If the attack on Taslima Nasreen by followers of the Majlis Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) in Hyderabad was not shameful enough, we had an MLA, Akbaruddin Owaisi, actually justifying it. He expressed his satisfaction that she had been “taught a lesson”. If any lessons are indeed to be learnt from this sordid episode, it should be learnt by the likes of Owaisi and his ilk, who so blatantly applauded the behaviour that was unacceptable and an affront to democratic India.

When will the self-appointed spokespersons for organised religion understand that the worst possible advertisement for their faith are such blatant displays of intolerance? There is another factor to be considered. This is yet another instance of law-makers taking the law into their own hands. Last year Haji Yaqoob Qureishi, UP’s then minister for minority welfare, had the temerity to announce a cash reward of Rs 51 crore for the head of the Danish cartoonist who had caricatured the Prophet. Amazingly, he was allowed to emerge as something of a poster boy for his chief minister, Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was hoping to win a tough assembly election with the help of the Muslim vote. Such politics of communal pandering contravenes the country’s secular principles and tarnishes the image of ordinary Muslims and cannot be countenanced. The MLAs of the MIM, who spearheaded the attack on Nasreen, and their followers, must face the consequences of their senseless behaviour.

As the country celebrates the 60th year of its Independence, it needs to reiterate the first principles. Freedom of expression is one of the crucial tenets of Indian democracy and has to be defended at all times. The West Bengal government, by cravenly banning Nasreen’s novel, Lajja, has already gravely compromised on this principle. Works of creative expression, if they are deemed to hurt religious or ethnic sentiments, need to be challenged through the exchange of ideas. It cannot be done by hurling chairs and books at their authors.