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Monday, January 4, 2010

Terror of Fatwa

BY LB THAPA

Writing is not everybody’s cup of tea. It is difficult. It becomes even more difficult when someone tries to write about the truth. So, truth is always bitter.
It is so bitter that many people can’t digest it. Those who are incapable of digesting the truth, they always stand against it under the pretext of false alibis.

How difficult is writing about the truth is evident by the ever increasing incidents of abduction, torture, intimidation and sometimes even brutal murders of writers and journalists across the world. A good book may give immense satisfaction and pleasure to readers, but it is also possible that the same book can make the author(s) run for all his/her life! If this is not true then why today well known writers like Salman Rushdie and Taslima Nasrin live like fugitives. The lives of these two writers turned hell as soon as high ranking Muslim religious leaders issued ‘Fatwa’ (death sentence) upon them.

Salman Rushdie, born into a middle class Muslim family in Bombay, India, began writing from 1964. In his early struggling years, he wrote extensively in various Pakistani print media including radio and televisions. In later years, he lived in Iran where he wrote “Satanic Verses”. The book was published in 1989 and it was hailed all over the world. The book also won ‘Whitbread Award’ in 1988. But, then Iranian religious leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini came upon heavily and condemned the book. He said the book expressed disapproval of the teachings of Koran, the holy book of Muslims. In a fit of pique, he issued Fatwa against Salman Rushdie. The price of his head was declared one million US dollars, which was doubled in 1997. This was really an unreasonably a harsh and ridiculous punishment for an honest and dedicated writer like Rushdie. As a result of Fatwa, his life came under immense jeopardy. Muslim religious fanatics turned mad for his blood. Much frightened Rushdie had no other option left for him but to leave Iran. He left Iran to settle down in England, under intense police protection.

Similarly, Taslima Nasrin, a female writer from Bangladesh has got a similar story to tell about. She was born into a small village called Maimansing, Bangladesh.

She was a very bright student right from her early school days. She had completed her MBBS degree at the age of just 22. Along with her medical practice, she had immensely nurtured her interest in literature. She began writing for several Bangladeshi newspapers, journals and magazines. Barely reaching at her 30s, she had already carved a niche for herself as a well-known female poet and writer in her country. She wrote her famous book Lajja (Shame). The book was published in 1993. In this book, she had presented a detailed account of cruelty meted out to Hindus by the Bangla-Muslims in riots. The riots were sparked off when Hindu extremists demolished a controversial structure of ‘Babri Masjid’ in Ayodhya, India. But, Muslim Mujahidddins declared the book dishonored the teachings of Islam. Consequently, the book was banned and several copies of the book were torched across the country. As it was inevitable, high ranking Muslim religious leaders declared a ‘Fatwa’ against her in 1994. Her passport and other documents were ceased. Thereafter all possible tactics were applied so that she could not leave the country. But international human rights organizations, Amnesty International and European Union played an important role for her safe escape to Sweden. Ever since 1994, she has been living in Europe.
In 1998 her mother died of cancer in Bangladesh, but due to security reason, she could not visit Bangladesh to see her mother. For this she always regrets. A few years later, she secretly came to meet her family members in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, she changed her mind and decided to face all charges against her in the law courts, but a powerful faction of an Islamic organization, Jamat-Ul-Mujahiddin, demanded Nasrin to be prosecuted under the Islamic law. This means a sure death penalty to her. Thus, she once again fled to Sweden as her life came under imminent threat.
Muslim religious leaders accuse her of blasphemy and not obeying the Koran. On top, she wrote all against the Koran, they blame. Some critics say that the book Lajja has freely eulogized Hindus and condemned Muslims.

But, Nasrin has refused this allegation of critics. She had defended it and said that the book was the result of the true account of her experience.

Muslim organizations, especially Jamat-Ul-Mujahiddin, put extreme pressure on the Bangladesh government for her extradition and punish her. Anyway she is a very bold lady so is Salman Rushdie. Defying the fatwa, frequently these authors go for tours, give lectures and share their experiences with the people of all walks of life. A few years ago, Taslima Nasrin had visited India, but she did not visit Bangladesh, her motherland.

We can easily feel Taslima’s concern for women and of course for her country.
She has warned Bangladesh for not coming under the influence of stubborn, religious fanatics, which will lead the country nowhere. She accuses that today, under the influence of increasing degree of religious sentiments; Bangladesh has become a safe haven for religious extremists, which help only producing Mujahiddins in the country. In a nutshell, these people just want to establish a Taleban type of rule in the country.

Well, after the publication of Satanic Verses, Salman Rushdie has not written anything that could raise the eyebrows of Muslim religious leaders; whereas Taslima has not stopped unleashing the salvo of her frustrations and anger through various forms of creative writings. She writes what she feels good as a woman and as a writer.
At last but not the least let’s not forget to note that change is an inevitable course of nature. Anything that does not change with the pace of time is dead like a rock. Hence, sooner we learn to live ourselves with the pace of time, the better it is. And, as far as writers like Taslima Nasrin and Salman Rushdie are concerned, they will never acquiesce in and Fatwa can’t bare them from writing.

(This article was published on 4th May 2006 in People's Review Weekly. The author wrote this article from Beirut, Lebanon)

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