> > *please add our names, send it back to sanjay ji * <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >
> *on or before 12th feb.forum will release the statement on Feb 13th, * > > *3 pm after a press meet in Press Club of India, New Delhi. * > > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Sanjay Kak <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Feb 9, 2008 9:55 PM > Subject: Concerning Taslima > > > Public Statement by > Forum For The Protection of Free Speech and Expression > > At a time when India is projecting itself on the world's stage as a modern > democracy, while it hosts international literary festivals and book fairs, > the Government of India, most mainstream political parties and their armed > squads are mounting a concerted assault on peoples' right to Free Speech. > > It is a matter of abiding shame that even as some of the world's > best-known writers were attending the Jaipur literary festival and > prestigious publishers were doing business at the World Book fair in Delhi, > the exiled Bengali writer Taslima Nasrin was (and is) being held in custody > by the Government of India in an undisclosed location somewhere in or around > Delhi in conditions that amount to house arrest. Contrary to misleading > press reports stating that her visa has been extended, her visa expires on > the 18th of February, after which she is liable to be deported or remain > confined as an illegal alien. > > Taslima Nasrin is only one in a long list of journalists, writers, > scholars and artists who have been persecuted, banned, imprisoned, forced > into exile or had their work desecrated in this country. At different points > of time, different governments have either directly or indirectly resorted > to these measures in order to fan the flames of religious, regional and > ethnic obscurantism to gain popularity and expand their 'vote-banks'. Every > day the threat to Free Speech and Expression increases. > > In the case of Taslima Nasrin it was the CPI (M) and not any religious or > sectarian group who first tried to ban her book Dwikhondito some years ago. > The ban was lifted by the Calcutta High Court and the book was in the market > and on bestseller lists in West Bengal for several years. During those years > Taslima Nasrin lived and worked as a free person in Calcutta without any > threat to her person, without being the cause of public disorder, protests > or demonstrations. Ironically, Taslima Nasrin's troubles in India began > immediately after the Nandigram uprising when the people of Nandigram, > mostly Dalits and Muslims, rose to resist the West Bengal Government's > attempt to takeover their land, and tens of thousands of people marched in > Calcutta to protest the government's actions. Within days a little known > group claiming to speak for the Muslim community asked for a ban on > Dwikhondito and demanded that Taslima Nasrin be deported. The CPI(M)-led > government of West Bengal immediately caved in to the demand, informed her > that it could not offer her security, and lost no time in deporting her from > West Bengal against her will. The Congress-led UPA Government has condoned > this act by holding her in custody in Delhi and refusing, thus far, to > extend her visa and relieve her of her public humiliation. They have once > again played the suicidal card of pitting minority communalism against > majority communalism, a game that can only end in disaster. > > Inevitably, hoping to make political capital out of the situation, the BJP > is publicly shedding crocodile tears over Taslima Nasrin, going to the > extent of offering her asylum in Gujarat. It seems to expect people to > forget that the BJP, VHP and RSS cadres have been at the forefront of > harassing, persecuting, threatening and vandalizing newspaper offices, > television studios, galleries, cinema halls, filmmakers, artists and > writers. Or that they have forced M.F. Husain, one of India's best-known > painters, into exile. > > Meanwhile, in states like Chattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, away > from the public glare of press conferences and television cameras, > journalists are being threatened and even imprisoned. Prashant Rahi from > Uttarakhand, Praful Jha from Chattisgarh, Srisailum from Andhra Pradesh, P. > Govind Kutty from Kerala are a few examples. As we speak Govind Kutty, who > is on a hunger strike in prison is being force-fed, bound hand and foot. > Scores of ordinary people, including people like Binayak Sen have been > arrested and held illegally under false charges. > * > We the undersigned do not necessarily agree with, endorse or admire the > views or the work of those whose rights we seek to defend. Many of us have > serious differences with them. We agree that many of them do offend our (or > someone else's) religious, political and ideological sensibilities. However, > we believe that instead of making them simultaneously into both victims and > heroes, their work should be viewed, read, criticized and vigorously > debated. We believe that the Freedom of Speech and Expression is an Absolute > and Inalienable Right, and is the keystone of a modern democracy.* > > If the Indian Government deports Taslima Nasrin, or holds her as an > illegal alien, it will shame and diminish all of us. We demand that she be > given a Resident's Permit or, if she has applied for it, Indian citizenship, > and that she be allowed to live and work freely in India. We demand that the > spurious cases filed against M.F. Husain be dropped and that he be allowed > to return to a normal life in India. We demand that the journalists who are > being illegally detained in prison against all principles of natural justice > be released immediately. > > Signed: > > Mahashweta Devi, Arundhati Roy, Ashish Nandy, Girish Karnad > > > __,_._,___ > -- -- + Savad Rahman Subeditor Madhyamam Daily Kochi,Kerala India-682018 cell:9995431420 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I am only one, but still I am one; I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; And just because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do." -- Helen Keller --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. 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