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Banned
in Bangladesh
by Christy Eng,
Digital Freedom Network
(August 20, 1999) Controversial
feminist writer Taslima Nasreen has endured bans on many of her
works in her native Bangladesh, death threats from fundamentalist
Muslims, hardships from a life in exile.
Nasreen’s nonreligious
views have put her at odds with militant Muslims who believe her
work slanders Islam.
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Taslima
Nasreen in 1995. (Photo courtesy International PEN.)
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The Bangladeshi government
recently prohibited the importation or distribution in the country
of another of Nasreen’s books. The government said that reason
for banning the book was because it could create “adverse
effects” such as disturbing the people’s religious faith.
This book, called My
Childhood, is the second of Nasreen’s works to be banned
this year. Earlier in the year, Nasreen wrote a poem in memory
of her deceased mother. When the poem was published in an Indian
Bengali-language magazine, the Bangladeshi government obstructed
any imports of the magazine because they disapproved of Nasreen’s
poem.
Shame
banned
| A
feminist author endures book bans and death threats in her
native Bangladesh. |
The first of Nasreen’s
works to be banned in Bangladesh was her 1993 novel titled Lajja
or Shame. The book portrays a fictional description of
relationships between Hindus and Muslims in Bangladesh following
the destruction of a mosque (a Muslim house of worship) in Ayodhya
in India in 1992.
Most of Nasreen’s
work displays her feminist and atheist opinions as well as criticism
of organized religions such as Islam; thus, resentful anger arose
within Islamic groups.
Death warrant against
Nasreen
Nasreen allegedly stated
to an Indian newspaper that Islamic religious edicts should be
changed and the Koran, Islam’s holy book, should be modified
to give women greater rights.
This strongly infuriated
many fundamentalist Muslims, who believe that the Koran can never
be translated but only interpreted by humans. Militant Muslim
leaders issued a fatwah, an Islamic edict, that demanded her death.
They also offered a US$2,000 reward for her corpse.
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Shame
is one of several works by Taslima Nasreen to be banned
in Bangladesh.
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Nasreen denied that
she called for revising the Koran, saying instead that she called
only for changing parts of Islamic law that dealt with the treatment
of women.
Although she had been
given extra protection from Bangladeshi police, Nasreen was alarmed
when she discovered a hit list from militants who might also have
been responsible for previously attacking a renowned poet. This
hit list, containing the names of several secular Bangladeshis,
had Taslima Nasreen’s name at the top.
As protests from Islamic
militants intensified, the Bangladeshi government charged Nasreen
with “insulting religious sentiments” under Article 295a
of the Penal Code in June 1994. After appearing briefly in court
during August 1994 where she was granted bail, she fled Bangladesh
for Sweden and lived abroad until September 1998.
Defying the fatwah
In September 1998,
Taslima Nasreen returned to Bangladesh for the first time in four
years to be with Idul Wara, her ailing mother who was dying from
cancer.
During Nasreen’s
four-month stay in her native country, she again became the target
for attack by Islamic extremists. After fundamentalists announced
a reward of 200,000 takas (US$5,000) for her death, she went into
hiding. Nasreen left Bangladesh in January, after her mother died.
Other Bangladeshi
artists threatened
Nasreen is not the
only Bangladeshi artist targeted by fundamentalist Muslims.
Islamic militants attacked
the distinguished Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman, well known
for his secular views, in January 1999. The talented sculptor
Shamim Sikder has received death threats from the militants. Sikder,
who also strongly favors women’s rights, became another foe
for militants, especially after building a sculpture that honors
women’s role in Bangladesh’s war for independence against
Pakistan.
Bangladeshi Foreign
Minister Abdus Samad Azad feels that the case of Taslima Nasreen
“should be considered from an humanitarian angle…On the one
hand, the religious sentiment of the people should be respected,
but we cannot allow any excesses in the name of religion.”
Apparently, censorship and death threats do not fall into the
category of excesses.
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