WW plays an important role in steering people to the right path of Islam
Shahriar Shahid
No doubt people now have more intense interest for understanding the real essence of peace in Islam against the backdrop of violent acts centering the religion, straining of the cord of communal harmony and growing incidents of intolerance in the country.
People are now looking for authentic, practical and realistic source of knowing Islam especially in the media. The situation now demands more open-ended programmes in media where people will have more issues for discussion on board suggesting their practical applications in their everyday life.
Misconceived ideas, dogmatism and wrong religious education are developing a group of people in the country to work as tools for destroying the communal
harmony in a country, known for its tradition of peaceful co-existence of different faiths and opinions for ages.
Obviously the absence of such programmes are creating scopes for spreading misconceptions about Islam with fanatic attitude and killing innocent people in the
name of protecting Islam from its so called enemies.
The most alarming part of the story is that the people who are out to destroy the very fabric of the society that is the peaceful coexistence of all creed and
caste have put up many Islamic programmes mostly in electronic media. The people with more dogmatic attitude and narrow philosophical outlook are emerging
to fulfil the vacuum to preach Islam through these programmes.
The audiences of these programmes are getting confused more because of such puritanical, irrelevant and misleading presentations.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel. There are still some courageous and enlightened liberals who are trying to portray Islam in its true essence. Dr. Shamser Ali could be mentioned here very distinctively.
Dr. Ali is working as an anchor in a programme titled "What Islam says: What we do (WW)?" aired by ATN. The programme which is going to telecast its 50th episode is designed with a different approach and setting.
In fact presentation of Dr. Ali is unique compared to other Islamic programmes because of his depth of knowledge and outlook to Islamic tenets as a leading natural scientist.
The half an hour programme is getting popular because of its open-ended discussion and real application of Islamic values in the real life.
The beauty of the programme is that discussants are not only religious personalities. They belong to the class of leading politicians, ministers, business leaders, development policy planners and other civil society leaders who shape the future for the nation.
With eloquence Dr. Ali presents the subject of the day for programme on Islamic base in each episode from where discussion starts unfolding and ends with a concrete direction or suggestion for society in a smart way.
A survey on the audience would reveal that the programme is gradually gaining more popularity because of its approach and selection of wide ranging topics and issues starting from environment and Islam to impact of recent bomb blast.
The participants of the programme in the last 50 episodes included
Syed Ashraf Ali, Former DG, Islamic Foundation, Dr. Kamal Hossain, President, Gono Forum, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Kadir Mollah, Asstt. General Secretary Jamat - e - Islami Bangladesh, Major General (Rtd) Syed Muhammad Ibrahim, Farida Akter, Executive Director, UBINIG, Brigadier General Shakhawat Hossan, Roy Romesh Chandro, General Secretary, Jatiya Sramik League, Ambassador Syril Sikder Roman Catholic, Salma Shirin Chowdhury
Executive Director RUDISAF, Shahjahan Siraj Minister for Jute and Textile, Dr. Devid Chaseman A British Muslim, Brigadier (Rtd) Shahedul Alam Khan Security Analyst, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed Social Welfare Minister & Secretary General, Jamaat- e – Islami Bangladeh.
It could be confidently said that with increasing popularity WW could work as one of the catalysts in steering the people to the right path of Islam dispelling the misleading campaigns spreading hatred and intolerance in the name of Islam.
The programme with its progressive success will help real Islamic scholars and saints in Bangladesh to stand up together on a common platform to negate the negative approach of preaching Islam.
Special Correspondent and Deputy Chief Reporter of BSS