Taslima & Nepali nationalism

Whiles South Asian women are often tagged as shy, coy and exotic, a few bravely and brilliantly work to destroy that stereotype. Taslima Nasrin is one such individual who dares challenge unreasonable cultural, religious and societal demands using wit, logic and words. So when a friend e-mailed to say that the Bangladeshi writer would be at the Nepal Literature Festival organized by Bookworms in Kathmandu this past weekend, I promised I’d be there. After all, how often are we in Nepal privy to such prolific writers?



But then, trust us Nepalis and our “nationalism” to get in the way.



Apparently Taslima insulted a great many in the homeland. A well-read and widely referenced woman as Taslima surely does not “think Nepal was part of India” as was huffed and puffed by many in anger.



What she originally tweeted simply read, "My Nepali friends, I missed my flight to go to Kathmandu today. I forgot to bring my passport as I didn’t consider Nepal a foreign country!"



It was the fervent display of nationalism that ensued in response by a majority of the Nepali tweeterati that convinced police and the Litfest organizers to have her cancel her trip. The reason? They could not guarantee her safety.



Recipient of the prestigious Feminist Press Award and the Human Rights award, she is a learned woman of great influence. In earning adoration and respect of many, she has also amassed blind haters. Her books in Nepal (presumably translated and published illegally for she is yet to receive due royalty) are readily available. Her most famous work, Lajja had her passport rescinded by her homeland in 1994. In the same country, 300,000 also demanded her death because they disliked what she wrote. It´s not that this writer intentionally courts controversy as much as that she points out the obvious truths we´d rather collectively ignore.



A well-read and widely referenced author as Taslima does not need to be told Nepal is a sovereign state. As a writer who once traveled on a special UN travel document and was at the Indira Gandhi Airport in Delhi with a Swedish passport on Saturday, she probably has a firmer grasp of global and regional maps than most others. Clearly, she was not claiming that Nepal is part of India, as much as good-naturedly tagging Nepal as something close to her heart. On Monday, she tweeted, “People everywhere (except Nepal) get happy when I say, I feel at home, I don’t feel it’s a foreign country...”




Ironic that we Nepalis should take offense to this when we often fail to recognize India as "foreign." Migrant laborers and students are only considered to have gone “bidesh” if they travel beyond India, towards Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the West. In addition, we too happily hop between Nepalgunj and Rupendehi to purchase half-priced kurthas and cheaper shampoo. Not to mention our southern roti-beti relationship with the other side – Bengal, Bihar and UP – but we live in a pahadi-bubble where Nepal still only means the Kathmandu khaldo. Even then, we often don’t count India as “foreign”.



We casually walk, drive or tanga across to India and back without any form of identification. And neither nationals require visas to enter via air. Must we get irked when Taslima suggests the same, that we are indeed not all that “foreign” to each other?



When it’s a matter of convenience, we do not treat India as anything foreign, but when a Bengali writer considers us the same we are outraged. A friend surmised it eloquently on his Facebook, “We Nepalis are too touchy when it comes to our nationalist pride. We want to take offence even when there isn´t any meant.”



For we have once again (as we have done before and will likely do so in the future, if our history is any indicator) communicated how intolerant we are to those who say anything we find disagreeable, all the while dismissing our own prejudices and discrimination against our home country. Forget that this is where brother killed brother in the insurgency, where thousands elbow in lines today to grab visas, where we always opt for “higher quality” “imported” products and where we urinate on our own streets.



While a few on Facebook cross their arms in satisfaction at having such a great literary figure barred from entering out sovereign state, I daresay a few others of us are stumped. But, please, spare yourself the smug smile if you want to challenge my love for my matribhumi. Somewhere along our nationalization process we were taught that being Nepali means hating India (This concept was further institutionalized in the political realm of infighting between Singha Durbar and the Palace, both always considering India their guardian). If by that definition, I was also supposed to have stuck a virtual middle finger at Madhuri Dixit for failing to acknowledge our existence, I may choose to excuse myself and carry my flag in altogether different ways. Petty issues aren’t worth the sweat.



Because really, I´m quite secure about being a Nepali, beyond it being home of the brave Gurkhas, of the oft-touted "highest mountain in the world," and of the all-too-numerous Facebook groups that scream this is the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautam (not India!!).



Now if Nepalis were offended Taslima supposedly did not know we lived in a sovereign state, who ended up doing more harm to Nepal’s image by proving we were a physical threat to her over a few words we mistakenly considered distasteful? Funny thing we pride our “peace loving” selves and yet resort to violence so quickly.

Shame she wasn’t instead welcomed to talk about how sensitive the Nepali citizen is to being likened to India. Too bad we didn’t together discuss our watching Star TV religiously and adopting all things markedly Indian (like the pre-wedding Mehendi ceremony now a hit in Kathmandu weddings) while struggling to assert our Nepalipan.



Charles de Gaulle, a former president of France in 1969 said, “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first”.



Hence, in the spirit of loving my own people more than hating people other than my own, let me say not all of us in the country will pose a threat to your physical safely, Taslima. Simply because you only innocently implied what we readily prove day in and day out, we are not that “foreign” to India and neither is India to us. Just ask our sisters to the south.



sradda.thapa@gmail.com

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