Friday, August 10, 2007


Assaulted author – new level of religious fundamentalism in India

Yet another scuffle and an ugly protest hidden in the name of religious intolerance and fundamentalism. This time directed towards Taslima Nasrin at the Hyderabad Press
club on the release of the Telugu version of her book Sokhe.

Surprisingly, (well, it is not so surprising, after all being MLAs doesn’t change anything out of a person) Taslima’s assaulters included 3 MLAs of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen. They were detained for the rough treatment only to be released a while after.

I had certain doubts (or rather questions) though:

1) Have the protesters ever read her books at all to be able to strongly protest the opinions expressed by her in her works? That’s not even a possibility for if they have, they would not be insane enough to unleash brutality over her. In my opinion, if a person has enough patience to read a book, he would only adopt more civilized ways of demonstration. Because that makes him a cultured individual where the difference lies between a fundamentalist and an educated person.

2) Why is the Indian government hesitant to provide her a visa? Why should this issue be entangled in the endless labyrinth of bureaucracy? Or is it that the Indian government is fearing an outburst of more such protests from the extremists if the visa is granted? In that case, why not say no?

3) Do these protests really affect and shake Taslima Nasreen so much that she stops expressing her views against the religion that she belongs to? Because, a death sentence against Salman Rushdie for his ‘Satanic Verses’ did absolutely nothing to his freedom of expression.

Is it time that we think better and become a little tolerant? I mean there are better ways to express remonstration. Aren’t there?

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here are my offerings as answers to your questions:
1) I doubt they read her work. If they did, I doubt they understood it. [You should give the link to her site http://taslimanasrin.com/index2.html]
However, does it really matter if they read it. Even if they had read and digested every word she penned, that would not give them the right to attack her physically - would it? So, that question seems beside the point.
2)The Indian government is a paternalistic meddler - treating us all like we are children and unable to evaluate and make defensible decisions. Rushdie's Satanic Verses is still censored; look at the nonsense surrounding the DaVinci Code. If the government wants a more mature citizenry, then they should put more into education. Of course, we have to keep in mind that policians are major players in the culture of patronage and depedency - so they are unlikely to provide a solution.
3)Rushdie's fatwah caused him a lot of pain and anguish - I'm sure - he was in hiding for years. Let's hope Taslima is as courageous and manages to outlast the goondas who are trying to terrify her into silence.

I have a question for you - why call your blog "Paradise Regained"? Is this a Milton reference?

distanthorizon said...

@anonymus... thanx for the comments, I agree with you on every single word you uttered.

As for the blog title, yes it is a Milton reference... however, am raking my brain for another title... so u'll soon find another title for the blog..

thanx again for visiting..

संजय said...

http://polymerase-sanjay.blogspot.com/2007/08/meaning-of-silence.html#links

Chiranjib Mazumdar said...

I agree with you... This is utterly inhuman and against the fundamental right of freedom of expresson. The people should be dealt with severely without any discrimination regarding who they are because whatever they might be, they are not civilized human beings !