[Reader-list] Plz Correct the misrepresentation of facts in thestatement on Taslima

[MRSG]

The statement by Mahasweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Ashish Nandy, Girish Karnad
is a glaring example to hide Islamic Fundamentalism. There are a number of 
misrepresentations in this
statement. Plz GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT before supproting/signing it.

The statement said that "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." Only a government or a court can ban a book, 
not any
group. CPIM-led Government banned it not because the book has said anything 
against CPIM, but because the Islamic groups in West Bengal DEMANDED that 
and all other major political parties in West Bengal - Trinamul Congress and
Congress supported the move to appease the islamic groups. The demand was 
corroborated by a list of '25 intellectuals', led by 'eminent literatuere 
Sunil Gangopadhyay. Please note 'communal' BJP has no presence in the state. 
So the ban was done to appease the Islamic Fundamentalist. By blaming only 
CPIM, it tries to hide the power of Islamic fundamentalists in West Bengal 
today.
After Calcutta High Court lifted the ban, no one went to the Supreme Court 
against the ban. But the islamic groups, particualrly Milli Ittehad 
Parishad, including Mr.Siddikullah, the champion of Nandigram, came on 
streets demanding the head or expulsion of Taslima Nasrin from the country. 
They met Chief Minister to warn of dire consequence. There were street 
protests and demand to kill Taslima by islamic groups at the centre of 
Kolkata. Even a CPIM-backed journal Pathasanket was banned as an article 
there justified Taslima's views on Islam. This publication springed a 
subsequent round of not only banning the journal (its September 2007 issue), 
but the protests turned violent even after the journal was banned and all 
its copies were withdrawn fromn the market. No 'secular' intellectual 
protested this ban.
Eminent 'secular' intellectuals of West Bengal and muslim MPs of CPIM fanned 
the demand against Taslima.  And then on 21 Novemeber 2007, the Islamists 
carried out violence throughout the day in Kolkata. And the police, who 
fires readily on any peasant demonstrations like Nandigram or Dinhata, 
looked the other way. No political parties in West Bengal came out
against this violence. The petition by Mahasweta Devi et al is silent on 
this black day of Kolkata. Islamic muscle, appeasement by political parties 
and silence of these "intellctuals" - all together bundled out Taslima from 
her room into a car to kick her out from great "progressive" Kolkata. All 
these are recorded in the media and it is not any activity of any 'unknown' 
muslim group to defuse the land issue by appeasing Muslims.

To hide the role of islamic fundamentalists the issue of Nandigram has been 
dragged into in this statement. The statement says that Taslima issue was 
raised by an unknown group and CPIM caved in to appease the muslims and in 
turn to destroy the 'dalit - muslim' protest of Nandigram. It is a blatant 
lie as one of the most championed leader of Nandigram, Mr. Siddikullah of 
Jamaet Ulema Hind (a secular party for Mahasweta Devi) himself and Milli 
Ittehad Parishad led a big street protest in Kolkata few days before the 
21st Novemeber. Was it also arranged by CPIM? All kinds of Islamic groups 
have supported the demand. To hide this face of Islamic fundmentalists this 
petition is unfortunately changing a peasant revolt of Namdigram as a 
'dalit - muslim' protest, thus communalising the protest movement of Bengal.

And finally to confuse the main issue a host of other issues have been 
included. And if those issues are not solved why then Taslima should return 
to Kolkata or stay in India.
Is it really in favour of Taslima?



----- 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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