A few weeks ago, Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin was spirited away from Delhi, India to a destination unknown. Controversial and banned in the country of her birth, she was denounced and subject of a fatwa in Bangladesh in 1993, leading to her fleeing to Europe and later India.
In the wee hours of Wednesday, exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima
Nasreen slipped out of her "safe house" in New Delhi and boarded the
flight to London.Home Ministry officials accompanied Taslima and put her up in the
business class of the British Airways that left Delhi at 3:30 am on
Wednesday.
Never one to keep out of controversy even after going into exile, her 2003 memoir Dwikhandito (Split Apart) was banned by the Indian state government of West Bengal on the charge of hurting religious feelings. The ban was lifted by the Kolkata High Court in 2005.
Of late, she had been living in Delhi under a virtual form of house arrest, due to fundamentalist- sponsored outrage against her even in West Bengal, which she had hoped to make her permanent home. But it was not to be. Citing failing health and intolerable stress, she is now on the run again, moving into another exile from an exile.
In a lecture given in Tuft University in 2003, she made a powerful case for the freedom of speech vs. the freedom of religion ( or rather constraints of religion in the name of secularism.) There were critics aplenty in the audience , but she silenced them with this reading of a translation of her poem.
Nasrin countered rather effectively by reading out her poem entitled, Noorjahan, based on actual events (Noorjahan was stoned to death by fundamentalists in Bangladesh).
They have made Noorjahan stand in a hole in the courtyard
There she stands submerged to her waist, her head hanging
They’re throwing stones at Noorjahan
Stones that are striking my body
I feel them on my head, forehead, chest, back
And I hear laughing, shouts of abuseNoorjahan’s fractured forehead pours out blood, mine also
Noorjahan’s eyes have burst, mine also
Noorjahan’s nose has been smashed, mine also
Noorjahan’s torn breast and heart have been pierced, mine alsoAre these stones not striking you?
They laugh aloud, stroking their beards
Their tupis [caps] shaking with jubilation
As they swing their walking sticks
They with quivering and cruel eyes speed to pierce her body, mine tooAre these arrows not piercing your body?
The controversy may have overtaken the literary merits of her work, but she has become a cause celebre, much like Salman Rushdie and Ayaan Hirsi Ali, threatened with death just for daring to speak her mind.
The pity of it is that even in exile, she is not allowed a modicum of peace, being hounded into wandering the earth in search of a place to call home.
Accidental Blogger 
2 responses to “Taslima Nasrin: Author in exile (Sujatha)”
I am quite pessimistic about Taslima Nasrin’s future and her physical and mental health. I doubt that she will be happy far away from her beloved Bengali literary milieu which pretty much narrows the choice to Calcutta and vicinity. But given the political climate there, it is seems quite implausible that she can go back. In fact all of India now is hostile territory where she is looked upon as a trouble maker. I wrote the following comment on Amardeep’s blog some time ago when he had reported on her “exile” to Delhi after the West Bengal government’s show of craven political pandering.
Of course it is the invertebrate and opportunistic “vote bank” politicians but why should we expect anything else? Nasrin is not the only one who has faced the wrath of the fundamentalists and politicians have always, always cowered. The link that V. Krishna has provided is very illuminating. See what Pranab Mukherjee has said:
“It is also expected that the guests will refrain from activities and expressions that may hurt the sentiments of our people,” his statement said.
“India has never refused shelter to those who had come and sought our protection throughout history. This civilisational heritage, which is now the government’s policy, will continue, and India will provide shelter to Ms. Nasreen,” he asserted.
Those granted shelter had always undertaken to eschew political activities and actions that might harm India’s relations with friendly countries.
What he is saying is : “Shut up and behave and we will save your skin.” What a contrast to the protection afforded Rushdie by a conservative British government whom he had criticized relentlessly.
(The behavior of the Dutch government was not very stellar either when it came to Hirsi Ali.)
Nasrin has been banished because of threats from fundamentalist Muslims. The brillian artist M.F. Husain is in self imposed exile in the last years of his life due to the danger he faces at the hands of Hindu radicals. What an ironic symmetry of religious terrorism in a so called secular democracy.
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Nasrin’s plight aside, I came across this interesting response by Ayaan Hirsi Ali about the controversial film Fitna.
I wonder whether the government of whichever country Nasrin is in now will not have to contend with the same level of inflammation that occurred in W.Bengal precisely because of the fact that her writings being in Bengali would initially reach only a very specific small and targeted audience, therefore being less likely to generate mass protests by fundamentalists.
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