Secularism

Paramaz and his comrades in Beyazıt Square

Original A photograph from Beyazıt Square. Once you have seen this photo, you will never forget it. Gallows lined up behind each other, bodies in white shirts swinging from the rope with white placards hung about their necks. What the black and white photograph doesn’t show are the lush green trees in the background, and the revolutionaries who met death with sang-froid, sacrificing their lives for the cause they believed in. The date was June 15 1915. The history of 1915 has a lot to teach those who study history: of pain, hunger, exile, and massacres, especially in these lands. April 24 1915...

Jina Mahsa Amini, one year on

September marks one year since the murder of Jina Mahsa Amini, a young Iranian-Kurdish woman who was killed in detention following her arrest for allegedly violating Iran ’s compulsory hijab law. Her murder sparked the most significant protests against the Iranian regime since the 1980s and the strength of the uprising prompted the Iranian regime to take the notorious morality police off the streets. CRACKDOWN It has been confirmed that more than twenty thousand people have been arrested and hundreds killed in the subsequent crackdown, with the real number expected to be much higher. Sentences...

Ex-members come out against UCKG

On 29 November the Guardian published an article about ex-followers of the international “evangelical Christian” church UCKG speaking out against the organisation. On 2 December this was followed by a more detailed podcast , well worth listening to. The young people some of whom spoke have accused the organisation of financial exploitation, psychological abuse and threats. They have also organised protests. The “United Church of the Kingdom of God” was founded in Brazil in 1977 by Edir Macedo , still head of the church and now a billionaire capitalist as result of his “religious” activities...

Letter: More on secularism

I agree with Hein Htet Kyaw’s main argument , but want to register a few initial queries and reservations. The USA assisted Islamist movements in Afghanistan in their battle against the Russian occupation (1979-88). But it was not “resurrecting” them, and did not have a control over them it later lost. For the US strategists, it was enough that the Islamist movements tied down and undermined Moscow. The rise of political Islam as a right-wing force channelling social rebellion in the Middle East and elsewhere was, as Hein says, “locally rooted”. It was not invented by the USA, any more than...

Why secularism matters

About the author: "Hein Htet Kyaw (Abu Bakr)" is a socialist hacktivist actively struggling against the state blasphemy laws and state censorship in Myanmar. He is a spokesperson for an atheist/humanist organisation called Burmese Atheists. He describes himself as a libertarian Marxist who sees Stalinism as oppressive and exploitative as capitalism, probably more. In almost every socialist publication of the 21st century, whenever the self-claimed socialists discuss the term "secularism", they like to discuss it by criticising the liberal left like Daniel Dennett, Richard Dawkins, and the new...

Hindu bigots' hypocrisy against the hijab

Amid the hijab row, students from different communities walk together to the Government Girls Pre-University College in Udupi, Karnataka Our report last week on the very important state elections in India (results 10 March) discussed the far-right BJP’s doubling down on anti-Muslim agitation in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Last week Hindu nationalist students in UP began agitating for the hijab head-covering won by some Muslim women to be banned on college campuses. Undoubtedly there will be similar campaigns beginning in other states. This is an extension of right-wing agitation in the southern state...

The MP banned for being an atheist

It could be a question in a pub quiz: which MP was consistently denied his seat in the House of Commons for six years, between 1880 and 1886, despite being elected by the voters of Northampton? The MP in question is Charles Bradlaugh (1833-1891) and the reason for his exclusion is simple — he was an atheist. His experience led him in 1866 to found the National Secular Society, which is still going strong today (I confess to membership). He was also prosecuted for publishing information about birth control, and advocated the abolition of the monarchy. However, he was staunchly anti-socialist...

India: farmers' movement grows

The far-right Hindu nationalist government of India is also a radical neo-liberal government. Not long ago buffeted by a wave of protests against its anti-Muslim changes to citizenship laws, it is now being rocked by mass demonstrations against its neo-liberal policies — by India’s farmers. There have been five national general strikes against the Modi regime’s privatisations and weakening of labour laws, including two in 2020, mobilising tens and maybe hundreds of millions of workers. Although they slowed the assault on workers’ rights, these mobilisations were over quickly. The 2020 strikes...

"Love jihad": why Hindu fascists are attacking Netflix

The Hindu nationalist far right in India and beyond is waging a campaign against Netflix for showing the BBC TV series A Suitable Boy (adapted from Vikram Seth’s novel, set in India in the 1950s). Their objection is to a romantic relationship between a Hindu woman and a Muslim man (though it's clear they object to other aspects of it too). They have minimally dressed up their bigotry by saying they are offended by the lovers kissing by a Hindu temple. Members of the ruling Hindu nationalist BJP party are calling for the Indian government to investigate Netflix – and in fact the Modi regime has...

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.