatedly denied. In recent years Bangladesh was cri...
The erosion of secularism in Bangladesh
When the constitution of Bangladesh was drafted, the 34 members drafting committee looked into the texts that emerged from the ideologies of the enlightenment era, namely the U.S. Bill of Rights, the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) for inspiration. Instead of populism and communalism, sounder heads prevailed. In the preamble...
France’s Battle Against Authoritarianism
At the heart of the French Enlightenment rests a cardinal premise: ‘Sapere aude – Dare to be wise.’ But what does that mean, exactly? And what role has it played in the construction of modern human society? For centuries, in the name of faith, the devotees waged war, humiliating, and slaughtering fellow humans for religious supremacy. Human history bears witness to these brutalities. E...
Tunisian girl’s safe life and bright future dreams thanks to AAI’s support.
Since the Arab Spring, the Tunisian youth has been adopting progressive values. Fatma is one of those young Tunisian activists. Her father passed away when she was ten and she was living with her mother, brother, and younger sister. To support her family, she has been working in a cell phone repairing shop since she was 16. Her ideas, like her pairs, clashed with the old values of the Tunisian soc...
Seeking asylum from Erdogan’s Islamic Turkey with AAI’s support.
Nurullah is a Turkish ex-Muslim who is also an activist in the atheist community. He was born into the Muslim religion and had studied theology. His studies made him to question his religious beliefs and he no longer followed the Muslim faith and abandoned all religious practices. Later he became an activist to raise his voice against Muslim doctrines and support secularism in Turkey. He openly de...
In Solidarity with Mina Ahadi and Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime
Following a protest against Cologne City Council’s permit to mosques to broadcast the call to Islamic prayer, Mina Ahadi, founder of the Zentralrat der Ex-Muslime, has been placed under police protection. The protest provoked the fundamentalist Muslims to call for her execution. The German police believed that the threats were of serious nature. The latest threat to Ms. Ahadi’s life on...
Atheist Support Network Story: Standing tall in the face of fear
Ezzat is an Egyptian-born artist. She uses her art for activism (images on this page are her own art). In a normal society, this is something we would appreciate, but in many societies, this could mean brutal torture, even from the family. Because of the overwhelming exaltation of ignorance, criticizing faith-based injustices can become a matter of life and death. Things can get worse if the said ...
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Victims of Blasphemy Laws
Accusations of blasphemy and brutality by religious zealots are a historical phenomenon. Religious fundamentalism always has a tendency of opposing different worldviews and responding with cruelty. History has marked many such events, one of the most notorious in Christian history was the killing of the philosopher and scientist Hypatia by an inflamed mob in 415. In a similar fashion, 2400 years a...