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Protest in Jaipur against “shabby” treatment meted out to Taslima

Taslima Nasreen

JAIPUR: Activist groups and women’s organisations created a human chain in front of the historic Albert Hall Museum here over the weekend to protest against the “shabby” treatment meted out to the Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen by the Governments of West Bengal and Rajasthan. The groups, led by former chairperson of Rajasthan Women’s Commission, were joined by artists, theatre persons, writers, academicians and activists of Right to Information.

Right to freedom of speech, right to live with dignity and the right to lead a secure life in India formed the theme for the human chain, held in the backdrop of the picturesque more than a century old Albert Hall in the afternoon.

The protestors targeted the much-publicized Rajasthani concept for guests, “Aditi devo bhava”(guests are gods) and the famous lines of hospitality, “Padharo hmare des”(welcome to our land) to chastise the State Government’s act of virtually packing Ms.Nasreen off from the capital in less than 24 hours of her arrival here by a flight from Kolkata. Rajasthan, a reluctant host, however has lodged her at the Rajasthan House in Delhi making her a State guest.

“It is shameful that Taslima Nasreen has been treated like a football by the Governments of West Bengal and Rajasthan,” stated Kavita Srivastava, general secretary, Rajasthan PUCL. The groups included Socio Legal Studies Institute, Samagra Sewa Sangh, Vividha, Rajasthan University Women’s Association, Women Power Connect, Bharatiya Gyan Vigyan Samiti, Dijantar, Allaripu, Souhardh, Rajasthan Nirman Mazdoor Sangathan and Dalit Adhikar Kendra, among others.

Meanwhile talking to journalists in Udaipur during the day Congress spokesperson Abhishekh Manu Singhvi justified moving Ms.Nasreen from Kolkata to Jaipur and then to Delhi. “It is for the security agencies to decide where to take her and where to lodge her,” he noted.

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