‘It was a draconian law, I’m relieved now’

KOLKATA: Hailing Supreme Court’s verdict striking down Section 66A of the IT Act, Bangladeshi author in exile Taslima Nasreen said she’s relieved now.
“It was a draconian law and I was a victim of this law. So, I feel relieved now. There were two arrest warrants against me for my tweets. In 2012, one arrest warrant was issued from Bihar. When I was fighting for a stay, another arrest warrant was issued from UP for another tweet in 2014,” said Taslima, who now lives in Delhi.
Taslima said that she had to obtain a stay order and could not step out of India as a look-out notice was issued. “As a result, several of my overseas programmes had to be shelved. I was told that I can’t move out of India, though I was freely moving in India. It was conveyed that if I try to step out, I could be arrested for the pending look-out notice. Now, I am relieved,” Taslima said, adding that since she was harassed under Section 66A of the IT Act, she had also filed petition demanding its repeal.
“I have been fighting all through for freedom of expression. If you cannot comment freely on the internet, then how can freedom of expression find its wings? In India, freedom of speech is treated with great esteem and I think the court felt the same way and agreed to repeal it.” According to her, the court felt that this section of the IT Act hit the root of liberty and freedom of expression, two cardinal pillars of democracy.
“This victory will be a great inspiration for me and for my free-thinking movement. I am now part of amending the same in Bangladesh. I had suffered under the same act in Bangladesh too. There, it’s known as 57 ICT Act of Bangladesh. Now it is time to fight against the same law in Bangladesh. I shall encourage my friends in Bangladesh to fight against this law. It is unfortunate that my friend Abhijit Roy, an activist and writer, had to die while advocating for free expression in Bangladesh.” Already, there is an appeal for repealing the ICT Act of Bangladesh.
Taslima, whose book was banned a number of times on grounds of hurting religious sentiments, felt that Section 295A of IPC should also be abolished. This law prohibits any act either spoken or written in words intended to outrage the religious feelings. There’s a penal provision of a jail term of four years or fine or both. “I suffered under the same law in Bangladesh,” she said, adding that the same draconian law exists in Pakistan also.
“I want to fight against this law also, as this is also against the freedom of expression. I want this law to be abolished from the subcontinent. My books were banned in Bengal on this ground. Publishers in Bengal still don’t want to publish my books and that is a great pain for me. I want those books to be published in Bengal.”