"The fundamentalists are increasing. People, afraid to oppose those fundamentalists, shut their mouths. It is really very difficult to make people move against a sensitive issue like religion, which is the source of fundamentalism"
About this Quote
Nasrin’s line doesn’t bother with polite pluralism; it maps a power shift. Fundamentalists “are increasing” is less a census than a warning about momentum: extremism grows not only through true believers but through everyone else’s quiet arithmetic about risk. The most cutting verb here is “shut their mouths.” It frames silence as an action, even a self-inflicted gag, and it implicates the bystanders who treat intimidation like weather.
Her intent is bluntly strategic. She’s diagnosing why liberal societies and ostensibly secular states fail to confront religious hardliners: not because people don’t recognize the problem, but because the social cost of naming it is designed to feel higher than the cost of letting it spread. “Afraid to oppose” captures the psychological infrastructure fundamentalism relies on: fear of violence, yes, but also fear of social exile, accusations of blasphemy, and the reputational tax of being labeled “anti-religion.” In that sense, fundamentalism doesn’t need majority support; it needs majority caution.
The subtext tightens when she calls religion “the source of fundamentalism.” She’s refusing the comforting distinction between “religion” as private meaning and “fundamentalism” as an aberration. That provocation is the point: it forces readers to confront how institutions, sacred authority, and taboo can be mobilized into politics. Context matters. Nasrin, a Bangladeshi writer long targeted for her critique of religious patriarchy and for advocating women’s rights, speaks from lived consequence, not abstract theory. The quote is also a critique of liberal timidity: sensitivity becomes a shield for coercion, and “respect” becomes the language of surrender.
Her intent is bluntly strategic. She’s diagnosing why liberal societies and ostensibly secular states fail to confront religious hardliners: not because people don’t recognize the problem, but because the social cost of naming it is designed to feel higher than the cost of letting it spread. “Afraid to oppose” captures the psychological infrastructure fundamentalism relies on: fear of violence, yes, but also fear of social exile, accusations of blasphemy, and the reputational tax of being labeled “anti-religion.” In that sense, fundamentalism doesn’t need majority support; it needs majority caution.
The subtext tightens when she calls religion “the source of fundamentalism.” She’s refusing the comforting distinction between “religion” as private meaning and “fundamentalism” as an aberration. That provocation is the point: it forces readers to confront how institutions, sacred authority, and taboo can be mobilized into politics. Context matters. Nasrin, a Bangladeshi writer long targeted for her critique of religious patriarchy and for advocating women’s rights, speaks from lived consequence, not abstract theory. The quote is also a critique of liberal timidity: sensitivity becomes a shield for coercion, and “respect” becomes the language of surrender.
Quote Details
| Topic | Freedom |
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