The indomitable Taslima Nazreen
CPM ruled West Bengal Government has shamelessly whisked away Taslima Nazreen from Kolkatta and sent her to Rajasthan, a BJP-ruled state! Reason: with crucial panchayat elections due in a few months and the state’s 27 per cent Muslims certain to play a deciding role, the CPM is simply not in a position to take organizations like the Jamait-e-Ulema Hind and Mili Ittehad Parishad, who want Ms. Nazreen leave West Bengal for her liberal views on Islam, lightly.
Burkha Dutt, Managing Editor, NDTV-24/7 has made these observations in the Hindustan Times op-ed:-
As ironies go, it probably doesn’t get any better than this. A panic-stricken Marxist government bundling up a feminist Muslim writer in the swathes of a protective black burqa and parceling her off to a state ruled by the BJP – a party that the Left would otherwise have you believe is full of religious bigots.
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Does a twisted notion of secularism make us respond to censorship differently when it applies to the Hindu majority? We are quick to condemn the lunatics who wield trishuls and wear saffron. But isn’t it time that the skull-capped and long-bearded version of fanaticism and hooliganism receives our contempt in exactly the same measure?Creative freedom cannot be applied selectively Oth . erwise, our self-image of being an open and proud democracy will need another look in the mirror.
Sane observations indeed. But for politicians, vote bank mathematics alone count, country or values go to hell!
