Fatwas for the death of any individual are nothing but calls for murder – and irrespective of the religious sentiment within which they are couched; being calls for extra-judicial killings must be treated as such. The state must take action against such calls.

Related Links
Religious Tolerance and Secularism
Celebrating our Work. Across Religious Divides.
Systematic Dispossession and Eviction of Minorities
Cartoon of the Prophet, Caricature of Expression

Muslim clerics in West Bengal Friday issued a "death warrant" against Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen if she did not pack her bags and leave India.

"Anybody eliminating her would be given Rs 100,000 and unlimited rewards if she does not leave the country immediately. She has insulted Islam and continued to create problem in this country," Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati, the shahi imam of Tippu Sultan Mosque in Kolkata, told IANS. "We are forced to issue such a warrant because the government is not making use of the constitutional provisions and driving her out of the country," Barkati said after a meeting of several Muslim clerics across India here.

If – in this case – Ms Nasreen has caused harm or hurt Muslim sentiments, then those hurt have recourse to civic action. The state provides various means for those aggrieved to take such action.

However, calls for death of individuals through Fatwas have no place in civic society based on democratic principles and actually attempt to supersede the functioning of the legal processes and of the state. This is a dangerous precedence – in fact it is inciting riots and encouraging murder of members of civic society – whether citizens in the state or those that the nation has allowed legal residence or asylum.

The government must take action against those issuing Fatwas as it would against those planning on murder or inciting riots. Perhaps even on charges of attempting to supersede the authorities of the state.

From the perspective of civic society, it is important to point out that there is no place for such Fatwas in a democratic society. Already numerous individuals and organizations have criticized such a Fatwa.

In their newsletter, All India Secular Forum has written “We strongly condemn the attack on Tasleema Nasreen by the activists of the Majlis E Ittehad ul Musalmmen ( MIM) in the Hyderabad press Club today where her new book was being launched. It is the immunity that the bigots such as MIM and other such fundamentalist organization enjoy that they feel emboldened enough to attack a writer of Tasleema's stature who is in fact  an honoured guest of this country. It is to be remembered that the people and organizations which have issued death threats to Tasleema earlier have not been proceeded against. Organizations like the MIM which claim to speak for Muslims and Islam are doing great disservice to the community and are a threat to the liberal and democratic ethos of India.” Signees included Ali Asghar, S. Irfan Habib, Nivedita Menon, Shabnam Hashmi, Vineet Tiwari, and Ram Puniyani.

The Muslim Intellectual Forum also criticized this attack and actually pointed out that this attack was led not by a Muslim social group but a Muslim political party with elected legislators; elected law makers were actually leading an extrajudicial charge superseding the processes of the state. The forum suggested that perhaps this was politically motivated.

However, it is important that more secular groups and civic society organizations make clear that such calls have no place in a democratic society. It is also necessary that proceedings be initiated against those law makers who were part of this call for a Fatwa.