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Malaun (Template:Lang-bn) is a derogatory term for a Bengali Hindu, most commonly used in Bangladesh. The word is derived from the Arabic "ملعون", meaning 'accursed' or 'deprived of God's Mercy', and in modern times, it is used as an ethnic slur by the Muslims in Bengal for Hindus.

Etymology

The Arabic word "ملعون" (mal'un), literally meaning 'cursed' is derived from the root "لعنة" (la'nat) meaning 'curse'. In Islamic parlance, it means 'deprived of Allah's mercy'. The word has been loaned into languages of non-Arabic Islamic countries like Malay and Indonesian. In Bangladesh, the word is more specifically used to refer to the Hindu religious minority. In colloquial usage, the word is sometimes shortened to Malu.

Usage

Nirmal Kumar Bose noted the usage of the term as early as 1946 in Noakhali. During the 1971 Bangladesh Genocide, the Pakistani officers addressed Dr. Govinda Chandra Dev as malaun before executing him. On 13 April 1971, after killing a Hindu, Salauddin Quader Chowdhury made a sarcastic comment to the mourning Muslims, "It's only a malaun that died."

In the recent years the use of this slur " Malaun" has got a new hype when the convicted leader of one of the main national party ( BNP) Mr. Nasirudding Pintu screamed at a Hindu Police Officer calling him " Malaun" to refrain him from his duty. Mr. Pintu was brought from the jail to court where his lawyears and supporters were meeting him without proper authorization from the police. When the police officer Debabrata stopped them, Mr. Pintu verbally threatened him to loose his job and assaulted him verbally with this derogatory slur "Malaun".

See also

• Keling

References

1. Roy, Tathagata (2002). My People, Uprooted. Kolkata: Ratna Prakashan. p. 18. ISBN 81-85709-67-X.
2. Dastidar, Sachi (12 April 2008). "Bangladesh: The Upcoming National Elections, Pluralism, Tolerance and the Plight of Hindu and Non-Muslim Minority - Need a New Direction". Bangladesh: Religious Freedom, Extremism, Security, and the Upcoming National Elections. United States Commission on International Religious Freedom. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
3. "Minorities Fear for Life and Security" (PDF). HRCBM. 12 September 2002. Retrieved 16 October 2013.
4. Watch, Human Rights; Ganguly, Meenakshi; Alffram, Henrik (2008). The Torture of Tasneem Khalil: How the Bangladesh Military Abuses Its Power Under the State of Emergency. Human Rights Watch. p. 28. Retrieved May 30, 2012. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
5. House of Commons: Foreign Affairs Committee (March 25, 2005). Human Rights Annual Report 2004: Fourth Report of Session 2004-05 (PDF) (Report). House of Commons, United Kingdom. p. 88. Retrieved May 31, 2012. {{cite report}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
6. "Loanwords in Indonesian and Malay". SEAlang Library. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
7. Stevens, Alan M.; Tellings, A. Ed Schmidgall (2004). A Comprehensive Indonesian-English Dictionary. Ohio University Press. p. 610. ISBN 9780821415849. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
8. Bose, Nirmal Kumar (1999). My Daya With Gandhi. Orient Blackswan. p. 259. ISBN 9788125017264. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
9. Mohammad Qutub Uddin Sajeeb. "গোবিন্দচন্দ্র দেব". gunijan.org.bd. gunijan.org.bd. Retrieved May 31, 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |trans_title= ignored (|trans-title= suggested) (help)
10. Anwar, Mahbub-ul. The History of Bangalee's War of Liberation.
11. "BNP's Pintu hurls ethnic slur 'Malaun' at a policeman". bdnews24.com. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2015.

• Ethnic and religious slurs
• Anti-Hinduism
• Persecution of Bengali Hindus