NDTV.com: Taslima issue exposes politicians' hypocrisy

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Taslima issue exposes politicians' hypocrisy

Swati Maheshwari

Friday, August 10, 2007, (New Delhi)

The attack on exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen has exposed deep-rooted hypocrisy with regard to fundamentalist protests against creative freedom in India.

Political condemnation has been not as vocal against the Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's (MIM) attack on Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen.

Though she stays in exile from her country in Kolkata, even the Left government had banned one of her books.

Fundamentalism at its worst, ironically elected representatives of India's democracy saying they may be MLAs but are Muslims first.

Three months ago a fine arts student in Baroda was jailed and his works vandalized by Sangh Parivar activists for painting what they saw as blasphemous images of Hindu deities.

But here's the difference, the Baroda incident led a nation wide outpouring of outrage at this moral policing by Hindu fundamentalists, as busloads of human rights activists and celebrities converged at the MS University in Baroda to support the student.

In Taslima's case the activists are either yet to mobilise support for the beleaguered writer and protest against similar attempts at censorship by Muslim activists or don't feel as strongly as they did for the Baroda student.

Brazenly unapologetic

A day after the MIM an ally of the UPA has been brazenly unapologetic about its attack and the MLAs have been let out on bail in what seems to be tacit support of the state government.

The Congress has been guarded in its reaction uncertain about how strongly they should condemn the act.

"Writers have other subjects to write. Why just religion?" asked Ghulam Nabi Azad, Chief Minister, Jammu & Kashmir.

And the Samajwadi party has gone a step further saying the MLAs were right, not surprising in a party where a minister announced a Rs 50 crore fatwa against a Danish cartoonist for allegedly blasphemous cartoons of Prophet Mohammed.

"I will ask the government to get her visa revoked. She should be thrown out of the country," said Shahid Aqla, Samajwadi Party.

Many would see this as political doublespeak on issues of freedom of speech and expression but perhaps no one understands the need to clamp down on Muslim radicals better than the Muslim community itself.

"Those who think that their action is justified because she vilified Islam have actually done more harm," said Shabana Azmi, actor.

Action against perpetrators of such attacks would perhaps set the record straight about secularism, not just lip service to it.

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User Comments [ +Comment on the story ]

Posted By vivek kaul-Monday, August 13, 2007

if this happened in gujarat then whole LOT of SO CALLED HUMAN RIGHT ACTIVIST / politician /NGO'S asked PRESIDENT TO REMOVE MR. MODI AS CHEIF MINISTER AND IMPOSE PRESIDENT RULE..

Posted By goutam-Monday, August 13, 2007

police lodge complaint against Taslimaleaving those MLAs, what says our TEESTABAI,Barkha madam or rajdeepsir?

Posted By Jonathan-Monday, August 13, 2007

It is not the first case of double standards. There are always two pseudo secular sects present in India and no single secular person.

Posted By vinay-Monday, August 13, 2007

Well said !! Atleast someone in the media pointed to the hipocracy of the so called Freedom Rights activists. Taslima has not done any harm, why target her. About MLA's i think interests come in this order Personal & Party, Country & Religion is just used from time to time for the benefit of Personal interests only, never for there benefits itslf.

Posted By modi-Monday, August 13, 2007

in my opinion the current government should give warning to MIM leaders because they did wrong by not killing her when she deserved that .

Posted By sampath-Monday, August 13, 2007

What MIM leaders did is wrong they should not have thrown the flowers on her they should have killed her and others who r supporting her.

Posted By sujatha-Monday, August 13, 2007

Muslim vote banks are required. Who cares about the ordinary Hindu? Social activism is applicable only for Hindus. When it comes to muslims, it is religion first and the rest later. The Hindu will soon become a jew in Hitler's Germany thanx to the likes of the Congress and Mulayam Singh.

Posted By Nusrat Ali (ex-muslim)-Sunday, August 12, 2007

We all rationalists,humanists ,thinkers,writers,and politicians are closing our eyes on the coming dangers from an ideaology called Islam and its Mien Campf ,in every country.

Posted By V.Shankar-Sunday, August 12, 2007

The most interesting development is that the Police have filed a case against Ms Taslima and not on the attackers. Our human right activists such as Teesta Setlvad, Kushwant Singh as well as politicians such as Sonia Gandhi and Priyaranjan das Munshi remain mute spectators. What a degeneration of public morals? Shankar

Posted By vikash-Sunday, August 12, 2007

These are double standards indeed. Poor India.