Attention  mukto-mona@yahoogroups.com

  

 

Subject: Taslima Nasrin faces Sayed Haq

Dear Muktomonas,

Sabyasachi lekahak of Bangladesh, Janab Shamshul Haq sued a defamatory case against Taslima Nasrin, another equally famous celebrity for her derogatory remarks which Sayed Haq thinks have shattered his fame which he earned through his labour of 52 years as a writer. Here is the story.

Ajoy Roy

 

Taslima Nasrin Faces defamation charges

-Ajoy Roy

A crow eats flesh of another crow

The Bengali proverb says, ‘Kaker mansa kake khai na’ (a crow does not eat flesh of another crow). But it does. Here is an example. Sayed Shamsul Haq is an established name in our literary world as a poet, lyrical dramatist and a novelist as well. On the other hand Ms Taslima Nasrin, a medical doctor turned into writer, is equally famous, perhaps internationally more famous than Sayed Haq as a champion of women’ cause and humanist. Recently Taslima wrote a novel called ‘Ka’ in which she made some remarks with regard to her personal relation with Sayed Haq that according to Sayed Haq are derogatory and character assassination. This remarks annoyed Mr. Sayed Shamsul Haq, our sabyasachi lekhak annoyed and obviously perturbed him who decided to take the issue to a court for redress instead of issuing a befitting rejoinder and honest criticism of her so called novel.         

Sayed Shamsul Haq sues Taslima

Talima Nasrin, mow in exile from Bangladesh faces charge of defamation for her latest book called “Ka”. The person who brought the charge of defamation is none other than Poet Sayed Shamsul Haq, loved to be called as ‘Sayed Haq’ by his admires and friends.

The poet-novelist-dramatist Shamsul Haq, again used to be called as ‘Sabyasachi Lekhak’ meaning a writer of multilateral dimensions whose writing hand is all embracing from poems to lyrical drama and realistic novels, yesterday (9. 11. 03) sued writer-poet Taslima Nasrin for defamation in the court of First Junior Judge, Dhaka demanding Tk 10 crores (100 million taka in BD currency equivalent to roughly 2 million US dollars) for compensation. Mr. Haq urged in his petition for total proscribing and withdrawal of the book from the market. Mr. Haq filed the case on the ground that the book has shattered his honour and dignity as a man in the society, as a writer among his fellow writers, and as a father or husband in the family. The plaintiff claimed that her narration of relation between the authoress and the plaintiff is distorted, baseless and motivated. Her motive is to belittle Mr. Haq in the society and tarnish his bright image of personality in the socio-cultural arena in Bangladesh.

The case was moved by Barrister Ziaur Rahman Khan, on behalf of the plaintiff with a court fee of Tk 40,250/- . Mr. Haq in his petition mentioned that Taslima depicted him as ‘Babar Ali’, Sayed Haq’s principal character of ‘Khelaram Khele ya’, a novel full of juicy description of sexual acts between ‘Babar Ali’ and a college going teenager ‘Zahida’. The analogy of his creation and its creator, as narrated by Taslima in her book ‘Ka’ enraged the Kaliyuga’s Sabyasachi. Reader, may I remind you that in the great Epic of Mahabharata Arjuna were termed as Sabyasachi as he was efficient in throwing arrows from his bow with both hands with equal expertise? The petition further claimed that her remarks in relation of Sayed Haq’s association with her are willfully corrupted, baseless and detrimental to Haq’s fame. The petition, further termed Taslima as a ‘characterless writer’ having no moral scruple.

 

Other six defendants include “charidik (publisher), impression printing house, deputy commissioner of Dhaka, IGP, information secretary, and secretary of interior affairs. Inclusion of the government officers and secretaries is perhaps due to their failure of duty (in the eye of the plaintiff) to take appropriate action against the ‘characterless authoress’ who has assassinated the noble character of a famous personality like sabyasachi lekhak janab Syed Shamsul Haq.

Haq’s interview with BBC 

In course of an interview with BBC in Dhaka, Mr. Haq contended that her remarks, and as she depicted the relation between the two. He said, ‘my fame has been hurt, my family honour has been belittled, and above all she has axed my elevated social position that I earned through my writings for more than 52 years. This is not just simple character assassination. There must be some motive-, a deep-rooted evil objective. Otherwise, why she should write such a book involving so many persons of important characters.”

Mr. Sayed Haq said to the BBC that she came to know her in a post wedding dinner of Rudra Muhammad Shahidullah, a young talented poet ceremony and Taslima Nasrin, the bride. Mr. Haq said, ‘Rudra was a talented poet and was much younger to him in age. He is no more now. I addressed Taslima as ‘Bouma’ (a affectionate term used for daughter in law in Bengali) from the very first day. She was affectionate to me as a young poet. But when I felt that she was after fame and that too had to be earned by any means, I think from that moment I withdrew my affection from her.”

Taslima’s reaction

After learning that Sayed Haq has sued against her for her alleged defamatory remarks about Shamshul Haq, she reacted by saying that, ‘but Sayed Haq knew what really happened on those occasions.’ ‘I don’t know how many critics have really read my book who criticized it. After reading the remarks of the journalists I have framed such opinion.’ continued feminist writer.

‘I have not written anything against any one with any motive. This book depicts the time when I was in close touch with those men of celebrities, we were together then in fighting against fundamentalism. The mullahs issued fotwas against- that was the time I started writing against fundamentalism and fundamentalists. I wrote columns- my books published. Those were the time when I mix with many writers, poets and men of cultural activities. Why should I not write about those important personalities ? What is wrong in it?

With deep feeling of respect , I wrote about Sayed Haq- I don’t know why he is doing this?’, continued Taslima Nasrin.

In answer to a question ‘how would you prove the truth of those remarks’, she aid, ‘I have not written the book to do that. This is a story of my life—whatever happened in my life I tried to narrate faithfully. Some would be leased, some would not. How could I help- life is such ! I the writers of Bangladesh thought that they were saints, they were gods (devata) then what can I do?  I tried to see them as human beings, and are they not ? A man is a mixture good and evils. Whatever I said about my own doings – there were misdoings as well as good doings; there were mistakes and wrongs.

Sunil Ganguli and Taslima

Calcutta’s famous novelist-poet Sunil Ganguli admired her writing with some reservation. According to him ‘personal relations are sacred based on mutual respect and faith. One should not divulge it publicly. It shows devoid of taste on the part of the writer.

When this aspect was raised to her, she differed with Kolkata-writer. She commented that Sunil babu has written ‘half life story’, but ‘I want to write the full one- in it all events should find place- good, bad and even unpalatable relations.’ She refuted allegation of ‘sensationalism’, made by some Bangladeshi as well as Cacuttan critics. ‘I am not perfect or right always, and I have never claimed in my book. If I have misrepresented any one, I misrepresented myself ‘, smilingly said Taslima

 Personal comments.

I reserve my personal comments till I finish reading the book, which I started reading in spite of my heavy time schedule. But, I would only say that this is perhaps the first time a writer sued his fellow writer for defamatory remarks. Should we take such issue to a judge’s court? Is it the proper place where a novel would be evaluated according ‘acts, laws and by laws?