Modi-Government Must Include Atheists, Critics Of Islam Under CAA – Taslima Nasrin

With the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the Modi Government had laid a path to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted migrants i.e. Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, who entered India on or before 31 December 2014.

Should the Modi Government include persecuted Atheist or Non-Practicing Muslims from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan who also face rampant persecution in the Islamic majority nations?

Taslima Nasrin, a Bangladeshi origin writer and human rights activist known for her voicing concerns on women’s oppression says that: “If the Citizenship Amendment Act is about giving citizenship to the persecuted in the neighbouring countries, I appeal to the Government of India to extend it to atheists and persecuted Muslims too.

According to reports in IANS quoting Nasrin – Just like Hindus, Christians and Buddhists are victimised in Bangladesh and Pakistan, atheists and activists who criticise Islam are hacked to death in Muslim nations, be it Pakistan, Bangladesh, or Afghanistan.

In most cases, the well-off manage to get political asylum and settle in Europe or America, but what about the others? India must come forward,” says Nasreen who has been in exile for more than 25 years after a fatwa was issued against her for ”criticising Islam”.

Emphasizing that she is still a steadfast adherent of the Uniform Civil Code adds, “Let”s be clear — all religions are anti-woman and need a comprehensive retrospection. The basis of marriage has to be equality. In these times, how can you have obsolete rules that favour men when it comes to inheritance, divorce, etc?”

Nasrin was born in Mymensingh in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) on August 25, 1962, Nasreen was compelled to go into exile in 1994 after threats, intimidations and fatwas from radical Islamic organisations after her novel ‘Lajja’ which portrays the persecution of a Hindu family by Muslims, ran into a controversy.