Most Muslims are peaceful and law abiding individuals, but there is no escaping the violence and intolerance of some Muslims when they think that their religion or its founder are criticized. We saw it en masse in 1989 when "moderate" Muslims called for the death of author Salman Rushdie, during the cartoon protests of early 2006, and after the Pope's Regensburg Address. Mohammed, founder of Islam, killed many of his opponents, setting a dangerous example for his followers.

In India during the cartoon protest one local politician, Yaqoob Qureshi of Uttar Pradesh state, offered a $12 million reward for anyone who beheaded one of the Danish cartoonists who had made images of Mohammed. After Qureshi had offered his bounty, Uttar Pradesh's Prinicipal Home Secretary, Alok Sinha said: "Mere announcement of this kind does not amount to a crime... he was simply expressing the common feeling of members of his community.”

A senior imam also defended Qureshi. Sayeed Ahmed Bukhari is the senior cleric at Delhi's oldest mosque, the 17th century Jama Masjid. He claimed: "Every Muslim should have similar feelings." Imam Bukhari frequently has talks with India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Even though Yaqoob Qureshi was condemned by several leading Indian Muslims, he still remains in Uttar Pradesh's state parliament.

Last week, on August 15^th, India celebrated its 60th anniversary of independence from Britain. A day earlier, Pakistan celebrated its independence. In 1947, both Pakistan under Mohammed Jinna and India under Pandit Nehru had secular constitutions. Jinna died after only 13 months in power, and soon his secular ideal was replaced by an Islamist constitution. India is still officially secular, but as the case of Yaqoob Qureshi demonstrates, Islamists appear in some cases to be above the law. One woman writer who is based in Kolkata (Calcutta) in West Bengal state knows just how far above the law some Indian Muslim leaders are.

Taslima Nasreen was born on August 25, 1962, in Mymensingh, in what used to be East Pakistan (East Bengal). In 1971, after Islamists in West Pakistan demanded that Urdu become the national language, Bangla speakers in East Pakistan fought for independence. Three million died in the creation of Bangladesh. Many of these were Hindus, brutalized by fanatics from the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami party. Taslima's father was a doctor, and she too became a physician. From the age of 15, she had written poetry. Her first book of poems was published in 1986. On the strength of her second poetry book, published in 1989, she also became a newspaper writer, producing a regular column. In this, she wrote of the plight of women in Bangladesh, and brought her poetry to the public. She described an incident which had taken place in 1993, when a 21-year-old woman's second marriage had been condemned by a local Muslim cleric. The imam urged villagers to bury the woman up to her waist, and they then stoned her to death.

Though brought up as a Muslim, Taslima was not fearful of criticizing abuses carried out in the name of religion, and this inevitably brought her into conflict with Muslim clerics. In 1992, she published a book called Nirbachito Kalam (selected columns), a selection of her newspaper articles and poems. This book won an award in West Bengal, India. A small extract from the book can be found here. Her newspaper column attracted the animosity of religious figures from 1990 onwards, in particular a Muslim cleric called Zainal Abedin Babul, who in 1993 issued a fatwa against her. This fatwa was supported by other clerics. A $5,000 bounty was placed on her head.

The government in Bangladesh removed her passport, and warned her to stop writing. She was given an ultimatum. If she did not discontinue writing, she would lose her job at Dhaka Medical Hospital. She chose to give up her career as a doctor to continue writing.

In 1994, Zainal Abedin Babul filed a case against Taslima at Dhaka Magistrates Court for her book "Nirbachito Kalam," claiming she had "insulted Islam." Babul also succeeded in persuading the Bangladeshi authorities to take her to court. On June 4, 1994 the corrupt governing party of Bangladesh (led by Khaleda Zia) filed a case against her. It referred to an interview she had given to the Indian newspaper The Statesman on May 9^th of that year about her fifth novel, entitled Llaja or "Shame." It was charged that Taslima had made insulting comments against Islam and the Koran, and she had committed blasphemy – even though Bangladesh had no laws against blasphemy.

The article in the Statesman had claimed that Taslima had said that the Koran should be revised to accommodate women's rights – even though she denied making such comments (she had said that Shari’a law should be revised). Acting on the instructions of Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh National Party, the High Court ordered that Taslima should be arrested. Her novel called Shame was also banned by Zia's regime, as it described how Hindus had been subjected to Islamist abuse in Bangladesh. By June 4, 1999, when the High Court had ordered her arrest, mass demonstrations had been organized by Muslim clerics. Thousands of fanatics protested in Dhaka, demanded that she be hanged for blasphemy. Taslima fled the country, initially settling in Sweden. After she left, the Jamaat-e-Islami party's spokesman, Abdul Kader Mollah, warned that the government would "pay a heavy price" for allowing her to flee.

Though it has invoked the wrath of Islamists who bayed for her blood and caused a corrupt government to bend the law to have her jailed, her writing made Taslima an international cause celebre. In 1994, she was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. On September 12, 1994 she gave an interview to the New Yorker, in which she said:

Why shouldn't I write about what I've seen? I'm a doctor, remember! Do you know what's it like to see a woman crying out in the delivery room when she gives birth to a girl, terrified that her husband will divorce her? To see the ruptured vaginas of women who've been raped? The six- and seven- year-olds who have been violated by their fathers, brothers and uncles – by their own families? No, I will not keep quiet. I will continue to speak out about these women's wretched lives.

Taslima spent time in Sweden, and later in France, continuing to write books. Salman Rushdie wrote an open letter supporting her. He wrote:

You have spoken out about the oppression of women under Islam, and what you said needed saying. In the West, there are too many eloquent apologists working to convince people of the fiction that women are not discriminated against in Muslim countries or that, if they are, it has nothing to do with the religion.

In 1998, her mother grew sick with cancer, and Taslima returned to Bangladesh to care for her. She arrived in the country on September 14^th on a flight from New York. Her mother, Idul Owara (who had been given only months to live), accompanied her on the flight. At the airport in Dhaka, Taslima was disguised in a burqha, but passengers who had been on the plane had recognized her, and the following day, her presence was announced in a tabloid newspaper. The punitive demands from Islamists resurfaced, with the Jamaat-e-Islami party joining calls for the government to offer her no protection. The Islamic United Alliance, led by Shaikul Hadith Azizul Huq, demanded that Taslima be killed under Sharia law.

The court cases against her were revived. Dhaka Magistrate's court, honoring the claims of Zainal Abedin Babul, ordered that her property be confiscated. Taslima appeared in the High Court on Sunday, November 22, 1998, and was granted bail. On January 11, 1999, Taslima's mother died at the age of 61 at her home village in Mymensingh district. Because she had raised an "infidel" for a daughter, Taslima's devout Muslim mother was buried with no one from any mosque leading the funeral service. By this time, large crowds of fanatical Muslims were protesting on a regular basis, calling for her death.

Around this time, police had recovered a list of people targeted by the Islamist terror group Harkatul Jihad al-Islami. On January 18, 1999, this group had attacked the home of Bangladeshi poet Shamsur Rahman. The poet's wife was severely injured with an axe. This group, which had been founded in 1992, was not banned in Bangladesh until October 17, 2005. After news reached Taslima that 10 arrested militants from this terror group had a death list that named her as a target, she received at least three death threats by telephone at her family home in Mymensingh. She fled to Sweden on January 23, 1999, and later moved to France. She said after her escape: "I had no other alternative but to leave."

A leader of the Islami Oikya Jote party, A. R. M. Abdul Matin, said: "We still demand her death that will warn all murtads (infidels) that they cannot escape the gallows." His party joined a coalition with the Islamist Jamaat-e-Islami, the Bangladesh Nationalist party and Jatiya party, to form the eighth government of Bangladesh in 2001. When this government ended its tenure last year, it had supported terrorism and attacks against minorities. The government had become so riddled with corruption that democracy has now been suspended in Bangladesh. The country is ruled by a "caretaker" commission.

In November 1999 while Taslima was on a trip to Kolkata in West Bengal state, it was announced that she wanted to seek asylum in India. The fanaticism that had plagued Taslima Nasreen in Bangladesh continued in India. In March 200, the head of the Islamic Reza Academy threatened that if she ever set foot in Mumbai (Bombay) she would be burned alive.

In April 2002, Taslima announced that she had officially requested asylum in India. She was granted leave to remain, but to this day she has not been granted asylum for fear of offending India's Muslim fanatics. She lived in Kolkata in West Bengal state, heart of the Bengali community with its cultural ties to Bangladesh (formerly East Bengal).

In October 2002, a court in Bangladesh ordered that Taslima should be jailed for one year for defaming Islam. The case had been brought in Gopalganj by a Muslim fanatic, Mohammed Dabiruddin, who runs a madrassa school. It is unlikely that Taslima Nasreen will ever return to Bangladesh.

In January 2004 at Friday prayers, the head of Kolkata's main mosque denounced Taslima in front of his congregation of 10,000 and issued a fatwa. Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati of Tippu Sultan mosque said: "Her writings are against humanity and Islam...Her face can be blackened with ink, paint or tar. Or she can be garlanded with shoes." The cleric offered a reward of 20,000 rupees ($436) to anyone who would carry out the act. Taslima was placed under police protection, but Barkati was not prosecuted.

On Saturday June 10, 2006, Taslima Nasreen attended a conference in Kolkata, on the subject of the "Irrelevance of religion in the era of technology." It was reported that she had said: "As an eight-year-old child, I was warned by my mother that if I abused Allah I would be punished, but I did that and nothing happened to me." The reporting of the conference caused more vitriol to be issued from Muslim leaders. Hasan Ahmed Imran, general secretary of the Muslim Council of Bengal, suggested that se should leave India.

The alleged comments also caused the irascible imam to issue another fatwa against her, a fortnight after the conference. Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati said to a local TV channel: "I've issued a fatwa against her. After the Jumma namaz [Friday prayers], I said if anyone blackens her face and drives her out of India, I will give him 50,000 rupees. There was pressure on me to do something about it as the people were angry. She has no right to hurt Muslims' sentiments by saying anything against our Prophet. She is a Jewish spy and there should be a CBI probe into her funding." 50,000 rupees is the equivalent of $1,000.

Even though his comments had been recorded, the imam lied about making the statement when he heard that the Kolkata Commissioner of Police wanted to question him. Barkati said: "I have been misquoted. A fatwa cannot be issued verbally. It has to be put down in a written form. I have not issued such a decree."

In March 2007, a senior Muslim leader, Taqi Raza Khan of the All India Ibtehad Council, issued a severe fatwa against Taslima, threatening that she should be decapitated. Though this fatwa was condemned by some Muslim representatives, Khan boasted: "Anyone who opposes the Prophet does not deserve to live. There have been a number of e-mails and telephone calls congratulating me for the bold stance I have taken."

Khan offered an inducement of 500,000 rupees ($11,760) for anyone who would behead (sar qalam karna) the author. He claimed that he had the full support of the All-India Muslim Personal Law Board. The National Secular Society wrote a letter of protest to the British High Commissioner in India.

On August 9, while attending a book launch in Hyderabad in Andra Pradesh state, Taslima was physically assaulted by Muslim fanatics. The meeting was held at the city's pres club to herald the launch of her latest novel – Shodh – in the local Telegu language. The meeting was gate-crashed by about 100 members of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) party as they burst into the venue. Chairs were thrown and Taslima was slapped in the face. Among those who caused the disruption were three leaders of the MIM party, who had positions in the state assembly. They were arrested afterwards

Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi, head of the MIM party, declared his support for those who had tried to kill Taslima. He said: "We are Muslims first. And it’s our responsibility to test those who have said anything against Islam in which ever way possible," and also: "Muslims can tolerate anything but they can't tolerate blasphemy. The love for the Prophet is the core of our iman (belief)."

In Hyderabad, which has a population of 4 million, 40% are Muslim. The Public Union for Civil Liberties demanded that police take action against the Islamists who had invaded the Hyderabad press club. Even though Taslima had been the victim of the outrage, a charge of "anti-religious views" was made against her in Hyderabad.

On Saturday, August 11^th, protesters from a Muslim group called Dasgah-e-Jehad-Shaheed held a demonstration in Hyderabad. An effigy of Taslima was burned, and there were calls for the author to leave India.

Back in Kolkata her nemesis, Tippu Sultan mosque's senior imam, held a meeting with other Muslim leaders. Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati issued another death fatwa on August 17^th. He declared: "Anybody eliminating her would be given 100,000 rupees [$2,458] and unlimited rewards if she does not leave the country immediately. She has insulted Islam and continued to create problem in this country. 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."

The imam gave Taslima one week in which to pack her bags and leave India, though another of the clerics who had consulted with Barkati claimed that she was allowed 15 days. Police protection for Taslima was increased.

As always, she remained defiant in the face of threats. She responded to the latest death fatwa, saying:

The books on women, I have been writing are not controversial; rather they have been deliberately made to look like controversial by these fundamentalists. I write about the plight of women in our society. Don't you think that what I pen for the right of women is being strangulated?

She refused to go into hiding or to avoid public meetings.

Why should I stop attending any public function? That is the platform to express my mind. And, one thing is sure that by disrupting public function the way they did recently or by issuing Fatwa against me they can not shun my voice. Their attempt to keep women subservient to their male counterparts would not succeed. I would keep my struggle against injustice alive.

Taslima is one brave woman. Salman Rushdie may have endured threats of death, but he did not live in Iran, whence his death fatwa was issued. Taslima continues to write about the rights of women – especially those abused by religious bigots and violent partners. She has said: "I'm not against any religion. The people have a right to practice any religion they want. I speak on women's issues and advocate that men and women be treated equally. I speak for humanity. If in any religion women are discriminated against, I speak up."

 Taslima Nasreen has a website, where readers can find out more about her. Most of her books are in the Bangla language. Most of them are banned in her native Bangladesh, but she has provided free downloads so that any Bangla-speaker can be able to read her work.

The life of Taslima should be protected. If India fails to protect her and panders to its Muslim community by not punishing imams who incite hate, then Islamist bigotry and intolerance will have destroyed its secular ideals as surely as they have already destroyed those of Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Secularism should allow religious freedom for all its citizens – including those who criticize religion. Unfortunately, the government and police in India appear to allow Islamists to bully and destroy their secular ideals. This form of appeasement is pernicious – it erodes the constitution, and acts as a cancer in the body politic. No person in any society should be above the law. Bangladesh, which began with independent and secular ideals, has allowed Islamists to turn it into a failed state. Pakistan too is on the brink of being a failed state. India should assert its constitutional and secular values and imprison those who incite murder. If it fails to protect this brave woman from the outrageous threats of Muslim fanatics, then India will have embarked upon the same route that has destroyed the democracies of its neighbors, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

 Maybe the last words here should be those of Taslima Nasreen. These are not empty words – they are as real as her life: "Come what may, I will continue my fight for equality and justice without any compromise until my death. Come what may, I will never be silenced."