Taslima Nasreen lauds CAA, urges inclusion of persecuted Muslim free-thinkers

Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen called the contentious amended Citizenship Act of India 'generous' and opined that the new law should also have the inclusion of Muslims who are free thinkers and atheists but persecuted in neighboring countries their free-thinking.

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"It is good to give citizenship of India to persecuted religious minorities from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan. But even people like me deserve citizenship. They have a right to live in India. The CAA is a very good idea and very generous one," said Nasreen on the second day of the Kerala Literature festival during a session titled "In Exile: A writer's Journey".

"Islam should be more democratized and refined. We need more free thinkers. Uniform civil code should be based on equality, not religion," she said.

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'India requires more free-thinkers'

Citing the persecution of Muslim free-thinkers in neighboring countries, she said that many of the bloggers were killed for their free-thinking by suspected radical Islamists in Bangladesh a few years ago.

"Many of these bloggers left for Europe and America to save their lives. Why cannot they come to India? Today, India requires more free thinker, secularist, feminist from the Muslim community", said the exiled Bangladeshi writer.

She condemned the fundamentalists from both sides, minority and majority community. "Fundamentalism must be condemned. Both minority and majority community fundamentalists are the same. They both are against the developing society and equality of women," she said.

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Nasreen further narrated her experience of living in India. "People tell me that I am Bangladeshi, a foreigner. However, I always feel like I am at home. I will live in India and only in India as long as I can," she said.

The CAA grants citizenship to refugees from six minority religious communities Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians from Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan, provided they have lived in India for six years and entered the country on or before December 31, 2014.

(With ANI inputs)

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