Home »General News » World » Exiled Bangladeshi author wants to be Indian

  • News Desk
  • Feb 18th, 2005
  • Comments Off on Exiled Bangladeshi author wants to be Indian
Exiled Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen, who has angered Muslims in her homeland by her writing, told an Indian TV channel on Thursday she is seeking citizenship in India. The 42-year-old, known for her liberal views, was forced to flee predominantly Islamic Bangladesh in 1994 after Muslims protested against her writings - calling them blasphemous - and demanded her execution. She left after months of hiding and currently lives in Sweden.

"I am a Bengali writer. It is very important for me to be with the Bengali people, so I dream of living in Bengal, either east or west," Nasreen told NDTV news channel in an interview.

"East (Bengal) has already closed the doors to me so it will be wonderful if I could live in the West Bengal part of India. I want to stay in West Bengal where I feel at home."

East Bengal is the old name for Bangladesh under British rule of undivided India. Neighbouring West Bengal is in eastern India. Bengali, Nasreen's native language, is widely spoken in both areas.

"I have sent a fax to the (Indian) Home Minister and asked for a residential permit or citizenship, whatever is possible," said the writer who has had three books banned in Bangladesh.

Conservative Muslims in Bangladesh were incensed by remarks in her first controversial book, "Lajja" (Shame), on Islamic laws and infuriated that it suggested free sex.

Her two other books that have been banned are "My Girlhood Days" and "Wild Wind".

"I have been living in exile for 10 years and recently started visiting West Bengal and I really like to be there," said the feminist author, currently in New Delhi.

Nasreen has been a regular visitor to Calcutta, capital of West Bengal, but trouble has dogged her there as well. In January 2004, an Indian Muslim cleric offered a reward of 20,000 rupees ($458) to anyone who blackened her face or garlanded her with shoes. Following the threat, Indian police provided her with security.

Nasreen, a doctor-turned-writer, says she had not asked for asylum in officially secular India while requesting citizenship.

Besides Sweden, Nasreen has lived in exile in Germany and the United States.

Copyright Reuters, 2005


the author

Top
Close
Close