Talisma Nasreen: No Country for Women

This book is a collection of Taslima Nasreens essays which revolt against the status of women in this man-made world. Taslima says that there is no place which belongs to women and hence they have to fight for every inch of ground to get their rightful place. Her fans laud her acuity of observation, sharpness of presentation and boldness of articulation. They are running fan clubs and blogs in her name even when she is unaware of those. Her critics dislike anything that is Taslima. Some have even called her a misandrist. She denies, but asks, Who is Guilty? Men or Patriarchy? You cannot say that men are good but patriarchy is bad. Behind the powdered faces of the elite society lies the stark reality where the law is violated with impunity and where a woman is not regarded as a human being... She is a thing to be exploited, molested and raped, she argues in one of her essays. She lambasts those who call themselves secular and pander to the fundamentalists. She exhorts them to rise above narrow interests and to think of the larger goal of the progress of society. In this context, she strongly argues for a uniform civil code in India. Taslima talks openly about her love life. She has lessons for those who think love to be a macho act. She defends homosexuals and challenges the way the patriarchal society looks at this aspect of non-sanctioned form of love. On how fundamentalism from religion impacts women, she has this to say: To bring in religion within the fold of the state, society, the law and the family is to welcome violence against women, discrimination between man and woman, child marriage for girls, polygamy for men, the law of stoning women to death for supposedly committing adultery, beating women to death for not wearing the burqa, or being disobedient to the husband, the horror of triple talaq, and imprisonment, unemployment, illiteracy, ill health, slavery and suffering for women.