After Salman Rushdie, Muslim groups are feeling their oats on Friday turned the heat on visiting controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen with a leading cleric threatening "serious consequences" if she did not leave the city within a week.
| Found something new to seethe about... |
"She (Nasreen) has come here to disturb the communal harmony and she should immediately leave the city otherwise there would be serious consequences," Imam of Tipu Sultan mosque Maulana Noorul Rahman Barkati said immediately after the Friday prayer. Speaking amidst chants of ’Taslima go back’, Barkati said "We are giving her one week time to leave the city. After that we will not be responsible for the consequences".
| "Y'got a week to get outta Dodge, girlie. After that, we can't control ourselves..." |
Nasreen, who flew in here on Wednesday for a month-long stay, has sparked off a controversy for alleged anti-Islamic contents of her autobiographical book D wikhandito (Split in Two) prompting the West Bengal government to ban it. She is scheduled to release her new book Shei Shob Andhokar (Those Dark Days) at Kolkata Book Fair later this month.
| And here's another dark day, brought to you courtesy of roving bands of fascisti... |
Another Muslim group, Jamiat-E-Ulama has already demanded a public apology by her for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community in the proscribed book.
| 'Cuz, y'see, Islamists are much more sensitive than anybody else. Their delicate psyches are very easily bruised. That's what makes them lose control, you know... |
The All India Minority Forum, a city-based organisation, has also threatened protests against Nasreen at the Book Fair threatening to prevent the release of Shei Shab Andhokar. The agitation against Nasreen comes in the wake of similar threats against Salman Rushdie in Mumbai on January 12 when a Muslim body announced a reward for blackening the face of the author of Satanic Verses. |