Welcome to the new, non-"Islamophobic" secular democracies, where exercising one's freedom of speech regarding oppression in an Islamic context gets you ostracised, threatened, and relegated to virtual prisoner status.
Taslima Nasreen Update: "I cannot live like this any more: Nasreen," from IANS (thanks to Twostellas):
KOLKATA: Confined to a ‘safe house’ somewhere in New Delhi and shut out from the world except for phone calls and e-mails, controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen will celebrate the new year in a no-man’s land of fading hope, despair and crushing loneliness.“I am only breathing. I don’t think I am alive like you are. Can anybody live like this? It was beyond my imagination that in a secular democracy this can happen to a writer,” Nasreen said from her room in an undisclosed location.
Nasreen, who has been living under state protection since November when she was removed from Kolkata after street riots over her “anti-Islam” writings, has been virtually told by Indian officials that that she could either continue to stay in the national capital confined in a room or leave the country.
“What do you think? Will they let me go? You are a journalist, you can tell better. They want to break me psychologically and they might succeed also since my confidence and mental strength are flagging already. I can’t live like this any more,” she said.
The feisty woman went on to add: “But I also want to see how long they can keep me like this. I have decided not to move out of India on my own.”
Nasreen would not be allowed to meet any friend at her “undisclosed” residence in the new year.
“The rule they have made is strange. If I want to meet someone neither can I visit the person’s house not can he or she come over to my place. We would have to meet in a third place. Is it not draconian?” she asked.
“The home ministry decides everything about my visitors. UTV wanted to make a film on me but even they were not allowed to meet me,” Nasreen said, her voice choking with emotion.
Coming soon, to another democracy near you!
She needs to make a webcam video and post it to youtube to tell her story to the world.
At least she is getting some protection from the state. In Dhimmi Britain the state arrests writers critical of Islam.
http://gatesofvienna.blogspot.com/2008/01/first-they-came-for-english-bloggers.html#readfurther
In India, the object of Islamic conquest that endured, over the centuries of Muslim rule and misrule, tens of millions of Hindu victims, a country that, at its Independence, was forced to give up large chunks of its territory on both sides to form West Pakistan (now Pakistan) and East Pakistan (now Bangladesh), in order to accommodate Muslim demands. In Pakistan, at Partition, 15% of the population was Hindu; it is now 1.5%. In Bangladesh, at Partition, 34% of the population was non-Muslim (Hindu and Buddhist); it is now 7%. Meanwhile, in India, the Muslim percentage of the population steadily rises. In the Pakistan-held parts of Jammu and Kashmir, 400,000 Hindu Pandits have, by Muslim pressure, been driven out. In Indian-held Kashmir, terrorist attacks by Muslims, supported by Pakistani groups unchecked by, and at times supported by, the Pakistani army, have attempted, to murder and terrorize the Hindus and drive them out. In India proper (a dangerous phrase, I admit, and I regret it - for it inadvertently concedes that Indian-held Kashmir somehow is different from "India proper" -- the same problem one has in referring to what is called the "West Bank" -- but cannot at the moment think of anything better than "India extra Kashmirem" on the old-map model of "India extra Gangem") there are attacks, never or seldom reported in the West, for decades, of Muslims on Hindus -- but every counter-attack, by Hindus pushed to the limits, are given front-page coverage. We all know about the Hindu attacks on the mosque deliberately erected on the Hindu temple at Ayodha; we all know about the Hindu attacks on Muslims in Gujarat (why, the State Department banned Narendra Modi, who ran the Gujarat government, from entering the United States), but about what prompted those attacks, the burning to death of Hindu pilgrims, is quickly glossed over in a sentence, and all the other Muslim attacks, steadily, all over India -- those repeatedbombs in Mumbai, killing bankers and tea-wallahs alike, set off by the Muslims who run the Bombay underworld (the head gangster sought, and found safe haven, in Pakistan), and even the attack by Muslims on the Parliament building in New Delhi --somehow never quite makes any impression on the non-Indian world, so deeply uninterested in what is endured by Indians, and unsympathetic (but why?) to Hindus, not quite to the same remarkable extent as the world has shown itself willing to accept the unendurable position that the Lesser Jihad has forced Israel into, but close.
And now here is Taslima Nasreen, born into Islam in Bangladesh, but whose intellect and moral sense and ability to question and think for herself led, inexorably, to an analysis of Islam, and a subsequent jettisoning of Islam, not unlike that of Ibn Warraq, Wafa Sultan, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Ali Sina. The Community of Apostates turns out to be, for those who study their works, the community of the very best people, self-selected, of all those born into Islam. She dares to return to Bangladesh. She is harried. She is hunted. The death threats never stop. So she moves to India, powerful large India, with a population that is 87% non-Muslim. And even there what happens? She is confined to quarters. She meets no one. No one meets her. She is, in effect, a prisoner. She has been condemned to prison, instead of being given the protection of the state that will allow her to move around, to meet, to address gatherings, to publish her views in every sense. She should be made much of. Instead, she has been condemned by a fearful Indian government to solitary confinement. How long can she endure such a life in India, how long before she has to flee to the United States, the way Ayaan Hirsi Ali did, driven out by death threats from the country where she had been a member of that country's Parliament?
There is something wrong here. There is something that could be fixed. It requires a different attitude by the Indian government, and by all the Infidel governments. They can run, but they can't hide.
"There is something wrong here. There is something that could be fixed."
I'm sorry, Hugh, but you're wrong about that, and I will tell you why.
There are approximately 1.3 billion Muslims in the world at this time. The "active agents," that seek to impose their will on the rest of us, are a few percent of that number: somewhere between 50 million and 150 million persons. Not all of these are violence-inclined, but enough are to outnumber the forces of order in any non-Islamic country in the world.
As long as Muslims are admitted freely to secular nations and are treated as free and equal citizens / residents thereof, there is no way that a Taslima Nasreen can walk freely and without fear. One of them will get to her, no matter where she goes. No government anywhere can afford the expenditures of manpower and money it would take to defend her adequately; worse, adequate defensive measures would imprison her as effectively as an iron cage.
The Qur'an commands Muslims to impose themselves on the whole world, by any means expedient. Muhammad's recorded history and sayings reinforce that command. If the last few years have taught us anything, it's that there are enough adequately motivated Muslims in any of the countries of Europe to reduce those countries to chaos or shari'a, as long as Islamic militancy is regarded as a law-enforcement issue...which means, as long as Islam is welcomed in the nations of the West.
This cannot be a law-enforcement issue. It must become a war issue.
Muslims as individuals might well be overwhelmingly inclined toward peace and amicable relations with non-Muslims, but Islam the ideology is inherently at war with any nation that refuses it. Barring extraordinary good fortune such as America had with the Fort Dix Six, militant Islam's "active agents" cannot be seined from their concealment until they've struck. To safeguard ourselves from them proactively, we would have to erect a totalitarianism that would make Oceania in 1984 look like a kindergarten class picnic.
We must accept that we're on a war footing, and do what a warring people must do to survive: expel our enemies from among us and confine them where they can do us no further harm. Europe's policy has been the reverse. India's policy has been inanition. America's policy...defies quantification. This cannot continue if we wish to survive as free men.
Quarantine or genocide. There are no other options.
Hugh,
Great post. Thanks for sharing my sentiments!!
My two cents on the reasons for this behavior in India:
India has been pampering muslims since 1920. Thanks to a very widely known figure in the West as "Gandhi" or Mahatma Gandhi. The apostle of peace bent over his back and ensured that Muslims are pampered, so that they could contribute in India's Freedom Struggle against the British.
Gandhi's historical treachery to Hindu india, should be remembered by every non-Muslim
as "Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it". The west would be wise
from the follies committed by India's fore-fathers and see the state of India today.
The pampered lot lead by Muhammed Ali Jinnah pressurized on British to create a separate land for Muslims and that is "Pakistan" today.
The same Pakistan had also gotten Bangladesh as a part of their "Country". Can you imagine, two completely disjoint territories ruled as one, just because of Islam?
Well anyways, the party that Mahatma Gandhi established was known as Indian National Congress.
The same party is today at the centre ruling India ( as a part of UPA - United Progressive Alliance).
In India, since independence Muslims are pampered as they vote "en masse" as a Voting Block. Every party that needs to come to power use them as Voting blocks. Hence UPA government bends over backwards to accommodate the whims / fancies of Muslim fundamentalists.
Anybody sympathetic to Hindus are branded as "Fascists".
In its current reign, UPA is implementing "Muslims First" policy to pamper to Muslims more and more. As a part of this policy, national resources
for development are alloted to Muslims on a priority basis.
Thanks to the liberlization and the advent of 24x7 news channels in India, we atleast come to know that Nasreen is under house arrest. In the good old days of state controlled media, the whole affair would have been hushed up and Nasreen sent back to Bangladesh without anybody getting a whiff.
India is in real danger of being run over by Muslims due to "Liberal Democracy".
I am not sure how many readers on this site are aware of the true state in India.
India is the only country in the world to enact "Shariah" for Muslims as a "Personal"
governance . Muslims and Non-Muslims (Hindus, Christians and others) have different
personal laws.
That's precisely the reason why BJP (known in the west as the Hindu Fascist Party) was bent on implmenting - Uniform Civil Code. Muslim divorces
and Hindu divorces are treated separately.
1> Muslims can still use "Talaq, Talaq, Talaq" three times (over voice, email, sms ---
welcome technological advances!) and divorce their poor wives.
2> Muslim Wives divorced in India do not get alimony or support
3> Mulsims can marry four wives as per Islamic principles and legally practice polygamy,
but if a Hindu does it (legally), then he can be prosecuted under law.
4> They have special reservations in Government jobs, educational institutions and they
have their own university (Aligarh Muslim University).
I can go on and on...
That's the reason why Ms. Nasreen is being imprisoned in "Secular India".
oh, what fun islamo-nazis will have in europe.
This is horrific. What can we do to help her? What is Amnesty International doing to help her?
Can we even email her with support?
Excellent post Francis. The world needs to understand the significance of 10% of 1.5 billion. You have it exactly right
devorgilla-
"What is Amnesty International doing to help her?"
LOL
You have a great sense of humor.
What a great idea of locking up Taslima Nasreen. Better still, why not a Gitmo type of facility, where all anti-Islamic writers can be renditioned, and kept safely under guard. Not jailed - it will be done for their own safety, and the writers, and politicians such as Wilders, will be able to have their own company. It will be economic as well to do it in one institution.
I wonder if NYT and the Guardanistas will bother about them? I think not.
Francis
Agreed.
The only answer to this war is to stop Muslim immigration, and then reverse it slowly over a period. Once Muslims realise that the game is up, they will leave of their own accord, till only a fragment remains, that will pose little or no threat.
There are two sides here. This woman is in a "safe house". If people come to her then her opponents will learn where she lives and no one in that area will be safe. For all we know, there could be other refugees from Islam in the same general area. Should their lives be endangered because this woman can't take isolation? She's been living under state protection because of threats to her life. Either accept the protection or say no thanks and live your own life. Life isn't safe and freedom isn't free. If she wants to be out and about, she should just do it. Why is it up to the government of India to guarantee her safety wherever she goes?
Granted, none of this would be an issue if the 'leaders' of the world dealt openly with the Muslim threat. But they won't.
PMK posted: Granted, none of this would be an issue if the 'leaders' of the world dealt openly with the Muslim threat. But they won't.
And they wont until they themselves and their families, are under threat. Even then not, as they have made sure that they have adequate state security provided for themselves and their families.
It will take more then just a few writers or a few politicians, who are under threat to change this situation, to a real war scenario. And then it will be stopped by a few quite simple measures.
If the cure is worse than the illness try another cure.
Possibly she should just give up the idea of staying
there and move to where her odds are better. She could most likely get book offers and earn a living.
She will never be completely safe, and will join
many others at the 'secure undisclosed location'.
Pretty soon, the 'secure undisclosed location', will have a large enough population to support a Wall-Mart and Safeway...but no one will know where they are...
I'm longing for the day when the you-know-what hits the fan, and that there is a full blown war between Leftists and Muslims in Left Bengal. Just as Liberals in this country are funny when they are fighting each other, there's nothing more facinating then this possible Alien vs Predator scenario.
I should have put 'Communal' in quotes. Needless to say, in India, it applies only to Hindus, just as in the West, the label 'Racist' applies only to Whites, and more recently, to non-Muslims of any color who condemn Islam. The 'Communal' label is never used to brand Muslims, no matter how extreme, and neither is it used to describe any other non-Hindu religious groups, such as Sikhs who are pro Khalistani, or Christian separatists in the North East.
OT
http://www.pipelinenews.org/index.cfm?page=gamble01.01.08.htm
Islamic enclave in Philadelphia
HinduInfidel
Yes, these Muslim Personal Laws are deplorable, particularly as they keep the women enslaved to their men. They (the Laws) compromise India's democracy.
Francis of EternityRoad, nice to see you posting here!
Has anyone heard about the Dutch artist who has been forced into hiding after "spiritual inner strugglists" issued death threats? This was because of her work photographing Iranian homosexual exiles in masks of the Prophet M...
Look on the Times of London's website for the story. Dutch politicians are now debating the limits of free speech.
Any bets they'll decide free speech does not cover Islam? "Best you don't cause trouble..."
Above quote from Francis W. Porretto:
"Muslims as individuals might well be overwhelmingly inclined toward peace and amicable relations with non-Muslims, but Islam the ideology is inherently at war with any nation that refuses it."
Quote from Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black:
"A person is smart; people are dumb panicky dangerous animals and you know it."