Scores of Muslims on Tuesday demonstrated against controversial Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen, demanding that she leave the city immediately. The protestors burned two straw effigies of the author
We hate her so much we wanna kill her twice!
and trampled on posters carrying her picture. "She is an insult to Islam and she can’t stay in this city," said Idris Ali, president of the All-India Minority Council, as about 250 people cheered him. "We have so far remained calm, but we will pick up swords if she is not asked to leave this country or at least our city immediately. The government is spending public money to protect an infidel. This is an insult to Muslims. She is an insult to Islam because she smokes and wears clothes that Islam doesn’t approve of," Ali said. The demonstration was held in a predominantly Muslim neighbourhood in central Kolkata near the office of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M), which heads West Bengal’s ruling coalition. |