Press Release Summary = That\'s where Mr. Choudhury\'s life took a tragic turn. After being blindfolded and beaten, he was held in solitary confinement for 17 months, as the government tried to build a case that Mr. Choudhury was an Israeli spy. The charge was preposterous, but in Islamists\' eyes, anyone who advocates peaceful relations with the Zionist entity must be a traitor.
Press Release Body = When we shall read this item, Bangladeshi editor Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, who is an undeniably brave man, whose mission is to advocate interfaith dialogue, confront Islamofascists, recognition of Israel by the Muslim countries, is gradually, proceeding towards death. For his 'crime' to advocate relations between Muslims Jews and Christians and demanding recognition of Israel by Bangladesh, a radical judge in Dhaka's court begins to try him on serious charge of sedition, treason and blasphemy. Take it for granted, if this Muslim Hero will die being hanged in Manila Rope, this will be a complete defeat of the peace-loving people in the world and a serious blow on the faces of those countries, which are continuing war on terror. On October 20 (2006), Washington Times in its editorial captioned 'Persecution in Bangladesh' wrote: "Bangladesh receives roughly $60 million in U.S. aid every year. One would think that the Bush administration should expect something in return, such as a commitment to hold off the forces of radical Islam which currently threaten Bangladesh\'s stability. But if the case of a moderate Muslim on trial for sedition is any evidence, Bangladesh is swiftly slipping into Islamists\' hands. In happier times, Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury operated an independent, English-language newspaper out of Bangladesh\'s capital, Dhaka. Angered by the rise of Islamists, Mr. Choudhury took the bold step of using his publication to oppose his country\'s radicalization. That caught the attention of the Hebrew Writers\' Association, who in 2003 invited Mr. Choudhury to Israel to speak at a conference on establishing peaceful Jewish-Muslim relations. Mr. Choudhury accepted the invitation, but was detained at the airport by Bangladeshi authorities. That\'s where Mr. Choudhury\'s life took a tragic turn. After being blindfolded and beaten, he was held in solitary confinement for 17 months, as the government tried to build a case that Mr. Choudhury was an Israeli spy. The charge was preposterous, but in Islamists\' eyes, anyone who advocates peaceful relations with the Zionist entity must be a traitor. With the help of U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk and human-rights activist Richard Benkin, Mr. Choudhury was eventually released from prison. The sedition charges, however, remained pending. Mr. Choudhury\'s ordeal didn\'t end there. In July, his newspaper offices were bombed by Islamist radicals; in September, a judge with ties to Bangladesh\'s Radical Party ordered his sedition trial to resume; then, earlier this month, a mob of 40 militants beat Mr. Choudhury in his offices. It is believed that Bangladeshi officials were among the mob. No one expects Mr. Choudhury to get a fair trial. Throughout all of this, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia has been noticeably absent. Her effort to balance the growing radicalization of her government with the impression that Bangladesh is a moderate Muslim country is failing badly. Both Mr. Choudhury\'s supporters and enemies see this trial as a crucial moment in Bangladesh\'s history: Either Bangladesh will live up to its image as a moderate and tolerant country or the Islamists will gain even more control. We also see it as a crucial moment for the war on terror. The United States must encourage people like Mr. Choudhury to speak out. But when they do, it must also do all it can to protect them. Freeing Mr. Choudhury will tell others like him that when you stand against Islamists, the United States will stand with you." Here is my question; did the government of United States stand with Choudhury who confronts Islamists? Nah! Because, possibly the policy makers in Washington have many 'important' agendas in their minds, and really they do not have time to think about this man. Similarly US Embassy in Dhaka unfortunately considers Choudhury's cause as a 'nuisance'. Because, they do not want to 'spoil' their relations with Islamofascist government in Bangladesh just because of 'one man'. According to an article written by Bret Stephens in Wall Street Journal on 10th October (2006), "The U.S. Embassy in Dhaka has kept track of Mr. Choudhury and plans to send an observer to his trial. But mainly America\'s diplomats seem to have treated him as a nuisance. \"Their thinking,\" says a source familiar with the case, \"is that this is the story of one man, and why should the U.S. base its entire relationship with Bangladesh on this one man?" What a 'great' justification by the US Embassy, isn't it? But, journalist Bret Stephens for obvious reason disagrees to the 'justification' of the US Embassy. He writes in response to embassies these in WSJ article, "Here\'s an answer: Bangladesh does not mean much strategically to the U.S., except for the fact that it is home to some 120 million Muslims, many of them desperately poor and increasingly under the sway of violent religious notions imported from Saudi Arabia. The Bush administration, which every year spends some $64 million on Bangladesh, has made a priority of identifying moderate Muslims and giving them the space and cover they need to spread their ideas. Mr. Choudhury has identified himself, at huge personal risk, as one such Muslim. Now that he is on the run, somewhere in the darkness of Dhaka, will someone in the administration pick up the phone and explain to the Bangladeshis just what America expects of its \"moderate and tolerant\" friends?" By the way! To know more about Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, let us rewind some of the previous articles on him in American press. Gabriel Oppenheim in his opinion editorial for Daily Pennsylvanian captioned 'Without our help, a beacon of freedom faces death' wrote, "Our country\'s most important ally in the war on terror is about to be killed, and most Americans don\'t even know it. His name is Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury, and he\'s a Bangladeshi newspaper publisher, editor and writer. On Oct. 12, his government will try him for sedition, which carries a penalty of death. There will be no jury - only a judge, in a case that has been fixed from the very beginning. You see, Bangladesh is currently a secular democracy of 147 million people (83 percent of whom practice Islam). But several fundamentalist groups within the country want to replace its secular system with sharia, or strict Islamic law. In order to do so, these groups have turned to terrorism. On Aug. 17, 2005, 430 bombs exploded across the country, killing two and injuring dozens. Three months later, Bangladesh suffered its first suicide bombings when at least three people detonated themselves in front of and inside two court buildings. That caught Osama bin Laden\'s attention. At least two arrested terrorists in Bangladesh have admitted to being sent by bin Laden. Saudi Arabia, too, has recognized Bangladesh as a potential tipping point, sending millions of dollars to the 64,000 Bangladeshi madrassas, or religious schools, that preach extremist Islam. Against this backdrop, Choudhury has published his newspaper, Weekly Blitz. It features a mix of world and local news and strong editorials against violence in the name of religion. The paper also calls for dialogue between Muslims and Jews as the first step on the road to peace - which upsets extremist clerics, of course. So in November 2003, those clerics had the government arrest Choudhury as he tried to board a plane in Dhaka, the capital. Choudhury was on his way to Israel to attend a conference in Tel Aviv called \"Bridges Through Culture,\" where he was to lecture on the media\'s role in promoting peace. But before he could board the plane, the government charged Choudhury with passport violations. It was a bogus charge, brought by a government whose ruling coalition contains two parties that openly support al Qaeda. The government then sent Choudhury to a maximum-security prison, where, as I wrote in a previous column, \"he was tortured with electric shocks and beaten with field hockey sticks\" until his legs broke. The government also denied him care for his severe glaucoma and refused to let him attend his mother\'s funeral after she died of a heart attack. Eventually, the government dropped the passport charges in favor of the sedition charges leveled in February 2004. That\'s where our University comes into the picture. For before Choudhury was imprisoned, he had sent e-mails to a few freelance journalists whose work he had read online, asking them to contribute to Weekly Blitz. One of those journalists was Penn alumnus Richard Benkin, who agreed to write for Choudhury\'s newspaper. When Choudhury was arrested, Benkin took action, lobbying his local congressman for help. Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) was able to secure Choudhury\'s release by essentially threatening to withhold $100 million in U.S. aid to Bangladesh. But the charges were never dropped. And police continued to allow radical muftis to threaten and harass Choudhury, his wife and their two children. In July, two bombs exploded in Choudhury\'s office, and the police took no action, claiming to have \"misplaced\" the necessary report. Meanwhile, Bangladesh repeatedly postponed Choudhury\'s trial, keeping him in a state of continuous fear. Then, last week, Oct. 12 was set as the trial\'s start date. Now Choudhury faces death - and we must act. Americans often use the \"war on terror\" catchphrase for political gain. But any candidate who\'s really strong against terror, regardless of party, must help Choudhury. Obviously, not all Muslims support extremism or violence. But few Muslim leaders have the will to speak out against violence. And it\'s not so easy to blame them. Choudhury, after all, is facing death, and his office has been bombed. Now that we\'ve found a man willing to advocate for peace and denounce extremism, we must seize the opportunity. No one else will speak out if we allow those who already have spoken to die." Just in past three months, a number of international presses like Jerusalem Post (Israel), L'Opinione (Italy), Daily Pennsylvanian (USA), Chicago Tribune, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Jewish Herald Voice and many others have voiced in favor of Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury. Several US Congressmen and legislators in other countries have also expressed their concerns about the trial of this extra-ordinary courageous Muslim editor. His newspaper, Weekly Blitz continues to publish unmolested articles and views on Israel and the Jewish world while majority of Bangladeshi press, prefer as Muslims to heed Sura 5:52 of the Koran, which states, \" O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and the Christians for friends. They are friends of each other. And whoso among you takes them for friends is indeed one of them. Verily Allah guides not the unjust people.\" Or the Hadith which as Prof. Palazzi of Italy explains is retained in Hamas\' charter: \"The time [of resurrection] will not come until Muslims will fight the Jews (and kill them); until the Jews hide behind rocks and trees, which will cry: O Muslim! There is a Jew hiding behind me, come on and kill him!" In a recent article captioned 'Saying no to Jihad', Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury wrote,"People are punished for crime, for creating anarchy and for putting humanity into horrifying terror. But, could we ever believe that someone would be arrested, tortured and imprisoned for long 17 months just for being in favor of global peace, inter-faith dialogue, ending religious hatred and thinking of everything good and noble for mankind? In my case it did happen and after being released on bail keeping the sedition charge very much alive. According to the allegations, my crime is: I am a living contradiction to today\'s phenomenon in the Muslim world, a Zionist, a defender of Israel and a devout, practicing Muslim living in the second largest Muslim country in the world. The very first person I was in close contact in Israel was Dr. Ada Aharoni, a scholar and leader of International Forum for Literature and Culture of Peace (IFLAC). Then I came to know Dr. Richard Benkin, a person committed to the cause of peace and bravest of the braves I have ever seen in my long career as a journalist. Dr. Benkin is no more just only a friend, but my loving brother, with whom I am proud to be teamed to work. On 10th of January, 2005 when a Charge Sheet was issued against me, I was shocked to see names of Dr. Benkin and that of Dr. Ada as my contacts. I was really not sure how they would react! Anyway, I had to inform Dr. Benkin through my brother Sohail Choudhury. To my utter surprise, Dr. Benkin\'s reaction was, \"I was with Shoaib, I am with Shoaib and I will be with Shoaib; no matter if I have to face a trial in any court within this world\". I didn\'t want my brother Richard to face any hassle in a country where my fate was already uncertain. I communicated with my lawyer Advocate Samarendra Nath Goswami for his opinion if Benkin has to be in Dhaka? Mr. Goswami replied, \"Dr. Benkin is a US citizen, he can ignore Bangladeshi courts for obvious reasons\". This message was transmitted to Richard through Sohail. Richard again said if my brother can take the pain of being in prison and face trial for achieving a common goal, I can at least be in Bangladesh to see my brother and tell him \"I am with you\"! Unfortunately, most of the Muslims in Bangladesh as in many of the other Muslim countries are under the impression that Jews are the ultimate enemies of Muslims and of Islam. My request to them, please visit Israel at least once, meet the Jews or at least find one Jew anywhere in the world. Many Muslims believe that devils have embodied themselves in the Jews. I question those Muslim brothers and sisters, \"ARE YOU TALKING OF HIGHER INTELLIGENCE?\" If so, you can too merge with the higher intelligence if you just have a little more patience, tolerance and true pursuit for knowledge. If their question is again, how? My answer to them would be finding a Jew like Dr. Richard Benkin. I once wrote, that when I was in prison, and my family was in danger, and it seemed that my own people had abandoned me; that it was my Jewish brothers and sisters who stood by us; who dedicated their time, their resources, their very soul to my freedom. And that is a very important point, because in today's world it seems impossible to most that a Muslim and Jews could be friends, let alone brothers and sisters. But we can be, and in fact so can others. Fundamentalists are men who emulate the looks and actions of the Prophet Mohammed. Yet, they give the Prophet and Islam a very bad name, as they perpetuate and even add to the western perception that Islam was won by force or the sword. By this I mean by the sword and not by conversion. Yet these self-righteous and arrogant men claim to be speaking in the name of Allah and act like the Prophet. They try to squash any positive action of peace by not only squashing but trying to kill all those who oppose them, making their vision that of a totalitarian theocracy that will allow no free exchange of ideas, the development of thinking such as ijtihad or even speech. The golden age of Islam was built on this ebullition of ideas that made it prosper and which gave so much to the world, such as algebra, alchemy; they even kept and preserved philosophy. Under such forces it will lead the Islamic world into the Dark ages which were similar to the European Dark Ages and the Middle Ages instead of the Renaissance and the other periods where discovery, science and even technology was invented. One of the strengths of the Muslim world has been the shared power between, two types of power one that is secular and was held by the governing Caliph or Sultan and the other was led by the Ulama or the religious faction; the two balanced each other out, as one cared for the body the other for the soul. In a fully secular world, from a socialistic up to and including communism; there is an absence of religious principles or of God, it is believed that man knows best. However, in a theocracy men speak in the name of God. Be it in a fully secular world or in a theocracy, there is imbalance as both have replaced faith with belief. Because, there are no check points; hence the people become ruled over by men who believe they have all the answers or by men who believe they speak for God. In either case a despotic type of governance results and people suffer as it weakens the strength of shared power, body and soul being ruled over by people of faith. Such is the case of the fundamentalists or the secularist who try to impose their ways on the people they claim to want to liberate. They also hinder those who have a balance and who know the difference between personal faith and politics. One of the Biblical and Qur'anic stories that have influenced my way of thinking is the story of the bad Pharaoh and Moses. This evil man said, there were too many Jews. He first ordered abstinence when that did not work he ordered the killing of every male child. When a radical person comes and gives an order to young men and women to commit suicide in the name of God, I am reminded of that story. The order given by the evil Pharaoh, to kill Jewish male children for the simple reason they are Jewish. In the case of radicals they are not killing Jews they are killing Zionists. Where would we be today if Moses had been killed by Pharaoh? Why then do fundamentalists use the prison and even death to kill all chances of peace? Why do they not see they are the followers of evil Pharaoh and not of the prophets? Radical movements be it religious or secular also have a trend that is their madness increases as time goes by. We demand equal time, or you cannot say this or that on the air. You are not allowed to speak of us in a bad way. You are a racist. You fear my religion and we are the religion of peace. When that tactic does not work they go after one person and start harassing them, the go over the head of the person and complain, meet with the bosses, demand an apology and then use pressure tactics to get their way. They are after power and control hence medias are not safe, nor journalists because the radicals flood emails, telephone lines and faxes with letters of demand. They order their people to write to call to make them heard. However, the majority of those callers are uninformed; they never heard or read the offensive article. They react blindly to an order that comes from above, the earthly leader who claims to speak in the name of God. Their aim is to get the person fired. If this fails they go for human right commission, law suits and try to get money. The bottom line is they are after power, control and their aim is MONEY, the mighty dollar. All of this is done in the name of God, let me ask you since when does God ask for money? When does God ask to harass, lie, control others into doing His way? God gives us freedom of Choice these radical take away that freedom in the name of God. Interfaith dialogues and meetings based on a will to know the other will lead to understanding and respect of each others' faith and beliefs and it is primordial at this time. Because, it prevents generalizations and statements such as "all Jews, Christians, Muslims are like this or that". I do caution interfaith dialogue that is solely based on theology, which is what the religion should be and it is not what it is or how the people practice. Theological debates are interesting within a community yet they are restricted for the most part to scholars who use one lineage of thought or ideology. It also gives a moral conduct to people however it often negates who people are. Here is one example from the Christian or Catholic side, women are forbidden to use contraceptives including condoms. Yet, there are women who have pre-marital sex and hence they expose themselves to sexually transmitted diseases. Muslim Theologians or Sheikhs will tell you that a man can have four wives if he can take care of them properly; however most Muslim women prefer having a monogamous relationship with their husbands. Very few will like to share their husband with other woman, except if they cannot bear a child or have a to do great deal of physical labor to do such as farming etc. Jewish theologians will say it is the man that grants a divorce to a woman, however in Canada religious Jewish decided to have a Canadian law to help women get their religious divorce. In talking between ourselves as members of a religion we can add more depth to these statements we can agree or disagree however, the end result will be that we all have pet peeves and we cannot follow all those religious laws as they are at times a burden in our lives. Dialogue breaks down the idea that a group is homogenous and everyone follows the leader blindly. More than likely this is how people make the difference between a person of faith and a person of beliefs. A person of faith will know that God will understand and even forgive them however the believers will rationalize that the law will not forgive the transgressors. Hence those who transgress need to be punished as non-believers even if the people are people of faith. The question that arises is we people of belief or people of faith? What guides our the lives our faith in God or our belief in the Law? Rebbetzin Esther Jungreiss once gave a talk on the idea of faith and trust in God; she said that every one says they have FAITH in God but when asked do you TRUST God there is a hesitation. Dialogue is what will help us learn not only about theology but also how women feel about the laws of theologians. Faith and trust in God, it seems that as people we do not know or forget that faith MUST include trust. We have faith in God, and often times think that our God is ours and not on else. God is our property as we have all the answer to salvation. In knowing other's faith we soon find out that God created the entire world and every person on earth has his or her own interpretation or divine revelation, be it monotheistic or polytheistic. In the case of monotheism, the common link is Adam the Bible, at first the first covenant found in the Torah, the second in the New Testament and the third revelation in the Koran. Everyone will say we have faith in God, and then proceed to say from their own perspective and interpretation: who is God? The conclusion is that people have faith in God, however how many trust God? How can we trust God and also learn to trust one another? Dialogue is the way the door of can be opened and remain opened. Through interfaith dialogue we get to know not only about the person's religion, but also his or her understanding. We also get to know about culture and most importantly we get to know another person faith, beliefs and hopefully we become friends. It is through faith that our beliefs are often challenged. There is a difference between faith and belief. I might believe that my religion is the only true path to God. I can believe that I am right. I can believe in the law. I can believe that I have the only way. I can believe that I am right and everyone else is wrong. I can believe the other is evil and bad. Fear is what prevents me from reaching out and challenging my beliefs. Fear is also what motivates me to be very vocal and try to influence others in my beliefs. Fear is what makes me use force to impose my beliefs. Because I have never challenged my beliefs I will remain ignorant to other possibilities. It is through dialogue, honest debate, that I can not only challenge my own beliefs but gain new insight in myself and the other. I might even find out that someone else has the same belief and if the fear is broken, the bridge is built, then a dialogue can take place. My belief is transformed into faith in God and in His/Her diversity. After the internal journey, the challenge of my own core beliefs what remains is faith that is based in God, the Creator of the universe. How could this be? How can I still be true to myself? I have a choice, either I stay and learn or go away and remain close minded. I have been challenged, if I accept the challenge and base my research on fact instead of theory or fiction a new reality takes shape hence a transformation from within. I start growing as a person and hence become better human beings. If I stay as and remain firm in my erroneous beliefs I am deluded then I regress and fall into the abyss of darkness because I have closed myself off from reality "Mine and the Other". This is what the message that prophets and saints have preached for years and no one listened. No one wanted to do the internal journey they only too the external path and not the internal one. Rabbiah of Iraq the Muslim Saint and mystic used the metaphor of setting heaven on fire and extinguishing the fires of hell, so people stopped to pay lip service and being hypocrites because they did good deeds to secure their path to heaven. Christians use to buy indulgences or relics at one time. It is time for each person to take charge of our self and look deep inside and ask, the question: "Do I pay lip service or am I sincere and honest?" Through dialogue we can learn about one another's beliefs and faith. You and I, yes we can challenge belief and build on faith. By this simple action we deepen what it means to us as individual and as a group the idea of being guided, inspired and even acting according to God's plan. The whole idea of faith, trust, and belief is a philosophical debate between individuals from the central point our self and the peripheral our community. Religions can be based on theology but more importantly it should be based on our perception and understanding of God's words as individuals and not as a mass. This had been the reason as to why I promote interfaith dialogue. Religion does not promote hatred however men have promoted hatred by favoring one religion over the others; usually it is their interpretation of what religion means which is based on theology or the word of God as interpreted by men of small minds. Some monotheists accuse others of worshipping idols and having false gods. Some radicals go as far as destroying historical temples. This can be seen when Christians had statues to represent images of Jesus or the Virgin Mary they were either destroyed or painted over. Romans destroyed the Second Temple in Jerusalem. Christians and later Muslims destroyed Hindu temples in India or parts or other parts of the world. The first Christian priests were destroying the spiritual icons of natives, and saying they worshipped idols in nature. Hindus destroyed Muslim and Christian Mosques and Churches. The list goes on an on. However, there is another aspect of religion that is often forgotten those from the tradition who have made a contribution to stopping hatred, which promotes better understanding. But, while advocating peace and interfaith dialogue, like most Muslims around the world, I have been a victim. Like most Muslims, I've been victimized by a socially supported information flow; one that taught me to look the other way when facts seem to contradict the politically-mandated and politically-correct weltanschauung that we are supposed to adopt. I was taught that much of the world is in essence my enemy, and that Israel and the Jewish people are the embodiment of evil. And I was taught to distrust-even though we all admired-Americans. And that is the case because the enemies of freedom have wormed their way into most social institutions in the Muslim world-the press, the media, governments, and schools. I have seen this in my own nation-a nation of good people, who seek nothing other than the things all of us want in life. These enemies of freedom seek to control my people by controlling our access to information and our contact with those who offer a different point of view. And so I am not misconstrued here, I must emphasize that such practices are neither Islamic nor culturally mandated. They are political. And, thankfully, politics change. In my own case, I was fortunate. My parents raised me to be open and moral, and I had a journalist's natural curiosity and access to information via the Internet. I began to see that there was more information than we were being force-fed; information that quite often contradicted the political orthodoxy. And it opened my eyes. I saw that the United States is not the greatest threat to us; neither are the Jews, Zionism, western culture, nor so-called "infidels." No, the greatest threat to us is the same thing that threatens non-Muslims, that threatens us all. It is a dedicated cadre of individuals who justify killing innocents by falsely-falsely-using our faith. And so like any good journalist, I began writing about it, warning our people about the rise of terrorism, advocating interfaith dialogue, and urging Muslim Bangladesh to recognize Jewish Israel. Colleagues outside of my country-both Muslim and non-Muslim-joined me in this effort. And as we wrote, people listened. Not all of them agreed with us; in fact, most did not. But our efforts sparked the beginning of public discussion and debate on these issues. And my people began to recall the interfaith respect that is our true heritage. But all of that changed on November 29, 2003. Our free exchange of ideas had angered some powerful people who were setting the stage for a "surprise" that would put free debate in Bangladesh on hold. As I was about to board the aircraft to address a group of Israeli writers, police grabbed me. They ransacked my bags, took my passport and possessions.
At first, they did not charge me with anything but leaked that my alleged crime was espionage "in the interests of Israel against the interests of Bangladesh." You see, anyone who even suggests that all faiths are equally legitimate must be demonized, and you can do that by preying on people's vulnerability to wild and untrue conspiracy theories involving the Jews. Conditions were terrible for me and my family while I was in prison. I was purposely kept in a wing for the mentally insane. The constant screaming, the terrible heat, the filth, and the accusations were intended to break me. My family was threatened and attacked. Police refused to act, blaming it all on my "alliance with the Jews." My brother, Sohail Choudhury, twice had to flee Dhaka for his safety. They wouldn't even let me attend my mother's funeral. But while my health deteriorated, my spirit did not. For I had, first of all, faith: my Muslim faith; and a general faith in G-d and in the justice of our cause. And I had something else. Just before I was taken away, I saw Sohail and asked him to contact my Jewish brother Dr. Richard Benkin, who fought for me without stopping; traveling here and there, writing articles, speaking publicly, and petitioning his government. He even went to the Bangladeshi embassy in Washington, along with honorable Congressman Mark Steven Kirk-who is neither Muslim nor Jewish, demanding my release, and to whom I am also so grateful-joined him in the cause, and this interfaith team eventually secured my freedom. Today, our efforts to build a Coalition of Understanding continue. For were this persecution just about me, it would be unjust, but little more. However, there are many people of many faiths being persecuted for their stance on behalf of interfaith understanding and for trying to warn their people about the terrorist threat; and many more who are afraid to speak that which are in their hearts. And that is especially true in Muslim nations, where such beliefs are opposed both the by accepted political orthodoxy and by the terrorists in our midst. Working together, Dr. Benkin and I seek to empower Muslims and others to embrace the religious diversity of our world; to accept that G-d has given us many paths by which we can come to Him; and not seek a return to 7th century political and intellectual constructs that deny all but one set of believer's equal legitimacy. I am a devote Muslim, and I know that my faith, my Koran does not award 70 virgins to those who murder children and seek to destroy the faith of our mutual prophet Moses-our Jewish cousins who preceded us in our journey of faith. We continue to write without ceasing-and now publish unmolested so we can counter the lies that pass as journalism in most of the Muslim world. We seek to provide my people with information-facts, as well as opinion-that most of the media is either too ignorant or too fearful to publish. For it is only through the light of truth, of free access to information, that we can overcome those who seek to overturn centuries of progress. Under extreme adversities, Weekly Blitz and Weekly Jamjamat are continuing publication, which are presently known as most vocal against Islamist fundamentalism and extremism. Each week, number of readers is increasing, although, our advertisers are hesitant to accord support with their advertisements, for reason unknown, despite the fact that, Blitz by now has turned into the leading tabloid weekly in Bangladesh. Slowly, we are gaining adherents to our cause. Slowly, we are exchanging information and ideas with more and more people who seek the same peace that we do. Being inspired with our mission of peace, Bangladesh Minority Lawyers Association (BMLA), under the courageous leadership of Advocate Samarendra Nath Goswami, has expressed its solidarity to our cause. They are the first organization in Bangladesh, which issued statements asking the government to immediately withdraw the false sedition charge that still hangs on me, and end harassment. We hope to participate in and perhaps empanel seminars and informational events around the world-events that further our goal of true interfaith understanding. Perhaps we will do this in own Bangladesh-a nation that is struggling, valiantly at times, against terrorism and the evil incarnate that is attacking my people. We do so even though the forces of evil remain arrayed against us. But each one of their lies, each death threat against me and my brother only confirms that they realize our efforts threaten their attempts to drag our world into an abyss. The intensity of their opposition is perhaps the best measure of our success. I would salute those brave Muslim brothers and sisters who say: "NO!" to hate; "NO!" to Holocaust-denial; "NO!" to jihad; "NO!" to the demonization of Israel, the United States, and the Jews." Finally, let me put a plain question to the peace-loving people in the world. Do we really need to witness the death of this Muslim hero just because he speaks against Islamofascists? If not, then when the US government will wake up from their sleep. When the US embassy in Dhaka will change their attitude on Salah Uddin Shoaib Choudhury and not only send mere observers to the trial court but even UD diplomats visit his home and office to let the family of this courageous man to convey the strong message of US standing for them.
2025
