Author: PTI
Publication: Rediff.com
Date: May 9, 2006
URL: http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/may/09bangla.htm
A Bangladeshi author has accused Dhaka of
"deliberately" delaying the renewal of his passport and alleged
that Islamic fundamentalists in his country were "targetting" him
for his "pro-minorities and pro-India" writings.
Salam Azad, who is currently living in New
Delhi after his book Bhanga Math ('Shattered Dream') was banned in Bangladesh
in 2004, claims the Bangladesh High Commission here has not renewed his passport
for last four months after it expired in January this year.
When contacted, the Bangladesh High Commission
had no immediate comments to offer.
Azad in his banned book, chose to write about
the Madrassa education and atrocities committed on Hindu families in Bangladesh.
"I met the Bangladesh High Commissioner
to India Liaquat Ali Choudhary in January and deposited my passport who passed
it on to Minister (Consular) D S Shaukat Raza. Initially, they promised me
to renew it within a day. However, after innumerable calls, faxes, letters
and visits to the mission, Raza told me bluntly that they would process it
through Dhaka," he told PTI.
"When I complained to Choudhary, he simply
washed off his hands from the entire affair. He said the renewal of my passport
was in the hands of the Bangladesh government and asked me to go to Dhaka
if I wanted to retrieve it. It is obvious he has orders from the Khaleda regime
to do so."
Meanwhile, the mission gave Azad, who says
he has authored 41 books so far, including three English titles, one of which
is Contribution of India In the War of Liberation of Bangladesh, a verification
statement and a travel permit to go to Dhaka.
But Azad is anything but pleased.
Alleging that the Bangladesh government is
adopting a "vindictive" attitude towards him for his views and books,
Azad says: "I am a Bangladeshi national. Of course, I want to go to my
people and my friends in Dhaka. But why should I go on a travel permit? I
want my passport. I face a threat from the fundamentalists and the government
there. They are waiting to pounce on me. I even asked Choudhury if he could
assure my safety and renewal of passport in Bangladesh. He refused."
Azad took shelter in Delhi when during a conference
in Geneva in 2004, he was informed that his book that explored pre-1947 and
present political and social atmosphere in Bangladesh had been banned in that
country.
"The next day the publisher was arrested.
The publications there were writing against me. My wife was in hiding for
almost two months. My relatives were being hounded and their houses raided
by the police. My friends in Bangladesh advised me not to return to the country
and so I came to India where I have many friends," he says.
"In the past too, I have written on the
condition of Hindus in my country in Why are Hindus Migrating From Bangladesh?'.
According to my research, 475 Hindus migrate from Bangladesh to India every
day. I have written on minorities, on how their property and land is forcibly
occupied, their women are raped," he said.
Azad, who is now talking to many Indian publishers,
wants to translate his books in all languages. He wants his passport back
and desires to go to Bangladesh but only after the next general elections
as he hopes his country would elect a new and a "more tolerant and secular"
dispensation.