Lajja.

Hindus are a majority only in India. In Bangladesh, they are as miserable as any other minority group. In Pakistan we all know the state, so i wouldnt dare to comment. India, is really a tolerant country. For in Bangladesh and Pakistan, all temples were broken down with apathy. And in India, when it is Id, you know it is Id. And still, at times we have come across pathetic display of the crass show of violence and power that religious fanatics putup for the world to see.

Taslima Nasreen, is a very controversial writer. Because she is too crude and honest. There was this whole drama in Kolkata, the city was on fire. Because it had extended a shelter for her. Mobs went mad, religion became the priority and so she had to be sent to unknown places. The day she reached Rajasthan, the officials had been trying desperately to dust her off their shoulders, what if they got shot by extremists only because of a woman?? So she is shifted to Delhi and now finally i get to hear, that no state wants to guard her, and so she has to hibernate in the capital of India.

One woman, has sent the whole nation topsy turvy, she has alone managed to enrage thousands and she is homeless, just because she wrote things which were NOT TRUE and incoherent. Ya, right something like a LIE will cause such uproars. Who are they trying to fool? It is obvious that truth hurts. And as this being a democratic country, everyone has a right to the freedom of expression. I do not side any religion, i just believe in God. And neither do i approve of the treatment that is being meted out to her. Or is democracy just about voting every five years ?

From the international relations point of view, India would be in some serious trouble if they guard her against the wishes of the neighbouring country. Scared of a country which does not even ensure a basic respect to the mother religion of the nation. If people have read Taslima's book Lajja, then i need not elucidate more. Salman Rushdie also faced such a problem. Where is the technical fault? An article i read online suggests that,

'These incidents point to two of the deepest problems in modernizing Islam. One is permitting freedom of speech concerning Mohammed, the Koran, and other aspects of the religion. The other concerns the right of Muslims to leave Islam. These twin transitions must be accomplished for Islam to leave its current backward and oppressive condition.'

I have a friend who lives in Pakistan and is a muslim. We have had passionate discourses on the two nation theory, and whether it should have happened at all? He says no, and i dont know either. The Godhra incident, is still fresh as fresh brewed tea. On NDTV and CNNIBN you can see interviews of the survivors, it was a pathetic display of love for fanaticism..i mean thats what was said after all. Which religion on earth allows that? The scars are fresh, and i wonder whether they can be ever embalmed.

In our own country, we are allowing all sorts of crime. Criminals are let loose, and writers who express their own views are thought to be dangerous? What kind of country do we live in ? What are we paying the taxes for, to send these officials on a family trip? Or is it sensation that is the new SEXY?. History has witnessed that great people were killed, insulted and not respected. After they die they become best-sellers. In a way its good for Taslima, her brand value has increased more than ever. And do not forget, this is a country where Bhagat Singh is a heart throb, and where girls and boys like to call themselves the RDB generation. Its only inefficiency that the government proves day by day.

Sigh..