One can’t live in fear for 25 years: Taslima Nasrin

The threats are increasing, says Taslima Nasrin, whose controversial novel Lajja is being re-released more than 20 years after it was written. The Bangladeshi-origin author talks to Yogesh Pawar about her decades in exile, the ISIS and a life in the shadow of fatwas

When Lajja came out 20 years ago, many panned it for being badly written and/or translated? Is the retranslation from the Bengali version by Anchita Ghatak an attempt to redress that?

Lajja is a first-hand account of the tragic incidents I witnessed in Bangladesh where the majority Muslims attacked minority Hindus and tortured them inhumanly, post-the Babri Masjid demolition (1992). It is a blend of fact and fiction. Violence unleashed in the name of religion has always made me uncomfortable. It is a shame. I was terrified and moved. That is Lajja. Readers should remember Lajja is not pure fiction. Its based on facts. This could be boring for average fiction readers... Docu-novels aren’t always very interesting. Yes, the retranslation was done because the first translation was not that good. Why shouldn’t one try to make things better?

Do you feel you’d write Lajja differently if you were writing now?

I’d have elaborated the story and made it much more complex if I wrote Lajja now. And also I would’ve edited and worked with fewer incidents and facts, making it tighter. It is, of course, unpleasant to read such a long list of killings and rape. Though Lajja is a docu-novel, I have now come to the realisation that there should be a limit of how much non-fiction will go into fiction.

Do you feel Lajja became your defining book just because of the fatwa by fundamentalists who demanded your arrest and execution?
You can say that. Lajja was published in February 1993. It was banned by the Bangladesh government in July 1993. Fundamentalists were already angry with my criticism of Islam in my other books on women's rights. Surprisingly, Lajja has no criticism of Islam.

Did your awareness of neglect and abuse women face in traditional Islamic society come from practising gynaecology in rural Bangladesh?

Long before I worked in hospitals, I’d witnessed oppression of women. Since childhood, I’ve seen women cope with patriarchy that forces them to suffer hundreds of unfair traditions.

Is that what originally prompted you to become so outspoken in your opposition to Islam?

The misogynistic Muslim society considers women as inferior, as slaves, as child-bearing machines and sex objects. Women who object or challenge this are stoned to death. As I grew up, I became aware of women’s rights. I read the Quran and the Hadith, which say man was the original creation and woman was created secondarily for his pleasure. Islam doesn’t consider woman as distinct human beings as they are treated as intellectually, morally and physically inferior.
Even in marriage, the Quran gives freedom to men: 'Your women are like your field, go and do unto them as you will (2.223).' Also the two kinds of prayers that never reach heaven, the Hadith says are: those of runaway slaves and those of reluctant women who frustrate their husbands at night. Under Shariat a woman's testimony isn’t allowed in case of marriage, divorce. Even if she’s raped, she has to produce four male witnesses. If she can’t, the rapist can’t be charged. The testimony of two women is worth a man’s. If he suspects his wife of adultery, or denies that it’s his offspring, his word holds. A woman doesn’t have similar rights to charge her husband. Women aren’t allowed to inherit property on parity with brothers. In the case of inheritance, the Quran say a man inherits twice that of a female (4.11-12). After all these privileges, sexual and otherwise, men have more rewards coming their way in paradise too with wine, food, and 72 virgins apart from their wives on earth (52.19-20). And comparatively what is the reward for pious women? She has to suffer the same man who caused suffering here on earth. I felt responsible to tell people about this. I wanted women to fight for rights and freedom.

Can you talk about the fundamentalist reaction to your work? Did it get directly life threatening?

Fundamentalists set a price on my head both in Bangladesh and in India. In Bangladesh, thousands of fundamentalists wanted me hung to death. They took to the streets in India too. Even on social media, I’ve been threatened by the Al Qaeda, and other terror organisations for my views.

Do you feel, over the years, that the threat to you has abated or do you still live in fear?

One can’t live in fear for 25 years. This became part of my harsh reality. I try my best not to live in fear. Threats against me are increasing. It’s shocking to see some really young Muslims being misguided on the path to hate and intolerance.

How has living with security affected you individually?
I have lived in many different European countries and also in North America for over 20 years. I know it can be very limiting, but what can one do but get used to the round-the-clock security?

Do you feel pressurised into not speaking up since you’re at the mercy of those who can hold back your visa to stay in India?
I will never sell my freedom of expression for anything.

You had issues with the Left government (in West Bengal) using you to deflect attention from human rights excesses in Nandigram. Now you criticise and take on Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too?
Both parties appease Muslims by harassing me. The Left government banned my book and threw me out of the state to get Muslim votes. The current government banned my book release at the Kolkata book fair and prevented my TV mega serial from being telecast.

Your take on the Sudipto Sen-led chit fund company Saradha Group routing money through Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Ahmad Hassan Imran to Bangladesh-based terror outfit Jamaat-e-Islami.
Imran was a founder-member of the terror organisation SIMI. That should have been enough to not let him become a member of any political party. But he was made a Rajya Sabha MP by Mamata Banerjee. He helped terrorism to grow in neighbouring Bangladesh by using Saradha’s crores. Also remember that Bangladesh’s Islamic terror organisation, which was helped by Imran, is very anti-India.

You've, in the past, criticised India’s secular forces for being selective in their support of causes?
I’ve never criticised secular forces but fake secularists. True secularists never support religious fanatics. Indian fake secularists criticise Hindu fanatics but defend Muslim ones. I am against all religious fanatics.

Doesn’t the far right camp too pick up causes like yours only when it suits them?
Yes they do. They kick me out when it doesn't suit them. Politicians around the world do everything for political interests but I’ve never compromised with any political parties.

What is your take on the ISIS crisis unfolding over the Persian Gulf? Many call it a clash between the East and the West?
I don’t think it is a clash between the East and the West. Actually it is a clash between barbarism and humanism, between irrational blind faith and rationality, between tradition and innovation, between the past and future, between anti-modernism and modernism, between people who value freedom and people who don’t.

Are you working on anything autobiographical on the lines of Salman Rushdie’s Joseph Anton?
I have already written seven autobiographical books, which have got both popular and critical acclaim. The first one was conferred the Bengali literary award 'Ananda Purashkar' in 2000. The third one was banned by the CPM in West Bengal in 2003. After two years, the Kolkata High Court lifted the ban. These books have been translated into English, French, German, Hindi, Malayalam and Marathi.

Book: Lajja
Publisher: Penguin Books India
Pages: 336
Price: Rs. 299/-