Author: Our Special Correspondent
Publication: The Hindu
Date: November 29, 2003
URL: http://www.hindu.com/2003/11/29/stories/2003112905441100.htm
The West Bengal Government has banned
Dwikhandita, the recent autobiographical book by the controversial Bangladeshi
author in exile, Taslima Nasreen, for saying it contained matter which
could incite "enmity between different groups on grounds of religion''.
An order has been issued for seizing all copies of the book.
The Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee,
said the book had been proscribed and a ban imposed on its printing. He
feared that it had the potential to foment communal discord by those having
vested interests.
The Kolkata police had seized about
3,000 copies of the book from its local publisher and raids would continue
till all existing copies were impounded, Somen Mitra, DC DD-I, Kolkata
police, told The Hindu today.
The order to ban the book states
that it contains matters on pages 49 and 50 which could "promote enmity,
ill-will and hatred between different groups on grounds of religion, punishable
under Section 153A of the Indian Penal Code.''
"Therefore, in exercise of powers
conferred by Section 95 of the Criminal Procedure Code, it has been declared
that with immediate effect every copy [of the book], documents containing
copies, reprints and extracts be forfeited.'' The book has been mired in
controversy ever since its publication. The Calcutta High Court had stopped
the sale of the book for a fortnight since November 18 on a petition by
Syed Hasmat Jalal who had filed a defamation suit against the author.
Some Muslim intellectuals, including
the well-known author, Syed Mustafa Siraj, had a few days ago petitioned
the West Bengal Government to confiscate the book.
He welcomed the decision of the
State Government to ban the book "in the interest of amity and communal
harmony,'' adding that "like Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses, Ms. Nasreen's
book is condemnable.''
An earlier book by Ms. Nasreen titled
Lajja had been proscribed by the Bangladesh Government in 1993.
