Click to play videoIncredible India, shining India but not it seems secular or progressive India. Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen now says she is forced to leave India as the Government has been denying her medical treatment and is only using her to get Muslim votes.
Taslima says she is being forced to go abroad to get urgent medical help as she has been under enormous mental and physical stress in solitary confinement in a safe house in Delhi.
In March 2007, the Islamic group, All India Ittehad Millat Council offered Rupees Five hundred thousand for her beheading. Later in August, Taslima was attacked by MIM activists at the Hyderabad Press Club during the launch of her novel Shodh in Telegu.
The author was then packed off from Kolkata soon after a riot-like situation broke out in the city streets.
She was first sent to Jaipur and then to New Delhi where she was moved to a safe house.
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Taslima buckled under pressure from protestors and the Government by withdrawing passages from her autobiography Dwikhandita that were believed to be anti-Islamic. She told CNN-IBN that for the first time in her life, a so-called secular India had forced her to compromise on her freedom of expression.
In February 2008 Taslima's visa was extended but she has decided to leave India for some time for medical treatment.
The incidents in India during 2007 prompted Taslima to begin writing a new book, which is to be titled Narir kono desh nei...A woman has no country.
Has India let down Taslima Nasreen? This was the question debated on CNN-IBN’s Face The Nation hosted by Sagarika Ghose.
To discuss the issue on the panel were Tarun Vijay, Chief Editor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh organ Panchjanya, Asaduddin Owaisi, MP,Hyderabad & Member, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimmen and Amit Chaudhuri Author.
The initial result showed that 13 per cent of the people said yes India has let down Taslima Nasreen while 87 per cent of the people disagreed to the fact.
Freedom of expression or freedom of creativity?
What a sad day for India that a writer of books has to leave the country like a criminal?
Commenting on the statement Owaisi said, “No Indian will shade tear if tomorrow Taslima decides to leave India. I feel it would be a really sad day when writers like Ram Guha or Vikram Seth decides to leave the country. Taslima cannot override the freedom, which she got.”
He said that the foreign minister has made it clear yes she can stay in India but somebody cannot hurt the religious sentiments of the people. Now she has abused the freedom, which she got here in India.
As an Indian Muslim I can say neither we are happy about it neither I am sad, he added.
Why people in India have double standards? Taslima must be allowed to stay in India, her freedom must be upheld but on the other hand the freedom of M F Hussain must be curtailed, his paintings should be burnt down, artists who are painting at M S University in Baroda have to have their paintings vandalised.
The question was indicated towards Tarun Vijay, who is the chief editor of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Reacting to it he said, “We don’t demand that M F Hussain’s painting should be burnt down or he should be exiled. What we want that law of the land should prevail incase of Hussain and what happened to Taslima simply shows as if we are living in Islamic republic.”
“Taslima’s only one point crime is that she described atrocities on Hindus in Bangladesh and after that whatever the controversial parts in her book, she has already removed those parts. A country of thousand million people cannot protect a women writer and I think this is a victory day for Islamist.”
One group is saying she should go and other group of people saying she shouldn’t leave the country - so where is creative freedom here?
Amit Chaudhuri replied, “The situation really needs to be looked at very carefully. It would be exciting to know what is there in our constitution about this. I think what is happening is that more and more as time goes by as we leave 1947 way behind and we transform ourselves into different sort of country we are forgetting what it means to earn the right to be free.”
“I want to put light on the South African constitution, it is very possible that in the 20th century we didn’t feel the full brunt of censorship from British rulers in quite the way that South African writers did in South Africa, “ he opined.
Taslima, a threat to Islam?
Owaisi was of the opinion that Taslima is a threat to Islam community. He said that it’s not the point of one Taslima Nasreen or thousand Taslima Nasreen. Criticism against Islam is acceptable but to use profanities and to use vulgar language is not acceptable.
“If a writer writes a book on the 30 men who she has slept with do you call that literally greatness I don’t think so. Indian constitution has given freedom of expression but that is not an unlimited right, “ he said.
What is shining India mean. Does shining India means shopping malls and lots of new roads and new flyovers or does it mean an openness of mind, does it mean a progressive mind not a shinning India where people’s minds are narrow.
Vijay quite disagreed what Owaisi or Chaudhuri said. According to him, “Shining India means freedom to the people empowerment to the people. I don’t see any difference between Mr Chaudhuri and Mr Owaisi, both are two sides of the same coin – hatred for the Hindus. They all raise freedom of expression issues only when Hindus were to be assaulted.”
Is there a problem with secular discourse that assaults on Hinduism are not treated with as much seriousness as assaults on Islam?
Amit Chaudhuri said, “I don’t think Taslima has offended any Hindu and I think it’s an illogical dogma.”
Is this the way you want to see your community move forward trapped in identity paranoid or would you like to see Muslims open minded progressive people who know that their religion cannot be damaged by just mere a writer.
“We are open minded and we are progressive but whatever I am discussing here is within the confinement of the Indian constitution. Wether article 19 allows unlimited freedom of expression no it doesn’t, why do we have 295A IPC why do we have 153A IPC you have all these laws and you want to throw them. We are caught between devil and deep sea,” Owaisi replied.
Final verdict:
Yes: 21 per cent
No: 79 per cent
Editorial view:
In democratic India what a sad day that a writer of books can find no place in a tradition that has always respected and nurtured iconoclasts. Caught between the vote bank politics of the government and the minority politics of religions, freedom and creativity are soon becoming a fast depleting resource in our country.
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