Nasreen Update

According to Rediff.com, there is good news and bad news in the wake of last week's attack on Taslima Nasreen. The good news is that the Islamist thugs who attacked Ms. Nasreen are being charged for their brutal behavior. The bad news is that charges have also been filed against Ms. Nasreen for offending the sensibilities of Muslims:

Hyderabad City Police have booked a case against controversial Bangladesh writer Taslima Nasreen for hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims. The Police have also sought the clearance from a court to file a case against Majlis-e-Ittehaadul Muslimeen floor leader in Assembly Akbaruddin Owaisi for allegedly holding out threats to Taslima Nasreen if she visits Hyderabad again.

On Thursday, the city police had arrested three MIM legislators for their bid to attack Taslima Nasreen when she was in the city to release a Telugu translation of her controversial novel "Shodh."

[...]

On the same day, MIM floor leader Akbaruddin Owaisi had filed a complaint against Taslima Nasreen, alleging that she had hurt the sentiments of Muslim community with her writings and speeches against Islam, including Holy Prophet Mohammed.

Based on his complaint, the City Police booked a case against Taslima Nasreen under section 153 (A) of IPC for "promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language etc and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony." The case is under investigation.


The same article quotes Owaisi as allegedly backing away from his threat to murder Ms. Nasreen should she ever return to Hyderabad:

Akbaruddin Owaisi, who is in the eye of a storm after the TV news channels claimed that he held out threats to kill or behead Taslima Nasreen if she came to Hyderabad again, told rediff.com, "I never said that we will kill her or behead her. This is all distortion. What I said is that there is a 'fatwa' against her. It is the responsibility of Muslims to abide by the fatwa and being a Muslim I will also abide by the fatwa."


There's one problem with this so-called denial: the fatwa in question calls for Ms. Nasreen to be murdered for her views about Islam. Therefore, saying that "I will also abide by the fatwa" is the same as threatening her life. Clearly, it is Owaisi who is engaged in distortion.

(Rediff link courtesy of Jihad Watch)