Kolkata: Eighteen years and eight months after being forced to leave Kolkata amid violent protests, Bangladesh-born author-in-exile Taslima Nasrin is set to return to the city she calls home to attend a literary meet at Rabindra Sadan on Aug 1.The organisers said Nasrin, who will arrive on July 31, is likely to be felicitated by CM Suvendu Adhikari.Speaking to TOI from New York, the author said: “Three organisations are hosting a programme to felicitate me, which is why I am returning to the city that was my home for years till I was hounded out in Nov 2007. I am feeling euphoric… finally, I am going back to Kolkata. I will be there for a couple of days, but I am open to shifting back permanently… I look forward to attending cultural events and lit fests, as Kolkata remains the cultural capital.”Nasrin, now mostly based in Delhi, was forced to leave Kolkata in Nov 2007 following violent protests over her presence in the city. Fundamentalist groups had accused her of insulting their religion in her autobiographical work, ‘Dwikhandita’, and other writings on the treatment of women in Islamic societies.The protests, marked by blockades and arson, forced the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee govt to deploy the Army. Fearing for her safety, the authorities shifted her out of the city and arranged her stay in safe houses outside Bengal.Observers believe the handling of the 2007 incident, which triggered discontent in a section of the minority population, and the political setbacks in Singur (2006) and Nandigram (2007) were among the key factors that unseated Left Front in 2011.Nasrin said she misses Bangladesh a lot, but doesn’t think she can ever return to the country, which has become “a land of jihadis”.“I was hounded out of Bangladesh in 1994 following death threats from Muslim clerics over my book Lajja. For 32 years, no govt there has allowed me back. My writings angered the fundamentalists, so I was thrown out,” said the physician-turned-writer.Asked how she felt when she was forced out of Bengal, Nasrin said, “I was stunned when I was told to leave Kolkata. How could the city be so cruel to me? The trauma is still fresh in my mind. CM Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee had banned Dwikhandita in 2003, but Calcutta High Court lifted the ban in Sept 2005.”In Kolkata, Nasrin plans to recite poems from her book ‘Bandini’, which she wrote when she was under house arrest in Delhi. All the poems in the book centred around Kolkata. “I had always dreamt of living in Kolkata and even bought a house in Behala, which I was forced to sell when I was evicted from the city. I also had a nice flat at 7 Rawdon Street. I loved that flat so much that I continued paying rent for two years after being forced out, hoping I would return soon.”The erstwhile Trinamool administration, she said, offered her no relief. “They did not allow me to return on the grounds that it would create law and order problems. The TMC govt even blocked the telecast of a mega-serial based on my writings, Dusahabas.”Mohit Roy, president of Paschim Banger Sange and one of the organisers of the literary meet that Nasrin is likley to attend, said the event will feature a cultural show where the author will read her poems alongside musical performances based on her work. “The CM had personally given permission for the programme and ordered tight security to thwart any potential agitation. Through this programme, we want to convey the message that Bengal is not a land of fundamentalists,” Roy said.Another organiser, advocate Osman Gani Mullick, echoed what Roy said. “It is a very proud moment for us that our favorite author Taslima Nasrin will be back in her second home. She lived here for many years and has millions of followers in the city,” said Mullick, who is a member of the committee set up to draft a uniform civil code for Bengal.Bengal BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Samik Bhattacharya backed the move: “Yes, I had myself urged the Bengal govt to bring Taslima Nasrin back to the state. Why should her voice be choked? She authored Lajja, highlighting the persecution of Hindus in Bangladesh.”However, senior lawyer and CPM’s former Rajya Sabha MP Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya accused the author of toeing the Hindutva line. “Taslima Nasrin is welcome here. But in her recent speeches she has been toeing the rabid Hindutva line… The day she starts speaking against Hindutva, she will realise she is unwelcome here under the current regime.”
