by Hasan Tamim in Vienna,

Every religion preaches the message of peace. All the religions of the world believe in the word of peace.  There is no precedent in any religion for extremism or killing or forcible conversion. We have created extremism or killing people in the name of religion. However, in our own religion we are divided into different groups or clans.  This factionalism or extremism comes only from power or violence.  None of the people in the world who have preached the true religion have tolerated extremism. 

None of them said to kill people of other religions or tribes or to forcibly convert them. But what is happening around us today?  There are more than one tribe among the people of their own religion and they are always trying to destroy themselves.

Even people of one religion are being forcibly converted or killed indiscriminately. If religion preaches peace then why are we establishing extremism.

There is chaos for the sake of religion, but ethnic violence has started anew. Ethnic annihilation or religious violence is our daily companion today. We see many examples of this in contemporary times. 

A few days ago, I saw that a person in Pakistan has been sentenced to death because he did not convert to Islam. In India, on the other hand, a Muslim taxi driver has been killed for not saying Joy Sriram.  Many people are being persecuted or losing their lives in religious violence. I saw from the violence at Hathazari Madrasa a few days ago how horrible violence can be among people of one’s own religion.

According to various news outlets, Ahmed Shafi, the founder of the madrassa, was detained and mentally harassed.  He later fell ill and died at a hospital in Dhaka. The violence over the control of the madrassa was perpetrated by Ahmad Shafi’s own close associates. Those who have always preached the message of religion to us today have tried to seize power by blocking a hundred-year-old scholar only out of greed for power. Many say Ahmad Shafi has been forcibly removed from the authority of the madrassa.

This means that religious scholars have now chosen the path of violence over power-sharing. We ordinary people are very emotional and for this reason many are supporting violence.

As a result, a kind of extremist religious attitude is manifesting among the common people. If we practice true religion, I will not harm my own religion or people of other religions. But the opposite is happening, hating people of one’s own religion or forcing people of other religions to convert. At least religion or the Creator cannot be found with envy in mind. However, true religion is practiced by forcible conversion. One should forget the power of violence or anger and follow one’s own religion by respecting other religions.