Taslima-Nasreen

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday got a clean chit from the police in a 2013 case on allegations that she had hurt religious sentiments with a tweet.
BAREILLY: Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen on Friday got a clean chit from the police, after a case was filed against her in Bareilly in 2013, on allegations that she had hurt religious sentiments with a tweet. Police said they did not find any evidence against her.

“A closure report has been filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate as there was no evidence against her. Now, it is up to the court to decide on the matter,” said Anil Samaniya, an inspector with Kotwali police station.

Talking to TOI, Hasan Raza Khan Noori Miyan, who had lodged a police complaint against the writer in December 2013, said, “I think police did not investigate the matter in a proper way. They filed a closure report, citing lack of evidences.”

Khan said he would not give up pursuing the case and would soon decide on his next course of action. “After holding discussions with others, we would decide our next step soon.”

The controversy stems from Taslima’s tweet over Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Arvind Kejriwal meeting Tauqeer Raza Khan, a senior cleric of Barelvi sect, just before Delhi assembly elections in November 2013. She had then disapproved of the development on grounds that Tauqeer had declared a Rs 5 lakh bounty on her head in 2007 after taking serious offence to the contents of one of her books where she had referred to Islam. This was followed by violent protests over renewal of her visa which in turn eventually saw her being bundled out of Kolkata by the authorities to Delhi.

In her controversial tweet, Taslima had said, “In India, criminals who issue fatwas (edict) against women don’t get punished.”

She had tweeted further, “Nobody is allowed to set price on anyone’s head in India. The fatwas are illegal here. It is against the Indian constitution. But it seems Noori Miyan does not care. The cleric Tauqeer Raza Khan is wrong if he claims that I am wrong, because I say he is anti-free speech. Noori Miyan is now saying I am a criminal. Am I a criminal because I have told the truth?”

In December 2013, Noori Miyan, who is the son of ‘Sajjadanasheen’ of Dargah Ala Hazrat Maulana Subhan Raza Khan Subhani Miyan and a nephew of Tauqeer Raza Khan, had lodged a police complaint against the author for hurting religious sentiments of the minority community through her tweet.

In his complaint, Khan had said a mufti (qualified Islamic scholar) issues fatwas in the light of the teachings of the sacred book and Hadith (references to Islam that were penned down by noted religious leaders of the Prophet’s era). “By describing the muftis as criminals Tasleema Nasreen had hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims,” he had argued.

A case was registered against Taslima under sections 295(A) of Indian Penal Code and 66(A) of the Information Technology Act at Kotwali police station. Section 295A covers deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs. Section 66 A of the IT Act makes anyone sending, by means of a computer resource or communication device, any information

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/City/Bareilly/Cops-give-clean-chit-to-Taslima-Nasreen/articleshow/45836903.cms