Taslima Nasreen
News Delhi: Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has appealed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah for permission to remain in India. In a recent post on X, she expressed her love for India, her second home for the past 20 years, and voiced concern over the non-renewal of her residence permit since July 2022. Nasreen, a vocal critic of communalism, has lived in exile since 1994 due to backlash from Islamist fundamentalists regarding her writings on women’s rights and communal issues. Her notable works, including “Lajja” and “Amar Meyebela,” have faced bans in Bangladesh.
Taslima Nasreen’s novel “Lajja” faced intense backlash for its portrayal of violence, rape, looting, and killings of Bengali Hindus following the Babri Masjid demolition in India. This controversy forced Nasreen into a decade-long exile across Sweden, Germany, France, and the US. In 2004, she returned to Kolkata, remaining until 2007, before briefly residing in Delhi under house arrest after an attack. Ultimately, she left India in 2008 for the US, but returned to India several years later.
