Taslima Nasrin: Latest News

Taslima Nasrin Updates (by Warren Allen Smith)

Taslima Nasrin Escapes Bangladesh

The world-famous secular humanist writer and feminist Taslima Nasrin has escaped the threat of hanging by Muslim fundamentalists in her native Bangladesh. Nasrin secretly escaped from Bangladesh to refuge in Sweden on Sunday, January 23.

In 1994 Muslim militants had issued a fatwa - a Muslim religious judgement - demanding the execution of Nasrin for her criticism of Islam. The Bangladeshi government at that time had also issued a warrant for Nasrin's arrest on the grounds of alleged blasphemy. The controversial poet and journalist eventually escaped Bangladesh in 1994. But Nasrin, returned to Bangladesh in September 1998 to take care of her dying mother.

A campaign of demonstrations against Nasrin and renewed calls for her murder forced her once again into hiding. The Council for Secular Humanism mounted an international campaign to ensure the safety of Dr. Nasrin, a Senior Editor of Free Inquiry magazine, collecting letters of support from some of the world's leading intellectuals. The Council also maintained this web site with news about Taslima's plight, and information on how to support her. Nasrin was able to access the web site from her hiding place in Bangladesh.

Nasrin's mother died of cancer on January 11, 1999. On January 23, following death threats made over the phone to her hiding place, Nasrin caught a British Airways flight to Sweden. On January 24 she phoned Warren Allen Smith - who had coordinated the secular humanist campaign in her defense - to tell him she was now safe. Nasrin had the assistance of the European Union's ambassador in escaping from Bangladesh, she said. She told Smith, "I had no other alternative but to leave. Yes, I was able to see the home page with news from time to time, but I did not see it when I returned to Dhaka. It is very comforting to know that so many have been concerned about me."

European Parliament Supports Taslima Nasreen

On December 4, 1998, the European Parliament issued the following resolution in support of Taslima Nasrin.

The European Parliament, recalling its earlier resolution on human rights in Bangladesh, recalling the tenth anniversary of the Sakharov Prize,

A. whereas in 1994 Mrs. Nasreen, one of the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize laureates, had to leave Bangladesh sought refuge in the EU in order to escape arrest in Bangladesh, having been accused of blasphemy,

B. whereas on 14 September Mrs. Nasreen returned to Bangladesh in order to visit her mother who is reported to be terminally ill,

C. whereas Mrs. Nasreen is still threatened by fundamentalists in her country mainly for defending the rights of women in the context of certain Islamic traditions,

1. Declares its support for Taslima Nasreen and reiterates its conviction that freedom of expression is one of the basic human rights;

2. Urges the authorities to do their utmost to guarantee the life and safety of Taslima Nasreen, to stop all legal proceedings against her and to allow her to travel freely;

3. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of the Member States and the Government of Bangladesh.

Taslima Nasreen Appears Before Court, Gets Bail

Taslima Nasreen appeared before the Dhaka High Court on 22 November 1998 (Sunday). Though the event was kept unannounced for the public and media, the judge had been expecting her.

In the court, the Deputy Attorney General A M Farooq, appeared on behalf of the state and opposed the bail application. Judge Kazi Ebadul Huq granted Taslima anticipatory ad-interim bail after a half-hour hearing. She then drove away in a private car accompanied by relatives, to an undisclosed place.

The bail granted to her does not require money to be put down. The judge did not set a trial date.

Radical Muslims said they would not withdraw calls for Taslima to be hanged for blashemy. A R M Abdul Matin, a leader of the radical Islami Oikya Jote, one of the groups demanding Taslima's death, said: "It's a matter for the court to give her bail, but it's not the end of everything ... It won't ease our stance. We still demand her death that will warn all murtads (infedels) that they cannot escape the gallows."

This news piece was provided by:

International Alliance Against Fundamentalism
Indian Rationalist Association
P.O. Box 9110
New Delhi 110 091
India

VOICE: +91-11-91539526 or +91-11-8539526
FAX: 91-11-2256042

sakthy@giasdla.vsnl.net.in