Criminal charges in India for writer
Author Taslima Nasreen, whose writing about women’s lives so offends conservative Muslims there’s a bounty (fatwa) on her head and she’s banished in her native Bangladesh, is reportedly charged in India with the crime of “hurting Muslim feelings.”
The charges come after Nasreen was attacked at a publication party because of opposition to a translation of her latest book, Shodh, in Hyderabad last week. Several lawmakers and members of a conservative Muslim political party threw flowers and other items at her and called for her death.
Nasreen, author of Wild Wind and Shame, is an exile from her native Bangladesh because of a fatwa against her and a threat by the government to lay charges stemming from her writing.
She lived in Sweden and France for several years, but moved to India in 2002.
India, eh. Isn’t that the country with the booming high-tech economy and increasing trade with civilized countries that acknowledge the human right of freedom of expression?
The Muslim organization that organized an attack on Nasreen — in which several reporters were reportedly also assaulted — defends its stance against the writer because she’s “a threat to peace.”
From an interview with a leader of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, in response to a question about the attack:
Asad Owaisi: I disagree that it was an attack; it was a public protest against an individual who is not an Indian citizen, and who has been given refugee status in India. She has a habit of ridiculing Islam and making fun of the Prophet of Islam (pbuh). We wanted to lodge a peaceful democratic protest against her. Unfortunately the organizers did not listen to our viewpoint that resulted in the assault of press people who were there, which we regret.
We have a democratic right to protest her and protest her visit. We feel that she is a great threat to the peace of not only Hyderabad but to India as well. Her writing has always created fissures and divisions within the community.
I feel that Indian government should deport her by classifying her persona non grata. Through her writing she is creating division between Hindus and Muslims by exploiting freedom that she has in India. India will be better off if such persons are not allowed to live in India.
Author Taslima Nasreen, whose writing about women’s lives so offends conservative Muslims there’s a bounty (fatwa) on her head and she’s banished in her native Bangladesh, is reportedly charged in India with the crime of “hurting Muslim feelings.”
The charges come after Nasreen was attacked at a publication party because of opposition to a translation of her latest book, Shodh, in Hyderabad last week. Several lawmakers and members of a conservative Muslim political party threw flowers and other items at her and called for her death.
Nasreen, author of Wild Wind and Shame, is an exile from her native Bangladesh because of a fatwa against her and a threat by the government to lay charges stemming from her writing.
She lived in Sweden and France for several years, but moved to India in 2002.
India, eh. Isn’t that the country with the booming high-tech economy and increasing trade with civilized countries that acknowledge the human right of freedom of expression?
The Muslim organization that organized an attack on Nasreen — in which several reporters were reportedly also assaulted — defends its stance against the writer because she’s “a threat to peace.”
From an interview with a leader of Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, in response to a question about the attack:
Asad Owaisi: I disagree that it was an attack; it was a public protest against an individual who is not an Indian citizen, and who has been given refugee status in India. She has a habit of ridiculing Islam and making fun of the Prophet of Islam (pbuh). We wanted to lodge a peaceful democratic protest against her. Unfortunately the organizers did not listen to our viewpoint that resulted in the assault of press people who were there, which we regret.
We have a democratic right to protest her and protest her visit. We feel that she is a great threat to the peace of not only Hyderabad but to India as well. Her writing has always created fissures and divisions within the community.
I feel that Indian government should deport her by classifying her persona non grata. Through her writing she is creating division between Hindus and Muslims by exploiting freedom that she has in India. India will be better off if such persons are not allowed to live in India.
