[Fwd: (en) Women's Rights Activist in Danger]
Graeme Bacque (gbacque@idirect.com)
Fri, 23 Oct 1998 22:43:28 -0700
-------- Original Message --------
Date: Fri, 23 Oct 1998 22:14:23 -0400 (EDT)
From: pj <pj@tao.ca>
To: A-infos@tao.ca
Subject: (en) Women's Rights Activist in Danger
________________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
http://www.ainfos.ca/
________________________________________________
Taslima Nasrin Is In danger
Once more Taslima Nasrin, the author of the controversial book "Shame"
and
the outspoken activist of women's rights is in danger of execution by
both
Bangladeshi execution squads, and by reactionary Muslim thugs.
Taslima, once before, fled her home country in August 1994 in fear of
her
life. She was tried in absence on charges of "blasphemy against Islam"
and
was condemned by court of law. Now that she has returned to Bangladesh,
to
visit her ailing mother, both the court and reactionary thugs are
threatening her.
What horrible crime has she committed to deserve the death penalty? Her
"crime" is that she has spoken against the abuses women suffer under
Islamic
rule; she has exposed some of the atrocities inflicted against women by
fanatic believers in Islam and that she has defended women's rights.
Thus,
according to Islam, death is "the just" punishment for such apostates.
What awaits Taslima is an example of what thousands of women in Iran,
Afghanistan, Algeria, Bangladesh, and even women in Islamic communities
in
the heart of Europe among fanatic Muslim families suffer every day.
Taslima
symbolizes those women who stand up against reactionary Islamic rules
and
against silent slavery of women.
It is the responsibility of any freedom loving and progressive human
being
to side with Taslima Nasrin and to oppose these medieval, backward rules
and
customs that ruin the lives of millions of women. To defend Taslima's
life
and dignity is the responsibility of any progressive person and
organization
who believes in equality and freedom.
Join the campaign for defense of Taslima Nasrin! Let us join forces and
demand:
The withdrawal of the court injunction for Taslima Nasrin's arrest;
The Bangladesh government to guarantee the safety of Taslima Nasrin and
her
mother while they are in the country;
The Bangladesh government to provide a safe exit for Taslima and her
mother
to leave the country.
Worker-communist Party of Iran- Organization Abroad
October 19, 1998
S T O P P R E S S :
To: kateb@aviva.org
From: Taslima Nasrin
30.9.98
'Dear friends,
I was desperate to see my mother who is dying. Even though the
government did not want me to go to Bangladesh, I went. Soon after
my coming, the news broke that I had arrived. The religious
fundamentalists immediately started their protests. They are
demanding my execution by hanging. More or less every day
thousands are out in the streets, making demonstrations and
processions against me. In the meantime an old case emerged which
was filed 4 years ago for my book Nirbachito Columns,
on the charge of hurting the religious feeling of the people. The
court issued an arrest warrant against me and ordered the seizing
of my property. This case in non-bailable. I am in hiding now,
if I am arrested I will be put in prison. If I still try to go to
court for bail, nothing is safe for me.
On the 4th of October the fundamentalists will block the
Home ministry and demand my death. They have already created
a general strike in a city called Sylhet. The fundamentalists in
Bangladesh have planned more future actions such as a Long
March and a nation-wide general strike to paralyze the whole
country. If the government fail to arrest and hang me, then the
fundamentalists have declared that they must kill me.
So, in this desperate situation, being with my sick mother,
I need protection. If the democratic governments of the world
request the Bangladesh government to ensure my security, drop
the case issued against me and will allow me to leave the country
when I want in order to save my life, it would be a great comfort
to me.
Thank you for your support and solidarity.
Taslima Nasrin '
----------------
Taslima Nasrin (b. 1962)
Things Cheaply Had
LINKS
OneWorld Online
http://oneworld.org
BIOGRAPHY
Taslima Nasrin (b. 1962) Born and educated in Mymensingh, Bangladesh,
Nasrin
began writing poetry in her childhood, her earliest works appearing in a
literary journal edited by her eldest brother. Following in the
footsteps of
her doctor-father, she earned a degree in medicine from Mymensingh
Medical
College and for a few years practiced as a government doctor. Her study
of
modern science, Nasrin has written, made me a rationalist." While
practicing
medicine, she continued her writing, publishing poems and novels. These
works, along with the essays she wrote as a syndicated columnist in
Bangladesh, earned her a number of important literary prizes in 1992 and
1993. However, her rationalism and her feminism, as well as her 1993
novel
Shame, enraged Muslim
fundamentalists. Forced into hiding by death threats, Nasrin fled to
Europe in 1994, where she now lives in exile. In an essay titled
"Women's Rights," Nasrin writes, "My poetry, my prose, my entire output
expresses the deprivation of women who have been exploited for
centuries....My expression is loud and for that crime I am now out of my
country. Though I have come to the West legally, with the government's
permission, I do not know when I shall be able to return....Even now the
fundamentalists demand my death by hanging in public."
----------
Taslima Nasrin-Manushi column-excerpt from The Nation
Taslima Nasrin recently wrote a column in the Indian feminist
magazine 'Manushi.' In the latest issue of 'The Nation'
( October 3, 1994) an excerpt from that column appeared under
the caption "Women and Cattle." I reproduce the excerpt below.
" ' A lucky man's wife dies; an unlucky man's cattle die '
is an old proverb. It remains a commonplace on the threshold
of the twentyfirst century. If your wife dies, you can get
another wife. But if you lose cattle, you do not get free
cattle. For new cattle you have to pay hard cash, whereas
a new wife brings some cash. You can neglect your wife,
but you should never neglect your cattle. No wonder,
cattle are more valuable than a wife. These days a
Bangladeshi girl is bartered off for six head of cattle
smuggled in from India. Many are shocked at such news.
I am merely surprised. I cannot but rejoice at the rare
good fortune of getting six head cattle in exchange for
a single girl. It is welcome news, because whoever gets
the six head of cattle is making a bigger profit.
Six hefty cattle from India are certainly more attractive,
more productive and more valuable than an undersized
Bangladeshi girl. I think they are rather getting cheated
taking a girl in exchange. Where women are not worth two bits,
they have given women honor by giving six head of cattle
in exchange. I express my gratitude to these cattle-runners.
Our gentlemanly society does not pay any price for women.
It kills the girl-child in the womb. On the other hand,
the smuggler is giving six whole animals in exchange
for one - a poor hapeless girl, at that! They will put her
in the flesh trade. So what? Are not respectable women
being used at the pleasure of respectable men? This is not
a new deceit in a different world. Our respectable women
are given away free, whereas the outcast woman fetches
half a dozen cattle. It would indeed be nice if this raises the
price of women a little."
Taslima Nasrin
-------------
SHAME by Taslima Nasrin (Her Book)
Prometheus 1997; $25.95 hardcover 302 pp; ISBN 1-57392-165-3
Highly Recommended
In 1992, Hindu fundamentalists in India destroyed a 450-year-old Muslim
temple. The incident sparked religious rioting in Pakistan, India, and
Bangladesh, which is where this novel takes place. It tells the story of
the
Dutta family, part of the Hindu minority in Bangladesh. Muslim
fundamentalists use the mosque destruction as an excuse to go on a
rampage
against Hindus, including looting of homes and shops, destruction of
Hindu
temples, rapes, and disappearances, with the intention of turning
Bangladesh
from mostly Muslim to totally Muslim. The anti-Hindu violence is carried
out
with the police and government not just looking the other way, but
usually
involved.
This book was first published in India, then found its way to
Bangladesh, the author's homeland, where the government and citizens got
extremely enraged. What ensued were three days of bloody riots, a
nationwide
general strike, and the government putting a price on the author's
head--because of this book. What made things worse is that Nasrin, a
medical
doctor forced to flee to Sweden, is a Muslim who was saying sympathetic
things about Hindus.
To put it mildly, this book is highly recommended.
Reviewed by Paul Lappen 6/19/98
Order this book from Amazon.com Books
------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Campaign for PEN Honorary Member Taslima Nasreen
During 1995, PEN Honorary Member Taslima Nasreen continued to live in
Europe, having fled Bangladesh in August 1994 in fear for her life. The
charges against her have not been dropped, however. She is charged under
Section 295A of Bangladesh's Penal Code for having "deliberately and
maliciously outraged the religious sentiments of a class of citizens."
Nasreen has written numerous books criticizing Muslim extremism and
discrimination against women. Her collection The Game in Reverse was
published by George Braziller (New York) in September 1995. Her
controversial book Laijja ("Shame"), released in February 1993, gave
rise to
demonstrations and death threats. A bounty was placed on Nasreen's head,
and
the Bangladeshi government provided her with police protection.
In June 1994, extremist groups erupted over Nasreen again, this time
because of statements Nasreen was said to have made in an interview with
an
Indian journalist working for a Calcutta-based newspaper, The Statesman.
Nasreen objected to the charges, saying that she had not called for a
revision to the Koran, as demonstrators were claiming, but to the
shari'a
law with respect to the guidance it gave regarding the treatment of
women.
Soon thereafter, on June 4, as the demonstrations mounted and religious
elements threatened to topple the government, the ruling authorities
issued
a warrant for Nasreen's arrest, on charges of "deliberately and
maliciously
outraging the religious feelings of Muslims" under article 295a of the
penal
code. Nasreen went into hiding.
PEN's work on behalf of Nasreen began in 1993, after she received the
first
death threats. The organization had sucessfully called for her passport
to
be reinstated after it had been confiscated, allowing her to travel
abroad.
The campaign was led by PEN member and novelist Meredith Tax. After
Nasreen
went into hiding, Tax remained one of Nasreen's primary resorts in the
West,
and the only Westerner Nasreen trusted enough to stay in direct contact
with
throughout her period in hiding.
The result of PEN's efforts and those of other groups and those of her
Bangladeshi lawyers was that Nasreen was finally given adequate
protection so that she could appear before the High Court in Dhaka. She
was
granted unconditional bail and allowed to leave the country,
whereupon she made her way to Stockholm, where the Swedish Center of
International PEN had invited her to stay. Today, she continues to live
in
Europe but stresses that she hopes to return to Bangladesh one day.
********
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