'When they saw it was pointless trying to destroy my mind, they attempted to destroy my body. In this they succeeded by ruining my health which leaves me with no other alternative but to leave this country'
Taslima Nasreen is leaving India to rescue her life. She does not flee from the threat of the fundamentalists, but from the unbearable conditions in which she is held. For four months now, the Indian Government is keeping her in solitary confinement at an undisclosed location. She is not allowed to meet anybody including closest friends. And worse: she has been denied urgently needed medical treatment. As a result, her health is in alarming condition.
I have been in constant phone contact with Taslima Nasreen in her secret prison. The following shocking document, written by her some days ago and sent to me, has been kept under wraps according to her wishes till the eve of her departure. This morning she told me that I could release it.
At this undisclosed location I am neither allowed to go toa doctor for consultation nor is one allowed to come to me. I suffer fromseverely fluctuating blood pressure and the strange thing is that I was not evenallowed to speak to any of the doctors at the hospital over the telephone. Evenafter repeated requests I was not given a single phone number. When I was inhospital, I asked the doctors if I could call them if necessary but they saidthat they were not allowed to hand out their numbers. I had to make inquiriesthrough officials to get even the simplest of answers from these doctors. I havesuffered tremendously both physically and mentally. My blood pressure is nowimpossible to control. The doctors say it is due to stress which I must avoid atall costs. How can I not be stressed when everything is continuously stressingme out? I am brought to this place and incarcerated like some animal; my humanrights constantly and continually violated. I am not allowed to step out or meetanyone. How can I not be stressed? I received the extension of my resident'spermit, but the status quo continued.
And because of the high blood pressure caused by stress, Ideveloped heart disease (hypertrophy) and hypertensive retinopathy, both ofwhich were diagnosed at the hospital. The hypertensive retinopathy willeventually cause me to go blind. The blood pressure if uncontrolled destroy theheart, kidneys and eyes.
Prior to my confinement, my blood pressure had been undercontrol and all my organs were in perfect condition. After returning fromhospital, I wanted to leave this country at the earliest as I knew I would neverbe free from stress here. I said I needed to go to Kolkata urgently to collect afew important documents and other assorted things including bank cards and tosign my tax papers. That too, just the basic permission to visit my Kolkata flatto wrap up my life there, was denied for security reasons.
After a few days, at the same undisclosed location, I wasallowed to see a doctor from the AIIMS who prescribed some medicines aftertaking which I fainted. The same night I was admitted to hospital where my bloodpressure fell alarmingly and had to be given life-saving-drugs to survive. Thedoctors told me that I needed to spend two or three weeks in hospital but theofficials whisked me away from the critical care unit after just three days andtook me directly to meet the Minister for External Affairs. The Minister askedme to leave the country the shock of which made my blood pressure shoot up to220/120. I was rushed to the hospital but the doctors were instructed by theofficials not to admit me for 'security reasons'. In my not-so-gilded cage, Ihad no help at all.
Summing Up