All Their Pins, In One Doll

Was the continued presence of Taslima Nasreen in Calcutta the real reason for the communal flare-up on November 21? Does the Bangladeshi writer really evoke such strong reactions among the Muslim community, so much so that the state government was forced to call in the army and she had to be taken to Rajasthan ultimately? Of course, hardliners in the community have had her in their sights ever since her column in Outlook (Let's Think Again About The Burqa) implored Muslim women to give up the burqa. But that was 10 months ago. Why was her name suddenly dragged up again by organisations like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind?

It's now clear that the violence was intended to hit the beleaguered Left government hard even as it reeled from the severe criticism over Nandigram. Jamiat state unit secretary Siddiqullah Chowdhury gave this overarching explanation to Outlook: "Muslims are being attacked everywhere. The state government wanted to take over land in Nandigram only because it belonged to Muslims. Rizwanur Rehman was killed because he was a Muslim. Taslima is being provided asylum here because she has insulted Islam."

Meanwhile, saner voices in the community have tried to point out that Taslima has been staying in India since 1994 and had made Calcutta her home, thanks to the six-month renewal resident visas that New Delhi has been granting her. (Her current visa expires on February 7 next year.) However, her request to be granted citizenship or permanent resident status is still pending with New Delhi because the state government—whose consent is necessary—has avoided taking a decision out of fear of angering hardline Muslims. In the past too, Muslim organisations have expressed opposition to her being granted visa extensions, but never had such opposition turned violent.

According to police sources, organisations like the Jamiat and the Milli Ittehad Parishad found in Taslima a perfect pawn, ripe to be exploited. This was a perfect issue to complement Nandigram, a person who 'insulted' Islam and committed blasphemy was still being hosted by the state. Enough in the already vitiated air to provoke community members into violent protests.

As for the land acquisition, Muslim intellectuals point out that in Singur, Hindu farmers and sharecroppers were the worst affected. Even in Nandigram, a Muslim-dominated area, many of those attacked by the armed CPI(M) goons were Hindus. Rizwan's death did have shades of minority victimisation, with the state police getting unwarrantedly entangled in it, but the mass outrage and staged protests proved it was really an isolated case. As for Taslima, they say she has been granted asylum not because she allegedly attacked Islam, but because India respects and upholds individual liberties, rights and freedom of thought and expression.

So, was there any indication that trouble would break out in Calcutta? An open letter in CPI(M) publication Pathanirdesh two weeks back lauding Taslima's criticism of Islam and comparing her to the Prophet was enough to raise Cain for people like Siddiqullah. Still, the party's prompt withdrawal of the issue nipped the mischievous design in the bud. That ought to have served as a hint that the Jamiat and Muslim hardliners were looking for an incident to spark off violence. Police sources now allege that perpetrators of the November 21 violence had also planned to attack places of worship, in a bid to trigger communal riots. For now, the army deployment and stern messages from the state government to Siddiqullah and others, seem to have brought things under control.