The sheer outrage on display over Taslima Nasreen’s writings evident in the Urdu press has now been more or less replaced by a debate on the matter. On December 1 Delhi-based daily Hindustan Express reported how the general secretary of the Jamiat-Ulema-e-Hind and MP, Mahmood Madani, has ‘forgiven’ the author, saying, “The chapter of opposing Taslima Nasreen must now be closed.” On December 2, Delhi’s Shahi Imam was quoted in the same paper as saying, “The pardon to the universally defamed author is rebellion against the Shariat.” He added: “Without a written public apology, her presence in the country is intolerable to 25 crore Indian Muslims.” Akhbar-e-Mashriq, the Kolkata and Delhi-based daily, wrote in an editorial on December 2: “Eventually, Taslima Nasreen has come to her senses. Prophet Mohammed always forgave his enemies and now that the author has agreed to remove the controversial portions from the book, we should follow the Prophet’s path and forgive Taslima. Muslims should not get distracted by unnecessary controversies, and they should focus on their own development and well being, even though severe opposition to how Taslima has attacked Islam should have been mounted.” National Herald’s Qaumi Awaz in an editorial on November 29 wrote: “Belief in God and the Prophet should not be so weak that criticism by a Taslima or Salman Rushdie would demolish the faith. Human history is witness to this.” Aziz Burney, editor, Rashtriya Sahara, in a signed front-page editorial (November 28) has criticised her prose as “risque” and something “not in sync with the culture in South Asia and pure pornography.” The paper maintains that her “writing style, subject and content matters, her religion is not an issue.”

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