No room for Taslima

18 Nov 2008

The secular establishment has let down Taslima Nasreen again. She was first hounded out from her adopted city of Kolkata following demonstrations against her by a Muslim group.

The Left Front government was so eager at the time to placate the minority community that it didn’t bother to consider whether kowtowing to a demand based on bigotry was in accordance with either Marxism or secularism. The Bangladeshi author was first flown to Jaipur, but since refuge in a BJP-ruled state was embarrassing for both the communists and the Centre, she was brought back to Delhi, but only to be kept under virtual house arrest. Pranab Mukherjee and Priya Ranjan Das Munshi, both of whom belong to West Bengal, also warned her to be careful of what she says and writes.

Now, she has to pack her bags again because, according to her, the Centre gave her a resident permit for six months with the “secret condition” that she must leave the country at the expiry of the term.

It may not be too fanciful to link the denial of hospitality to the controversial writer to the proximity of a series of assembly polls which are to be followed after a few months by the general election. At a time like this when the Congress is not too sure of its fate, it evidently thought it prudent not to offend the Muslims in any way even if its concept of catering to their sensitiveness means pandering to the fundamentalists among them. Since this has been the pattern of the party’s conduct ever since the ban on Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, it is hardly surprising that it is following the line of least resistance yet again. But what is curious is that the Left, too, hasn’t demurred, apparently because it also wants to play safe, notwithstanding all its protestations about opposing retrogressive forces. So, when the comrades say that their fight is against imperialism and communalism, they are not referring to the Islamic version. The Congress’s pusillanimity in the matter of standing up for artistic freedom is essentially no different from its failure to act against the vandalism of Raj Thackeray now and of his uncle in an earlier period. The cowardice stems from a lack of principles and the fear of alienating an identifiable group of voters.

It will be laughable, therefore, if the Congress and the Left claim to be champions of secularism during the election campaign.