Islamic groups demand Nasreen return for trial

Islamic groups demand Nasreen return for trial

DHAKA (Reuter): Radical Moslem groups demanded yesterday that
the Bangladesh government bring feminist writer Taslim Nasreen
back from her Swedish sanctuary and vowed to continue their
street protests calling for her death.

"I ask the government to immediately bring her home and punish
her for committing an unforgivable crime against Islam and its
followers," said Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, deputy chief of
the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Nasreen, 32, arrived secretly in Stockholm on Tuesday from
Bangladesh, escaping death threats which had forced the
physician-turned-author into hiding for two months.

She briefly emerged from hiding last week to be present in a
Dhaka court when granted bail on charges of hurting Moslem
religious feelings.

"The government had conspired to let her go, and it's the
responsibility of the government to ensure her return to face the
charges against her," Nizami said in a statement.

"If anyone had thought that we shall go off the streets and
rest after the murtad (apostate) Nasreen fled away, he is living
in a fool's paradise," said one leader of the Islamic United
Action Committee.

"There can be no let-up in the campaign until and unless the
agent of Satan is appropriately punished," the Islamic United
Action Committee leader told Reuters.

"If she continues to use her vulgar tongue and pen against
Islam while in freedom, the government of Bangladesh will have to
bear the responsibility for it," he said.

Prayers

Nearly 500 Moslems from two small militant organizations
demonstrated following noon prayers in Dhaka yesterday, calling
for Nasreen to be hanged.

Witnesses said the protesters paraded through the streets near
Dhaka's Baitul Mokarram mosque and dispersed peacefully shortly
afterwards.

Police continued yesterday a tight watch on the Swedish
embassy and diplomatic missions of other countries that supported
Nasreen, who went into hiding in Sweden immediately after
arrival, saying she wanted to rest and work.

The Bangladesh government has said there was no legal
restriction on her leaving the country under her bail conditions.

Nasreen had been in hiding since June 4 after the government
ordered her arrest for insulting Moslem religious feelings by
telling India's Statesman newspaper that Islam's holy book, the
Koran, should be "revised thoroughly".

Nasreen later said she was misquoted but the newspaper stood
by its report.

Information Minister Nazmul Huda said in comments reported in
the Inquilab newspaper yesterday that a case against Nasreen on
charges of hurting Islamic feelings was still pending at a Dhaka
Magistrate's court.

"(But) if someone does not appear in court personally, then
the defense may not be as strong. In that case she may be
convicted," he was quoted as saying.

"Once convicted, she will probably have to go straight into
custody when she returns," he said.

Huda said some fundamentalist groups were trying to gain
politically from the Nasreen controversy. "The government will
take all measures, by using its own mechanism, to control the
situation," he said.