[Reader-list] Fwd:"Taslima Nasreen: I have to escape from the death chamber"

[radhikarajen at vsnl.net]

Hi, all,

 this is exactly is the position of common citizen in India, be it a asylum seeker or a common admi, the issue of Taslima never was an issue till the left front was forced to divert the attention of common man from the atrocotoes in Singur and Nandigram,where goon cadres could rape ,murder and get away and the media was partisan ,intellectuals atlast got courage to speak about the socialism of left parties in India as practised and seen in these villages of the state of West bengal. Anchors made daily songs and dance of item numbers as they are, anchors, celebrities with eye on declaration of Padma awards, rewards and awards in journalism, with priority for partisan reportage, old footage of Gujarath was daily song and dance in news channels with election campaign for highlighting "hindu" fundamentalism and sycophants badly needed the italian to lead the defunct Indian national Congress, Rahul, ( I do not feel like giving him the surname which he does not deserve) now having
 new image make over thanks to these item numbers of anchors. ! 

----- Original Message -----
From: sabitha t p <sabitha_tp at yahoo.co.uk>
Date: Tuesday, March 18, 2008 11:19 pm
Subject:  [Reader-list]Fwd:"Taslima Nasreen: I have to escape from the	death	chamber"
To: sarai readerlist <reader-list at sarai.net>

> Taslima Nasreen is leaving India to rescue her life. She does not 
> flee from the threat of the fundamentalists, but from the 
> unbearable conditions in which she is held. For four months now, 
> the Indian Government is keeping her in solitary confinement at an 
> undisclosed location. She is not allowed to meet anybody including 
> closest friends. And worse: she has been denied urgently needed 
> medical treatment. As a result, her health is in alarming 
> condition. 
> 
> I have been in constant phone contact with Taslima Nasreen in her 
> secret prison. The following shocking document, written by her 
> some days ago and sent to me, has been kept under wraps according 
> to her wishes till the eve of her departure. This morning she told 
> me that I can release it.
>  
> Sanal Edamaruku (Rationalist International)
>  
>  
> I HAVE TO ESCAPE FROM THE DEATH CHAMBER 
> 
> I used to call this the torture chamber.  I gradually came to 
> realize that it was the chamber of death instead.  I was not even 
> allowed to stay in hospital for long though the doctors felt it 
> was necessary in order to stabilize my blood pressure.  But then, 
> orders are orders and the government did not want to be 
> inconvenienced by me in any way whatsoever.  The government did 
> not want the media to know I had been hospitalized.  I did not 
> have my mobile phone with me and the doctors at the government's 
> hospital –AIIMS – were instructed to discharge me after a certain 
> period of time.  Curiously though, the decision was not left to 
> the doctors as to what this certain period of time was to be.   
> The last time I was admitted to this hospital a few weeks ago I 
> was suddenly discharged as a result of governmental pressure.  I 
> am sure this was linked to a report in the Times of India which 
> stated I had been hospitalized.  
> 
> At this undisclosed location I am neither allowed to go to a 
> doctor for consultation nor is one allowed to come to me.  I 
> suffer from severely fluctuating blood pressure and the strange 
> thing is that I was not even allowed to speak to any of the 
> doctors at the hospital over the telephone.   Even after repeated 
> requests I was not given a single phone number.   When I was in 
> hospital, I asked the doctors if I could call them if necessary 
> but they said that they were not allowed to hand out their 
> numbers.  I had to make inquiries through officials to get even 
> the simplest of answers from these doctors.  I have suffered 
> tremendously both physically and mentally.  My blood pressure is 
> now impossible to control.  The  doctors say it is due to stress 
> which I must avoid at all costs.  How can I not be stressed when 
> everything is continuously stressing me out?  I am brought to this 
> place and incarcerated like some animal; my human rights constantly
> and continually violated.  I am not allowed to step out or meet 
> anyone.  How can I not be stressed?  I received the extension of  
> my resident's permit, but the status quo continued.  
>   
> And because of the high blood pressure caused by stress, I 
> developed heart disease (hypertrophy) and hypertensive 
> retinopathy, both of which were diagnosed at the hospital.  The 
> hypertensive retinopathy will eventually cause me to go blind.   
> The blood pressure if uncontrolled  destroy the heart, kidneys and 
> eyes.
> Prior to my confinement, my blood pressure had been under control 
> and all my organs were in perfect condition.   After returning 
> from hospital, I wanted to leave this country at the earliest as I 
> knew I would never be free from stress here.  I said I needed to 
> go to Kolkata urgently to collect a few important documents and 
> other assorted things including bank cards and to sign my tax 
> papers.  That too, just the basic permission to visit my Kolkata 
> flat to wrap up my life there, was denied for security reasons.  
> 
> THEY FINALLY   DID IT 
> 
> Even though they constantly pressured me mentally to leave the 
> country, I refused to budge.  I was determined I would not leave 
> this country.  When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my 
> mind, they attempted to destroy my body.  In this they succeeded 
> by ruining my health which leaves me with no other alternative but 
> to leave this country.
> 
> 
>  I WAS NOT ALLOWED TO SEE ANY DOCTOR   FOR  'SECURITY REASONS'   
> 
> It is important that all this be known.   I made repeated requests 
> to be allowed to consult a medical specialist as my condition was 
> growing worse with the ever increasing stress I had to face in 
> this not-so-gilded cage.   I was not allowed to see a doctor for 
> more than two months.  The decision makers asked the officials not 
> to attend to me especially when I desperately needed a doctor.  
> Two months after my initial request, I was eventually taken to a 
> quack to an undisclosed third location who could, unsurprisingly, 
> do nothing at all.  I insisted that I had to see a cardiologist or 
> at least a specialist.  I was then told that this would entail a 
> visit to the doctor's chamber.  I agreed to go but was told that I 
> would not be allowed to go to a doctor's chamber because of the 
> 'security risks' involved.  I fell very ill and told the officials 
> I was likely to have a heart attack.  After a few  days,  at the 
> same undisclosed location, I was
> allowed to see a doctor from the AIIMS who prescribed some 
> medicines after taking which I fainted.  The same night I was 
> admitted to hospital where my blood pressure fell alarmingly and 
> had to be given life-saving-drugs   to survive.  The doctors told 
> me that I needed to spend two or three weeks in hospital but the 
> officials whisked me away from the critical care unit after just 
> three days and took me directly to meet the Minister for External 
> Affairs.   The Minister asked me to leave the country the shock of 
> which made my blood pressure shoot up to 220/120.   I was rushed 
> to the hospital but the doctors were instructed by the officials 
> not toadmit me for 'security reasons'.    In my not-so-gilded 
> cage, I had no help at all.
> 
> FACTS
> It has been nearly eight months that I have been living under 
> virtual house arrest, in a prison without any facilities.  I have 
> been asked continuously by the government to leave this country.  
> Naturally, this has upset me a great deal as I left Europe to 
> relocate to India; to make India my permanent home.  I settled in 
> Kolkata where I was living peacefully in a Bengali milieu.  I was 
> very active helping oppressed women and writing feminist and 
> humanist literature.  Just because a few Muslim fundamentalists 
> objected to my being in this country, I was first imprisoned in 
> Kolkata and then moved to Delhi.  In order for the politicians to 
> secure their Muslim vote bank, I had to be locked up and, as a 
> consequence, my health was irreparably destroyed.
> 
> IMPORTANT 
> I was not allowed to see a doctor even when my blood pressure was 
> fluctuating uncontrollably because of the stress put on me by the GoI.
> I was not allowed to see a specialist for 'security reasons'. 
> I was finally seen by a doctor chosen by the GOI, just after 
> having his prescribed medicine, drug  poisoning started, I fainted 
> and  I was admitted to a government's  hospital. Life-saving-drugs 
> saved my life. 
> I was not allowed to stay in hospital for 'security reasons'.
> When it was made clear that I must avoid stress and stressful 
> situations, I was taken from the CCU( cardiac care unit) to meet 
> the Minister for External Affairs who put great mental pressure on 
> me to leave the country.
> When my blood pressure reached 220/120 after talking with the 
> Minister, I begged to get admission in the hospital, but I was not 
> allowed. 
> I am not being allowed to go to Kolkata before I leave the country 
> to pack some important things and secure my house.
> I was not allowed to step out for eight months ( 4 months in 
> Kolkata, 3 and 1/2 months in Delhi)
> I was not allowed visiting hours at my place of confinement
> I was not allowed to meet my friends and acquaintances
>  
> Taslima Nasreen
> 
> 
> 
> (See also the article “Can anybody live like this?” and other 
> reports about Taslima’s situation in our Website: 
> www.rationalistinternational .net) 
>  
> 
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> Bulletin. Please acknowledge Rationalist International Bulletin # 
> 172. 
> 
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>  President:  Sanal Edamaruku
> 
> Honorary Associates
> Dr. Pieter Admiraal (The Netherlands) , Prof. Mike Archer 
> (Australia),   Katsuaki Asai (Japan), Jocelyn Bézecourt (France),
>  Prof. Colin Blakemore (UK),   Dr. Bill Cooke (New Zealand), Dr. 
> Helena Cronin (UK),  Prof. Richard Dawkins (UK), Jan Loeb Eisler 
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