Nineteen years after she was forced to leave Kolkata amidst violent protests over her writings, exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen returned to the city on August 1, describing it as a homecoming of sorts after years in exile and thanking the Suvendu Adhikari-led BJP government for “opening the doors”.
The visit, however, was not without controversy. A brief commotion broke out during a cultural programme at Rabindra Sadan after Nasreen invited celebrated Bengali poet Joy Goswami from the audience to join her on stage. As Goswami rose from his seat, loud protests erupted from a section of the audience, forcing him to retreat.
The programme was briefly halted before Nasreen appealed for calm. “Shall I speak? Then, please calm down and take your seats,” she said, after which order was restored and she resumed her address.
The disruption underscored the unresolved emotions surrounding Nasreen’s exit from Kolkata in November 2007. Goswami, who was seen by some in the audience as having remained silent during the years Nasreen was kept away from Kolkata and as being close to former chief minister Mamata Banerjee, became the focus of the protest.
The reaction came despite Goswami previously expressing regret over Nasreen’s exile and saying he felt “guilty” for not doing enough at the time. Even so, many in the audience appeared unwilling to see him share the stage with Nasreen during what was billed as her symbolic return.
On August 2, during a news conference, Nasreen described the Rabindra Sadan episode as “deeply unfortunate” and said it was an insult to her as well. “I had called him to the stage. Preventing him from coming up was unacceptable,” she said, adding that she would visit Goswami at his residence.
The previous day, Adhikari had felicitated Nasreen at an event before she attended the Rabindra Sadan programme. He assured her she would always be welcome and safe in West Bengal. “The responsibility of ensuring your security in a safe West Bengal rests with the chief minister. Come as many times as you wish, whenever you wish, and speak freely,” Adhikari said.
The chief minister also sought to draw a contrast with previous administrations. “You are a distinguished author whose writings are read by countless people. Speak freely in West Bengal. This new Bengal is certainly different from what you experienced earlier,” he remarked.
“Today’s event demonstrates that under the new government, the Constitution, democracy, freedom of expression and the fundamental rights of citizens are fully protected. The culture of threats and intimidation is now a thing of the past. West Bengal is free from those shackles. Everyone has the right to come here, and everyone has the right to express themselves,” Adhikari added.
An emotional Nasreen devoted much of her speech to recalling the pain of exile. “It took me 19 years to utter one simple sentence: ‘I have returned to Kolkata’. For an exiled person, years on the calendar are not merely time. Every year is a closed door, every month an act of waiting, every day the pain of losing one’s address. After that long wait, standing on Kolkata’s soil today, I feel I have not merely returned to a city—I have returned to a chapter of my life,” she said.
Thanking the present government for facilitating her visit, she said: “History remembers who closed the doors. History will also remember who opened them.” Nasreen also thanked Adhikari for the elaborate security arrangements. From the moment she landed at Kolkata airport, she remained under a tight police security cover.
At the same time, she lamented that a writer should need police protection simply to visit the city where her language is spoken. “I dream of a day when no writer will have to move under police escort and no one will be forced to leave their country because of their views. Protecting a writer’s life also means protecting the right to dissent,” Nasreen said.
She clarified that thanking the Adhikari government should not be construed as political allegiance. “Gratitude is not a contract of loyalty. In return for gratitude, I do not mortgage my independent thinking. Appreciating a good decision does not require political allegiance, and disagreement does not require hatred. I have not come here on behalf of any political party or to defeat anyone,” she emphasised.
Nasreen noted that August had shaped some of the defining moments of her life. “August is the month of my birth. It is also the month of my exile. From today, August is also the month of my return.” She recalled being forced to flee Bangladesh on August 8, 1994. “The government of the day forced me to leave my country. In the darkness of night, the doors of my homeland were shut on me. Governments changed, but those doors never reopened,” she lamented.
Speaking about her relationship with Kolkata, Nasreen said literature and Bengali culture had drawn her to the city long before she first visited it. “I was born in one Bengal, and in another Bengal I found a home after losing my own. In the end, there remained no home for a Bengali writer in either Bengal. Europe gave me citizenship, security and shelter, but that shelter never became home. Home is built with language, memory and culture, not merely with safety,” she said.
Nasreen also revisited the circumstances of her departure from Kolkata. “On November 22, 2007, the then West Bengal government forced me to leave Kolkata. I had committed no crime. No court had ordered my exile. Yet I had to pay the price for threats issued by fundamentalists,” she said.
During the media conference on August 2, Nasreen reiterated that she opposed religious extremism of every kind and had criticised conservative practices within Muslim society because she belonged to that community, while insisting that “no religion is above criticism”. She also called for a uniform civil code in both India and Bangladesh based on constitutional values, equality and human rights rather than the religious laws of any majority community.
On the political situation in Bangladesh, Nasreen said she had criticised former prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s policies but did not support the manner in which she was forced into exile. She called for the restoration of democracy, the return of Awami League leaders and workers, and said the Awami League should replace Jamaat-e-Islami as the country’s principal Opposition party. She alleged that attacks on Hindus had increased under the interim government led by Muhammad Yunus. Reiterating her advocacy of secularism, she called for replacing Bangladesh’s madrasa system with a secular, state-run education system.
Nasreen, however, declined to answer questions on alleged attacks on minorities in India and the recent pushback of Bengali-speaking people into Bangladesh.
Nasreen was forced to leave Kolkata in 2007 after violent protests following the publication of her autobiographical work Dwikhandito. She was first shifted to Jaipur and later to New Delhi under central security before eventually leaving India—never returning to Kolkata during Left Front or Trinamool Congress rule. Her visit on August 1—marked both by official honours from the new BJP government and a brief disruption at Rabindra Sadan—revived the long-running debate over freedom of expression, political tolerance and the treatment of dissenting writers in Bengal.
Subscribe to India Today Magazine
– Ends
