The
art of political dissent is big business in India. Taslima’s book
“Duikhandhito” was published in 2002 but there werent any violent protests for
so many years bar the odd tamasha ; take the case of the song in Aja Nachh Le -
Dhak Dhak queen Madhuri’s comeback movie.. For three months prior to the
release of the movie the song with the allegedly offending verse blared out
over loudspeakers and in discos all over the land, no-one had any problems..
but come the day of the release of the movie there was such humbug hungama
orchestrated by politicians of all hue, it left you wondering what the tamasha
was all about.. in days of yore it would be ignored.. but this is the India of
the 21st Century where credence is given even to the most illogical and
inane…that is our tragedy…so “India shining” is actually a cruel metaphor.. But
coming back to Taslima , there wasent any threat to her life either of such
earthshattering proportions that the government of the state where she was
ensconsed comfortably for over so many years were forced to take action. So the
question that automatically comes to mind to any rational being would be, why
now ?? the answer it seems is obvious.
Has
Taslima been sacrificed at the alter of political expediency ? just as the
public wanted a figure to target their ire in the Rizwanur Rehman case to which
the media served up Gyanwant Singh, IPS, in Taslima’s case the council of
comrades in alimuddin street threw Taslima at the community most affected by
the pogrom of nandigram. The demographic profile of nandigram being
overwhelmingly muslim, the comrades seemingly were desperate to give them a sop
withou appearing to do so. So the ghost of Taslima was conjured out of the
proverbial magic hat in order to divert attention from the november 14th
incidents in nandigram. Never mind if Taslima was not even remotely connected
with nandigram, never mind if she was a guest of the Indian Government, never
mind if it was the state governments duty to protect her. in the minds of the
“wise men” of alimuddin street Taslima was expendable, a small price to pay in
exchange for the supposed gains in the ensuing panchayat elections. the fact
that rabble rousers like mamta bannerjee and the Italian lady who occupies 10
Janpath, even the redoubtable Brinda Karat, high priestess of the Left, chose
to keep silent at the wanton harassment and complete disregard of human rights
by the state government and its police in forcing Taslima out of the state post
haste, shows the utter contempt the mainstream political parties have for the
common sense of their electorate. Do they think the masses are so gullible as
to accept Taslimas extradition from West Bengal as a sop for the happenings in
nandigram. obviuosly they do. so mamta banneree may publicly cry hoarse over
alleged CPM mob violence in nandigram ( forgetting her own role there) and
routinely demand Buddhadeb Babu’s resignation (so whats new !!! -yawn) but
privately it was literally “nod nod, wink wink” with the comrades on the
obnoxious treatment meted out to Taslima Nasreen. this is what you call running
with the hare and hunting with the hounds.. And what of the left ??…always
uneasy bedfellows with the pseudo secular congress(Italia), it seems the party
with the “real” claim to being different was happy to lose its secular tag for
the sake of a few votes…when you sup at the table with the devil you are more
than likely to pick up some mannerisms of the host. With the BJP’s avowed
belief in majorityism and the congress equally guilty of minority appeasement
of the worst kind, therein lies the rub and the root cause of the problem that
bedevills our nation state for the last 60 years. The comrades were, if nothing
else seen to be above such pretensions. The Left whose calling card on the
national scene was their identity of being “secular” and a party with a
difference , have seemingly lost it over these last few months. in hindi there
is a saying “Kharboozey ko dekh kar Kharbooza rang badalta hai..” in the “blow
hot blow cold” alliance with their congress friends, where the sole agenda is
to keep the “communal” Bjp out, the comrades have adopted the role of the
chameleon that changes its colour to go with the situation.
Never
mind if there are red faces in the ranks of the left allies at the treatment
meted out to Taslima.. After all there are some “bhadralok” still left in
Bengal, even if they obviously arent many in alimuddin street. So the
“Bhadralok” CM - Buddha Babu - a man of letters himself was promptly made to
shut up by the CPM High command on the case Taslima while the party machinary
(read radicals like Biman Bose) charted their unfortunate course. So even while
Budhha Babu kept the peace on Taslima, it was the shadowy hand of Biman bose
and his co-horts who saw to it Kolkata was witness to the most shameful display
of mob violence on its streets, with the grander design of taking the heat of
nandigram and telling its muslim votebank, that everything was well after all.
Diverting the issue to Taslima would give the beleagured left time to clean up
their act in nandigram. So much so even after the Union Government made it
amply clear that Taslima was welcome to stay in the country of her exile the
comrades were unrelenting - Taslima could not come back to Kolkata.. of couse
cleverly guised in the cloak of doublespeak by putting the onus n the centre
for deciding where Taslima should stay..never mind if the Lady , a Bengali by
birth and mother tongue pined to be back in kolkata where she could be with
“her people”..
Secular
civil common sense was offended, nay appalled. the State had seemingly kowtowed
in the most abject manner to rabid fundamentalism, stoking fires that bode ill
for West Bengal, a State with an envious record post independence in communal
harmony…furious debate was conducted in all the studios of the TV Channels -
Was freedom of speech absolute ??… the country got to see and hear the rabidly
communal and aggressive intonations of the likes of Syed Shahabuddin, Asaduddin
Owaisi and Madani…As an Indian, you had to hang your head in shame…this was
supposed to be the India of the 21st century, ? where we were pandering to
obscure fundamentalists and allowing them to grab centre stage… where the state
was duty bound to protect its citizen, but instead was a helpless silent
bystander in the face of a rabid communal mob of a minuscule few…And having let
the communal genie of the bag, the state watched in silence as more rabid
elements, like Siddique Choudhury of the mili council emboldened by the state
inaction, sought to challenge the statement of the External Affairs minister in
Parliament on Taslima’s stay in India, by openly avowing that Taslima would not
be allowed to enter Kolkata. Since when did the reds allow rabid elements to
dictate state policy in their land.
And
what of Taslima..by all accounts she is not the greatest of writers. Its
doubtful she would ever win the booker prize, let alone be nominated for
one…she doesn’t even lay claim to being an expert exponent on Islam…she herself
has said that she writes about oppressed women and human rights for
women…obviously her milieu is Bangladesh, where the demographic fabric of the
society that forms the backdrop of her essays is overwhelming muslim. Is it
wrong for a woman to write of her rights and the rights of her sisters…in the
eyes of the maulvis (Owaisi calls it “practising Mussalman”) it is wrong to
challenge what they have ordained to themselves… If you dislike what Taslima
writes, don’t read her, put her books down to run of the mill madness colored
with a vague sense of despair..but this is secular india not a muslim state…who
gave the fundamentalists the right to decide who should stay or not stay in
India…The Tragedy of Taslima Nasreen is that she has chosen for her “home “ –
an India where the state is increasingly tolerant of fascist forces and the
abdication of fundamental rights of civil society…Where are you Brinda Karat -
champion of women in distress, high priestess of the left - Why are you silent
at the ill treatment of a sister, a fellow rationalist and champion of
oppressed women’s rights… or have you also sacrificed your principles to the
high alter of political expediency like your fellow comrades
