She has been accused of making offensive remarks against Islam during the book release at Press Club in Hyderabad. The leader of MIM has also lodged a case against Ms. Nasreen on the grounds that she has hurt the religious sentiments of the Muslims.
To top it all, the police has not taken the complaint very seriously. The mob that attacked the author has gone scot free. In another stunning development, the Urdu dailies have also taken a stand against the author. They have jeered at the crowd for throwing bouquets and not stones at the author. Newspapers are supposed to be impartial and objective not udgmental. But these dailies have clearly missed the point .
The attack on the author is shameful and debasing act. The author has faced similar problems in the past on the premise of the religious sentiments being hurt.
Three legislators leading an attack on a woman was bad enough. The attitude of authorities have made matters worse. Citizens have every right to expect that their chosen representatives will do something more respectable than mobilizing crowd for picketing someone.
We live in a democratic country. The very basis of democracy is liberty to speak freely. In order to uphold this value, it is important to tackle the issue sensibly. Instead of giving legal legitimacy to the action of the assailants it will be a far more sensible course is to punish those involved in the attack.
Even if the so called religious sentiments were hurt, no one has a right to resort to violence. This in itself should suffice to initiate an action against the offenders. Such action is important to ensure that freedom of speech and expression is p r o t e c t e d . Af t e r a l l I n d i a n independence has turned 60. We all need to grow up and accept criticism.
