Taslima Nasrin Return Kolkata Event Suvendu Adhikari Exile Protests

Almost 20 years after being forced to leave Kolkata following violent protests over her writing, Bangladesh-born Swedish author Taslima Nasrin is set to return to the city to participate in a literary event on August 1.

The programme at the city’s Rabindra Sadan auditorium is being organised by three organisations: Secular Mission, Paschimbonger Jonno (for West Bengal), and Human Rights Beyond Frontiers. The organisers said Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, along with noted author Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, is also expected to attend the event.

“The event is organised by three organisations, including ours. It will feature Nasreen’s poems and songs. The CM will also be present,” Mohit Roy of Paschimbonger Jonno told The Indian Express.

“Bengal is known as the cultural capital of India. She (Nasreen) was driven away from here because of fundamentalist protests, and that pained us. We tried to organise her visit during the previous government but were unsuccessful. This time we approached Adhikari, who assured us that proper security arrangements would be made. We then contacted the author, and she agreed to visit Kolkata and participate in the event. She will speak about her years in exile, recount the circumstances under which she had to leave Kolkata, and read from her poems,” said Osman Mullick of Secular Mission.

Nasreen who is currently in New York will return to Kolkata for the first time since 2007, when protests against her book Dwikhondito (Bifurcated) forced her to leave the city.

Born in Bangladesh, Nasreen has been at the centre of controversy over her writings for decades. She has authored more than 40 books in Bangla, including poetry, novels, essays and a multi-volume autobiography. Her works have been translated into more than 30 languages.

Nasreen’s writing primarily focuses on women’s rights, gender equality, challenging patriarchal norms, and exposing the domestic and structural violence faced by women.

Her best-known novel, Lajja (Shame) , published in 1993, brought her international recognition. The book chronicles the persecution of a Hindu family in Bangladesh in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid in India.

Facing threats and protests, Nasreen left Bangladesh in 1994 and lived in exile across Europe and North America. She later acquired Swedish citizenship and also spent time in Germany. In 1998, she published Meyebela (My Bengali Girlhood), the first volume of her memoir.

In 2004, she received a renewable temporary residence permit from the Union government and moved to Kolkata, where she regularly wrote columns for Bengali newspapers. In June 2006, Syed Noor-ur-Rehman Barkati, then imam of Kolkata’s Tipu Sultan Mosque, announced a reward for anyone who “blackened” Nasreen’s face. Several organisations also demanded that she leave the country.

In November 2007, Kolkata witnessed violent protests against the author. Demonstrations organised by the All India Minority Forum led to road blockades and incidents of arson in parts of the city. The Left Front government at the time, headed by Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, had to call in the Army to help restore order.

Nasreen subsequently left Kolkata and stayed at an undisclosed location in New Delhi for more than seven months before eventually leaving the country in March 2008.

Ravik Bhattacharya is a highly experienced and award-winning journalist currently s... Read More