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Bangla fanatics hound Nasreen into hiding

Furious fundamentalists in Bangladesh are hounding controversial writer Taslima Nasreen, who, despite the fatwa against her for blasphemy, slipped incognito into the country last week.

The writer is now in hiding.

Nasreen's return after four years of self-exile in the West made headlines in Dhaka. Unfortunately, it triggered a wave of street protests, too, by various right-wing religious groups, demanding her immediate arrest and execution.

Leaders of pro-Islamic groups like the Jammat-e-Islami, Islamic Constitution Movement, Islamic Unity Movement and Inquilab Ulema Council have in separate statements warned the government of serious consequences if it gave her protection.

Speakers at protest rallies said Nasreen was a ''sinner'' and ''renegade.'' They reminded people that the fatwa has put a price on her head.

Police and other state officials, meanwhile, claim they have no knowledge of her whereabouts: their information is limited to the fact that she entered the country on September 14, in a burqa (veil), with her parents who were returning from New York.

Speculations about the writer's whereabouts are rife in newspapers. A report quoting a family friend said Nasreen would fly back to New York by the month-end.

''She has no intention of staying in Bangladesh,'' the unidentified friend was quoted.

A medical graduate-turned-writer, Nasreen shot into public glare for writing against social injustices, male chauvinism, discrimination against women and bigotry of Muslim fanatics. She openly attacked religious fundamentalists for suppressing women.

Her book Lajja (Shame), written in the aftermath of the Muslim-Hindu riots in Bangladesh in 1992-93, sparked further controversy. In Bengali, Lajja is an account of the travails of a minority Hindu family, which is harassed by fundamentalists and forced to migrate to India. The book was translated into English and ensured Nasreen international fame.

But her comments to an Indian newspaper, The Statesman, snowballed into a crisis, finally leading to a price on her life.

Accused of blasphemy, Nasreen first denied having made the comments and then retracted her statement -- but that did not stop the fundamentalist outcry and campaign for heresy.

Muslim clerics said her execution would be a befitting reply for questioning the validity of the Quran.

Forced by countrywide protests, the then government led by the Bangladesh National Party charged Nasreen with blasphemy and issued an arrest warrant. The writer went into hiding, but later surrendered before the high court from where she secured bail.

Nasreen fled Bangladesh in August 1994 and sought asylum in Sweden. From there, she moved to Germany, France, Norway and, recently, to the United States.

Legal experts say though there is no bar on her staying in Bangladesh, she could be tried in the 1994 case.

UNI

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