AIPWA condemns fatwa against Taslima

New Delhi, Aug 18 (UNI) The All India Progressive Women's association today condemned the fatwa issued against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen by the Shahi Imam of Tipu Sultan Mosque while asking the Andhra Pradesh Government to act swiftly against fundamentalists threatening to take her life.

In a statement issued here, AIPWA general secretary Kumudini Pati said,''in a Democracy, every person has a right to hold his or her own views and express them freely. Taslima has only done that. By issuing death threats against the feminist writer, a tiny fundamentalist fringe in the minority community is playinmg into the hand of Hindu fundamentalists.'' Urging the state government in Andhra Pradesh to swiftly act against those who had threatened Taslima's life, Ms Pati said,''the AP Government not acting against the attackers in the Hyderabad incident and rather first lodging an FIR against Taslima has emboldened fundamentalists of all hues and now the threat to Taslima's life has become real.

The AIPWa urges the government to grant the writer citizenship in India and allow her to live in Kolkata with security and arrest fundamentalists threatening to take her life,'' Ms Pati said.

UNI