Roots of Religious Fascism in Bangali Politics

“Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when  they do it from religious conviction”ôôôéBlaise Pascal  (1623-62)   “To tolerate propaganda for inhumanity vitiates the goals  not only of liberalism but every progressive political  philosophy.”ôôôéHerbert Marcuse: Repressive Tolerance (1965) Religion-based politics has a long tradition in Bangali history ôôôéfrom the late nineteenth century during British rule, when political agitations organized by the educated gentry fragmented the Bangali community along lines of religious identity, leading to a Hindu-Muslim divide.