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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 005119 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL KISL ASEC BG IN
SUBJECT: AUTHOR TASLIMA NASREEN: PAWN IN POLITICAL WEB 
 
REF: A. KOLKATA 359 
 
     ¶B. KOLKATA 356 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Summary: Claiming that the Communist Party of India 
- Marxist (CPM) pushed her to leave Kolkata (ref A), 
controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen finally 
settled in a "safe place" in Delhi under the security of the 
Indian central government.  Her flight from Kolkata sparked a 
political firestorm, with the BJP offering her sanctuary and 
the CPM, ironically, being seen as anti-secular.  After a 
pounding in the media and the opposition for initially 
looking the other way during Nasreen's flight, the UPA 
finally agreed on November 28 to provide her safe shelter in 
India provided she not engage in political activities. 
Congress and the CPM continued to snipe at each other while 
searching for a solution that does not offend their 
all-important Muslim vote bank.  The CPM is being accused by 
some of manufacturing the controversy in order to drive 
Nandigram  out of the front pages.  The Bharatiya Janata 
Party (BJP) has claimed the secular high ground calling for 
Nasreen to receive a permanent visa.  Adding a farcical tinge 
to the  controversy, noted Muslim-bashing Gujarat BJP Chief 
Minister Narendra Modi has even jumped on the bandwagon, 
offering Nasreen protection in his state. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) While on the defensive, the CPM believes this is an 
easier issue to handle in Parliament than Nandigram, and is 
probably quietly relieved that her case has pushed the 
Nandigram massacres from the front page.  The Congress wants 
to push the issue under the rug.  The BJP holds the upper 
hand and will milk the controversy dry.  As for the author, 
she has said Kolkata is her home and she would prefer to live 
there, but the CPM, it seems, despite its high-minded 
rhetoric about looking after the little guy, has no space in 
that teeming city for a female author fleeing an unjust fatwa 
and threats to her life in Bangladesh.  In the end, this 
episode further exposes the CPM for the hypocritical 
authoritarians that they really are.  End Summary 
 
Intolerance Rears its Ugly Head 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶3.  (U) The storm surrounding controversial Bangladeshi 
writer Taslima Nasreen began on November 21, a few days after 
the Nandigram killings (ref B).  Nasreen and Nandigram became 
linked after All India Minorities Forum president Idris Ali 
led a protest against CPM's actions in Nandigram and demanded 
Nasreen's Indian visa be revoked for what he claimed were her 
anti-Islamic writings.  Protesters fought a pitched battle 
with Kolkata police causing numerous injuries but no 
fatalities.  To quell the violence, the CPM government of 
West Bengal (GOWB) called for Nasreen to "leave the state." 
(Note:  Nasreen, who travels on a Swedish passport, faces 
death threats from fundamentalists in Bangladesh, her country 
of birth, for her writings.  Her Indian visa expires February 
17, 2008). 
 
The CPM Abandons Her to Her Fate 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶4.  (U) On November 22, with the facilitation of GOWB 
officials and ironically wearing a burqa, Nasreen left 
Kolkata for Jaipur.  However, she only stayed in Rajasthan 
one day as the Muslim group All India Milia Council 
threatened protests in the city.  Fearing violence, the 
Rajasthan government transferred Nasreen to its guest house 
in Delhi on November 24.  She remained there until her 
security was handed over to the central government which 
promptly moved Nasreen to an undisclosed "safe place," 
reportedly the National Security Guards Complex a few miles 
south of Delhi.  The Taslima Nasreen issue came up at a 
November 27 meeting of the Union Cabinet, which made the 
decision to move Nasreen from Rajasthan House to a safer 
venue. 
 
The Government Finally Does the Right Thing (Sort Of) 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶5.  (U) After a pounding from civil activists and the BJP, 
Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, noting that India has 
"never refused shelter to those who have come and sought our 
protection" assured Parliament on November 28 that India 
would allow Nasreen to stay in India.  He urged, however, 
that Nasreen not indulge in activities and actions that "hurt 
 
NEW DELHI 00005119  002 OF 003 
 
 
the sentiments" of Indians or mar India's relations with 
other countries. 
 
Taslima's Version: Wait for Her Next Book 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶6.  (U) For her part, Nasreen has not explained the exact 
circumstances of her journey from Kolkata to Jaipur to Delhi. 
 Initially she told the press, "I was asked to go to 
Rajasthan but why I was asked to go and by whom, let us not 
speak about this."  However, she did allow later that certain 
top officials of the Kolkata police, "put pressure on me; I 
was driven out."  She has stated that she wants to return to 
Kolkata, saying, "I want to go back to the city and start my 
life afresh, returning to my writing.  I am missing home 
intensely."  She has not been shy in talking to the media, 
with most national newspapers getting juicy quotes from her. 
Nasreen has been in exile from Bangladesh for at least 13 
years and has lived in Kolkata for more than three years. 
 
Let the Politics Begin 
- - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶7.  (U) Amidst heavy criticism from the BJP, the CPM has 
tried to downplay the issue and shift the onus for any 
decision on Nasreen's final status to the Congress-led UPA 
government.  When asked about Nasreen, politburo member 
Sitaram Yechury evaded responsibility: "Whether she should 
remain in India or not and whether her visa should be 
extended or not is a decision to be taken by the central 
government.  It is beyond the scope of any state government. 
Let the central government decide on this," Yechury said. 
 
Congress Neither Secular nor Courageous 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶8.  (U) Despite Pranab Mukerjee's statement in Parliament, 
the damage had been done for the Congress Party.  It came 
under heavy attack from the BJP for the "silence" on the 
affair from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and party president 
Sonia Gandhi.  The Congress Party has tried to deflect blame 
to the CPM.  Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi relayed 
that when the central government last extended Nasreen's 
visa, it was only over several objections from the CPM Bengal 
government.  But the Congress, too, refused to answer direct 
questions about Nasreen's status until the Mukherjee 
statement in Parliament. 
 
BJP Opportunistic and Exploitative 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶9.  (U) The BJP has hammered the Congress Party and, 
especially, the CPM, accusing both of caving to Islamic 
fundamentalists to pander to the Muslim vote bank.  "It is a 
shame for the entire nation that Taslima Nasreen is made to 
run for her life after she was granted shelter and visa to 
stay in the country," said V.K. Malhotra, BJP's Deputy Leader 
in the Lok Sabha.  The BJP is demanding that Nasreen be 
treated as a political refugee and receive a permanent visa. 
Jumping on the bandwagon while pursuing his reelection 
campaign, Gujarat Chief Minister Modi invited Nasreen to 
Gujarat, boasting, "I have the courage to protect her." 
Hindu nationalist party Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's chief 
K.S. Sudarshan has also offered to host Nasreen. 
 
Comment: BJP Ahead, but Nandigram off the Front Page 
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 
 
¶10.  (SBU) At a recent book release event in Delhi, Chandan 
Mitra, editor of the Pioneer newspaper, castigated the CPM 
for its treatment of Nasreen.  He accused the CPM of 
blatantly creating a "Nasreen issue" by deporting her from 
the state to push the Nandigram controversy out of the 
national spotlight.  The strategy appears to have worked, and 
not only for the CPM's benefit.  Nandigram had become a 
political liability for the Congress due to its refusal to 
condemn openly its CPM ally for their brutal actions.  This 
incident also suggests that there are many within the 
Congress including FM Mukherjee, for example) who share 
substantive political views with the CPM. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) After Nandigram, Nasreen represented a convenient 
foil for both the CPM and fundamentalist Muslim leaders in 
Kolkata.  From their actions (or lack thereof), it is clear 
 
NEW DELHI 00005119  003 OF 003 
 
 
India's main political parties could not care less about 
Nasreen or her writing beyond how their parties' reactions to 
events play to voters.  Not wanting to offend the Muslim vote 
bank, neither Congress nor CPM has officially supported an 
extension of Nasreen's visa.  Both parties want the situation 
to go away.  The BJP will ensure that will not happenby 
raising the issue in Parliament to batter both the CPM and 
Congress and to burnish their own tarnished secular 
credentials.  The BJP has seized the high ground and will 
milk the controversy for all it's worth.  For Taslima, the 
last week has been chaotic, but will no doubt provide ample 
material for her next book.  As for the CPM, the public are 
increasingly aware that their lofty rhetoric about looking 
out for the little guy rings hollow, since they have stooped 
recently not only to kill peasants at Nandigram but to 
abandon a female author in order to pander to vote banks. 
Surely they could have found space for one woman in a teeming 
city of 16 million? 
MULFORD