The Times of India
20 Mar, 2007
Editorial
It is important that the government punishes
the leaders of the obscure outfit that has put
a price for Taslima Nasreen's life.
A few months ago, when a UP minister announced
a bounty on the Danish cartoonists who were
accused of insulting the Prophet, we argued
in these columns that the minister had committed
a criminal offence and should be arrested.
But the state did not act as Yakoob Qureshi
basked in the glory of his threat to emerge
as yet another spokesperson for social conservatism.
It is possible that the leaders of the All India
Ibtehad Council (AIIC), the body that has called
for the head of the Bangladeshi writer, also
nourishes political ambitions.
Demagoguery and goondaism pay in Indian politics.
However, these considerations should not prevent
the government from acting. The threat to Taslima
should be viewed as an incitement to murder.
It is a challenge to the Indian state which
is bound by the Constitution to preserve law
and order. Taslima, who had to flee her country
following death threats, is currently living
in India.
There is talk of India giving Taslima citizenship.
The bounty offer may be to pre-empt a decision
in her favour.
What has emboldened fringe groups like the AIIC
and politicians like Qureshi is the inaction
on the part of the state against open challenges
to civil rights.
The tendency is not limited to any particular
community or group. Over the years, the number
of people proscribed by fundamentalism has been
on the rise.
Outfits like the Bajrang Dal, which want to
break inter-religious marriages and ban films
like Parzania, reflect the same illiberal sentiment
expressed by the AIIC.
In fact, the conservative opinion among Hindus
and Muslims converges in its hostility to people
like Taslima.
A woman exposing social hypocrisies is a threat
not just to her own religion, but to conservatives
in every religion.
Religious conservatism does not restrict itself
to religious rights, but influences social attitudes
to other civil rights.
The social mindset retreats further into conservatism
when the threat to violence begins to dictate
the discourse.
Space is denied to individuals who would want
to dissent or uphold the right to dissent. The
Bajrangis and Qureshis are the face of an ugly
conservatism that a democracy should be wary
of.
The state should not balk at such threats, nor
should anyone who cherishes the freedom of speech.
o o o
MUSLIM GROUP SETS RS 5 LAKH ON TASLIMA
Manjari Mishra
The Times of India
18 Mar, 2007
[ 17 Mar, 2007 0237hrs IST TIMES NEWS NETWORK
]
LUCKNOW: Nearly seven months after UP minister
Haji Yakoob Qureshi raised a storm by announcing
a reward on the heads of two Danish cartoonists
for lampooning the Prophet, a little-known conservative
Muslim group on Friday offered a Rs 5 lakh bounty
for the head of controversial Bangladeshi author
Taslima Nasreen.
President of the All India Ibtehad Council,
Taqi Raza Khan ordered the elimination (qatal)
of the exiled novelist. The decision, he said,
had full approval of All India Muslim Personal
Law Board (Jadid), a splinter group set up four
years ago in Bareilly. Jadid means new.
Khan said he had declared a reward of Rs 5 lakh
for anyone who killed the "notorious woman".
He claimed a core body of the board comprising
150 ulema, lawyers, retired IPS officers, doctors
and professors had already passed a resolution
on Thursday to oust Nasreen from India. Khan
enjoys wide support among the Barelvi sect and
the issue is likely to generate heat in coming
days, especially with assembly elections round
the corner, observers said.
Would the decision be reconsidered? Only if
"woh mafi mangey, apni sari kitabein jalaye,
aur tauba kare (she apologises, burns her books
and leaves)," Khan said.
What has Nasreen done to ruffle this body? "Yeh
aurat behad badzuban hai, aur Shariat par hamla
karti rahi hai (this woman has a vicious tongue
and has been attacking the Shariat)," said
Khan.
"We have been hearing that the Indian government
is thinking of granting her citizenship. The
idea is repugnant to all God-fearing Muslims.
If the government does not drive her out within
10 days, all hell will break lose."
