No Orchids For Miss Nasreen

"I detest fundamentalism and communalism. I am not afraid of anythreat to my life."
—Taslima Nasreen in the preface to her book, Lajja.

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Asaduddin insists that the terms of any debate involving Muslims are ranged against the community. "There are two positions taken. There's the right-wingBJP types who are anti-Muslim. Then there are the left-wing intellectuals who are secular but against religious Muslims. Does that mean we should not take up issues that have an emotional appeal in our community?" Asaduddin also reveals that two months ago he had raised in Parliament the issue of Taslima living in India. "I had compared her to the Dalai Lama who is a welcome and respected guest because he refrains from insulting anyone. But Taslima just wants quick publicity." The MP says he will raise the matter again if her Indian visa is extended.

But the Urdu press in Hyderabad says it was the MIM—and not Taslima—that was looking for quick publicity. They note that the Majlis has been getting increasingly insecure because of the Left's political incursions into the city's Muslim pockets. In the last two years, the Left has been making steady inroads into the Old City by taking up issues of water, electricity, shelter and jobs. Says P. Lakshminarayana, CPI state secretariat member: "The MIM isn't used to organised civic struggles, and are feeling out of their depth. They were searching for an emotive issue which is why they seized the opportunity to make a scene at the Taslima book launch. "

Zaheer Ali Khan, the managing editor of Siyasat, Hyderabad's oldest Urdu daily, says the changing nature of the city has also brought about changes in the attitude of the Urdu press to MIM. The two leading papers, Siyasat and Mulsif, have for some time now been strongly opposed to the MIM, running campaigns against the Owaisi family's stranglehold over the party, their control over vast properties whose value keeps shooting up and their influence in selling off land to private players. This prompted the Owaisi family to start their own newspaper, Etemaad, nearly two years ago.

The manner in which the competitive Urdu press covered the Taslima episode reveals that there is no single uniform Muslim line on the issue. Siyasat, for instance, punned on "kitne aadmi the?" (how many men were there), the celebrated dialogue from the hit film Sholay, going on to make fun of the MIM claim that they would have beheaded the writer if given the opportunity. A few days later, the paper published a picture of garbage being thrown on its editor, by some MIM thugs, and posed the question, "You throw garbage on an editor and chuck a few flower pots on 'an enemy' of Islam." The other daily, Mulsif, too quoted lines from an old Hindi film song (Baharon phool barsao mera mehaboob aaya hai) about throwing flowers, and equated it with the MIM action of throwing flower pots at Taslima.

The Owaisis, of course, see things differently. They believe they have raised a legitimate issue, and that India has enough troubles of its own without importing Taslima from Bangladesh. As for the Urdu press's hostile attitude, Asaduddin says it is part of a larger game-plan. The Urdu media claim to be united in supporting the Left. But he says they are backing the TDP. The Owaisis continue to display the supreme confidence of those who have set themselves up as the guardians of a people and a faith. Father Salahuddin and son Akbaruddin have warned of further action if "that woman" comes to Hyderabad again.

But the Pearl City is much more than a Muslim ghetto run by a family. Its Muslim residents too have better things to do than to debate the distasteful sight of a group of macho men attacking a woman. Sample these: last year's junior college (intermediate) examination held in Andhra Pradesh had nine Muslims among the 10 toppers (no reservation). The boy who stood first, Mohammed Azhar, has joined BITS Pilani. The second rank went to a Muslim girl. On the job front, although the number may not be commensurate with their population in the city, 550 Muslim boys and girls—some in burqas—work in Hyderabad's call centres. As Zaheer Ali Khan puts it, there are other pending issues like the Srikrishna report and the nuclear deal that concern Muslims and have serious implications for the community. The Taslima episode was just a tamasha.