I am Like the Living Dead!- Taslima Nasreen

I am Like the Living Dead!
Taslima Nasreen
Where am I? I am certain no one will believe me if I say I have no answer to this apparently straightforward question. They may believe what they wish, but the truth is I just do not know. I do not even know how I am. Sometimes I even appear to forget my own existence. I am like the living dead: benumbed; robbed of the pleasure of existence and experience; unable to move beyond the claustrophobic confines of my room. Day and night, night and day.
This did not begin the other day when I was bundled out of Kolkata. This has been going on for a while. It is like a slow and lingering death, like sipping delicately from a cupful of slow-acting poison that is gradually killing all my faculties. This is a conspiracy to murder my essence, my being, once so courageous, so brave, so dynamic, so playful. I realize what is going on around me but am utterly helpless, despite my best efforts, to wage a battle on my own behalf.
I ask myself: what heinous crime have I committed? Why am I here, in this singularly unenviable position? What sort of life is this where I can neither cross my own threshold, nor know the joys of human company? I am being persecuted because it was felt that the right of others to express their opinions was more legitimate than mine. To disobey the powers that be is to court public crucifixion. Yes, I am a victim of this new crucifixion: is the nation not a witness to my suffering? Does the nation not witness my immense suffering, the death of my hopes, aspirations, and desires?
How can I — a powerless and unprotected individual — battle brute force? Come what may, though, I cannot take recourse to untruth. What have I to offer but love and compassion? I have never wished ill of anybody. Call me romantic, but I dream of a world of harmonious coexistence free from the shackles of hatred and strife. In the way that they used hatred to rip out my words, I would like to use compassion and love to rip the hatred out of them.
Certainly, I am enough of a realist to acknowledge that strife, hatred, cruelty, and barbarism are integral elements of the human condition. This will not change; such is the way of the world. I am an utterly insignificant creature: how can I change all this? Yet, I had imagined Bengal would be different. I had thought the madness of her people was temporary. I had thought that the Bengal I loved so passionately would never forsake me. She did.
Exiled from Bangladesh, I wandered around the world for many years like a lost orphan. The moment I was given shelter in West Bengal it felt as though all those years of numbing tiredness just melted away. I was able to resume a normal life in a beloved and familiar land.
So long as I survive, I will carry within me the vistas of Bengal, her sunshine, her wet earth, her very essence. The same Bengal whose sanctuary I once walked a million blood-soaked miles to reach has now turned its back upon me. I find it hard to believe that I am no longer wanted in Bengal. I am a Bengali within and without; I live, breathe, and dream in Bengali but, bizarrely, Bengal offers me no refuge.
I am a guest in this land, I must be careful of what I say. I must do nothing that violates the code of hospitality. I did not come here to hurt anyone’s sentiments or feelings. Arguably, I came here to be hurt. Wounded and hurt in my own country, I suffered slights and injuries in many lands before I reached India, where I knew I would be hurt yet again. This is, after all, a democratic and secular land where the politics of the vote bank implies that being secular is equated with being pro-Muslim fundamentalists.
I do not wish to believe all this. I do not wish to hear all this. Yet, all around me I read, hear, and see evidence of this. I sometimes wish I could be like those mythical monkeys, oblivious of all that is going on around me.
Is daring to utter the truth a terrible sin in this era of falsehood and deceit? Do not others tell the truth? Surely they do not have to undergo such tribulations? Why do I have to undergo such suffering? Is it because I am a woman? What can be easier than assailing a woman?
I know I have not been condemned by the masses. If their opinion had been sought, I am certain the majority would have wanted me to stay on in Bengal. But when has a democracy reflected the voice of the masses? A democracy is run by those who hold the reins of power who do exactly what they think fit. An insignificant individual, I must now live life on my own terms and write about what I believe in and hold dear.
The way in which I was turned into a political pawn, however, and treated at the hands of base politicians, beggars belief. For what end, you may well ask. A few measly votes. It is I who have suffered. I am the only victim of this great tragedy. The force of fundamentalism, which I have opposed and fought for very many years, has only been strengthened by my tragic defeat.
This is my beloved India, where I have been living and writing on secular humanism, human rights, and emancipation of women. This is also the land where I have had to suffer and pay the price for my most deeply held and fundamental convictions, where not a single political party of any persuasion has spoken out in my favour, where no non-governmental organization, women’s rights or human rights group, has stood by me or condemned the vicious attacks launched upon me.
This is an India I have never before known. Yes, it is true that individuals in a scattered, unorganized manner are fighting for my cause and journalists, writers, and intellectuals have spoken out in my favour. I do not know whether they are familiar with my work or not, indeed if they have even read a single word I have penned. Yet, I am grateful for their opinions and support.
(The writer is a well-known Bangladeshi author living in exile in India) (IANS)
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This was publish from a Assam daily pro hindu news paper .

Taslima becomes more important than millions of Muslims


Bangalore: India’s Brahminical rulers have proved themselves as the world’s greatest hate-mongers. The number of Dalits and Muslims killed since “independence” and those alive subjected to slow death will run into billions. This is the meaning of the much-publicised “Hindu tolerance and nonviolence”. If ever a person wants to write a true history of India, he can do so only with the ink of his blood.

But once in a way the Hindu heart melts but for wrong reasons. The latest instance is the desperate way they “saved” the life of a Bangladeshi woman sex-writer, Taslima Nasreen, expelled from her own country of Bangladesh.

Killjoy: The Hindus hate their own Muslims but love a foreign Muslim woman hated by the entire Muslims of India. They get a tremendous joy — a vicarious pleasure — in hurting the Muslim sentiment. Such people are called killjoy.

The Union Cabinet itself had an emergency meeting in Delhi on Nov.23, 2007 to save her. This is the first time the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) is meeting exclusively to assure security for one single individual who is not even an Indian.

They may say they are doing all this to protect her human rights. But the same Cabinet never bothered when billions of Muslims, Sikhs, Dalits were slaughtered. Then the upper castes drank milk. This is Hindu India.

Hindu opium: The state itself flew her out of Calcutta to Jaipur and from there to Delhi and arranged her secure hiding. She was treated as a state guest. The same state has no money to protect its own citizens.

Look at the priority, the urgency given to the protection of one single individual. This is yet another proof of the misplaced sympathy of the Hindus who hate their own country’s 15% Muslims but love a foreign woman and goes out of the way to assure her protection.

We demand expulsion: No political party except the Hindu terrorist RSS-BJP supports this woman. All those human rightswalas supporting her also have a Brahminical bent of mind.

The ruling Congress and the govt. led by it cannot pretend to be protectors of Muslims and at the same time love this anti-Muslim woman.

The Hindu hate-mongers know the Muslim weakness. That is why they made the hated woman to tender an “apology” so that the Muslim anger cools down. The Bengali Muslims may compromise but the Hindu serpent will never stop biting them.

We demand her immediate expulsion.

Bengali Muslims must form party to save themselves from Manuwadi marxists & join hands with Dalits
Manuwadi marxists are more dangerous enemies of the oppressed Bahujans than the Hindu terrorist parties of RSS-BJP. They are like the green snakes in green grass. If the latter are open enemies, the former are our concealed enemies and hence more deadly.

This has been the consistent opinion of DV (V.T. Rajshekar, How Marx Failed in Hindu India? DSA-1988). The latest explosion of Nov.21, 2007 when Calcutta burst into an unprecedented Muslim anger on the Taslima issue further reinforces our argument. The Muslim mob attack on the Beniapukar Office of the CPM in Calcutta clearly proves that at least the Muslims of Bengal, forming a formidable 28% (official figure but unofficially it is as high as 35%) of the state population, have turned against the marxists. Good. The arrogant Brahmin Chief Minister has become the most hated communist.

The Asian Age (Nov.23, 2007) Calcutta correspondent Parwez Hafeez reported that for full 15-days the Muslim anger was simply boiling culminating in the bloody Wednesday of Nov.21 when finally the Army itself had to be called to control the violence.

Denigrating prophet: The cause is the anti-Muslim writings in a pro-CPM Bengali journal, Patho-Sanket, in which the writers praising the hated Bangladesh sex writer, Taslima Nasreen, also denigrated Islam and the prophet, says the AA reporter. He also cites the series of Muslim protests against this journal culminating in the bloody Wednesday. That means nobody can say it was a terrorist attack. The Muslim anger on Nadigram attack on Muslims was already burning and the Taslima episode poured petrol on the burning fire.

The Bengali Muslims are already sucked dry and reduced to walking skeletons by the Brahminical people controlling the CPM. On one side they drink the blood of Muslims and on the other they also squeeze the Bengali Dalits, totally pauperised. The two genuine proletariats of Bengal are the worst sufferers and yet kept intoxicated by the marxist opium

Muslims have controlled their anger far too long and it burst out on Nov.21. It was a fitting slap on the Bengali Brahmin Buddha’s fascist face. From now onwards the Muslims must make a right-about-turn and kick the marxists out.

Bhadralok as lords: The Bengali Bhadralok, comprising a micro-minority 8% of its population (a combination of three jatis: Brahmin, Baidhya and Kayasth) have been lording over the Muslims and Dalits far too long. And the Muslims forming 35% of the state’s population — highest in the country — have been tolerating the manuwadi marxists for too long. The time has now come to say enough is enough.

The Left Front came to power in 1977 headed by Jyoti Basu, a Kayasth. The only boast of the corrupt and also casteist communists is that they have prevented anti-Muslim riots breaking out in Bengal. What they mean by this is they have prevented their blood thirsty jatwalas from openly slaughtering the Muslims just as Modi did in Gujarat.

Instant slaughter sends shock waves but killing through slow poisoning goes unnoticed. The Bengali Bhadralok slow poisoning killed many times more Muslims in Bengal than what Modi did in Gujarat

Kerala Muslims: Kerala has an equally big Muslim population (25%) but Kerala’s Manuwadi govts. (whether the Congress-led front or CPM-led front) looked after the Muslim interests much better. Partly because the Kerala Muslims are concentrated in Northern districts and have their own powerful Muslim League party. But a much bigger Bengali Muslims are reduced to sweat labour because they are in CPM.

That is why the anger in Bengal is much greater. The bloody Wednesday of Nov.21 has given the proof of this anger.

The Kerala Muslim League (ML) should have sent its leaders to look after the plight of their Bengali counterpart and organise the Muslim League there but the ML confined itself to Kerala while the Hindu terrorist party of RSS looks after the interest of “Hindus” all over India — and even outside India.

Buddha suffered such a shock that he immediately kicked the hated Taslima out.

The Bengal CPM giving asylum to a notorious anti-Muslim woman proves that marxists are more anti-Muslim than the Hindu terrorists.

The Muslims have effectively shown their anger and scored one big victory in kicking the unwanted Bangladeshi woman out. This may bring an emotional satisfaction. But the Muslims must not stop merely with this one token victory.

Kerala with a 25% Muslim population has many more credits. They are better educated, better employed and more than that they have a party of their own (Muslim League) though lately oppressed Muslims have started deserting it.

Bengal home of Hindu terrorism: Brahminical terrorism began from Bengal. Calcutta was the home of rabid anti-Muslim Bengali Brahmin hate-mongers like Bankim Chandra and others. Bengal was twice partitioned by the Bhadralok to get rid of the Muslims. Bangladesh Muslims continue to be punished even after having a country of their own.
All this must now force the Muslims of Bengal to think of bidding good-bye to Manuwadi marxists and form a party of their own.

The Urdu-speaking Muslims of Calcutta, a small minority, must cooperate. The Urdu-speaking cowbelt Muslims must assist the formation of such a party. Dalit Voice will be too glad to be part of this experiment to save the Bengali Muslims and also Dalits from the jaws of the Bhadralok.

The Dalits, particularly the Namasudras (Chandals), must note that most of the Bengali Muslims are converts from their community. The Bhadralok hate Dalits as much as they hate the Muslim.

Dalit-Muslim unity: The Muslims with their revolutionary background can think and plan better than Dalits who being too much hinduised have lost their thinking capacity itself. But Muslims cannot afford to forget their blood brothers in spite of all their shortcoming.

Along with Kanshi Ram we had tried our best to organise the Namasudras but failed. But once the Muslims organise themselves into a party, the Namasudras and other Dalits will certainly cooperate because the enemy of both Muslims and Dalits is the very same Bhadralok.

Some members of the DV family at Calcutta are planning to celebrate the DV silver jubilee and our above proposal can be discussed there. All the important leaders who led the anti-Taslima protest and the Nandigram agitation may be invited to the meeting.

Taslima should apologise to Muslims: Dasmunsi

By IANS
Sunday January 6, 03:53 PM
Kolkata, Jan 6 (IANS) Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi Sunday said controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen should apologise with 'folded hands' for hurting the sentiments of Muslims of the country, and hinted that her book 'Dwikhandito' could be banned.

Talking to reporters in Malda in West Bengal, he said: 'We are a pluralistic nation and we respect all religions. I love literature and I have nothing against her writing. But that does not mean she can use her pen to insult and hurt the religious belief of the Muslims or for that matter any religion.'


'The comments made by her in the book in question were uncalled for. She should bow down before the people whose sentiments she has hurt and apologise with folded hands, and expunge those pages from her book,' Dasmunsi said.


'We did not allow Salman Rushdie's book ('The Satanic Verses') when it caused a flutter and raised controversy. She will not be an exception,' said Dasmunsi.


Confined to a 'safe house' somewhere in New Delhi and shut out from the world except for phone calls and emails, Taslima Nasreen longs to come back to Kolkata from where she was shunted out in November after unprecedented street riots over her writings.


The Indian government earlier virtually told Taslima to leave the country or stay confined in a house away from Kolkata, where she had set up home for the past few years returning from exile in Europe after she was hounded out of Bangladesh for her writings.


Asked if she should be allowed to return to West Bengal, Dasmuni said, 'I will not make any comment on this. When the state government had welcomed her and asked her to settle down in Kolkata complying with her wishes, they were under the impression that they were about to bring a progressive revolution in the state.'


'So it is their headache now,' he said taking a dig at the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led Left Front government in the state.


But if Taslima has to stay in India or any other country, she has to honour and respect the philosophy and identity of that nation, he added.


At the beginning of 2008, the writer had described her condition as in a no man's land of fading hope, despair and crushing loneliness.


'I am only breathing. I don't think I am alive like you are. Can anybody live like this? It was beyond my imagination that in a secular democracy this can happen to a writer,' Nasreen told IANS from her room in an undisclosed New Delhi house recently.




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