| Published on 26-12-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1007 times |
| Appeasement politics hurt Taslima |
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Written by
Kamlendra Kanwar |
There is a manifest insincerity in the assertion of West Bengal Assembly Speaker Hashim Abdul Halim that the State Government has no reservations about Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen staying in the State. Typically, he has passed the buck on to the Centre, saying that the matter had to be sorted out between the Central Government and her.
In the same breath Mr Halim said the violent demonstrations against Taslima had taken place in an area close to where she was staying and there might have been serious trouble if the
demonstrators knew where she stayed.
This is as good an admission of governmental helplessness or unwillingness to provide protection as can be.
It is common knowledge that Taslima had to pack her bags overnight and dash off first to Jaipur and then to New Delhi after a Muslim fundamentalist group took to the streets in Kolkata against the grant of visa to her.
The Central Government's reported dictat to Taslima to stay away from Kolkata and to either continue in Delhi under what she calls `house arrest' or else leave the country, reveals the spinelessness and hypocricy of the Manmohan Singh Government when it comes to dealing with fundamentalists and jehadis among Muslims. The Left Front and the Congress are clearly on the same wavelength in defence of their perceived vote bank.
Taslima has never been anything but a mediocre writer and it is radical Muslims who have unwittingly promoted her by raising such a hue and cry over her writings. Today, if she is read by millions across the world, it is because of the curiosity that has been aroused by the fatwas and vitriolic statements of radical Islamists. She is only following in the footsteps of Salman Rushdie who too had reviled the Muslim faith and became a celebrity in a world given to cheap sensationalism.
Writings such as those of Taslima and Rushdie would die a natural death if they were to be ignored.
By giving in to the fundamentalists and not ensuring that Taslima is protected from them while she exercises her choice of place of stay, the governments at the Centre and in West Bengal think that they are appeasing Muslims in general who have been a vote bank for them. What they fail to appreciate is that they are showing their weak knees when it comes to dealing with a small section that holds the state to ransom.
Taslima Nasreen has pleaded that she be allowed to lead a normal life in Delhi if she can't go back to Kolkata. "Why do I have to lead a life of captivity?" is her legitimate question to the Central Government. Why can't she meet people, attend public functions and be allowed to welcome friends home as any resident in India? If politicians of various grades can be provided protection why can't a writer who holds views that are contrary to conventional thinking be protected while being allowed to live a `normal' life?
People have a right to agree or disagree with her thoughts but so must she have the right to express herself and to be protected by the state. The Dalai Lama has been living in India for decades after he fled Tibet to escape Chinese oppression. He is allowed everything that Taslima is seeking.
What is particularly revealing is the fact that human rights activists, who cry themselves hoarse when it is a non-minority issue fall silent when issues concern transgression by minority fundamentalists.
Taslima has her Indian visa only until February 17, 2008 and the way things are going, it may not be extended. That would be an appeasement of the fundamentalist elements with an eye on the Muslim vote bank and an admission that the State is not willing to or capable of defending a person's right to expression. |
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