Ashok K.JhaMockery Of Secularism And Tolerance !
December 2nd 2007 09:49
Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has withdrawn controversial lines in her autobiographical book Dwikhandito. Earlier the government of India had said that she could live in this country but she had to refrain from hurting religious sentiments.The author has declared ''I am withdrawing the controversial lines from my book Dwikhandito. The book was written in 2002 based on my memories of Bangladesh in the 1980s during which time secularism was removed from the Bangladesh constitution.'' ''Because I value secularism I wanted secularism to remain in the Bangladesh constitution. I didn't write the book to hurt anybody's sentiments. Some people claim that sentiments have been hurt. It was not intended. I hope there will be no controversy anymore and I will be able to live peacefully in India,'' she said.
After having taken refuge in Europe and the United States,taslima now lives in Kolkata. Nasreen holds a European Union passport issued by Sweden.Taslima Nasreen fled Bangladesh for the first time in 1994, when a court said she had “deliberately and maliciously” hurt Muslims’ religious feelings with her Bengali-language novel “Lajja”, or “Shame”, which is about Hindu-Muslim riots.At the time, thousands of radical Muslims protested against her, demanding that she be killed for blasphemy, and some have continued to threaten her life. The author describes herself as a “secular humanist”, and criticises the use of religion as an oppressive force. She worked as a doctor before turning to writing. But several of her books have been banned in Bangladesh and India, which also has a large Bengali-speaking population, because they upset hardliner Muslims. She was awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1994 by the European Parliament.
Taslima has expressed that she is not afraid of the threats to her life and hopes that “death warrant” would be withdrawn soon. “The clerics should realise that I am not an expert on religion and I only write for women and their rights,” said the author. who was awarded the Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought in 1994 by the European Parliament.
Tasleema Nasreen was attacked in Hyderabad, by those who are the law makers of the country.She was attending the launch of the Telugu version of her new novel, 'Shodh'. The three MLAs of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and four other party activists were arrested by the police but later released on bail. Emboldened, they proclaimed that Tasleema had got what she deserved and that it could be worse next time.
It is a mockery of secularism and tolerance that India stands for. Those whDeal, so it is doubtfo believe in tolerance and freedom of expression have condemned this behaviour but ,many who are otherwise very vocal, are silent.This raises a number of uncomfortable questions.
Comrade P.Karat and his colleagues are busy debating the Nuclear ul that they will extend their hand in solidarity with Tasleema. The Government and the Indian intellectual community had come, justifiably,in full support over the human rights violation of Dr. Mohammed Haneef in Australia. Is this issue too not a gross violation of freedom of speech and expression of a foreigner on Indian soil ?
The Congress takes great pride in their secular credentials. But it's not a secret that MIM is their trusted ally and they abstained from Presidential elections 2007 to protest against UPA’s nominee Pratibha Patil's reported remarks that the 'purdah' system came into India because of Muslims. The Delhi Minorities Commission Chairperson Kamal Farooqui said that the “government should ensure that Nasreen is not allowed to do or write anything, which hurts the sentiments of Muslims. The government should immediately cancel her visa and make her go out of the country". Samajwadi Party also wants to get Tasleema’s visa revoked and thrown out of the country.Contrast these responses to the ones that have been issued against the cancellation of the work visa of Dr. Mohammed Haneef in Australia. Isn’t there blatant double standard ? Recently when a fine arts student in Baroda was jailed and his works vandalised for painting blasphemous images of Hindu deities the liberal and secular citizens came together in support of the student because nobody has the right to be a moral police in this country.But, this will not apply to Tasleema’s case because the moral policing this time comes from a minority community. The MIM MLA’s openly stated that they are Muslims first and then MLAs.
It is obvious and also manifests clearly itself that the labels of communal, fundamentalist and secular are being assumed to serve political interests. The rampant hypocrisy in Indian political and intellectual life is very disturbing. As a matter of fact, it is not religious fanaticism of either the Hindus or Muslims that threatens the country today but the vote bank politics practised by our political leadership and intellectual community that can foment communal passions . Truly secular Muslim intellectuals like Shabana Aazmi, Javed Akhtar, Nafisa Ali and our Vice President Hamid Ansari have condemned the attack on Tasleema Nasreen and the use of violence as a method of protest. Perhaps true Indian secular and liberal ethos may survive the onslaught of religious fundamentalism and even ‘fanatic secularism'.Communalism is same, be it practised by Shiv Sena,Bajrang Dal ,MIM or SIMI.They should be rejected forthrightly.
Tasleema Nasreen was attacked in Hyderabad, by those who are the law makers of the country.She was attending the launch of the Telugu version of her new novel, 'Shodh'. The three MLAs of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) and four other party activists were arrested by the police but later released on bail. Emboldened, they proclaimed that Tasleema had got what she deserved and that it could be worse next time.
It is a mockery of secularism and tolerance that India stands for. Those whDeal, so it is doubtfo believe in tolerance and freedom of expression have condemned this behaviour but ,many who are otherwise very vocal, are silent.This raises a number of uncomfortable questions.
Comrade P.Karat and his colleagues are busy debating the Nuclear ul that they will extend their hand in solidarity with Tasleema. The Government and the Indian intellectual community had come, justifiably,in full support over the human rights violation of Dr. Mohammed Haneef in Australia. Is this issue too not a gross violation of freedom of speech and expression of a foreigner on Indian soil ?
The Congress takes great pride in their secular credentials. But it's not a secret that MIM is their trusted ally and they abstained from Presidential elections 2007 to protest against UPA’s nominee Pratibha Patil's reported remarks that the 'purdah' system came into India because of Muslims. The Delhi Minorities Commission Chairperson Kamal Farooqui said that the “government should ensure that Nasreen is not allowed to do or write anything, which hurts the sentiments of Muslims. The government should immediately cancel her visa and make her go out of the country". Samajwadi Party also wants to get Tasleema’s visa revoked and thrown out of the country.Contrast these responses to the ones that have been issued against the cancellation of the work visa of Dr. Mohammed Haneef in Australia. Isn’t there blatant double standard ? Recently when a fine arts student in Baroda was jailed and his works vandalised for painting blasphemous images of Hindu deities the liberal and secular citizens came together in support of the student because nobody has the right to be a moral police in this country.But, this will not apply to Tasleema’s case because the moral policing this time comes from a minority community. The MIM MLA’s openly stated that they are Muslims first and then MLAs.
It is obvious and also manifests clearly itself that the labels of communal, fundamentalist and secular are being assumed to serve political interests. The rampant hypocrisy in Indian political and intellectual life is very disturbing. As a matter of fact, it is not religious fanaticism of either the Hindus or Muslims that threatens the country today but the vote bank politics practised by our political leadership and intellectual community that can foment communal passions . Truly secular Muslim intellectuals like Shabana Aazmi, Javed Akhtar, Nafisa Ali and our Vice President Hamid Ansari have condemned the attack on Tasleema Nasreen and the use of violence as a method of protest. Perhaps true Indian secular and liberal ethos may survive the onslaught of religious fundamentalism and even ‘fanatic secularism'.Communalism is same, be it practised by Shiv Sena,Bajrang Dal ,MIM or SIMI.They should be rejected forthrightly.
| 50 |
| Vote |
Shared on
Subscribe to this blog
