From Bangladesh, with courage

Published : Mar 18, 2000 00:00 IST

The visit of Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen to Mumbai gave an opportunity for secular-minded groups to denounce and defy fundamentalist outcries against progressive forces.

"A PERSON is a human being first and last. I cannot understand or accept putting religion, especially religious fundamentalism, before this. People who do this are to be resisted. I believe that all writings are not meant to please. I will never be sile nced. I will fight these fundamentalist forces all my life," said a soft-spoken Taslima Nasreen, Bangladeshi writer, at a public meeting in central Mumbai on March 6. The Surendra Gavaskar Hall was packed beyond capacity. She elicited a warm and emotiona l response at the end of her speech that lasted just 10 minutes.

Phitam Phat

The function was organised by Akshar Prakashar in coordination with Communalism Combat and the Progressive Urdu Writers' Assoc-iation, to release Marathi author Ashok Shahane's novel Phitam Phat which is a translation of Taslima Nasreen's book Shodh. The event was considered by the secular forces as an opportunity to come together to protest all manner of religious intolerance.

Welcoming Nasreen to Mumbai Nikhil Wagle, editor of the Marathi newspaper Mahanagar, said pointedly, "I hope your visit will strengthen the secular spirit of the city." Wagle has been the victim of many attacks by the Shiv Sena and had been an out spoken critic of the earlier Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra.

The Bangladeshi writer's visit was a triumph for the anti-fundamentalist groups in the city. Nasreen, who had been invited to come to the city a couple of weeks earlier, had to cancel her visit at the last minute owing to her mother's ill-health. This wa s interpreted by Muslim fundamentalist groups, who had threatened to burn her alive if she came to Mumbai, as their victory.

But for the anti-fundamentalist groups and for Nasreen herself it was merely a postponement. As Wagle said at the meeting: "The communalists said you did not come here because you were scared. This visit proves otherwise. No doubt we were anxious about t his visit. Who would not be, considering the savage threats? Well-meaning people had even advised us to cancel your visit saying we should preserve peace and harmony and not aggravate feelings. I asked them what the purpose was in preserving a peace that was born out of fear. A peace should be born out of confidence. We welcome you again and again to our secular city."

Among the fundamentalist groups which objected to the visit were the Raza Academy, the All India Sunni Jamiatul Ulema, the Muslim Council and the Public Complaint Centre. In their letter to the Maharashtra Governor, signed by Raza Academy general secreta ry Mohammed Nori, the groups stated: "It seems Taslima Nasreen is being called as an experiment so that after her Salman Rushdie can also be called to India." They also asked the Governor to intervene and prevent Nasreen from entering Mumbai.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh's reply as to why the Government had not taken action against those who had threatened Taslima Nasreen was this: "No one approached us for protection." Neither did he think the threats warranted suo motu action.

By the time Nasreen was in Mumbai, the Raza Academy and other fundamentalist groups had quietened down. The groups, however, sought to organise a protest march from their stronghold in the Bhendi Bazar area to the venue of the public meeting. About 40 to 70 people assembled at the Minara Masjid, but no procession was taken out. The police did not permit it, and took 45 people into preventive custody.

Additional Commissioner of Police (Security) Y.C. Pawar, who, supervised Nasreen's security directly, refused to disclose the level of protection accorded her, but said: "We took maximum precautions to protect her." Informed sources told Frontline that the State government accorded Nasreen Category Z security. The lane leading to the venue of the meeting was cordoned off by the police hours before the programme. Traffic and pedestrians in the area were monitored and armed constables checked for a ny explosive devices. A large contingent of police personnel was on duty.

Nasreen's visit came in a context vitiated by fundamentalist positions on various issues. The controversy over the shooting of Deepa Mehta's film Water had found its echoes in Mumbai when local fundamentalist groups informally condemned Shabana Azmi tons uring her head for the sake of her role in the film and called it an un-Islamic act. Referring to this in his welcome speech at Taslima Nasreen's public meeting, poet Javed Akhtar said: "The fundamentalists try to tell us what to write, which film is acc eptable, what your daughter can wear to college. All fundamentalists have one goal, and that is to take away your civil liberties."

Another concern of the secular groups in recent times has been the attack on Asghar Ali Engineer, a reformist leader of the Bohra Muslim sect. Engineer has been excommunicated from his sect. After the latest attack on him on February 13, the State Govern ment has provided him a police escort (Frontline, March 17).

The secular groups emphasise the fact that their fight is against fundamentalism of any kind regardless of the religion or group involved. As Javed Anand, editor of Communalism Combat said, "Lajja was written soon after the Bombay riots of 1992-93. At the time Sajjid Rashid, features editor of the Urdu Times, had said that if 'Hindu' was substituted for 'Muslim' in the book, then the story would be equally relevant and applicable in India." Anand added: "Our fight is not against rel igion but for justice. We support Nasreen because she fights for minorities in Bangladesh and because she has become a minority within a minority in her own country."

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