[GOTFIVEONIT]

Karwan district MLA Afsar Khan (right) hits out at the director of 'Center for Enquiry' Narisetty Innaiah who tried to shield controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen (left) at the Press Club of Hyderabad on Thursday. Ms Nasreen was attacked by MIM legislators and 30 activists at a function organised by the Centre For Enquiry to release Chellu Ku Chellu, a Telugu translation of her Bengali book Shod, which deals with 'oppression of women in Islam'. Police escorted Taslima to the airport from where she flew to back to Calcutta.



MIM activists hits Taslima Nasreen with bouquets

Description: An MIM activist hitting the controversial writer Taslima Nasreen with a flower bouquet at Somajiguda Press Club in City on Thursday. A Siasat Photograph
Date: Thu 09 Aug 2007 21:48:48 IST



Showering of flowers in a different way

Description: Karwan MLA Afsar Khan hitting the controversial writer Taslima Nasreen with a flower bouquet at Somajiguda Press Club in City on Thursday.
Date: Fri 10 Aug 2007 12:31:46 IST



MBT protest against MIM’s flowers protest

Description: Mr. Majeed Ullah Khan Farhat MBT leader addressing Media alleging that the MIM Party leaders foiled their efforts to kill Taslima Nasreen and instead showered flowers petals. She was in city to release her Telugu version of her book at Somagiguda in Hyderabad on Thursday. (A Style Photo)
Date: Thu 09 Aug 2007 21:48:11 IST


MIM MLAs attack Taslima writer with bouquets

Thursday, 09 August 2007

Hyderabad, August 09: Controversial Bangladeshi novelist Taslima Nasreen was Thursday attacked by leaders of Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) by throwing flower bouquets at a book release function at the press club here Thursday,

Taslima attacked in Hyderabad, journalists protest


Hyderabad, August 09: Controversial Bangladeshi novelist Taslima Nasreen was Thursday attacked by leaders of Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) at a book release function at the press club here Thursday, sparking angry protests by journalists demanding action against the attackers.

Though Taslima escaped unhurt, intellectual Inaiah Nanisetti received an injury on his face that drew blood. The author was saved by some participants and journalists present at the function.

The attack sparked off tension in the busy Somajiguda area in the heart of the city as journalists took out a rally seeking strong action against those behind the attack.

Three legislators of MIM and about 100 workers of the party barged into the press club around noon when Taslima was attending a function to release the Telugu translation of her book "Sokhe".

Shouting slogans against the author, the MIM activists threw bouquets and books kept on the dais. A frightened-looking Taslima was shielded by Inaiah, two other authors present on the dais and a few journalists.

Protesting her alleged anti-Islam writings, legislators Ahmed Pasha Khadri, Afsar Khan and Moazzam Khan moved menacingly towards the author. Moazzam Khan even lifted a chair to attack her. "How dare you write against the Prophet," said Afsar Khan.

The attackers hurled abuse at the author and dared her to come out of the press club. The MIM workers, shouting "Taslima down down" and "Taslima go back", ransacked the meeting hall and damaged furniture. "We will kill her," shouted one of the protestors. "How could she step into Hyderabad," asked another.

About a dozen organisers and journalists also received bruises in the scuffle with the protestors.

Police rushed to the scene and escorted the author under tight security to the airport. She later flew back to Calcutta, where she is living in exile following a 'fatwa' issued against her by Islamic groups in Bangladesh for her book "Lajja".

The MIM activists continued their protest in the press club premises and had an argument with the journalists. They later staged a sit-in in front of the club, disrupting traffic on the busy Somajiguda Road.

Police Commissioner Balwinder Singh said three MIM legislators were arrested in connection with the incident. Some other party leaders and activists were also taken into custody and shifted to Panjagutta police station. A large number of party sympathisers gathered outside the police station demanding the release of their leaders.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Union of Working Journalists and Press Club have condemned the attack on Taslima and demanded stern action against the legislators.

Journalists union leader D. Amar demanded that those who attacked the author and damaged the Press Club property should be dealt with strongly. A delegation of journalists met Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy to demand that the MIM leaders should be brought to book. They also urged Speaker K.R. Suresh Reddy to disqualify MIM legislators involved in the attack.

Chief Minister Reddy, leaders of all political parties, writers, women organisations and rights groups also condemned the attack on Taslima.

"If somebody has a grievance against her, he can voice his view in a democratic manner but physical attack is highly condemnable," said Communist Party of India-Marxist state secretary B.V. Raghavulu.

The author's visit to the city was kept ceremony, and only a few people were invited to the ceremony.

MIM, which has a stronghold in the Muslim-majority old city of Hyderabad, got wind of the author's presence and their attack took the organisers by surprise.

MIM has one MP and five members of assembly in the state capital, where Muslims constitute 40 percent of the four million population.

-IANS




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