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'I Am No Religious Expert, But I Can't Tolerate Inhumanity In The Name Of Religi

Before she publicly announced that she was withdrawing the controversial lines from her impugned book, the fiery Bangladeshi writer spoke her mind out in a sealed wing of Rajasthan House in Delhi.

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'I Am No Religious Expert, But I Can't Tolerate Inhumanity In The Name Of Religi
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Five days on the run have done little to persuade the fiery Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen out of speaking her mind to Sheela Reddy in a sealed wing of Rajasthan House in Delhi. Some excerpts:
You have been a writer who has courted controversy even before Lajja was published. What made you take on the fundamentalist Islamists head on?
What is it like, living in exile, living mentally out of a suitcase, for 13 years?
But don't you think you were better off abroad—at least you could speak your mind without fear of your life.
You are not against Islam?

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But freedom of expression at what cost? Does it give you the right to hurt religious sentiments?
Dwikhandito
That book was banned in 2003, why the problem now?
It is a fact of life, isn't it, when you choose to write about a subject such as religion, you are going to raise hackles?
Why then do you have Muslims gunning for you?
What do you feel about the fatwa against you?
You say you are a victim, but you seem to enjoy taking on the fundamentalists. Why?
But you know very well that your opponents are not rational, and yet you took the risk of being labelled as anti-Islam.

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You may be stuck with an anti-Islam label, but isn't that what has brought you fame?
Didn't you try to set up a secular organisation for Muslims in Calcutta recently?

Update: added by outlookindia.com: After we had gone to press,came this public statement from Taslima:

"I am withdrawing controversial lines in Dwikhandita, written in 2002 with the memory of Bangladesh in the 1980s when military threw out secularism in the country. I wrote the book in support of the people who defended secular values. I had no intention to hurt anybody'ssentiment. Now since some people in India claim that it hurt their sentiments, I am withdrawing some lines in thebook. I hope that from now on, there would be no controversy and I'll be able to live peacefully in thiscountry. I have already asked the publisher of the book, People's Book Society, not to circulate copies of the book whichare in their possession. I have asked my publisher to bring out the next edition of the book deleting those controversiallines (about Prophet Mohammed)".

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