[Reader-list] On Indocentrism & Taslima Nasreen

[Naeem Mohaiemen]

>Gargi Sen wrote:
>Dear friends who fear and abhor Indo centrism,
...
>the Indo Centrism that you, Naem and some others talk about
...
>I refuse to paint the recent debate as Indo centric
...
>I refuse to buy the Indo Centric bullshit.

Gargi,
The CONTENT of the debate over the film or free speech or Kashmir was
NOT what I identified as Indo-centric.  Rather it was the manner in
which the volume of that debate was squashing available space for of
all other conversations inside Sarai.  It seemed that suddenly the
Sarai list was bcoming inhabited, occupied, and dominated by a
(un)conscious Indian hegemony -- leaving no space for other debates
and discussions within South Asia.  Particularly, the manner in which
the language of Sarai list recently slipped between English and
Hindi/Urdu/Hindusthani without pausing for a second as to whether that
alienates and pushes out a portion of the Sarai readership was part of
what I was referring to.  Actually the real issue is that the authors
never even paused for a second as to whether the language was an issue
at all...

>Replace these two names with Taslima Nasreen and 'Lajja' (Shame)

It's interesting that you have invoked Taslima, she is now, and has
been for a while, a totem of Indian progressives.  And she is also
invoked to say "look we don't just talk about Indians!"

The interesting thing about Taslima is the disproportionate amount of
attention she always gets in India relative to others who have taken
equally brave stances and remained invisible in the Indian context.
Ahmod Sharif who declared as early as the 1970s that he was an
atheist. Or Ahmod Sofa, who was both atheist and possibly gay (we have
always surmised from reading the subtext of his text). Or Humayun
Azad, who was anti-religious (Amar Obishyash) to the point that he was
attacked by machette-wielding "Islamists" (and eventually died in
Germany).  Or Rahnuma Ahmed (Islami Chintar Punorpothon) who has been
debating Islam & the patriarchy for last 10 years.  Or Farida Akhter
(Ubinig), who has been a figure in globalization/feminist battles.  Or
Salimullah Khan. Or Faruk Wasif. The list is actually endless--
Swadhin or Manosh can jump in with other names.

But the reason Taslima is often the ONLY example invoked in an Indian
context is because her story is so intricately linked with Indian
patronage-- with the Indian progressives' idea of who they themselves
are as a beacon to South Asia (a rescuing force that will save all
South Asia from itself).  Especially within the Taslima story is the
idea of Indian Progressives (and not so progressive, more on that in a
few lines) rescuing and sheltering her from the savages next door.

Very early on, Taslima, alienated and broke ranks with the Bangladeshi
feminist community.  A key moment was in an interview where she said
"I am the first proper feminist in Bangladesh."  When a startled
interviewer asked her what she then thought of Begum Rokeya (who had
written "Sultana's Dream" almost a century ago), Taslima replied
"Begum Rokeya, she was all right, but she had many limitations..."
(note: not exact, from memory)  A similar sentiment imbued her
approach to the entire feminist infrastructure in Bangladesh, always
positioning herself as "above" all this.

[I write this as someone who found her "Nirbachitho Column" collection
like an incredibly valuable interjection into the Bangla patriarchy
and appreciated much of her work, including "Lajja".]

Around the time of "Lajja", Taslima's trajectory changed.  She had
already received the Kolkatha "Ananda" award, something that
heightened her sense of distance with the local community of writers,
and kinship instead with the Kolkata bhodrolok chokro.  From here on
Taslima's story is often a story vis-a-vis India.  It was first and
foremost the BJP that pounced on "Lajja" and started making thousands
of photocopies and spreading them throughout the country.  It was the
BJP that started funding translations into Hindi/Urdu. From here on,
Taslima became something championed by India, which increased the
antagonism towards her in Bangladesh.

Allies of Taslima repeatedly asked her to at the least distance
herself from the BJP translations, but she refused to do so.  It was
on Indian TV that Taslima gave her famous interview-- designed for
maximum shock, holding the Quran in one hand, cigarette in other, and
saying [to an Indian microphone, all this matters] "the Quran needs to
be revised."

The furore that followed: death threats, fatwas, nonsensical spouting
by the mullahs, obscures the fact that India-Bangladesh tensions were
as much part of this story as was Islam (and of course,  conflated).
Meanwhile our progressive mahals were aghast that years of careful
work had been derailed by Taslima's "stuntbaji" on Indian TV-- they
now watched as the maulvis they had spent years coralling into the
mosques were now on the offensive, taking over the entire city with
strikes.

Taslima of course famously went into exile in Europe, but soon found
those to be unwelcoming homes (there was a particular shrill
repetitiveness, and lack of tailoring-to-audience, that made her
un-useful once she was no longer "under attack by fundamentalists").
Eventually she moved to India.  Eventually Hyderabad happened, and
eventually the Sarai debate around here.

Taslima is the example that is always debated in these forums, because
similar to the western relationship with Iranian reformers, there may
be an Indian role in resolving, concluding, rescuing her narrative.
But stories that happen inside our borders, where there is no Indian
oversight/rescue/recognition role, those seem to always be under the
radar.

(to be continued, I hope....)