Author: Editorial
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: November 26, 2007
It failed to protect Taslima Nasreen
West Bengal's image as a secular and liberal
State has taken a severe beating with the CPI(M) forcing dissident Bangladeshi
writer Taslima Nasreen to leave Kolkata simply because fanatical hooligans
who ran riot in central Kolkata last Wednesday willed it so. This is a double
whammy. First came Nandigram where the CPI(M)'s armed brigands let loose murder
and mayhem to recapture territory from comrades-turned-rebels opposed to Chief
Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee's smash-and-grab industrial policy designed
to promote crony capitalism. As if that were not bad enough, hot on its heels
came Wednesday's riot and the subsequent forced expulsion of Ms Nasreen. Kolkata,
which till now has taken pride in being different from India's philistine
cities, can only hang its head in shame. At least there was some resistance
to CPI(M) thuggery in Nandigram; in Kolkata there has been no more than a
whispered protest against the manner in which a hapless woman has been hounded
out because the Marxists are scared of losing the support of Islamists. Yes,
there have been stray voices of contemporary writers protesting against Ms
Nasreen's forced departure, but there have been sly suggestions by apparatchiks
masquerading as 'liberal intellectuals', who do not tire of pointing their
soiled fingers at others, that the distraught writer may have left the city
of her own accord. As for the State's playwright Chief Minister who also claims
to be a poet, he has maintained a stunning silence which speaks volumes about
both his political conviction and intellectual integrity. Mr Bhattacharjee,
during the time he spent in political wilderness after resigning from Mr Jyoti
Basu's Government, penned a play which he evocatively titled Dusshomoy, or
'Bad Times'. These are indeed bad times for the State.
Interestingly enough, Mr Bhattacharjee's Government
decided to pack off Ms Nasreen to a BJP-ruled State, Rajasthan, although his
party has been tireless in abusing the BJP for not being secular, democratic,
tolerant and liberal. It is also a telling comment that when the Rajasthan
Government contacted the Left Front regime, the latter refused to countenance
any thought of Ms Nasreen returning to Kolkata. Two points rise here. First,
Ms Nasreen is in India on the strength of a visa issued by the Union Government.
She is at liberty to visit any place and stay anywhere of her choice. By forcibly
putting her on a flight out of Kolkata, the West Bengal Government has not
only abridged Ms Nasreen's rights and liberty, but also thumbed its nose at
the authority of the Union Government. Second, by abjectly surrendering to
fanatics and their illegitimate demand, the Marxists have set a dangerous
precedent whose consequences will have to be borne by people across the country.
The West Bengal Home Secretary's tame statement on Saturday evening that Ms
Nasreen is free to return to Kolkata and that she will be provided with adequate
security carries no credibility, not least because the CPI(M) has made no
such offer. Till such time Ms Nasreen decides her next move, it is the responsibility
of the Union Government to ensure no harm comes her way and to keep the wolves
baying for her blood at bay. Any lapse will only compound the crime committed
by the CPI(M) and its cohorts.
