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Taslima withdraws objectionable matter

Marcus Dam

Hopes this will assuage ‘hurt’ feelings

Kolkata: Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has asked her publisher here to delete controversial lines from her autobiographical novel Dwikhandita (Split in Two), withdraw all copies from the market, and ensure that the next edition does not contain them.

“I hope that my decision will settle the controversy raging over my book and I will be able to live in India and in West Bengal,” Ms. Nasreen told The Hindu over telephone from an undisclosed location on Friday.

Ms. Nasreen left the city for Jaipur on November 22, a day after violent demonstrations, led by the All-India Minority Forum, demanding revocation of her visa valid till February 17, 2008.

She has been put up in “a safe place” for the past few days after she was escorted to Delhi from Rajasthan. Her security is being taken care of by the Centre.

“Deeply sorry”

Referring to her novel, the author said, “I had no intention to hurt anybody’s sentiments but yet, some people in India, I believe, feel aggrieved. If that is so, I am deeply sorry,” Ms. Nasreen said.

In a statement in the Lok Sabha on November 28, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that India would continue to provide shelter to the author, but “it is also expected that guests [like Ms. Nasreen] will refrain from activities and expressions that may hurt the sentiments of our people.”

Ms. Nasreen’s decision to delete the controversial lines appears related to Mr. Mukherjee’s observations. “I took it this [Friday] morning,” the author said.

Informs CPI MP

She called up Gurudas Dasgupta, MP, Communist Party of India, twice in the morning and informed him of her decision.

“It is a step in the right direction, will assuage the feelings of those who have been hurt and may facilitate her return to Kolkata and lead a fruitful life there,” Mr. Dasgupta said.

“The book was written in 2002 based on my memories of Bangladesh during the 1980s when secular values were removed from that country’s Constitution. Because I believe in secularism I wanted it to remain in the Constitution but that was not to be,” she said.

Forgive her: Madani

Anita Joshua reports from New Delhi:

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind general secretary Mahmood A. Madani on Friday urged Muslims to forgive Ms. Nasreen as she had withdrawn the “offensive” passages from her book.

Mr. Madani, who represents the Rashtriya Lok Dal in the Rajya Sabha, told TheHindu that the Prophet had always forgiven his enemies. “Now that Ms. Nasreen has removed the controversial passages, Muslims should follow the path of the Prophet and forgive her.”

Mr. Madani said the matter should be treated as closed.

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