The Hindu : Front Page : Such people are a minority in India: Taslima

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Aug 10, 2007
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Front Page

Front Page

Such people are a minority in India: Taslima

Special Correspondent

These incidents come as a reminder of the presence of extremists in this country

“I am shocked and deeply saddened but I
am also hopeful”
Says democracy cannot be undermined
in the country

Tasleema Nasrin

KOLKATA: “I am shocked and deeply saddened but I am also hopeful; it is heartening to know that those responsible for the incident are only a minority and not a section of the majority in India,” Bangladeshi author-in-exile, Taslima Nasrin, said hours after she was attacked by a group of persons on the occasion of a release of a Telugu translation of a book of hers at the Press Club in Hyderabad on Thursday.

“We should be thankful that such people [those who had tried to attack her] are a minority in the world. Had it been otherwise the world would have been unlivable,” Ms Nasrin told The Hindu over the telephone from the ai rport in Hyderabad as she awaited her flight back to Kolkata. “The police have escorted me to the airport and I have been assured that they will provide the necessary security till I board the flight,” Ms. Nasrin, whose visa that was to have expired later this month, is to be extended for another six months.

“It is indeed unfortunate that such incidents come as a reminder of the presence of extremists in this country. But the majority of the people in this country believe in democracy and the freedom of expression and that is why I can stay on here and will continue to do so,” said Ms. Nasrin who had to leave her country Bangladesh in the face of threats by “fundamentalist forces” because of her writings espousing the cause of woman’s rights.

“This is the work of fundamentalist forces but there is democracy and the freedom of expression in India where I have been enjoying the support of the ordinary people who believe in democratic values,” she said. Her book Lajj a (Shame) which drew the attention of conservatives in Bangladesh was banned in that country, leading to her exile in 1994. “Democracy cannot be undermined in the country because of the activities of a few fundamentalists. I have had to face protests in Europe and other parts of the world. Even in India there have been peaceful demonstrations held against me. But never before today has it been violent,” Ms. Nasrin said.