Hindu Soul Muslim Mask

From Community Publishing (communitypublishing.org) comes the translation of Osman Mallick's book, Mulassman Samajer Sanskar o itikartavay, is a book that deserve global attention. There are several books on this issue, both by those who are pro-reform and those who are against it. So, the question is, what is unique about this book? This book, I believe, is unique because it talks of the role that art, literature, and Philosophy, debate, and discussion play in the formation of a free society. In addition, Mallick talks of the special role of festivals and carnivals that challenges the established norms of society. This is something very new in this context, although Western philosophers like Nietzsche and Bakhtin talked about this earlier. In addition, Mallick talks of Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a feminist in 19th century Bengal in the Indian sub-continent, and a member of the Muslim minority community, who made the personal political even at that time. These elements make the book unique and why I decided to translate this book as a testimony from someone in the Bengali Muslim community. Although I share the Bengali ethnicity and the Indian-ness with Mallick, I belong to the Hindu faith and hence have a different experience of what it is to belong to the Indian sub-continent.