Gen Z movements may get hijacked by Jihadis, warns Taslima Nasrin
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin has advised a cautious watch on Gen Z movements lest jihadi fundamentalists hijack them.
The Dwikhandito (Divided) writer, who attended a programme in Kolkata, said Gen Z “movements can be volatile and require a close watch… their underlying motives should be closely monitored lest the right-wing jihadi forces hijack them as it happened in Bangladesh.”
Dwelling on the 2024 movement in the neighbouring country, she reminded how in that country “the movement initially started with a logical cause” and found wide support against the quota system in Government jobs but “subsequently it got hijacked by the jihadis” who eventually grabbed power.
Drawing a parallel with the Bangla unrest and the CJP agitation in India, she said, “I have seen such Gen Z movements before … One has to first look at the ideology and the driving force behind the Gen Z movement because what happened in Bangladesh does not set a good example … the question is if you want a change you have to be clear in mind whether you can bring a better system … or else the entire movement becomes counterproductive… Take, for example, the present dispensation in Bangladesh … if they had sympathy for the minority Hindus … the way they are being persecuted … then they would have addressed it … but nothing of that sort is happening there… we fear that after the minority Hindus the progressive Muslims too would be driven out of that country.”
She said these movements should be “closely watched”, adding, “the protesters should also be clear in their views and remain watchful of their actions” because, in the absence of a clear progressive roadmap, such movements often fall into the hands of the jihadis, leading to bigger chaos in subsequent times.
The famed writer, visiting the City of Joy for the second time since the new BJP Government came to power in Bengal, said she was eager to be in Kolkata during the Durga Pujas but had other engagements.
“I was keen to be here during the Durga Pujas as we have seen plenty of them in Bangladesh when I was there,” she said, adding she also wanted to attend the grand Mahalaya programme organised by the State Government at the iconic Eden Gardens.
