Media is irresponsible: Taslima

Kolkata, Aug 18: Self-exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen today denounced the media for their exposure of the declaration of Fatwa at the Tipu Sultan Shahi Masjid yesterday, saying that this further increases the risk to her life.

''What the media did was totally wrong and irresponsible since it increases the risk to my life even further,'' Ms Nasreen told the sources while adding that there are many poor and uneducated Muslims in the country who would be enticed towards such an offer by a Mufti(religious leader).

''It is not the religious leaders but the common man who will be overwhelmed by such an offer and kill me for laying their hands on the money that the Shahi Imam has announced,'' she said.

Shahi Imam of the Tipu Sultan Masjid Syed Mohammed Noorur Rahman Barkati, while speaking at a rally yesterday declared a Fatwa, promising an unlimited cash reward for killing her.

A Fatwa is basically a religious order or a conclusion of a Muslim leader or a Mufti or any Islamic Law Making Body demarkating the rules of what is accetable or unacceptable under the Islamic Law.

The Imam demanded, and has in that regard sent a letter to Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, that Ms Nasreen be deported from the country in a month and all her works be banned.

When contacted, the controversial author, whose autobiographical novels 'Lajja' and 'Dwikhandito' earned the wrath of many in both Bangladesh and India alike, hoped that sense would prevail on those responsible for the 'fatwa' and they would change their mind.

''India is a democratic country. Everybody has the right to freedom of expression. I do not understand, how any one can think of suppressing anyone's voice through fatwa,'' she said and added, ''I am here because I have the support of all those who believe in democracy, humanity and secularism and most of all the government.'' ''The government has made every attempt to ensure my safety and security in this nation. I have no grudge on them,'' she reiterated.

Yesterday's rally was addressed by clerics from Hyderabad led by Mr Majidulla Khan, spokesperson of Mazlis Bachao Tehrik, Hyderabad.

Ms Nasreen was attacked by members of Majlis Ittehadul Musilmeen in Hyderabad during a book launch on August 9 as a band of people barged inside the local press club alleging that the author had hurt the sentiments of Muslims.

The Bangladeshi writer, who fled home following an Islamic Fatwa against her, had been living in exile in Kolkata for quite some time with a plea to the Centre to grant her Indian citizenship.

The period of her visa, which expired on August 12, had been extended by another six months by the Government.

UNI