Taslima Nasrin returns to Kolkata after being forced to leave 19 years ago

Kolkata: Renowned Bangladeshi author and poet Taslima Nasrin returned to Kolkata on Friday, nearly 19 years after her departure due to the outbreak of violence in certain areas of the state capital in 2007, during the tenure of Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee in West Bengal, which was triggered by her book “Dwikhandito (The Bifurcated)”.

On Saturday, she will be addressing a cultural programme at Rabindra Sadan in Central Kolkata organised by different cultural groups, one of which is “Secular Mission”. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is also likely to attend the same programme, said sources.

She arrived at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in Kolkata at 12:50 p.m.

Nasrin received a grand welcome with the sound of conch shells. “I feel so good to come here again,” said a visibly overwhelmed Nasrin.

Considering the safety and security of Nasrin is an issue, the state police administration has assured watertight security for her during her stay in the state.

In 2007, pockets in Kolkata turned into virtual battlefields over the publication of Nasrin’s novel “Dwikhandito (The Bifurcated)”. Tensions broke out in minority-dominated areas in the city. The situation became so heated that the administration had to deploy the Army.

The then West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya-led Left Front government even banned the circulation of the book in the state. The Bangladeshi writer was even asked to leave Kolkata.

Later, this unwritten ban on Nasrin remained in force even during the Trinamool Congress government from 2011 to 2016.

The-then CPI(M) led Left Front government in West Bengal faced strong criticism from literary circles nationally, who questioned why a Communist state government that always boasted of practising and protecting secularism had to succumb to the pressure from fundamentalist groups and force Nasrin to leave the state.

Even during the last 15 years of the Trinamool Congress regime in the state — 2011 to 2026 — the previous Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee did not take any initiative to ensure Nasrin’s return to Kolkata.

–IANS