Protest Violence Against Taslima Nasreen

We, the undersigned, would like to ask the UPA (Congress-Left) at the Centre and the Congress Government of Andhra Pradesh how they are performing their secular democratic responsibilities, in connection with the shocking attack on Taslima Nasreen? In Hyderabad, the State Government's coalition partner MIM physically attacked Taslima Nasreen at a book release at the Hyderabad Press Club and its leader in the Assembly Mohammed Owaisi openly threatened to kill Taslima if she visited the city again. In a secular democracy the law of the land says that any individual or organization that threatens to kill someone publicly is to be immediately arrested. Instead the Hyderabad police registered an FIR against the victim filed by the threat givers.


We are enraged that in a "communally harmonious" city like Kolkata the Sahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque Syed Barkati and Majidullah Khan Farhad of Majlis Bachao Hyderabad have the audacity to offer unlimited financial reward to anyone who kills the writer. Instead of arresting those who are issuing life-threats on Taslima Nasreen, the Commissioner of Police Prasun Mukherjee could comment that the threat was a result of momentary anger. We strongly condemn these threats, the irresponsible comments of the Commissioner of Police, the feigned ignorance of DC (headquarters) Gyanwant Singh and the absolute refusal to comment by the chief secretary Amit Kiran Deb. It is this kind of selective amnesia of the administration and the thundering silence of most intellectuals that provide a handle to the aggressive rise of majoritarian religious fundamentalism.


We demand a strong punishment for the fundamentalist religious leaders and an absolute guarantee for freedom of thought and movement for Taslima. We also demand a proper governmental response to why the police remained silent and inactive in the face of such communal attacks.


In handling the issue of communal violence, the difference between governments run by parties claiming to be secular (Congress, Left Front, UPA) and the openly communal forces (e.g., government of Bangladesh) is that while the latter initiate communal action, the former are showing a disgraceful lack of willingness to confront minority communalism.