[Reader-list] Arundhati/Mahasweta/Ashish/Girish on Taslima Nasrin

[Jeebesh Bagchi]

dear All,

In this case the question is not about freedom of speech. Taslima is  
not a citizen of India, so State in India has no jurisdiction to have  
a say on her freedom of speech. The state can persecute her  
publishers or ban the book but her freedom of speech is not  
guaranteed here.

The question is of "ashraya" (or what is termed as asylum). Every  
culture has developed ways of thinking about "ashraya" and very  
interesting histories can be uncovered here from all over the world.  
It will be interesting how "ashraya" is thought in our times.

warmly
jeebesh


On 13-Feb-08, at 12:20 PM, radhikarajen at vsnl.net wrote:

> Sir,
>
>  the very statement that freedom of speech and expression is  
> absolute and
> unfettered is absolutely incorrect in a civilised society, as  
> societal right
> to be civilised in expression of speech.Rrights do have a bearing on
> societal rights in civilised society with duties as the other side  
> of right.
> While I fully empathise with Taslima nasreen and the political  
> games being
> played with this issue by the athiests in the society, with views  
> expressed
> one may or may not agree. But to say that freedom of expression is  
> absolute
> is like saying that as free citizen every one has right to have  
> coitus on
> the median of highway in front of all passing vehicular traffic.
>   No freedom is absolute in a society where it impinges on the  
> rights of
> others in society. Taslima or Hussain can express themselves freely  
> within
> the parametres of civil society.Hussain in his expression so  
> creative uses
> his artistic skills to graphically expose his pervert sense of  
> depravity in
> showing his motherland in nude. ? Why his creative expression looks  
> at his
> mother fully clothed. ? All those symbols considered sacred and  
> worshipped
> as believers like, are his objects of expression and crative artistic
> liberty and right to express in nude. ? Why the same creative  
> expression
> does not get inspired to portray his parents in conjugal bliss on  
> canvass. ?
>   In Taslimas expression, sure, she has not offended anybody except  
> the
> clergies of a faith who think that they are the tekedars of the  
> faith, which
> again is bad in any faith irrespective of the faith, but same is  
> happening
> in all faiths.
>   All faiths are ways of living a good life, in material,  
> intellectual and
> spiritual spheres of human existence. To believe or not to believe  
> in any
> faith is free choice. But the clergies of the faith ,in any faith,  
> always
> try to impose that their faith is the only saviour, which is  
> unfortunate.
>   Society in free India is divided at the very instant of achieving  
> the
> freedom of the nation in 1947, by dividing the land mass on faith,  
> then
> allowing the citizens the option not to go that land mass created  
> for faith.
> The truth of the matter is even though the bangladesh and pakistan  
> were
> created for the followers of faith, they are failed states in  
> governance.
> India, which could have good governance chose to be "secular" but in
> practise, it only created more divisions in the land mass with  
> language,
> region and castes communes for political gains. to cap it left further
> encouraged the neighbouring nations' citizens to have a stay in the  
> free
> India with fake ration cards, ids and opportunities to live in this  
> nation,
> while governance in the federal state was diluted to total lack of
> governance or no governance with fuedal lords of individual communes
> mastering the art of securing "class votes", " commune votes"  and  
> "regional
> votes" in the election frey. And today election is a fight to  
> secure votes
> by any fair or foul means to secure power and possession of  
> material wealth,
> not service to all citizens.In the process, the free India is now  
> islands of
> communes with every commune trying to corner maximun benefits of  
> democracy
> to their communes with out fear, depriving the common citizen of  
> all the
> opportunities to live a dignified life in the nation.
>
>  Regards.
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Naeem Mohaiemen" <naeem.mohaiemen at gmail.com>
> To: <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 10:09 AM
> Subject: [Reader-list] Arundhati/Mahasweta/Ashish/Girish on Taslima  
> Nasrin
>
>
>> Public Statement by Forum For The Protection of Free Speech and  
>> Expression
>>
>> At a time when India is projecting itself on the
>> world's stage as a modern democracy, while it hosts
>> international literary festivals and book fairs, the
>> Government of India, most mainstream political parties
>> and their armed squads are mounting a concerted
>> assault on peoples' right to Free Speech.
>>
>> It is a matter of abiding shame that even as some of
>> the world's best-known writers were attending the
>> Jaipur literary festival and prestigious publishers
>> were doing business at the World Book fair in Delhi,
>> the exiled Bengali writer Taslima Nasrin was (and is)
>> being held in custody by the Government of India in an
>> undisclosed location somewhere in or around Delhi in
>> conditions that amount to house arrest. Contrary to
>> misleading press reports stating that her visa has
>> been extended, her visa expires on the 18th of
>> February, after which she is liable to be deported or
>> remain confined as an illegal alien.
>>
>> Taslima Nasrin is only one in a long list of
>> journalists, writers, scholars and artists who have
>> been persecuted, banned, imprisoned, forced into exile
>> or had their work desecrated in this country. At
>> different points of time, different governments have
>> either directly or indirectly resorted to these
>> measures in order to fan the flames of religious,
>> regional and ethnic obscurantism to gain popularity
>> and expand their 'vote-banks'. Every day the threat to
>> Free Speech and Expression increases.
>>
>> In the case of Taslima Nasrin it was the CPI (M) and
>> not any religious or sectarian group who first tried
>> to ban her book Dwikhondito some years ago. The ban
>> was lifted by the Calcutta High Court and the book was
>> in the market and on bestseller lists in West Bengal
>> for several years. During those years Taslima Nasrin
>> lived and worked as a free person in Calcutta without
>> any threat to her person, without being the cause of
>> public disorder, protests or demonstrations.
>> Ironically, Taslima Nasrin's troubles in India began
>> immediately after the Nandigram uprising when the
>> people of Nandigram, mostly Dalits and Muslims, rose
>> to resist the West Bengal Government's attempt to
>> takeover their land, and tens of thousands of people
>> marched in Calcutta to protest the government's
>> actions. Within days a little known group claiming to
>> speak for the Muslim community asked for a ban on
>> Dwikhondito and demanded that Taslima Nasrin be
>> deported. The CPI(M)-led government of West Bengal
>> immediately caved in to the demand, informed her that
>> it could not offer her security, and lost no time in
>> deporting her from West Bengal against her will. The
>> Congress-led UPA Government has condoned this act by
>> holding her in custody in Delhi and refusing, thus
>> far, to extend her visa and relieve her of her public
>> humiliation. They have once again played the suicidal
>> card of pitting minority communalism against majority
>> communalism, a game that can only end in disaster.
>>
>> Inevitably, hoping to make political capital out of
>> the situation, the BJP is publicly shedding crocodile
>> tears over Taslima Nasrin, going to the extent of
>> offering her asylum in Gujarat. It seems to expect
>> people to forget that the BJP, VHP and RSS cadres have
>> been at the forefront of harassing, persecuting,
>> threatening and vandalizing newspaper offices,
>> television studios, galleries, cinema halls,
>> filmmakers, artists and writers. Or that they have
>> forced M.F. Husain, one of India's best-known
>> painters, into exile.
>>
>> Meanwhile, in states like Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh
>> and Karnataka, away from the public glare of press
>> conferences and television cameras, journalists are
>> being threatened and even imprisoned. Prashant Rahi
>> from Uttarakhand, Praful Jha from Chattisgarh,
>> Srisailum from Andhra Pradesh, P. Govind Kutty from
>> Kerala are a few examples. As we speak Govind Kutty,
>> who is on a hunger strike in prison is being
>> force-fed, bound hand and foot. Scores of ordinary
>> people, including people like Binayak Sen have been
>> arrested and held illegally under false charges.
>>
>> We the undersigned do not necessarily agree with,
>> endorse or admire the views or the work of those whose
>> rights we seek to defend. Many of us have serious
>> differences with them. We agree that many of them do
>> offend our (or someone else's) religious, political
>> and ideological sensibilities. However, we believe
>> that instead of making them simultaneously into both
>> victims and heroes, their work should be viewed, read,
>> criticized and vigorously debated. We believe that the
>> Freedom of Speech and Expression is an Absolute and
>> Inalienable Right, and is the keystone of a modern
>> democracy.
>>
>> If the Indian Government deports Taslima Nasrin, or
>> holds her as an illegal alien, it will shame and
>> diminish all of us. We demand that she be given a
>> Resident's Permit or, if she has applied for it,
>> Indian citizenship, and that she be allowed to live
>> and work freely in India. We demand that the spurious
>> cases filed against M.F. Husain be dropped and that he
>> be allowed to return to a normal life in India. We
>> demand that the journalists who are being illegally
>> detained in prison against all principles of natural
>> justice be released immediately.
>>
>> Signed:
>>
>> Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Ashish Nandy, Girish
>> Karnad
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