Taslima Nasrin set for Kolkata visit after 19 years, likely to share stage with West Bengal CM Suvendu
Taslima Nasrin to revisit Kolkata nearly two decades after forced exile
Almost two decades after she was forced to leave Kolkata amid violent protests against her writings, exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasrin is set to visit the city next month to attend an event where West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari is expected to be present.
In a post on social media, Taslima said that she would be in Kolkata on 1 August to participate in a literary event at Kolkata's cultural landmark Rabindra Sadan where she is expected to recite poetry.
Taslima was forced out of Kolkata in November 2007, during the rule of the Left Front government and her return, if it happens, would be at a time when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is in power in West Bengal.
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"It will basically be an event to celebrate her coming to the city after 20 years. She was forced to leave Kolkata on 21 November 2007 after the then Left Front government bowed before fundamentalist forces. This is a new Bengal, and we have decided to honour her. Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari himself will be present at the event," said Mohit Roy, a convenor of Paschimbangar Jonno, which is one of the organisers.
Asked if the event is a prelude to her return to the city for good, Roy said nothing has been discussed so far.
"Successive Left Front and TMC governments chose political expediency over free speech by refusing to facilitate Taslima's return despite her repeated appeals to visit Kolkata for literary events and book fairs," said a senior state BJP leader, requesting anonymity.
The issue was brought back into focus last year when BJP Rajya Sabha MP and current the party's West Bengal President Samik Bhattacharya urged the Indian government to facilitate Taslima's return to Kolkata, describing her as a "rare" voice who had consistently challenged fundamentalism.
Taslima, who gained international prominence in the early 1990s through her feminist writings and uncompromising criticism of religious orthodoxy, fled Bangladesh in 1994 in a cloak of secrecy after multiple fatwas called for her death following the publication of her novel "Lajja".
After spending nearly a decade across Europe and the United States, she moved to India in 2004 and made Kolkata her home, describing the Bengali-speaking city as the closest cultural refuge she had found after exile.
Her stay in Kolkata ended in November 2007 when she shifted to New Delhi.
The publication of portions of her autobiographical work "Dwikhandita" had triggered violent street protests by sections of Muslim outfits in Kolkata. The situation deteriorated to the point where army deployment became necessary to restore order.
The then Left Front government, headed by Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, subsequently asked Nasrin to leave Kolkata. She was shifted first to Jaipur and later to Delhi before eventually being granted a long-term resident permit and multiple-entry visa by India.
