Buddhadeb sandwiched between comrades and Nasreen

Himtimes-ANI News
By Gautam Ghosh

 

Kolkata, Dec 06: Bengal intellectuals are up in arms against the Left Front government for banning "Dwikhandita"(Split into two), the third volume of Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen's autobiography, saying it is violative of a writer's freedom of expression and stands against India's democratic tradition.

 

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, who took the crucial decision to ban the book following objections from some Muslim authors and clerics, has not been able to provide any logical explanation to justify the government's action, thereby fuelling the opposition parties' suspicion that it aims at keeping the CPI(M)'s Muslim voters in good humour.

 

Bhattacharjee has argued that Nasreen's adverse observations about Prophet Muhammad in her book may fuel communal passion and create law and order problems in the state. There are,however, very few takers of the argument among West Bengal's authors, poets and intellectuals who feel banning the book is not the right step to help maintain peace and order.

 

The controversial volume deals with the author's private life and her intimate relationship with some Muslim authors and poets of Bangladesh as well as West Bengal. The book has also been involved in a litigation with a poet bringing a libel suit against her in the Calcutta high court.

 

However, the ruling Left Front was prompted to ban the book only after some Muslim authors and religious leaders pointed out her "objectionable comments" about Prophet Muhammad.

 

The chief minister's action has also been fully endorsed by the state CPI(M) leadership, but decried by the Trinamul Congress-BJP combine on the ground that it was politically motivated and aimed at protecting the party's Muslim support base.

 

The main challenge to the Left Front's decision, however, has come from Bengal's intellectuals who have urged the chief minister to immediately lift the ban in keeping with India's democratic tradition. Signatories to a "joint appeal to the chief minister" include poets Nirendra Nath Chakraborty and Joy Goswami, Gyanpith award winner Mahasweta Devi, painter Paritosh Sen, Prof. Sukumari Bhattacharya, dramatist Bibhas Chakraborty, author Jaya Mitra and Prof. Sibnarayan Roy.

 

The "joint appeal" says: "Banning a book is unthinkable in a healthy democracy which recognises an author's freedom of expression. India is not a country under any dictatorial rule. Religion or martial law does not have any say in our polity. We do not understand why the present government in West Bengal took this kind of step under the advice of some bureaucrats-turned- intellectuals."

 

Poet Nirendra Nath Chakraborty said he was generally against the idea of banny any book. "Any person can move the court if he or she feels the book contains some thing objectionable, some thing which may destroy communal amity. But why should the government ban the book on its own? It can act only on the basis of a court order. What appears objectionable to some people may be acceptable to others," he said.

 

Bibhas Chakraborty, the dramatist, feels the ban will create a harmful precedent. "Many dramas have been staged, highlighting the dangerous consequences of religious bigotry. Have the concerned governments banned them, apprehending law and order problems? It is for the people to accept or reject a book, but the government has nothing to do with the matter," he observed. Artist Bijan Chowdhury said the government should not have taken this kind of emotive decision without going into its pros and cons. Prof. Sukumari Bhattacharya, the noted scholar, described book banning as "an act of barbarism." "It amounts to setting books on fire. Processions and rallies can be organised to criticise the book's contents. But why the ban?" she asked.

 

According to informed sources, the Left Front government is under considerable pressure to rethink its decision on the issue. The state administration has even toyed with the idea of allowing the publisher to re-print the book after the two pages containing "objectionable references" to Prophet Muhammad. The stalemate, however, continues as both the author and the publisher have rejected the idea.

 

Nasreen, who is now abroad, says she has been hurt by the state government's decision, but made it clear that she is not going to accept the ban. She has described the West Bengal chief minister as "an honest individual and lover of literature" who has obviously been "misled by others about the book." The fourth part of Nasreen's autobiography is expected to be released at the Calcutta book fair in January.