TASLIMA NASREEN : An immortal fire (Part- 1)

“Is it then true that nothing but death can liberate women?”

      

~Taslima Nasreen

Taslima Nasreen
Source: The Economic Times

It is not without a deep hesitation and anxiety that I decided to write on one of the greatest legends of feminism that had ever lived, for it is obvious that no one can ever endeavour to depict her perfectly with all of her fire, rage, pain and spark, not in words.

Back in my childhood days, whenever I tried to rebel or express a tremendous disdain for men in general, I remember people used to say, “She is just a Taslima Nasreen”. Though, at that age I was too young to notice the subtle tone of mockery and dislike in their voice every time that name was uttered, but even then I knew that it was not a compliment of respect, from their tone. Well, that was how I was first introduced to Nasreen.

It was not years later that I came to know her more and more and realized exactly why she incurred the abhorrence of the society in general. With time, I took a deep interest in her life and works. As I delved into her works, I realized that every moment spent with her was a moment of reckoning, a moment of self-revelation, a moment of living, not like the pile of rice and vegetables but living to the fullest with every nerve and impulse racing in me, reminding me that I was a complete human. How can you not fall in love with such a beautiful, bright and fiery personality?

Born in 1962, in the small town of Myemansingh, Nasreen was a rebellious and inquisitive child from her early days. Luckily for her, she had an open-minded and deeply supportive father who was intent on educating his daughter and molding her into a strong independent woman, which was rare in an Islamic country like Bangladesh. He was the one who imbibed in her a strong interest for books. She grew up studying authors, poets and philosophers all over the world, though her father, being a physician himself, pressed her to study medicine. She took to medicine in her later years and became a physician too. Being born and bred in a fanatic Islamic country, she experienced the trauma and sufferings of being a woman through her experiences of life, which found language and expression in her poems and novels later on.

As a physician she came across the sufferings of tens and hundreds of girls and women damned to pain, death and darkness, all over her country. Not only did she look into their lives but also she felt their pain in her heart and soul. She vented all her rage and pain through her fiery writings.

She started publishing proses since late 1980-s and half a dozen collections of her poetry were published between 1982 and 1993. Her poems depicted a tortured, oppressed and downtrodden female clan, torn of identity, honour and freedom, and often with graphic language. Her second poetry collection ‘Nirbashito Bahire Ontore’ was published in 1989. She began to win huge attention and popularity when she started to write columns in the early 1980-s. 

Nirbachito Column : by Taslima Nasreen

Her columns were collected and published as ‘Nirbachito Column’, which won the Ananda Puroshkar in 1992.The first novel of hers which won a wide acclaim and an outburst of popular sentiments, mainly because of its controversial issues, was Lajja (published in 1992). It was initially a documentary novel, later on edited to a full-length one. 

               Lojja : by Taslima Nasreen

All through her writings, she has rebelled fiercely, fought tooth and nail for the right of the women, for them to live with honour and freedom. Her own life experiences had trimmed her into a resolute resilient independent personality, a fighter, a thinker and the icon of the surging feminist movement of the time. In her columns, she has candidly raised questions on the institutions of marriage, the religious injunctions that threatened the honourable existence of women (in every religion), the hypocrisy of the so-called progressive bourgeoise society, the fall of socialism and the commodification and marketing of the female body, the patriarchy reigning at large in our language and literature and the intellectual section even and the victimization of women at every level of this society. Again and again, she has castigated the female mentality of subjugating their existence to masculinity and denying themselves the right to live like a true human being and not as a heap of flesh and blood. “If you are truly a woman , then go forth and find life beyond these shackles of death. If you are truly a human being, break apart these rusty chains and stand up for once. These hands, this smile, these lips, this chin, these eyes, they are all but yours. These legs, they are yours. Run about, see life, laugh heartily. You belong to no one else but yourself. You are absolutely yours…….. Oh woman, be one with Beauty, be one with your Dreams.” She said.

In the same way she has scorned the bourgeoisie hypocrisy, whereby, women are made to market their bodies to capitalism and made to show themselves off for male attraction, under the cover of ‘liberation of women’. On one hand, there are the religious scriptures and rituals, damning the women to daily sexual, mental and physical assault and on the other hand, the capitalist world in their glamorous disguise, intent on building up markets on female body as capital, both with the sole intention of showcasing women for the carnal desires of men. Indeed “no business needs so less capital and is so obvious to be profitable as the business of women body”, she has rightfully commented. She has fearlessly questioned the government and the patriarchal organization for the deplorable condition of women , for the despicable communal violence and demanded the abolition of prostitution, with logical perspectives. Her pen speaks eloquently against both fanatic communalism and patriarchy. “If the pillars and palaces of religion threatens to mar the fraternity and love among humans, then let every temple, mosque, church and pagoda on the earth be destroyed to dust. Humanity is greater than bricks and cement. Love is greater than bricks and cement.”

Well, so much for an independent women speaking freely against religion and patriarchy, eh? Nasreen suffered a number of physical and other attacks by the conservative religious sections of Bangladesh. 

Hundreds and thousands of them flooded the streets demanding her execution. In October 1993, a radical fundamentalist group called the Islamic Council of Islamic Soldiers offered a bounty for her death. It is even known that a militant faction threatened to let loose thousands of poisonous snakes the capital city if she was not executed. She had to go in hiding for two years after which she escaped to Sweden at the end of 1994. It is indeed rewarding, and thrilling, isn’t it when you realize that your creations have succeeded in threatening and scaring your opponents so much thatthey fear to let you live! I mean, just think, how many can boast to have lived such an honourable and prestigious life? 

(To be continued......)

 ~Arundhati Rakshit