- Taslima Nasreen returned to Kolkata after nearly 20 years following protests over her book
- Her 2003 book was banned by the CPM-led Bengal government for allegedly hurting religious sentiments
- Nasreen will attend a programme protesting fundamentalism at Rabindra Sadan on August 1
Exiled Bangladeshi writer Taslima Nasreen returned to Kolkata on Friday nearly two decades after she was forced to leave the city following protests over her controversial book 'Dwikhondito'. "I am really liking it here," said Nasreen as she landed at Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in West Bengal's capital city.
This is the author-activist's first public appearance in Kolkata since 2007, when protests against her memoir forced her to leave the city she had made her home after fleeing Bangladesh a decade earlier. Her book was banned by the then CPM-led Bengal government in 2003 for allegedly hurting religious sentiments. The 63-year-old now lives in Delhi on a long-term residence permit.
Tomorrow, Nasreen will be attending a programme protesting fundamentalism at Rabindra Sadan. The event is also likely to be attended by Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari and renowned author Shirshendy Mukhopadhyay.
The organisers say that the writer, whom the Bangladesh government once charged with defaming Islam, will recite some of her poems and take part in a discussion after attending a civic reception in her honour.
Earlier, speaking to PTI, describing her return as a "personal homecoming", she said that she never left Kolkata willingly and always hoped that she would return one day.
"I never left Kolkata willingly; the then West Bengal government forced me to leave the state. Yet I never stopped hoping that one day I would return. Year after year passed, governments changed, and still the door remained closed."
The news of her visit sparked a political row. Trinamool MLA Akhruzzaman claimed the writer has frequently spoken out against Muslims, suggesting that is the sole reason the "double-engine government" is welcoming her.
Bengal minister Agnimitra Paul strongly welcomed the writer's visit.
"During the previous government's tenure, she was never given the opportunity to return. The opposition talks so much about secularism, but when she wrote the truth in her book, they denied her security. Under the Trinamool government, people of various communities were merely used as political tools. Today, under Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari's government, Taslima Nasreen is coming on August 1; this is a matter of pride and joy for us," the state minister said.
