In a surprising decision, the Marxist government of West Bengal literally bundled out progressive Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen from the State on November 22. Visibly agitated, senior CPM Minister Biman Basu sharply told the media that if Taslima Nasreen’s presence was causing disturbances, she must leave the State immediately.
The State government’s action sent shockwaves across the nation, particularly among the secular Indian diaspora. West Bengal has been one of the most secular and non-communal states in the country. It has been ruled by the Communists — who proudly tout their secular ideology — for 30 years without a break. The Marxist ideology as protectors of the have-nots helped the CPM get a captive vote-bank. The mass migration of Muslims from Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) form a sizable chunk of this vote-bank. Most of these refugees have acquired Indian citizenship through illegal means, helped by CPM cadres. While Hindu refugees who fled communal persecution in Bangladesh may not have become supporters of the CPM as a whole, the Muslims have generally remained loyal to the party.
Taslima Nasreen was hounded out of her country by Muslim fundamentalists, who announced a fatwa on her head. A sensitive and liberal woman, Taslima’s fault was writing a novel about how Hindus were attacked, and particularly women were raped and pillaged by her Muslim countrymen in reaction to the Babri Masjid demolition and the Bombay riots in India. She was incensed by the Bangladeshi government’s impotence, as it stood by without taking any action against these barbaric acts.
Most of the people who accuse Taslima Nasreen of insulting Islam and the Prophet Mohammed have not read her book Lajja (Shame). There was no such intention on Taslima’s part. She was trying to expose the vicious socio-political issue created by Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh to expand their grip on society and the government. Fundamentalist parties like the Jamaat-e-Islami, Islamic Oikyo Jote and others were in the ascendancy when the protests against Taslima erupted in Bangladesh in the 1990s. It was the period when both the BNP (1991–1996) and the Awami League governments (1996–2001) were wooing the Islamists for votes. Taslima Nasreen was dispensable.
The rise of Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism under government patronage in Bangladesh since then has been obvious on both sides of the Indo–Bangladesh border. There is a connection between Bangladeshi terrorism and the demand of the fundamentalists in Kolkata during the November 21 bandh, which took on a communal hue.
The Nandigram issue was deliberately mixed up with protests against Taslima’s stay in Kolkata. Unfortunately, the Trinamool Congress and the Congress used this for petty political mileage against the CPM, not caring that it furthered and encouraged an anti-national fundamentalist threat.
The violent protests in Kolkata on November 21 were well choreographed in advance. Disturbances were engineered in specific areas to enable hit and run tactics, and target the CPM offices. The Taslima Nasreen issue did not come in accidentally. It was part of the plan.
The All India Minority Forum (AIMF), a little known organisation, spearheaded the protests. What contacts does this group have within and outside the country? Similar questions need to be raised about Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Hind. For years, the Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) was wooed by political parties for vote, until its diabolical anti-national nature was exposed.
The fundamentalists had been pressuring the West Bengal authorities to expel Taslima for quite some time. There were some small, scattered protests. But attempts to get her books banned were quashed by the High Court. By ignoring the decision of the court, the Muslim fundamentalists are rebelling against the Constitution of India.
The West Bengal government made a show of rehabilitating Kutubuddin Ansari, a tailor who was a victim of the Gujarat riots. He was the famous face of the Muslim victims. But today, these protectors of secularism decided to throw out Taslima Nasreen, following pressure from Islamic fundamentalists. Whether the CPM government in West Bengal has realised it or not, by expelling Taslima from Kolkata they have succumbed to the fundamentalists in the state, who have links with the Islamic fundamentalists and terrorists in neighbouring Bangladesh. This expulsion would further encourage the rise of Islamic terrorism in the state, which will then flow into other parts of the country.
Intelligence agencies have evidence linking Bangladesh with a number of terrorist attacks in the heartland of India – from the attack on the STF headquarters in Hyderabad, on the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, and on Sankatmochan Temple in Varanasi among others.
The border area of West Bengal with Bangladesh, especially the Murshidabad belt, has been used for safe houses for these terrorists who are primarily funded by Pakistan’s ISI through Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi Islamic terrorist organisation, the Jamaatul Muslim Bangladesh (JMB), established its first ‘foreign cell’ in Murshidabad.
Bangladesh based terrorist organisations like the JMB, HuJI, Ahle Hadis Bangladesh are increasingly active in areas bordering West Bengal. Their major arms training is, however, in the hill tracts of Chittagong and Sylhet. All these organisations are linked to Pakistan’s ISI, the al Qaeda and its International Islamic Front (IIF). Islamists have suborned large sections of the population in West Bengal, specially in the border areas.
A lot of time has been lost, but the moment has come to pull down the shutters firmly on vote politics and ensure the security of the country.
Secularism is not appeasing fundamentalism and terrorism. The November 21 incidents could have led to communal riots in Kolkata. Fundamentalism, whether Muslim or Hindu, is a challenge which must be taken very seriously. The Taslima Nasreen issue is no longer about Taslima Nasreen the writer. It has revealed a much larger conspiracy in the making.
It was a test case, and the CPM’s decision has conveyed to the Islamic fundamentalists that they have won round one.
Bhaskar Roy, who retired recently as a senior government official with decades of national and international experience, is an expert on international relations and Indian strategic interests. In this exclusive column for Sify.com, he says the Taslima Nasreen issue is no longer about the writer. It has revealed a much larger conspiracy in the making.
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