Taslima Nasrin does not think India is an intolerant country. “I think most people are quite tolerant of each others’ faith. The laws in India do not support intolerance. But there are so many intolerant people in this country”, she said. The Bangladeshi writer in exile was in Kozhikode to attend the first ever Kerala Literature Festival on Saturday. This was her first outing to any place other than New Delhi since 2005.
Responding to a query put forth by writer K. Sachidanandan, Ms. Nasrin wondered why secularists in India were questioning only Hindu fundamentalists, while they let alone Muslim fundamentalists. She alleged that a democracy based on pseudo-secularism was not a true democracy at all. She said that the true conflict in India was between secularism and fundamentalism, between Innovation and tradition, between humanity and barbarianism and between people who value freedom and who do not. She condemned the Dadri incident and appreciated the intellectuals in the country for their unique mode of protest.
Explaining her struggles as a writer and her fight against Islamic fundamentalism in Bangladesh, Ms. Nasrin said all religions were anti-woman though distortion caused by fundamentalists added to it. “You have to keep religion separated from government. There is no need to practise 7th Century laws in the 21st Century”, she said and explained how the influence of religion in law-making has caused the oppression of both Muslim and Hindu women in Bangladesh.
